Concrete cutter



On north 666, Ben Quintana operates a conrete cutter on a defective area of an entrance to the Giant Service Station. The cut out concrete section will be removed and replaced with new concrete. Quintana works for Associated Concrete Cutting Inc.

Photo by Jerry W. Kelley

 

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Shootout at the Many Farms corral
Navajo officer is wounded

Jim Maniaci
Dine Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — A Chinle Police District officer twice wounded an 18-year-old Many Farms man Thursday afternoon after a rifle shot hit the patrol vehicle windshield.

The flying glass cut the unidentified officer in the face as the veteran lawman responded to a disturbance call shortly after 2 p.m.
Taken to the Chinle Indian Health Service hospital, then transferred to Flagstaff Medical Center, was Johnson Wagner Jr., who lives about 2.5 miles southwest of the convenience store in Many Farms. The incident happened about 3 miles southwest of the
store in the center of Many Farms.

Wagner refused Friday to let the hospital release any information about his injuries or condition.

Navajo police spokesman Captain Samson Cowboy said the officer, whom he declined to identify on Friday, has been placed on administrative leave, as is standard practice, but is a veteran peace officer.

The captain said the Law Enforcement Department officer returned the young man's fire, discharging his handgun several times, grazing the young man in the head and hitting him in a shoulder. The captain said the officer handcuffed the alleged shooter, then administered first aid while emergency medical help sped to the scene.

Late Friday afternoon the Criminal Investigations Department was still conducting its follow-up detective work, he added.

Wagner initially was charged with Navajo Nation criminal code violations of threatening, aggravated assault, battery, unlawful use of a deadly weapon, unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon and criminal damage, Capt. Cowboy said.

However, Wagner is expected to face much more serious federal charges for his alleged assault on a police officer. An FBI agent from Gallup was interviewing the suspect Friday afternoon at the hospital.

The incident began when family members at Kee James Chee's residence told Wagner to leave because he had been drinking and was getting argumentative. He left on his bicycle and about 30 minutes later the people in the house heard two shots.

Then the residents saw Wagner by the sheep corral with a .22 caliber rifle that he was reloading, so they called the Chinle police station.

When the officer got out of his vehicle, he heard shots and requested back up by other officers. One rifle round shattered the windshield, spraying the officer's face. The captain said the officer was not otherwise injured.

He took cover and heard five more rounds. Spotting the shooter's rifle smoke, he fired the captain declined to saw exactly how many times, but said he did not empty his clip and two shots hit Wagner.

$150,000 heist

The owner of an Indian arts and crafts store near Navajo National Monument discovered an estimated $150,000 worth of merchandise burglarized from his store when he opened it up Thursday morning, according to the Kayenta Law Enforcement District report.

Gene Albert Salt, 46, found Navajo jewelry, pottery, rugs and a Yeibichei display missing at the Lodge House Arts and Crafts store, about 10 miles northeast of Shonto and a mile west of the National Park Service land that houses the Betatkin and Keet Seel ruins.

Since there was no sign of forced entry, police believe it was an inside job, and the investigation continues.

Lost man found

A 71-year-old handicapped Baca man was found Wednesday after four agencies combined efforts and modern technology to find him, according to the Crownpoint Police District report.

John Navajo was described as being disoriented, but otherwise okay, when found.

Authorities used a heat-seeking device in an Albuquerque Police Department helicopter to locate him after he wandered away from his home on Natural Bridges Road in Baca around 2 p.m.

The Navajo Law Enforcement Department combined efforts with the McKinley and Cibola Counties Sheriff Offices and the APD search and rescue unit.

Fork stabbing

A 47-year-old Tuba City woman, allegedly was stabbed with a fork Tuesday by her 20-year-old boyfriend, but the wound went unattended for a day because he wouldn't let her out of his sight in a domestic violence incident.

Any charges in the Tuesday and Wednesday incident will be filed after Navajo detectives complete their investigation.

