Butler, Nechero win election
Low turnout surprises some
Bill Donovan
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Pat Butler was re-elected to his fourth term as city
councilman by Gallup voters Tuesday.
He will be joined by William Nechero, who was elected to the District
I seat vacated when RoseMarie "Shorty" Sandoval decided
not to run again.
Unofficial results for the District 3 race showed Butler with 340
votes, followed by 288 for George Detorie and 109 for Kenneth Thomas
Jr. A total of 737 voters went to the polls in a district that has
2,655 registered voters.
In the only other race on the ballot, unofficial results showed Nechero
with 220 votes to 163 for Gloria Lopez. A total of 383 of the 2,056
registered voters in that precinct went to the polls.
Nechero said that he was surprised by the low turnout in his precinct.
Others commented on this during the count Tuesday night, speculating
that the low turnout was caused primarily by a lack of controversy
in the two races.
One of the precincts in District 1, the Rex Hotel, only had eight
votes cast, as compared to 20 four years ago.
Nechero said he felt the city should look into this. "We had
four workers at that site for eight votes," he said.
He added that he felt it was a waste of money and that it may be better
to put the voters in that precinct back in the public library precinct,
where it once was.
Butler agreed that the turnout was low but not unexpected since there
was no mayor or judge race this time.
Talking about the race, Butler said his major disappointment this
time was the way one of his opponents, Detorie, refused to discuss
the issues. Of all campaigns, he said, this was the least issue-oriented
one, he said.
Although he is now entering his fourth term in office, Butler said
was still enthusiastic about dealing with city problems and resolving
them.
"I owe the city a lot," he said. "I owe my constituents
a lot. The city has been good to me and my family and I still feel
I need to pay this back."
Nechero said he had no problems with the way the campaigns in his
district were conducted.
"It was a good, clean race," he said. "Gloria and I
were friends going into this campaign, during it and I have no doubt
we are still friends."The canvassing of the votes is now scheduled
to take place on Thursday and the two will be sworn in during a special
session of the council on Monday.
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Woman found murdered
Jim Maniaci
Dine' Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Tribal and federal police are investigating the
murder of an unidentified Indian woman found unclothed Saturday afternoon
between Gallup and Crownpoint, while three more people have died in
alcohol-related traffic accidents on the Navajo Reservation.
The body of the "Jane Doe" was found in a nine-foot deep
wash around 4:30 p.m. Saturday off Rocky Ridge Road about 2.4 miles
north of the Mariano Lake junction by a mother and children who stopped
by the side of the road to pick up a log for firewood.
Becky Gerber and her children were returning from Gallup and had spotted
the log on their way to Gallup, deciding to pick it up when they came
back. She used a cellular telephone to notify authorities.
Investigators believe the dead woman (initial reports did not list
her height and weight) was killed somewhere else, then dumped into
the wash about 10 feet from a culvert. Detectives believe she was
beaten on her head and strangled, but an autopsy has been ordered
to determine the official cause of death.
The case has been turned over to the Safe Trails Task Force, a joint
tribal-federal program in which the FBI joins tribal police in
the investigation, then the U.S. Attorney's Office prosecutes a case,
seeking the stiffer federal penalties than Congress allows Navajo
courts to impose.
Double fatal
A car, believed to have contained five people, crashed into Laguna
Creek west of Denne Ho Tso on Bureau of Indian Affairs Route 6460
before dawn on Sunday morning, killing two men.
The Navajo Law Enforcement Department report identified the two dead
men as Ervin Smith, 40, who lived 2.5 miles south of the Denne Ho
Tso Chapter House, and Larry Steve, 42, who lived one mile west of
the chapter house.
Injured, and flown to a Farmington hospital by two helicopters, were
Freddie Tsosie, 47, who lives about a quarter-mile south of the local
school, James Yazzie, 63, who lives about a half-mile south of the
school, and Joe Tree, 54, who lives northwest of the Navajo Housing
Authority Oljato subdivision.
