Company saves 90 Fort Defiance jobs
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
WINDOW ROCK — More than 90 high-paying, high-skill positions
will be saved in Fort Defiance, as a deal was announced Monday
to Packard-Hughes Interconnect employees who will become MechTronics
of Arizona Corp. employees.
Tribal leaders learned the glum details in late March that Packard-Hughes
in switching from the manufacture of aircraft wiring assemblies
and aerospace integration systems to telecommunications and data
systems was leaving its 59,000-square-foot plant in Fort Defiance.
Layoffs were to be completed in February 2002.
Layoffs are no longer the case, said Derrick Watchman, chief of
staff to Navajo President Kelsey Begaye. Delphi Automotive Systems
of Troy, Mich., is selling the business to MechTronics, a Phoenix
company that manufactures integrated electronics systems for the
defense industry and commercial aviation assemblies.
MechTronics is owned by Ducommun Inc. of Long Beach, Calif., founded
in 1949, which produces components and assemblies for the aerospace
industry. Ducommun is the oldest company in California. It acquired
MechTronics in 1996.
Watchman put the deal together in tandem with Sharlene Begay-Platero,
an industrial development specialist with the tribe's Economic
Development Division.
"We've signed all the preliminary documents. We're ready
to go," Watchman said. "The March 2002 shutdown isn't
an issue anymore."
Begay-Platero described the deal in terms just as glowing.
"Nobody loses their jobs. This saves their jobs," she
said. "We're excited about it because Fort Defiance is a
star when we do our marketing."
Employees were the first to find out when the transaction was
completed Monday afternoon.
"They are really excited," Begay-Platero said.
Packard Hughes Interconnect will complete sales this year of about
$10 million, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Ducommun.
Under federal guidelines, Packard Hughes qualifies as a Small
Disadvantaged Business.
"The acquisition of Fort Defiance provides additional capability
to our electromechanical segment in wiring harnesses and cable
assemblies, which attach to many of MechTronic's enclosures,"
said Joseph C. Berenato, Ducommun's chairman, president and CEO.
"Further, we believe that the expanded capabilities at MechTronics,
when combined with (Small Business
Development) business credits available ... will be uniquely attractive
to our (Department of Defense)-oriented customers."
MechTronics of Arizona Corp. is one of Ducommun's six subsidiaries.
For the fiscal year ending in September 1995, MechTronics reported
sales of $16.8 million.
The Fort Defiance facility opened in 1967 and was operated by
General Dynamics for 25 years. Packard-Hughes, a defense contractor
for Raytheon and Boeing, took over the facility in 1993. Its work
manufacturing aircraft wiring assemblies and wiring harnesses
included RADAR and aerospace applications. Packard-Hughes' business
peaked in Fort Defiance in 1995 when employment topped out at
500 workers.
David G. Ryan, general manager of Packard-Hughes' Fort Defiance
site, will join MechTronics as general manager of its new Fort
Defiance operation.
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Driver survives head-on crash
Andrea Egger
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Police say a Gallup man might have been attempting suicide
when his vehicle crossed the median on Interstate 40 Wednesday morning
and headed straight into the path of an oncoming semi-truck.
He didn't die.
McKinley County Sheriff's Capt. Donna Goodrich said Mario W. Young,
21, had a long letter written to a girlfriend in his car, describing
how much she meant to him and how much she had changed his life.
Later, at the hospital, a Whispering Cedars woman, believed to be
the girlfriend, brought a letter to deputies containing the words:
"If I survive this, then I must have a purpose in life. If not,
I'll see you on the other side."
Young was westbound on I-40 just west of the Giant Travel Center exit
around 11:30 a.m. when his car crossed the interstate and entered
the oncoming traffic in the eastbound lanes. Witnesses told deputies
Young's head appeared to be bobbing up and down, like he was dozing
off to sleep, when he crossed the median.
Two eastbound semi-trucks were able to avoid colliding with the car,
one of the trucks having to veer off into the median to avoid collision.
The third semi wasn't so lucky. "Suddenly, there he was,"
Goodrich said of Young.
The car collided with the truck almost head-on.
Young was taken to Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital with head
and leg injuries. He was later flown to the University of New Mexico
Hospital in Albuquerque, where he was treated and released.
Semi driver Alice White, 60, of Missouri, was treated at Rehoboth
McKinley Christian Hospital and released. Her co-driver, her husband,
was in the truck's sleeper area and wasn't injured.
The Whites had their two black Labrador guard dogs in the truck with
them. Goodrich put them in her police car to keep them from getting
hit in traffic.
