Sounds of the symphony



New Mexico Symphony Orchestra bassist Mark Tatum, above, warms up while concert goers arrive for Tuesday night's performance at Sacred Heart Cathedral. The performance was attended by more than 1,000, with every seat taken and many standing.

Photo by Craig Robinson

 

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Council session erupts in heated words
Snow money sparks debate

Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer

WINDOW ROCK — A Navajo Nation Council resolution proposing to spend $2.2 million from the undesignated reserve and apply the emergency relief funds equally to each chapter raised vehement protest from Tuba City/Coalmine Canyon Delegate James Bilagody.

The council wound up after about a half-dozen cease-debate motions and tabling the resolution for an hour at the request of council Speaker Ed T. Begay passing an amended resolution by a 66-8-0 vote. Fifty-nine votes are needed for votes involving expenditures taken from the undesignated reserve, which was reduced to $1.4 million.

Under a compromise resolution, half of the $2.2 million will be applied equally to each of the 110 chapters, so that each will get at least $10,000. The remaining half will be applied to each chapter based on a weighted distribution according to the most up-to-date figures for registered voters in each chapter.

The original resolution proposed that each chapter receive $20,000 due to hardships created by heavy snowfall and related problems suffered by chapter members, including not having enough livestock feed and being stranded in remote residences.
Navajo President Kelsey Begaye declared a State of Winter Emergency Jan. 31, following a period of heavy snowfall Jan. 25-28.

The action came Monday during the council's third special session since mid-December.

Fort Defiance Delegate Harold Wauneka said such funds are not allocated with the proper justification.

"They're just allocated, period," he said, adding that little else is made known to delegates "until another crisis comes up."

Delegate Edison Wauneka (Crystal/Red Lake/Sawmill chapters) said some of the funds should be set aside for a possible summer drought, when the chapters will really be in need of emergency funds.

He added that the original resolution was "abuse of power," and added, "I think it's grossly unfair to the Navajo people."

Bilagody sounds off

The strongest criticism of the resolution came from Bilagody. He argued that the tribal Department of Emergency Management would know best how to get the emergency winter funds to chapters in the most need.

Bilagody also advocated giving each chapter funds based on a weighted formula according to their number of registered voters. He asked for the documentation on voting figures, and became upset at the response he received from other delegates and Speaker Begay.

Bilagody said for delegates to vote on such critical matters without the appropriate information in front of them raises the issue, "Do we have integrity or not?"

He also said for his fellow delegates to chuckle at his protestations is disrespectful to himelf and the people of Coalmine Canyon, adding, "and I don't appreciate it."

Hogback Delegate Ervin Keeswood Sr. told Bilagody that procedural floor rules require raising a question of privilege when additional information is sought by a fellow delegate.

Bilagody appeared incensed at Keeswood's interjection, turning his ire on the Hogback delegate and Speaker Begay.

"Mr. Speaker, I thought you represented all the people on the floor ... you're just not even taking me into consideration," Bilagody said in English.

One witness in the audience said Bilagody made remarks in Navajo that "Keeswood is not my leader. But you (Speaker Begay) jump when he talks."

Back in English, Bilagody said when Keeswood "kills things, everything stops."

Addressing Speaker Begay on the requested voter information, Bilagody said, 'The only response I got is you can look for it some time in the future when you've got time."

Speaker Begay told Bilagody, "I can't produce the document instantly right now." The speaker recessed the council session for an hour so that each delegate could be presented a registered voter printout by chapter. Chief Legislative Counsel Steve Boos later remarked that the document has flaws in it.

After the main resolution failed by a 55-19 vote, Keeswood made a motion to recall the issue. The council passed the recall motion by a 48-25 vote, necessary for the $2.2 million to be appropriated, but not before Shiprock Delegate Wallace Charley weighed in with comments. He criticized Speaker Begay for "recognizing the will of just one delegate," who is Keeswood.

