Martin will fight firing from NTUA
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Bernadine Martin believes she was fired because
she never played political games during her time as deputy general
manager of Navajo Tribal Utility Authority.
Now she says she will challenge her termination, a process that started
Aug. 28 and concluded Sept. 28, before the Navajo Labor Relations
Board, the Window Rock District Court and possibly the Office of Ethics
and Rules.
She was placed on administrative leave Aug. 28 and was officially
fired Sept. 28, retroactive to Sept. 8.
Martin said last week that a portion of her one year at-will contract
is contrary to the Navajo Employment Preference Act and therefore
not enforcable, that she was not given due process, and that General
Manager Randall Medicine Bear engages in unfair business practices
by treating employees differently.
Martin claimed there was a breach of contract, intentional infliction
of emotional distress, gender discrimination, retaliation, abuse of
authority and wrongful discharge. She said she will seek an apology
for being unfairly treated, damages and attorney
costs.
Repeated attempts to obtain a statement from the general manager failed.
Martin was the Office of Ethics and Rules director before accepting
the deputy manager's position with a one-year probationary contract
that began Nov. 30. The utility position requires legal training to
qualify, as does the ethics job.
She said her position is not a political appointment, but she was
treated as if it were, and she said she was told to either resign
or be fired. Since Medicine Bear is a political appointee, with a
contract, she said she would pursue an ethics complaint if he abuses
his power.
Martin believes the contract's provision that she could be terminated
without cause with 10 days' notice violates the Navajo Employment
Preference Act that requires cause for firing. While the act excludes
consultant and attorney contracts, it includes employment contracts,
she said.
Two district managers were allowed to resign, she said, but both men
were given due process and lucrative severances, thus raising the
gender discrimination issue, she said.
Medicine Bear sent her to Chinle as a temporary manager for about
four months, she said. "I would have considered going to Chinle
(as permanent manager)," she said. Because of the double duty,
she says she told him in early July in good faith that she needed
help.
"It was a slap in my face when they didn't include my Chinle
work" in the termination, she said. Martin says Chinle employees
told her she had been the one who helped them the most.
She said the administration never gave her any feedback. "I feel
like I was supposed to read their minds," she said.
Martin also is suspicious of the timing of her initial letter, Medicine
Bear told her she didn't have to go to the August board meeting. She
said she was willing to modify her schedule to attend, if needed.
Martin said the Aug. 28 letter lacked specific offenses, but the two
male managers who were terminated received very specific offenses.
"I worked for the customers and employees, not one specific person,"
she said. "If I thought something was wrong or unfair, I said
so. But when they made the decision I accepted it."
The two sides negotiated to try reach a settlement, but on Sept. 28,
two days after she rejected Medicine Bear's counter-offer, he wrote,
"Because you have decided to discontinue the settlement negotiations,
you leave me no choice but to terminate you from your position ...
effective at 5 p.m. Sept. 8, 2000."
He also accused her of being deceitful, writing, "I had hoped
that you would be sincere about the settlement negotiations and that
we could have settled this matter amicably. However, based on your
statement that 'contracts are made to be broken' at our last in-person
meeting in my office, I now realize that entering into another agreement
would have been futile," and directed all further contact to
be through the utility's lawyer, Patterson Joe.
In his Aug. 28 letter, Medicine Bear offered about 10 weeks' severance
pay, "If you are willing to submit a resignation in lieu of contract
termination."
| Top |
Chinle woman walks into national spotlight
TV program to feature life of activist Marjorie Thomas
S.J. Ludescher
Staff Writer
CHINLE, Ariz. — As a little girl living at the Ganado Mission
with her mother and siblings, Marjorie Thomas probably never dreamed
she would be featured on a television show. But tonight, part of Thomas'
life will be showcased on an installment of the television show "Cool
Women."
The show highlights the lives of influential and inspirational contemporary
women. It will be aired on the Romance Channel, part of the AMC network,
at 6 p.m. local time.
The 12-minute segment follows Thomas, 70, on her annual 100-mile walk
from Chinle to Window Rock in an effort to raise money for the Chinle
Youth Center. Her efforts just in the last year have raised more than
$2.5 million.
"Her health is also precarious, with diabetes, yet she trots
all the way," Jane Stewart, a resident who helps with her project,
said. "She believes in living the Beauty Way."
Thomas was born in Ganado at Sage Memorial Hospital to missionary
parents. When she was 2years old, her father died from blood poisoning.
Her mother started to work at the Ganado Mission. When Thomas got
older, she was sent to boarding school, which she has documented in
33 volumes.
"She didn't care for the boarding schools," said Leon Skyhorse
Thomas, Marjorie's 44 year-old son. "She had to wear uniforms
to church, even."
