Photos by NativeStars

Local resident and writer Gaye Brown de Alvarez has taken her 20 years of interviewing people as a journalist, combined her knowledge as an editor and thrown in her imagination to publish three novels.

Available in the Kindle format on Amazon.com, two of the books, “Chihuahua For Sale” and “Chihuahua Cage,” are the story of a young woman who gets a little too involved with the drug trade in Northern Mexico.

The third book is “Mona Lisa Navajo,” which is a murder mystery set in Gallup.

All three pieces of fiction are based on stories told to Brown de Alvarez by different people.

“When my husband, who was in the import/export business told me stories of things that...

Each month, Gallup Rotary Club selects outstanding high school students in order to honor their academic achievements. Front Row: Kylynn Brown, Navajo Pine; Mary-Trynee Canete, Miyamura; Pashen Beyale, Wingate. Middle Row: Glen Ratmeyer, Rehoboth; Ricardo Rico, Gallup; Adrieanna Stewart, Gallup; Brianna M ortensen, Gallup Middle College. Back Row: Wayde Morgan, Crownpoint; Stephen Buddy Joe, St. Michaels; Ty Metteba, Window Rock; Kobe Natachu, Zuni; Jeremiah Salez, Miyamura; Philbert Joe, Tohatchi; Israel Gonzales, Thoreau; Maria Ladon, Ramah. Photo Credit: NativeStars

Gallup Reads is just one of the educational programs that work well, though it is not included in the general curricula of Gallup McKinley County Schools. The concept was passed through the local Gallup-McKinely Chamber of Commerce after several board members had visited Albuquerque’s chamber and heard about the program set up in New Mexico’s most populous school district.

When the chamber decided to pursue this system in Gallup, the name was altered for local flavor and board member Linda Murphy picked up the original banner to get the program started and helped to handle the $10,000 donation from the chamber to purchase books.

Formerly in the banking business, Murphy recruited...