Slush a'coming



A snow covered Route 66 in Gallup greeted snow birds and evening traffic Friday.

Photo by Craig Robinson

 

---

State threatens to take over 7 schools

Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — New Mexico state education officials are saying if the local school board is not able to improve scores at seven county schools, the state may be forced to take over supervision of the schools.

Pat Rael, deputy director of the Accountability and Information Services Division for the State Department of Education, said the Gallup-McKinley School Board has four years to correct problems at the seven McKinley County schools.

The schools David Skeet Elementary, Ramah Elementary, Gallup Middle School, JFK Middle School, Thoreau Middle School, Crownpoint High and Navajo Pine High all have poor performance overall on thestate-mandated assessment tests.

The state is requiring public schools students to reach the 40 percentile or better on the tests. If the school average falls below 39 percent, the school is put on probation. The district is expected to take steps to improve the situation.

Rael stressed that if the schools don't reach that level in four years, the state will take steps to correct it.

"We haven't decided yet what those steps will be," she said, but one option is a possible takeover of the schools, which means the local school board would no longer have any supervisory authority over the schools.

Rael made these statements at a meeting with school officials, principals, teachers, and parents last week.

School Superintendent Robert Gomez, on hearing Rael's statements, indicated that the school district would not sit back and allow a takeover without a fight.

"We will be in court for a long time before that happens," he said.

Gomez and other district school officials contend state education officials need to understand why the seven schools are having trouble reaching the state mandates. Gomez said if they did, the state would realize that the deck is stacked against the seven schools and makes it difficult, if not impossible, for students to reach that 40 percentile average.

In all of the schools in question, Gomez said, a large number of students have limited English skills and speak English as a second language. Because the tests are done in English, he said, it affects their ability to do well on the tests.

"(The tests) are based on reading ability in English," Gomez said. "Reading is the key area."

Many students who speak Navajo as their primary language, for example, would do better if the tests were given to them in their primary language.

Then there is the problem of mobility.

The county's student body population, Gomez said, is a fluid one, with many of the students 30 percent or more new to the school and to the district.

Is it fair, he asked, to penalize a school for a student's poor assessment test performance when the student may have been in the school district for only a few weeks?

Ed Monaghan, director of elementary curriculum for the district, demonstrated by graph charts which schools areoverloaded with students who have limited English ability or special education students, or new to the school.

According to Monaghan, there are grade levels in these schools where the number of students who are not included in one or more of these three areas can be counted on one hand.

Students in those schools whose primary language is English and who have been at the school for two or more years, however, are largelyabove the 40 percentile.

Tom Payton, a teacher at John F. Kennedy Middle School and head of the local teachers' union, questioned Gomez and other school officials about their reasons, pointing out that other nearby districts, such as Shiprock and Grants, have the same problems but students at their schools do better in the state assessment tests.

Payton argued the district may be ignoring the real problem, which he views as the district's obsession with piling on more and more paperwork for teachers and making them write detailed lesson plans which take them hours daily.

All of this, he said, means less time for teachers to do what they were actually hired to do teach and this may be the main reason for the poor scores.

District officials, Payton said, are requiring all of this paperwork most of which is never reviewed by anyone because they don't trust teachers to teach the things that the state says must be taught.

"Just trust us," Payton said, urging the district to lessen the paperwork burden.

Gomez, however, argued that paperwork is needed to make sure that teachers are teaching to state standards. He also disagreed with Payton's argument that the teachers in the district were being overburdened.

Principals at the seven schools all say that they are making progress and have already taken steps to improve student test scores.
One way is by the use of after-school reading programs and Saturday classes for students with poor reading skills.

Gomez said district officials are also taking steps to try and convince state education officials to change the criteria, removing students who have limited English, are in the special education program or are new to the district from the overall scoring for the school.

What county school officials want, he said, is a level playing field.

| Top |

---

Takeover of IHS by tribe moves ahead

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — A tribal corporation is scheduled to take the next-to-the-last step Tuesday before the Navajo Nation Council decides whether to take over the Indian Health Service's largest remaining medical service.

The Health-Social Services and Budget-Finance Committees have given their blessings to the Navajo Health Care System Corporation's proposed $433.1 million acquisition of virtually all the Navajo Area IHS operation. Now, the NHCSC will ask the Inter-Government Relations Committee on Tuesday to add its blessing for the application to be considered the week of Jan. 22 by the council.