As a young woman, she quit school and then married Leo P. Thomas at
the courthouse in St. Johns, Ariz., "with a prisoner as a witness,"
Leon Thomas said.
She raised eight children and lots of sheep. At age 29, with the urging
of her husband, she returned to school for her General Education Diploma.
That was the beginning of her commitment to education that has lasted
through the years.
During the 1980s as a school administrator in Chinle, she wrote curriculum
for all grade levels that reintroduced Navajo language and customs
into the schools.
She received a doctorate from the University of New Mexico and Diné
College about two and a half years ago.
Thomas was not available to talk with the Independent about her television
debut. She was busy cheering one of her 21 grandchildren on at a soccer
game more than 60 miles from her home.
| Top |
Shiprock man gets jail for beating death
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The president of an American Indian motorcycle
club has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for beating to death
another man with an aluminum baseball bat.
U.S. District Judge C. LeRoy Hansen on Thursday sentenced Raymond
Jones, president of the Norbanos motorcycle club, and ordered him
to pay $2,441 in restitution to Thomas Briggs' family.
Jones hit Briggs on the head four times with an aluminum bat outside
of a convenience store in Shiprock on June 27, 1997. The incident
took place on the Navajo reservation.
Jones, 41, was convicted by a federal jury of second-degree murder
in January 1998, but the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver reversed
the conviction and granted Jones a second trial.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. District Court
in Albuquerque had erred in not instructing the jury on the lesser
offense of involuntary manslaughter.
Jones' co-defendant, Alfred Yazzie, 41, also was convicted of second-degree
murder and his conviction too was overturned by the U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals.
In June, Jones was convicted of second-degree murder following his
second trial. Yazzie pleaded guilty that same month to voluntary manslaughter.
Yazzie admitted kicking Briggs in the groin and stabbing him three
or four times with a pocket knife after he was down, according to
an account released by the U.S. attorney's office.
The men then left Briggs, 46, to die in the convenience store parking
lot, Yazzie said.
Defense attorneys initially said the defendants acted in self-defense.
However, during the 1998 trial, Assistant District Attorney Kathleen
Bliss said Briggs was hit so hard by the bat that he never got up,
and that a medical investigator found no defensive wounds.
| Top |
Emotional Bengals host Farmington
Gallup preview
GALLUP — The Gallup Bengal football team is reeling from this
past week's fatal tragedy involving Frankie Martinez.
Martinez, a 16-year old junior at Gallup High School, who was found
Monday after missing for nearly a week was buried this morning.
"He was real close with a lot of kids on our team, so I imagine
most of our kids will be there," Bengal coach Jeff Taylor said
Thursday night. "Our condolences go out to the family."
The school provided counselors for the high school students after
the news of the tragedy came out Tuesday. Taylor cut practice short
on Tuesday and has been communicating with the players to gauge whether
or not they will be emotionally ready to play tonight.
Junior quarterback Ben Garcia will not start tonight said Taylor.
"He was really close with Frankie so we're unsure how ready he'll
be to play," Taylor said.
Running back Andrew Christenson is also questionable, telling Taylor
he thinks he's ready to go.
"We're going to start him and see how he's doing," Taylor
said.
Several of the football players, who played baseball with Martinez,
had spent time searching for their friend throughout his disappearance
Taylor added.
"With the tragedy, emotionally, we're just going to have to see
how able we are to overcome this. We've still got a game to play and
we're going to play," said Taylor.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. tonight at Public School Stadium.
Besides the emotional turmoil the team is facing, the 1-3 Bengals
have a handful of players beat up physically as well.
"Our line is kind of beat up," said Taylor.
Brian Long is out with a knee injury suffered against Rio Grande.
Ben Mitchell has a separated shoulder and will not start. Charles
Kruger is nursing a sore shin after being hit there in the loss to
Belen but is expected to start.
"Other than that, we're business as usual," said Taylor
who will go with the same starting lineup.
Kevin Escajeda, who started in the loss to Grants, will start in place
of Garcia with Jarred Montano also seeing time at quarterback.
The last time Gallup beat Farmington was for the District 1AAAA championship
in 1990. Although Farmington is no longer in the same district as
Gallup, Taylor would savor a victory against the Scorpions.
With the new alignment Farmington is in District 1AAAA with Aztec,
Bloomfield, Kirtland Central and Piedra Vista. Gallup moved up to
1AAAAA with primarily Albuquerque teams.
"It's always been a big game for us," Taylor said, adding
that the rivalry probably isn't as important to Farmington. "It's
been awhile since we beat Farmington, we're due."
"Farmington likes to throw the ball a lot, they line up in the
shotgun formation about 90 percent of the time," said Taylor.
"They've got a big quarterback who throws the ball well."
Brandon Gaskin, 6'5", 200 lbs., will start for the Scorpions
who are 3-2.
