Driven by continued increases in cases in Bernalillo County and a detention center in Cibola County as part of the second-most COVID-19 cases announced in a single day in the state, the state of New Mexico passed 20,000 total confirmed cases on July 29.

The New Mexico Department of Health announced 352 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six additional deaths related to the disease. The department has counted 20,136 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 632 deaths to date.

Bernalillo County, home of Albuquerque and by far the state’s most-populous county, had 87 new cases of COVID-19, but the Cibola County Correction Center had 76 new cases, more than any other county outside of Bernalillo on...

The Gallup City Council discussed a pair of items related to the Gallup Fire Department’s finances during its July 28 meeting.

Fire Chief Jesus Morales spoke about the items, starting with a budget adjustment to the city’s Fire Protection Distribution Fund.

Back in March, the city was projected to receive about $408,043 from the State Fire Marshal, Morales said, and the city used that amount to budget the Fire Fund for FY21.

The actual amount received by the city turned out to be $616,698, leading to a budget increase of $208,655 in revenue and expenditures.

“We will use part of the actual amount to make the [annual] payment to New Mexico Finance Authority for the loan we...

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez presented a $652 million CARES Act funding proposal to the 24th Navajo Nation Council during a special council session on July 28, including funds for the following:

· Over $143 million for water projects.

· Over $40 million for power line projects.

· Over $94 million for telecommunications and broadband development/implementation.

· $2 million for the Diné Hataałi Association, Diné Medicine Men Association, and the Native American Church.

· $128 million for COVID-19 testing kits, isolation sites/services, emergency medical transportation, mobile medical units, vaccinations, contact tracing/case managers/data...

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez presented a $652 million CARES Act funding proposal to the 24th Navajo Nation Council during a special council session on July 28, including funds for the following:

· Over $143 million for water projects.

· Over $40 million for power line projects.

· Over $94 million for telecommunications and broadband development/implementation.

· $2 million for the Diné Hataałi Association, Diné Medicine Men Association, and the Native American Church.

· $128 million for COVID-19 testing kits, isolation sites/services, emergency medical transportation, mobile medical units, vaccinations, contact tracing/case managers/data...