Red Rock veteran Stand Down aims to help homeless vets across country

The New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services hosted the Fourth Annual Veterans Conference at Red Rock Park Nov. 1-2.

The two-day event included multiple guest speakers on topics related to health and wellness, meals for conference visitors and a 5K Fun Run/Walk on Nov. 1.

Veterans, along with their families and friends, visited information booths from organizations like AARP, Western Sky Community Care and Octavia Fellin Public Library to learn about local services such as military surplus, housing, employment, vaccination and overall well-being.

Registered veterans participated in a Stand Down, a...

Just before Veterans Day, the nation suffered a substantial loss with the death of Joe Annello, who passed away Nov. 7 at the age of 85 in Colorado.

Annello, born May 4, 1933, was perhaps best known in the region as a good friend and close ally of Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura, Korean War veteran and Gallup native. The two reportedly served as prisoners of war together, and that is when their bond first emerged.

The story of Miyamura and Annello is chronicled in Miyamura’s book, Forged in Fire: The Saga of Hershey and Joe.

“He was a really nice guy, I met him several times,” Dave Cuellar, head of Gallup Veterans Helping Veterans, said during a Nov. 14 phone interview...

First N.M. hospital honored five consecutive years, ranked top 10 in U.S.

Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services is the first hospital in New Mexico honored with a “Patient Safety Excellence Award” for five consecutive years.

The award by Healthgrades, the leading US provider of comparable data on approximately 4,500 acute care hospitals and more than three million physicians, ranks RMCHCS in the top 10 percent of the nation’s hospitals for patient safety. Categories include preventing infections, medical errors, and other complications based on 14 standard patient safety indicators.

RMCHCS is distinguished in the survey with “overall patient safety” by...

SAN FRANCISCO— During a roundtable discussion on Oct. 30 between tribal leaders and Region 9 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, President Russell Begaye pressed federal administrators to grant the Navajo Nation authority to manage its own environmental functions.

The roundtable, an integral part of the 26th annual Region 9 Tribal/EPA Conference, brought together leaders from many of the 148 federally recognized tribes in the states of Arizona, California and Nevada. Hosted by Region 9 Administrator Michael Stoker, the roundtable allowed leaders to ask questions and voice concerns.

Begaye asked Stoker to develop a process that would transfer federal EPA authority to...