Tonight will be the first time the Bengals will be facing a pass-oriented
offense.
"That presents a different defensive scheme," said Taylor.
"We've been (working on) pressuring the quarterback, mixing up
zone and man coverage," said Taylor.
With a split four defense similar to the one run by the Bengals, Taylor
sees the major obstacle for Gallup as holding onto the ball. The Bengals
have 16 turnovers in their four games.
Panthers rout Grants
Michael Peretti
Staff Sports Writer
GALLUP — The No. 10 ranked Gallup Catholic Panthers high scoring
offensive attack, which has seemed non-existent in their last three
outings, returned in a big way Thursday afternoon as the Panthers
defeated Grants 9-2.
Though the two teams are in the same district, the game did not count
as a district game because only the second meeting will count as a
district match. The two will meet again on October 24th.
The win improved the Panthers to 10-1-2 on the season and the loss
was the Pirates' first of the season, putting them at 4-1.
The Panthers scored three more goals in the game than they did in
all three of their previous games combined. In the three previous
games the Panthers were 0-1-2.
The Panthers were paced by DJ Biava, who scored four goals and had
two assists. Biava scored the first goal of the game almost mid way
though the first half. James Kezele added a score for the Panthers
on a pass from Biava, and then Mike Estrada put one in right before
the half to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead.
"The game went really well," said Panther head coach Dino
Lagravinese. "The team came out with a great deal of intensity.
Technically the team played very good, it was one of our better games
of the season."
Biava scored the first two goals of the second half, putting Gallup
Catholic up 5-0 before Grants could get on the board.
The Pirates finally scored on a shot from Jose Gallegos halfway through
the second half.
Minutes after giving up the goal, the Panthers came
right back and scored again, Biava's fourth goal on a pass from Kezele.
Grants scored on a shot by Jesus Sandoval, putting the Pirates as
close as they would get at 6-2.
Estrada would score next, the goal on a pass from Michael Mason, and
then Marco Marquez would score on a pass from Biava. Kezele scored
the final goal in the game on a pass from Estrada.
Kezele and Estrada both finished the game with two goals. Kezele and
Mason both had two assists along with Biava.
"We are in a learning stage," said Grants head coach Paul
Bennett. "A few of our kids messed up on grades (and now can't
play), so we are reorganizing the team."
The Panthers outshot the Pirates 45-14 in the game, 26-9 in the second
half.
The Pirates play at Rehoboth Tuesday in another game between district
opponents, but the game will not count as a district game on Tuesday,
Grants will open up their district play at Sandia Prep next Thursday.
Gallup Catholic is now off until October 17th. The team prepares to
play their last three games of the season, all district games. They
will play Rehoboth on October 17th in both team's district opener.
In their meeting earlier in the week, Rehoboth held Gallup Catholic
to only one goal, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie. Because it was
not a district game, there was no overtime and the game was ended.
| Top |
Greyhills super survives volley
Pamela Dempsey
Special to the Independent
TUBA CITY, Ariz. — The Greyhills Academy High School board was
thwarted Thursday night from another attempt to terminate Greyhills
Superintendent Mitchell Kalauli when they received an injunction.
The injunction, signed by Navajo District Judge Manuel Watchman, prevented
board members from discussing any material related to Kalauli and
his employment with the school until a court hearing to determine
if the board violated the state's double jeopardy law.
The board meeting started at 6:30 p.m. Two hours later, two Navajo
officers walked into the board room and handed the injunction to board
chairman Kenneth Nez. The board allowed discussion to continue for
another two hours before announcing no action could be taken.
About 50 people attended the meeting to support Kalauli, who was appointed
superintendent in July 1999 for a two-year period. Greyhills students
planned to walk out today to show their support, but he discouraged
them from doing so...
| Top |
CSC lawsuit is back
Staff Report
GALLUP — The lawsuit against Correctional Services Corp. is on
again.
People who were employed by CSC when it operated the
McKinley County Adult Detention first sued the company in the fall
of 1999.
They alleged that CSC's way of managing the inmates was dangerous
for the inmates, the employees and the community. In the lawsuit,
the former CSC employees said when they pointed out the problems to
management, they were fired.
About 13 people sued CSC in individual lawsuits, and in January they
went to the U. S. District Court together with one lawsuit...
| Top |
Is french fry project cooked or cooking?
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Super-size it or cancel the order?
That's what the Navajo Nation Council's Economic Development Committee
will decide within the next two weeks as it considers conflicting
proposals about a project that would grow potatoes for french fries
on the northern edge of the reservation.
One proposal is to strip away the $10 million from the NAPI-based
project and turn it over to the Capital Improvement Projects fund.
