Gallup Police Department Lt. Rosanne Morrissette said she received a call at about 5:45 pm this evening that a deceased male was found west of King Dragon restaurant, 1212 U.S. 491.

"It doesn't look like there was any foul play," she said, adding that the body of the unidentified male will be sent to Albuquerque for an autopsy.

And it's not that the police must wait to tell the next of kin before releasing his name to the public – the man had no identification on him. Instead, police are asking for the public's help in identifying the man, which Morrissette estimates to be in his 20s.

The man has a slender build, with his stature on the shorter side. He has short, brown hair with long blondish bangs, and was wearing a dark pull over with brown skinny jeans and sneakers. He has two black rings on his right ring finger, and he's wearing a silver bracelet on his left wrist. Morrissette said the man has a "clean, baby face," leading her to believe that he was younger in years.

According to the Sun's records, this appears to be tenth open area death of the 2015/16 cold season. The Sun will provide updates as this story develops.

April 30 cleanup coincides with Earth Day

From his view just outside of the back door of his business, amid a pile of litter and discarded bulk items, Knifewing Segura, CEO and founder of the Downtown Conference Center on Coal Avenue, said he can only speculate how long the debris will stay in one spot.

Hopefully, not long, Segura muses.

The Comcast cable company downtown cleanup, slated for April 30, is a step is a big help, but definitely not a cure-all.

“There are days when it’s worse than others,” Segura said. “Some people complain, but not nearly enough that should be complaining.”

Segura said the area is a hot spot for drunks and vagrants and that people dump their trash in and around the trash receptacles. Something that he and other business owners can’t take control of in the open alleyways.

“The alleys are really kind of bad,” Segura emphasized. “I’d say that’s probably what a lot of people want is to get some of the stuff in the alleys picked up and thrown away.”

Each year, Comcast undertakes a massive cleanup project around Gallup, whether it be a school, a random street or in parts of downtown. The same type of cleanup project happens in communities nationwide where Comcast operates.

The cleanup is called “Comcast Cares Day.”

“This is something that we do on an annual basis and not just here, but everywhere around the United States” John Ortiz, technical operations manager in Gallup for the cable company, said April 19. “It’s very community-oriented. We always get a lot of people who come out and volunteer their time.”

This year the company will clean, paint and generally spruce up Gallup’s downtown area. Ortiz said no part of the downtown is off limits, noting that the cleanup is slated for between First and Sixth streets and the area between Aztec and Coal avenues.

Both streets are highly traveled by cars and pedestrians everyday.

From 8 am until Noon on April 30, company officials and family members of company officials will plant trees, paint over graffiti, remove debris and just make downtown look that much better, “at least cosmetically,” Ortiz said.

“The area comprises the city’s Business Improvement District. So this area is also set to be cleaned,” Ortiz said. “There are parts of alleyways downtown that contain discarded tires, litter, furniture and junk. We’ll get to everything that we can get to. We plan on being very busy this weekend.”

Downtown’s top official welcomes the effort.

“I think it’s something very worthwhile to do,” Francis Bee, executive director of BID, said. “This is a Comcast effort. They do this every year. But the (BID) is completely on board to provide whatever support that we can.”

Bee noted that he’ll volunteer to do what he can regarding the cleanup come April 30. He said each of the business owners in the BID is gung-ho about the effort.

This includes longtime downtown business owner Sammy Chioda.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Chioda, owner and operator of Sammy C’s Rock N’ Sports Pub & Grille on Coal Avenue, said. “This is actually done every year. I think everybody downtown and even outside of downtown appreciates the effort.”

Gallup City Councilor Allan Landavazo agreed that the downtown alleyways are frequently full of litter and trash. But, he said those areas are the responsibility of the respective property owner.

“The business owners have to pick up the trash with respect to their properties in the alleyways,” Landavazo said. “That’s a big part in keeping those areas clean.”

Landavazo said alley maintenance has actually been listed on the city’s Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan for several years.

But, he said that the infrastructure plan failed to make it past Gov. Susana Martinez’s chopping block.

Landavazo explained what often times complicates things is the fact that people dig through trash looking for aluminum cans, food, and just whatever they deem valuable.