A sister of Louise Witt, who lives about one-fourth of a mile south of the KFC restaurant in Tuba City, took her to the Indian Health Service hospital Wednesday from the Bashas' Dine' Market to be treated for the stab wound on the left back of her neck.

The report identifies the suspect as Willard Begay, who lives about one-fourth of a mile south of the old Arizona Public Service
Company building in Tuba City, where police believe the incident happened.

Girl nabbed as bootlegger

Chinle Police District officers arrested a 16-year-old Chinle girl who lives near the law enforcement complex, along with three men on March 5, on illegal liquor distribution and accomplice charges after receiving a tip from a concerned woman.

Only the girl was charged with delivery, as she allegedly sold an unidentified man a 12-pack of 12-ounce Budweiser beer cans, a transaction officers reported seeing conducted.

Her boyfriend, Jerome Wagner, 21, and another man, Deswood Bitsoi, 32, were arrested on accomplice charges, the report said. A total of $21 cash was confiscated, but no other liquor was found. Possession of alcoholic beverages is outlawed on the Navajo Reservation.

The girl and Wagner live about one-fourth of a mile northeast of the Chinle police station. The other man lives about one-half mile northeast of the Church's Chicken on Bureau of Indian Affairs Route 7 in Chinle.

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Hungry eyes: Seeing things in Washington, D.C.

Walter Howerton Jr.
Managing Editor

My wife had business in Washington, D.C., a couple of weeks ago. She took me along. We stayed in her nice hotel and put the expensive stuff on her credit card. She worked and went to meetings all day. I wandered around and did whatever I wanted to. I felt like a kept man. I liked it. For a couple of days, I felt just like Bill Clinton.

My wife didn't mind. It's what she said she wanted me to do. Besides, she knows I have no interest in either younger women or big cigars and I'm such a grudge holder (my wife calls it saving stamps) I would never be tempted to pardon anyone no matter how much money or anything else they offered (if given the chance I still would avenge slights all the way back to the
junior high school locker room). She worked, I walked.

I don't know whether it was the lingering effects of the lingering presidential race or the fact that I already had been up in Santa Fe covering the New Mexico Legislature for a few weeks, but by the time we arrived in Washington, I had lost my appetite for politics, politicians, those who serve them hand and foot and for what passes for the business of government.

I make part of my living watching politicians, but after a while they are about as entertaining and stimulating as "Love Boat" reruns.

Sonny Bono was on "Love Boat" a lot. Sonny Bono was in Congress AFTER he was on "Love Boat" (and, remember, this is the same guy who created Cher and died by skiing head-on into a tree). That sort of puts things into perspective if you arrive in Washington in a certain state of mind.

(If George W. Bush could act, he probably would have been on "Love Boat," too. A has-been before he ever was, he doesn't seem to have done much of anything but guest appearances before he was elected. And the way things are going for Bill
Clinton, he had better hope "Love Boat" makes a comeback soon. What else can a has-been do for a living? Or maybe he could
just name that new presidential library "The Love Boat," retire to the penthouse it will have a penthouse, you know and figure
out just what the definition of "is" is. Pardon me for saying it, but Bill Clinton gives the rest of us kept men a bad name with all
of his wearisome white-trashy carrying on and some of us more and more of us, I suspect wish he would just go away.)

Anyway, I was politically pooped by the time I arrived (as a wise old Southern man I wrote about recently said, "You can get enough chocolate pie"). One day I did get close enough to the Capitol to take my own picture with the familiar old dome in the
background, but I never felt the need to get any closer. It's a pretty good picture.

I woke up that first morning in Washington with hungry eyes. I wanted to see stuff. So, I started out looking at famous old airplanes and space vehicles at the Smithsonian (the Smithsonian is the place to go to feel like a kid). Then I cut across the Mall to the American history museum.

I like history and there is an overwhelming amount of it in that museum. I ended up in a room full of cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, buggies and wagons. I got a guy to take my picture in front of a lowrider from New Mexico called "Dave's Dream,"
mostly for the feeling of one familiar thing to hang onto.

