Annual event fosters community-police relations

With many police-community relations broken across the nation, the Gallup Police Department continues their efforts to forge positive relationships with the community by hosting its annual “National Night Out.”

The Aug. 2 event, held at the east-wing parking lot of Rio West Mall, 1300 W. I-40 Frontage Road, and amid balmy weather, marked new Gallup Police Chief’s Phillip Hart’s first year attending the family-fun affair that included helicopter landings, fire department demonstrations, bike safety courses, a climbing wall, three-on-three basketball games, hot dogs, and, of course, Hart’s officers.

“This is about community and police relations,” Hart said. “A lot of people have come up to me since I arrived and shook my hand.”

Mayor Jackie McKinney, one of several members of the Gallup City Council who gave a short speech, said the National Night Out event is important because there are strained relationships between cops and the public everywhere across the nation.

According to national news reports, police officers have been shot and killed in Baton Rouge, La., and Dallas, Texas, in the past few weeks.

“There’s a lot of stuff happening around the country and around the world,” McKinney said to a crowd of a few hundred people. “There have been a lot of sacrifices. A lot of people have given their lives for people everywhere.”

National Night Out is a community-building event that provides local police departments the opportunity to meet and greet residents in a friendly atmosphere. It is celebrated in more than 16,000 communities across the United States.

The event was started in 1984 by the National Association of Town Watch, a nonprofit that develops and promotes crime-prevention programs throughout law enforcement agencies and neighborhoods.

Among the groups represented at the Aug. 2 event were the Gallup Boys and Girls Club, the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office, Rehoboth Christian School, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Civil Air Patrol, Gallup Med-Flight, the McKinley County DWI Office, among dozens of other groups.

Ben Welch, city community services coordinator, said Gallup Councilor Linda Garcia was instrumental in getting the city to stage National Night Out this year. He said former Gallup Mayor Bob Rosebrough started the event in Gallup back in the early 2000s.

“[Rosebrough] started things going years ago,” Welch said. “We’ve tried to hold the event every year since then.”

Garcia was one of the members of the City Council who spoke.

“We must respect the people who protect and serve us,” Garcia said. “Thank a police officer the next time you see one,” she said.

Councilor Fran Palochak also gave a short speech.

“They [police officers] protect people they don’t even know,” Palochak said. “We are very thankful for these public servants.”

Welch and Garcia noted that the event was dedicated to Ashlynn Mike of Shiprock who was murdered and assaulted a few months ago while walking home with a family member. Mike’s father was a scheduled guest speaker.

The message from the event’s speakers hit home.

“I liked it, and if they have it again next year, I’ll come,” Tracy Wynn, 18, a Gallup resident, said. “I think things like this are important.”

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent

Two officers, 13 parade goers injured

A Pinedale man was arrested after he drove through parade barricades and hit several people during the opening parade of the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial Centennial Celebration.

The parade was in progress at approximately 7:50 pm on Aug. 4 when Gallup Police officers received a report of individuals drinking alcohol inside a beige Chevrolet Tahoe parked along the parade route in the area of South Seventh Street and West Coal Avenue.

As the Gallup officers approached the Tahoe to make contact with the occupants, the driver put the Tahoe into drive and took off, heading east on West Coal Avenue. The officers, who were still on foot, attempted to stop the driver but were unsuccessful. Both officers, who were later identified as Elijah Bowman and Gilbert Gonzales, were injured.

The Tahoe continued eastbound on West Coal Avenue toward parade participants while officers attempted to move spectators out of the SUV’s path.

The Tahoe then continued southbound on South Second Street and later east onto Highway 66. The Tahoe suddenly turned south and struck a parked vehicle. The vehicle then backed into a New Mexico State Police unit as officers moved in. The officers then removed the three people who were in the Tahoe and took them into custody.

Echelon Cadman was at the parade with her family, and she got pushed over when people were hurrying to get away from the SUV.

“… [All] of a sudden you heard people shouting and screaming ‘get out of the way, get out of the way’ and then that gold colored SUV came flying down and it started going eastbound, that’s all you could see,” Cadman said of the incident. “And then the crowd just took off and all you could see was people screaming. All you could hear was people running. I was getting up to not necessarily investigate, but to make a getaway, and I was shoved and I ended up on the ground.”

Cadman said that after she got pushed onto the ground, she laid there for about 15 seconds before getting up again. She said that while she was laying on the ground, all she could feel was shock and fear.

“First of all I was in disbelief, shocked, and then once I hit the pavement it was fear, like raw fear,” she said.

Cadman said a lot of families got separated, and people were yelling for their children and loved ones. She said that when the incident happened, her 14 year old son had been getting snacks, so it took some time for her to reunite with him and the rest of the people she had come to the parade with.

