Acoma tests disaster response
Tara Drolma
Staff Writer
ACOMA — Anyone passing by Sky City Casino early Saturday
might have thought spacemen had landed or a movie was being filmed.
Rescuers dressed in spacesuit-like protective clothing moved slowly
and deliberately to bring "victims" out of a contaminated
area to safety as cameramen captured the action on video
The bizaare scene was actually part of Acoma Pueblo's test of
its Emergency Management Plan, with emergency response personnel
and teams from all levels of government participating in a simulated
mass casualty accident involving hazardous materials.
The exercise brought together personnel from local, state, county,
federal and three sovereign nations, the Acoma and Laguna pueblos
and the Navajo Nation to test their skills.
The hazmat team brought the make-believe victims out of the contaminated
area and washed them down with water to remove and contamination,
then firefighters helped them onto stretchers and took them to
the ambulances. Victims were transported to
the Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Hospital and Cibola General Hospital.
Wayne Rickard, hazmat program manager for FEMA, said, "It
is hard for us to comprehend they have never worked together
before." He said it was like the "meshing of gears"
it was so smooth.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
are calling it an historic event because the pueblo is the first
Native American tribe to participate in the Comprehensive Hazmat
Emergency Response Capability Assessment Program (CHER-CAP), designed
to help communities prepare for hazmat emergencies. FEMA had the
exercise videotape and it will be used nationwide as a training
video.
The scenario was: At 8:15 a.m. Saturday in the north parking lot
at Sky City Casino, a tour bus carrying 14 passengers was hit
by an 18-wheeler carrying 12 cylinders of chlorine gas. Several
cylinders spilled off the truck and one landed on the ground in
front of the bus and was leaking gas. Chlorine gas is a corrosive
and is very damaging to the lungs and eyes.
The first person on the scene was a Sky City security guard. Realizing
hazardous material was involved, he parked a safe
distance from the victims and immediately radioed his dispatcher
at the casino, who called Acoma Police. When there is a hazardous
materials spill, the rescue teams must stay outside what is called
the "hot zone" to avoid becoming contaminated.
Only hazmat team members entered the hot zone and they were dressed
in protective clothing.
FEMA officials pointed out the public can become confused when
they see rescue crews staying away from the victims. They expect
emergency personnel to rush to the victims. In the case of a hazardous
contamination, that would only result in more people becoming
contaminated.
By 8:50 a.m. the Gallup Fire Department hazmat teams, which had
been waiting a few miles away from the casino, arrived.
Because they are the only hazmat team in the area, they respond
to spills in Cibola County. They worked methodically to set up
decontamination areas to wash down victims and workers.
Two team members in protective clothing entered the hot zone to
treat the victims and plug the leaking cylinder.
By 10:30 a.m. the victims had been treated and the exercise was
complete.
During the debriefing after the exercise, all of the evaluators
praised the exercise participants for their professionalism.
Joe Howard, a tech hazards specialist with FEMA, said the hospital
staff at ACL really played their roles well. He said the hospital
called a code on one of the victims and he became alarmed, thinking
something had actually happened.
Howard was especially impressed with the hospital response because
they had been told the exercise would not start until 9 a.m. He
said they did a very professional job and, "If I am hurt
or injured in this area I would feel very comfortable being treated
there."
There were minor glitches, but evaluators said the teams adapted
to them well. Radios and communications are always a problem and
the exercise pointed out some equipment needs.
Acoma was one of the first tribes to write a hazmat plan in the
early 1990s and its plan has been used as a model by many tribes
and agencies. Stanley Paytiamo, environmental protection specialist
for Acoma, said they have spent the past seven months updating
the old plan and it was the new plan that was tested Saturday.
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Teachers' union can't have booth
Andrea Egger
Staff Writer
GALLUP — The Gallup-McKinley County School District has decided
not to allow the non-recognized school union to set up a booth at
the upcoming new teacher orientation.