(Upstairs, I got another guy to take my picture in front of a piece of the lunchcounter and four stools from my hometown
Woolworth's where the sit-in demonstrations started in 1960. "I remember that," I said to no one in particular, the way you do
in museums sometimes when there are other people standing around, hoping for the chance to show off a little. "I don't. I
wasn't even born yet," said the full-grown woman standing next to me. She and her boyfriend had a big laugh. Who would
have thought she was that young? How do you tell a person's age these days anyway?).

After that, I strolled next door to the natural history museum and sought out the company of the dinosaurs. Standing under the T. Rex, I didn't feel like a kid anymore. I left the museum.

I strolled up toward the Capitol, took my own picture just to prove I had been there and sat down on a bench in the sun.

I had seen a bunch of stuff and most of it was good stuff, but my eyes still were hungry. After all of that looking, somehow I still hadn't seen what I needed to see. Then, as I sat there fiddling with my camera, trying to turn Washington into snapshots, I figured it out.

I realized I didn't just want to see stuff. I wanted to see art. I wanted to stand in front of some paintings and feed my hungry eyes. So I did.

I went to the Hirshhorn Museum, a round and wonderful building on stilts. Buildings for art are eye-buildings. I walked from gallery to gallery for hours. I stood before the wonderfully lighted solitude created by Edward Hopper (three Hoppers in one day and he is my favorite American artist). Painting to painting, sculpture to sculpture, I worked my way round and round the
Hirshhorn and walked back to my hotel feeling good.

The next day I went straight to the modern art building of the National Gallery and spent hours more, this time with the work of Jackson Pollock (why does that explosion of color draw the eye?), Agnes Martin (why do those pale bands of careful color
draw the eye?), realists, expressionists, colorists. I wandered floor to floor.

Then, late in the afternoon, growing a little art weary, I entered one last room. It was a smallish gallery and seemed almost an afterthought, one way in, the same way out. Nothing special.

I stepped to the middle of the room and looked around me. I was surrounded by Picasso. Eight Picassos, all in one room.
Bright, dark, blue, yellow, realist, cubist, all kinds of Picassos. I could feel them pushing against me trying to get in. It was a wonderful feeling. Art is sexy. Too bad Bill Clinton never understood that. He could have saved us all a lot of grief.

Finally, I had had enough chocolate pie.

I headed back for the hotel, taking the long way past the homeless man living on a sidewalk grate not far from the White House and on down Pennsylvania Avenue.

There was a beggar (Washington's full of them) a couple of blocks down near Starbuck's. He was a large man and he rattled some coins in the bottom of a large paper cup.

"Gimme a dollar, a five, a 10 or a 20," he chanted. "Change ain't goin' to do me no good."

I knew how he felt. I had just stood in a room with eight Picassos. So, if you see that artless humbug Jesse Helms, tell him this for me: When my eyes need art, ain't nothin' else goin' to do me no good. Even in Washington, D.C. I smiled and walked on.
There's no feeling like being a kept man in Washington, D.C. Right Bill? George? Right Jesse?

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U.S. 666 construction almost done

Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — State highway officials are saying that the long nightmare of travel in front of the Rio West Mall will soon be over.
Joe Peterman, the supervisor of the project for the New Mexico Highway Department, said Friday that he expects that the widening of U.S. Highway 666 near the mall should be completed by mid-April.

"We are currently about two weeks behind schedule because of weather conditions," he said.

Over the past several months, area motorists have been stymied and delayed many times as road construction caused closure of many of the entryways to the mall and the area across the street. The construction has often caused bottlenecks, especially on weekends when the traffic through the area increases by more than 400 percent.

Peterman said that motorists should be happy to know that there will no more closures of the road at night but there will be some during the daylight hours as road crews do some concrete placement in the mediums as well as put in trees and shrubs.

