Judge tosses school case from Dilcon
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
GALLUP — The way things are going for Gene Thomas, the on-leave
executive director Dilcon Community School, he may have to wait
until after the students leave for summer break in early June
before finding out whether he will get his job back.
"The case wasn't ripe enough to be decided by the court,"
Thomas said.
The most recent setback for Thomas came on March 28, when Window
Rock District Court Judge Allen Sloan granted the defendants'
motion to dismiss his case.
"They (defendants) reason that the plaintiff has yet to exhaust
his administrative remedies," Sloan said. "This court
agrees."
The defendants are the five-member Dilcon Community School Board.
They placed Thomas on paid administrative leave in November, claiming
Thomas misappropriated school funds. Thomas has denied all charges.
Larry Foster, Navajo President Kelsey Begaye's former chief of
staff, has been appointed the administrative officer to hear Thomas'
case. Thomas has been waiting months for his case to be heard.
He is hoping that the discovery process and its attainment of
depositions will occur this month.
The school board was represented in court by James Manlowe, an
attorney with Hufford, Horstman, Mongini, Parnell and McCarthy
P.C. of Flagstaff. Thomas said Manlowe told the court he had offered
to conduct the hearing this week and that the proper contact was
made with Thomas' attorney, John Chapela of Window Rock.
"That was absolutely not true," Thomas said.
Thomas has said that the defendants' tactic has been to stall
his case as long as possible.
In a recent press release, one of the defendants' attorneys, Patrice
Horstman, said the school has hired an independent case presenter,
investigator and hearing officer (Foster) to achieve fairness.
"The fact that the board has separated the investigation,
presentation and hearing functions into three independent entities,
free of control by the board, school employees, regular school
counsel, or Mr. Thomas, ensures that the hearing will be as fair
as possible to all parties," Horstman wrote.
Judge Sloan's March 28 decision makes plain that Thomas who is
developing his own legal case against the school board, for alleged
racial discrimination, due process violations and defamation of
character may be entitled to come before the court at a later
date.
Sloan's decision was signed last Monday.
"In this case, the Dilcon Community School Board must first
have the opportunity to resolve his claims," Sloan said.
"If the plaintiff is unsatisfied with the school board's
actions, he may bring an independent action before the Navajo
Nation Labor Commission.
"Once these two entities have acted on his claims and he
remains unsatisfied with the outcome in both or either proceeding,
he may then bring an action in this court."
Thomas said a Dilcon community recall effort is proceeding against
board members Kee Ben Begay, board President Margie Barton and
Gerdie Manygoats. Thomas alleges that they have violated his due
process rights by openly criticizing his work performance in public,
and by openly advocating his removal.
Thomas alleges that Begay has referred to himself in public as
an FBI investigator, and has referred to Thomas in public in a
racially harmful manner with the words, "get the zhinni out."
Zhinni is a derogatory Diné term for African Americans.
Before they took office last October, Thomas said Begay and other
board members openly campaigned on a platform to have him removed
as school executive director.
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Cooks share ideas for low-fat Navajo
tacos
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — While the diabetes rate among young and old on
the Navajo Nation continues to climb unchecked, the Special Diabetes
Project got the attention of a few people recently with a Diabetes
Alert Day in the Navajo capital.
And other health-oriented agencies joined in the fun in the lobby
of Administration Building No. 2 where the Health Division and the
project are based.
The day was one time the typical Diné diet of the four "white
deaths" sugar, lard, refined flour and salt was nowhere to be
seen with no one was walking around munching on fry bread.
The sponsors supplemented pound upon pound of literature and giveaways
with tests and demonstrations, such as a table with vials of a sticky
white stuff inside that represented how much sugar and fat popular
foods and healthful foods contained.
For instance, a 2.5 ounce Milky Way candy bar and a 2.75 ounce bag
of Lay's Classic Potato Chips both filled the tiny corked glass bottle
full, no matter how long it sat or which way little boys and girls
tipped it before returning it to its rack.
But 3 ounces of roasted chicken (with the skin removed to take out
virtually all the fat) filled the tiny tube only half-way to the top.
Visitors many young and middle-aged mothers with curious and excited
boys and girls in tow received recipe sheets, listing, for instance,
a Creamy Citrus Cooler. To enjoy this concoction all you have to do
is mix 4 ounces each of pink grapefruit juice, orange juice and pineapple
juice with one-half cup low-fat vanilla ice cream in a blender.