Assistant Superintendent Angelo DiPaolo said Friday that the district
decided last year to stop allowing non-district-recognized organizations
to set up booths at the orientation, which will be held Aug. 9, 10,
and 13 at Kennedy Middle School.
DiPaolo said he wasn't part of that decision and doesn't know why
the district decided not to let such booths be represented to new
teachers.
The orientation usually features insurance companies, information
on tax shelters and annuities, banks, the American Federation of Teachers,
and the National Education Association. The McKinley County Sheriff's
Department will have a booth for fingerprinting since it's hard for
some teachers in outlying areas of the county to make it to the sheriff's
department by 5 p.m. to get their fingerprinting done.
The district has turned down other organizations besides the McKinley
County Federation of United School Employees, DiPaolo said.
Union president Tom Payton said Friday that "it's sad" that
the district won't allow new teachers the opportunity of learning
about the union.
"It's like saying, 'You are not professionals,'" he said.
The union has national and state resources to help improve education
and help teachers to do so in the classroom. The union, a non-profit
organization, also has research on how to improve the profession in
general.
"It makes teachers better teachers," Payton said.
He added administrators spent six days in San Francisco a couple of
years ago at a national administrators' conference, using money out
of the budget that could have gone for classroom equipment. The union
asks for no money from the district, and the dues for members are
meager.
Lack of information the union provides could hurt a new teacher to
the district, he said. For instance, the union provides legal protection
against lawsuits to its members. Payton recommends all teachers have
insurance to protect against lawsuits.
For instance, if a student files a lawsuit against a teacher, districts
often settle the suit by agreeing to fire the teacher.
"The (school district's) lawyer fights for the district, not
the teacher," Payton said.
But the union's lawyers would fight for the teacher's side of the
incident and for the teacher's job.
Payton has written a letter to the school district asking to be allowed
to be included in new teacher orientation. The district has yet to
respond.
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Taylor aims for vote on land sale
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — True to her vow that residents of the city shall "finally"
have a voice in the destiny of city business, Councilor Shirley Taylor
had a petition filed Friday to force a referendum election on the
sale of the property under Colorado Greenhouse.
"The citizens of Grants would like a choice," Taylor said.
"They didn't have a choice on the mega-million dollar golf course
that doubled residents' sewer bills for 20 years to pay for it. They
didn't have a choice in the $1.3 million Dinamation business that
went bankrupt and now the people will be paying for that for the next
18 years.
"And they didn't have a choice in the $450,000 property tax assessment
to pay for a 1997 lawsuit judgment that went against the city in a
case in which the city of Grants did not even have a defense. The
people should have a choice and this (petition) can be their chance."
Taylor, a vocal critic of the manner in which city government operates,
has just 60 days from the date the council approved an ordinance setting
up the sale to get 20 percent of the registered voters in each district
to sign the petition.
The council voted 3-1 Wednesday to sell the land under the failed
greenhouse facilities to Mountain Plains Farm Credit Services, the
company which financed the multi-million dollar 20-acre greenhouse
on the leased city property. Taylor, however, found out that the residents
can vote on the property sale if it involves more than $25,000.
The city gets slightly more than $281,000 for the 70 acres and, if
the property remains a greenhouse, Grants must supply a huge amount
of water per year in a community that is already water poor.
The greenhouse was formerly owned by Colorado Greenhouse Inc., a Colorado-based
firm which went bankrupt 11 months after the Grants facility opened.
The company cited a tomato blight, employee problems (high turnover
rates) and a lack of a market for hydroponics tomatoes. Grants still
owns the land under the greenhouse, unless the sale goes through.
The land was appraised at $4,000 per acre and the city actually made
money on the deal (about $1,000), said City Manager Bob Horacek, but
Taylor said she has never seen a copy of the appraisal. Horacek, meanwhile,
refused to return a telephone call to the Independent after a message
was left at City Hall stating a story was being done on the petition
drive and comments were needed.
According to the city charter, 20 percent of the registered voters
in each of the four city council districts must sign the petition
within the 60-day time frame in order for a referendum to be called.
