The discussion expands to include education, legislation, systemic problems

SANTA FE—Plaintiffs in the landmark Yazzie/Martinez education lawsuit asked the First Judicial District Court Dec. 15 to order the State of New Mexico to provide computers and high-speed internet access to the thousands of “at-risk” students who lack these necessary tools for remote learning.

“Many children in New Mexico, especially those in rural districts and districts serving predominantly Native American students, don’t have computers or high-speed internet access and have been effectively denied access to public education since the pandemic started, worsening existing education inequities,”...

Gallup — Following this weekend’s authorization by the Federal Drug Administration  for the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services received its first shipment of vaccines on Dec. 16. The New Mexico Department of Health will ship the first allotment of 125 doses from its Albuquerque warehouse and will follow up with two more shipments, a week apart.

RMCHCS will follow the Centers for Disease Control  recommendation and administer the first vaccines to healthcare personnel who directly interact with patients and are at the highest level of risk for infection.

RMCHCS is working with the New Mexico Department...

When President-elect Joe Biden takes office next month, his agenda will hold the hopes of Navajo Nation leaders for the restoration of Bears Ears National Monument.

Bears Ears, which was two-million acres when originally established in 2016 by President Obama, was reduced in size by President Donald Trump in 2017.

“After years of litigation, the Department of Justice looks forward to the Navajo Nation having the opportunity to work with the other tribal parties and the Biden-Harris Administration in a collaboration of sovereigns to permanently restore protections to the lands and sites in Bears Ears, which have great significance to our culture, history, and way of life,” Navajo...

TSAILE, Ariz. — Fearing an outbreak of COVID-19, Diné College conducted its first ever virtual graduation ceremony Dec. 11 during which more than 50 students received associate’s and bachelor’s degrees and certificates.

The graduation ceremony included Spring 2020 and Fall 2020 graduates — the latter of whom weren’t able to participate in an actual ceremony in March due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Navajo Nation continues to have a high COVID-19 caseload and a simultaneous in-person graduation was subsequently canceled.

Amanda Begay, a bachelor’s degree graduate in psychology who is from Lukachukai, Ariz., said the coronavirus pandemic made things that much more...