Fifteen people were transported to area hospitals after sustaining non-life-threatening injuries in this incident, including Bowman and Gonzales.

The driver of the vehicle has been identified as Jeff Kenn Irving, 33, of Pinedale, N.M. He is now facing charges of an aggravated DWI (2nd offense), accident involving injury/great bodily harm, 14 counts of an accident involving personal injuries that did not cause great bodily harm, aggravated fleeing, driving with a suspended/revoked license, expired registration, and driving without insurance.

Two passengers in the Tahoe, a 23-year-old male and a 29-year-old male, were detained and taken to the Gallup Detox Center.

At this time, there is no reason to suspect this crime was motivated by hate. In addition, no shots were fired during this incident. Contrary to rumors circulating on social media, there were no fatalities in this incident.

New Mexico State Police are leading this investigation. The investigation is being conducted in coordination with the Gallup Police Department. The New Mexico State Police Crash Reconstruction and Drone units are also assisting.

Mark Soriano, a spokesperson for the New Mexico State Police, said that the agency is dedicated to the safety and security of the people of New Mexico.

“The New Mexico State Police want to let the public know how seriously our agency takes matters of safety and security when it comes to events of this nature. We want the public to know - especially the community members in Gallup, and those who attend the Intertribal Ceremonial centennial celebration – we want to ensure them that the event is safe, and we want them to continue to attend the event […}. We encourage them to continue with their plans to celebrate this important milestone in Gallup,” Soriano said in an interview with the Sun.

State Police will provide an increased presence for the remainder of the 100th Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial to ensure a safe celebration, and the parade route for the Aug. 13 day parade has been changed.

The parade route will be on Route 66 and Coal Avenue between Eighth Street and Second Street. All streets, within this area, will be closed to on-street parking from 12 am to 3 pm. ADA parking is available in the Cultural Center parking lot.

By Molly Ann Howell
Sun Correspondent

Rating: ««« out of 4

Running Time: 108 min.

While horror flicks and thriller pics from Blumhouse Productions often follow  supernatural tales along the lines of Insidious, Ouija and The Gallows, it appears that every now and then, the company does attempt some variations on their low-budget genre formula. The Gift certainly falls into this category. There aren’t any vengeful apparitions or undead axe murderers chopping teenagers to pieces. Instead, this is a mood piece, focusing entirely on its characters and attempting to create a general sense of unease.

Co-star Joel Edgerton also serves as writer and director of this effort, and it’s clear that as a performer, he’s far more interested in the characters and their deep-seated motivations than typical suspense film conventions. The plot follows married couple Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall). Simon is a software security salesman striving to make his way up the corporate ladder. After taking a position in the husband’s home town in the hopes of starting a family, the pair run into his old schoolmate, Gordo (Edgerton).

Gordo is genial, but it isn’t long before he begins arriving at the house unannounced and leaving multiple wrapped welcome gifts at the front door. Simon jokingly begins relaying information about Gordo to Robyn, explaining that he was an odd kid who earned the nickname of “Weirdo” during their school days. As Simon politely (and then more explicitly) suggests to Gordo that his attempts at friendship aren’t going to be reciprocated, the acquaintance begins living up to his childhood moniker.

While most films of this ilk would immediately cut to some kind of overt and violent assault/kidnapping scenario, this movie is a slow burn. There’s nothing truly explicit in the film; it merely hints at the possibility of multiple characters becoming violent or acting out, creating a different kind of tension. The photography emphasizes the unease with Gordo’s sudden appearances, using focal length effectively to suggest a moving shape in various background environments.

The three stars also have a lot of good character material to work with. Simon’s attempts at a big promotion and more aggressive techniques towards Gordo raise stress levels and cause a martial rift between husband and wife. The hero role changes dramatically as the story progresses and it’s interesting to see Bateman take on a more complex character with less emphasis on comedy.

Additionally, Robyn begins to suffer from anxiety while home alone, and eventually paranoia as she learns more about her secretive husband’s past. Naturally, there’s plenty going on in Gordo’s head as well, leaving viewers to wonder what the stimulus for his behavior might be. And lest it all seem too solemn, there are even a few moments of subtle black humor. This is highlighted in Simon’s eccentric dislike of monkeys as well as a scene involving a pair of posturing police detectives.

The only problem with a genre film taking a slow approach to the material is that it does lag in a few sections and there are some unavoidable genre tropes that pop up here and there. It also allows viewers time to process what is happening, and many will have figured out the final twist long before the reveal. Yet even so, the cast are fun to watch and the sting is depicted in a thoughtful and unsettling manner. In many respects, the movie presents a more believable and disturbing scenario than its more explicit chiller counterparts.

