Skillful skater



Angel Maldonado, 14, gets airborne as he hones his stunt skills jumping over an extra skateboard at Veteran's Memorial Park in Gallup.

Photo by Jeff Jones

 

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Search for rugs goes to board

S. J. Ludescher
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A quest for her grandfather's long-lost rugs brought Nancy Baird Curtis to Gallup from her home in California.

The latest step in that search took her to the monthly board meeting of the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial Association on Wednesday night.

Although she was not on the agenda, board members asked her to explain the circumstances surrounding her desire to regain possession of the four rugs that remain of the original 15 from her grandfather's collection, the C. H. Baird Collection.

Curtis contends that her mother had donated the rugs to Ceremonial under the stipulation they would be displayed in memory of her grandfather. Curtis believes from the correspondence in her mother's estate that this was not accomplished. Therefore, her mother had never relinquished ownership of the rugs.

In addition, 11 of the rugs disappeared within a short time after arriving in Gallup for Ceremonial. That mystery has yet to be solved.

Martin Link, a local historian and curator of the Red Rock Museum at the time in question, said the 11 rugs were stolen in the late 1970s and were the subject of a thorough police investigation including lie detector tests.

Other Ceremonial Board members, however, believe the rugs may have been destroyed in a fire at a trader's where some of the Ceremonial items were stored.

Whatever the fate of the missing rugs, the Ceremonial board pledged its assistance to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Ceremonial President Louie Bonaguidi said, "To keep my faith in Ceremonial, I have to do everything possible to assist in this."

Beverly Hurlbut, Ceremonial committee member, provided some practical suggestions.

"When the inventory ( of the vault) is completed and we have a letter indicating a line of heirship, we will proceed," she said. "No heir can come and claim things after they've been given to a museum."

Ed Chamberlin, curator at Hubbell's Trading Post in Ganado, Ariz., said it was not a standard museum practice to accept a gift that had conditions attached, such as the clause about permanent display.

Much of the intrigue of this issue has been the discovery by Ceremonial and community members of the secret temperature-controlled storeroom of treasures and relics, mixed in with artifacts on the museum's inventory under the care of Ceremonial.
The disclosure came as news to many of the board members present at the meeting. Many of the items were described as
extremely old, fragile and sacred to native culture, ceremonies and religions.

It was a good thing, Bonaguidi said, this incident had opened the dialogue about the incomplete inventory and the question of ownership of the collection as well as the other art and booty. He sees it as a call to get these details addressed and completed.
"Ceremonial has no documents about relinquishment of items when we separated from the state," Beth Sauter, board member, said. "We even have a vehicle that we can't sell because we have no title. The state still has it."

Bonaguidi reassured Curtis, "We will do whatever we can. We will work hard to resolve this matter."

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Gunman fires warning shot in robbery

Tanya Brazil
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A man fired a rifle while robbing the manager of the Dairy Queen on East Highway 66.

The night manager, Kirby Notah, told police that a man carrying a rifle entered the restaurant about 7 p.m. through the east entrance, pointed the weapon at her and demanded she open the cash register and give him the money.

When the frightened employee hesitated for a few seconds, she said the suspect pointed the rifle slightly away from her and said, "I'm not kidding." The gunman then fired a warning shot with the rifle, police said.

The manager told police she then opened the cash register and handed the suspect all the money inside. The suspect then fled southbound on foot, police said.

Notah described the rifle as being about three feet in length and wooden stock with a black barrel and possibly a bolt action, a police report said.

Police said they observed a bullet hole in the wall behind where the victim had been standing.

A cashier who was working at the time, Ella Curley, told police she was in the back of the restaurant when she heard the suspect yelling and the gun go off. There were no customers inside the store during the robbery.

Curley said she called police when she heard the suspect ask for the money, a police report said. It later was determined that $409 was missing from the cash register.

Notah described the suspect as a Native American male with a light complexion and acne scars and wearing clear blue oval shaped sunglasses.

