In keeping with the Christmas holiday season, the state has announced a tiered “red to green” system which is meant to help counties reopen further when they meet key health metrics.

The shift in the state’s “reopening” framework will come after a two-week “reset” period, in which state health officials enacted the most heightened level of statewide public health restrictions upon places of business and day-to-day activities in an effort to blunt the spread of COVID-19 all across New Mexico.

“The county-by-county framework enables counties, and the businesses and nonprofits within their borders, to operate with fewer restrictions when they slow the spread of the virus...

The City of Gallup experienced a water outage on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26 when there was a break on a connector near the airport which affects the northside and southside of the city.

Gallup Water and Sanitation Executive Director Dennis Romero told the Gallup Sun Nov. 27, “It looks like something started about 3 am and didn’t break until 7:05 yesterday morning.”

He said the department learned of the problem around 7:10 am, when complaints began coming in from the trademark pressure zone.

The leak was isolated around 9 am and Romero said it took another two and a half hours to re-route the water to bring the pressure back up.

Water service for the area was restored around 1:30...

Invent a — whatchamacallit

A refrain from an old Arlo Guthrie tune is “I don’t want a pickle, I just want to ride my motorcycle.”  With the closing of the power plant at Prewitt and the shutdown at the refinery, what our county could use is a motorcycle manufacturing facility. The county and the state are laying out a number of aids to help existing businesses to improve and to encourage new business ideas that can flourish as going concerns.

To get your entrepreneurial juices flowing I’ve listed below several very successful ventures started by individuals who in dealing with problems in their lives made transformative innovations – and made themselves lots of...

Allegations of case count cover-ups, improper cleaning

Concerns about the dangers of COVID-19 and Gallup McKinley County school classrooms have led to numerous allegations that the school district is hiding the number of COVID cases and school classrooms are not being properly cleaned.

Those concerns were broadcast by an Albuquerque television station Nov. 17 using unnamed sources.

One source who contacted the Gallup Sun and did not wish to be named, said GMCS Superintendent Michael Hyatt is covering up the number of confirmed COVID cases in Gallup public schools.

WHAT DO THE NUMBERS SAY?

The New Mexico Environment Department Rapid Response COVID-19 Watchlist shows 222 positive...