3A Enchantment Regionals to be held this
week
Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer
WINSLOW, Ariz. - It's down to the final week of action as the 3A Enchantment
Regionals get underway tonight when the top four boys and top four
girls teams will be determined for next week's Sweet 16 State Basketball
Tournament in Flagstaff, Ariz.
In actuality, four of the eight spots are already secured for the
top two boys and top two girls teams. The Tuba City boys and Monument
Valley boys, which won the coin flip over Winslow for the No. 2 spot,
are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds and have automatic bids for the state
tournament. The Tuba City girls and Winslow girls, tied for first
with 10-2 records, are the conference co-champions. But Tuba City
earns the top seed having swept both games with Winslow. But both
are heading to the state tournament no matter what happens this week
at regionals.
In tonight's opening round of action, in the boys bracket, No. 7 seed
Pinon will travel to No. 6 Greyhills for a 7:30 p.m. game. In the
girls bracket, No. 7 Greyhills will play at No. 6 Window Rock, which
was tied with Pinon for No. 5 but lost out on the coin flip, for a
6 p.m. game.
On Wednesday, in the boys bracket, No. 5 Window Rock will travel to
No. 4 Ganado for a 7:30 p.m. game. The winner of the Pinon-Greyhills
game will play at No. 3 Winslow at 7:30 p.m. In the girls bracket,
No. Pinon will play at No. 4 Ganado at 6 p.m. The winner of the Greyhills-Window
Rock game will play at No. 3 Monument Valley at 6 p.m.
The final two rounds of regionals will be hosted by Winslow High Friday
and Saturday. In the first round Friday, in the boys bracket the winner
of the Pinon-Greyhills-Winslow game will play No. 2 Monument Valley
at 2:30 p.m. The winner of the Window Rock-Ganado game will face No.
1 seed Tuba City at 8 p.m.
In the girls bracket on Friday, the winner of the Greyhills-Window
Rock-Monument Valley game will play No. 2 Winslow at 1 p.m. The winner
of the Ganado-Pinon game will play No. 1 seed Tuba City at 6:30 p.m.
The girls consolation game will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday while
the boys consolation game will be held at 11:30 a.m. at Winslow High.
General admission tickets for the first three sessions at Winslow
High are $5 while reserved tickets are $7.
The girls regional finals are set for 5 p.m. and the boys regional
finals will be at 7 p.m.
General admission tickets for the regional finals are $7 general admission
and $10 for reserved seats.
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Trader's kidnappers indicted
Staff Report
ALBUQUERQUE — The three men and one woman charged in connection
with last month's kidnapping and robbery of Gallup trader Hamad "Jim"
Rashid have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Albuquerque.
A press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's General's Office said
the four are facing charges that could put them in prison for life.
Indicted were Efrain Torres Reyes, age unknown; Jesus Ernesto Serrano,
23; Mireya Davila, 20; and Gilberto Hurtado-Lupercio, 21. Hurtado-Lupercio
is from Thornton, Colo.; the rest are from Denver.
The four are accused of kidnapping Rashid on Jan. 11 from the parking
lot of the Sky City Casino at Acoma Pueblo and threatening him with
death if he didn't go with them back to Gallup and open the safes
for his Indian jewelry store and restaurant.
He did but afterward managed to escape, notifying local police who,
with the aid of the FBI, rounded up all four of the alleged kidnappers
within 24 hours.
Hurtado-Lupercio, Reyes and Serrano have all been indicted on charges
of carjacking, use of a firearm during a crime of violence, kidnapping
and obstructing and affecting interstate commerce by robbery and extortion.
Reyes and Hurtado-Lupercio have also been charged with being illegal
aliens in possession of a firearm.
Davila has been indicted on charges of kidnapping, use of a firearm
during a crime of violence and obstructing and affecting interstate
commerce by robbery and extortion.
The penalties for these crimes range anywhere from seven years of
imprisonment to life in prison.
Hurtado-Lupercio, Reyes and Serrano all remain in federal custody.
Davila has been turned over to the custody of her parents in Colorado
but is under house arrest with an electronic monitoring device on
her ankle.
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DA donates 9 computers
Staff Report
GALLUP — The McKinley County District Attorney's office has donated
nine computers to three area agencies that serve local residents.
A committee was established within the DA's office to determine which
agencies would receive the Compaq computers, DA Mary Helen Baber said.
New computers were delivered to the DA's office in January, so Baber
and a committee of co-workers determined which agencies would receive
the old computers.