But motorists should be warned that the agony of travel along that route will reappear again next year as the state continues its plans to improve and expand the area from Gamerco to State Highway 602.

Later this year, the state will begin work on the next segment of that corridor the area just south of the mall to Aztec Avenue as it rebuilds the Interstate 40 bridge.

"This will be just as big a project as the one we are now completing," said Peterman. It will also mean just as many disruptions for area motorists, he said.

That project is expected to be completed in 2003, at which time the state plans to work on the road from Aztec up to State Highway 602. That project is expected to be completed in 2005.

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Round Valley Invitational

Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer

EAGER, Ariz. — Chinle sophomore Kristin St. Germaine made her high school debut in her first 3200-meter race a memorable one by sprinting down the stretch to claim top honors during the Round Valley Indoor Track Invitational Friday evening.

St. Germaine overtook Mogollon's Tyne Crandell, last year's Class 2A 3200-meter state champion, down the final home stretch, winning 12:19.62 to 12:20.29.

Girls division

St. Germaine, who finished fifth in the high-point female athlete point race with 34 points, trailed Mogollon's Crandell for most of the 16-lap race in second place. However on the final lap, St. Germaine edged out in front on the first turn before Crandell caught up and then passed St. Germaine on the final turn. However St. Germaine, who was out of action with a blood clot in her knee last season, held off Crandell's challenge and slipped past her once again heading down the final stretch to win, 12:19.62 to 12:20.29.

"I felt comfortable," said St. Germaine who finished 10th at state last fall after going the wrong way during the cross country season after placing second as a freshman."But I don't enjoy this track because it's too short (200 meters). I'd rather run outdoors."

St. Germaine said she will probably run the 1600 along with two relays this week and skip the 3200.

In the girls team standings, Durango, Colo. walked off with the team trophy with 196 points, followed by St. Johns 116, Mogollon 112, Round Valley 104, Window Rock 63, Queen Creek 44, Chinle 42, Hopi 38, Blue Ridge 37, Montezuma and
Show Low 31, Tuba City 29, Alchesay 25, Valley Sanders 20, Ganado 8, Desert Academy 6, Sedona 4, and Santa Fe Prep 2.

Despite just checking in 10 minutes before the race due to bus problems, Chinle took first in the 3200-meter relay. The Lady
Wildcat relay foursome of junior Andrea Yazzie, sophomore Colleen Yazzie, sophomore St. Germaine and sophomore Doreen
Anderson posted a winning time of 10:53. The Hopi relay team of Alyssa Fredericks, Kim Zahne, Iva Sahneyah and Tara
Secakuku took runnerup honors with a clocking of 10:59. Ganado was sixth with a time of 11:26 with Tuba City eighth with an
11:58.

Tuba City's Taelia Begay won the discus with a winning toss of 103-9 3/4. Round Valley's Alex Chavez took second with a
100-1 1/4 effort. Chinle's Antonia Dominguez placed sixth (88-2) with Ganado's Kendralyn James seventh (84-7).

Window Rock's Andrian Roan took third in the 100-meter dash with a 13.56. Durango's Elaine Gilmore topped the field with a
12.90. Valley's Denise Roan finished seventh with a 14.03.

Window Rock's Virginia Begay placed third in the 3200 behind St. Germaine and Crandell with a time of 12:55.56. Tuba
Cuty's Marietta Riggs took fourth (13:26.79) with Chinle's Doreen Anderson seventh (14:11.40). Valley's Elisha Moore placed
eighth (14:32.16).

Hopi's Kim Zahne placed a distant second in the 800 meters with a time of 36.03. Durango's Emily Roser easily took first with a winning time of 29.12.

Window Rock's 400-meter relay foursome of Andrian Chee, Leona Birtcher, Joelene McQuade and Krystal Kontz placed third with a time of 54.76. Ganado placed eighth (59.4). Durango took first with a first place time of 52.89.