Demonstrators also handed out shot-size paper cups containing a mixture
of frozen raspberries, light yogurt, banana and ice full of potassium.
One of the many pamphlets shows how to reduce cholesterol and fat
by simple changes in the diet choose low fat or skim milk, yogurt
or part-skim mozzarella cheese, for instance, instead of the fat-filled
regular milk.
A person with a high cholesterol risk should try to eat no more than
one-fifth of his day's total calories from fat (up to 150 milligrams
of cholesterol). Those who are borderline to high risk should not
have more than 200-250 milligrams a day. And those who have the cholesterol
in their blood at a desirable level shouldn't go over 300 milligrams
daily.
Much information also was distributed about exercise, the other half
of the healthy body formula.
Vigorous exercise helps the body to use more oxygen in the blood,
resulting in more stamina, better resistance to disease and a younger,
more vibrant appearance while allowing a person to handle stress better.
A balanced fitness program means exercising at least three times a
week. It includes doing warm-up (5 minutes) and cool-down exercises
(5-10 minutes) along with 20-30 minutes of aerobics such as walking,
jogging, cycling or swimming, plus 10-15 minutes of muscle strengthening.
The Navajo Aids Project gave out single wrapped condoms, along with
literature.
Other agencies tested tribal employees for blood glucose (sugar),
cholesterol and did body fat analysis.
Sponsors said they plan to conduct similar type events every quarter.
For more information telephone the Special Diabetes Project at (520)
871-6532 in Window Rock or the nearest Indian Health Service unit.
Persons also may contact the AIDS Prevention Program at: (520) 871-6665
in Window Rock, (520) 729-4159 in Fort Defiance, (520) 657-8021 in
Dilkon, (520) 283-5878 in Tuba City, (505) 368-7440 in Shiprock or
(505) 786-2196 in Crownpoint.
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Motor office probe still unfolding
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — A state probe into possible criminal activities at the
motor vehicle office resembles an octopus with the investigation beginning
with one allegation and spreading to several different areas.
On Friday, New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division Cabinet Secretary Glenn
Ellington said until the Grants MVD office probe is complete his only
comment on the case is, "We don't comment on ongoing investigations."
That is the same phrase the Federal Bureau of Investigation is using
in the Donna Smith multi-million dollar insurance fraud investigation
ongoing in Grants. It's also the same comment which Cibola County
Sheriff's Department investigators used in the alleged $180,000 public
money embezzlement scam involving suspended village of Milan Clerk
Sandra Gonzales.
No charges have been filed in the Smith case and the Cibola County
grand jury charged Gonzales with 43 counts of embezzlement and one
count of destroying public documents.
Ellington said such investigations can take a substantial amount of
time to complete as investigators initially go into an office to look
into one allegation, find others and are required to probe each new
lead.
"You have to exhaust all possibilities before you are done,"
Ellington said.
It was such "exhaustive" investigations which last week
led to the arrest of five division personnel two in a Santa Fe MVD
office and three in an Albuquerque MVD office.
Before the "no comment" comment, division officials said
possible infractions with commercial driver's license and possible
embezzlement were being investigated. A state official said the investigation
began with a state investigator and a state auditor looking into the
activities of one person and that probe led to other areas to be investigated.
Ellington said sales of bogus commercial driver's licenses are common
crimes at MVD offices. Such was the case in Roswell in March.
The going rate for an illegal commercial driver license is between
$500 and $1,000, Ellington said, adding, "We're trying to shut
down the door on people getting what looks like valid New Mexico documents."
Ellington added a sobering thought about people getting commercial
driver's licenses who may not be qualified to drive the big rigs.
"You don't want someone driving down the interstate next to you
in an 18-wheeler who doesn't know what they are doing," he said.
As far as fraud goes, Ellington said in the past two years, the department
fired 50 workers for fraud. "You handle hundreds of thousands
of dollars and make $8.50 an hour and the temptation is there,"
Ellington said. "We must be vigilant."
Ellington said one thing which might help in the situation is for
district attorneys and the courts to take stronger action and take
a more aggressive stance on prosecution and sentencing.