Later during Monday's special session, Speaker Begay told delegates that he calls on them based on a computer printout an aide maintains on a constant basis. The speaker, who has been cited by delegates before for not calling on Many Farms/Rough Rock Delegate Alfred Yazzie, called on Yazzie during Monday's session perhaps more than he did any other
delegate.

Report lacking

The department's Winter Emergency Status Report, released Feb. 1, noted how each agency has coped with winter storms.
However, it did not mention each chapter's needs on an individual basis. A map inside the resolution packet showed by means of shading reservation areas that the central Navajo Nation, from Red Valley, Ariz., south to Nahatadziil, has been hardest hit.

Compromise amendments that didn't pass included a proposal to give each chapter $5,000, and another to give each $10,000.

"In an effort to truly assist those most in need, it doesn't seem wise to allocate an equal amount of emergency funds to all 110
chapters," Arnold Jake, a program analyst for the Office of Management and Budget, told the council in a written opinion.
"Rather, it would seem more beneficial to allocate funds based on the amount of need by each chapter depending on how
they've been affected by the recent winter storms."

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Report says health heads underpaid

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

GALLUP — A consultant recommends the chief executive officer of the Navajo Health Care System Corporation be paid at least three times what the Navajo Nation president receives.

The corporation's board, in the second day of its meeting in Gallup, received several reports from Deloitte and Touche, including a study of the salary range of similar hospital-based systems for the seven top executive positions.

After reducing the scales for southwestern salaries, D&T also chopped the figures down another one-fifth because the corporation's operation won't be as complex as the comparable agencies 4,000 employees and $500 million in revenue.

The result is that the chief executive officer should be paid at least $176,652 because the corporate officer market mid-point salary is $238,481 and the top is $300,309.

Currently Lydia Hubbard-Pourier receives $110,000 a year. Navajo Nation President Kelsey A. Begaye receives $65,000 a year as head of the tribal government branch that employs all except about 250 of the Navajo Nation's approximately 6,000 workers.

Also listed are the chief medical officer ($129,529 minimum), chief financial officer ($113,591 minimum), chief legal counsel ($90,846 minimum), chief (computer) information officer ($80,319) and the chief human resources officer ($78,123).

The board has not acted on the consultant's findings. The board did approve Hubbard-Pourier coming back with a proposed organization chart, although there was considerable explanation of the latest thinking on the matter of who reports to whom, especially the relationship of the subsidiary corporations to the umbrella corporation.

In addition to a financial report from Roselyn Chapela, Office of Self-Determination program manager, the board heard Assistant Attorney General Tom Christie explain where the money will come from if the Navajo Nation Council approves the Public Law 93-638 contract that the tribal government and corporation are negotiating with the Indian Health Service.

Christie said that in addition to the IHS money the application the IHS received on Feb. 1 lists $433.1 million the corporation will be able to receive third-party (insurance, Medicare, Medicaid) payments plus other grants and contracts such as DNA and blood testing required under child support and paternity cases.

He also said there are only two instances when the corporation has to seek advance Legislative Branch approval. One was to submit the "638" application. The other will be to get the Navajo Nation Council to allow the corporation to approve the Inter-Government Personnel Assignment contracts. On Monday the board approved offering the IPA pacts for two years to every federal employee who is not directly hired by the corporation.

"In everything else you are an independent entity," he said.

Christie said that to receive more Medicare and Medicaid payments than the IHS has generated, "You need to show you provided the service."

This, in turn, means the eight subsidiary corporations will have to provide detailed information of what each patient used and exactly what procedures were done on that patient.

He said the U.S. Office of Management and Budget lets the IHS charge $113 for each patient who does not stay in the hospital and $196 for each patient who stays overnight.

Chapela's report on $1 million the tribe provided to the corporation last summer to carry it until Jan. 1, when the takeover pact is targeted to begin, shows a balance of $551,686.

Almost one-third is budgeted for contracts none has been spent or encumbered with another $200,000-plus budgeted for consultants and attorneys, all of which has been spent or encumbered.

