TSAILE, Ariz. — Diné College’s Shiprock campus will get a new $5 million math and science building, thanks to Gov. Susana Martinez signing off March 7 on a bill approving the issuance and sale of more than $165 million in general obligation bonds.

The bond amount includes statewide projects such as senior citizen facility improvements, libraries, higher education institutions and tribal schools. The dollar figure is part of New Mexico’s bigger $6.3 billion annual budget. Voters go to the polls in November to approve the bonds, which determine if the proposals move ahead.

School officials have been pushing for a new health facility for years, waiting their turn at a share of...

MCSO deputies Johnson Lee and Roxanne Slim were dispatched to 1267B Highway 122 March 9 over reports of a man who had fired a gun. The report to officers advised that the suspect was yelling and driving in his CMV truck, and it was unclear whether or not he was under the influence of drugs.

As the two were on their way to the scene, they were informed that the suspect had left the scene and was driving east on Highway 122. Lee and Slim attempted to locate the vehicle but were unable to.

Fortunately for officers, the reporting caller found the suspect’s driver’s license, and asked they meet him at their home. The witness told officers he had heard two shots go off and then saw a...

Johansen Keeto

March 3, 4:59 pm

1st DWI

Gallup Police Department Officer Norman Bowman stopped a car on U.S. Highway 491 and Coal Basin Road after hearing reports of a drunk driver in that area. GPD Officer Francie Martinez arrived shortly after to assist in the investigation, after the driver, Keeto, 24, admitted to Bowman that he had been drinking.

Keeto told Martinez he had consumed two cans of beer before driving, according to the police report. Martinez could smell alcohol coming off of Keeto, and wrote that he had “glossy red blood-shot eyes” on his report. Keeto performed field sobriety tests for Martinez, and showed signs of intoxication throughout. Keeto...

ALBUQUERQUE – Randy Payton, 35, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Churchrock, N.M., was sentenced March 8 in federal court in Albuquerque to 137 months in prison for his voluntary manslaughter conviction. Payton will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Payton was arrested on Oct. 19, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with killing a Navajo man on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County on Oct. 14, 2016. According to the criminal complaint, Payton killed the victim by hitting and kicking him repeatedly during a fight. Payton subsequently was indicted on the same charge on Nov. 15, 2016.

On July 18...