Bengal teams to see 'green' this weekend
Alan Arthur
Sports Editor
GALLUP — The Gallup Bengal basketball teams are going to be seeing
a lot of green this weekend.
No, it isn't the lastest installment of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.'
The reason for this green is that the Bengals boys and girls each
play district contests this weekend against the Farmington Scorpions
and the Albuquerque High Bulldogs.
The Gallup girls host the Scorpions on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Gallup
High School and then travel to Albuquerque on Saturday. The Bengal
boys do the opposite, traveling to Farmington on Friday and hosting
the Bulldogs on Saturday night.
The Bengal girls, battered and bruised by their recent games with
Albuquerque teams, are hoping they can put together another strong
game against the Scorpions on Friday night.
The Lady Bengals are once again on top of District 1AAAA with a 4-0
record and a 16-1 overall mark. Their recent victories came last weekend
with a physical 61-34 win over the Rio Grande Ravens and a 50-37 victory
on Saturday night over the Valley Vikings.
The Scorpions lost to Valley 55-35 and beat Albuquerque High 79-39
in last weekend's games.
Daniella Aretino has once again been leading the Bengal charge with
20 points and 13 rebounds against Rio Grande and 12 points against
Valley. Other leaders last weekend included Roberta Tahe with nine
and 10 points and Perrline Kelewood with nine and 12 points, respectively.
With all their ailments from an arm fracture to bruises
to just plain having a cold, the Bengals have also received some strong
play off the bench. Against the Ravens, Rhonda Begay came off the
bench to score nine points in the second quarter and would have played
more if she had more available quarters left after having played in
the junior varsity game previously.
Against Valley, Latanya Hunt provided some key minutes for the Bengals,
scoring six points.
The Bengal boys last weekend came up with their first district win
of the year, knocking off the Rio Grande Ravens on the road, 68-62.
Unfortunately, they could not keep up with the No. 4 ranked Valley
Vikings on Saturday night, suffering a 79-70 defeat.
Sibert Leslie turned it on to lead the Bengals in both games, scoring
19 against the Ravens and adding another 21 against the Vikings. Also,
Branden Neel scored 15 and 10 points, Maurice Guliford scored 13 and
11 points and Branden Neel added 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Teams continue to have good shooting performances against
the Bengals as Valley shot 56.8% on Saturday night, making 33-of-58
shots. Even in the Bengal victory on Friday night, the Ravens made
43% of their shots (24-of-56).
Three-point shooting continues to be a strong point
for the Bengals, nailing eight against the Vikings and five against
the Ravens.
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Feds, ranch discuss land exchange
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — The U.S Forest Service and L-Bar Ranch are looking into
a possible land exchange that would eliminate between 22,000 and 24,000
acres of the checkerboard area behind Mount Taylor.
If the proposal is successful, it would mean the Cibola National Forest
Mount Taylor District's contiguous boundary would be extended between
11,000 and 12,000 acres.
In exchange, the Forest Service would give up a similar
amount of its land in the checkerboard area to L-Bar Ranch, also known
as Caprock Pipe and Supply Co.
The affected area comprises the northernmost portion of the Mount
Taylor Ranger District. By air, it is some 33 miles from Grants, inside
McKinley County.
Should the deal go through, it would eliminate the current squabbling
between hunters and landowners over trespass rights, said Karen Carter
with the U.S. Forest Service in Albuquerque.
Under the law, land owners can now block access across their property
to people trying to reach public lands inside the checkerboard area.
Hunters have long complained about being denied access to prime hunting
areas on public lands.
"The area we're talking about is one of the more popular areas
in the checkerboard," Carter said. "This is the area people
like to hunt in."
The district's checkerboard area has a long and complicated history
of management because of the alternating ownership of nonfederal and
federal lands.
Carter said the exchange of land would assist resource management
of the area, clear up current rights-of-way and access problems and
consolidate and simplify property boundaries.
In the government mill for more than a year, the process has been
surprisingly quick for the U.S. government, Carter said.
A couple of open houses were held in Albuquerque and Grants last year
to allow the public to comment on the land exchange.
Comments from the open houses, along with reports on potential threats
to archaeological and endangered species, are being incorporated into
an environmental assessment.
According to a Cibola National Forest news release, the environmental
assessment will be published and available for additional public comment
in mid-April. People will then have 30 days to comment on the assessment
before a decision is reached.
Carter said it could take months to conclude the exchange.
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Hopis want their side of dispute told
Nancy Watson
Staff Writer
KYKOTSMOVI,— Ariz. Hopi tribal officials have challenged people
who are in the area gathering information on the Navajo-Hopi land
issue to contact Hopi officials for their side of the story.
Members of the Swedish American Indian Foundation and other European
and Japanese delegations have been in the area for a few weeks gathering
statements.
"The Hopi people have read with concern your claims that you
are on a fact-finding mission regarding allegations of violations
against resisting Navajo who now occupy our lands illegally,"
said a statement from Cedric Kuwaninvaya, chairman of the Hopi Land
Team.
"These claims appear to be pretense because those gathering information
on the issue have already taken positions in favor of the Navajo,"
he said.
"Over and over again, through the courts, Congress and the media,
the resisting Navajo have had their say. We want our turn."
The letter "challenges" the delegations to meet with Hopi
officials and village leaders to hear the Hopi side of this sensitive
and complex matter.
