Author: Donovan Quintero

Farmington’s city-owned electric utility has completed installation of two new natural gas power generation engines at its Bluffview Power Plant as the region adjusts after the San Juan Generating Station, a coal-fired plant near Farmington, shut down in 2022.

Derrick Watchman told a House subcommittee that federal economic development programs in Indian Country need legislative and administrative changes to work more smoothly for tribes and Native entrepreneurs.

A bid by a convenience store and gas station near the Navajo Nation border to sell packaged liquor is drawing resistance from residents and chapter officials who say the proposal could revive alcohol-fueled deaths, family trauma and public safety strain that communities along U.S. 191 and Interstate 40 have spent years trying to recover from.

Navajo Nation Controller Sean McCabe told Council delegates Monday night that $347.544 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds remain unspent as payroll errors and unpaid vendor invoices add pressure ahead of a Dec. 31, 2026, federal spending deadline.

What began as President Buu Nygren’s State of the Navajo Nation address on Monday during the Winter Session became more than five hours of sustained questioning, scrutiny and debate as members of the Council pressed the administration on stalled projects and unspent federal relief dollars. The session stretched well into the evening and returned repeatedly to a central question, whether remaining time and resources can be turned into on-the-ground results before deadlines expire.