Window Rock's 1600-meter relay foursome of Andrian Chee, Leona Birtcher, Christina Tomah and Paulette Wauneka finished second with a time of 4:40.69. Valley was seventh with a time of 4:48.60. Chinle's 1600-meter relay foursome of Andrea
Yazzie, Colleen Yazzie, Kristin St. Germaine and Maria Paul placed fifth with a time of 4:46.59. Durango claimed first with a
winning time of 4:32.29.

Hopi finished fourth and fifth in the 1600 meters with Iva Sahneyah and Alyssa Fredericks with times of 6:06.02 and 6:06.21 respectively. Chinle's Colleen Yazzie was seventh (6:13.95). Ganado's Roxanne Cook finished eighth (6:18.07). Durango's
Roser claimed first with a winning time of 5:39.62.

Window Rock's Bonnie Canyon took fourth in the pole vault, clearing 6-6. Round Valley's Alex Chavez won the competition, clearing 8-9.

Window Rock's Christina Tomah placed sixth in the 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 18.04. Durango's Amber Krupa won the event with a first place time of 15.90.

Valley's Lauren Ashley took fifth in the high jump, clearing 4-6. Tuba City's Ravina Molina placed sixth, also clearing 4-6. Mogollon's Kandra Greer topped the field, clearing 5-1.

Window Rock placed two in the triple jump with Christina Tomah sixth (29-5) with teammate Annadifa Das eighth (28-4).
Mogollon's Caroline Crandell won with a 30-7.5 effort.

Window Rock's Angie Chee placed sixth in the 400 with a time of 69.30. Durango's Tiffany Flint won with a 62.60.

Tuba City's Taelia Begay finished seventh in the shot put with a 31-3 effort. Queen Creek's N. Amete took first with a 36-10 3/4 effort.

Valley's Alisha Tsosie placed eighth in the long jump, leaping 14-3 1/4. Mogollon's Kandra Greer won, leaping 16-4 1/2.

Boys division

Chinle finished ninth in the boys team standings with 22 points. Durango, Colo. ran away with top team honors with 181 points with St. Johns a distant second with 150 points and host Round Valley third with 91 points. Sedona and Montezuma tied for fourth (74), followed by Show Low 70, Alchesay 64, Blue Ridge 62, Chinle 22, Ganado and Window Rock 21, Joseph City 19, Mogollon and Tuba City 18, Valley Sanders 13, Desert Academy 8, and Hopi 4.

Ganado finished second in the 400-meter relay with the foursome of Cody Mueller, Chris Semore, Jason Semore and Lavon Salabye. The Hornets were clocked in 46.28 seconds to finish behind first place Round Valley with a winning time of 46.23.

Tuba City's David Santana placed third in the 100-meter dash with a clocking of 11.37 seconds. Round Valley's Cory Austin took first with a 10.93 second clocking, the lone sub-11-second clocking.

Chinle's 4 by 800 meter relay team of Bradlee Stewart, Aaron Bahe, Raymone Paul, and Lordell Johnson finished third with a time of 9:03. Window Rock placed sixth with a time of 9:21 with Valley seventh with a 9:31. Alchesay took first with a first place time of 8:40.70.

Window Rock's Frandale Segay finished third in the 1600 meters with a time of 4:48.44. Chinle's Aaron Bahe placed seventh (5:08.03). Alchesay's Blaine Goklish won with a winning time of 4:47.11, just edging out Durango's Tanner Kroeger with a 4:47.40.

Ganado's Nathan Salabye placed fifth in the 110-meter high hurdles with a 16.93. Durango's Eric Dunn finished first with a 15.45.

Chinle's Lordell Johnson and Window Rock's Garrett Haskie tied for fourth in the 3200 meters with a time of 11:08.72.
Valley's Brandon Baloo was sixth (11:09.19) with Chinle's Raymone Paul seventh (11:10.00) and Valley's Arvin Thoms eighth (11:21.25). Durango's Jason Salo won with a winning time of 10:42.93.

