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Lately, the Gila River Indian Community — south of Phoenix — has been grappling with teen gang violence. And that’s something Michael Angstead has dealt with during his six-year stint as Gilbert’s assistant chief of police, where he oversaw the department’s investigations bureau.

In the first of a three-part series, KJZZ explores the Navajo Nation’s complicated history with the coal industry. Plus, a non-profit in Surprise is bringing military veterans together through the art of theater, Arizona researchers are looking into ways to keep desert dust on the ground, and leaders of the Colorado River Indian Tribes say the federal government didn’t consult them enough while drawing up new plans for sharing Colorado River water.

Coal has long been the economic bedrock of the Navajo Nation, which owns deposits in Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico. Now, the tribe is asking the Trump administration to dramatically expand the life — and size — of an operational coal mine that could uproot the lives of some Navajo families. And their longtime homes — literally.

So instead of Santa hand-delivering stockings of coal along with his team of reindeer, it’s NTEC — or the Navajo Transitional Energy Company — with its diesel-powered trucks trekking across the sprawling 27,000-square-mile reservation.

Coal is perhaps most closely associated with Appalachian states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky — or Wyoming, the nation’s leading producer of the fossil fuel. But the coal-mining business was once thriving in northern Arizona as well, atop the Colorado Plateau.

With maternity care deserts growing around the country, a grassroots coalition in Maine launched a strategic attack to prevent the proposed closure of a rural labor and delivery center.

KJZZ's Sun Up is a weekday morning podcast giving you the Arizona news you need to start your day. It is the biggest stories of the day from KJZZ News.

Ohio Congressman Max Miller says he's staying in his reelection race despite abuse allegations. His former father-in-law, US Sen. Bernie Moreno, says Miller should step aside before next week's ballot deadline.

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Coal powered the Industrial Revolution, and was the dominant fuel source in the U.S. up until the 1950s. Since then, it’s been giving way to cleaner and cheaper energy alternatives. But President Trump is strategizing a comeback story for the American coal industry. His agenda includes Indian Country.