The McKinley County Board of Commissioners had two items on the agenda of their Sept. 1 meeting that reflects the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the local economy.

County Manager Anthony Dimas, Jr. presented the items to the board. Both items involved adjustments in the county budget that was discussed at a prior meeting.

“When we presented the regular budget back in May, Sara [Saucedo] and I said we knew the pandemic was going on, and that we’d look at the first quarter results of FY21 and then we’d have the results for you by October,” Dimas said. “With the recent announcement of the Gallup refinery losing their number three taxpayer, we felt it best to bring to...

RMCHCS hires third interim CEO since Conejo’s departure

Mary Bevier took the helm as interim CEO at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services when CEO David Conejo was terminated June 11. She had been the hospital Chief Financial Officer.

She was then joined by Steve McKernan as acting CEO. McKernan had also been a CFO at UNM Hospital for almost eight years and a CEO for 21 years.

Bevier has now returned to her duties as CFO at RMCHCS and the hospital board of trustees has announced the appointment of interim CEO, Don Smithburg.

Smithburg began his work at the hospital Sept. 1 and will remain for 12 months.

A native of Albuquerque and senior healthcare executive, Smithburg...

ALBUQUERQUE – Harrington Alonzo, 34, of Pinehill, N.M., was sentenced Aug. 31 in federal court to 10 years of custody.

In January, Alonzo pled guilty to charges of assault with a dangerous weapon in Indian Country, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and possessing and discharging that weapon as part of the assault.

According to Alonzo’s plea agreement, he committed this crime in Cibola County on April 24, 2019. Alonzo unlawfully assaulted a Navajo Nation police officer by shooting at the officer with a semiautomatic handgun.

The officer was responding to a domestic dispute between Alonzo and his girlfriend.  Alonzo is an enrolled member of...

The FBI has released a poster in the Navajo language to remind the public the agency is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the 2014 death of Amy Lynn Hanson.

Hanson, who lived in Tohatchi, was last seen alive two days before her body was found in an arroyo at State Route 602 and Blue Medicine Well Road in Red Rock, N.M., on the Navajo Nation, on Nov. 30, 2014.

The cause of death was blunt force trauma. Hanson was 25 years old at the time of her death.

The FBI and Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety are investigating.

Anyone with information about Hanson’s death is asked to call the FBI...