Making themselves heard



People protest about the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act 2000 (RECA) at the Cibola County Court Complex in Grants on Monday.

William Nechero, right, takes the oath of office for Gallup City councilman from City Clerk Ruth Ruiz. Patrick E. Butler, left background, was sworn in moments earlier. Nechero was elected and Butler re-elected in the municipal election last week.

Photo by Jerry W. Kelley

 

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Radiation victims rally
Marchers complain about IOUs, delays in payments

Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

GRANTS — In an effort to pump new life into the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA,) former uranium miners and millers, people affected by cancers caused by radiation exposure, and Native American leaders met here Monday.

Meetings and protest marches are planned starting in Grants Monday and ending March 17 in Cortez, Colo. During the course of the six days, events will have been held in Prewitt, Thoreau, the Mariano Lake Chapter, Pinedale Chapter, Church Rock Chapter, Lukachukai Chapter, Shiprock and in Cortez.

The RECA movement saw passage of national legislation compensating victims of uranium mining and fallout in 1990, essentially guaranteeing up to $100,000 to miners and downwinders. The problem was that the legislation was not funded for two years. Compensation began to trickle in about 1993 and in May the program ran out of money, so the government began issuing IOUs.

In July 2000 President Bill Clinton signed an amendment to the 1990 law extending it to millers and transporters of radioactive uranium ore.

The problem was again that the money was slow to come and the government was supposed to issue the regulations on who can apply and why, but the regulations in the form of a federal register never came.

Melton Martinez, who has been instrumental in the RECA fight, said the federal government was required to issue the regulations 180 days after the amendment's passage, but Jan. 10, 2001 came and went and no regulations. Two months later and still no regulations. Martinez said uranium workers are concerned because delays only add to the physical and emotional injury done to the workers.

After the battle to get the RECA reform passed in July 2000, the movement quietly slipped into oblivion, a point brought out by McKinley County Commissioner Ben Shelly, who was acting on behalf of the Western States Coalition.

"We've put too many miles on this RECA issue to back out now," Shelly told the small group of 20 gathered in the Cibola County Complex on High Street.

A march had been planned with protesters walking from Grants to Milan, but Martinez said Grants Police would not allow the march without a parade permit, which must be secured several months in advance of the event.

"I know last year we kinda lost interest, but we need to get this moving again for ourselves and for our neighbors," Shelly said.
Shelly likened uranium workers to veterans, saying they did a job for America. "As a veteran you knew who your enemy was, but as a miner you didn't know and were never told about the dangers of uranium," Shelly said.

Martinez told the group that the government knew that uranium caused a list of diseases including cancers and organ failures, but said nothing to miners, millers and the people helping mine the yellow uranium ore to help build weapons for the Cold War efforts. Even wives of workers who washed the yellow-coated clothes of their miner husbands are experiencing cancers,
Martinez said.

Both Shelly and Martinez said while the government stalls, people inflicted with cancers are dying, people such as Grants' Paul Hicks, who was memorialized several times in Monday's meeting. His wife, Delphi, carries on the fight in Grants as president of the Uranium Mine Worker's Council, Grants Chapter.

Milan Mayor Elisabeth Lopez-Rael told the gathering that she knew a man in Grants who was given an IOU by the government. "He told me he probably wouldn't live long enough to spend it and he has lost a lot of friends already," Lopez-Rael said.

The revitalized effort is trying to bring new light to four main issues:

The fact that the regulations have not been published for the RECA Amendment. The push is to get the regulations published as the law provides.

Get rid of the IOUs and start paying the claims. Funds in the RECA Trust Fund are gone for those who qualify to get paid and RECA proponents say Congress should replenish the RECA Trust Fund so all eligible uranium workers can get compensation.
Stop a proposed transfer of the RECA Program from the Department of Justice to the Department of Labor. Pueblo of Acoma
Gov. Cyrus Chino said the change will only lead to more delay.

