Cultural and political rifts widen as newly elected Navajo commissioners of San Juan County, Utah, govern by resolutions approved without advice or informed consent of those governed. Critics say the commissioners’ private attorneys writing those resolutions and offering legal advice…
Rebecca Benally and Rob Miller are civic-minded: Benally, as a Navajo deeply engaged in developing a more prosperous San Juan County, Utah, and preserving her heritage independent of powerful forces beyond the county that, in her opinion, would permanently damage…
I’ll tip my hat to the new constitutionTake a bow for the new revolutionSmile and grin at the change all aroundPick up my guitar and playJust like yesterdayThen I’ll get on my knees and prayWe don’t get fooled again “Won’t…
I rarely write about myself, so bear with me. Nick Sandmann, a student at a Catholic high school in Covington, Ky., has been vilified far and wide based on this photo. Prominent liberals have labeled his smile a “self-satisfied smirk”…
“Battle Over Bears Ears” is a one-hour documentary produced by KUED in Salt Lake City. According to the station’s website, it “explores the deep connections to place and the vast cultural divides that are fueling the fight over how the…
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. William Shakespeare,…
A recent op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune raised concerns yet again about the impacts of oil and gas developments at Big Flat in Grand County, near the boundary of Dead Horse Point State Park. Jacques Hadler, the manager of…
A long-time Navajo politician and advocate for Bears Ears National Monument and related tourism development won the June 26 Democratic primary for District 3 San Juan County (Utah) commissioner. Kenneth Maryboy defeated incumbent Rebecca Benally by 39 votes, 705-666, according…
PART I: A latter-day David and Goliath saga The home of the Pyramid Lake (Nev.) Paiutes is pristine and spectacular. The lake is quiet, commercially primitive, other-worldly. It constantly changes color from shades of blue or gray depending upon the…
On Dec. 4, 2017, President Trump signed a proclamation at a made-for-media event inside Utah’s Capitol in Salt Lake City that shrank Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. The executive decree slashed two of his Democratic predecessor’s executive decrees…
