Stings target sales to minors
Tanya Brazil
Staff Writer
GALLUP — The McKinley County Sheriff's department conducted a
number of stings this past weekend, targeting people believed to be
selling alcohol and cigarettes to minors.
As part of an undercover operation, Capt. Donna Goodrich said police
cadets under age 21 approached adults in a store parking lot and asked
the adults to buy them alcohol.
Three citations were issued for selling or furnishing alcohol to a
minor Saturday, as well as one driving while intoxicated arrest and
one bench warrant arrest.
But over the six weeks the operation has been conducted, Goodrich
said between 50 and 60 people have been cited for buying alcohol for
underage drinkers.
Also over the weekend, Goodrich's 11-year-old daughter was able to
purchase tobacco at three of 22 area stores that in the past have
been cited for the illegal sales.
At one store, the clerk told the girl, "don't tell my manager,"
while a clerk at another store failed to ask the juvenile her age
after the manager told him to.
Goodrich said the stores will not be cited this time and that the
department of health will send a notice that the business failed to
comply with the law.
The sheriff's department would not disclose the names of the businesses
except to say they were all in Gallup.
In an effort to combat underage drinking, a DWI checkpoint was set
up on Highway 602 on Friday night and a saturation patrol was conducted
around the area.
The operation led to three arrests and 28 citations for minors in
possession of alcohol.
This weekend's campaign was part of the statewide Superblitz, Goodrich
said, during which police step up the enforcement of DWI, seatbelt
and other traffic offenses.
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Rifleman terrorizes residents
Gun used to bust windows
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Navajo police issued a warrant for a 20-year-old
Casamero Lake man after he allegedly terrorized a Navajo Housing Authority
subdivision, then fled Saturday.
The warrant was issued for Leland McDonald, a resident of the subdivision,
according to Leonard Butler, chief of the Navajo Department of Law
Enforcement.
Several Crownpoint Police District officers were called at 10:45 a.m.
to the housing area to investigate reports about a man armed with
a .22 caliber rifle who was threatening people.
The man busted two windshields with the rifle butt and cut a 17-year-old
boy in the head. The boy was treated and released at the Indian Health
Service hospital in Crownpoint.
Officers searched the area and found the weapon, but McDonald had
fled, the report said.
Children threatened
Crownpoint officers arrested Jasper Rogers, 31, of the Navajo Housing
Authority subdivision in Tohatchi after a Sunday night incident.
Debra Rogers told officers Rogers allegedly threatened her two children.
He was arrested at his home in the subdivision.
DUIs
The Navajo Department of Corrections booked the following adults on
charges of driving while under the influence of alcohol:
Window Rock (May 19-21) Eric Roanhorse, 19, Ganado; Clarissa Joe,
18, Dilkon; Milton Tulley Deal, 30, Ganado; Antoinelle Paquin, 47,
Crystal; Wilfred James, 52, Fort Defiance; and Billy Tsinajinnie,
34, Fort Defiance.
Chinle (May 15-21) Gerald Mose, 40, Lukachukai; Rachel Baker, 27,
Low Mountain; Jerry Begay, 40, Pinon; Agnes Harvey, 39, Lukachukai;
Justin Nez, 27, Rough Rock; Ray M. Begay, 35, Pinon; Michael Draper
Jr., 33, Chinle; Alvin Denetchee, 31, Rough Rock; Melissa Becenti,
23, Chinle; Geneveive Thomas, 21, Chinle; Leona Russel, 41, Chinle;
Cardaleson Yazzie, 24, Burnt Corn; Delfred Begay, 20, Chinle; and
Anderson Gorman, 21, Rough Rock.
Crownpoint (May 16-21) Johnathan Williams, 33, Buffalo Springs; Clayton
Benally, 40, Little Water; Brian Montoya, 30, Torreon; Travis Thompson,
26, Tohatchi; Tommy Largo 26, Thoreau; and Casz Abeita, 39, To' Hajiilee
(Canoncito).
Kayenta (May 15-20) Harrison Teller, 46, Tsegi; Steven Holiday, 41,
Goulding; and Elmer Burns, 42, Shonto.
Shiprock (May 15-20) Gary Nez, 22, Many Farms; Anderson Yazzie, 30,
Red Valley; Jackson Jim 76, Lee Acres; Michael Lafferty, 41, Ojo Amarillo;
Harold Frank, 32, Sanostee; Glen Tso, 50, Teec Nos Pos; and Calvin
Benally, 19, Shiprock.
Tuba City (May 15-21) Herbert Huskon, 31, Tuba City; Donald Sneezer,
40, Tuba City; Herbert Brown, 49, Tuba City; Marilyn Chambers, 35,
Tuba City; John Lee Begay, 55, Tuba City; Tenton R. Little, 21, Tuba
City; Jules Tsinigine, 30, Tuba City; and Dewayne Begay, 25, Black
Mesa.
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Panel to hear voting gripes
Bill Donovan
Diné Bureau
GALLUP — The Navajo election board agreed Monday to hold a hearing
to determine if the recent township election in Kayenta was unfair
to some of the candidates.
Michael Yellowhorse, who came in fifth in the balloting, had filed
a grievance after the recent primary, arguing that the ballot had
improper instructions which affected his chances of coming in first
or second and making it to the general election ballot.
Carol Perry, director of the election office, said the ballot contained
a printing error, instructing voters to choose one of the candidates
rather than the two required by tribal law.
The election board agreed to hold a hearing May 30 in Kayenta to allow
local residents a chance to testify.
Yellowhorse's grievance was the only one Monday that election board
members agreed deserved to have a hearing to determine if the complaint
was valid.
The principal reason most of the other grievances were denied, Perry
said, was because those who filed the grievance were not candidates.
