Time seemed to pass quickly this year. Even so, area residents and former residents were able to achieve a great deal, as evidenced in the following review of the news of 2025.
January
The Navajo County Board of Supervisors addressed economic updates in the region including a $20 million investment, $10 million from the county and $10 million from American Rescue Plan Act funds, into broadband fiber to build what is called the “Middle Mile” broadband fiber loop from Phoenix to Joseph City. The loop concept ensures that even if there was a break in service, that break would not impact the rest of the line. The Middle Mile allows for internet providers and large industry to connect and expand operations. Chairman Jason Whiting explained that the cost for private industry to do that was too exorbitant, creating a deterrent to development. “More and more businesses are realizing that their people can telecommute; that people can work from anywhere. I’ve seen in our communities that we’re getting more people who want to move out of the cities and into the rural area. If we have more broadband and more stability inside of that, long-term jobs can be here for larger employers that are looking to come to this area and those people wanting to telecommute.
February
Jefferson Elementary School Principal Dr. Amber Martinez was selected by the Winslow Unified School District Governing Board as the new superintendent. Martinez replaced Connie Gover who had dedicated 40 years of service in education almost all was spent at WUSD.
The Winslow City Council approved a preliminary area of development for a 14.5-acre lot that will hold 80 duplexes or 160 total units. The council had declared a state of emergency surrounding housing during the previous meeting, which may have largely motivated them to vote in that way. Fourteen members of the public spoke during the call to the public for this development who, among other things, were largely upset with the number of units and the increase in traffic it will cause.
The Navajo County Board of Supervisors approved the certification of the E-2 Environmental Review Record, Documentation of Exemption for the Joseph City Pedestrian Improvement Project. The county, in cooperation with the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), planned a pedestrian improvement project in Joseph City, which was determined lacks facilities for pedestrians, including school children, and this project will provide safe access to new ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) sidewalks, multi-use paths and road crossings.
The City of Holbrook found themselves in a budget crisis after spending an unprecedented amount on attorney fees over the fiscal year. “We are on track to spend over a half a million dollars on attorney fees,” Mayor Kathleen Smith said during discussion on the issue. The city originally budgeted $123,000 for attorney fees for the fiscal year. This is up from the previous year’s budget in which the city budgeted $55,000 and spent $67,000.
The Petrified Forest National Park felt the impact of the Trump administration’s widespread federal workforce reductions, losing an unspecified number of employees across multiple departments. NPS had laid off over 1,000 employees across the country in a sweep that began in February, weeks ahead of tourist season for many of the 63 national parks, including the Petrified Forest National Park.
Navajo County Recorder Timothy Jordan was indicted for disorderly conduct, false reporting to a law enforcement agency and disorderly conduct with a weapon. The indictment stemmed from an incident on Oct. 23 of the previous year when Jordan was involved in an apparent road rage incident near White Mountain Christian Academy in Show Low.
Arizona senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego announced that Northern Arizona University (NAU) will receive a $589,002 grant through the EPA’s American Indian Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP) to help tribal communities monitor and protect air quality on their sovereign lands. “Tribes across Arizona are working to protect air quality and keep their communities healthy,” said Kelly. “This gives them the tools to track air quality and protect public health—ensuring cleaner air for tribal communities now and for future generations.”
March
Global Logistics Development (GLD) Partners addressed the Winslow City Council regarding the trade port to be built on land adjacent to the Lindbergh Parkway and Highway 87. When the parkway is built, it is not associated with the project being developed by Atlas Global Development, but a multi-modal logistics site developed by GLD, meaning it could accommodate both rail and truck freight, and serve as an interchange between the two. The City of Winslow joined other partners in the trade port development deal, including Kingman, and Albuquerque and Bernalillo County both in New Mexico. The contract is effective from February 2025 to August 2026 and isn’t to exceed $75,000. The partners said the project has already received $40 million in public and private investment, including a $15 million RAISE grant, recently renamed BUILD under the Trump administration.