In addition, only residents of the districts can carry the petitions
to be signed in their respective districts.
The rules, set up when the city was chartered as a home rule community,
are much more stringent than those of the state. State statutes call
for 15 percent of the registered voters in the city, not 20 percent
of each district, to sign the petition within a 30-day period.
"We have 5,067 registered voters in a city of less than 9,000,"
Taylor said. "This is going to be a monumental task, but I believe
it is important enough to make the effort."
Taylor said she brought up the petition issue in closed session during
which the council discussed the greenhouse land sale.
"The city attorney, who refused to allow me to view the records
on Colorado Greenhouse for over a year despite word from the state
attorney general that the records are open and the one which has an
admitted conflict of interest to begin with, gave me a copy of the
amended state statutes dealing with the sale of public property,"
Taylor said. "Ironically, it's the city charter, not state statutes,
that regulate the sale of city property, according to the secretary
of state's office."
Taylor asked why the city would sell its land for "peanuts"
to the credit services company when it could own the entire greenhouse
facilities in a few months because of a lease default.
"I want to know why the city of Grants is worrying about Farm
Credit Services so much when the interest of the citizens of this
community is taking a backseat in this deal?" Taylor said.
"The city is sitting on a win-win situation. Either the greenhouse
has to be operating, or we own it in two months. We could sell the
greenhouse, or auction it off piece-by-piece, come out of it still
owning the land and make a lot of money in the process to help pay
off some of our debts, such as Dinamation."
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Tso ropes in all-around title
Michael Peretti
Staff Sports Writer
CROWNPOINT — Consistency and good luck with draws helped several
riders pick up wins this weekend at the Eastern Navajo Nation Fair
Rodeo in Crownpoint.
Roderick Tso picked up All round honors, winning a total of $1,153
in prize money.
Tso took first in the long-go calf roping contest with a time of 8.94
and placed third in the short-go with 12.07. He finished
first in the average with a 21.01.
Taking first in the short-go was Travis Long with a time of 11.96.
Nelson Long was second with a time of 11.99. Travis Long finished
behind Tso in the average with a second place average of 23.82.
Tso also placed in the team roping competition, taking a first in
the long-go along with teammate Reginald Tso, roping their calf in
a time of 4.89. The two finished fifth in the average with a time
of 16.71.
Reggie and Lucius Sell took second with a time of 5.38 in the long-go.
In the short-go Marco and Art Sells finished first with a time of
5.74.
In the bull riding event Morgan Wilson took top honors, wining the
average with a total of 156. Wilson tied for first in the long-go
with a 79, along with Jess White.
In the short-go Wilson placed first with a 77, one point ahead of
the only other rider able to stay on, Jarvis Woody.
Woody finished second in the average with a total of 145 points.
"I drew some good bulls," said Wilson on his two rides.
"I am just happy to come out on top."
Wilson, who has been riding since he was a kid, said that the competition
was pretty tough, but that he got good draws and was able to hold
on to first place.
Wilson took $927 home for the three first place finishes.
In the bareback competition only two competitors were able to make
it past the long go.
Ernest Bitsui finished with a 78 ride in the long-go and Alvin Thomas
scored a 60. Neither rider could stay on in the short-go, giving Bitsui
the top average with one ride, taking $130 for the long-go finish
and 130 for the average. Both Bitsui and Thomas won $53.50 in the
short-go round.
In the steer wrestling event Jacob Antone took first in the average
with an average of 9.54. Antone scored a second in the long-go with
a time of 4.53 and then a second in the short-go with a time of 5.01.
Taking first in the long-go was Allison Gorman with a time of 4.23.
Ben Bates, who took fifth in the long-go, finished first in the short-go
with a time of 4.73. Bates finished second in the average with an
average of 10.14.
Antone won a total of $319 for the average, $268 for the long-go and
$191 for the short-go, for a total of $778 in the three day competition.
In the barrel racing event, Leeja Bitsoi finished with top honors,
finishing with an average of 34.497. Bitsoi finished second in the
long-go with a time of 17.275 and first in the short-go with a time
of 17.222. Bitsoi won a total of $458 in the competition.