The other proposal would be a joint venture for growing the potatoes,
with a separate joint venture to process and distribute the potatoes...
| Top |
Hopis run for water issues
Staff Report
POLACCA, Ariz. — More than 60 Hopis took part in a 70-mile run
across the reservation from the spring in Polacca to Moenkopi to draw
attention to water issues.
From sun-up to sundown on Sept. 30, the runners covered a route that
followed old trails through each village and visited the springs that
have sustained Hopi life from the beginning.
The runners relayed a gourd of sacred water in the plaza area of each
village. Each village designated a runner to represent it, and carry
the gourd to the next village.
During the final one-eighth of a mile into Moenkopi, about 100 supporters
joined the runners. This made the number of runners coming into Moenkopi
about 140. Among them were Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor and Bucky Preston,
champion runner who recently helped take a stand against the mining
of the San Francisco Peaks...
| Top |
Residents sound off on annexation
Milan hears various views
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
MILAN — Milan officials got just what they were asking for
when they sought public input about a proposed annexation plan that
would more than double its size.
No dates have been set for the other meetings, but officials expect
to hold several more before deciding the controversial issue.
About 20 people came to Village Hall Thursday night to talk and
listen, but no decisions were made. No consensus was reached as
officials listened to comments, questions and concerns.
The last annexation was in 1999 when less than 200 acres were brought
into the village with the acquisition of the Cibola County Detention
Center and the Zuni Mountain Golf Course.
As now situated, about 2,500 acres are in the community roughly
shaped like an Australian boomerang, said Milan Planning and Zoning
Chairman Larry Carver. The tentative proposal calls for adding another
3,000 acres...
Deaths
Melissa Effie Gabaldon-Stone
GALLUP — Services for Melissa Effie Gabaldon-Stone, 24, will
be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Father
Pat Universal will officiate. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial
Park.
Rosary will be held at 7 tonight, Oct. 6, at Rollie Mortuary.
Gabaldon-Stone died Oct. 4 in Albuquerque. She was born June 15, 1976,
in Gallup.
Survivors include her husband, Matthew Stone of Albuquerque; daughters,
Macie Michelle Stone and Megan Page Stone, both of Gallup; parents,
Milton Gabaldon of Albuquerque and Brenda Noel of Gallup; sisters,
Christie Andrea Gabaldon and Danielle Renae Gabaldon, both of Gallup;
and grandparents, Ester Gabaldon of Aztec, Nora Nelson of Lupton,
Ariz., and Leroy Gabaldon of Gallup.
Gabaldon-Stone was preceded in death by her grandfather, Juan Nelson.
Pallbearers will be Russell Gabaldon, Frank Lente, April Romero and
Micah Stone.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Frances Grey Wilson
FORT WINGATE — Services for Frances Grey Wilson, 82, will be
held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Rehoboth Mission. Pastor
Edgar B. Yazzie will officiate. Burial will follow at the Rehoboth
Mission Cemetery.
Wilson died Oct. 3 in Gallup. She was born Sept. 15, 1918, in Mariano
Lake into the Water Flows Together People Clan for the Sage Brush
Hill People Clan.
Survivors include her son, Alex Wilson of Albuquerque; daughter, Diana
Wilson Billie of Fort Wingate; and three grandchildren.
Wilson was preceded in death by her mother, Martha Grey; brother,
Alfred Grey; and sisters, Flora Mescale, Helen Mescale and Alice Perry.
Pallbearers will be Stewart Billie, Watson Billie Sr., Christopher
Long, Melvin Mescale, Kyle Wilson and Matthew Wilson.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Lois E. Wilcox Hale
EL MORRO — Graveside services for Lois E. Wilcox Hale, 78, will
be held at 1 p.m. today, Oct. 6, in El Morro.
Hale died Oct. 3 in Escondida. She was born Feb. 17, 1922, in El Morro
to Jason and Ida Mae (Barnes) Willcox.
Hale was a 1941 graduate of Grants High School. She married Elvin
E. Hale on June 1, 1949. She resided in Las Cruces and moved to Socorro
in 1953.
Survivors include her husband, Elvin E. Hale of Escondida; sons, Dwayne
Hale of Bluewater, Jimmy Hale of Socorro, Tommy Hale of San Antonio
and Clayton Hale of Las Cruces; daughter, Patricia Hale of Farmington;
sister, Margie Darby Hill of Grants; and four grandchldren.
Hale was preceded in death by her brothers, Bill Hooper, Royal Hopper,
Herman Willcox, J.E. Willcox and Gordon Willcox.
Pallbearers will be Melvin Darby, Frank Fernandez, Abel Forkner, Jason
Darby, Jody Elkins and Jerry Willcox.
Irene Bustos
ALBUQUERQUE — Services for Irene Bustos, 82, will be announced
at a later date.
Bustos died Oct. 5 in Albuquerque. She was born Dec. 2, 1917, in Miami,
Ariz.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
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