Hopi's Roger Kisto took sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:16.27. Valley's Erik Goodsoldier was seventh (2:16.85) while Chinle's Bradlee Stewart was eighth (2:17.55). Durango's Tanner Kroeger took top honors with a winning time of 2:10.51.

Valley's Kenji McCoo placed eighth in the 400 meters with a time of 57.22. Durango's Chis Bolka easily won with a time of 52.83.

Ganado's Nathan Salabye placed seventh in the high jump, clearing 6-0. Montezuma's Jeff Yarbrough took first with a 6-4 effort.

Tuba City's Andrew Johnson took fourth in the 200 with a time of 24.49. Ganado's Vinnie Begay was eighth with a 24.73. Round Valley's Cory Austin placed first with a winning time of 23.48.

Chinle will be hosting a quad Wednesday before hosting its own invitational Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. with the finals set for 2 p.m.

Farmington Invitational

Carrie Loretto
Sports Editor

FARMINGTON — Gallup baseball coach Robert Erp is still looking for answers following the Bengals' latest loss. Will Silva may have answered at least one of them.

In just his third start of the season, Silva blasted a pair of home runs against Cobre during the second round of the Farmington Invitational, but they weren't enough as the Bengals lost 9-6.

Still, Silva's hitting left Erp contemplating moving him into the number three spot in the Bengal lineup.

"We're trying hard, I'm totally puzzled I guess to figure out what's happening with this team," Erp said after Gallup's fourth straight defeat. "We're going to have to make some adjustments, there might have to be younger kids playing and getting some experience because some of our seniors aren't stepping up right now. We're hurting in our three hole, there's no production
right there in this tournament so far or five hole."

The lack of production prompted Erp to change his starting lineup from Friday's tournament opener in which the Bengals only registered two hits. Silva, who had one of those two hits, got the opportunity to start at shortstop with regular shortstop Ricky
Luna getting the start from the mound.

"I put Will Silva in there and he came through with flying colors," Erp said of the 5'9" junior infielder who hit the teams' first and second home runs of the season. "That was a tremendous day hitting. He had a couple of mistakes in the field, but I think
that stuff is correctable. Maybe we'll look at him in the three spot."

Silva's first homer, a solo shot over the left centerfield fence, pulled the Bengals within a run in the fifth inning. In his next at-bat in the bottom of the seventh, Silva again sent the ball over the left centerfield fence for a two-run homer.

However, by that time, Cobre had pulled out to a 9-4 advantage.

Silva finished with a 2-for-4 day, flying out to rightfield and grounding out to the third baseman in his first two at-bats.

The Bengals (2-5) had given up three runs in the opening inning and were playing catch-up the rest of the game.

After giving up a lead-off single to Chris Marin and walking Paul Garcia, Bengal starting pitcher Ricky Luna got Mikey Rodriguez to hit a double-play ball. However, the toss at second was dropped loading the bases with no outs.

Michael Herbert followed with an RBI single to centerfield. Luna got the next batter to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, but Garcia scored on the play. Shawn Ryan added another RBI single to left before Tony Arzola grounded out.

Gallup answered with its first run as Cobre starter Paul Garcia hit Ricky Luna and later Andrew Christianson. Jared Montano, in the clean-up position, knocked in Luna with a double into leftfield.

Cobre regained a three-run lead with another run in the second inning and it remained that way until the bottom of the fourth when Gallup pulled within 4-3.

Fermin Gallegos led off the inning with a double to right centerfield. Robbie Bunch ripped a line drive down the third base line to knock in Gallegos. Garcia balked to move Bunch over to third and he scored on Jeremy Lewis' opposite field single.

Cobre coach Howie Morales went out to the mound to talk things over with his right-handed senior. After that, Garcia picked off Lewis at first. He then got Luna to fly out to centerfield. Bengal centerfielder Shane Hargrove drew a walk, but he was left stranded when Christiansen fouled out to catcher Shawn Ryan.

