An open letter to all NHO readers

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal readers and contributors for being an important part of the Navajo-Hopi Observer (NHO) for the past 29 years. We will soon be entering our 30th year of covering YOUR news, including your greatest personal achievements, your children's activities, political and environmental happenings, parades, community events and other related news. This newspaper could not have made it without you. This is YOUR newspaper.

As the NHO continues to grow, we ask for your help. Our readership area (the western Navajo and Hopi reservations) covers a substantially large area - over 31,500 square miles combined. Because of this, our staff can't always travel to your communities to cover events. We therefore rely on you to make submissions of your news events and photos for publication.

Our advertisers are equally important as they provide us with the means to publish the NHO each week. Paid advertisements from local and area businesses ultimately benefit you by providing you with free copies of the NHO each week. So we ask for your additional support of our advertisers as well.

As always, we accept news articles, photos and letter/guest viewpoint submissions, which can be brought to our office in person, or sent by fax, postal mail, or

e-mail. Our submission deadline is 5 p.m. every Thursday. Since the NHO goes to print/press on Mondays, we try to remain flexible with our deadline, especially for "late-breaking" news. So if you will be submitting items after our Thursday, 5 p.m. deadline, please call ahead to inform us that your news is coming.

To contact us, our telephone number is (928) 226-9696, or you may also reach us toll-free at 1-877-627-3787. Our mailing address is 2224 E. Cedar Ave. Suite 2; Flagstaff, AZ 86004. Our fax number is (928) 226-1115 and our e-mail address is nhoeditorial@nhonews.com.

We look forward to hearing from you and covering the events that are important to your life. Remember also to check out our Web site - which will soon also be undergoing some changes - at www.nhonews.com.

Wells Mahkee Jr.

NHO Managing Editor