Gallup Sun

Welcome back to another look at highlights coming your way on Blu-ray and DVD. There are a couple of big hits arriving, as well as some intriguing older films. So if you can’t make it out to the movies this week, be sure to give one of these titles a try!

Big New Releases!

Citizen Soldier - This documentary follows the National Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team stationed in Afghanistan. Cameras are mounted on helmets and move with them as they perform a tour of duty. Reception from the press was decent for the doc. Several believed it provided an interesting, first-person perspective from the front lines, although others felt a little uncomfortable about the film...

More than a week into the 2016-17 school year, few educators in the area had enough time to recall the previous year. School is in session, and there’s much to be done to make sure every student and an entire classroom get off to the right start.

However, Camille’s Sidewalk Café took a moment on Aug. 20 to appreciate last year’s winners of the “Teacher of the Month” awards, as well as to unveil the “Teacher of the Year.”

Leaders of the awards committee considered handing the awards out at the end of May or the beginning of June. The owner of Camille’s, James Rich, however, recognized that many teachers would like to enjoy their hard-earned summer vacation free from...

In a time of turmoil and police shootings, law enforcement has recently been portrayed in a dark light. But a portrait created by Gallup artist Ric Sarracino paints a fresh perspective of the men and women who enforce the law.

Sarracino’s painting, “Thin Blue Line,” tells a unique story.

Within the painting, Sarracino says, “There are three lines, the middle line is blue and the top and bottom are black. The top black line represents the civilians, the middle blue line represents the police, the bottom line represents the criminals. So in order for the criminals to vandalized the civilians, they have to pass thru the police.”

The artist says the idea for the painting came...

Fun-loving Filipino Cultural Extravaganza benefits RMCHCS

Recently, headlines were made because of alleged disparaging comments about Filipino teachers made by Sandra Jeff, the newest Board of Education member for Gallup-McKinley County Schools. Last week, the Sun reported on the heated Aug. 15 school-board meeting and the large turnout by the Filipino community.

Jeff reportedly told an area media group in a July 28 story that teachers who hail from the Philippines don’t speak English “as well as they should.” The commentary featured more alleged stinging comments, with Jeff supposedly asserting that Filipino teachers were merely foreign exchange students.

In response, the...