The suspect is about 19 or 20 years old, 5 feet 8 inches and weighs between 160 and 170 pounds.

At the time of the robbery, the gunman was wearing a black hooded pullover, dirty white muscle shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information leading to his arrest should call Crime Stoppers at (505) 722-6161.

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Man indicted on sex charge

Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

GRANTS — A 32-year-old Grants man has been indicted for having intercourse with a boy under 13 years old.

The Cibola County grand jury indicted Ramon Martinez of 313 Elena St. with first-degree criminal sexual penetration. Martinez also was charged with criminal sexual contact with a minor, a third-degree felony.

The alleged sexual incidents took place between March and June 2000.

The grand jury also:

Indicted Kent Sandelin, 34, of Albuquerque, for great bodily injury by vehicle (reckless), a third-degree felony, failure to carry proof of financial responsibility and driving while license is suspended or revoked. Sandelin allegedly was driving a motor vehicle on Jan. 15, 1999, when he had an accident and injured John Perry.

Indicted Isaac Lucero, 40, of Grants, on charges of aggravated driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, failure to maintain a traffic lane and driving while his license was suspended or revoked. Lucero refused to take a chemical test used to detect the presence of alcohol or drugs after being stopped by police on July 8, 2000. Because he refused the chemical test, he was charged with aggravated DWI.

Indicted Robert Gino Valdez, 38, of Grants, on two counts of receiving stolen property. The indictment states that on Oct. 10, 2000, Valdez received 13 Avon porcelain dolls worth more than $250 and that on the same day he sold the dolls allegedly knowing the dolls were stolen.

Indicted two Grants people for possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute and use or possession of drug paraphernalia. On Nov. 29, 2000, Marsha Chavez, 26, and Senovio Chavez, 18, were stopped by Northwest New Mexico Narcotics Task Force. Officers allegedly found marijuana and pipes, baggies and scales.

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Wingate wins big with defense

Carrie Loretto
Sports Editor

GRANTS — One minute Wingate led by only three, the next the Lady Bears were on their way to a rout.

The Wingate Lady Bears' aggressive defense sparked a strong third quarter that propelled Wingate to a 71-47 victory over Grants, and impressed Grants head coach Al Torske.

"Wingate played the second half in a manner that they can win a state championship playing like that, they've got that kind of talent on that ballclub,"Torske complimented."If you just make one mistake, they're gonna get in the hoop."

That's exactly what Wingate did at the beginning of the third period, converting four consecutive turnovers into a 9-0 start in just over a minute to break open the close game.

"Our guards pride themselves on hustling and not being afraid to scrap with anybody,"Wingate coach Al Martinez
said."They're not very big, but they're pesky and anytime you can pressure the ball, that hurts the other team in terms of ballhandling."

Wingate's lead was only 27-24 after the first half during which Martinez two-platooned his team looking to shake off the effects of a two and a half week layoff over the Christmas break.

"Basically from Dec. 18 til January the third we didn't touch the ball. We've only had three practices and that showed, we were rusty,"said Martinez."When you're rusty, you try to get everybody playing and that kind of jump starts the team."

After a first half in which Wingate's players shot just 28 percent (9-of-32), Wingate's full court pressure finally kicked its offense in gear.

A basket by Nicole Moses off a feed from Alta Largo ignited Wingate's third quarter run which gave them their biggest lead to that point. Angie Brown followed that with the first of three straight steals by the Bears off their full court pressure defense.
Although Tonia Yazzie missed the free throws after being fouled taking the ball in for an attempted score, another Wingate steal resulted in another score by Moses. Yazzie then swiped the ball once again and took it in for a layup. Defensive pressure on the inbounds play resulted in a five-second violation and Elvina Benally found Yazzie set up for a three-point shot which gave Wingate a 36-24 lead with six and a half minutes remaining in the period.

