New program attracts buyers, sellers to one location

Navajo horses, a three-part series

Horses, some branded, others not, were guided into a corral at the Shiprock Fairgrounds on a recent, chilly November morning. Some horses appeared calm and quiet, absorbed in their horsey thoughts, while others were energetic, making their presence known by trotting in the corral and whinnying loudly.

Throughout the day, vehicles pulled up to the corral gates to offload horses they were looking to sell.

Prospective buyers, sellers and Navajo Nation employees were on hand at the “Voluntary Horse Sale” in Shiprock, N.M. Nov. 13. They chatted outside the corral while horses moved about...

ALBUQUERQUE – The director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish will hold a listening session to hear public comments on proposed changes to the furbearer rule Nov. 27.

Proposed changes include mandatory trapper education, increasing set-back requirements, allowance for closure of areas to trapping, signage and further clarifying the definition of a trail.

The listening session will be conducted 6:30 to 8:30 pm Nov. 27 at the department’s Northwest Regional Office, 7816 Alamo Road NW in Albuquerque.

Comments can be provided by mail: New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Attn: Furbearer Rule Development, P.O. Box 25112, Santa Fe, NM 87504; by email,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or...

Four acute hepatitis A infections confirmed in Albuquerque area

The New Mexico Department of Health is investigating an outbreak of hepatitis A in Bernalillo County. NMDOH reported Nov. 19 that since the end of October, four acute hepatitis A virus infections have been reported in adults ranging in age from 34-53 years.

Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease that results from infection with the hepatitis A virus. It can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a severe illness lasting several months.

Hepatitis A is usually spread when a person ingests fecal matter, even in microscopic amounts, from contact with objects, food, or drinks contaminated by the feces...

Policy imposes work requirements for insurance eligibility

WASHINGTON D.C. — President Russell Begaye took a hard stance against a Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services policy that imposes work requirements on individuals as a condition of eligibility for health insurance Nov. 15.

The CMS in January unveiled a policy requiring work or community engagement from “non-elderly, non-pregnant adult Medicaid beneficiaries who are eligible for Medicaid on a basis other than disability.”

In a letter to tribal leaders, the CMS claimed that allowing policy waivers would violate federal civil rights laws that bar discrimination based on race or national origin.

In his statements to...