Reach for the sky

Tyra Claw, 3, looks at her cousin Tajisha Jack, 10, as the two were playing Tuesday afternoon at Twin Lake Elementary.

Photo by Nicole Goodhue

 

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Better security at jail brings sense of relief

Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A year ago, residents of Gallup were still reeling from a series of jailbreaks from the county jail and fears that escaping prisoners would wreak havoc in the community.

But the mood is decidedly different today, in part due to changes in management at the McKinley County Adult Detention Center and more than a year of escape-free operation.

All of this has reduced the tension that committee members had felt about the way the facility was operated under the management of Correctional Services Corporation, said Steve Seeger, newly-elected head of the center's advisory committee.

"They are much more confident in the management of the facility now than before," he said.

Because of the series of jail breaks in 1999 and a series of disputes with CSC officials over their decision to crowd the jail with potentially violent inmates from prisons outside the county, management of the facility was turned over to the Management and Training Corporation this past January.

Even county officials have indicated a sense in relief in the new management and the end of several months of meetings packed with county residents demanding that something be done to protect them from potential murderers and rapists.

So what happened at the center?

According to County Commissioner Harry Mendoza, MTC came in and solved the problem with a simple solution.

"They trained the staff," he said.

Cody Graham, the facility's warden, agreed that providing training to the staff so that they would recognize trouble spots had a great deal to do with solving the problem.

Nowadays, "walk and talk" tours by him and other members of his staff occur frequently during which officials talk to inmates and get an almost daily assessment of what is going on in the prison.

The skylights, which were used in at least one of the escapes, have been reinforced and a new $15,000 security system, paid for by MTC, was installed so that jail staff know immediately if someone is trying to get on the roof.

Security checks have been beefed up and security staff have undergone extensive training on what they are expected to do to keep things calm in the facility.

"They now know what to look for," Graham said.

All of this has worked; staff at the jail said that not only have there been no escapes, there have been no attempts during the time MTC has been in charge.

Graham said that when he began meeting with the advisory committee, this fear of escapes was its primary concern, especially by those who lived in the Mossman area of town and other areas near the facility.

MTC managed to change things around without massive changes in the personnel, a fear that many staff members this time last year admitted they were having. Graham said that 90 percent of the staff who worked for CSC were retained.

"There wasn't any need to get rid of a lot of a people because there was a good staff here," Graham said.

It's also helped that the size of the jail population, which was almost 300 under the old management, is now a great deal lower. On Tuesday, the jail population was listed as 185, with 107 of these being inmates from McKinley County.

The rest are from Cibola and San Juan counties. There are no inmates from Bernalillo County although Bernalillo could still house inmates in Gallup. "They have chosen not to," Graham said.

It was the escape of inmates from Bernalillo County, many of them charged with violent crimes, that drew most of the criticism last year from area residents who opposed housing violent criminals from outside the county.

After the second series of multiple jail breaks, Bernalillo as well as all of the jails out-of-state came back in and picked up their inmates and sent them to other facilities.

Much of the criticism at the time, Graham said, was misplaced because the out-of-state prisoners were female. "You hardly ever have problems with female prisoners," he said.

While area residents may feel safer with fewer inmates from outside the county, it doesn't help MTC which is a private
company hoping to make a profit running the facility and can only do it by renting out beds to other jurisdictions.Graham
estimated that the break-even point to operate the facility was in the area of 210 inmates.

County officials have made it clear that they are also looking at the bottom line.

County Manager Irvin Harrison said that the county wants to limit its level of inmates at the facility to no more than 120. The county plans to do this, he said, by encouraging judges to look at alternative forms of detention, such as electronic monitoring and releasing prisoners on their own recognizance.

Graham said that while MTC wants to make a profit, it's not the sole motivating factor. He pointed out the company was formed with a mission to provide education to prisoners under its care so that when they return to society, they have a chance at turning their life around.

MTC's operation in Gallup has been aggressive in that area, he said, providing a number of education and training programs.
MTC is limited in this area, he added, because the average length of stay in Gallup is three weeks when many of these programs are geared toward inmates who are incarcerated for three months or longer.

One of the main areas of concern by MTC staff continues to center around security.

