Newton suggests changes to food vendor ordinance

Pizza, Mexican food, Greek food, hot dogs, cotton candy, and waffles. Food trucks cater to all sorts of cravings, and when multiple mobile food vendors come together, people can eat whatever their heart desires.

Or at least, they can in big cities.

Local food trucker owner Billy Newton, who runs the Wacky Waffles food truck, says that Gallup’s outdated vendor ordinance prevents food truck owners from growing their businesses and being successful.

During an Aug. 8 work session, Newton spoke in front of the city council to voice his concerns and recommend some changes to the ordinance that dictates what a food truck can and can’t do, which was last updated in 2011.

“It was written at a time when food trucks weren’t really a thing in Gallup,” Gallup’s Planning and Development Director C.B. Strain said. “They weren’t really popular, we had maybe one, maybe two at the most. {The ordinance] was geared more toward other types of vendors, such as the food carts you put on a street.”

In a letter addressed to City Clerk Alfred Albeita, Newton listed the sections of the ordinance he wanted to see changed.

One of Newton’s major concerns was the time restrictions put on food truck vendors. The current ordinance only allows food trucks to be open from 8 am – 8 pm.

As a food truck that sells waffle sandwiches, most of Newton’s menu items include breakfast foods. But as he explained to the council, with how the ordinance is currently written, he typically doesn’t start selling food until about 10 am because it takes a long time to get everything set up and the food prepared.

“When it’s looked in that light where we want to do things safely, that leaves [only] a couple hours to sell and then tear down for the end of the day or when we move on to another location,” Newton said.

Newton also voiced concern with the 8 pm closing time, saying that since the ordinance only allows food trucks on private property, many of the businesses that hire him want him to stay open later.

RATTING OUT COMPETITION

Another time restriction allows food vendors to be in one space for only four hours. Councilor Sarah Piano, Dist. 3, said she sees food trucks break that rule often.

“I’m not going to call out certain food trucks, but I definitely see food trucks that are at a location for definitely more than four hours,” Piano said. “I’m fine with it personally, but then … we’re not equally keeping people accountable.”

Code enforcement officers only pay food truck vendors a visit when a complaint has been made against them. However, Strain said they aren’t high on the officers’ list of concern.

“As code enforcers, [food vendors] are way low on our list. We have more important things to do than harass food vendors,” Strain said. “… It’s a small town [though, and] people don’t like competition. They’re going to call and rat out their competition and tell us to check them out.”

SHARING THE SPACE

Newton isn’t opposed to sharing space with his competition.

The current ordinance places stipulations on where food trucks can park and operate. The trucks can only operate on private property, and those private property owners are not allowed to have multiple food trucks on their property at a time.

Newton argued that many local businesses, such as the Amigo car dealerships, could host five or six food truck vendors.

Strain appeared to be in agreement with this idea, although he did mention the businesses’ parking availability. As an example, he explained that if a business is required to have 25 parking spots, a food truck wouldn’t be allowed to take up 10 of those spots.

However, if the business has more than the required amount of parking spots, Strain said putting a food truck in the parking lot wouldn’t be a problem. It really all just comes down to safety.

“We don’t want to make it hard on [food truck vendors], but we still have to make sure the public is safe,” Strain said.

Strain and Newton both mentioned food truck parks, places in big cities such as Albuquerque that serve as a designated place for food trucks.

To allow for more space, Newton suggested doing away with the language in the ordinance that limits food trucks to private property. He noted that public places such as Ford Canyon Park would be a great place to set up a food truck.

He also proposed the idea of doing a “Food Truck Friday.”

Overall, Newton said his main goal is to just make things easier for code enforcers and food truck owners alike.

“A lot of my goal here is to make this easy for code enforcers. There’s a lot of arbitrary codes I see in [the ordinance] that I think could be removed…,” Newton said.

Strain agreed that the ordinance needed to be updated.

“I think food trucks are here to stay, I don’t think they’re going anywhere, and I think they’re a good thing for the community,” Strain said.

For now, City of Gallup staff will take a look at the ordinance and take Newton’s ideas into consideration. They will come back to the council with some changes to the ordinance, and the council will discuss those at a future city council meeting.

By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor

Artist overcomes addiction to find success in art, business

Located at 310 E. Mesa Ave. is a squat, non-descript white brick building with the words “PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENT” emblazoned upon the front door.

The yard is very tidy and you would never know that it’s a business if it wasn’t for the sign that reads, “The House of Stamps & The House of Lyndon.”

On March 2, Lyndon Tsosie, 49, won the best of class award for jewelry and lapidary at the 60th Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market in Phoenix.

Tsosie entered a silver and turquoise concho belt titled, “Nilchih Dine’é” (Air People) for the competition, an intricate piece with each concho stamped in a different shape of various insects.

Originally from Tohatchi, Tsosie has lived in Gallup for the past 20 years, and said his ideas for designs are derived from oral history.