If the committee and council approve, the five-year contract would begin Jan. 1, 2002, with almost all of the area's 3,000 employees joining the corporation either under individual contracts between the NHCSC and the IHS or as corporate employees.

But it will take two years to bring all eight medical service units under the corporation's umbrella, the proposed application says.
In an eight-page supplement in Saturday's Independent, the corporation also published a chart from Deloitte & Touche, a nationally known CPA firm, showing corporate pay and benefits would be equal to or greater than both the IHS's and the tribal government's.

The chart showed base pay, performance incentives, health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance with short-term disability, long-term disability, paid time off, holidays, employee cost-sharing and retirement.

Of the 11 factors, the corporation would offer more than the IHS in eight and more than the tribal government in five. Only holidays and paid time off would be the same as the other two agencies, the chart shows.

How the corporation a non-profit organization chartered under Navajo law emerged is the key objection to the move, which supporters say will result in millions of additional dollars being made available for health care to reservation residents than if the IHS kept running the program.

More than three-fourths of the 562 federally recognized tribes have taken over the IHS programs, either individually or through cooperatives.

Strong campaign

Chief Executive Officer Lydia Hubbard-Pourier and her staff have been campaigning hard for the takeover, emphasizing that it is independent of the tribal government.

Planning began in 1995 with a committee called a "design team" taking a look at the future of medical services in an area covering four reservations Navajo, Hopi, San Juan Southern Paiute and Zuni.

On July 22, 1996, President Albert Hale notified Area Director John Hubbard Jr. of the intent to enter into a Public Law 93-638 contract for the takeover and President Kelsey A. Begaye reaffirmed the intent on Jan. 26, 1999.

Since then the design team and a separate blue ribbon panel of experts have given way to a board of directors under the corporation's by-laws, filed with the Economic Development Division in April 2000.

The standard tribal reviews occurred between Dec. 27 and Jan. 4, with the Office of the Controller pointing out that all the IHS funds shouldn't go to the corporation because the Public Safety Division's Emergency Medical Services, the Health Division's Environmental Health Office and the Social Services Divisions' Navajo Child Special Advocacy Project needed their money.

Hubbard-Pourier's response said that the IHS must award a contract within 90 days of receiving the application if the IHS determines the application is complete, with 120 days to help the applicant remedy any deficiency.

She agreed the EMS's $54,435 will be removed from the application's IHS headquarters tribal share of the application, along with that part of the Environmental Health Office's tribal share. However, she wrote, the Child Special Advocacy Project does show up in the tribal shares portion of the budget, so it won't be reduced.

AG's concern

The Attorney General's Office of the tribal Justice Department was concerned about necessary decisions not having been made yet. Hubbard-Pourier said the new board's training will be completed in mid-January, that it approved the salary-benefits package Dec. 11 and that other human resources decisions would be made by July.

"These decisions include but are not limited to specific salary and fringe benefits, personnel policies and procedures, and whether or not to assume union agreements currently in place with the IHS," she responded.

The International Laborers Union' local of about 900 people mounted the only organized opposition to the takeover, being instrumental in the "Doo Dah 638" committee's attempt to put the measure on a tribal ballot as a referendum. The group came up with about half the necessary signatures. (The requirement is 30 percent of the registered tribal voters.)

Another concern of the Attorney General's Office was using 2000 figures to arrive at the $443.1 million that includes about $60 million in contract support costs.

The corporation's lawyer, Barbara Karshmer of Berkeley, Calif., replied on Jan. 5 that the issues are ones "that we all discussed and are fully aware of. None of these issues should be stumbling blocks for your proposal. Instead, they are items that you are addressing through your internal planning and preparation ... and through your contract proposal (such as changes to the IHS budget for 2001 which are probably not yet finalized)."

In another memo Karshmer called the "buy-back" provisions the most flexible with the least administrative burden "to structure your program through a phased-in process over the next two years." She called the provision a very common practice with P.L. 93-638 contracts.

Future plans

The application cites an IHS study that found for fiscal year 1997 there was a user population of 234,868 people who would be served with 227,690 of them of the Navajo Nation, 2,241 of the Hopi Tribe, 650 Zunis and 58 San Juan Southern Paiutes. The application also said the Navajo Area's population was estimated to be 229,738 in 2000, but the federal census due to be announced in March would show a more accurate count.

In 2002, the application calls for the takeover of the Shiprock, Tuba City, Fort Defiance and Chinle service units. This would leave Crownpoint, Gallup, Kayenta and Winslow for the following year.