" I just tried to keep my runs consistent," said Bitsoi.
"Practice makes perfect."
Bitsoi, who has been riding since she was in the junior rodeos, said
that she tried too keep all of her runs as consistent and as close
to the same time as possible, and that when she is able to keep her
runs close to the same time that she has a good chance of wining the
event. She said that in order to win the average she does not have
to win the go-rounds, just keep her times close together and low.
"If I keep my times consistent and close together I usually do
pretty good," she said.
Taking first in the long-go was Tammy D. Tracy, with a time of 17.229.
Pablita Cohoe finished sixth in the average with an average of 35.026.
She finished third in the short-go with a time of 17.467.
In the breakaway roping competition Vanessa Paul took first place
in the average, with a fourth in the long-go wit a time of 4.36 and
a third in the short-go with a time of 3.88.
Winning the long-go was Robbie Whitehair wit a time of 3.11. Taking
first in the short-go was Laberta Nez with a time of 3.21.
In the saddle bronc Alonzo Yazzie took home the top honors, winning
the average with a 138. Yazzie took first in the long-go with a ride
of 75. Taking first in the short go was Glen Jones with a ride of
71. Jones finished second in the average with a 137.
Yazzie won a total of $530 in the event, winning $265 for both the
long-go and the average.
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Code Talkers, stars hobnob
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — The MGM-Wal-Mart reception Thursday plugging the
studio's forthcoming Navajo Code Talker movie, "Windtalkers,"
resembled a mini version of the Oscars.
Inside the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, a beautiful,
Italian Renaissance-style masterpiece of architecture, the media were
stationed just as they are at the Academy Awards behind a rope. There,
under white lights, with television cameras recording, reporters competed
for a chance to offer their questions to director John Woo, star Nicolas
Cage and Native American up-and-coming actors Adam Beach and Roger
Willie.
Any reporter holding a microphone next to a camera had the actors'
attention and preference. Anyone holding a notepad only would be near
the bottom on the interview pecking order...
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Tribes at odds over Sundance
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
PINON, Ariz. — She said the land was troubled.
So troubled, she asked neighbors far away from the Big Mountain to
come pray.
They came. They prayed for 16 summers. And this summer they tried
to pray their sacred Great Plains Sundance again.
However, her nearby neighbors, the Hopis who the Great White Father
in "Waz-ing-Dahn" says own the only land she has ever known
in her nearly 90 years of life said she couldn't use the land that
way. At least not unless they said it was OK...
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I wish I could say 'love affair' or 'They're going to come out shooting!'
Take Two
Ken Leopold
Staff Writer
"There is a spiritual, pneumatic attraction between a geographical
area and the people migrating and settling in that area, such that
if (they)..were never to come together, the lives of the people
would reflect discontent, and the figure of the land would reflect
deficiency."
D. H. Lawrence
"We do not ride upon the railroads. The railroads ride upon
us."
H.D. Thoreau
>I wish I could say I've had a lifelong love affair with Route
66, but it would be hard...
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Pain rooted in past and Navajo enclave's big-city
proximity
TO'HAJIILEE, N.M. (AP) — History and big-city proximity have
separated the people of To'hajiilee from the rest of the Navajo
Nation, and violence has marred their search for a new identity.
This enclave of 2,800 Navajos even changed its name from Canoncito
to bury the stigma of violence that terrorized families here four
years ago and erupted in one man's massacre of several of his own
relatives. Last week, violence again flared as three To'hajiilee
men were charged with murdering two store clerks along Interstate
40 west of Albuquerque.
But classing To'hajiilee as violent is unfair generalization, local
tribal government president Tony Secatero says...
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Begaye aide reunited with father in
D.C.
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Last week was a time of immense pride for a Navajo
delegation of about 100 people who attended the Congressional Gold
Medal ceremony honoring the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers.
