Escaped teen scaled fence
Andrea Egger
Staff Writer
GALLUP — The teen escapee from the Juvenile Detention Center
has not gone home and might be with friends, the center administrator
said this morning.
Julian Mestas notified the parents of Adrian Reyes, 16, of 915
E. Highway 66, who said they had not seen him. Reyes escaped Wednesday
afternoon when detention staff were walking students outside the
center and to the classroom, Mestas said.
He added the McKinley County Sheriff's Department report was wrong
— Reyes did not go through the roof. Instead, he hid from
detention staff outside the facility and climbed over the razor
wire surrounding the center, he said.
Mestas said one other juvenile escaped the same way in the past.
It appeared Reyes might have been going home, as McKinley County
Sheriff's Deputy George Justice and his patrol dog, Voy, tracked
the teen from the center, across Hasler Valley Road and the field
beyond, and to a drainage ditch near East Highway 66 and lost
the scent.
"I don't believe he's a threat to the community," Mestas
said. "I don't ever think he's been violent. I haven't had
any trouble with him."
But Reyes was jailed for felony charges of residential burglary,
conspiracy and possession of stolen property. His escape has police
concerned about the safety of, at least, people's homes and property.
"If he's not a danger, what's he doing locked up in the first
place?" said Gallup Police Lt. John Allen. "We're not
just going to take kids out of school and lock them up for no
reason."
Allen said police agencies have looked for him at home and they've
circulated his photo. The lieutenant said there's always a chance
Reyes might commit another crime, especially since Mestas said
Reyes has been in and out of the facility in the past.
The detention center's response to the situation is to ensure
"juveniles are not out of sight of staff," Mestas said.
When Reyes escaped, a glitch in security had occurred, and staff
missed Reyes until they noticed he was out of class. This won't
happen again, Mestas said.
On this offense, Reyes was arrested on Dec. 21. The teen spent
Christmas in the detention center, Mestas said.
Reyes remains at large this morning.
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Woman rancher stuck in pickup 52 hours
HORSE SPRINGS, N.M. (AP) — Rancher Evelyn Yates says it was terrifying
to find herself alone in a pickup truck, stuck in a ditch in freezing
weather overnight. So the next morning she began writing down what
happened so her daughter would know in case she didn't make it.
"I wanted my daughter to know I did everything I could to get
out, and that I decided the best choice was to stay with the truck
and hope for someone to find me," she said.
It took 52 hours.
Normally, Yates had blankets, canned goods, a tow chain and a shovel
in her truck, but she'd taken them out so she could haul a Christmas
tree, gifts and luggage when she visited her daughter in Kerrville,
Texas, over Christmas.
She still hadn't put her gear back on Jan. 12 when she left her Flying
C ranch house, 40 miles southwest of Datil, on a 13-mile dirt road
to go to her residence in Pinos Altos.
"There was about six or eight inches of snow on the road, and
when the pickup started slipping I couldn't straighten it out and
slid off the road. I was just stuck," Yates said.
She cut pine boughs and put them in front of the wheels and almost
got out, but a wheel slipped and the truck slid back into a ditch.
She wasn't dressed for a cold-weather hike, so she decided to wait
for somebody to come along.
"I had four bananas, four muffins and a quart of water. I had
extra clothes with me in my suitcase and (as the temperature dropped)
started putting on everything," she said. "I had a fur jacket
with a hood and fur-lined gloves, and these old gloves I use to break
the hay when I feed the animals. I put those on over the others.
"I was worried about frostbite on my toes and fingers and face.
I didn't dare take my boots off because they were cold and wet, and
if my feet were swollen I was afraid I couldn't get them back on.
I just wrapped insulated vests around my boots and put on extra layers
from my boots up. I tied a chiffon scarf around my face."
The temperature reported that night near Horse Springs, 26 miles southwest
of Datil, was near 10 degrees.
When Yates awoke the next morning, the truck's windows were iced over.
"The inside of the truck was covered with frost. It looked like
an ice casket," she said. "I wondered if I was in the other
place. I wiggled my fingers and toes to see if I was alive, then ate
a banana and a doughnut."
In the meantime, her daughter had tried to call her. When she couldn't
reach her mother, she called her mother's neighbor, Sherman Yates,
who is no relation. She asked him to check.