“A lot of it is from my family telling me stories and from growing up in Tohatchi,” he said. “I was playing in the wash and [arroyos] as a kid. We would go swimming in the creek.”

Playing outdoors for hours on end and returning home at sundown was the norm, because his parents worked.

“We’d flip rocks and look for snakes and stuff,” Tsosie said, discussing his childhood and influences. “That’s where the insects derived from and the understanding of Nilchih Dine’é and how the insects came into this world.”

Playing outside and daydreaming was formative in his development as a jeweler 40 years later. While the Air People are considered holy beings that have been with Navajos since the beginning of time, Tsosie said he is not a religious person.

“I was raised Catholic, but I do believe in the Holy People,” he said, referring to the Navajo gods.

PATH TO THE CRAFT

In his early twenties, Tsosie was wading through a life awash in alcohol and drugs before meeting a man that forever changed his ways and showed him the value of hard work.

“I partied until I was about 27 and then I met Teddy Draper Jr.,” he said. “I apprenticed for him and it was more like, life apprenticeship. He taught me about life.”

Through this mentorship, Tsosie learned silversmithing and understood the purpose of business and the realities of having a corporation. There was no room for drugs or alcohol.

“This coming May is going to be my twenty-second year being sober, and my twenty-first year being a corporation,” he said. “The art plays a pivotal role, but I’m not creating jewelry as much as I used to.”

The acclaim and numerous awards he has won for his artistry in metal came from employing various forms – inlay, first phase traditional, fine jewelry, traditional jewelry, contemporary – and utilizing the finest supplies to create beauty.

Throughout the various pieces Tsosie has produced in his career, there was one constant: stamps marking bold designs and Navajo craftsmanship.

These days, making jewelry has taken the backseat to pursuing his new business and networking with others to grow the business.

Tsosie’s business, The House of Stamps, is a stamp company. They sell stamps to about 25 countries and the business is internet-based, at the moment.

“We will soon be moving to 1618 South Second Street and we will be open to the public,” Tsosie said. “We’re an internet-based company right now.”

Tsosie is married to Valerie, and the couple has six children: Jasmine, Iyan, Talon, Azrael, Hiro, and Gillés. He taught his children the value of hard work and rewards that come with success.

You will know Tsosie is at work if you see the white Dodge Viper parked in front of The House of Stamps.

“It’s not about accolades or showing off, that’s just part of being an artist,” he said. “It’s about being able to do what we do as a team to generate income for other people.”

The company buys stamps, and Tsosie said everybody gets a fair share when they are sold.

“Material things come and go, but if I ever go broke, at least I know how to make a buck,” he said. “There’s so many things I’ve done to make a buck.”

For the past 22 years, he has been giving back to Navajo communities during Christmas. In 2017, his efforts provided food to 220 families and 263 families the year before.

Tsosie raffled $50,000 in jewelry and prizes in 2017. The year before, he donated a $9,600 concho belt for the raffle. The funds generated provided food boxes for the needy in Navajo and Zuni communities.

“In 1995, I only had $50, but I bought 10 bags of Gold Meal Flour from Bashas’ and gave it to an organization in Chinle,” he said. “The next year, I decided to do it on my own and distributed to people.”

The experience was eye opening. He said it was sad because the people that were helped really needed food. Giving back was a means to fulfilling his promise to the Creator, Tsosie said, for keeping him sober.

This clear vision is also one that he has for the city he’s lived in for the past two decades.

“I love Gallup,” Tsosie said. “We can do without the alcohol, considering its history with this area. [There’s] talk of opening breweries or whatever. We should be opening museums and things for kids instead of bars.”

This kind of cultural enrichment is important to Tsosie, and it reflects in his most important advice: keep reading.

“We need our young people to read,” he said. “Read every day. Read the Gallup Sun. Knowledge comes from reading, it doesn’t matter what it is. When you read, you can actually walk the talk.”

By Rick Abasta
For the Sun

Rating: ««« out of ««««

Running Time: 135 minutes

Much like the Marvel comic universe, it has gotten to the point where we can now expect a new Star Wars movie every year or so. Coming from the minority perspective of a person who enjoyed but has not been overly enthralled by the re-launch of the series, this reviewer felt some trepidation about yet another feature arriving in cinemas. Surprisingly, Solo: A Star Wars Story actually stands as something of an anomaly. While it’s too long for its own good and does run out of gas by the close, this episode worked for this reviewer more effectively than all of the recent features in the series.

This tale details the back story of Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich), following the young lad’s beginnings on the planet Corellia. Struggling to escape the planet and start a new life as a pilot with girlfriend Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), the youngster encounters crook and smuggler Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson). Immediately roped in to assist on a big deal with crime boss Dryden Voss (Paul Bettany), Solo’s first adventure poses many dangerous challenges, as well as first encounters with the likes of Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover).

Ehrenreich does well acquitting himself to the role made famous by Harrison Ford. The young Solo is more innocent and idealistic in many respects, but still possesses moments of recognizable swagger and cheekiness that will appeal to audiences. It’s a difficult challenge, but he succeeds admirably. Viewers should have no trouble buying into the fact that they’re watching a different actor portray an iconic character.