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Grants police seek driver in hit and run

Tara Drolma
Staff Writer

GRANTS — A driver struck two pedestrians on Santa Fe Avenue near Halsey Street early Sunday and then tried to hit several other pedestrians before he drove off, police said.

Grants Police Detective Billy Pena said officers were dispatched to that area about 2:01 a.m. Sunday to investigate a hit and run. Witnesses told the officers a man in a green four-door Hyundai pulled out of a parking lot near the U-Haul across from Outlaw's Bar and began driving east in the westbound lane of Santa Fe Avenue.

The car hit Samdrea Patricio, 33, of Grants as she was crossing Santa Fe Avenue. After hitting Patricio, the driver turned around and drove west in the westbound lane, hitting Ronnie Rodriguez, 32, of Grants. After hitting Rodriguez, the driver aimed his vehicle at another group of people who were crossing the street, but he missed them and drove away north on Nimitz.
Patricio refused to answer officers' questions and said she did not need medical treatment after the incident. Rodriguez was taken to Cibola General Hospital.

Pena said there were several witnesses. Police have arrested a man on an outstanding warrant in another case whom they consider a suspect in the hit and run. Charges in this case have not been filed.

Officers are still interviewing witnesses and they believe there might have been a woman in the car with the suspect when he drove away.

In other incidents:

Marvin Dustin Sheets, 18, and Mathew Mitchem, 25, both of Milan, were arrested for possession of marijuana and possession
of paraphernalia after officers executed a search warrant on Feb. 21.

On Feb. 22, Rodney Click, 46, of Grants was arrested for criminal trespass.

Dean Reano, 44, of Grants was arrested for assault on Feb. 23.

On Feb. 25, Lawrence L. Sanchez, 38, of Grants was arrested for domestic battery.

Corky Young, 22, of Bluewater was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia on Feb. 26.

State police arrest

Dennis Salazar, 48, of Grants was arrested on Feb. 21 for DWI after he was stopped by state police for going 54 in a 45 mile an hour speed zone.

Milan Police arrests

Billy Cantrell, 32, of Milan was arrested for battery on a household member on Feb. 16.

On Feb. 23, Jesse DeHerrera was arrested on one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon, assault on a household member, and disorderly conduct. DeHerrera, who lives on Willow Street, was firing a .357 Smith and Wesson Revolver in the alley behind the house and threatening family members.

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Athletes of the week

Michael Peretti
Staff Sports Writer

The Athletes of the Week for the week of Feb. 19-26 are Tuba City Warriors LaVar Martin and Jayme Lomakema.

The two helped their teams win the Arizona 3A State Championships this weekend, becoming the first school to win both boys and girls in consecutive years.

Lomakema helped the Lady Warriors pick up their second straight state title by scoring 18 points in a 62-44 win over Winslow. She also had a pair of steals.

"I feel honored," said the third-year varsity player on being selected as Athlete of the Week. "But I couldn't have gotten this honor without the help of my teammates." She also said she is happy that she was picked.

Lomakema, a junior at Tuba City High School, said that at the beginning of the year, she set small goals and built up to bigger ones.

"My first goal was to win our first game, and build on that." The Lady Warriors did build on it, ending with a 31-3 record.

Defending the state championship was hard, said Lomakema. "There was talk of a repeat at the beginning of the year," she said. "But we knew it was going to be hard because everybody wanted a shot at us because we were the defending champions."

Besides team goals, Lomakema said she had individual goals as well. "To be more consistent and more vocal on the court," were two of the things she wanted to work on, as well as getting stronger. Though the individual goals were important, Lomakema said the team goals were more important

Now that the season is over, Lomakema plans to play in two summer programs which she has been in past seasons, one a school run program and another is a team of other area players that competes in different tournaments around the southwest.

"I want to get better at rebounding and passing the ball," Lomakema said were her goals for the offseason.

Besides basketball, Lomakema also runs on the school's cross country team.