“That creates a mess,” he said. “You have people going through trash. You have animals going through trash. But the alleyways have to be kept a little cleaner.”

Big-picture wise, Landavazo noted that the condition of the city’s alleys, minus the trash aspect, could be a little better.

Meanwhile, Ortiz said Comcast will bring its own cleaning tools and equipment for tree trimming and painting, saying when trash is collected and bundled the downtown business owners have OK’d the use of downtown dumpsters.

From a local standpoint, Ortiz said Comcast budgets around $3,000 yearly to do the project, which includes breakfast, lunch and snacks.

Comcast Cares Day is an annual celebration of the company’s year-round commitment to service and has grown to become the nation’s largest single-day corporate volunteer event, Ortiz mentioned.

In 2015, he said, more than 100,000 volunteers from various places around the country improved some 900 parks, schools, beaches, senior centers and other vital community sites.

He added that since 2001, more than 700,000 Comcast NBC Universal employees, their friends, family members and community partners have volunteered more than 4 million service hours at nearly 6,800 projects in communities across the United States and around the world.

“Participating in this really is something good to do,” Ortiz said. “You don’t have to know someone. You don’t have to pay anything. Just come out and start working. Food and beverages will be provided.”

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent

Former campaign manager says he’s owed $26,000, plus

ALBUQUERQUE – A lawsuit related to a campaign management matter and filed in January 2016 hasn’t yet been settled and it looks like there’s no telling when there will be some closure on it, records suggest.

D. Wonda Johnson, the area state representative who is the subject of the suit, filed in the 2^nd Judicial Court, offered no information April 18 as to when the matter would be disposed of.

Johnson, D-Church Rock, the incumbent candidate for a New Mexico District 5 House of Representative seat, reportedly owes her former campaign manager Keegan King, president of Atsaya, Inc., of Albuquerque, $13,375, plus reimbursements as per a March 2014 consultation and managerial services agreement, according to the 12-page lawsuit.

King further states in the document that Johnson agreed to an additional campaign services payment of $13,375 for the dates of July 1, 2014 to Nov. 1, 2014.

King, who is originally from the Pueblo of Acoma, seeks unspecified damages, according to the suit.

Johnson deferred a telephone call on the matter this week to Daniel Marzec, communications director for the (New Mexico) House Democratic Campaign Committee.

Marzec said, “She (Rep. Johnson) considers it irresponsible to comment at this time on a pending lawsuit.”

He did not provide further comment.

King states in the lawsuit that Johnson did not live up to an oral agreement. After she won the 2014 election, the lawsuit stipulates, Johnson paid just $3,000 of the total amount due to King.

Specifically, the document, filed on behalf of King by attorney Renee Ashley of Albuquerque, alleges breach of contract, breach of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, promissory estoppel, fraudulent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of the Unfair Trade Practices Act.

Johnson beat former McKinley County Treasurer Charles Long for the District 5 House seat and then beat Sandra Jeff of Crownpoint, who ran in the general election as a write-in candidate.

This time around, Johnson faces Gallup-McKinley County School Board Vice President Kevin Mitchell in the June 7 primary.

Johnson did not list the services provided by King on her campaign finance reports as filed from April 14, 2014 to Oct. 13, 2015, according the information on file with the Secretary of State’s Office.

Johnson, a former administrator under Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly and education coordinator with Gallup-McKinley County Schools, told the Albuquerque Journal in 2014 that she previously filed for bankruptcy.

Barry Massey, administrative office of the courts spokesman, said April 19 that a summons regarding the lawsuit remains unserved. “The case is pending and that there aren’t any hearings scheduled on it,” Massey said.

District 5 seat included McKinley and San Juan counties.

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent

Sitting alone at the counter of Cowtown Feed & Livestock along U.S. Route 491, Dudley Byerley, proprietor of the business, gazes out onto the store floor where a few customers browse.

Business is good these days, folks from around the area need dog food, vaccinations, horse feed, ranch supplies, and just plain good, old-fashioned advice on how to address issues with animals, and much of anything else, that occurs at the ranch.

“I get people from all walks of life and I have a lot of repeat customers,” he said. “I guess you can say I was born into this.”

