Monument Valley / Oljato

San Juan County river region schools adjust to online learning

Students in Bluff, Montezuma Creek, Monument Valley, and Navajo Mountain are back to learning despite the challenges of not physically being in their school buildings. The decision for the river region of the San Juan School District (SJSD) not to physically return to school was made based on...

Schools throughout San Juan County, included pictured Monticello Elementary, will delay their start by two days

San Juan School Board finalizes plans for start of year

San Juan County School Board finalized plans ahead of the start of the academic school year later this month. Key items passed include 100 percent remote learning for students in the south part of the county for the start of the year. The district moved the first day of school for students from...

Bill could help provide water to Navajo Nation

On June 4, the U.S. Senate approved a bill to settle longstanding water rights questions for the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation. Supporters hope the bill, if passed into law, would help extend drinking water to many of the isolated corners of San Juan County. It would transfer of up to 81,500...

Reservation lands receive delivery of sheep

Hundreds of live sheep were delivered to needy families on the Navajo Reservation on Memorial Day as part of the “Farmers Feeding Utah” project. The distribution was for families in the Montezuma Creek, Aneth, Red Mesa, and Tódahadekanii areas. An additional distribution of live sheep will take...

Graduation for Class of 2020 to take place virtually this week

In one of the most unexpected conclusions to a school year ever, area students are set to receive diplomas this week from the five San Juan School District high schools. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in at-home education during the entire fourth quarter of the school year. While the hundreds...

Monument Valley graduation 2020

The senior class at Monument Valley High School is set to graduate on Friday, May 22 with a virtual graduation at 2 p.m. The event will be presented on the MVHS Facebook page. The valedictorian is Alyvia Battles and the salutatorian is Karrilyn Yellowhair. There are 33 students in the senior class.

Navajo Strong – Empowering the citizens of the Navajo Nation with essential supplies

Last weekend, like the two previous weekends before, Bud Frazier was out delivering critical supplies to dozens of families in the Navajo Nation. Without physical addresses in very remote places, it was difficult to find the families who had reached out to Frazier for help. But when he finds them...

Virus counts more than double in past week

The number of reported cases of the COVID-19 virus in San Juan County exploded in the past week, largely due to more than 1,500 additional tests that have been administered. The Utah Department of Health and Utah Navajo Health Systems (UNHS) teamed up for two days of free testing on April 30 and...

Sixteen local teachers earn test score bonus

Sixteen hard-working educators in the San Juan School District received a surprise during the last week of the school year: a $4,600 bonus. The teachers earned the bonus as a result of growth in the test scores of students in their classrooms. This is the third year of an incentive program that...

COVID-19 cases grow, expand into Blanding

The number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases in San Juan County is expected to grow in coming days as the results of a mobile testing unit continue to roll in. The virus has infected residents of most communities in the county, including Blanding, Bluff, Montezuma Creek, Monument Valley, and Navajo...