Police have arrested one man for the recent murder of a 15-year-old boy.

Gallup Police Officers were called to Ford Canyon Veterans Memorial Park, 908 E. Buena Vista Ave., Feb. 17 around 4:30 pm. Park visitors reported that a person had been shot. Officers found Teagan Morgan, 15, of Gallup behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Morgan was unconscious. Officers administered CPR and he was transported by emergency medical personnel to a local hospital, where he later died.



Detectives interviewed multiple witnesses and reviewed surveillance footage from the surrounding area. According to a press release published March 2, they determined that Valentino Gutierrez, 18, of Mentmore, N.M., had...

Parks and Recreation Director Vince Alonzo wants to put the recreation in “recreational marijuana.” Or more accurately, he wants the Gallup’s cannabis tax proceeds to help fund much-needed park maintenance and improvements.

“We’re calling it recreational marijuana. What about earmarking the excise money for parks and recreation?” He proposed to the city council in a presentation Feb. 14.

Alonzo admits that for personal reasons he was against legalizing marijuana, but acknowledged that cannabis is the state’s top growth industry, no pun intended.

The city’s share of cannabis taxes collected between last April and November was $85,000, Alonzo said, and some...

City officials are scrambling to get help from federal legislators after the Bureau of Reclamation threatened to go back on $18 million in funding for water while the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project is under construction, and reclassify the city’s role in the NGWSP in a way that would force it to pay up front.

The alarming news spurred a trip to Washington, D.C. for Mayor Louie Bonaguidi, councilors Fran Palochak, Dist. 4, and Linda Garcia, Dist. 1, and Assistant City Manager J.M. DeYoung.  McKinley County Commissioner Danielle Notah, Dist. 1, and County Manager Anthony Dimas also made the trip.

Washington-based city and county lobbyists arranged for the delegation to meet...

Featured DWI

Armando Zamora

Dec. 26, 9:53 pm

DWI (Fourth)

McKinley County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a vehicle crash and eventually arrested Armando Zamora, 30, of Belen, for his fourth DWI.

Metro Dispatch received a call in reference to a silver Toyota RAV4 driving off Interstate 40 near the 24.5-mile marker. The caller reportedly saw the vehicle’s headlights turn and go down the hill, which was visible from a nearby store on Highway 118.

Gallup Police arrived at the site and located the RAV4 in a ditch about 200 yards south of the interstate. The vehicle was then under the jurisdiction of McKinley County or New Mexico State Police. MCSO Deputies Lorne Mahkee...