Stop the merger of the RECA Program if it is moved to the Department of Labor with the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. Former Acoma Gov. Lloyd Tortalita alluded to the possible merger when he spoke before the group Monday.

All of the speakers said the RECA movement needs to remain united, that it crosses the lines of all races and religions. "I said it before last year and I'll say it again, we need to remain united on this," Tortalita said.

One of the issues brought up Monday was one of possible water aquifer contamination with radioactive particles. Melton Head told the group he began mining in 1958 and that the government kept the dangers of uranium secret for years. He also said underground aquifers in the area were contaminated by the mining mills.

"Supposedly there has been a cleanup, but I don't know," Head said. He pointed to an area northeast of Milan, whose residents are on the Milan water system because wells were once contaminated. The area was, and is, being monitored, Head said.

At one time he said the contamination was larger than it is today, but he said the cleanup of the area will take"hundreds of years."

Tortalita said he too fears contamination. Pointing to Mount Taylor, whose north area was the site of uranium exploration and mining, he asked the question: "Where does the contamination go?" and then answered, "into the water."

Martinez said, "We are doing this not only for ourselves and our neighbors, we are doing this for our children too."

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Report: Pumping would likely threaten Zuni Lake

ZUNI PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) — Plans to pump water for a coal mine in western New Mexico would likely threaten a lake considered sacred by Zuni Pueblo, a study says.

"Effects of pumping at the mine site will propagate to Zuni Salt Lake and reduce the inflow of water and salt into Zuni Salt Lake," said the report commissioned by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"Due to deficiencies in the monitoring plan, the impact may go undetected," said the hydrology study by Phil King, an engineering professor at New Mexico State University.

The Zunis and other area Indians regard the lake as sacred. It produces a steady stream of brine from a cinder cone, and the Indians collect salt for their religious ceremonies.

The federal agency released the study this week, nearly a month after pueblo officials complained that the agency was withholding the report.

King submitted his report in early February on the proposed Fence Lake Mine in rural Catron and Cibola counties.

An Arizona utility, the Salt River Project, seeks federal approval to strip-mine coal from nearly 8,000 acres over 50 years.

Hydrologists with the utility have said the proposed mining poses no danger to the Zuni Salt Lake, while hydrologists retained by the pueblo say otherwise.

King said in his report that he reviewed the government's final environmental impact statement for the project along with hydrology assessments.

Nedra Darling, director of public affairs for the BIA in Washington, D.C., said she didn't know how the agency would proceed on the mine application given King's conclusions.

The federal Office of Surface Mining and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management have signed off on the proposed mine.

But Zuni Gov. Malcolm Bowekaty said the report's statement that there's a hydrological connection between the mining area and the lake should at least force federal regulators to re-evaluate the proposal.

Should the federal government approve the mining plan as it exists, Bowekaty said the pueblo is prepared to fight the matter in federal court.

David Cunningham, lawyer for the Zunis, said Friday that King's report validates earlier, similar conclusions about the likely effect of mining in the area reached by hydrologists working for the state engineer's office and the U.S. Geological Survey.

"From the Zunis' point of view, we would hope that the secretary of interior would get the Office of Surface Mining and the Bureau of Land Management to re-examine their impact statements," he said.

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Man held for murder in Milan

Tara Drolma
Staff Writer

GRANTS — The suspect in the murder of Christopher Pervorse, the manager of Bowlin's Travel Center and Dairy Queen in Bluewater, was arrested in Hemet, Calif., on a federal warrant Sunday.

Milan Police Sgt. Jerry Stephens said his office received a call about 9:25 p.m. Sunday from the Hemet Police Department notifying them of James L. Bell's arrest.

In addition, Bell is being charged with suspicion robbery, burglary, kidnapping, false imprisonment and torture for beating and robbing a California couple in their 80s several hours before he was arrested on the New Mexico charges.

