Finds lack of tracking, accountability for $20 million

SANTA FE – State Auditor Tim Keller released a “Risk Review of Administrative Support of Charter Schools” Aug. 29. The report from the Office of the State Auditor reveals a lack of transparency and accountability for funds withheld from charter schools intended to provide administrative support to safeguard education dollars at those schools and help them succeed. Over a five-year period, nearly $20 million was withheld from charter schools, much of it which cannot be tracked to specific expenditures to support those schools.

Charter schools in New Mexico are overseen by the Public Education Department, or the school district...

Students at UNM-Gallup now have even more reasons than ever to be “lifelong learners” thanks to some new initiatives at the campus.  UNM-Gallup functions as a two-year community college but with the closure of the Extended University site over a year ago, students have had a harder time accessing upper division bachelor and graduate coursework.  With the expertise of Melissa Collings, Educational Site Coordinator, and Roxanne Escajeda, Student Recruitment Specialist, students can now explore additional educational options once they graduate from UNM-Gallup.

Escajeda currently works to recruit students into online programs available through the UNM main campus in Albuquerque. ...

The City of Gallup Emergency Management Team conducted an emergency practice drill Aug. 23, at the Waste Water Treatment Plant, 800 Sweetwater Rd. in Gallup.

The drill simulated a toxic chlorine leak from a one‐ton cylinder that is a key product used to process wastewater by the WWTP management company CH2M Inc.

Participants in the drill included the Gallup Police Department, Gallup Fire Department, McKinley County Fire & Emergency Management and Metro Dispatch.

Practice drills are conducted occasionally to help facilitators train and evaluate current emergency protocols and equipment and determine when changes are necessary.

By Tom Hartsock


Sun Correspondent

It has become a joke in our society, but it really is not funny. The older person, usually a lady but not necessarily, who has taken in more cats or dogs than is responsible for them to keep, especially in the city.

It is a disease, with a name long enough to trip over, that affects caring people who honestly want to do the right thing and wind up with a total mess on their hands. Some call these folks animal hoarders, other collectors, but whatever the term, a mobile home on the 600 block of Jay Street in Gallup became overran with cats.

Gallup-McKinley Humane Society animal control officers are still trying to rectify the problem, which began...