Greg Ballenger is an 18-year-old artist who dreams of showing in a gallery in Santa Fe soon and New York City later. He is the guy seen on scaffolding painting black and white portraits of veterans in downtown Gallup.

So far, he has completed a mural for Sheila Silva on Second Street and one for Tom Hartsock in the downtown walkway.

Ballenger attended Rehoboth Christian School. He left Rehoboth after his sophomore year for Idyllwild Arts Academy in California. Idyllwild is a boarding school for aspiring artists. By completing his studies there he received a high school diploma and an art certificate.

One of the requirements to receive the art certificate was completion of a...

It was a hot Friday last week, June 26, but the temperatures failed to keep close to 200 from attending an outdoor celebration at UNM-Gallup North Campus.

The event was held to commemorate the service of nine military veterans, and a civilian worker at the Gallup Community-based 0utpatient clinic. The celebration started a few minutes late, but that was not a worry for the crowd, most of whom stayed throughout the event.

Richard Wade played a few introductory tunes on his saxophone during the delay and Dawn Martinez welcomed everyone in attendance before the UNM-G Color Guard posted the colors. Anderson Lee became part of that presentation when it was announced that the...

The University of New Mexico - Gallup Campus is proud to and welcome Mrs. Cynthia M. Jarvison as the Director of the UNM-G Small Business Development Center.

The SBDC is a partnership of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of New Mexico, Santa Fe Community College and UNM-Gallup.

In her new role, Cyndi will be responsible for management and operation of the SBDC which will include consulting with clients in the areas of strategic planning, business development, financial evaluation and marketing within McKinley County.

“We are very happy to welcome Mrs. Jarvison to the UNM-Gallup community,” said Al Henderson who was the interim SBDC Director.

Jarvison is a member...

Editor’s note: here’s an article about one woman’s ordeal with a mouse. In this area, I am sure in this we have all had our experiences with mice – for better or worse.

“This is a little story about how I rescued a mouse from what could only be described as a cruel, and very slow, death. Living in a brand new home in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where virtually every house has a basement, is where my story begins.“

The half of the basement on the west side of the house is where I’ve chosen to set up shop, because two of the three basement windows are located on that side, letting in much more natural light than the east half of the space. As of yet, our basement is still...