Hemet Detective Mike Elmore told Stephens his department had received information that Bell was seeing a woman in Hemet. Stephens said Bell, 25, went to the woman's house Sunday and asked her to take him to a residence in the neighboring town of Temecula.

Stephens said Elmore did not go into detail about how detectives knew about the woman or the trip to Temecula. Elmore told Stephens he lives in Temecula and he decided to follow up on the information. On his way to Temecula, Elmore passed the car on the road. Stephens said Elmore turned his car around and followed the couple to a house in Temecula.

After reaching the house and watching the pair go inside, Elmore called in officers. They arrested Bell, who was found hiding under a bed.

Bell gave police a fictitious name, but did not resist arrest. Officers booked Bell on a federal warrant that was issued in the Albuquerque District Court for an incident that occurred in Shiprock last September. He was also arrested on a state warrant for the murder of Pervorse and for unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and other minor warrants from California.

Bell is being held in the Southwest Detention Center in Riverside, Calif. He will be taken to Los Angeles Federal Court for his first appearance on the federal charges, then he will be returned to Albuquerque to face federal and state charges.

Stephens said he spent Friday afternoon in Albuquerque investigating Bell. Last September, Bell was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of a firearm with an altered or obliterated serial number, taking a stolen vehicle across a state line, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime after the car he was driving nearly caused an accident with
Navajo Police.

After his arrest in September, Bell was taken to Albuquerque where a federal judge released him to La Posada, a halfway house.
Stephens said Bell worked at Portabellas Restaurant where the manager said he was a good employee. He quit his job on Feb. 13, the same day he allegedly murdered Pervorse. Bell bought a car from Auto Workz and Stephens said the owner identified
Bell from a photo array.

Stephens also visited Bell's probation officer. The officer had Bell's belongings from the halfway house, which included
discharge papers from the Marine Corps. Bell had served on active duty from October 1993 until December 1997. He received an honorable discharge and had a good conduct medal.

Personnel at the halfway house told Stephens that Bell had basically behaved while he was there and there had been no problems.

Criminal flees

Pervorse was killed when he gave a stranger a ride from Bowlin's into Milan. His body was dumped at a Milan motel by the alleged murderer who then fled in Pervorse's new pickup truck. Officers got their first break in the case when they learned Pervorse's credit cards had been used in Hemet and Temecula, Calif.

On March 2, an officer from the Hemet Police Department spotted the truck on the main street of Hemet. Bell had loaned the truck to friends so they could go to the store. The officer detained the occupants who eventually told him where Bell was staying. By the time officers reached the apartment, Bell had fled.

At the time the truck was impounded, Sgt. Kevin Caskey of the Hemet Police Department said his department was doing everything it could to catch Bell. Authorities found a loaded 9 mm blue steel pistol in the truck, but Stephens said earlier he will not be able to determine if the pistol is the murder weapon until the autopsy report is available. The six slugs that were taken from Pervorse will be available and police will know what caliber gun was used in the crime.

Authorities do not know where Bell is from originally. Earlier, Stephens said Bell has a record with the Chicago Police Department. In 1992 he was charged with unauthorized use of a weapon and possession of lost property; in 1993 he was charged with battery and possession of ammunition.

In the latest crime, the Hemet Police got a call Sunday afternoon from an 83-year-old woman who had managed to escape her home where a black male was holding her 88-year-old husband. The suspect beat the couple and demanded money, but the couple had only about $4 on them. After he realized the woman had slipped out of the house, the suspect fled.

Caskey said officers were on the scene within minutes, but they couldn't find the suspect.

The woman was a good witness and police were able to do a composite drawing of the suspect. Later they showed the victims a photo array and they identified Bell.

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Sports Briefs

Rodeo meeting

ROCK SPRINGS — The Indian Junior Rodeo Association has rescheduled its Rodeo sponsor's meeting to 6 p.m. March 17 at Rock Springs Chapter House.

For more information, call Shannette Begay at (505)722-5240.