"It is the least you can do when you falsely charge the Hopi
with genocide, ethnocide and other 'atrocities,'" he said.
The delegations are in the area to show support for the 10 Navajo
families who remain on the Hopi Partitioned Land.
Tuesday was the deadline for families to either sign agreements to
remain on the land or relocate. They are also no longer eligible for
federal relocation benefits. They are expected to soon receive letters
of eviction from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The HPL is 911,000 acres of land given to the Hopis by the federal
courts. The Navajos received an equal amount of land, but many Navajos
families had been living for years on the land given to the Hopis.
Many Navajos have accepted the federal government's relocation benefits
and moved. Others have signed the 75-year lease agreement. Ten families,
or about 125 Navajo people, remain on Hopi land, refusing to sign
any agreement with the Hopis.
Many of the protesters and political activists who have been coming
to the HPL since December said Tuesday that Hopis and Navajos managed
to "get along" well until the federal government became
involved.
About 200 people arrived at Roberta Blackgoat's home just west of
Big Mountain late Tuesday afternoon. Many were ending a peace and
prayer march that started near Flagstaff on Jan. 27. Some of the participants
in the March came from as far away as Japan.
Blackgoat welcomed the marchers to her home and encouraged them to
stay, rest and enjoy themselves. At Blackgoat's home, the marchers
and about 50 other people prayed, enjoyed music and food.
"There was nothing negative said about anyone, except for the
federal government and the way it has handled this problem,"
Percy Deal, president of the Hard Rock Chapter, said Wednesday.
Navajo tribal police officials said everything was quiet
on the HPL Wednesday.
"We've had no reports of any incidents," Window Rock District
Capt. Steve Nelson said.
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Tom hurt in fatal wreck
Church Rock man killed
Staff Report
GALLUP — Young Jeff Tom, the controversial school board member
from Mariano Lake and Smith Lake and a council delegate, remains in
the hospital at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, awaiting
a second operation for a broken hip following an auto accident earlier
this week.
Federal authorities are still investigating the Monday morning crash
that left one person dead and two others seriously injured.
According to Navajo Nation Criminal Investigator Dorothy Fulton, Tom,
48, was headed east on BIA Route 49 near Smith Lake about 9:30 a.m.
But early morning snow in the area had made the road slick...
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State championship dreams
Gallup Junior wrestlers vying for titles at Moriarty
this Saturday
Robert Arrieta
Staff Sports Writer
GALLUP — This weekend is a big one for the Gallup Junior Wrestling
team, as they will travel to Moriarty for the state tournament.
The coaches are anticipating that their wrestlers will turn in big
performances on Saturday.
The league is taking 16 wrestlers to the tournament and they range
in age from the youngest, 5-year-old Johnny Mazon, to the oldest,
14-year-old Gary Maldonado...
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Terms are unlimited for Navajo chapter
officials
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Two top Navajo Nation legal advisers agree that
a 1998 law allows chapter officers to serve an unlimited number of
terms.
However, other elected officials, including school board members,
district grazing officers, farm board members and the Eastern Agency
Land Board, remain limited to two terms.
Steve Boos, chief legislative counsel, gave that advice to the Navajo
Board of Election Supervisors on Tuesday. The next day, Britt Clapham,
deputy attorney general, agreed that the Local Governance Act replaced
the Navajo election code law limiting chapter officers to two consecutive
terms...
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N.M. state police plan new station
Tanya Brazil
Staff Writer
GALLUP — The New Mexico State Police, making plans for a new
station here, want to connect to the city's water and sewer lines
in Rehoboth before the city annexes the new building.
The site in question is located about one quarter mile outside city
limits along East Historic 66, before the Rehoboth turnoff. Lt. G.R.
Cook said the new police station will replace the 34-year-old facility
on Route 66, east of exit 26.
Cook said it is time to replace the cramped, out-of-date-building.
Cook said the old 5,500-square-foot facility originally was meant
to be temporary...
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Gallup still hurting over NHSFR slight
two years ago
Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer
GALLUP - While the city of Farmington is jubilant about
recently being selected as the host of the lucrative National High
School Finals Rodeo for 2002 and 2003, two Gallup individuals, who
lobbied unsuccessfully to have Gallup be picked two years ago, voiced
mixed feelings about the selection process.
Dudley Byerley, owner of Cowtown Feed and Livestock who is also on
the New Mexico State Board of Directors for the National High School
Rodeo Association, says he feels that Gallup got a raw deal when it
was turned down two years ago as a possible host city.
"Farmington is a wonderful place and I'm sure that they'll do
a wonderful job hosting the national finals rodeo," Byerley said...
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Lawmakers: Future of lottery scholarships
may be gamble
Walter Howerton Jr.
Santa Fe Bureau
SANTA FE — The lottery scholarships are in trouble.
That should get the attention of students and parents across the state,
especially those with limited incomes.
The scholarships already pay full tuition to community colleges and
four-year state colleges and universities for between 8,000 and 9,000
students. As many as 12,000 students are expected to be in the program
by next year...
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Changes in employee policy worry teachers
Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Changes in the school board employee policy
is worrying some Gallup-McKinley County School teachers.
On Jan. 24, the school board approved additions and deletions to the
grievance procedures and personal leave requirements, but some teachers
contend those alterations will encroach on employees' rights.
Since this summer, school employees must follow the rules and regulations
under the board policies...
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