The application shows for the 1999 fiscal year $308.9 million budgeted to the eight service units, plus $10.9 million of headquarters' tribal share and $63.3 million of area headquarters' share that would come to the corporation.

Service unit budgets for FY '99 were: Gallup, $68.3 million; Shiprock, $61.6 million; Chinle, $47.4 million; Fort Defiance, 46.2 million; Tuba City, $41.3 million; Crownpoint, $18 million; Kayenta, $13.9 million; and Winslow, $12.1 million.

Original incorporaters were Dr. Taylor McKenzie, Navajo Nation vice president, Virgil Pablo, Ervin Chavez, Helen Bonnaha, Edward T. Begay, Navajo Nation Council speaker, Marlene Jasperse and Jerry Freddie, the council's Health-Social Service Committee chairman.

| Top |

---

Boys accused of shooting at cars

Tara Drolma
Staff Writer

GRANTS — Three juveniles were arrested by a Cibola County Sheriff's deputy after they allegedly shot at passersby on State Road 117 with a BB gun.

The call log for the 911 dispatcher shows two calls were received at 2:40 p.m. Jan. 6 from motorists complaining children had shot at the windshields of their cars as they drove east of Mount Taylor Addition.

Deputy Sheriff John Casteneda said he chased three boys up a hill before he caught them. One was released to his parents and the other two were transported to the juvenile detention center in Gallup.

State Police

New Mexico State Police responded to the following incidents:

Surinam Cohoe, 27, of Pinehill rolled the car she was driving, a 1989 Oldsmobile, on Lobo Canyon Road at the six mile-marker. The driver and two passengers were thrown and all were taken to the hospital. Officers found alcohol containers in the car. Charges may be filed.

A Jan. 4 accident on I-40 at milepost 60 was the result of the driver's drinking. Officers arrested Ryan Curley, 22, of Newcomb for DWI.

Officers stopped Delvin Roughsurface, 20, of San Fidel on Jan. 5 and arrested him for driving with a revoked license. He was stopped at the 114 mile-marker on I-40.

Grand jury indictments

The Cibola County grand jury issued the following indictments:

Helen Savedra, 33, of 560 Washington, Grants, was charged with battery on a school employee after she allegedly applied force to or touched Phyllis White on Oct. 9, 2000. Savedra is accused of attacking White, a school teacher, in a rude, insolent or angry manner while she was working.

Ivan Lovato, 25, of 1308 Pinion Street in Milan was charged with one count of armed robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Lovato was arrested Dec. 22 with Heather Hensley for allegedly robbing the Allsup's store on Nimitz Street.

According to the police report, Lovato entered the store threatening the clerk with a .22 caliber pistol. He took some cash and lottery tickets from Cris Holm, the clerk. After Hensley left the store, driving a dark blue vehicle, he was picked up.

They were apprehended after a description of the car was broadcast on the radio and a sheriff's deputy spotted the car.

| Top |

---

3A Enchantment Region Scout boys hand MV first conference loss

Carrie Loretto
Sports Editor

FT. DEFIANCE, Ariz. — A three-point attempt bounced off the rim and ended Monument Valley's perfect start in the 3A Enchantment Conference as they fell 56-53 to the resurgent Window Rock Scouts in prep basketball action Saturday night.

"That was a big win for us. Monument Valley came in here leading the conference, but our guys wanted it bad,"Window Rock boys coach Tim Arviso said."This does a lot for our confidence, it puts everyone else on notice that we are for real. Window Rock is back and we intend to keep playing good basketball, work hard and finish strong.

"It's been our goal to be at the top of our conference and now we are. We just gotta keep it going, keep levelheaded and we got big ballgames coming up and I think we can play with anybody right now."

The Scouts are now 3-0 in conference, after going 9-8 in the preseason.

"We just didn't want it as bad as Window Rock did,"Monument Valley coach Richard Beverly said attributing the Mustangs first conference loss to a fourth quarter breakdown in execution, defense and rebounding.

"We wanted to set something up there at the end, they come out and don't even run it, execution. I don't know how many (little jump shots) number twenty had right right in the lane. Defense. Boards, they were getting two, three shots off the offensive boards,"Beverly continued analyzing the breakdown."We just didn't want it bad enough."

Monument Valley dropped to 4-1 in conference, 12-5 overall.

The decisive fourth quarter played out much like the rest of the game had with an early turnover giving Window Rock the advantage.

