- Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye declares December 14th through 19th as Suicide Prevention Week.
- New Mexico is implementing tough new measures to battle DWI crimes.
Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for Native Americans, compared to the 10th leading cause in the United States as a whole. To raise awareness, Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye has declared December 14th through 19th as Suicide Prevention Week. Begaye and Vice President Jonathan Nez are planning a tour that will visit 12 high schools and a youth center to offer messages of hope and information about supportive resources. It is slated to stop at Aneth High School in northern Utah on Wednesday, December 16th, at 9 a.m. and the Monument Valley SAC Auditorium at 5:30 that evening. It will come to Shiprock, New Mexico, High School at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 17th. Begaye has also called for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to hold a summit in the Navajo Nation on suicide and for better data collection regarding suicides in Indian Country.
New Mexico is implementing tough new measures to battle DWI crimes. On Monday, Governor Susana Martinez announced a series of new executive initiatives that include a surge of law officers on two of the state’s deadliest highways – U.S. 64 between Bloomfield and Farmington, and Interstate 40 between Gallup and Grants. New Mexico State Police will also deploy their Special Investigations Unit to the region to track where every person arrested for DWI was served.