When the investigation will be completed and what possible actions
will be taken are still up in the air. "We generally don't telegraph
such things," he said.
Grants MVD office Director Barbara Goltz is on administrative leave
pending the completion of the probe.
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Chieftains dominate field
Michael Peretti
Staff Sports Writer
SHIPROCK — Despite windy conditions, 12 girls teams and 15 boys
schools competed Saturday in the Shiprock Track Invitational.
The Shiprock boys blew away the rest of the field scoring 148 points,
81 more than second place Thoreau who finished with 67.
In girls division, the Lady Chieftains were edged out by Bayfield,
Colo, 148 to 125.
With seven teams from Colorado, two from Arizona and even one from
Utah, the competition was tough throughout the day.
"We let the numbers speak for themselves," said Shiprock
head coach Al Madera of the boys big win. "The numbers were pretty
impressive, especially on the boys side. We exceeded our expectations
in some events, and fell back in some others."
Madera said that going into the meet the teams knew they were going
to get some competition from the Colorado teams. He
added that he expected his boys team to win the meet, but not by as
much as they did.
Colorado teams took the next three spots after Thoreau with Bayfield
third (66), Mancos (65) and Pagosa Springs (62.5). The rest of the
team standings placed Zuni sixth with 58.5 points, Window Rock seventh
with 54, Dolores, Colo. eighth with
44.5, Norwood, Colo. ninth with 25.5, Newcomb tenth with 23, Nucla,
Colo. 11th with 17, Navajo Prep 12th with 14,
Dove Creek, Colo. and Red Mesa, Ariz. tied for 13th with 6 points
apiece and Whitehorse, Utah 15th with 3.
In the girls competition it was Bayfield 148, Shiprock 125, Mancos
80, Window Rock 78, Pagosa Springs 64, Zuni 45, Thoreau 42, Dove Creek
34, Nucla 13, Newcomb 12, Navajo Prep 10 and Delores 5.
Zuni coach Chris Carroll, said he though his teams did very well.
"So far we have qualified seven kids for state this year,"
he said. "I think this is one of the best teams Zuni has put
together in a long time."
Carroll said that the brother and sister duo of Chad and Helena Mahkee
did good, as well as several other athletes on the teams.
"Brian Waatsa finished one and Chad Mahkee two in the 3200, and
Helena Mahkee placed in three events," he said.
Helena Mahkee also placed in the 800 and 1600 meter runs and took
a fourth in the javelin.
"I did pretty good," she said about her finishes on the
day. "I did better than the other times I competed."
Her brother, Chad, said he thought he did well on the day as well.
"There was pretty good competition from around here," he
said. Chad Mahkee placed in the 3200 meters and the 1600 meters. "This
was the most competitive meet for me," he said.
"We did very well, especially in the field events," said
Jerry Paulson, an assistant coach for the Shiprock teams. We did at
least as well as expected in the running events too."
Paulson said that the girls team swept the javelin and the hurdlers
got some points. He also made note of performances by Benson Billy
and Orlando Walter.
Walter took first in the hurdles and second in the 100 meter, and
also ran in the 4x400 relay.
" I think I did all right," said Billy. "The competition
was pretty good. There were a lot of schools," he said. Billy
also said that the Colorado schools gave him some tough competition
and he thought that was good because it helped him in preparing for
district.
Window Rock's head coach Jim Law was also pleased with his team's
performances on the day, especially of the girls.
"We had some key injuries in the girls team and several of our
main girls were out taking their ACTs, so I was pleased with what
we did," he said.
Law said that when the team got on the bus that morning he had a blank
piece of paper and told the athletes to sign up for what events they
wanted to try out and that he was happy with the results and that
there were even a few surprises.
"Leona Birtcher placed in the shot put and she usually doesn't
throw," he said.
Birtcher said that she knows she could have done better in her events.
"I am not pushing myself as hard as I should be right now. This
season I am not where I should be yet. My body is tired but hopefully
I will peak at regionals and state," she said.
She added that this meet was more competitive for her, that more schools
gave her more competition and pushed her more.
Virgina Begay of Window Rock said that she felt she did all right
and that she is trying to improve her time more and more
each meet.
Christina Tomah, who ran in the hurdle events and the 4x400 said that
she thought she could have done better.