The Holbrook City Council called an emergency meeting that culminated in a vote of 6-1 to serve City Manager Sharon Jakubowski Wolz a 90-day notice of termination. The sole dissenting vote was from Councilmember Robert Black. The special meeting was called the day after the regular meeting of the council, in which the city spent most of the time discussing budget pitfalls due to the exorbitant amount being spent by the city on attorney fees and the shift in budget priorities due to unplanned expenses. Mayor Kathleen Smith said the decision for termination came as a result of the uncontrolled spending, as well as other administrative concerns.
A population survey revealed a minimum of 286 Mexican wolves distributed across Arizona and New Mexico. This increase marks the ninth consecutive year of population growth, the longest continuous streak since recovery efforts began. The 2024 count represented an 11% increase from the minimum of 257 wolves counted in 2023. Survey results show the population is distributed with a minimum of 162 wolves in New Mexico and 124 in Arizona.
Holbrook Unified School District Governing Board approved the redrawn single-member governing board ward boundaries. The redistricted boundaries of the five district wards were presented, with Ward 1 having a 98.87% indigenous population; Ward 2, 71.66% indigenous; Ward 3, 81.35% indigenous; Ward 4, 32.94% indigenous; and Ward 5 29.2% indigenous. Each ward’s total populations vary between 1,857 members to 2,012. Redistricting will occur every 10 years.
A pivotal moment in water rights history unfolded as federal legislation to ratify the historic Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe water rights settlement was reintroduced in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) jointly introduced the bill in the Senate. This legislation marks the culmination of years of negotiations over the tribes’ respective water rights in Arizona. The tribes and most of the settlement parties have been engaged in water rights litigation since the 1980’s. From 2018 to 2023, the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo Nation participated in several trials in Arizona state court to protect their respective water rights in the Little Colorado River general stream adjudication. In 2024, the tribes reached a negotiated settlement agreement with the major water users in northeastern Arizona, including the State of Arizona, the Central Arizona Project, the Salt River Project, local cities and towns, and many other private and public entities. This settlement process allowed the parties to negotiate and resolve issues beyond the scope of the adjudication, such as infrastructure, funding, and water resource management. In a remarkable display of unity, all three tribes ratified the settlement agreement in May 2024, which has since garnered approval from all other involved parties, underscoring its broad-based support and collaborative spirit.
After more than six decades of service Cholla Generating Station in Joseph City ceased power production and began the process of complete decommissioning. The plant has been a generational provider for families in the region. The closure presents a challenge to offset the economic loss with new industry.
The Pentagon called the removal of Navajo Code Talker content a “mistake,” vowing to restore material taken offline during a scrub of DEI content. The explanation didn’t sit well with Peter MacDonald, 96, one of just two surviving Code Talkers and a former Navajo Nation chairman. He objected to any implication that celebrating heroes who helped to win World War II equates with “diversity, equity and inclusion.” “Some of these people who are taking the pictures or stories off their shelves are either racist or they have absolutely no understanding of what DEI stands for,” stated MacDonald. “You’re not only erasing Navajo culture but you’re also eliminating Navajo code.” Defense Department officials said the mistake occurred as part of the effort to comply with President Donald Trump’s order to end DEI policies and delete all references to DEI.
April
The Navajo County Board of Supervisors recognized the Joseph City High School girls basketball team for earning the 1A state championship, with a 64-55 win over Fort Thomas under the direction of Coach Dan Bushman.
Arizona passed House Bill 2281 in 2025, creating the Turquoise Alert System, a new alert for missing Indigenous and endangered persons, also known as “Emily’s Law,” named after Emily Pike, with activation criteria including unexplained circumstances, being under 65, and local resources exhausted, to aid in swift recovery using state emergency alert systems. HB2281 explicitly focuses on missing Native persons or non-Native endangered individuals and aims to address the growing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples in Arizona’s 22 federally recognized tribal nations.