The car sailed down a 20-feet bank and nose-dived engine first into
the creek. The two dead men were found inside the vehicle with their
heads under water.
Tree had crawled from the vehicle up the bank, while the other two
injured men were found sitting on the bank by the car around 4 a.m.
The Kayenta Volunteer Fire Department and Navajo Nation Emergency
Medical Services were called to the scene, along with the Criminal
Investigations Department.
Single fatality
Although several drivers saw a man laying down on U.S. 160 near Mile
Post 444 in the Red Mesa area and managed to avoid him at the top
of a hill Monday night, a semi-tractor trailer driver could not miss
running over him and he died at the scene, tribal police report.
Navajo detectives were trying to determine Tuesday if anyone else
had run over Ernest Deschene, 31, of Denne Ho Tso, before the big
truck and an autopsy has been ordered.
The Shiprock Law Enforcement District report identified the truck
driver as James Begaye, 52, of Shiprock.
Bootlegger hit
A team of Chinle Law Enforcement District officers, probably the most
active among the seven tribal police districts, arrested another bootlegger
for having liquor available for sale on the officially dry reservation.
Leroy Bedonie Jr., 35, who lives about one-quarter of a mile south
of the Chinle Head Start off Bureau of Indian Affairs Route 27, was
arrested around 10:30 p.m. Feb. 25 on delivery of liquor charges.
Officers said they found 23 unopened bottles of peppermint flavor
Arrow Super schnapps, plus a dozen unopened 12-ounce cans of Budweiser
beer. They said Bedonie Jr. gave them written permission to search
the home.
Pot found
A Navajo police dog found alleged marijuana on a senior at Leupp Public
School in a Feb. 25 search, according to the Dilkon Law Enforcement
District report, and this led to an unloaded pistol being found in
another boy's locker.
Arrested on a charge of marijuana possession was Narvel Redhair, 18,
who lives about a mile south of Mile Post 2 on BIA Route 15 west of
Leupp in the southwestern corner of the reservation.
The .25 caliber pistol belonged to a 16-year-old Winslow boy and he
was arrested on a tribal charge of carrying a deadly weapon at a school.
The search also turned up other baggies of what is believed to be
marijuana, but the report did not list any arrests.
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Sheep Springs ex-president fate in hands
of ethics panel
Jim Maniaci
Din Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Bennie Joe, former Sheep Springs Chapter president,
won't know his fate until Friday afternoon when the Ethics-Rules Committee
meets again to issue a decision.
He fought the ethics charges by himself in a six-hour administrative
hearing Tuesday before the committee's eight members.
The Office of Ethics and Rules charged him in November with conflict
of interest, violating contract award procedures and interfering with
the daily operation of chapter affairs.
His first attempt to have someone represent him failed because administrative
hearing rules require that person to be a member of the Navajo Nation
Bar Association. That delayed the hearing from January to March.
Ethics Director Virgil Brown Jr. presented several witnesses, including
former Chapter Secretary-Treasurer Pattie Sam, from whom the committee
accepted a plea bargain in January not to be employed by the tribe
nor hold tribal elected office for five years and to pay $3,049 restitution.
Investigator Lewnell B. Harrison told the panel Joe's case grew out
of his investigation into Sam's case and warranted its own complaint.
Joe defended himself by trying to convince the committee he followed
his chapter membership's will, that he had the membership's approval
for what he did, and that he lacked training in the conduct required
by the Local Governance Act that was just beginning.
He also told the committee that in hiring Sam's brother nepotism was
not considered, but was done because her brother Ernie Sherman could
do the wiring right away in late 1999. Joe said the three families
wanted their houses finished as soon as possible.
Brown maintained Joe hired Sam three times, twice as a temporary community
services coordinator. The other time was as a housing construction
project manager despite the chapter membership a week earlier approving
the hiring of someone else. The ethics director said there were no
deadlines requiring such a move.
As a local elected leader for 13 years, Brown said Joe should have
known better than to spend restricted funds the way he did. The ethics
director also said Joe never went back to the chapter to inform the
members of the changes he made, and he should have.