Grants finally broke the press and worked their offense with Antonia Dominguez getting the ball to post Berna Frigerio to end Wingate's run at the 6:02 mark of the period. A three-point play by Frigerio who was fouled inside brought the Lady Pirates back within nine, 29-38 half a minute later, but then Wingate went on another 9-2 tear capped by a three-pointer by Angie Brown as the Bears began to pull away.

At the end of the period, Wingate had capitalized on 11 Grants turnovers to open up a 49-34 advantage.

Wingate forced 35 Grants turnovers while holding their mistakes down to 15.

"When you can run up and down the floor a little bit and make some shots everybody gets excited, the defense picks up and that's what its all about,"Martinez said."We don't like to just play boring basketball, we try to have some fun here."

After opening up a 20-plus point lead in the fourth quarter, Wingate was able to laugh off some of its few mistakes which included blooper highlights such as a one-foot, stradle step landing near the sidelines on an attempted steal and a belly crawl on another hustle play for a loose ball by another player.

"It was physical, that part I like truthfully because our girls are young and they probably need to learn that,"Torske said.

Despite eight turnovers in the opening period, Grants was more effective on offense than not as they managed to stay within five points, 18-13 by getting the ball to freshman foward Berna Frigerio who was able to post up in the paint.

Wingate went up 23-13 with a three-pointer by Alta Largo and a basket by Moses to begin the second, but then went scoreless over the four minutes. Grants pulled within six with baskets by Frigerio and Jenna Lucero before Erica Smith hit a three-pointer for Wingate.

A 6-0 Grants run with baskets by Tiffany Hobbs, Frigerio and Lucero brought the Lady Pirates within two, 26-24 with a minute left in the half.

Wingate's cold shooting in the quarter continued, signified by a miss on a wide open basket off an inbounds play. Benally did grab the missed shot, but then made only one of the two ensuing free throws leaving the score 27-24 at half-time.

Wingate ended up shooting 39.1 percent for the game (27-of-69) after making nearly half (18-of-37) its shots in the second half. When Grants was able to get into its offense, the Pirates made 59 percent of their shot attempts (19-of-32).

Frigerio led all scorers with 20 points for Grants. Dominguez was the only other double figure scorer.

"She posted up well, she uses the glass well, knows how to get in the seam,"Torske said of Frigerio."You don't find that many freshman who know how to post up like that."

Moses led Wingate with 17 points. Benally and Brown each finished with 10 points as nine different Wingate players scored. Benally had a strong all-around game with 8 rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals.

Wingate, 10-2, hosts Crownpoint at home Saturday in its District 1AAA opener. Grants, 11-2, will host a pair of district ballgames this weekend.

Chinle drops two games to Coconino

Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer

CHINLE, Ariz. - The Chinle Wildcats and Lady Wildcats did not take advantage of their home court advantage.

With poor shooting coupled with being outrebounded on the offensive boards, the Wildcats fell to Coconino 46-40 Wednesday night before a packed crowd at the Chinle Community Center in a key conference battle. Also struggling from the field, the Lady Wildcats were doubled up by the Lady Panthers, overwhelmed by a impressive finish as Coconino ran off with a 56-28 conference win.

Chinle will be looking to regroup Friday when both teams travel to Mingus for an important conference matchup. The Mingus boys team is unbeaten in conference play at 3-0 that includes a six-point win over Page along with wins over Coconino and Sinagua.

Boys Coconino 46, Chinle 40

"This game we should have won," said a disappointed Chinle coach Doug Clauschee. "I told my players that we have to win all of our home games if we want to get third or fourth place in the conference before the playoffs. But we shot terrible for the second straight game. We lost to Page Saturday 90-49 and we shot poorly in that game too."

Chinle, now 18-5 overall, 1-2 in conference play, had the early lead at 11-8 after a trey by senior guard Jimmy Skeet and an inside score by senior post Patrick Ashley.

Then the Wildcats went ice cold from the field in the second period that gave the 12-8 Panthers (2-1 in conference) a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the game.