"In the 100 on the second hurdle I mistepped and almost fell,"
she said. "But in the 4x400 I just enjoyed it and ran."
Window Rock Scout Frandale Segay said that he thought he did all right
and that he is happy that his times are going down.
The Window Rock teams will be hosting a track meet on Friday with
the field events beginning at about 10:30 a.m. Running
events are scheduled to start about 11:45.
Navajo Prep head coach Earl Crisp said he thinks his team is doing
just fine at this point in time. "We should be getting a couple
of kids back soon and we are reaching our goals, we are improving
our times each meet," he said.
Crisp said that he thinks the girls are in contention to win the overall
district championship, and that he is proud of the individual performances
of some of the boys. He also added that the girls are doing good,
even though they are missing Shireene Wanoskia, who finished fourth
in state last year in the 400 meters. She fractured her leg in September
and will most likely miss the state meet this year.
Crisp said he was especially pleased with the performance of his team
in the 800 meters, the mile and the relays.
"I think this competition is good for us," he said. "We
have to run in the same conditions as everybody else so there are
no excuses."
Prep's Roquita Garcia, who is just starting track, said she was pleased
with her performances on the day. "I did okay considering this
is only my third time in my life running," she said. I have done
pretty good for being a freshman and I want to improve."
Thoreau boys head coach Dick Heward said he though there were some
outstanding performances from his team. "Mike (Lambson) has been
the winner in every 100 and 200 he has been in," Heward said.
He is our high point man and has been for the last two years."
Heward said that the four seniors on his team are doing pretty well,
but the younger athletes are still "pretty green".
Lambson, who again took first in the 100 and 200 said he thought he
did all right. "I did the best anyone can be expected to do,"
he said. "There was a lot of very good competition here that
had me scared."
Lambson said that this meet, coming off of spring break and the Grants
Invite, being the first of the year, were the toughest two for him
because of the competition."
Girls head coach Jared Bubb said he though his team had a good meet.
"We had some personal bests for some of our athletes," he
said. "Cassandra Ping may have been the high point athlete for
the meet."
Ping, who has been a contender for the high point athlete at most
of the meets that Thoreau has competed in, placed in all of her events
with a second in the high jump, a third in the triple jump a fourth
in the 400 and a third as well.
"She does consistently well," said Bubb.
Ping said she thinks she did her best, and that she did pretty well
overall and had fun. "I think I have made good progress and I
am developing more skills," she said. "I liked this meet.
It was well organized and ran pretty smoothly."
Newcomb head coach Matt Adams was not very happy with the outcome
that his athletes had on the day. "Morale was low," he said.
One of the bright spots for the team said Adams was that Jared Yazzie
qualified for state in the javelin. "But other then that it was
kind of sad," he said. "I'm not very happy."
Red Mesa coach Peter Brossy said he thought his team did well in the
sprints and hurdles, and that his relay team did well, even though
the teams were short some athletes.
"I am happy with how we did being a smaller school," Brossy
said. He said that he thought they may not have gotten a ribbon in
the 100 meters, he thought that the times they had were very good
for his teams. Philbert Johnson ran a 12.01 for the boys and Elisha
Bradley had a time of 14.03 for Red Mesa.
"That was pretty good for our crew," he said.
Shiprock coach Madera mentioned the smaller schools as well, saying
that some of the teams had some surprises. "A lot of the smaller
schools have blue chippers that are really outstanding," he said.
Overall, Madera said he thought the meet ran pretty well. "The
weather put a damper on the races, but it really ran well. Everybody
put in good performances.
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Bell may face federal charge
Tara Drolma
Staff Writer
GRANTS — The Cibola County District Attorney's office may allow
the federal government to try the suspect in murder of Charles Pervorse
on federal murder charges rather than state charges.
Deputy District Attorney Mike Calligan said he has been approached
by the U.S. attorney in the case of suspected murderer James L. Bell,
who was arrested in California on March 11 on a federal warrant. He
said his office would have to determine if the crime falls under federal
guidelines, but he said it was his understanding that it does.
Calligan said his office is considering the possibility of dropping
the state's prosecution in lieu of the federal charges, but he cautioned
there is no hurry. He said he will talk to Cibola County District
Attorney Lemuel Martinez and Chief Deputy Ted Howden this week.