Tony and Cindy Jaquez family, owners of the Jack Rabbit Trading Post west of Joseph City, continued in their efforts to preserve cultural icons along Route 66 by working to reconstruct Ella’s Frontier Trading Post once located in Joseph City and now moved next to the trading post.
Local leaders from across Navajo County came together to welcome ZenniHome to Snowflake and acknowledge the significant impact this development will have on the regional economy. ZenniHome presented their plan to bring high-paying manufacturing jobs to Snowflake at the former papermill site. The 300,000 sq.ft. facility on the previously abandoned site was projected to create 200 new jobs and six to eight housing units per day. The second phase of the project is anticipated to begin in 2027 and will create over 1,000 total new jobs and produce 20 housing units per day.
May
Holbrook Unified School District teacher Kyle Gardner addressed the impact of AI on instruction at the high school “The reality is, it’s not the future, it’s the now,” stated Gardner, “So the need for students to understand AI going into the workforce is immediate.” A survey conducted by Gardner showed that 50-55% of staff is already using AI tools in their work for things such as lesson planning, grading and differentiation, but are reluctant to use it on the student level. “Some of the concerns teachers expressed was obviously academic integrity. Is this cheating? Are our kids just using chat GPT to write their papers for them?” Gardner also addressed other issues that arise when discussing AI utilization, but the consensus reached was teachers want it to be used in effective and proper ways. After extensive research, Gardner concluded AI is most impactful as an assistance tool. “One of the other tough things is the research says that teachers are going to have to change how they teach. It’s going to be a major, major adjustment, because we can’t ask the same questions anymore. We have to focus on critical thinking.”
During a Winslow Unified School District board meeting, agriculture teacher Daniel Tafoya and several of his students gave a live demonstration of how their FFA chapter is outperforming hundreds of others across the state and country. Using the Agriculture Experience Tracker (AET), the national record-keeping system for FFA programs, the Winslow students shared rankings, statistics and personal experiences that highlighted the chapter’s exceptional performance. Since its founding in 2012, the Winslow FFA chapter has consistently focused on student-led learning, and now it ranks among the top 100 in Arizona and the United States.
The Holbrook City Council authorized a lease agreement between the city and Jay Foster on behalf of Carbon Utility. The ordinance allows the company to lease city-owned land at the former recycling yard for a light industrial operation. Carbon Utility is placing specially designed shipping containers on the 0.62-acre parcel to support a startup that will produce carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methanol. According to the company’s website, “proprietary technology converts CO2 and green hydrogen (H2) into high value products like industrial gases, renewable fuels and advanced materials.” The process occurs in a containerized system.
June
The Navajo County Board of Supervisors approved the COPE Contract for Legal Defense in the amount of $145,000 with the Law Offices of Jo Ellen Vork PLLC. COPE (County Overdose Prevention and Engagement) is part of a rapid response team of justice system and behavioral health practitioners to identify individuals at risk of drug overdose immediately after arrest and link them with evidence-based treatment, recovery support services, and ongoing monitoring. The goal of the program is to prevent overdose deaths and increase long-term treatment engagement among at-risk individuals. Information included with the contract states that individuals at risk of overdose are particularly concentrated in the justice system, where an estimated 33% of arrestees and 65% of prisoners have a diagnosable substance use disorder. At Navajo County Jail, over a three-week period, 30 inmates identified as opioid users and 14 of those inmates indicated that they have overdosed at least once. The COPE program will be offered to inmates who meet certain criteria and volunteer to enroll in the program.
The Navajo County Public Health Services District in coordination with the Arizona Department of Health Services confirmed four cases of measles within Navajo County. The individuals were not immunized and had a recent history of international travel. All individuals were exposed through a single source. These marked the first confirmed measles cases in both Navajo County and the State of Arizona in 2025.