Coconino went on a 13-0 run as senior guard Josh Joe scored six of the points along with a trey by sophomore guard Andre Somoza.

On the other hand, the Wildcats, who were unable to box out effectively for the rebounds, missed on eight consecutive shots from the field during a three and a half minute dry spell before senior Radley Smiley hit a short jump shot with 4:21 left in the first half.

Coconino hit on 8-of-19 shots in the second period while Chinle was only 2-of-15. The Panthers also outrebounded the Wildcats 13 to 5 to fashion a 27-15 halftime lead.

The Wildcats did manage to come alive in the third period to produce their best quarter point production with 18 points that eclipsed the entire first half total. Chinle also outrebounded Coconino 10 to 5 in the third that fueled the comeback.

Skeet, who struggled from the field despite leading the Wildcats with 16 points, tallied six of his points in the third period as Chinle pulled to within seven points, 40-33.

Coconino was able to take the crowd out of the game in the final period, holding on to its lead.

Skeet sank three free throws with 17 seconds left in the game that made it a six-point game, 46-40. With time running out, Franco Begaye and Ashley missed on a pair of treys for the Wildcats, who hit on just 14 percent from long range, 2-of-14.
In addition to Skeet's 16 points, Smiley tallied 10 points before fouling out in the final period.

Coconino's top scorer was Kris Gagnon with 10 points.

From the field, Chinle hit on 16-of-57 for 28 percent shooting while Coconino shot 36 percenmt, 20-of-56.

Coconino outrebounded Chinle 24 to 10 in the first half, 38 to 26 for the game.

Girls Coconino 56, Chinle 28

Coconino erupted for 25 points in the fourth period en route to easily handing Chinle its third consecutive conference loss.

The Lady Panthers, 2-1 in conference play, 12-6 overall, outscored the Lady Wildcats, now 0-3 in conference play, 25 to 7 in the final period to win by 28 points, their largest of the game.

The game was close for the first half with five ties and four lead changes. Coconino held a slim one-point lead, 18-17 at intermission.

Chinle was able to outrebound Coconino on the boards, 17 to 10, but the majority of them were on the defensive end. The Lady Wildcats were outhustled on the offensive boards, getting mainly one shot and out. Chinle was held to just a bucket by junior wing Matilda Montoya during a six and a half minute span in the second period as the Lady Panthers overcame a 11-9 Chinle lead to move on top 18-13.

However the Lady Wildcats closed out the first half with a pair of quick scores by senior post Jaime Begay and senior guard Louann Yellowhair to trail by one point at the half.

Coconino blitzed Chinle in the third period, outscoring the Lady Wildcats 13-4 to grab a 10-point cushion, 31-21.

In the final period, Coconino cranked it up several notches. A trey by senior guard Heather Quinn, the fourth of the game for the Lady Panthers made it a 13-point game. With 8-of-18 shooting from the field and a 14 to 6 edge on the boards, Coconino exploded for 25 points to win going away by 28 points, 56-28.

Chinle did not have a single player in double figures. Shannon Yazzie, Matilda Montoya and Jaime Begay each chipped in six points with Angelita John with five points.

Coconino had 10 players that scored with senior forward Kira Thomas tallying 18 points, including 14 in the second half while Heather Quinn kicked in 10.

Chinle did not connect from long range, missing on 0-of-15 attempts while Coconino was 4-of-11 for 36 percent.

From the field, Chinle shot a poor 21 percent, 13-of-62 while Coconino was nearly doubled that with 40 percent shooting, 19-of-47.

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Judge denies motions in murder case

S.J. Ludescher
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The San Juan County District Attorney will continue to prosecute the multiple "Eclectic" murder case against Robert Fry. A judge also denied a defense motion to suppress evidence against Fry in the Farmington killings.

District Attorney Sandra Price scored the victory Wednesday afternoon in front of Judge William C. Birdsall.

Albuquerque attorney Edward O. Bustamante, defense counsel for accused murderer Robert Fry, filed a motion attempting to disqualify the district attorney's office and suppress evidence against Fry in the two most recent murder charges filed against him.