Calligan said, "We have a crime scene that appears to span New
Mexico to California." He said his office wants to take the time
to identify the breadth of the crime scene. They also want to identify
all of the crimes Bell might have committed along the way, and find
out if there are any they don't yet know about...
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Power line needs $15M boost
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The Diné Power Authority will ask the U.S.
Congress for $15 million to keep moving ahead with its Navajo Transmission
Project.
And the current situation has reopened the door to the DPA's original
idea from the 1980s of building a generating plant.
A recently approved tribal advocacy paper lists the bulk electric
power transmission line as one of the three main issues to be worked
on with the U.S. government. The request would be for half the money
available for one year as part of the federal Energy Policy Act of
1992.
DPA General Manager Steve Begay said in an interview that in the past
four years $120 million has gone to Alaskan tribes. The Navajo request
will be given to the six senators and four representatives whose districts
are crossed by the 462-mile, 500 kilovolt line. It will cost a total
of $560 million from concept to the start of the electrons flowing
through the lines...
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Town Hall to focus on economy
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The 21st Arizona Indian Town Hall will be held
May 21-23 at the Prescott Resort, the Arizona Indian Affairs Commission
has announced.
This year's theme will be "Tribal-State Partnerships in the
New Economy." This concept brings together traditional business
practices of purchasing or manufacturing inventory to sell with
education, networking with others, research-development, capital
investment and community development to create a complete system.
Speakers are scheduled to include Marcia Warren, special Indian
affairs adviser on the U.S. Commerce Department; Jackie Norton,
Arizona Commerce Department director; and Belinda Nelson, Gila River
Telecommunications chief officer.
Tribes can best gain economically from the new economy by learning
about it so they can understand it. An Arizona State University
institute says the new economy "is a shorthand way of saying that
our economic structure is undergoing such fundamental change that
we are entering an entirely new era of economic relationships and
economic growth..."
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Work to start on Adventure Gallup ideas
Bill Donovan
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Now the adventure begins.
Officials for the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments (COG)
said Friday that because of the positive response to the idea of
promoting "Adventure Gallup," work will begin soon on
implementing it.
COG planner Aaron Hozid said that while a number of concerns were
brought up at a public meeting on the subject Thursday, generally
everyone was in favor of going ahead with the idea.
On Friday, this same kind of response came from the Adventure Gallup
Advisory Committee, which Hozid said would probably be changed in
the near future to an implementation committee to look at ways to
carry out some of the ideas in a feasibility study done by South
west Planning and Marketing...
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County roads to get funds
Staff Report
GALLUP — The U.S. Department of Transportation has released
$438,533 to improve hundreds of miles of dirt roads within McKinley
and San Juan counties. The funds, which have been awarded annually
to the counties since 1998, are aimed at improving school bus routes
that serve the Navajo Nation.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman played a key role in securing these funds by
winning approval of an initiative in the 1998 Transportation Efficiency
Act (TEA-21) that authorizes $9 million over six years to maintain
school-bus roads to ensure the safety of children being transported
to and from school.
The funds are being split between the two counties for a total of
about $3 million over six years. To date, the two counties have
received more than $1.7 million.
"I am pleased we have been able to make maintenance of dirt
roads in McKinley and San Juan counties a top priorty. Children
travel over these roads to get to school, and it is our duty to
see that they arrive safety," Bingaman said...
Riggs blasts three homers
Staff report
SHIPROCK — Junior second baseman Rachael Riggs blasted three
home runs to lift Shiprock to a 12-1 non-district softball victory
over Aztec Saturday and gain a split on the day.
In the opening game, Aztec rallied for five runs in the top of the
seventh inning to steal a 5-3 win over Shiprock.
In other girls softball results, Kirtland was swept by Farmington
3-0, 5-3 and Chinle split a 4A Grand Canyon Conference doubleheader
against Page, 13-14, 7-6.
A number of area athletic events were cancelled or postponed due
to bad weather this past weekend...
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Deaths
Sarah Bahe
TSAYATOH — Services for Sarah Bahe, 67, will be announced at
a later date.
Bahe died April 7 in Gallup. She was born May 5, 1934 in Pretty Rock
born into the Mountain Cove Reeces People Clan.
A family meeting will be held at 5 p.m., tonight at the Tsayatoh Chapter
House.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
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