Nugget Gallery, located at 1302 S. 2nd St., was hit by burglars over the Labor Day weekend, who made off with a treasure trove of jewels and antique cash, reportedly worth thousands of dollars.

The culprits cut through the back fencing and broke-in on the south side of the building. Instead of going through a door or window, they chose to pry open exterior metal slats, chiseling their way through the drywall into the establishment.

Owner Steve Coleman gathered there were at least two thieves, given the precision of the operation, which he claims were selective in picking the jewelry of key artists from the gallery’s upscale collection.

He discovered the theft on the morning of Sept. 8, after returning to work from a three-day weekend that he and his wife decided to spend out of town.

To add to his woes, he said that none of his extensive collection is covered under an insurance policy. However, he does have insurance on the structure.

Coleman estimates that thieves made off with $250,000-$300,0000 worth of fine Native American jewelry, silver certificate bills, Morgan and Liberty silver dollars, and more. He said one concho belt stolen was alone worth about $25,000.

Gallup Police Department Capt. Rick White said they are waiting for a list of stolen items from Coleman to officially record the value of the items taken. White also said there was “forensic evidence” left at the scene, which was collected and sent to the Forensic Laboratory Bureau in Santa Fe for processing.

Coleman asked for consumers and local traders to be on the lookout for individuals selling jewelry designed by Tanya Rafael, Nelvin Burbank or Stewart Billy. He said all three artists typically stamp the inside or backside of their pieces.

Burbank, he said, uses “NB” and Billy “SB.” Rafael spells out her name, or at least on the brooch he showed the Gallup Sun.

The culprits were also careful not to break the jewelry cases, even picking the lock on one glass case instead of smashing the glass and taking the contents.

When asked if he thought whether the thieves could be someone in his circle, Coleman said, “I don’t know anyone that would do it.”

He also said the savvy thieves cut the power, which likely prohibited the alarm system from going off.

“Because it was cut … it didn’t go to the police or alarm company,” he said.

Coleman also said Tuesday that his business phone line was down, but he wasn’t clear if thieves cut the actual line.

Coleman is offering a $10,000 reward for the capture and arrest of the culprits and can be reached at (505) 862-4381. White said anyone with information on the break-in is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at (505) 722-6161.

There are always those people who fight against change of any kind, on any subject. The purpose of last weekend’s Community Workshop at the Second Street Events Center was an attempted collaboration among many groups – the City, B.I.D., and the Gallup Mainstreet/Arts & Cultural District to name three – and dozens of individual citizens with ideas of their own.

The consultant team for this effort was led by Charlie Deans of Community By Design and his crew of Sarah Ijai, Paige Winslett, and Lisa Flynn; and was enhanced by Gabe Preston of RPI Economics, Nevin Harwick of Harwick Transportation Group, and Doug Borwick of Arts Engaged Cultural Planning, who was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts..

Charlie led the discussion on Friday evening, explaining the purpose of a downtown redevelopment plan/arts & cultural district plan, defining the boundaries/land ownership and uses, demographics and market/economic highlights, transportation/traffic existing conditions, and opportunity sites (public property, empty buildings, and vacant land).

The accumulation of about 70-80 citizens listened while Deans showed slides of statistics and info that included: Economic Development Tools; Arts & Cultural District Plan and real time schedule; Economic Opportunities, Regional Trade Areas, primary and secondary; Market Analysis; Creative Economy; and Transportation numbers of vehicles, pedestrians, and inter-city transit.

All of this information became the basis for the Saturday clinic, naturally, and served a viable and real purpose in that regard. Talk circulated freely during and after the presentation, most of it positive, and anticipation shone through many of the words discussed by the attendees for this presentation. Some was from recent new-comers and the balance split between relative established veterans of Gallup in many different disciplines or career paths and the very few old-time residents who had experiences not to be denied or ignored.

Ideas and concepts were swirling throughout the room, spilling onto the sidewalk outside where small groups continued talking after the main body had departed. Saturday promised a new beginning for most, and a new spirit of cooperation and advancement for out city.

The Gallup Fire Department responded to 639 calls from July 1 through Aug. 17. The following is a breakdown of what type of calls they responded to.

More than 85 percent of their calls are listed as rescue and emergency calls, and that number breaks down to 563 calls that they responded to for emergency medical services. This volume includes motor vehicle accidents, calls for ambulances, and other medical assistance.

They responded to two dozen motor vehicle accidents without injury, 17 with injuries and seven involving pedestrians in a motor vehicle accident.

GFD responded to nine fire calls, which include one trash or rubbish fire, one mobile property fire, one passenger vehicle fire, one natural vegetation fire, two outside rubbish or trash fires, and two other fires that aren’t specifically broken down.

They also respond to hazardous condition calls, of which they reportedly responded to seven. One gas leak, one extrication, one removal from an elevator, one high angle rescue, three natural gas leaks, two gasoline or flammable liquid spills, four smoke or odor of smoke calls were also all handled in the course of the month and a half long report.

The majority of the rest of their calls breaks down into alarms both intentional and unintentional alarms. False alarms or false calls account for a dozen responses while there were four calls where they were not able to locate anything going on at the dispatched location.

These combined with system malfunctions and not finding any smoke or fire account for 30 or over 4 percent of their responses.

GFD also responded to one lightning strike, two special incidents, two water problems and one citizen complaint.

The report also shows that they responded to 16 service calls and 10 good intent calls.

All statistics are from a computer generated breakdown of major incidents, this is a representation of their call volume and may not include every call that GFD responded to.