"After I let them in my unit, they didn't want to let me back
in," Goodrich said of the dogs.
The dogs finally let her get back in the car, and they were taken
to the motel where the Whites stayed in Gallup.
Young's driver's license showed him to be from Portales, but deputies
believe he worked at a Gallup store.
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Biker lobbies for roadless forest plan
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — Brett Myrick isn't just your average Joe because when
he believes in something, he goes the extra mile no matter what.
The 40-year-old former Navy Seal-turned seasonal Gila National Forest
trail maintenance foreman quit his job to take a 700-mile bicycle
journey through New Mexico to help protect the National Forest Roadless
Policy.
A fifth generation New Mexican, and great-great-grandson of the state's
first Hispanic governor, Octaviano Larrazolo, Myrick stopped in Gallup
and was due into Grants today to make people aware of the delicate
condition of the nation's National Forest Roadless Policy.
Years in the making, the policy simply keeps the nation's roadless
national forests and wilderness areas pristine and without roads.
Myrick said the policy took 20 years of broad debate and three years
of focused debate before it was reviewed by seven federal agencies,
180 Native American groups, commented on by more than 1.6 million
Americans in a letter-writing campaign, discussed in 600 nationwide
public hearings attended by more than 25,000 people, and was discussed
in United States House and Senate committees and subcommittees before
it was adopted.
Now, it is on the verge of being placed on an unwritten endangered
list.
"This federal rule-making process received more public comment
than any other rule-making process in the history of our country,"
Myrick said. "The Bush Administration took office and called
this a back-door policy, that there wasn't enough public comment.
That's why I'm fired up. This is our Democratic process, the voice
of the people and when I see the voice of the people being ignored,
I see our Democratic process being tossed in the trash."
The policy protects 58.5 million acres of roadless national forest
land, which is 31 percent of America's National Forests.
"Some 51 percent of our national forests are already roaded and
open to four-wheelers and quad-runners," Myrick said.
He said the Forest Service already has an $8.4 billion road maintenance
backlog now without adding more roads to the
problem. "We've got 378,000 miles of roads in America's national
forests and that's nine times more than our entire interstate highway
system for the United States," Myrick said.
President Bush's administration put the policy back into a 60-day
National Forest Service policy review mode comment period which ends
Sept. 10 and Myrick wants all New Mexicans to take action in a massive
letter-writing campaign. The policy is in peril of being destroyed.
Myrick said, "I feel the Bush Administration wants to chop up
the roadless policy for payback to industry. His administration is
ignoring the expressed wishes of most Americans and he is siding with
industry because of their multi-million dollar campaign contributions."
Myrick said the Bush Administration wants to open up the roadless
areas to logging, mining and drilling. "Let the policy we have
in place now, stand," Myrick said.
"I quit my job with the Forest Service to do this," Myrick
said. "This is something I've been thinking about for quite a
while and when the new administration took office, that's when I had
to put my thoughts into action. We only have 25 days left for the
people to respond in the public comment session."
His trip into Gallup began with no fanfare. Then he ran into some
people, told them what he was doing and things began to happen.
Those people were Nicole Walker-Brown and her daughters, Cheryl and
Sherrelle Walker.
Sherrelle, the Walks with Warriors princess, will walk from California
to Washington, D.C., in 2002 in support of veterans, the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge and water-right issues for the Navajo Nation.
Myrick said the Navajo trio opened many media doors for him and his
cause.
Myrick's journey is sponsored by the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance
and the Heritage Forest Campaign.
For additional information:
Contact the following Websites: www.roadless.fs.fed.us or www.ourforests.org.
Letters can be sent to: USDA-Forest Service-CAT, Attn: Roadless ANPR,
Comments, P.O. Box 221090, Salt Lake City, Utah 84122.
Myrick started the trip July 25 in Taos. The trip has taken him to
clusters of people and media outlets in Santa Fe,
Albuquerque, Belen, Socorro, Truth or Consequences, Las Cruces, Deming,
Silver City, Gallup and Window Rock.
He said he will travel through Grants today and he has to be back
in Albuquerque by Saturday.
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Grants netters looking to carry over
success
Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer
GRANTS — Last season Grants posted its best district finish ever,
placing second in the District 5AAA and advancing to regionals.
This year, Grants head volleyball coach Audrey Dominguez says she
wants to utilize last year's success on the court.
"I'm very optimistic about his season," said Dominguez who
starts her fifth year at Grants. "I can't wait to see them play
on the court. Right now we're looking real strong. We went to Lobo
camp this summer, went 9-0 and beat Gallup in the finals. This is
the first team I've had that work very well together on the court.