The Bengals stranded nine baserunners, including leaving the bases loaded in a scoreless third inning.

An RBI single by Ryan in the fifth put Cobre back up 5-3. The Indians broke open the game with a five-hit, three-run sixth inning.

After giving up a lead-off double and an infield single, Luna appeared to have regained control getting the next batter to fly out to centerfielder Shane Hargrove and striking out Garcia. But then three straight RBI singles put the Indians in control for good.

An outstanding throw from sophomore rightfielder Jeremy Lewis to put out Michael Herbert trying to score on Roger
Dominguez' single, ended the inning.

Gallup's offense again sputtered in the bottom of the sixth as the Bengals failed to capitalize on a pair of walks to start the inning.

Sophomore Fermin Gallegos and senior Robbie Bunch also hit 2-for-4 for the Bengals.

The loss to the Class 3A team had Erp wondering if the Bengals are going to be able to compete in their district. Erp is also considering whether or not to approach the rest of the season as a rebuilding year.

"I know what level we're at, we're at this 3A level and (the loss) proves it. That's a very average 3A team and yet they beat us," he said. "Our district is more like Eldorado, It's a district that, if we can't beat these (3A) teams, we're definitely not going to beat those teams.

"If it has to be a rebuilding year, you don't do it with seniors, you're going to have to start looking at the younger kids. We're going to find out, we got one more week of pre-district, then it's time to play. If we're going to have to make decisions, we're going to make decisions."

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School board may be breaking the law

Jim Maniaci
Dine Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Kin Dah Lichi'i Olta board majority may be breaking Arizona state law, as well as violating its own policies, a board member said earlier this week.

And Board Member Calvin Kirk tells a slightly different story of recent events at the modern school northeast of Ganado than his Navajo Nation Council Education Committee colleague Sam Billison, now president of the four-member board.

"His (Billison's) statements in the paper are contrary to the real problem at the school," Kirk said of the board chairman's comments to the Independent.

On March 6 the board declined, in a 3-1 vote before an audience of almost 50 people (including teachers), to immediately renew the teachers' contracts, which run from August through May. Two days later the board approved the 12 contracts, adding a 401(K) retirement plan. The dozen instructors have until Thursday to sign and return their new pacts...

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Legislative session ending with almost nothing accomplished
School issues cause local rift

Walter Howerton Jr.
Managing Editor

SANTA FE — Money and messages were on people's minds as the New Mexico Legislature plodded toward a close.
The first session of the 45th Legislature was to end at noon today.

Gov. Gary Johnson had not received the $72 million two-year tax cut he wanted. So, he took his veto pen and line-itemed approximately $200 million out of a $3.3 billion state budget including millions of dollars for pay raises for state employees.

Johnson also said the budget left no money for the school reforms talked about throughout the session.

In a lively interview in a narrow Roundhouse hallway on Friday, Johnson said he hoped lawmakers got the point."They're overspent!" he said."They're overspent..."

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Deaths

Petra S. Gutierrez

GALLUP — Services for Petra S. Gutierrez, 75, will be held at 9:30 a.m., Monday, March 19 at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Father Diego Mazon will officiate. Burial will be held at Sunset Memorial Park.
A rosary will be recited at Rollie Mortuary Palm Chapel at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 18.

Survivors include her son, Adrian Carlos Gutierrez of Phoenix and Richard Gutierrez of Gallup; daughter, Lupe A. Gutierrez of Gallup; brother, John Cervantes of Santa Paula, Calif.; sisters, Gloria Pinela of Los Angeles, Calif., Jennie Huerta of San Jusancito, Calif., Lorretta Rodriguez, Maria Aurelio and Susan Salazar all of Santa Paula, Calif.; three grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Gutierrez was peceded in death by her husband, Richard Gutierrez Sr.; parents, Sabas Vicente and Isabell Cervantes; brothers, Chris Cervantes; Joseph Cervantes, Paul Cervantes and Sonny Cervantes and sister, Hopie Gonzales.