Martin, a senior at Tuba City, played a major part in the Warriors second straight state championship on the boys side.

Martin hit three three-pointers and scored a game high 19 points to lead the Warriors over Coolidge, 69-57.

"Shocked," was the way Martin said he felt when he found out he was picked as the Athlete of the Week. "It feels good, this is the first time for me."

Going into the season, Martin said he wanted a repeat, and to have a better season than last year. In his third year on the Warriors team, Martin said this state championship was easier than it was last year.

"This year we had nine seniors on the team, so we knew what we were doing," he said. In addition to adding another state title to his resume, Martin said he wanted to be more of a leader.

"I think I did extremely well this year," he said.

Now that his final season in high school basketball is over, Martin said he is trying to decide where he wants to go to college.

"Concordia University in Wisconsin scouted me on Friday," he said. Martin said he does not know where he wants to go yet, but he hopes to get a basketball scholarship wherever it is.

Martin began playing basketball nine years ago in pee wee league.

Ramah takes on defending champs

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Clay Means' version of the American dream goes something like this a wife, three kids, a 2,000-acre ranch and an undefeated girls basketball team.

Is there room for improvement?

"If we could win three more games," says Means, the head coach of the Cliff Cowgirls, who on Wednesday begin their quest for a second straight Class 1A state championship.

Cliff is 26-0 this season and 53-2 over the last two years. The Cowgirls beat Roy in last year's championship game and last week beat Roy again, this time in the first round of the regionals.

With six players back from last year's championship squad, the Cowgirls are prohibitive favorites to win the state title again this week. They play unheralded Ramah (15-11) in one of four quarterfinal round games Wednesday at Las Cruces High School.
Cliff beat Ramah by 15 points early in the season during a tournament on the Cowgirls' home floor.

Magdalena (22-4) and Grady (19-5) get the tournament started at 2 p.m., with Elida (23-3) going against To'hajiilee at 7 p.m. and Tatum (21-5) facing Hagerman (16-10) at 8:30 p.m.

The four winners advance to Thursday's semifinals, with the championship game scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Pan American Center.

Means has spent most of his life in Cliff, a ranching community located on the Gila River and near the Gila National Forest. He graduated from Cliff High School in 1975, went on to Panhandle State University in Oklahoma, then returned home.

Means and his wife Julie are parents of two girls and a boy and owners of a ranch where 50 head of cattle roam. When he's not being a rancher or coach, Means is a fifth-grade teacher in Cliff, a community small in population but big on basketball fever.

"We can just fill the gym, that's about it," says Means of the area's population of about 1,500.

Cliff has a student population of about 105 at the high school and gets many of its students and athletes from surrounding villages like Gila, Buckhorn, Mule Creek and Riverside.

Cliff has already beaten its biggest nemesis in recent years. The Cowgirls lost to Roy in the 1998 state championship game, beat the Lady Longhorns in last year's finals and last week trailed Roy most of the game before rallying from a nine-point second-half deficit for a 48-46 win.

Nicole Unruh-Enos' two free throws with three-tenths of a second left in the game finally put away Roy. The close call, said Means, should help his team this week.

"It made the girls realize every team is gunning for us and there's always somebody capable of beating us," he said. "It was important we had a game like that going into the State Tournament."

Texico, the defending champion in Class 2A, also is back.

The Wolverines (24-1) face Tularosa (15-11) in Wednesday's quarterfinals at Onate High School.

Other first round games in the 2A tournament pit McCurdy (22-4) against Fort Sumner (19-5); Hatch Valley (22-3) against Navajo Prep (20-6) and Coronado (23-3) vs. Hope Christian (21-4).

McCurdy and Fort Sumner played in the state volleyball championship game this past season, with Fort Sumner taking that title. Many of the same players who played volleyball for the two schools will face each other again Wednesday.

Texico beat McCurdy in last year's finals and the two are on opposite sides of the bracket again this year. That could lead to a rematch in the championship game Saturday at 9 a.m. in the Pan American Center.