Brown repeatedly claimed Joe made the decisions on his own and did
not show proof against the prosecution's evidence.
"He violated the law and he has to pay for it," Brown concluded.
Joe said the housing funds were part of $32,000 in chapter housing
discretionary funds and thus didn't have to be handled like other
tribal contracts.
The defendant continually maintained he followed the chapter's customary
procedures and that although names often were not mentioned to the
membership, he did have actions listed in minutes to show he did have
the chapter's approval for his decisions.
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Bengals double up undermanned Bronco
team
Carrie Loretto
Sports Editor
KIRTLAND — The Gallup Bengals and Kirtland Broncos are still
trying to work out their early season kinks.
The Bengals did a better job of overcoming their deficiencies to post
a 10-5 prep baseball victory over the undermanned Broncos in Kirtland
Tuesday.
"This was a good test to get some things worked out. We're kind
of working out the kinks since we haven't been on a field,"Gallup
coach Robert Erp said."We're kind of going into this pre-district,
ironing some things out until we hit district. (By then), hopefully,
we'll have all the pieces in our puzzle together."
Kirtland coach Jim Belveal can certainly empathize.
Not only has Kirtland had the same problem of limited outdoor practice
due to inclement weather, Belveal is still trying to piece together
his team. Six players, four of them potential varsity players, are
still playing on the state tournament-bound basketball team and missed
the Broncos' season opener.
"We were a little short, but we had our number one pitcher, that
was who we started,"said Belveal who added that he felt that
some of the upperclassmen who are now out didn't play as well as he
expected."For the most part I was pretty pleased."
What had to upset Belveal was that Kirtland lost a 4-2 lead for starting
pitcher Garrett Lucero, who had handcuffed Gallup's hitters with seven
strikeouts in the first three innings. He had added two more in the
top of the fourth before the Bengals rallied to overtake the Broncos.
Robby Bunch ended a 5-of-6 strikeout streak by Lucero, tagging him
for a triple past a diving Tyrenton Platero in centerfield with one
out. Shane Hargrove was hit by a pitch to keep the Bengals alive in
the two-out inning and Andrew Christianson, who had reached on an
error and struck out in his first two at-bats, followed with a monster
triple to centerfield to score Bunch.
Belveal, who had already conferenced with Lucero in the second inning,
pulled the Broncos' starter. Lucero's replacement was Dustin Slevokas,
who in the process of walking Montano, scored Christianson on a wild
pitch. Montano also scored later on a wild pitch to put Gallup ahead
for good 6-4.
"Maybe I pulled him too soon,"Belveal reflected, adding
though, that he wouldn't throw any pitcher too long this early in
the season.
"We needed to make adjustments, we were chasing the guy's high
fastballs and curveballs in the dirt once the guys realized those
were balls and we needed to hit our pitches we couldn't be hitting
the pitchers pitches, we hit the ball the way we can,"Erp commented."We
made the adjustments and worked the ball into rightfield and centerfield
where he was pitching us outside.
Once we did that we had some success. We (also) had a couple of breaks,
the pitcher kind of fell apart there, threw some wild pitches and
started walking some people, that allowed us to get some of the breaks
we needed to win.
"We did a good job of battling back,"Erp added."What
our tendency has been is when we take a lead or something is to kind
of just sit there on it when we should go out there and be aggressive
and shut them down. We've been letting them back in the games so it
was a good job of us coming back."
Ricky Luna, who replaced starter Justin Munoz in the bottom of the
fourth, picked up the pitching victory to improve his season record
to 1-1. He gave up one run in the fifth inning after a walk, a hit
batter and a sacrifice fly to Platero. Luna also gave up a single
to the first batter he faced and struck out three in his two innings.
Munoz (1-0) had given up four runs, two unearned, on four hits in
the first three innings. The Bengals' top pitcher also struck out
three.
"He's got experience on his side, he should be one that shows
these guys how to do it,"Erp said of his third-year varsity player.