This year's team has great chemistry. It will be exciting."
Dominguez has two returning senior all-district starters in 5-9 left
side hitter Antonia Dominguez and 5-9 middle hitter Vail Rochlitz,
both spending 10 days in Hawaii for the Tourney Sports USA volleyball
camp this past summer.
"They both came back from the camp stronger," Dominguez
said. "Antonio's gotten so much stronger. She's done strength
training. She's my best passer and defensive player."
"I learned a lot playing with a lot of awesome players,"
Antonio said of the summer camp. "I learned to play the left
side which was all new to me. I'll be playing that position this year."
Dominguez said that the team she played on finished fifth out of the
24 teams competing.
Antonio said she's optimistic about the upcoming season.
"I think we'll do really well," she said. "We've played
all summer long at the Lobo camp. We played a lot of 5A schools. That
was a good way to start off the season. Hopefully we'll be district
champs if we work hard."
Dominguez also says that Rochlitz has improved greatly.
"She also did some strength training. Her blocking should really
help us. She's a a very good passer and back row player."
Like Antonio, Rochlitz, a third-year varsity starter, agrees that
the team should be competitive again.
"The team right now is really strong," she said. "We
worked hard in the off-season."
Also on this year's team will be 5-8 sophomore left side hitter Berna
Frigerio, 5-5 senior right side hitter Belinda Mace, 5-7 sophomore
setter-hitter Tiffany Hobbs, 5-10 1/2 junior middle hitter Katy Stoneking,
5-2 junior setter-back row Bethany Bibo, 5-3 senior defensive specialist
Lisa Mitchell, 5-6 junior hitter Stephanie Garcia and 5-2 sophomore
defensive specialist Amber Sanchez.
"Belinda (Mace) did not play much last year but she's shown a
lot of leadership," Dominguez said. "She was worked very
hard and shown a lot of improvement. Lisa (Mitchell) also did not
play last year but this year she's passing really well. I hope to
turn to her to help with our passing game."
Grants finished second behind district champ Hot Springs, which is
coached by former Thoreau head coach Marsha Turpen. Grants was then
eliminated by Las Vegas Robertson in the opening round at regionals.
"They can improve on last year," Dominguez said. "With
the success we had last year, the team's ready for the season to start.
They want to prove to themselves that Grants High volleyball is up
there. I hope the community will come out and support them. They work
very hard."
Grants will be competing in the District 5AAA with Hot Springs, Cobre,
Bernalillo and Socorro.
Dominguez feels that district champ Hot Springs will be tough.
"They will be strong again since they have four starters back,"
Dominguez said, "Socorro is always tough. Our main team goals
are to become district champs and improve on regionals."
Dominguez will be assisted by JV coach Mike Furbee and C-team coach
Charlotte Jarrell.
Grants will have a scrimmage at Kirtland Saturday at 10 a.m. before
opening the season at Wingate next Thursday, Aug. 23. A home match
against West Las Vegas is a new opponent on the schedule.
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Council sets six-day special session
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation Council will meet for six days
at the end of this month to take care of financial matters for the
coming year.
Legislative Services Director Rose Graham said she is aware of various
resolutions in the process that delegates may want to add to the agenda
during the last six business days before the Labor Day holiday.
The council's Ethics-Rules Committee approved Speaker Edward T. Begay's
request for a special session on Friday, Aug. 24, to hear and accept
the annual audit from KPMG for fiscal year 2000. That is required
before the council takes up the 2002 budget.
Revenue and spending from Oct. 1, 2001, through Sept. 30, 2002, by
the three branches will take the entire week of Aug. 27-31. The Ethics-Rules
Committee OK'd the annual special session to do the budget the last
week of August so delegates can avoid a conflict with both the Navajo
Nation Fair, Sept. 5-9, and Labor Day, Sept. 3...
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Resisters ask for dismissal in Hopi court
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. — Five Big Mountain resisters pleaded not guilty
this week in Hopi Tribal Court to trespass charges and asked for dismissals.
The court gave their attorneys 10 days to file written motions and
the prosecution another 10 days to reply, according to tribal press
officer Claire Heywood. The court also set Sept. 18 for a hearing
if it decides not to dismiss the allegations by tribal rangers, she
added.
They are Ruth Benally, Louise Benally, Joella Ashkie, Elvira Horseherder
and Pauline Whitesinger.
