Is detox center out of the financial woods, though?

The Gallup City Council unanimously approved a $1 million operational allotment related to the Na’nizhoozhi Center, Inc. The action took place at the Oct. 25 regular city meeting and was introduced by City Manager Maryann Ustick.

The agreement takes effect July 1, 2016 so that the city can utilize Behavioral Health Investment Zone funding for detoxification services in fiscal 2017, according to information distributed at the meeting.

“The state will allow the city to back a bill for the detoxification services since the Behavioral Health and Investment Zone Strategy was not approved by the state until Oct. 10, 2016,”...

Details still fuzzy on former coach’s dismissal

Wilbert Nez is the new head girls basketball coach at Gallup High School, officials confirmed. Nez started the job Nov. 1.

The hiring, which was finalized Oct. 28, brings closure to a tumultuous situation that saw the Lady Bengals’ previous head coach, Kamau Turner, terminated from the job by Gallup-McKinley County Schools Superintendent Frank Chiapetti in July.

Nez teaches Navajo language and culture at Gallup High School.

“We have hired a new girls coach for the basketball team,” Dominick Romero, principal at Gallup High, said. “He is someone who has worked at Gallup High the past several years.”

Romero said Nez was...

$103K at stake for Gallup’s Octavia Fellin Public Library

Should a $10.1 million library bond matter go through on Nov. 8, public libraries around New Mexico would benefit in myriad ways, officials say.

Bond B, one of four state bonds on next week’s ballot, would impact public libraries, students from K-12, and construction projects at higher institutions of learning.

Gallup Library Director Mary Ellen Pellington said $103,181.80 is at stake for the Octavia Fellin Public Library and the city’s Children’s Branch. She is urging Gallupians to get out and vote.

“This helps in a tremendous and in a very positive way,” Pellington said. “We’re optimistic that this will...

County Attorney: Departments get fair share of IPRA requests

The McKinley County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an Inspection of Public Records operating policy that impacts the manner in which official information requests are handled.

The new policy was instituted via resolution at the Nov. 1 regular county commission meeting. Commissioner Genevieve Jackson did not attend the meeting.

“Prior to this method, the county was pretty much in line with what the state was doing,” McKinley County Attorney Doug Decker explained after the meeting.

Decker introduced the matter to commission members.

“Now, this is county policy,” he said.

Decker said practically every...