Monument Valley had taken a 44-41 lead at the beginning of the period after methodically working their halfcourt offense for nearly two minutes that resulted in a layup by Kevin Tallman. However, a three-pointer by Dewayne Morgan tied the game, then Elcaro Lee followed that with a steal which triggered a fastbreak that was finished off by Asa-Ryan Begaye.

That turnaround proved to be big as the Scouts never trailed after that.

Monument Valley did match Window Rock's scoring to a 50-50 tie with about three minutes left in the game, but then #20 Darren Joe hit his second jump shot in the lane to put Window Rock up for good with 2:41 left.

The Scouts capitalized on an offensive foul that called on Troy Watson as he attempted to score off an offensive rebound. The Scouts put up a three-point attempt that missed, but Augustine Anderson tipped up the rebound and Begaye came down with it and put it back up for a score.

Mitchell Emerson made it a 54-53 game with his three-point shot. The teams traded turnovers on their next three possessions and it appeared as if Window Rock's second one would cost them the lead. Brandon Lincoln stole the ball and took it
downcourt for an open layup, but missed and Morgan rebounded for Window Rock. The ball was knocked loose resulting in a scramble and a jump ball which favored the Scouts.

After narrowly escaping a ten-second violation on its last trip upcourt, the Scouts quickly got the ball into the frontcourt against Monument Valley's pressure defense and Joe spotted an open Begaye on the backside of the defense for a layup.

The Mustangs still had eight seconds left to run a play and took two consecutive timeouts to work on it. Knowing Monument Valley needed a three, the Scouts fortified the three-point line and didn't allow any Mustang player to get off a clear shot. Four different Monument players had hit a three-pointer in the game. "I think the second half we had a big defensive effort, we got on the boards a lot better than we did the first half and we took care of the ball,"Arviso said."Monument Valley's a heck of a team, they throw a heck of a press at you, but I think our boys handled it well. Once we got the ball down, we were patient, I thought we got good shots and fortunately we were hitting the shots tonight."

Window Rock hit five of its first six shots of the game to take its biggest lead, 10-2, in the first quarter. Elcaro Lee and Augustine Anderson put the Scouts up 4-0 early. Morgan hit an 18-footer and Begaye followed it with a steal and a layup for the eight-point advantage.

Watson scored the Mustangs' only basket during that run.

Monument Valley returned from a timeout and went to work getting back into the game. Watson scored, then triggered a fastbreak with a defensive board that was topped off by Ryan Phillips. After trading free throws, Watson again scored on the inside and the Mustangs got another fastbreak layup from Tallman after a Window Rock turnover. Watson tied the game on a putback off the offensive boards.

A reverse layup by Scout Jeremy Wilson ended the run and gave them a 16-14 lead at the quarter.

A three-pointer by Max Hoshnic gave Monument Valley its first lead to start the second and Watson spotted an open Micah Yazzie in the middle for a basket and a 19-16 Mustang advantage. Later, Tallman capitalized on another Window Rock turnover and after a blocked shot by Watson caused another one, Lincoln's score gave Monument Valley its biggest lead of the game, 23-18 with 2:44 remaining in the first half.

By halftime Window Rock had closed the gap to 26-25 with a three-pointer from Begaye.

Begaye finished with 13 points to lead the Scouts. Lee scored 12 and Anderson and Morgan each contributed nine.

Watson led the Mustangs with 14 points, but was held scoreless in the second and third quarters. Tallman added 13 and Phillips finished with nine.

Girls Monument Valley 67, Window Rock 51

An 11-3 run in the last four minutes of the first quarter allowed the Lady Mustangs to surge into the lead and they were able to hold off a Window Rock which missed 13 free throws in the loss.

"We came together real good, especially my first team," Monument Valley coach Richard Nash said. "They worked well together tonight and that's what we need."

Monument Valley improved to 2-3 in the conference, 13-3 overall.

A three-pointer by Lorena Sullivan broke an 8-8 tie and triggered Monument Valley's run. Sullivan, who scored 15 of her game-high 26 points in the opening period, made Window Rock pay for a turnover finding Dominque Blackhorse for another basket.

The Lady Scouts turned the ball over for the third straight possession and Sullivan hit her second of three treys to open up a 10-point Mustang lead.

Window Rock finally got a shot off on its next possession, but missed the layup and a defensive rebound triggered the Mustang fast break which ended with another layup.

The Scouts' scoreless streak ended with a three-pointer by Andrian Chee, but Sullivan responded with her third one for a 21-11 lead which stood at the end of the period.

