Staff Reports

Due to ongoing repairs to the main water supply for Gallup — the Grandview water tank, which is a major 16-inch water main — on Sept. 15, the city of Gallup imposed the following water restrictions:Outdoor irrigation at city facilities is prohibited until further notice.Outdoor irrigation and outdoor water use by residents and commercial businesses is prohibited until further notice.The washing of automobiles, trucks, trailers, boats, airplanes, or other mobile equipment is prohibited, unless the washing of vehicles/mobile equipment is done at commercial car washes.

Gallup residents are also asked to conserve water by any reasonable means until further notice. The...

Update: Obama, government agencies put a stop to pipeline for now.

Udall, Heinrich, Lujan, and Grisham pen letter to Obama, asking for intervention

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján and Michelle Lujan Grisham sent a letter to President Obama Sept. 8, calling on the administration to intervene in the recent escalation of violence by private security personnel against Native protestors over the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The New Mexico lawmakers took action in response to the growing concerns in tribal communities across New Mexico about the First Amendment rights and abusive treatment of Native...

Governor backs out from attending

On Sept. 7, New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department held a “Pull Together” rally at Gallup High School’s Kenneth Holloway Auditorium. The event was spearheaded by CYFD Cabinet Secretary Monique Jacobson, the main speaker at the event.

Gov. Susana Martinez, who originally planned on attending the event, did not make it to Gallup. Her absence may have contributed to the low attendance during the afternoon event.

But with news of the event being released to the public one day before the event, the attendance was dismal – 48 in all.

GMCS Public Relations Director Teri Frazier said a CYFD spokesperson told her to release...

Vanessa Bowen wants to highlight Native pride, ‘hózhó’

Former Gallup resident Vanessa Bowen did what she felt was necessary to counter what she said was a hateful political message put out by Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump.

A few months ago, Native-born Bowen began creating hats bearing the words “Make America Native Again.” The words are a take on Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” but they’re also inspired by Native American history and values.

“I was terrified of what our country would become if Trump was to be elected president,” Bowen, a Gallup native and former marketing and event coordinator at the city’s Business...