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Anchor: Daniel Montaño
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez confirms the first case of monkeypox on the reservation. The infected person lives in McKinley county, NM.
A press release says vaccines for the virus are expected to come in next week.
Health officials recommended vaccines only for people who have had close contact with someone who is infected, or for those especially at risk.
President Nez established a Monkeypox Preparedness Team in July that has been monitoring, planning, and coordinating precautionary steps in advance of the virus’s arrival.
It can take between five to 21 days for symptoms to develop, which start with muscle aches, fever and exhaustion, before a rash develops. Those who test positive should isolate and contact their doctor.
A federal ethics investigation concluded former Trump Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his chief of staff lied during an investigation into the department’s decision to block two tribes from opening a casinos.
The report, released Wednesday, says the Office of the Inspector General found Zinke spoke with a senator from Nevada, consultants, and lobbyists for a rival casino before deciding to block the tribes’ application.
When questioned by the OIG, however, Zinke denied speaking with anyone other than staff at the Interior Department.
The Montana Free Press says the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes wanted to open a casino in Connecticut on non-reservation land, which would require approval from Interior.
But the report says Zinke chose to return the application to the tribes, saying the decision was not within his jurisdiction.
The report focused on whether or not Zinke and his Chief of Staff Scott Hommel accurately described the influences on their decision.
This report comes on the heels of a similar one released in February that found Zinke had also misled investigators about a personal real estate deal with the chairman of oil giant Halliburton in Whitefish, MT.
Zinke is running for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives for Montana this November and denied any wrongdoing in a response from his lawyers.
He also asked the OIG to not release the findings until after the election.
His lawyers say the timing of the OIG report is nothing more than a political smear.
Photo: Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe
A federal appeals court ruling says Wisconsin can’t force tribal members to pay property taxes on reservation land that once fell out of tribal hands.
Danielle Kaeding reports the court ruled the state can’t tax tribal members on reservation lands that have changed hands without clear approval from Congress.
The decision stems from a lawsuit filed by four tribes in 2018 against the state and around a dozen towns.
The case was brought by the Red Cliff, Bad River, Lac du Flambeau, and Lac Courte Oreilles tribes.
Lac du Flambeau Tribal President John Johnson Senior says the ruling is a big deal as tribes buy back lands.
“For us here on the reservation, it might be two or three years of taxes, some of the time 10-15 years of taxes that we’re paying on this land before the BIA gets it put back in the Trust for us. So that’s going to be a money saver for my tribe.”
The tribes argued the 1854 treaty that set up their reservations provides tribal members immunity from taxation for all time.
The state maintains it could tax lands on reservations if they were ever sold to non-tribal members.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers says they’re reviewing the decision.
The state has 90 days from the ruling to decide whether to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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