FARMINGTON, NM – A Navajo Nation company is taking over the operation of a coal mine it owns in northwestern New Mexico.
The Navajo Transitional Energy Co. has owned the Navajo Mine since 2013 but had contracted with a subsidiary of the North American Coal Corp. to run it.
Clark Moseley, the company’s chief executive, said the Navajo company will take over on Friday.
The mine that feeds the adjacent Four Corners Power Plant has nearly 400 employees — 85% of whom are Native American. Moseley said the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. will retain the workforce.
The company is one of the largest coal producers in the United States as the resource is increasingly falling out of favor. The company owns three coal mines in Montana and Wyoming, and a share of the Four Corners Power Plant near Farmington, New Mexico.
Woman found dead at Saguaro National Park in Tucson
TUCSON – A woman has been found dead at Saguaro National Park in Tucson, park authorities said.
The body was located Wednesday near the Grass Shack campground on the south side of the Rincon Mountains. Authorities said the woman had obvious signs of trauma.
Authorities didn’t say Thursday if the woman has been identified yet.
Due to the investigation, park officials said the campground will be closed through at least Sunday.
The park is named for the large saguaro cactus, native to its desert environment.
Saguaro National Monument was created in 1933, expanded in 1961 and became a national park in 1994.
Tucson man accused of illegal voting while he was in jail
TUCSON – An Arizona grand jury has indicted a Tucson man accused of illegally registering to vote and casting a vote while he was an inmate at the Pima County jail, authorities said Thursday.
The indictment alleges 45-year-old Kenneth Russell Nelson falsely completed a voter registration form in 2018 indicating that he had not been convicted of a felony or that his rights had been restored.
It also alleges Nelson had previously been convicted of a felony offense and had not had his rights restored since a 2017 conviction.
Nelson reportedly voted in the 2018 primary and general elections and in the 2020 general election.
He was dictated on one count of false registration and three counts of illegal voting.
It was unclear Thursday if Nelson hath a lawyer who can speak on his behalf.
Nelson’s next court appearance is a Nov. 8 pretrial conference in Pima County Superior Court.
The case is being prosecuted by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office Election Integrity Unit.
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