Byerley, 61, was born in Oklahoma and moved with his family to New Mexico during the 1960s, during a time when Gallup and the surrounding area was not as developed as it is now. He was raised in Grants, and his family moved to Thoreau when he was a freshman in high school.

He graduated from Thoreau High School, where he was a member of the Hawks football team and where he also participated in track and field.

Growing up he got involved with selling and caring for horses. Byerley would go on to serve 15 years on the Bi-County Fair Board, and another two years on the state 4H Rodeo Board.

“I’ve been on the New Mexico State High School Rodeo Board for more than 20 years, and have been a member of the McKinley County Soil and Water Conservation District for 10 years,” he said. “And I am in my third year in working with the Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial.”

When Byerley moved to Gallup, he knew that he was home.

“I like the climate, and love the people,” he said. “I can’t really think of any other place I would rather live.”

He currently resides with his wife Bunny on a 100-acre ranch in Gallup. He has three adult daughters and seven grandchildren. Ranching is in his DNA, and he believes strongly in the values it teaches young people.

“I like the lifestyle,” he said. “It teaches kids the responsibility of taking care of animals.”

He added that there’s also a lot of upkeep, from growing grass to making sure there’s plenty of fresh water.

Byerley helped bring the Junior High School Rodeo Finals to Gallup, and the city ended up hosting the popular event from 2005 - 2013. He worked with the rodeo for seven of those nine years.

“When the junior high finals came to Gallup we were able to, along with the city of Gallup, raise scholarships from around $4,000 a year to practically $23,000 a year,” Byerley said. “We raised team travel money from $25 to $1,000 a year per contestant that qualified for the National High School Finals rodeo. I retired from the High School Rodeo, and when I left, the board had $65,000 in CDs to help in the funding of future scholarships.”

He noted the economic spinoff effect of the rodeo to the city with respect to lodging and spending at gas stations and convenience stores, not to mention the downtown shops.

Byerley said the city’s first year there were a little more than 600 contestants.

“When I left there were a little more than 1,017 contestants that stayed in (Gallup) for an average of eight days. That amounted to over $2 million brought to the city during that timeframe,” he said.

Beaver Segotta, a member of the state Rodeo Board, vouched for Byerley’s expertise on rodeos, saying he was an asset during the years that he served on that particular board.

“He was an asset in that he was very knowledgeable and hard-working,” Segotta said. “His knowledge of rodeo is second to none.”

Of the McKinley Soil and Water Conservation District, Byerley said the entity is making big strides on a consistent basis. The district includes all of McKinley County and a small piece of Cibola County.

“Thanks to some of our local legislators we have been able to purchase equipment that is not available in our county,” he said. “That equipment helps farmers and ranchers.”

Some of the undertakings of the district are with tree thinning on state and forest land, salt cedar eradication in McKinley and Cibola counties, and watershed protection projects.

“Our board is part of the landscape team that has been working for the past two years on the wilderness areas in the Zuni mountains and Mt. Taylor,” he said.  “As of two weeks ago we have started discussions on how to best repair and maintain McGaffey Lake.”

Byerley noted that in 2015 the district passed a land use plan, which covers everything from mining to new roads and from wolves to dust control.

“The plan gives us a seat at the table when it comes to bettering the protection of people, forest, wildlife, livestock grazing, and minerals in our district.”

As the current president of the Ceremonial Board, Byerley said he’d like to increase overall numbers at the annual event.

“I want more vendors, more folks in the exhibit area, and more dancers,” he said.

Byerley said this year’s Ceremonial Board is aggressive in their stance to make the annual event packed with more activities than in recent years. The board has also been in discussion with its past membership to restore some events that made the five-day event great in the first place.

Expect more dancers, more local traders back in the trade show hall, and bigger dollar amounts awarded to talented artists. He said that the board is considering adding fry bread and mutton rib eating contests. And the go-getters are working with business owners to encourage traditional dress during the week of the Ceremonial, Aug. 10 -14.

The rodeo plans on bringing back wild horse, hide, and pony express races, along with wooly riding, a fruit scramble, and more. Overall, more awards and prizes will be handed out.

Babette Herrmann contributed to this report.

By Bernie Dotson

Sun Correspondent