Fry also has been charged in the unrelated deaths of two other people...

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7 seek Navajo judge position

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Seven people passed the first screening in the competition for the Navajo Nation Supreme Court's associate justice vacancy.

The Navajo Nation Council's Judiciary Committee received nine applications Tuesday and screened the field down to seven people. The panel will interview them Feb. 15 and 16. The committee's list of finalists will be forwarded to President Kelsey Begaye for an appointment. The president has 60 days to submit a nominee for ratification. That nomination then goes to the
council for ratification or rejection.

Ed Martin with the Administrative Office of the Judicial Branch said the hope is that the council will confirm a new justice at the spring session in April...

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Deaths

Joe Lee Sr.

PINE SPRINGS, Ariz. — Services for Joe Lee Sr., 75, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at Cope Memorial Chapel. Pastor Steven Roanhorse will officiate. Burial will follow at Gallup City Cemetery.

Lee died Jan. 7 in Gallup. He was born Jan. 25, 1926, in Pie Town into the Water Edge People for the Honey Comb Clan.

Lee was employed with the Union Pacific Railroad and the Santa Fe Railroad. He served in the U.S. Marines during the World War II and reinlisted in the U.S. Army as a ranger.

Survivors include his wife, Agnes Lee of Red Rock; son, Joseph Lee Jr. of Red Rock; daughters, Ella Mae Lee, Marlene Shirley, Cynthia Begay, Arlene Enrico and Celesia Lee, all of Red Rock; 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Lee was preceded in death by sisters, Rose Hamilton and Mary Tsosie.

Pallbearers will be Lester Wilson, Joseph Lee Jr., Randy Yazzie, Phillip Yazzie, Alvin Yazzie and Maurice Chee.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Vencent Peterson

PINEDALE — Services for Vencent Peterson, 34, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at Rollie Mortuary-Palm Chapel. Pastor Howard Eugene McCormick will officiate. Burial will follow at Gallup City Cemetery.

Peterson died Jan. 6 in Gallup. He was born May, 8, 1966, in Gallup into the Towering House People Clan for the Mountain Cove People Clan.

Survivors include his wife, Arlene Peterson of Church Rock; sons, Tristin Peterson and Darren Peterson,both of Pinedale; daughters, Bridgette Peterson and Tymeka Peterson, both of Pinedale; mother, JoAnn Peterson of Rock Springs; brothers, Ansen Peterson of Rock Springs and Steven Peterson of Coyote Canyon; and sister, Jeannette Peterson of Rock Springs.

Peterson was preceded in death by his father, Juan Peterson, and brother, Paul Peterson Jr.

Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Brandon Begay

GANADO, Ariz. — Services for Brandon Begay, 18, will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at the United Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Paul Stone will officiate. Burial will follow on family land in Ganado.

Visitation will be held at 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at the church.

Begay died Jan. 6 in Ganado. He was born Jan. 12, 1982, in Ganado into the Edge of the Water People Clan for the Red Running into the Water People Clan.

Begay went to Mesa Westwood High School and Ganado High School. He was employed in Mesa, Ariz. He loved playing basketball, skateboarding, swimming and listening to music.

Survivors include his parents, Randall Begay and Linda Begay; brothers, Randolph Begay, Ryan Begaye, Adrian Begay and Cody Begay; grandparents, Sammie Slivers Sr., Isabelle Slivers, and Marie Ann Begay.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Jeffery Slivers, and grandfather, Elwood Begay.

Pallbearers will be Nathaniel Begay, Davie Evans, Philbert F. Begaye, Iris Evans, Randolph Begay and Randall Begay.

The family will receive relatives and friends at the Sammie Slivers Sr. residence following the service.

Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Correction

CRYSTAL — The obituary published for Rebecca Begay, 27, inadvertantly omitted a surviving brother, John Ross Begay and sisters, Rose M. Begay and Sharlynn, Louis.