The ban on big fireworks in McKinley County could possibly continue for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday due to the state’s current drought.

During the May 4 commissioners meeting, McKinley County Fire Chief Brian Archuleta updated the commissioners on the ongoing severe drought situation in the county.

McKinley County is in the D3 and D4 intensity zones as of April 29, according to the U. S. Drought Monitor. These intensity zones show areas where fire damage is extreme, irrigation allotments are decreased, vegetation and native trees are dying, federal lands are closed for fire precautions, burn bans are increased, and large rivers like the Rio Grande are dry.

The...

On May 4, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Navajo Region Facebook proclaimed the Salt Creek Fire to be 422 acres in size and 95 percent contained as of 8 pm.

The fire was detected on May 2 approximately five miles northwest of Shiprock.

The fire was visible in some surrounding communities including, but not limited to Shiprock, Hogback, Gadii’ahi/To’Koi (Cudeii), and Nenahnezad.

Evacuations have been lifted and Mesa Farm Road has reopened. But drivers are asked to use caution and proceed at slower speeds as fire resources will still be working in the area.

Crews continue to mop up and further secure the fire perimeter. This means they will be working 66 feet from the fire edge and...

The Gallup-McKinley Community Schools district has something to celebrate after a judge ordered the State of New Mexico to make sure at-risk students have access to the internet.

During the May 3 GMCS school board meeting, Superintendent Michael Hyatt announced that the judge had decided in favor of New Mexico schools on April 30. He explained that the state would finally be in charge of providing students with technology.

“The pandemic really illuminated the problem we faced as a school district with adequate funding for such things as technology in the classroom; devices and those types of things that we need to not only provide a sufficient education – but during a pandemic...

When Julie Badonie was growing up in the small Navajo community of Tohatchi in the 1940s, her father drove a horse-drawn wagon early each morning to a nearby spring. There, he filled wooden barrels with water the family would use that day to drink, cook, and wash.

Badonie, the youngest of seven children, including brothers who fought in World War II and the Korean War, or one of her siblings would go along. She remembers it as fun. At home, a hose siphoned the water into buckets to bring into the house.

Badonie left for boarding school in kindergarten, first just a few miles across town, then several days’ travel away in Crownpoint, where an older sister worked as a cook, and...