UPDATE - Body ID'd

By Bernie Dotson

Sun Correspondent



The remains of a man found on Gallup's west side May 15 have been identified as Michael Lewis, 55, of Sanders, Ariz.


On May 8, the family of Lewis had circulated flyers in the area, saying that they had last seen him at the hair salon in the Gallup Walmart at about 3 - 4 pm on March 27.



Capt. Marinda Spencer, public information officer with the Gallup Police Department, said on May 15 that a call came into dispatch at about 10:26 am regarding the found body.



"We got a call from the workers that were working that area," Spencer said.


However, she said that police don't suspect foul play in this case.




Spencer...

Kozeliski gives David Gallup painting to city

The Gallup City Council passed its fiscal 2018 preliminary budget May 9, getting the document ready for final state submission in about a month. The $92 million proposed budget is set to come back before council members at the June 13 regular city meeting for formal adoption and prior to submission to the state Department of Finance.

The entire council and department heads met over the past month in two informal workshops to fine tune the document. The budget includes $29,271,391 in the city’s general fund and $7,529,749 in cash reserves.

“It’s good to see a balanced budget,” Gallup Councilor Yogash Kumar said. “Unlike the one...

A May 4 brush fire near the intersection of Patton and Dairy drives was quickly extinguished by crews from the Gallup Fire Department, according to reports.

Gallup Deputy Fire Chief Jesus Morales said a call regarding what looked like a tree on fire came into dispatch at around 6:05 pm. When firefighters arrived, there were residents of the neighborhood attempting to put the fire out.

“We don’t encourage that,” Morales said of resident participation. “This was a brush fire. We were able to contain it.”

Morales said the fire was centralized behind a church near the intersection. He did not identify the church in the fire report. He said the fire was put out by using hand...

McKinley County to steadily monitor TCC

The McKinley County Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 May 9 to renew the lease of the Thoreau Community Center. The Community Center, whose executive director is Priscilla Manuelito, appeared before the panel last month in a last-ditch effort to get funds and argue for keeping the rental agreement in place.

The current agreement was put into place four years ago and expired in 2015. Manuelito told commissioners at an April 25 county meeting that the expiration matter just slipped everybody’s mind.

“This is a very good sign,” Manuelito said after the meeting. “Obviously, the Community Center is something that is very much needed in...