By Bill Donovan

Rosanne Morrissette is back on duty with the Gallup Police Department, working as a school and community liaison as a result of a legal battle to get her job back after she was terminated earlier this summer.

Morrissette’s problems with the police department, according to state court records and her Albuquerque attorney, Thomas Grover, began almost three years ago about the time Robert Cron retired as police chief and Phillip Hart was named as his replacement.

Apparently, Franklin Boyd, who was a captain at the time, came into Morrissette’s office at police headquarters and yelled at her for several minutes. Morrissette later filed a complaint against Boyd for his...

Sixth annual festival offers movies, music and SURPRISES

Since its inception in 2013, the Gallup Film Festival has gone from a small event with just three films to an annual celebration with upward of 60 movies screened across three days.

Knifewing Segura, the head of Knifewing Productions and director of the Gallup Film Festival, said the growth of the festival has been remarkable.

“I think it’s been constantly growing,” he said in a Sept. 5 phone interview. “People love the idea of the festival growing.”

Segura said part of the festival’s strategy was to watch how other film festivals grew and then figure out how to take those procedures and apply them in...

The Gallup Downtown Conference Center hosted an eager crowd on Aug. 31 as part of the statewide bus tour for Democratic New Mexico governor candidate Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Lujan Grisham and her running mate, Howie Morales, spent nine days touring New Mexico, holding a number of public events that ranged from meet-and-greets to meals.

Alray Nelson, the Native American outreach director for Lujan Grisham’s campaign, spoke to the crowd about the need to move on from failed, ineffective leadership.

“We need someone to bring us together, fight for families, break down walls,” he said to the room.

The event in Gallup drew in an array of government figures and candidates running...

Community Area Resource Enterprise, Inc., known as Care 66, announced Aug. 16, the seemingly imminent closure of the cash-strapped Lexington Hotel Sept. 30.

CARE 66, a nonprofit organization whose mission primarily focuses on creating opportunities to end homelessness, has operated the Lexington Hotel at 405 Route 66 in Gallup since 2009.

In an Aug. 16 blog post, CARE 66 stated they ran out of funds and “will regroup and figure out how to address issues like poverty, affordable housing and jobs in the community.”

According to CARE 66’s blog, it costs $500,000 to provide case management, connect people to jobs and benefits, and get them into homes. Their revenues, however...