Improved drought conditions lead to lift on firework ban

Fireworks are making a comeback to McKinley County for Cinco de Mayo this year.

McKinley County saw severe drought conditions in 2021. The U.S. Drought Monitor is released by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

As of April 1, 2021, it showed McKinley County in the D3 and D4 intensity zones.

These intensity zones show areas where fire damage is extreme, irrigation allotments are decreased, vegetation and native trees are dying, federal lands are closed for fire precautions, burn bans...

A Gallup police officer is currently on administrative leave after hitting a minor.

On Dec. 5, around 1:08 am, McKinley County Sheriff’s deputy Terrence Willie was sent to 607 Pillar Ave. in Gamerco in reference to a domestic dispute. The caller explained to the Metro Dispatch that a man, Justin Benally, 29, had hit his young cousin, who is a minor.

The caller told Metro Dispatch that Benally was intoxicated.

When Willie and MCSO Sgt. Johnson Lee arrived at the scene, Willie spoke to two witnesses, Benally’s mother and father.

According to the criminal complaint, the two parents said that Benally had been arguing with his ex-wife.

When Benally’s mother walked into the living...

FIGHTING AT THE MOVIES

Gallup, April 9

A Gallup man reportedly got upset over Sonic the Hedgehog.

Around 5:29 pm on April 9, Gallup Police Officer Julio Yazzie was dispatched to the Red Rock 10 movie theater, 3711 Church Rock St. #4523 because of a domestic dispute. Metro Dispatch informed him that the man he was looking for was Darren Charlie, 27, from Brimhall N.M., and that the man had a warrant out for his arrest.

Yazzie found Charlie walking west on Church Rock Street. Yazzie got out of his patrol car and asked the man to stop walking. Charlie responded by putting his hands up and walking backwards into an open field. He refused to stop and told the officer he didn’t do...

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for the homicide of Lee Michael Pahe.

On July 26, 2021 at approximately 12:52 pm, Pahe was found deceased on the ground next to a water pump in Naschitti, N.M., on the Navajo Nation. The cause of death was a gunshot wound.

Authorities were told that Pahe, then 30, was last seen leaving a residence in Navajo, N.M., at 2 am on the day his body was discovered. Pahe was resident of Fort Defiance, Ariz.

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.