Erp feels comfortable with the Bengal bullpen, saying he has six players
who can throw. The question mark right now is the Bengals' offense.
"We've come into a season where we don't really know what to
expect, last year we had a couple guys who we knew what they could
do, but this year there's a lot of question marks,"Erp said about
the hitting game.
"One thing we're preaching to these guys is that baseball is
big time adjustments. What you do in the first at-bat, if you're not
successful, something has to change to be successful in your next
at-bat. Same thing out at the mound, if you're throwing balls, we
need to make that adjustment and throw strikes. If we can make the
adjustments we need to in the middle of the game and always be thinking
and making adjustments, I think we can be successful."
The Bengals played with only nine players for Tuesday's contest. Some
of Gallup's varsity players had to be sent to play the junior varsity
game after several freshmen players were left behind because of CTBS
testing.
Also, Ben Garcia sat out the game with a sprained ankle. He is reportedly
seeing a doctor today and Erp is hoping to have him back within a
couple of weeks.
The Bengals, 2-1, will host Del Norte for a non-district double-header
Saturday at Gallup High School. Gallup opens up district play Mar.
27.
Sports Briefs
Co-Ed volleyball tourney
CROWNPOINT — Crownpoint High School will be hosting a Co-Ed volleyball
tournament from March 15-17.
Entry fee is $125. Prizes include sweatshirts for first place, long
sleeve T-shirts for second and T-shirts for third. MVP for men and
women will also receive sweatshirts and T-shirts will be give n to
12 all tourney players.
For more information contact Mrs. Sheryl John at Crownpoint High School
(505) 786-5664 ext. 41005.
Softball tourney
SHIPROCK — There will be the second annual Regulators Co-Ed softball
tournament March 17 and 18 at the Shiprock Softball Field.
Entry fee is $135 and one Blue Dot softball. Each team can have 12
players on the roster and the rosters are locked at the start of the
first game. No pickup players are allowed and players can only play
for one team.
Prizes include pullovers for best male and female in-fielder, sweatshirts
for best male and female out-fielder, long sleeve shirts for most
home runs and short sleeve shirts for all tourney male and female.
For more information contact Mr. Kee Shaggy at (505) 360-4221.
Rodeo meeting
GALLUP — The Dine'land Senior Rodeo Association Board of Directors
will have an important meeting on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Residence
of Robert and Nancy Dodson, Chamasil Trailer Park, space #43, Gallup.
All officers and Board of Directors are urged to attend this meeting
as plans are to be made final for annual general meeting and the 2001
DSRA rodeo schedule.
This will be a potluck dinner and you are asked to bring your favorite
dish. For questions call Robert Dodson at (505)722-7668 or Delbert
Benally at (505) 729-2356.
Baseball tryouts
SHIPROCK — Tryouts for Native American Baseball (16-14 year old)
will be held at Shiprock High School baseball field on March 10, at
10 a.m.
Selected players will participate in the upcoming 2001 USA Junior
Olympic Baseball Championships from June 22-30 in
Tucson, Ariz. For more information contact Dineh Benally at (503)531-7849.
Summer baseball registration
GALLUP — The Boys and Girls Club of Gallup will be registering
youth for the Summer T-Ball, Boys Baseball and Girls Softball Programs
throughout the month of March.
Registration will be held at John F. Kennedy Middle School, 600 S.
Boardman in the School lobby. Registration will be held every Tuesday
and Thursday, from 6-9 p.m. and every Saturday and Sunday from Noon
to 4 p.m.
Registration is $35 for the first child, $30 for the second, $25 for
the third and every child after is free. Requirements for registration
is original birth certificate. For more information call Alicia at
(505)722-9176 or Bill at 726-1079.
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Irish singer Neil McBride returns to
Gallup
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
GALLUP — He lives just south of Dublin, Ireland, can stir your
musical soul with Irish ballads and sprightly jigs, and has played
guitar in jam sessions with the likes of the famous rock band U-2.
Irish folk singer Neil McBride is returning to Gallup by popular demand,
with numerous public appearances prior to St.
