Deputy Jerald Watchman and Deputy Dewayne Holder were called to 206 Summit Avenue in Gamerco on Feb. 26, around 3:30 am. They were responding to a call about a gunshot victim.

A man named Thompson Becenti met the deputies in the yard outside the trailer home. He told the officers that the victim was in the trailer.  Holder went inside, where he met the victim Brandon Kiyite, sitting in a chair just inside the door.

When Holder asked him what happened, Kiyite said a man had taken his car and shot him. He said he didn’t know the man, but that he told Kiyite that he worked for the cartel.

Holder asked about the shooter’s race, and Kiyite said he thought he was Native. He described...

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for the death of Isiah Terrell Billy.

On Oct. 5, Billy was found deceased in a wash east of the Sinclair gas station near mile marker 23 on U.S. Highway 64, in Shiprock, New Mexico.

The cause of death is pending, but considered suspicious.

Billy, who was 30 at the time, lived in Shiprock, on the Navajo Nation.

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

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at (505) 889-1300 or go online at tips.fbi.gov.

‘Game changers’ for the state

The U.S. House and Senate passed the American Rescue Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package, on March 10, and New Mexico leaders wasted no time discussing what the ramifications of the package mean for the state. This discussion was held in an online roundtable on March 10.

While most of the discussion has been spent on items like the $1,400 stimulus payment for qualifying Americans and extension of unemployment insurance, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., wanted to highlight the other parts of the Act that he believes are game changers for New Mexico.

“This is going to supercharge the already robust efforts of our governor and...

Week ending Friday, March 5, 2021

Waning Stream

The Gulf Stream is at its weakest in more than 1,000 years, which scientists say could curb its climate-moderating effects for Europe and disrupt the overall North Atlantic Ocean circulation. Several studies have linked the slowdown to climate change brought on by human activity. Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, a research team says it found the slowdown began about 1850, but has undergone a dramatic decline since the 1960s. “If we continue to drive global warming, the Gulf Stream System will weaken further — by 34 percent to 45 percent by 2100, according to the latest generation of climate models,” team member Stefan...