The Gift is a small and subtle character-based genre flick suggesting that one’s past will always eventually catch up with them. Its simple goal is to be unsettling and the movie generally succeeds. This is not a fast-paced horror show, but it is a well-acted and creepy character piece that should appeal to patient suspense fans in the mood for something just a little different.

An old bowling alley on the south side of Santa Fe has undergone an artistic transformation that promises visitors a unique, multisensory art experience like they have never encountered before. As Meow Wolf gains national attention and accolades, current and former Lobos say they are thankful to be a part of this unprecedented arts and entertainment experience.

It is apropos that the newly renovated Meow Wolf Art Complex was born out of a partnership between Meow Wolf, an arts and entertainment production company, and well-known Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin.

The old Silva Lanes bowling alley had been on the market for six years, with only minimal interest. Meow Wolf CEO Vince Kadlubek worked for George R.R. Martin at Martin’s Jean Cocteau Theater and thought Martin might be interested in the prospect of owning the building.

Over the course of four months, Martin and Meow Wolf hammered out the details. The building was purchased and almost immediately began a transformation. The front of the building was adorned with larger-than-life sculptures loudly announcing Meow Wolf’s presence.

The centerpiece of Meow Wolf’s Art Complex is a recently opened, 20,000-square-foot permanent attraction called the “House of Eternal Return”— an explorable wonderland built for audiences of all ages.

Built on the premise, “Something has happened inside a mysterious Victorian house that has dissolved the nature of time and space.”  Each visitor is invited to choose their own path through the exhibition—walking, climbing, and crawling through “an imaginative multiverse of unexpected environments.” Visitors are encouraged to figure out what happened to the family from Mendocino, Calif., living in the Victorian house in the midst of a dimensional rift.

The scope of this project is made possible by a mastermind of many artists. Adding to this unique experience is artwork and talent by UNM College of Fine Arts alumni and students.

Russell Bauer, who received his Master’s in Fine Arts in art and ecology at UNM, has his original work of art, “Livestock BETA” displayed as part of the house. The sculpture was originally created for his master’s thesis project, “Eat Me.”

The hanging chrysalis-like pod has a three-point computer vision system that allows the sculpture to track movement around it and respond to changes in its environment. During the “Eat Me” exhibition, food grown within the three Livestock pods was harvested and fed to viewers through a series of performances.

UNM alumna Kristen Woods spearheaded the performance aspect of “Eat Me,” which included aerialists on silks serving the food grown from the BETA.

Later, it was Woods who connected Bauer to Meow Wolf ultimately leading to the prototype being fitted with fake plants for permanent display in the “House of Eternal Return.”

“I installed my piece at Meow Wolf, and then came back to help them out because I believe in their mission and want to support the cause as so many folks do,” Bauer said. “There are so many facets in this unique world to explore.”

Larry Bob Phillips, another UNM CFA MFA graduate, painted the murals in the entrance and the eyeballs in the back hall lining the permanent exhibition.

Meow Wolf’s “House of Eternal Return” is becoming well-known nationally. The New York Times captured the experience by writing, “nothing about this work of art is behind velvet ropes.”

But there are multiple people running the project’s day-to-day operations behind-the-scenes. One such person is UNM student Chris Clavio, who took a sabbatical from studying in the electronic arts program to pursue fulltime work with Meow Wolf.

“Working at Meow Wolf is super fun—it’s like a Disneyland exhibit,” Clavio said. “Working day-to-day here is quite an experience.”

Clavio credits Meow Wolf with breaking down traditional barriers for artists. The exhibit is comprised of many different works of art created by professional and amateur artists.

“You can be classically trained or have attended art school.” Clavio said. “It takes a different approach from traditional art in Santa Fe.”

Working with the daily tech team at Meow Wolf is only part of Clavio’s contribution to the project. During its installation, he helped design many of the low voltage infrastructure systems and lead the team that installed most of them. This includes all of the LED lighting in the show, the network backbone and surveillance system.

“The project could not have been a better fit for my skill set,” Clavio said. “A huge amount of the skills I used on Meow Wolf were due to my education in the Electronic Arts program as well as my employment at the UNM ARTS Lab. There I had mentors like Associate Professor Claudia X. Valdes and Associate Director of Immersive Media David Beining who were big advocates for my education and success as an artist.”

Initially, Meow Wolf expected around 100,000 visitors annually to the “House of Eternal Return.” Having only been open since March, the exhibit has already surpassed this attendance expectation, thus solidifying itself as one of the premiere family attractions for both locals and tourists.

By Katie Williams

University of New Mexico