"We received seven of the monitor, keyboard and mouse sets, which
will provide much-needed support at the shelter," said Nan Gile,
with Battered Families Services. "We've just never had enough
to go around. Five will be used for administrative support, and two
computers will be set aside to be used by women to improve their job
skills and for children's games."
Other recipients were the DNA People's Legal Services at Window Rock
and Bradams Inc., an adolescent substance-abuse intervention program
that serves McKinley County.
"These agencies were selected by our committee at the district
attorney's office because they provide so many essential services
to so much of the McKinley County population in need of help,"
Baber said.
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Race tests endurance, boosts city
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — One of the toughest human endurance tests in the United
States, the Mount Taylor Winter Quadrathalon, will be held Feb. 19.
Quadrathletes from across the nation, and in the past from overseas,
come to Grants once a year to compete in the grueling test of strength
and will power. Each of them wants to duplicate the feats completed
last year when Kimberly Bruckner of Boulder, Colo., won the female
soloist division and Jack Swift of Evergreen, Colo., won the men's
soloist division.
When this event is completed, it will go down in the history books
as the 17th Annual Mount Taylor Winter Quadrathalon...
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Petitions seek vote on IHS takeover
Nancy Watson
Staff Writer
CHINLE, Ariz. — A petition drive has begun to get a referendum
on the ballot next fall to ask voters whether they want the tribe
to take over Navajo Area Indian Health Service programs.
The first of several meetings on the issue, to be sponsored by IHS
employees and various Navajo community members, will take place at
5 p.m. Thursday in the Apache County building in Chinle.
The action stems from a lack of confidence in the Navajo Nation to
run anything efficiently, especially the federal health care system,
say petition organizers...
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Tribe lacks funds for state projects
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation took steps last
week to get five projects funded by the state of New Mexico back on
track.
Now four of the projects are stalled again because the
tribe can't come up with matching funds.
The chairman of the tribal council's Government Services Committee,
Ervin Keeswood, said Monday that approving the projects would be a
futile gesture "unless we openly admit to the world we don't
have the money..."
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Begaye gets first-hand look at tribal
needs
Bill Donovan
Diné Bureau
GALLUP — Although he's been president of the Navajo Nation for
just over a year, Kelsey Begaye spent time last week learning about
the many needs of tribal employees.
"He was surprised to learn just how much people working for the
tribe do beyond what is expected of them," his spokesman, Mellor
Willie, said.
When Begaye gave his inauguration message, many listeners had the
feeling that in his campaign to become president, he had talked to
a lot of Navajo voters who complained that too many tribal employees
were lazy and didn't care about their jobs...
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Gallup C team claims title
TOHATCHI - The Gallup C team won the Ninth Annual Tohatchi Lady Cougar
JV basketball tournament that was held Feb. 1-2.
Taking second place was Wingate, followed by Tohatchi third, Navajo
Prep fourth, Thoreau consolation, Zuni sixth, Crownpoint seventh and
Navajo Pine eighth.
Named all-tourney were Racine Shorty (Gallup), Erica Smith and Gabrielle
Lee (Wingate), Shirelle Jones (Tohatchi), Janelle Laughlin (Navajo
Prep), Tonya James (Thoreau), Matiljo Dosedo (Zuni), Laura Emerson
(Navajo Pine) and Orlinda Martin (Crownpoint)...
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Tribe's suit against feds tossed
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge scolded former Interior Secretary
Donald Hodel for taking a coal company's side in a dispute with the
Navajo Nation, but threw out the tribe's $600 million claim against
the government.
The ruling does not end the court battles over the issue, however.
The Navajo Nation has also sued the Peabody Western Coal Co. for $600
million in U.S. District Court here over the same issues cited in
the claims court case.
U.S. Court of Claims Judge Lawrence Baskir ruled that while Hodel's
actions betrayed the public trust, federal law did not explicitly
require Hodel to act in the Navajos' best interests...
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Police reports
Man escapes assailants three times
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — A 38-year-old Vanderwagen man was beaten, kicked
and cut on his left forehead during an altercation last week in which
he managed to escape from his assailants three times, Navajo police
said.
Police said four men broke into the Cousin Road home of Jimmie Eddie
Jr. about 4:20 p.m. Thursday, smashing down his door.
Eddie was taken to a nearby field where he was beaten until he managed
to escape. He was then recaptured near a wooded area and after getting
beaten again, managed to escape for the second time, at which time
he ran to his mother's house and called police...
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