The women were arrested and booked on the trespass charges because
the Benally family did not have a permit to hold an event within sovereign
Hopi territory. Heywood also claimed on July 13 that the sacred ceremony
was being used for political purposes...
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Begaye, council clash over tax
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — President Kelsey A. Begaye has vetoed the use
of all 18 cents a gallon of the land vehicle gas tax for road maintenance,
stating only some of it should be used for road maintenance.
But his veto of that resolution and the related fund management
plan may stand only until Aug. 24 when the Navajo Nation Council
holds a special session, delegates have confirmed. The override
resolutions for the related matters might be placed on the agenda
on Friday when the council's Ethics-Rules Committee holds its regular
meeting. The panel also could shift the resolutions to the budget
session, Aug. 27-31.
During a two-day special session earlier this month, delegates used
a six-vote margin to override Begaye's veto of the new Procurement
Act. The president said the Economic Development Division did not
have a say in the matter and that, as adopted, it leaves a one-year
gap between its starting date and the deadline for the Budget-Finance
Committee to adopt rules needed to supplement the new law...
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City's attorney responds to paper's
lawsuit notice
Andrea Egger
Staff Writer
GALLUP — The city's attorney will represent the Gallup Police
Department in the Independent's lawsuit to obtain records from the
Robert Kiro incident.
The lawsuit was filed Aug. 7 after the Independent had tried to
get the reports from the police department and City Manager David
Ruiz. The city's attorney, Lynn Isaacson, blocked releasing the
reports after talking with District Attorney Karl Gillson and New
Mexico State Police attorney John Wheeler.
Both attorneys told Isaacson that releasing the reports would jeopardize
the state police's ongoing investigation of the case.
Kiro, 34, is accused in the May 30 shooting death of Gallup Police
Cpl. Larry Brian Mitchell during a shoot-out at Kiro's home in Red
Hills Mobile Home Park...
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Union head calls school pay plan 'disrespectful'
Andrea Egger
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Returning teachers with 20 years of out-of-district
experience have 7,000 reasons to be mad at the Gallup-McKinley County
School District.
That's because teachers who were hired last year who have 20 years
of out-of-district teaching experience will be paid, in the 2001-2002
school year, $7,160 less than teachers hired this year with the
same amount of experience.
Last year, teachers were given only "credit" for 10 years
of outside experience. This means that last year, a teacher who
brought 20 years of experience to the district was paid the same
as someone who had worked for the district for 10 years. Only 10
of those 20 years counted in the new teacher's salary.
This year, the school board approved a jump from 10 to 20 years
of credit for new experienced teachers. This was done to attract
new experienced teachers to the district, said Personnel Director
Richard Johnson...
Navajo Youth Summit kicks off Friday
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Sovereignty, the environment, wellness and culture
will highlight the second annual Navajo Presidential Youth Summit.
It will begin at 7:30 a.m. Friday and conclude at 1 a.m. Sunday
at the Peterson Zah-Navajo Nation Museum, Library and Visitors Center
in Window Rock.
The two-day convention will begin with registration and a breakfast
at 7:30 a.m., with the opening ceremonies at 9 a.m. to include welcomes
by Vice President Dr. Taylor McKenzie and Sherrelle Lynne Walker,
Miss 2001-02 Walk with the Warrior Princess, as well as a Code Talkers
presentation.
The morning session will be devoted to sovereignty, featuring Laurie
Weahkee, plus a basic course on organizing a group. After lunch,
the focus will shift to the environment with a two-hour meeting
featuring the Sage Council and Sierra Club, followed by a caucus.
The 5 p.m. dinner hour will include a presentation on sweat lodges,
followed by four hours of separate male and female sweat lodges,
traditional Diné teachings and talking circles focusing on
involvement with parents and coping without a mother or father...
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Deaths
Mary G. Slim
LUPTON, Ariz. — Services for Mary G. Slim, 97, will be held at
2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, at Rollie Mortuary-Palm Chapel. Pastor Arnold
Rocky Joe will officiate. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park.
Slim died Aug. 13 in Gallup. She was born April 12, 1904, in Lupton
into the One Who Walks Around You for the Black Sheep People.
Survivors include her daughters, Elsie Benally of Salt Lake City,
Utah, Rosita Sage of Albuquerque, Betty Slim, Alice Smith and Juanita
Stevens, all of Lupton; sisters, Elizabeth Haswood, Jenny Stevens
and Eva Tsosie, all of Lupton; 53 grandchildren, 98 great-grandchildren
and 34 great-great-grandchildren.
