DEVELOPING STORY

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent

An early morning fire at a west side motel destroyed one room and damaged at least one more, officials said.

Capt. Marinda Spencer, public information officer at the Gallup Police Department, said police and fire units were dispatched to the Budget Inn at about 5:20 am on Jan. 10. Upon arrival, a first floor room was in flames, she said.

Both the fire and police departments are investigating the incident, Spencer said. The cause of the fire is preliminarily believed to be arson, she added.

A vendetta over some stolen weed and property reportedly led to a Sunday evening shooting at 702 Julie Ct., in the Mossman neighborhood.

Whatever ax Julian Richard Giron had to grind with the man that supposedly made off with his pot and things, was unleashed on someone else's home.

Giron, 18, fired twice at the home of Frank Diaz with a 12-gauge shotgun sometime after 9 pm that evening.

He was taken into custody Monday evening and booked for shooting at an inhabited building, shooting from a motor vehicle, criminal damage to property and three counts of aggravated assault.

And this wasn't Giron's first time at the residence.

Diaz told Gallup Police Department officers that Giron...

Public Stadium now Angelo DiPaolo Memorial Stadium

The Gallup-McKinley County Board of Education put off to a later date the contract of Interim Superintendent Mike Hyatt so that more time can be given to work out details of the document. That was the consensus of an executive session after the Jan. 3 regular school board meeting held at school district headquarters.

Hyatt got the temporary job Dec. 19 after board members released Frank Chiapetti at a meeting in Pueblo Pintado. There were no definitive reasons given for the paid administrative leave act, Chiapetti said after the meeting. Chiapetti had worked with the Gallup-McKinley County School District for about three years and...

One write-in candidate files for Zuni Public Schools seat

Two candidates have withdrawn from the District 5 race for seats with the Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education, officials confirmed.

McKinley County Director of Elections Rick Palochak said Amparo Beatty and Carmen Radcliff withdrew from the District 5 race this week. That leaves candidates Esther Macias, Gerald O’Hara and Michael Schaff in that race.

“There have been a couple of changes,” Palochak said. “We also have the final ballot order.”

The first week of Jan. 3 was the deadline to file as a write-in candidate for school board seats as well as seats on the board of Zuni Public Schools. The two...