"Tribal law requires those who file grievances at this point
to be candidates," she said.
Most of the other complaints were from voters who felt that some of
the winners were not qualified, for one reason or another, to hold
office.
Another candidate, Roselyn Yazzie of Chinle, cited a number of grievances
that she said should require the election board to hold a new election
in her chapter.
These included allegations of confusion at the polls, not enough police
officers and voters not receiving an adequate explanation of the options
available.
However, Perry said the election board ruled that the grievances that
were cited "weren't sufficient" to overturn the results
of the election.
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Alamo official to step down
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The secretary-treasurer of the Alamo Chapter agreed
Monday to step down from office, not seek election to a Navajo Nation
office for five years, and to pay back more than $13,000.
Ruby Cleveland agreed to repay $13,319 of the $16,044 that the Office
of Ethics and Rules accused her of stealing from the chapter's checking
and savings accounts from July 22, 1998, through Sept. 27, 1999. The
OER had charged Cleveland with 38 counts of violating the Navajo Ethics
in Government Law for unauthorized personal use of tribal funds or
property.
She agreed to repay the chapter at $200 a month beginning next month.
She took office in October 1996 and had only a few months to go in
her four-year term.
The Ethics and Rules Committee of the Navajo Nation Council voted
5-1 Monday to accept the stipulations signed Wednesday by Cleveland
and OER Director Virgil Brown in his first prosecution before the
committee.
Cleveland was accused of shorting deposits to checking accounts, making
direct withdrawals from the savings account without the chapter membership's
advance approval, four forgeries of other chapter officials' signatures
on deposit slips and three forgeries of other chapter officials' signatures
on checks.
Brown subpoenaed Chapter President Joe Pino, Vice President Laura
Guerro, Chapter Coordinator Wanda Apachito, and Fran Freeland and
Lorraine Hubbell of the Eastern Agency Local Governance Support Center,
but no one had to testify.
Committee Chairman George Tolth very carefully asked Cleveland in
both English and Navajo if she willingly accepted the committee's
jurisdiction, if she waived her right to have legal counseling, if
she waived her right to have an administrative hearing by the committee,
if she waived her right to contest the charges in the complaint, and
if she agreed to the terms of all stipulations. She replied "yes"
in English and Navajo.
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Council to decide election delay
Nancy Watson
Diné Bureau
GALLUP — The Navajo Nation Council today will decide the fate
of a proposal to postpone chapter elections to Nov. 7.
The Navajo election board approved a second draft of the resolution
Monday.
The idea was first proposed by Navajo Nation Council Delegate Edison
Wauneka who said he wanted the extra time from August to November
to better educate voters about the issues.
Another reason he wants the election postponed, he said, is that more
voters turn out for general elections, particularly a presidential
election...
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Williams earns all-around title at Gorman's
Rodeo
CHINLE, Ariz. — L.A. Williams of White Cone, Ariz. walked off
with the all-around honors during the NNRCA-sanctioned Gorman's Memorial
Rodeo that was held over the weekend.
Williams, who received a cash award for the honor, won by pocketing
the most money in one event since no contestant placed in the money
in two events.
Williams finished second in the breakaway roping with a 4.03 that
was worth $437. Leah Stevenson took first with a 3.97 that paid $583.
April Pablo finished third with a 4.50 ($291) with Dee Dee Tolino
fourth with a 5.01 ($146)...
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GHS cowgirl tops at rodeo
GALLUP — Gallup High cowgirl Tori Vanderwagen grabbed all-around
honors and Gallup High cowboy Flagan Gerard grabbed the steer wrestling
average during the Silver City Rodeo held earlier this month.
Vanderwagen placed in the barrel racing, breakaway roping and pole
bending competition.
Vanderwagen finished fourth in the barrel racing with an 18.169. Gallup's
Chelsee Byerley finished third in the first rodeo with an 18.760.
Byerley also placed second in the second rodeo with an 18.241...
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Jury indicts Grants man for assault
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — A 28-year-old local man is finding out the hard way
that one does not hit a school employee.
A grand jury indicted Ranell Ramirez of 400 Anderman, Grants, with
battery upon a school employee and two counts of assault upon a school
employee. All of the charges stem from a March 6 altercation Ramirez
allegedly had with Tammie Chavez, a Mesa View Elementary School employee.
According to the indictment, Ramirez unlawfully touched or applied
force to Chavez while she was working. Called battery upon a school
employee, it is a fourth-degree felony...
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Smith Lake, Tohatchi principals rehired
Staff Report
GALLUP — The Gallup-McKinley County Board of Education decided
to rehire two principals for whom it had previously decided to defer
re-employment.
About two weeks ago, the board was asked to approve for re-employment
all the principals in the district who had not already retired, resigned
or had been transferred.
Board members rehired all but four principals: Christopher Hansen
of Smith Lake elementary; Donald Wetmore of Tohatchi High School;
Eddi Hoedebeck of John F. Kennedy Middle School; and Linda Rounds-Nichols
of Tohatchi elementary...
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Attorney: City broke meeting act
GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — The City Council violated the state Open
Meetings Act when it discussed a proposed contract for a power plant
behind closed doors, the state attorney general's office reported.
The closed meeting Feb. 25 was challenged by radio station KYVA on
March 14 when the council approved minutes of the February meeting.
The attorney general's office received documents from the council
and informed the council by letter last Wednesday of the violation...
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Deaths
Jonathan Davis Joe
STANDING ROCK — Funeral services for Jonathan Davis Joe, 28,
are pending.
Joe died May 21. He was born Feb. 13, 1972 in Gallup.
A family meeting will be held 6 p.m. tonight, at the Standing Rock
Chapter House.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
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