Trailer & saddle roping

TOLANI LAKE, Ariz. — The Rafter W. Classic Trailer and Saddle Roping will be held March 16-18 at the Rafter W. Arena in
Tolani Lake, Ariz. Entry Fee is $10 for draw pot roping, $15 for number roping, $20 for open roping and $8 for showdown.
For more information, call Rafter W. Productions at (520)686-6239 or (520)699-5167.

Spring basketball tournament

ALBUQUERQUE — The North American Youth Sports still has openings for their annual spring youth basketball tournament during the week of April 6-8 at Del Norte High School in Albuquerque.

The tournament will feature ten different brackets with fifth and sixth grade boys and girls; seventh grade boys and girls, eight
grade boys and girls, ninth and 10th boys and girls and 11th and 12th boys and girls.

Entry fee is $90 with a guarantee of two game. Deadline is March 16. For more information call, Mark Garrigan at (800)787-
3265 or Mike Huston at (505)884-2686.

Youth baseball meeting

ST. MICHAELS, Ariz. — The Navajo Capital Youth Baseball League will hold a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, March 16 at the Navajoland Days Inn Conference Room.

For more information, call Michael Smith at (520)871-2525 or Sheryl Sanderson at (520)871-5560.

Sonic League basketball

CHINLE, Ariz. — The CDC Sonic League Basketball will have 10 open men's team, eight inter-department team and six women's team March 18-April 12, Sunday through Thursday at the Chinle High School gym. There will be three weeks of league play and tournament and awards with a 10 player roster. The entry fee is $250 per team.

For more information call, (520)674-8437/9528/2066.

NTUA Shoot out

KAYENTA, Ariz. — The Kayenta NTUA will hold a Corporation Shoot-out March 22-25 at the old Monument Valley High School gym.

The entry fee is $130 per team with a 10 player roster. For more information call (520)697-3617/3574.

Men's open tournament

SANDERS, Ariz. — The Valley High School FFA Chapter will sponsor a men's open basketball tournament March 22-24 at the Sanders Middle School. The entry fee is $150.

For more information call (520)688-2253 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Jayhawks Classic

UPPER FRUITLAND — The Jayhawks Classic will hold a 16 & under boys and a 12 & under girls basketball tournament March 23-25 at the Walter Collins Center in Upper Fruitland. The entry fee is $150 with a 10 team roster. A $50 deposit is required and original birth certificates.

For more information contact Mike Bekis at (505)598-5828 or (505)330-7129.

15 & under basketball tournament

NAVAJO — The Junior Class of Navajo Pine High School will sponsor a double elimination boy's 15 & under basketball
tournament March 24 at Navajo Pine High School. The entry fee is $100 and is limited to a 10 players per team. For more information call Galen Martinez at (505)777-2288/2371.

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Tribal budget put on hold

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation Council's Budget Committee on Monday delayed by one day a crucial step for the next annual tribal budget. The committee is demanding that President Kelsey Begaye and Chief Justice Robert Yazzie join Speaker Edward Begay in the discussion.

The committee was supposed to hear the three branch chiefs' joint recommendation on how to divide this coming year's $107.4 million for the tribal general fund. The fund provides about one-third of the Navajo Nation's overall budget, but is the only income the tribe provides.

The committee was supposed to start its meeting at 10 a.m., but couldn't muster a quorum until 1:35 p.m...

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Cibola budget limit defeated

Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

GRANTS — With County Manager Bob Ortiz away on a seminar, a key issue involving county spending restrictions for the Fiscal Year 2000-2001 came to defeat in a 2-3 vote.

The county is financially strapped because of spiraling costs for housing county inmates and the county needs to impose spending measures. The same matter was approved last year by the commission, but this year, with a mostly new slate of
commissioners on board, the same story had a whole different ending.

"What's he trying to do, freeze hiring?" asked Commissioner Fred Scott, one of the commission members left over from the old regime...