When CSC relinquished the building in January, the company took with it a number of video cameras that jail officials used to monitor various rooms constructed byCSC to provide isolation for certain prisoners. This created a number of blind spots that MTC wants to use cameras to monitor.

The county is now in negotiation with CSC to replace the cameras. This is part of a series of disputes between the county and CSC that total some $82,000, which the county is withholding from CSC's final payment. The county and CSC are now discussing the possibility of settling these disputes for $15,000.

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Large tribes band together

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Supporters of forming a new national organization to lobby for tribes with large land masses compared their campaign Tuesday to fighting the U.S. 7th Cavalry along the Little Bighorn in 1876.

And as that successful effort depended on the unification of large regional tribes, this is why the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, joined by the northern Great Plains tribes, wants the Navajo Nation to join the effort to lobby Congress and federal departments on behalf of tribes with large land masses.

The Navajo Nation, which covers an area bigger than the state of West Virginia, is critical to the issue.

Monday, members of the Navajo Nation Council's Inter-Government Relations Committee said they wanted their questions answered first, such as defining what a "large tribe" is.

Tuesday seven leaders from the northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains continued their efforts before a large audience in the Peterson Zah-Navajo Nation Museum, Library and Visitors Center, and at a lunch, to explain why they agree with Council Speaker Edward T. Begay that the time has come to form the new national organization.

Jonathan Windy Boy, Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council chairman, said that with the Navajos joining the new group it would represent 70 percent of the tribal land mass.

Gregg Bourland, the other main leader of the group, said, "I hope we will form a powerful alliance one the federal government will have to contend with."

He also admitted the new alliance, without Navajo, would have a harder time being successful. And that if Navajo doesn't join, his concern remains that "the tiny tribes rule the roost."

Pat Iron Cloud, referring to earlier comments by Navajo President Kelsey Begaye, said the Sioux believe all peoples are one and, "It is up to us to find that unity again." Begaye had echoed President Abraham Lincoln's premise, "United we stand, divided we fall."

IHS takeover

In a somewhat related matter, Lydia Hubbard-Pourier, chief executive officer of the Navajo Health Care System, lobbied the council delegates for takeover of the entire $475 million, 3,000-employee Indian Health Service Navajo Area operation.

She said more and more small tribes are acquiring the IHS operation under Public Law 93-638, leaving less money to provide direct services to the remaining tribes. About three-fourths of the tribes already contract, she said.

Hubbard-Pourier said that by "contracting," the Navajo Nation would gain an additional badly needed $150 million from the U.S. treasury to operate six hospitals and six other health care facilities.

Vice President Dr. Taylor McKenzie, a retired Navajo surgeon, said a study showed the Navajo Area IHS was the 11th lowest of the 12 in the IHS system, in per capita funding, getting less than half the money per person as some other areas.

With the council to decide the matter in January, McKenzie then left the gathering early to catch a plane to San Francisco to lobby the IHS for more funds.

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Taylor shut out of audit meeting

Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

GRANTS — In a move that astounded even the usually unflappable Councilor Shirley Taylor, city officials apparently held a secret meeting Tuesday with a contract auditor and pointedly excluded the vocal councilor.

The meeting itself apparently was moved at the last minute and a few steps ahead of the persistent Taylor from City Hall to behind the walls of the local prison facility where the mayor is warden.

The annual audit exit interview is not public. However, certain guidelines must be followed, which the city apparently failed to do at least that's what Taylor said Tuesday after she returned from City Hall following the exclusionary meeting.

"Bob Horacek (city manager) told me that the mayor (Bill Snodgrass) did not want me at the meeting," Taylor said.

Exit interviews are required by the state auditor's office, during which the contract auditor explains what is right and what is wrong with the city's books.

According to state auditor's office regulations, exit interviews must be held with representatives of the governing body (in this case the city council) and top management. The regulations do not say all members of a governing body must attend the exit interview but, at the same time, it does not say members of the governing body can be excluded.

While the rules state that the exit interview does not need to be open to the public, the meeting does have to be advertised, the same as a regular city council meeting.

Taylor said she saw no advertising of the exit interview, but she wanted to attend the meeting.

She said her interest in audits has a history. In 1998, Taylor and then-Councilor Sybel Cometti found out the auditor completed the 1997-98 fiscal year audit and asked for a public meeting on the audit. At the time the city's charter allowed two councilors to call for a subject to be placed on the council agenda.

