WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Attorney General Ethel Branch announced Sept. 13 that  former K’ai’bii’to’ Accounts Maintenance Specialist Berniece Pinto-Denetdeal has pled No Contest to one count of fraud and one count of forgery.

Pleas of No Contest are treated as Guilty for sentencing purposes.

Defendant Pinto-Denetdeal used her position as an Accounts Maintenance Specialist to forge signatures of other Chapter officials to issue checks to herself that she was not entitled to. In order to conceal her actions, she falsely recorded information in the Chapter’s accounting software.

The total loss to the Chapter and the Nation amounts to approximately $32,559.

Defendant...

DOH recommends flu vaccines for everyone 6 months and older

Staff Reports

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Health announced the first laboratory confirmed cases of flu of the 2018-2019 season Sept. 18. All three persons, ages 8, 11 and 13 years old, live in Quay County and reported no recent out of state travel.

“We encourage New Mexicans to get their seasonal flu vaccination – the sooner the better,” Department of Health Cabinet Secretary Lynn Gallagher said. “The exact timing and duration of flu season changes year-to-year, but flu activity often begins to heighten in October.

The DOH recommends everyone six months of age and older get the flu shot every year...

On Sept. 16, at about 5:30 pm, the New Mexico State Police investigated a fatal crash on Interstate 40 around mile-post 56, between Gallup and Grants.

The initial investigation indicated a 2013 Ford was traveling east on I-40. The rear passenger tire blew out on the vehicle causing it to enter the dirt embankment where it began to roll.

The female passenger, Michelle M Arnold, 51, of Grants, sustained fatal injuries, and was pronounced deceased on scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator.

The male driver, who will not be identified was 59, and also from Grants. He was airlifted from the scene with unknown injuries.

Alcohol does not appear to be a contributing factor in the...

By Cody Begaye

Sun Correspondent

The Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project was discussed once more at the Gallup City Council regular meeting on Sept. 11.

Water and Sanitation Director Dennis Romero was present to address three items on the agenda pertaining to the NGWSP.

The first item Romero spoke for was the Water Trust Board loan and grant application for Project 10 of the NGWSP.

Project 10 includes 16-inch, 12-inch and 8-inch waterlines from the terminus of Project 3 to the City of Gallup main water system at the Cresto Tank. The waterline will run three miles in an east-west direction. Project 10 also includes a three million gallon storage tank and corresponding pump station...