Of the other contenders, Navajo Prep has been the most consistent winner at the State Tournament. The Eagles have won four state titles since 1995. Texico's championship last year was the school's first in girls basketball. Texico finished second to Navajo Prep in 1999.

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Youth club to take over ball programs

Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The Gallup City Council, as expected, agreed Tuesday to change the structure of the summer baseball and softball program.

The change puts the Boys and Girls Club of Gallup in charge of all the summer ball programs and apparently will mark the end of Little League in Gallup.

That latter statement is still in question, but Gallup Little League (GLL) officials continued to stress at Tuesday's meeting that their charter will not allow them to serve under the umbrella of any other organization, which is what City Manager David Ruiz suggested at the opening of the meeting.

Ruiz's proposal, which he called a "win-win" situation, would have put all of the summer ball programs under the Boys and Girls Club. One of those programs would be the GLL...

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Milan calls property bill a nightmare

Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

MILAN — The board of trustees went on record Tuesday opposing House Bill 618, which Trustee Warren Mathers characterized as dangerous for cities and the state.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Robert Burpo, D-Albuquerque, would require municipalities to pay property owners when a regulatory program such as zoning or other type of land-use and planning regulations diminishes the value of private property by 25 percent or more. The bill would also allow the property owner to force municipalities into binding arbitration.

The bill would give a recourse to property owners who feel their property was devalued by actions of a city, county, village or any other political subdivisions...

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Deaths

Alma Doris Clark

WIDE RUINS, Ariz. — Services for Alma Doris Clark, 63, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 1, at Klagetoh Catholic Church. Father Flann O'Neil will officiate. Burial will follow at Wide Ruins Community Cemetery.

Clark died Feb. 25 in Gallup. She was born Jan. 15, 1938, in Wide Ruins into the Towering House People Clan for the Edge Water People Clan.

Survivors include her husband, Albert Clark of Wide Ruins; son, Duane Clark of Window Rock; daughters, Darrellene Clark, Dina Clark and Dora Clark, all of Wide Ruins; brothers, Joe Billie of Window Rock, Tommie Billie of Las Vegas, Nev., and Justin Billie and Nelson Billie, both of Wide Ruins; sisters, Marie Anderson of Wide Ruins, Bertha Jim of Noble, Okla., and Margaret Sandoval of Lukachukai, Ariz.; and 17 grandchildren.

Clark was preceded in death by parents, Frank and Mary Billie; son, Delbert Clark; brothers, Dan Billie, Henry Billie, Billy John and John Lee; and sister, Elsie Billie.

Pallbearers will be Gary Anderson, Leander Anderson, Merle Anderson, Ronald Anderson, Henry Brown Jr. and Harold Clark Jr.

Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Robert A. "Bob" Shepherd

GALLUP — Services for Robert Shepherd, 75, will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 1, at the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Father Alfred Tachias will officiate. Private disposition will follow in the Ramah area.

Shepherd died Feb. 27 in Gallup. He was born Jan. 21, 1926, in Ottumua, Iowa.

Shepherd was raised in Ramah and Gallup. He attended Gallup High School, participating in football and boxing. He served in the Air Force during World War II and marched in President Roosevelt's funeral procession. After his time in the service he managed the family-owned K&S lanes.

Survivors include his sons, Jack Shepherd of Phoenix and Charley Shepherd of Medford, Ore.; daughter, Bobbie Allen of Gallup; sister Ruth Martin of Gallup; six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Shepherd was preceded in death by his parents, R.K. and Grace Shepherd, and sister, Virginia Medlock.

Pallbearers will be Larry S. Allen, Sam Shepherd, Bruce Shepherd, Aaron Romero and Christopher Ray Aguilar.

The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Little Sisters of Poor.

Donations can be made to Little Sisters of the Poor.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Ella Eagleman

WINDOW ROCK — Funeral Mass for Ella Eagleman, 75, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 1, at Tohatchi Catholic Church. Father John Mittelstadt will officiate. Burial will follow at Naschitti Community Cemetery.