Window Rock managed to stay close the rest of the game behind the play of Roberta Haskie who led Window Rock with 22 points. However, the Scouts hurt themselves at the free throw line making only 13-of-25.

"That could have made a big difference, but there were a lot of little things," Window Rock coach Bo Whitelock said.
"Transition, getting back defensively, we let a lot of easy layups take place. We missed a lot of (easy shots) underneath, we could've scored there too and of course the concentration at the free throw line we just can't do that. "

Gallup shuts down Cibola for district win

Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer

ALBUQUERQUE — Fifth-ranked Gallup shut down a cold-shooting Cibola team to just four points in the third period to pull away for a crucial 44-36 district victory Saturday night.

"The second half we played much better," Gallup coach John Lomasney said. "We outrebounded Cibola and people came off the bench and helped out. We did a lot of things right in the second half. We shot inside and outside and we held Cibola to one shot."

Gallup, 9-5 overall, 2-0 in district, will play at Albuquerque High Friday before returning home to host West Mesa Saturday. Cibola, 10-4 overall, 0-1 in district, will entertain Rio Rancho Friday.

The first half was hotly contested with neither team able to assume more than a three-point lead at any time. There were a total of nine lead changes in the first half along with a pair of ties. At intermission Cibola held a slim 21-19 halftime lead.

The Lady Cougars, who have now lost to top-ranked La Cueva, No. 3 Sandia, No. 5 Gallup along with 4A's No. 2 Farmington, tied the game for the third and final time at 24-all early in the second half on a trey by sub Melanie Drangmeister, who came off the bench to score eight points, from the top of the key.

Gallup quickly broke the tie on a pair of quick scores by Vanessa Hubbard inside and a short jumper by Tanya Bailey. After a free throw by Cibola'a Kaitlin Maher, the Lady Bengals finished off the quarter with a strong finish on a bank shot by Hubbard, a turnaround jumper by Candace Roanhorse and a short jumper by Hubbard. By hitting on 7-of-16 from the field in the third period, Gallup took control of the ballgame as Cibola struggled with 1-of-10 shooting from the field. The Lady Bengals also outrebounded the Lady Cougars 11 to 5 during the period that sparked their run. By outscoring Cibola 15-4, Gallup assumed the lead with a comfortable 34-25 lead heading into the final period.

Gallup continued to outplay a cold-shooting Cibola Lady Cougar team that was able to hit on just 1-of-16 from the field. After Hubbard drilled a trey, Candace Roanhorse went inside for a score and Roberta Tahe scored off the baseline and added a free throw as Gallup nursed its lead to 14 points, 42-28.

With time running out, Gallup went to its spread offense to work the clock down to 1:45 before Hubbard scored inside off an assist from Tahe to push the lead to 16 points, 44-28, Gallup's largest of the game as the Lady Bengals had outscored the Lady Cougars 25 to 7.

Cibola got a couple of last-minute baskets by Anna Sanchez with a trey along with a putback by Maher to make the final margin of eight points, 44-36, in Gallup's favor.

To illustrate the dramatic control that Gallup had in the second half compared to the first half, there were a total of nine lead changes in the first half but just one in the second half. After a slim lead of just three points in the first half, Gallup surged to a commanding 16-point lead in the second half.

The Lady Bengals outrebounded the Lady Cougars 19-9 during the second half comeback. For the game, Gallup finished with 33 rebounds to 25 for Cibola.

Gallup also outshot Cibola 55 percent (11-of-20) to 22 percent (5-of-23) in the second half. For the game Gallup shot 45 percent (18-of-40) with Cibola shooting just half that with 22 percent shooting (11-of-51). From three-point range, Cibola struggled all night long, hitting on just 3-of-17 attempts for a miserable 18 percent average with Gallup hitting on 2-of-6 for 33 percent.

Gallup's Tanya Bailey and Vanessa Hubbard each finished with 13 points.

Cibola's leading scorers were Melanie Drangmeister and Shauna Snyder each with eight points. Cibola's bench outscored Gallup's 19-8.

| Top |

---

Farmington tops strong field

Michael Peretti
Staff Sports Writer

GALLUP — Though the host Gallup Bengals did not come out on top, Gallup coach Rex Clothier felt the 2001 Route 66 Wrestling Dual Tournament was a success.

"This is the first wrestling tournament for Gallup in 25 years, and we had some real quality teams here," he said. "Sandia and Farmington are strong teams, Manzano, Onate and Window Rock are quality wrestling teams. The caliber of wrestlers was very high. This was a good precedent," he said.

