Gallup Sun

Ÿ On May 20, 1506, the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain. The first European to explore the Americas since 10th-century Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland, he traveled the West Indies, South America and Central America, but died feeling he had been mistreated by his patron, King Ferdinand of Spain.

Ÿ On May 21, 2000, the bones of President James Garfield’s spinal column, showing where one of two assassin’s bullets had passed through it in 1881, were displayed for a final day at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C., in an exhibit featuring medical oddities from the museum’s archives.

Ÿ On May 22, 1856...

DEAR PAW’S CORNER: My 7-year-old cat, “Sunbeam,” has a tough time in the spring when the pollen starts to fly. He sneezes frequently, his eyes water and he scratches hot spots on his skin. I’ve tried many things to reduce the allergens in the home: I vacuum every other day, run an air purifier near where he sleeps and I brush his coat daily. None of that seems to help. What else can I try? — Harry in Pittsburgh

DEAR HARRY: You’re doing your best to reduce airborne allergens, and that’s great. However, because it doesn’t seem to be helping, it’s time to enlist the help of your cat’s veterinarian.

The vet can suggest some other ways to reduce allergens in the home, and...

Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent for Mother’s Day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday.”

Once a major tradition in the UK and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church”—the main church in the vicinity of their home—for a special service.

Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other...

Funding issues could have canceled rodeo


The Best of the Best rodeo is set to take place June 21-24. But at the beginning of April, there was some uncertainty about whether or not the event would even happen.

Gallup’s Interim City Manager J.M. DeYoung spoke in front of the city council during their April 9 meeting, voicing his concerns about the finances behind the rodeo event. It is a city event, meaning that in the past, the city saw revenue come in from it.

However, McKinley County took over the park management of Red Rock State Park from the City of Gallup in August 2022, and last year’s Best of the Best rodeo was the first time the event was under the county’s control...