Man's Best Friend: Kelly Baste of Gallup and his two-year old German short hair dog Nickel, wrestle over a frisbee at the Veteran's Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon during a game of catch. Kelly says that Nickel has been a huge part of his life especially in the past year after Kelly lost an eye. Nickel has helped Kelly regain some of his depth of perception from playing catch on a weekly basis. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

Firefighter training: Students from the four-day beginners Extrication Class for Firefighters pull back the roof of an old car donated by the City of Gallup on Sunday afternoon. The students are from seven different local county departments and are all volunteer firefighters. The instructors from the class come from all over the area from Alamagordo to El Paso, Texas and many have been teaching firefighting for many years. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

3A Champions: The Monument Valley Lady Mustangs basketball team raise the 3A Girls basketball championship trophy over their heads Saturday as they celebrate their victory at the Glendale Arena in Glendale, Ariz. The Mustangs defeated the Snowflake Lions 64-51 to capture the championship title. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

Ramah Lake shimmers with a quiet beauty on an unusually warm February afternoon. Frommer's, an international travel guide company, recently named Ramah, N.M. in it's "Top 10 Up and Coming Destinations for 2006," much to the surprise of local residents. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent] Full Story