Zoo’s new facility educates about, protects livelihood of sacred bird

On July 1, after five years in the making, The Navajo Nation Zoo opened the doors of its Eagle Aviary and Education Center, a facility with space for over 25 injured birds. The sanctuary provides refuge for and care to eagles that are not releasable into the wild.

“We currently have six Golden Eagles at the Navajo Nation Eagle Sanctuary. All of the eagles are Golden Eagles ... no Bald Eagles yet,” zoologist David Mikesic told the Sun. “Two of our eagles are able to fly short distances, but four have had partial wing amputations, so they are un-flighted.”

Annually, the zoo sees around 40,000 visitors...

On July 23, a memorial service and military ceremony will be held to honor Gallup’s oldest veteran, who is interred at Hill Crest Cemetery. Jose Del los Reyes Bustamante was a veteran of the Civil War who fought in the battle at Valverde.

The ceremony will be held at 10:30 am at Hill Crest Cemetery, located on Aztec Avenue in Gallup. Civil War Historian Jerry Thompson will also be in attendance to help honor this soldier, as well as reenactors and other community volunteers.

The service is open to the public.  There will be a special program/reception following the ceremony at a location to be announced.

Born in 1844, Jose Del los Reyes Bustamante was a private under the command...

The waiting game for the fireworks display at the Sports Complex began even before 6 pm, and by 8:30 the entry roads around the park were full, as were the accessible pieces of bare earth on both sides of the 602 Bypass.

And still traffic flowed – sometimes cautiously, sometimes not – as more and more vehicles searched aimlessly for a spot with a view.

It was after 10, and full dark, before the thump, whoosh, and bang concert got started, breaking open the night sky with drizzles of colors and starbursts of quickly fading light.

With shutter speed of the camera turned down by a notch, the images became more surreal. These lasted longer in your memory than the sharpness of ‘the...

Who would have thought a tough Marine veteran, and former bass player for a death-metal band would be belting out cutesy love songs with none other than his two little girls. Rippy Williams — a Dineh musician and single father of Lily, 11, and Lola, 9 — is passing his talent onto his daughters while entertaining local audiences. The Sun caught up with Rippy and the Sillyettes to find out more about this unique Gallup trio.

Gallup Sun: Rippy and the Sillyettes: How did you come up with this name?

Rippy: There’s this band called The Raise from the 1950s, and they had this song called, “Two Silhouettes on the Shade,” so we learned that song and my youngest daughter, Lola...