The race for McKinley County Sheriff is coming to an end with the June 7 election around the corner.

The purpose of this Q&A is to widen the community’s knowledge of these candidates to better understand how they would respond to certain situations. And also to shed light on issues that law enforcement currently face.

Sheriff candidate Francie Martinez was not interviewed by deadline, due to scheduling conflicts.

 

Questions:

1.  Tell me a bit about yourself and your background.

2.  What sets you apart from the other candidates?

3.  If you could change one thing about Gallup, what would it be?

4.  What would you do to ensure that people of color in our community...

New Mexicans go to the polls June 7 for the primary election and to decide several local offices. Polling sites will be open from 7 am to 7 pm (see list of McKinley County sites below).

As a practical matter, most McKinley County races will be settled with next week’s election because all of the candidates are from one party. Winners will not be sworn in until Jan. 1, 2023, and their names will still appear on the November ballot, but as unopposed candidates.

County Races

County Sheriff candidates include one Republican, Elreno C. Henio of Thoreau; and four Democrats: Matthew K. Hughbanks, Francie L. Martinez, Paul R. Lucero and current undersheriff James Maiorano III, all of...

Gallup Special Olympics athlete Cameron Cheromiah was honored as the 2022 Special Olympics New Mexico “Athlete of the Year” at the SONM State Summer Games in Albuquerque on May 20.

Cheromiah was nominated for this award by Pam Burgess, one of his Special Olympics Gallup track and field coaches, and was recognized as the 2022 SONM Area 6 “Athlete of the Year” at the Area 6 track and bocce competition on April 30.

Some of the qualities that Burgess highlighted in her nomination was Cheromiah’s friendliness and sense of humor, as well as his willingness to lend a hand and make new athletes feel welcome.

“Cameron is a joy to be around,” Burgess said. “He works hard and...

Opened in 2015; slated to close in 2026

About 2,000 military veterans rely on Gallup’s VA clinic as their first point of contact for health care. They aren’t happy that the clinic is on the chopping block as part of a national effort to rebalance veterans’ health services and infrastructure.

New Mexico has eight VA community-based outpatient clinics. Four are slated for closure: Gallup, Las Vegas, Raton and Espanola. All together, they serve a little under 5,000 veterans.

Without the clinic, Gallup veterans who aren’t eligible for services from IHS will have to go to Albuquerque for primary care, Dave Cuellar, head of Veterans Helping Veterans, said. Many older veterans...