WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – On Aug. 24, the Navajo Department of Health and the Navajo Epidemiology Center issued a Health Advisory Notice to inform the Navajo people of the first confirmed case of Monkeypox on the Navajo Nation. The individual is a member of the Navajo Nation residing in McKinley County.



In July, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez established a Monkeypox Preparedness Team tasked with monitoring, planning, and coordinating precautionary efforts to address Monkeypox, which was spreading across the country at the time. On Aug. 10, President Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer issued a letter through the Navajo Nation Washington Office to U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S...

Window Rock, Ariz. – The Navajo Department of Health issued two new Public Health Emergency Orders on Aug. 19, updating the mask mandate for outdoors, updating gathering limits, declaring “medium risk” for the Navajo Nation, and guidelines for schools and businesses.


Under Public Health Emergency Order No. 2022-007:

·       All individuals on the Navajo Nation two years of age and older shall wear masks while indoors. Masks are only required outdoors when individuals are less than six feet from each other.

Under Public Health Emergency Order No. 2022-008:

·       All businesses are permitted to operate at 100% maximum capacity and must continue to comply with the...

Two officers, 13 parade goers injured

A Pinedale man was arrested after he drove through parade barricades and hit several people during the opening parade of the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial Centennial Celebration.

The parade was in progress at approximately 7:50 pm on Aug. 4 when Gallup Police officers received a report of individuals drinking alcohol inside a beige Chevrolet Tahoe parked along the parade route in the area of South Seventh Street and West Coal Avenue.

As the Gallup officers approached the Tahoe to make contact with the occupants, the driver put the Tahoe into drive and took off, heading east on West Coal Avenue. The officers, who were still on foot...

Water and water-related projects top the city’s priority list for capital improvements in the next year, but other plans are also in store.

The city council  approved the list, with one addition, with a little more than a week to spare on the Aug. 19 state deadline. The short list is important because it locks in those priorities for funding opportunities from the state for a year.

Topping the list are new water wells, wastewater treatment plant improvements and replacing cast iron pipes underground, some of which date back to the 1920s.

“We are in desperate need of our wells,” Planning and Development Director C.B. Strain said.

Rounding out the short list are plans for a...