After the audit meeting, at which the auditor said his work was only as good as the information provided his office by the city, Grants officials changed the rules so that it took a consensus of three councilors to have items put on the city agenda.

Taylor said she wanted to be present at the 1999-00 fiscal year audit exit interview, which is conducted before sending the audit to State Auditor Domingo Martinez's office for review.

Griego Company, a Grants firm run by Nestor Griego, is the city's auditor.

Taylor said she telephoned Griego Company earlier this month to ask when the exit interview was going to be held. Taylor said she was told it would be held after Thanksgiving and the councilor said she told Griego Company that as a councilor, she wanted to attend.

Taylor called Griego Company on Monday and said she was told the exit interview would be 9 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

Taylor said she telephoned the state auditor's office early Tuesday to make sure she had the right as a city councilor representing Grants citizens to attend the meeting and was told she did, but that the exit interview meeting should have been advertised as required by the state Open Meetings Act.

At 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Taylor went to City Hall and met with Horacek. "I told him I wanted to participate in the exit interview and he said the mayor wouldn't allow me to do that," Taylor said. "I told him that it was not the mayor's choice."

No one else showed up at City Hall. At 9:30 a.m., Taylor telephoned Griego's office. "I was told that he was at City Hall to do the exit interview," Taylor said.

At 10 a.m., Taylor left City Hall.

Later Tuesday she contacted Griego and found out that at 8:50 a.m. he was informed by City Hall that the meeting location had been changed from City Hall to Corrections Corporation of America.

Taylor said the mayor, Councilor Ruben Aranda, Horacek and Griego were at the meeting at the prison.

Martinez called the situation "puzzling."

Attorney General Patricia Madrid's spokeswoman Joyce Lincoln said, "We cannot respond to this issue until we have received a formal complaint."

Taylor said she has sent a complaint to Martinez and will send one to Madrid today.

Horacek's office was contacted at 4 p.m. Tuesday for comment, but he had already left for the day, a City Hall spokesperson said.

Taylor said, "This is a behavior that has gone on since I have been a city councilor and I was told that former Councilor Sybel Cometti had the same problem. This is not a behavior directed specifically at me, but at any councilor who questions the way business is transacted at this city."

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Poor shooting costs Crownpoint

Carrie Loretto
Sports Editor

CROWNPOINT — The Grants Pirates and Crownpoint Eagles reversed roles and traded halves in a 50-42 Grants victory in Crownpoint Tuesday night.

A flat-footed Pirate team trailed 30-24 at halftime, but came back from the halftime break and charged out to a ten-point advantage as Crownpoint shot just 23.5 percent from the field and turned the ball over 14 times in the second half.

"We didn't look like the same team, we didn't have the same intensity,"Crownpoint coach Rick Pawalea said."I think we just basically came out flat. But overall I was pretty pleased. Grants is a fast, good shooting team. We knew that coming in."

"We just didn't come out to play,"Grants coach Gerald Horacek said."We weren't movng our feet on defense, that's why we got into fould trouble and we didn't rebound the ball, we were going one shot and out. These guys have a lot of faith in themselves. I told them what we weren't doing and that they've gotta correct that."

Crownpoint outboarded Grants 19 to 14 in the first half, allowing only one offensive rebound in the first half. Meanwhile, Crownpoint grabbed six of its own misses, putting half of them back for six points in the first two quarters. In the second half, Grants held a 14 to 12 rebounding edge with four on the offensive end.

Additionally, the Pirates offensive production improved as they went away from the perimeter and shot 57 percent from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range. In the first half, Grants was 1-of-14 from three-point range as they settled for the outside shot more than half the time. For the game, Grants shot 46 percent from the field (23-of-53). Crownpoint, which shot 41 percent (11-of-27) from the field in the first half, was held to three field goals in the second as the Eagles turned the ball over 14 times.

The first of those came to open the second half with Kyle James coming up with a steal. Joe Ross drove the lane, then pulled up for a short jumper which was good. Another Eagle turnover resulted in another score by Ross as Grants pulled within 30-28 quickly.

Grants took its first lead since the first quarter when Joey Garcia drove along the baseline and put in a reverse layup and Roshaun McKinney took it in off the fastbreak.