Clothier was less pleased with his team's performance.

"We wrestled very poorly," said Clothier. We started on a positive note, but did not finish..."

| Top |

---

Martinez: Education top issue

Tara Drolma
Staff Writer

GRANTS — Education will be one of the top priorities for Rep. Ken Martinez when the New Mexico legislative session opens Tuesday.

The Zuni, Gallup-McKinley and Grants-Cibola school districts are plaintiffs in the impact aid lawsuit, which claims the state distributes money for school construction unequally. Martinez, who represents District 69, characterized impact aid as payment in lieu of taxes for districts with military bases or tribal lands within their boundaries.

It is intended to make up for the loss of property tax revenue from these lands. However, in New Mexico, the money goes into a pot and is redistributed to districts throughout the state including districts without federal lands...

| Top |

---

---

Deaths

Ross Lee Francis

GAMERCO — Services for Ross Francis, 73, will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, at the Joshua Generation for Jesus, 1375 Elva Dr.

Francis died Jan. 11 in Gallup. He was born Feb. 5, 1927, in Versailles, Mo.

Francis' hobbies included outdoor sports, fishing and hunting.

Survivors include his wife, Jean L. Francis of Gamerco; son, Tim L. Francis of Gamerco; daughters, Shirley Feldhusen of Scottsdale, Ariz., Edith Hazel of Carencro, La., and Karen Francis of Phoenix; brother, Jack T. Francis of Phoenix; and six grandchildren.

Francis was preceded in death by parents, John and Nettie Francis; sister, Marilyn Wood; and brother, Edward Francis.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Daisy Ann Shirley

SAWMILL, Ariz. — Burial for Daisy Ann Shirley will be held on family land.

Shirley was born April 10, 1940, in Chinle, Ariz., into the Red Running Water People Clan for the Edgewater People Clan.

Shirley was a homemaker, sheepherder, farmer and rug weaver. Her hobbies included cooking and raising chickens.

Survivors include her son, Julius Wallace of Sawmill, Ariz.; brothers, Charley Yoe, Bennie Smith, Walter Jake and Melvin
Jake all of Sawmill; sister, Elaine Jake of Albuquerque and three grandchildren.

Shirley was preceded in death by her parents, Morgan Shirley and Alma Jake; sister, Rosy Norcross; and grandparents, Tom and Elizabeth Shirley.

Pallbearers will be Dean Bryant, Cornavan Yazzen, Jason Joe, Adrian Joe, Alex Garica and Anthony Scott Jr.

The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Sawmill Chapter House.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Isabel Grace Lizer

FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. — Services for Isabel Grace Lizer, 96, will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, at the First Baptist Church, Tse Bonito. Pastor Myron Lizer will officiate. Burial will follow on family land, Crystal.

Visitation will be at held from 7-8 p.m. tonight. A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. tonight.

Lizer died Jan. 12 in Gallup. She was born Aug. 25, 1904, in Todilto into the Near to the Water People for the Honey Comb Rock People.

Lizer attended Fort Defiance Boarding School and Albuquerque Indian School. She was employed with Fort Defiance Indian School.

Survivors include her son, Wilford A. Lizer; daughters, Lorraine Williams, Shirley A. Frazier, Vera E. Rodriguez and Carol M. Barton; seven grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

Lizer was preceded in death by husband, Clyde Lizer; parents, Charlie Shirley and Mary Wilson; brothers, Charles Shirley, Wilfred Shirley and Tom Shirley; sisters, Amilda Shirley, Flora Watchman and Matilda Teller; and two grandsons.

Pallbearers will be Myron Dale Lizer, Dwight D. Lizer, Kevin Watchman, Gary Watchman, Brandon Milford, Gerald S.
Milford and Tony Milford Jr.

The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at First Baptist Church, Fellowship Hall, Tse Bonito.

Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Albertine E. Menini

GALLUP — Services for Albertine E. Menini, 86, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Private disposition will be held at Elks Rest, Hill Crest Cemetery.

Menini died Jan. 10. She was born Jan. 10, 1915, in Chicago.

Menini worked as a waitress at the El Navajo Cafe, El Rancho and Talk of Town.

Survivors include her son, Rudolph C. Menini; daughter, Shirley A. Preston; brother, Alex Zvirzin; and two grandchildren.

Menini was preceded in death by her husband, Rudolph C. Menini, and brother, Bruno Zvirzin.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Presbyterian Hospice, 8100 Constitution Place N.E., Albuquerque, N.M. 87110.