Pallbearers will be Paul Y. Begaye Jr., John Cervantes, Tony Chavez, Frank Espinosa, Clifton Harper and Salvador Pinela.

Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Paddy C. Calvin Jr.

PINE HILL — Services for Paddy Calvin Jr., 28, will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, March 19 at Cope Memorial Chapel. Pastor Jerry DeBoise will officiate. Burial will be held on family land, Pine Hill.
Calvin died March 12, in Las Cruces. He was born Aug. 15, 1972 in Winslow, Ariz into the Bitter Water Clan for the Overhanging Rock People Clan.
Survivors include his mother, Judy M. Livingston of Bread Springs; brother, Patrick Begay of Pine Hill; sisters, Pearlene Panuco and Pollyann Peshlakai both of Las Cruces, Pamela Calvin and Priscilla Calvin both of Mesa, Ariz.
Calvin was preceded in death by his father, Paddy C. Calvin Sr. and grandparents, Grace C. Martine and Tooley Calvin.

Pallbearers will be Michael Peshlakai, Patrick Begay, Wilbert Livingston, Richard Begay, Brain Preston, and Victor Hernandez.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Robert Pino Sr.

RAMAH — Services for Robert Pino Sr., 89, will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, March 19, at Church of Nazarene, Ramah. Pastor Herman Nells will officiate. Burial will follow on family land, Ramah.
Visitation will be held at 2-3 p.m. today at Cope Memorial.

Pino died March 14 in Grants. He was born January 15, 1915, in Ramah.

Pino graduated from Wingate High School. He also attended Lindrith Nazarene Indian Bible School, was an ordained Pastor before retiring. He also served in the U.S. Army and was released on honorable discharge. He was a councilman for 16 years at Cornfields Chapter.
He also worked with the Parks and Recreation Department.

Survivors include his sons, Robert Pino Jr. of Gallup, Robert Abeita of Peralta, and Roger White of Ramah; daughters, Rebecca White of Ramah, Carolyn Cable, Dorothy Tahchaw-wickah, Hope Contreraz all of Dallas,Tex., Rachel Andrews and Ruth Silago, both of Pheonix, Gloria Nells, and Magdalena Pino both of Albuquerque; brother, Juan Martine of Ramah; 48 grandchildren, and 19 great grandchildren.

Pino Sr., was proceeded in death by his wife, Annabelle Pino, sons, Johnny Pino, Albert Pino, Wilbert Pino, daughter, Elaine Pino, brother, Jimmy Pino, and sister, Mary Maria.

Pallbearers will be Jason Andrews, Julian Nells, Jerry Pino Jr., Elton White, Vernon Cable and Nick Tahchaw-wickah.

Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Ora Desbah Benally

SLICK ROCK — Services for Ora Benally, 93, will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, March 19 at Good Shepherd Mission, Fort Defiance. Margaret Hardy will officiate. Burial will follow on family plot, Slick Rock.

Visitation will be at held from 2-5 p.m., today, March 17 at Tse Bonito Mortuary.

Benally died March 15 in Gallup. She was born April 1, 1909 in Slick Rock into the Edge of the Water Clan for the Red Bottom People Clan.

Survivors include her son, James Lee, Eddie Lee, Phillip Lee of Fort Defiance and David Lee of Chicago, Ill.; daughters, Annie Miller of Albuquerque, Irene Benally and Lillian Benally both of Fort Defiance, Ariz. and numberous grandchildren.

Benally was preceded in death by her sons, Larry Lee and Franklin Lee; daughter, Louise Walker; husband, Harry Benally; first husband, Herbert Lee; parents and grandparents.

Pallbearers will be Jessie Walker, Fred Miller, Ron Miller, Alvin Lee, Norman Lee and Paul Benally.

The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services at Good Shepherd Mission, Parish Hall, Fort Defiance.

Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.