Eagleman died Feb. 24 in Albuquerque. She was born March 15, 1926, in Naschitti into Red Running Into the Water Clan for the Tangle People Clan.

She graduated from Phoenix Indian School. She was retired from Fed Mart in Window Rock. She was also an active member of the St. Michael's Parish. Her hobbies were bingo and rosary making.

Survivors include her sons, Larry Eagleman and John Eagleman, both of Window Rock, and Dennis Eagleman of Phoenix; daughters, Bobbie Watchman of Window Rock and Gerri Eagleman Garcia of Selma, Calif.; brothers Ernest Yazhe of Nageezi, N.M., Harrison Yazhe of Naschitti, Herbert Yazhe of Bread Springs, and Albert Yazhe of Farmington; sisters, Ethel Yazhe of Window Rock, Marie Begay, Evelyn Billie, and Clara Waska, all of Naschitti, Bertha Mann of Albuquerque,and Helen Begay of Kirtland, N.M.; and six grandchildren.

Eagleman was preceded in death by her father, Taneezahni Yazhi;mother, Nannebah Belle; brothers, Andrew Yazzie and Silas Yazzie; and sisters, Mary Billy and Grace Toledo.

Pallbearers will be Dennis Eagleman, Rudy Billie, John Eagleman, Kirk Denetdaw, Dennis Billie, and Larry Eagleman.

The family will receive friends and relatives at Naschitti Chapter House.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Marvin Jim Francisco Sr.

FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. — Services for Marvin Francisco Sr., 47, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 1, at the
Presbyterian Church, Fort Defiance. Roger C. Davis will officiate. Burial will follow at Fort Defiance Cemetery.

Visitation will be held 9-10 a.m. today at the church.

Francisco died Feb. 24 in Fort Defiance. He was born May 30, 1953, in Fort Defiance into the His-sheaves...Leaf
Clan...Under His Cover and Water Edge Clan.

Francisco graduated from Window Rock High School, and he was self-employed as a mechanic.

Survivors include his sons, Marvin Jim Francisco Jr. and Michael Francisco; daughter, Melissa Francisco; parent, Florence C. Francisco; brothers, Elmer Francisco, Eugene Francisco, Jeffery Francisco, all of Fort Defiance, and Ersel Francisco of
Farmington; and sisters, Jackie Francisco and Jeanelle Francisco, both of Fort Defiance and Shannon F. Restifo of Riverside,
Calif.

Francisco was preceded in death by his father, Jimmy Francisco, and brothers, Jimmy Jack and Frank A. Francisco.

Pallbearers will be Jeffery Francisco, Richard Francisco, Ray Becenti Jr., Lorne Price, Kenneth Shirley, and Alexander
Davidson.

The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Presbyterian Church Social Hall.

Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

William A. Short

BLUEWATER — Graveyard services for William Short, 77, were held at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, at Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe. Pastor Thomas Undiem officiated.

Short died Feb. 6.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Helen Short; sons, Steve Short and David Short, both of Albuquerque and Daniel Short of Thoreau; daughters, Janet Grant and Susan Crites, both of Albuquerque, and Chrystal Esarcida of Thoreau; sisters, Stella, Alberta and Mary; 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Helen Redburn

ARTESIA — Graveyard services for Helen Redburn, 93, were held at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 19, at Woodbine Cemetery.
Wayne Thomas and the Rev. David Rogers officiated.

Redburn died Feb. 17. She was born Dec. 10, 1907, in McPherson, Kan.

Redburn was employed with St. Mary's Hospital as a nurse. When she retired from nursing, she and her husband, Ray Redburn, operated a wholesale produce business in Gallup from 1948 to 1971. She was a member of First Christian Church and Good Samaritan Helpers Church. When she retired they moved to Carlsbad, then Artesia.

Redburn was preceded in death by her husband, Ray Redburn.