Two Gallup residents who sought for years to receive unpaid wages owed by a local business owner finally received their paychecks during the week of April 8 under the terms of a settlement agreement facilitated by the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions and Somos Un Pueblo Unido, a non-profit organization that promotes worker and social justice.

“Persistence is the key word. We didn’t give up. We just stuck with it,” Jose “Pancho” Olivas said.

Jose, along with his wife, Sandra Olivas, worked for more than six months for Morgan Newsom, a Gallup business owner, at his Farmington restaurant in 2014 and 2015 and were not paid for all their hours, including overtime...

McKinley County and gallupARTS have selected three area artists to create site-specific artwork for the rotunda of the McKinley County Courthouse complex in  downtown Gallup. In partnership with the State of New Mexico’s Art in Public Places Program and gallupARTS, McKinley County leveraged “1% for the arts” funding to launch a commission-based project for public art to fill the circular rotunda with 360 degrees of beautiful, representative, and engaging art.

The selected artists are:

Monty Claw - Diné painter and silversmith Monty Claw, from Gallup will create three mural-sized paintings to hang in the alcoves surrounding the southern half of the rotunda. Claw will paint...

Navajo Technical University announced on April 17 that the highly competitive Udall Scholarship program awarded Counseling student Myka Jensen an Honorable Mention.

The Udall Undergraduate Scholarship honors the legacies of Morris and Stewart Udall, whose careers had a significant impact on Native American self-governance, health care, and the stewardship of natural resources. The Udall Foundation recognizes students committed to careers in Native health care, including health care administration, social work, medicine, counseling, and research into health conditions affecting Native American communities. Over 400 students at over 150 universities applied for Udall...

Crownpoint High teacher helps students engage in learning

Each month, the Sun recognizes a local teacher for his or her determination to help students go above and beyond. Anyone can nominate a teacher by emailing the Sun at

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and providing the teacher’s name, where they teach, and why they should be selected as that month’s winner.

This month’s award went to Shelia Ganzon, who teaches health sciences and chemistry at Crownpoint High School.

 

PATH TO TEACHING

Ganzon didn’t always want to be a teacher. She was originally working as a chemist in a lab in the Philippines. But after a change of heart, she decided to go into teaching.

She taught...