Patrick's Day. McBride will culminate his reappearance with a 7-10
p.m. show March 16 in the Gallup High School auditorium. The doors
will open at 6 p.m., with $10 adult admission and $5 for children
12 and under.
Excited about McBride's return performance is Gallup's Frank Hulse,
a folk singer in his own right and a registered nurse at Gallup Indian
Medical Center. McBride first played in Gallup in October 1999, a
show that was half Irish music and half rock and roll. This time it
will be all Irish, which is what his admirers want, Hulse said...
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Grants loses season opener
Abelita Rose Freeland
Staff Sports Writer
BLOOMFIELD — The Grants Pirates lost their first baseball game
of the season to Bloomfield 15-6 on Tuesday evening at Bloomfield
High School.
Pirate coach Walter Sarracino felt that the Pirate's first loss was
one that he and his team could learn from.
"We made a couple of mistakes but I was pleased with a lot of
things that I had seen," Sarracino said.
In the first inning, Grants took a 3-0 lead on a wild Bobcat pitch.
Pirates George Vigil came in from third and Wade Pynes from second
base. With Victor Patel getting on base with a single, Anthony Garduno
would get the RBI with Patel coming in with the Pirates to take the
lead...
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Coin toss decides Oljato race
Jim Maniaci
Din Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — It almost didn't happen, and the top two candidates
said they didn't want it to happen.
But the Navajo Nation Council's Inter-Government Relations Committee,
acting as the interim Navajo elections board, finally agreed Monday
that Garry P. Holiday will be the Oljato Chapter president.
Under the committee's latest election rules, ties for chapter-level
offices are to be broken by lot a coin toss, in this, the first
such case. But both men told the committee they prefer a runoff
election.
Their speeches, in turn, led to a 4-3-2 vote to approve the recount
and coin toss resolution, which meant it failed for lack of a majority...
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Keeswood, Arthur back on NAPI board
|
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
WINDOW ROCK — Shiprock Delegate Wallace Charley predicted it,
and now Navajo President Kelsey Begaye and Council Speaker Ed T. Begay
have made it happen.
Hogback Delegate Ervin Keeswood Sr. and Nenahnezad/San Juan Delegate
George Arthur were ex-NAPI board members for just eight days. The
president and speaker made known Tuesday that if the struggling Navajo
Agricultural Products Industry is to move forward with some badly
needed restructuring, the two delegates will be part of positive change
at least on an "interim" basis.
Begaye and Begay issued nothing but glowing reviews for Keeswood,
who chairs the Government Services Committee, and Arthur, the Resources
Committee chair and NAPI chairman. Their joint statement Tuesday reappointed
Keeswood and Arthur to the farm enterprise's Board of Directors...
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Keeswood, Charley have 'family ties'
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
WINDOW ROCK — They're often adversaries on the Navajo Nation
Council floor, but Hogback Delegate Ervin Keeswood Sr. and Shiprock
Delegate Wallace Charley have a familial bond that won't be broken.
Since December, they have actively voiced before their fellow 86
delegates their differing views on what needs to be done to correct
the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, the financially challenged
tribal farm. Don't be fooled, however, by what appears at times
to be full-on confrontation.
Charley, who speaks at a slower, more deliberate pace than Keeswood,
using pauses for emphasis, refers to Keeswood as his "nephew."
That comes by way of the Navajo clan system. Keeswood is a professional
politician and true gentleman in that he forgives all disagreement
when the session ends, Charley said...
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Deaths
Aniceto "Andy" Landavazo
GRANTS — Aniceto Landavazo, 75, died Feb. 28. He was born Aug.
5, 1925 in Atarque.
Landavazo was an Elementary Education Teacher. He taught in rural
New Mexico, Cibola and Valencia County. He retired with the New Mexico
public education system and was a graduate of Saint Joseph's College
of Albuquerque.
Landavazo is survived by his sister, Fidela Mazon of Phoenix and Braulia
Garcia of Grants and brother, Albert Landavazo of Belen.
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