Slim was preceded in death by her husband, Tom Slim; parents, William
and Yakasbah Goodluck; daughters, Nellie Begay, Lelda Goodluck, Louise
Slim, Margie Slim and Marilyn Slim; sons, John Slim and Roger Slim;
and brothers, John Begay, Kee Begay, James Goodluck and Frank Green.
Pallbearers will be Roger Benally, Andrew Farber, Charlie Goodluck,
Manuel Goodluck, Robert Stevens and Leander Wagner.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Franklin Arthur Nez
SHEEP SPRINGS — Services for Franklin Nez, 36, will be held at
10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 17, at the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints, Sheep Springs. Brother Emerson Louis will officiate.
Burial will follow at Sheep Springs Community
Cemetery.
Nez died Aug. 11 in Gallup. He was born June 28, 1965, in Cortez,
Colo., into the Red House People Clan for the Sleeping Rock People.
Nez was a resident of Sheep Springs.
Survivors include his wife, Flora S. Nez of Albuquerque; sons, Jeremy
Talk and Russell Secatero, both of Standing Rock; daughters, Dorsheena
R. Nez and Chrissy R. Nez, both of Sheep Springs; parents, Fred A.
and Sarah Nez, both of Sheep Springs; brothers, Wallace Nez of Albuquerque
and Ronald Nez of Sheep Springs; sister, Sandra M. Watchman of Sheep
Springs; and grandparents, Mat Mae James of Sheep Springs and Pat
Rosina Nez of Naschitti.
Pallbearers will be Ronald Nez, Wallace Nez, Timothy Foster, Emerson
Dez, Norman James and Darrellson Dez.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Erica Shirlene Nez
SHEEP SPRINGS — Services for Erica Nez, 7, will be held at 10
a.m. Friday, Aug. 17, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints, Sheep Springs. Brother Emerson Louis will officiate. Burial
will follow at Naschitti Community Cemetery.
Nez died Aug. 11 in Gallup. She was born Sept. 10, 1993.
Survivors include her mother, Flora S. Nez of Albuquerque; brothers,
Jeremy Talk and Russell Sacatero, both of Standing
Rock; and sisters, Dorsheena R. Nez and Chrissy R. Nez, both of Sheep
Springs.
Pallbearers will be Tad Secatero, Delbert Secatero, Jeremy Tslk, Russell
Secatero, Ronald Chaves and Sam Piaso Jr.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Timothy Benally
ROCK POINT, Ariz. — Services for Timothy Benally, 44, will be
held at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 17, at Rock Point Lutheran Mission. Howard
Gatewood will officiate. Burial will follow at Rock Point Community
Cemetery.
Benally died Aug. 13 in Chinle, Ariz. He was born Aug. 5, 1957, in
Rock Point into the Tangle Clan for the Edge Water Clan.
Benally completed eighth grade and was employed as a firefighter and
laborer in construction and auto mechanics. His hobbies included fishing,
camping, watching movies, listening to country music, traveling, beading,
wood carving, and making dream catchers.
Survivors include his son, Travis Benally; daughters, Terrilyn Benally
and LeAnna Benally; father, Lee Benally; brother, Ray Redhouse; sisters,
Della R. Lee and Juanita Bainbridge; and five grandchildren.
Benally was preceded in death by his mother, Anita Benally.
Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Elouise Lincoln
FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. — Services for Elouise Tooahimpah Lincoln,
78, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, at the
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Fort Defiance. Father Melton Hickey
will officiate.
A rosary will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, at Fort Defiance
Catholic Church.
Lincoln died Aug. 15 in Fort Defiance. She was born June 2, 1923,
in Apache, Okla., into the Comanche Littlefeet and Wasp
bands.
Lincoln graduated from Fort Sill Indian School and was a retired L.P.N.
nurse at Fort Defiance. She was a member of the Fort
Defiance Senior Citizens Center and received many awards. Her hobbies
included sewing, attending powwows, cooking and
traveling.
Survivors include her son, Francis T. Lincoln of Fort Defiance; four
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Lincoln was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas O. Lincoln.
Pallbearers will be Wilfred Francisco, Frank Lincoln, Loren Lincoln,
Francis Lincoln Jr., Paul Lincoln and Tony Lincoln.
The family will receive friends and relatives after the burial services
at St. Dominic's Catholic Church gym, Fort Defiance.
Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Thomas George Spiros
GALLUP — Services for Thomas Spiros, 45, will be announced at
a later date.
Spiros died Aug. 15 in Gallup. He was born March 24, 1956, in Jacksonville,
Fla.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
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