One suspect had nun chucks

By Bernie Dotson

Sun Correspondent

Darwin Butte and Raymond Martin remain jailed May 13 on individual felony robbery charges after the two attempted a beer heist at the Conoco gas station and convenience store at 3302 W. Historic Highway 66 on May 11, according to a police report.

Both possess prior criminal records and are detained at the Gallup McKinley County Adult Detention Center on $5,000 bonds apiece, records show.

Gallup Police Officer Philamena Chischilly wrote in a report that at about 12:09 a.m. Butte, 34, and Martin, 24, were hanging around the outside confines of the store, at one point entering the store and under the guise of wanting to buy...

Frazier was in Indian Capital three times in 2015

Excitement spread across the Indian Capital the past two weeks as hundreds – perhaps thousands depending on who you talk to – of people partook in the tri-annual family-friendly Frasier Shows carnival at Rio West Mall. Based on the dates of past performances, the event could be coming back to Gallup’s Rio West Mall.

“This was the first time that I brought my daughter, Anne, 10, and my son, Kevin, 13, to Gallup for the carnival,” Jannie Smith, 38, of Window Rock, said. “They like carnivals. The thing is they don’t get to go a lot of carnivals, because they aren’t here in Gallup a lot over the summer.” Anne Smith...

Meth, pipes, scale seized in traffic stop

One of the Gallup men arrested May 3 after a routine traffic stop led to drug trafficking and possession charges, remained jailed this week at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center, a jail official said.

Wade Rodriguez, 23, was jailed on a $3,000 cash only bond, Jail Warden Steve Silversmith confirmed.

Rodriguez and Aaron Gonzales, 26, were stopped at about 10:16 pm by Deputy Johnson Lee of the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office. Rodriguez was charged with trafficking a controlled substance and with the possession, delivery or manufacturing of drug paraphernalia.

Gonzales, the driver of the white Nissan Versa the two were riding in, was...

Seasonal, retail jobs picking up, officials say

New Mexico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.2 percent in March, down from 6.4 percent in February and down from 6.5 percent in February, according to information recently released by the state Department of Work Force Solutions.

In McKinley County, the unemployment rate was 8.5 percent in March, which was a decrease from an 8.8 percent rate in February. In nearby Cibola County, about an hour’s drive from Gallup, the unemployment rate for March was 6.7 percent which represents a drop from a 7.0 rate from February.

The statistics are typically one month behind due to the amount of time needed foe compilation, officials...