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Deaths

Shorty Begay

NASCHITTI — Services for Shorty Begay, 104, will be held at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 14, at Cope Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow at Naschitti Community Cemetery.

Begay died March 11 in Naschitti. He was born July 22, 1898, in Naschitti into the Red Running into the Water People Clan for the Bitter Water People Clan.

Begay was a Shooting Way medicine man and reformed the Navajo Blessing Way, Wind Way, Night Way and Mountain Way. He was also a rancher.

Survivors include his sons, James S. Begay of Navajo, James E. Begay of Bayard and Thomas Begay of Mancos, Colo.; daughters, Evelyn Sam and JoAnn B. Herbert, both of Naschitti; brothers, John D. Begay and Nealwood Denetdale, both of Buffalo Springs and Myron Denetdale of Tohatchi; sisters, Martha Perry of Gamerco and Mary Jones of Buffalo Springs; 34
grandchildren; 77 great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.

Begay was preceded in death by his parents, Shorty Denetdale and Bidisnanaabah; wife, Fannie Begay; sons, Carl Begay, Ned Begay, Phillip Begay and John Begay; and sisters, Elsie Begay, Marie Yazzie and Mary Nez.

Pallbearers will be Thomas Begay, Lincoln Notah, Jordan Sam, Hubert Sam, Johnny Yazzie and Kenneth Yazzie.

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

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Wilson Tsosie

BLUE GAP, Ariz. — Services for Wilson Tsosie, aka Woody Billie, 78, will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 14, at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Chinle, Ariz. Father Blane Grein will officiate. Burial will follow at Chinle Community Cemetery.

Tsosie died March 9 in Phoenix. He was born May 24, 1922, in Cottonwood, Ariz., into the One Who Walks Around You Clan for the Towering House People Clan.

Tsosie was a farmer and rancher. He was employed with the railroad. His hobbies included woodcarving and horseback riding.

Survivors include his wife, Helen Tsosie; and brothers, Benjamin T. Tsosie and Hoskie Yazzie.

Tsosie was preceded in death by his parents, Hosteen and Asonilthgai Begay, and other siblings.

Pallbearers will be Benjamin T. Begay, Edward Etsitty Jr., Ben Bitsui, Felix Tso and family members.

The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Stella Begay's, Cottonwood, Ariz.

Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Verne C. Curtis

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Services for Verne Curtis, 69, were held 10 a.m. Friday, March 9, at First United Methodist Church, Shiprock. Burial followed at Shiprock Community Cemetery.

Curtis died March 5 in Salt Lake City. He was born Aug. 26, 1931, in Leupp, Ariz.

Curtis graduated from the Navajo Methodist Mission in Farmington, He was a safety engineer and held superintendent positions
for ONEO, NECA and the Navajo Nation. He was employed with road constrution and power plants. He implemented Navajo
OSHA enforcement for the reservation. He was a saddle bronc rider in the Rodeo Cowboys' Association. His hobbies included
outdoor activities and sports.

Survivors include his wife, Stella Smiley Curtis of Salt Lake City; sons, Nathaniel Dan, Dywayne P. Martin and DeWayne J.
Martin, all of Salt Lake City and Donald Curtis of Saint Michaels, Ariz.; daughters, Jamie Dan and Patience P. Martin, both of
Salt Lake City, and ValJean Peyway of Crystal; brothers, Bill Curtis of Kirtland, Chubby Curtis of Waterflow, Larry Curtis of
Fruitland and Tony Curtis and Jerry Curtis, both of Farmington; sisters, Bertha Dempsey of Tsaile, Ariz., and Lula Curtis,
Rose Curtis and Kathy Curtis, all of Shiprock; and 11 grandchildren.

Curtis was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Esther Curtis, and brothers, Donald Curtis and Harold M. Curtis.

Pallbearers were Nathaniel Curtis, Dywayne P. Martin, Shawn Dempsey, Bobby Manus, Chubby Curtis, Levi Joe Curtis and
DeWayne J. Martin.