Author - The Durango Herald

Navajo police chief leaves for same job in hometown in N.M.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The police chief on the Navajo Nation is stepping down to oversee a much-smaller police department in the town where he grew up. Phillip Francisco took over the Navajo Nat...

DATE: Nov 30, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Infrastructure bill to aid water projects on Navajo Nation

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Tribes welcomed an infusion of money in the massive infrastructure bill to expand broadband coverage, fix roads and address water and sanitation needs, but they say real c...

DATE: Nov 17, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Program to kill Grand Canyon bison nets 4 animals, criticism

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Day 3 and the shooters were waiting under the cover of pine trees for the rain to let up. Thirty minutes later, a single branch snapped, revealing a small herd of bison in...

DATE: Nov 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

Airman convicted of kidnapping, killing Farmington woman in 2020

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Sasha Krause loved words. She loved learning and translating them into different languages. She loved reading them in nursery rhymes and assembling them into poetry. She w...

DATE: Oct 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: New Mexico

Arizona murder case against US Air Force airman goes to jury

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – No one saw Sasha Krause being taken from a Mennonite community in northwestern New Mexico where she worked in the publishing ministry, dominated in card games and pingpon...

DATE: Oct 8, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Southwest hits impressive rainfall during summer monsoon

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Cities across the Southwest hit impressive rainfall totals this summer, bringing much-needed – but temporary – relief to a region that has been mired in drought. The winte...

DATE: Oct 2, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Jury seated in case of man suspected of killing Farmington woman

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Opening statements in the case of a U.S. Air Force airman charged in the shooting death of a Mennonite woman are scheduled to start Friday. Mark Gooch, 22, faces up to lif...

DATE: Sep 22, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Airman on trial in Arizona in death of Mennonite woman

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Jury selection began Tuesday in a case against a U.S. Air Force airman accused of kidnapping a Mennonite woman, fatally shooting her and leaving her body in a forest clear...

DATE: Sep 21, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

California water agencies resolve Colorado River dispute

Two major California water agencies have settled a lawsuit that once threatened to derail a multi-state agreement to protect a river that serves millions of people in the U.S. West amid grip...

DATE: Sep 20, 2021 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

Airman’s attorney aims to limit evidence at murder trial

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – An Arizona judge ruled Thursday that expert testimony on cellphone data will be allowed in the case of a U.S. Air Force airman who is accused of kidnapping and killing a M...

DATE: Sep 9, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Rainy season unleashes with fury, beauty in Southwest

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – After two bone-dry years that sank the U.S. Southwest deeper into drought, this summer’s rainy season unleashed with fury. Monsoon storms have brought spectacular lightnin...

DATE: Sep 3, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Scientists launch effort to collect water data in West

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday announced a new kind of climate observatory near the headwaters of the Colorado River that will help scientists better predict rai...

DATE: Aug 25, 2021 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life