Trailing 32-30 Crownpoint took a timeout, but came back and turned the ball over once more. James capped Grants' 10-0 run to start the second half as the Pirates went up 34-30.

Collin Henio, who led all scorers with 16 points, finally scored Crownpoint's first basket of the half with under four minuts remaining in the period.

The teams traded scores until Ross hit a three-pointer, McKinney a shot and Smith a pair of free throws to close out the quarter to open up a 46-36 Pirate advantage.

Grants continued to pull away in the fourth period as Crownpoint made only 2-of-9 shots in the quarter.

A four-point play by James in the first period had broken an 8-8 tie. James was knocked down after releasing a three-point shot and made the ensuing free throw for a 12-8 lead with 3:48 left in the first.

Henio retied the score with a pair of baskets and Crownpoint took a 15-14 lead as Kyle Devore put back an Eagle miss at the buzzer.

A technical foul in the second quarter set off a 14-4 Eagle run and put them up 30-20. Michael Norton had just scored on a fastbreak when Garcia was slapped with a technical for doing just that on the play. Norton's free throws were good and Crownpoint made it a six-point possession when Otis Peshlakai also scored.

Smith scored at the other end for Grants, but Henio answered with a nice move in the middle for a shot. Grants stayed close with a shot from the perimeter by James, but a putback by Norton and a basket off a turnover by Peshlakai put Crownpoint up 30-20 with two minutes left in the half.

Smith brought Grants back within six, 30-24 with the quarter's last two baskets.

Smith finished with 13 points as Grants had three scorers in double figures. McKinney led the Pirates with 14 points and Ross added 11.

Norton added 10 points for Crownpoint.

The Pirates improved to 2-0 and will play another District 1AAA school Friday at Thoreau. Crownpoint, 1-2, will be off until next week's Basin Tournament.

Panthers win big

Michael Peretti
Staff Sports Writer

GALLUP — With four players scoring in double figures, the Gallup Catholic Panthers picked up a big win 69-44 Tuesday night at the Gallup Catholic High School gym.

The Panthers (3-0) trailed at 6-5 and Newcomb (0-2) led by as much as 9-5 early in the first, but Gallup Catholic ended the quarter with a 6-0 run and never trailed again.

Led by Marshall Lemoine, the Panthers doubled Newcomb in the second quarter, outscoring the Skyhawks 18-9 to push their lead to 29-18 at the half. Lemoine scored seven of his eight points in the second quarter, hitting two lay-ups and a three pointer. During the quarter the Panthers went on a 8-0 run.

To start off the third quarter, Gallup Catholic went on a 10-2 run and then a 12-0 run to lead 51-25 before Newcomb could score again. Brian Morris hit 4-of-4 from the line during the run and Michael Estrada and DJ Biava each scored six points as well. The Skyhawks ended the quarter with a 6-0 run of their own with three pointers from Jeremiah Betone and Oliver King.

The Skyhawks scored the first points of the fourth quarter, a basket by Willando Yazzie, but the Panthers then went on a 10-2 run followed by a 8-2 run to end the game.

Newcomb was led by Oliver King with 13 points followed by Jeremiah Betone with 12.

The Panthers were led by Mike Estrada with 19 points. Bryan Sparks added 13, DJ Biava 12 and Brian Morris had 11 for the Panthers.

Gallup Catholic out rebounded Newcomb 43-31 and had 16 turnovers to 18 by the Skyhawks.

One problem that the Panthers had during the game was their free throw shooting. The Panthers shot 7-of-16 from the line in the game, Morris hitting 5-of-8 and Biava hitting 2-of-2. "Free throws are going to kill us one day," said Panther head coach Vince Lonetree. "We work on them in practice but just can't make them in games."

The Skyhawks shot 2-of-5 from the line.

"We never got into our rhythm," said Newcomb head coach Larry Thorton. "It's early season and we played like it. (Gallup) Catholic did a good job."

Lonetree said that he was happy with the way his team played and that missing a few players will hurt the team early in the season. "We missed Clarence (Groton) tonight, he is one of our better defensive players, but I think we still put good pressure on the ball." Lonetree said that a some players had to be moved up from JV to play because of missing varsity players.