It was also a time for reunions and discovery. Descendants of the
late George H. Dennison, one of the original 29, saw relatives meet
each other for the first time. Relatives of the late Johnny R. Manuelito
instilled that Navajo service to the U.S.
Marines is a tested-and-true tradition that still carries on several
generations deep.
The week was also highly memorable for those connected to four of
the five still living Code Talkers who were part of the original
group. Cynthia Jarvison, 32, a staff assistant to Navajo President
Kelsey Begaye, and her sister, Adeline June-Tsosie, were reunited
with their father after a long absence. He happens to be Allen Dale
June, 79, one of the four who received gold medals from President
George W. Bush...
Byerly finishes fifth in barrels
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gallup cowgirl Chelsee Byerley is in a
three-way tie for eighth place in the all-around girls standings
following her seventh place performance in the first round of the
girls barrel racing at the National High School Finals Rodeo in
Springfield, Illinois.
Byerley clocked a time of 17.934 for fourth place in the sixth and
final performance of the first round Wednesday night.
Jamie Jarvis of Spanish Fork Utah won the go-round with a 17.729
clocking which puts her in first overall after the first round.
Megan Yazel of Kiowa Kansas leads the all-around cowgirl race with
230 points. Byerley is tied with Hailey Williams of Snelling, Calif.
and Danielle Peila of Hines, Ore. with 90...
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Deaths
Ernest B. Toledo Sr.
CHURCH ROCK — Services for Ernest Toledo Sr., 66, will be held
at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 31, at Rollie Mortuary. Charlie
Gray will officiate. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park.
Toledo died July 26 in Albuquerque. He was born Nov. 15, 1934, in
Torreon into the Red House for the Mexican Clan.
Toledo served in the Army in the Korean War as an 82nd Airborne paratrooper.
He retired from the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Maintenance Department. He also retired from the Navajo Tribe, where
he was part of the police force for 17 years. He
worked for the Fort Wingate Army Depot as a security guard and the
Chief Security Armored trucks, and the Deseret
Chemical Depot in Tooele, Utah.
Survivors include his wife, Sarah L. Toledo of Church Rock; sons,
Duane E. Gray, Ernest B. Toledo, Floyd D. Toledo Sr. and Eldon Grey,
all of Gallup, Pedro E. Toledo of Church Rock and Richard L. Toledo
of El Paso, Texas; daughters, Ernesta L.
Toledo of Church Rock, Ernestine Toledo of Phoenix, Alana Grey-Becenti
of Continental Divide, Floria Leekity and Gwendolyn Toledo, both of
Gallup; brother, Robert Toledo Sr. of Torreon; sister, Lorraine Miles
of Crownpoint; 17
grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Toledo was preceded in death by his parents, Julian and Louise Toledo;
son, Ernest Toledo; brothers, Ben Toledo Sr., Charlie
Toledo Sr., Clarence Toledo Sr., Jimmie Toledo Sr. and Wilson R. Toledo;
and sister, Mary T. Sandoval.
Pallbearers will be Steven Henderson, Delvin Miles, Loren Miles, Darrell
Ridge, Jimmie Toledo Jr. and Pedro E. Toledo.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Mae B. Wood
NASCHITTI — Services for Mae Wood, 78, were held at 10 a.m. today,
July 30, at St. Anthony Catholic Church of Naschitti.
Father John officiated. Burial followed at Naschitti Community Cemetery.
Wood died July 24 in Aztec.
Survivors include her sons, Donald Wood of Lupton, Ariz., Johnnie
Wood of Naschitti, Garry Wood of Farmington, Anson Denetdale of Twin
Lakes and Bartholomew of Canoncito; daughters, Eleanor Estate of Zuni,
Fanny Jumbo of Albuquerque, Francina Tsosie of Navajo and Roberta
Sandoval of Farmington; brother, Jimmy Woods of Tohatchi; sister,
Nancy Brown of Navajo; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers were Tony Jumbo, Oscar Wood, Gary Wood, Charleston Brown,
Anson Denetdale and Bartholomew Denetdale.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
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