The movie benefits most from the well-written screenplay by Jonathan Kasdan (TV’s Freaks and Geeks) and his father, Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Big Chill). Simply put, the dialogue in this film is much sharper than it has been in other Star Wars installments. While grim things are taking place, this is a funnier movie and has some genuinely wry and amusing lines as the various characters bicker with one another. In particular, Solo’s budding friendship with future co-pilot Chewbacca offers some great moments.

In fact, there is a certain moral ambiguity between all of these characters that adds significantly to proceedings. Unlike most of the heroes from the recent series who are altruistic and seemingly perfect (but as a result not quite as compelling), the persons in this story are flawed and forced into tricky situations in which there are no ideal solutions. Watching them manipulate each other to secure their own interests, as well as struggle with the collateral damage caused by their decisions is far more intriguing to watch.

Honestly, the film does play on viewer nostalgia, introducing elements that also appear in the original movies. Yet it isn’t reliant on these nods and provides a couple of big and elaborate action and chase scenes, thrillingly presented by director Ron Howard (Willow, Apollo 13, Far and Away, Rush) using impressive long takes.

Truthfully, the movie’s best moments come in its first two thirds. The climax feels a bit smaller and much more subdued than the bigger, more elaborate battles earlier in the feature. In fact, the finale almost feels like a simple standoff/shootout from a western. And like all recent efforts in this franchise, there’s an attempt to tie together some of the characters with familiar faces from other installments. It isn’t really necessary and doing so creates extra scenes that pad out the running time. However, these are my biggest complaints, which isn’t too bad considering.

Solo is far from flawless, but in a strange way I preferred it to the franchise’s other new ventures. These characters feel far more human. While that may have something to do with the roles already being established and familiar, the writing and the struggles depicted are far more relatable to this viewer. And even with the updated computer-generated action, it feels closer in tone to the original films. This chapter presented its makers with a daunting task, but ultimately manages to steal a recommendation.

By Glenn Kay
For the Sun

Rating: ««« out of ««««

Running Time: 119 minutes

Two years ago, the R-rated superhero flick Deadpool stormed the box office and surprised many movie analysts with a comical, adult-themed (and somewhat crass) take on the Marvel formula. However, it’s always difficult to recapture the same kind of magic with an immediate follow-up. Thankfully, Deadpool 2 is pretty decent as far as sequels go. Yes, it brings more of the same and takes some time to get moving, but it does find its rhythm and incorporates a few new elements that make it distinctive in its own right.

The story begins with Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) describing a series of terrible events that have led him to a dark period in his life. Hoping to have children with significant other Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), the hero quickly finds his family plans squashed. During a brief and ill-fated try-out with the X-Men, the protagonist encounters a mutant teen named Russell (Julian Dennison) who is being pursued by a time-traveling killer named Cable (Josh Brolin). While the brooding Deadpool is less-than-happy to have a kid pestering him, the acquaintance offers a surrogate son and new family member for the superhero.

While the movie is even more frantic with its pop-culture and comic book references, the opening scenes do comes across as a little familiar. Some of the gags work well (including a credits sequence that riffs on James Bond title numbers) although other early snips and comments delivered as the lead wipes out bad guys are hit-and-miss.

Additionally, it takes quite a while for the antagonist to really get involved in the proceedings. Perhaps it was just this reviewer needing time to get used to the characters and get on the same wavelength as the film’s rapid-fire riffing and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink feel, but the first third comes across as somewhat scattershot.

Thankfully, as events progress, the movie improves dramatically and the second half of the feature is considerably more effective. When Deadpool decides to form his own league of mutants, naming them X-Force, the jokes really begin to land. His new team is filled with rookies who have unique, sometimes imperceptible and silly abilities, leading to a first mission that does not go smoothly but is hilarious nonetheless. Its effectiveness may simply be due to the fact that at this point, the antihero has more oddball people to interact and trade barbs with. Whatever the reason, the movie jolts to life at this point. Even the action scenes feel zippier, more exiting and considerably funnier.

Personally, the movie also benefits from riffing and openly making fun of the comic book movie universe and its characters. In fact, this entire exercise could almost be considered a parody of the current Marvel superhero film (which is quite welcome).

Just about every aspect of the genre, from the themes, the characters, to the overly familiar stories and plotting are all poked fun at. Even the use of time-travel is lampooned in a post credits sequence that follows the hero going back in time and causing all sorts of chaos (for those sitting through the credits, this series of bits is the last extra in the film).

It has no shame and is all over the place at times, but Deadpool 2 becomes more and more amusing as it develops. By the time of the absurd and almost heartfelt close, the oddball leads have charmed viewers and provided some amusingly ridiculous situations along the way. Fans of the character, those who enjoy seeing the Marvel world lampooned and anyone just looking for a laugh will more than likely find this sequel to be fun and entertaining.

Visit: CinemaStance.com

By Glenn Kay
For the Sun