"We won't have the others back until after January but should get the team together and ready for district." he said. Groton missed the game because of a nighttime class and a few other players are not with the team because of grades.

The Panthers play tomorrow against Laguna Acoma in the first round of the Native American Invitational at 3 p.m. at Navajo Pine High School and Newcomb will play at 7 p.m. in the tournament against Red Mesa, also at Navajo Pine High School.

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Bengal Boys stung by Hornets, 68-43

Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer

ALBUQUERQUE — The Gallup Bengals were unable to take the sting out of the Highland Hornets.

Already exhibiting midseason form despite having just one day of practice with its six football players that joined the basketball team, the Hornets swarmed the Bengals 68-43 nailing eight treys and three slam dunks Tuesday night in the season opener for both teams. The loss spoiled the Gallup coaching debut of head coach Earl Diddle.

"Highland has a real good team,"said a disappointed Diddle who takes over a struggling Bengal basketball program that was 6-16 last year and has produced only 24 victories the past five seasons. "I was impressed with them with their offensive and defensive schemes. I scouted them against Academy last week. But it's tough anytime you lose. Highland was tough for us to handle. Their defense swarmed us early. But we have to keep up our effort and execute better. We have to take care of the ball."

It won't get any easier for the Bengals as they travel to Farmington Friday night. The Scorpions boast players in the 6-foot-10 to 6-foot-5 range. Gallup will then have its home season opener next Tuesday against Los Lunas...

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Dilcon school chief questions board's motives

Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer

DILKON, Ariz. — This past July, nearly a year after his hiring as Dilcon Community School's executive director, Gene Thomas set an electrical contractor and crew to work on what he considered a serious problem.

The school's wiring system was a danger to students in large part because it hadn't been upgraded since the current buildings were erected in 1966, Thomas said. Wires "literally crumbled in the hands" when their boxes were opened. Overhead wiring extended over the playground, a clear safety violation.

Those weren't the only problems.

"The whole school was ungrounded," Thomas said. "And guess where the junction boxes were located? Next to the water cooler..."

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Deaths

Mary C. Spencer

PINEHAVEN — Services for Mary C. Spencer, 74, will be announced at a later date.

Spencer died Nov. 28 in Gallup. She was born Jan. 30, 1926, in Pinehaven into the Towering House Clan for the Bitterwater People Clan.

A family meeting will be held at 4 p.m. today at the Breadsprings Chapter House.

Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Terry A. Tsosie Sr.

WIDE RUINS, Ariz. — Services for Terry A. Tsosie Sr., 53, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, at the Catholic Church in St. Michaels, Ariz. Father Hickey, O.F.M., will officiate. Burial will follow at the Fort Defiance, Ariz., community cemetery.

A rosary will be recited at 6:30 tonight at the Catholic Church in St. Michaels.

Tsosie died Nov. 26 in Wide Ruins, Ariz. He was born Nov. 17, 1947, in Pinon, Ariz. into the Coyote Pass Clan for the One Who Walks Around You Clan.

Tsosie attended Fort Sill Indian School, was a class Valdictorian and Arizona State University in Phoenix. He received certification as a computer analyst from Rockwell Institute.

Survivors include his wife, Cecelia J. Tsosie of Wide Ruins, Ariz.; sons, Terry A. Tsosie of Flagstaff, Ariz., Christopher A. Tsosie , Tyrone A. Tsosie and Timothy A. Tsosie all of Mesa, Ariz.; daughters, Cheryl J. Tsosie and Camelia J. Tsosie both of Mesa, Ariz.; father, William A. Tsosie of Rough Rock, Ariz.; brothers, Perry Tsosie of Flagstaff, Ariz. and Albert Tsosie of Rough Rock, Ariz.; sisters, Adella Begay, Wilhelmina Tsosie and Dorothy Tom all of Flagstaff, Ariz. and Lorraine Tsosie, Katherine Tsosie and Betty Cheese all of Las Vegas, Nev. and two grandchildren.
Tsosie was preceded in death by mother, Lena Tsosie and brother, Tony Tsosie.

Pallbearers will be Terry A. Tsosie Jr., Christopher A. Tsosie, Tyrone Tsosie, Timothy A. Tsosie, Perry Tsosie and Albert
Tsosie.

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

Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.