He had to cut a lock from a gate, but found the house in order, the
phone operational, the animals fed, barns locked and no sign of Yates.
He left through another gate, noticing the wire holding it was twisted
from the outside. Then he saw, still visible in the snow, tire marks
headed toward Horse Springs.
He followed the tracks until he found her pickup.
When Evelyn Yates heard a truck's engine, she thought she was dreaming.
"I've been looking for you," was all Sherman Yates said.
"All I could think about was a cup of hot tea, just to hold it
in my hands," Evelyn Yates said.
He got her truck out of the ditch and followed her back to the ranch
house. He waited until she fixed tea, then followed her part way home.
"He wanted to make sure I was making it OK. He's an angel,"
she said.
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Sniper fire hits Grants school bus
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — A sniper fired several shots and hit a bus carrying
the Grants High School basketball team home early Saturday morning.
No one was injured in the shooting with what was believed to be a
small caliber weapon, state police said. It is not known if the bullets
came close to any of the basketball players. The shooting happened
about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, but was not reported to the state police
until Monday morning.
Sgt. Rick Doty of the New Mexico State Police said bullets shattered
two bus windows and a third pierced the outer skin of the bus. He
said one bullet has been recovered as evidence, but he could not say
what caliber it is, though he did mention the bullet appeared to be
a small caliber.
The team had been in Truth or Consequences playing a game there, said
Grants High School Assistant Principal Gary Atencio.
Team members stopped at K-Bob's Steakhouse just off Interstate 25
to eat after the game. Students got back on the bus and were between
Bernado at mile marker 175 and Belen at mile marker 190 when someone
opened fire on the bus being driven along the darkened highway.
"At the time they thought it was some gravel they had hit, but
when he (the bus driver) realized what was happening, he got the bus
out of there," Atencio said, adding that the driver, employed
by Mesa Transportation, the company which contracts buses to the school
district, drove several miles down the road. "He checked on the
bus and kids and then got the kids back home,"
Atencio said."The kids are safe, that's the bottom line."
Atencio said he contacted the state police Monday morning, more than
50 hours after the shooting.
Two sources said they were told that the bus driver contacted Mesa
Transportation by a bus radio soon after the shooting and then simply
drove back to Grants. It is unknown what instructions were given to
the driver by Mesa. "One would think that the driver would have
pulled into the nearest telephone as soon as they could and call the
police," said Grants/Cibola County School Board member Bob Murdoch.
"I am concerned that no call to the police was made in Belen."
An unidentified Mesa Transportation employee Thursday refused to comment
on the matter, saying she was told by Atencio to not say anything
to the press.
Another school board member, Mitzi Baca, called the shooting "mind
boggling," and questioned why the bus driver did not use his
bus radio to contact the police about the shooting.
She also said that no mention of the shooting was made Tuesday at
the school board meeting. "I learned about it from the (television)
news the next morning," Baca said.
"Had it been reported in Belen earlier, maybe they (the state
police) would have been able to round up the culprits," Murdoch
said. "My question is, who is responsible for reporting such
incidents?
"It's a terrifying thought. If you consider the worse-case scenario,
some of our kids could have been killed."
State Police Lt. Tom Dobson said the shooting was under active investigation
and Doty said the state police could use some help from the public.
"If anybody knows anything about this, saw anything, or heard
anything, or was shot at themselves on the interstate, please call
us at 287-4141," he said. "If you don't live in or near
Grants, call any state police office."
Atencio said the shooting marks the first such incident involving
the Grants/Cibola County School District he is aware of in the past
16 years.
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Area sports
Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer
ALBUQUERQUE — No. 4 ranked Gallup overcame the loss of senior
guard Tonya Bailey to an injury early in the second period en route
to a convincing 47-35 District 1AAAAA victory over No. 3 ranked Rio
Rancho Thursday night.
After nailing successive treys to start the game, Bailey went down
with six minutes left in the first half when she was hit in the throat
by another player when going for a loose ball. After being hit, Bailey
grabbed her throat, yelling that she was having a hard time breathing.
Bailey was taken to a nearby hospital. Her status was not known at
press time.
Taking the early lead in the district race, Gallup (now 12-3 overall,
and more importantly 3-0 in district) will host Valley Saturday. Rio
Rancho (also 12-3 overall, 2-1 in district) will play at Albuquerque
High.
"The kids did a great job," Gallup coach John Lomasney said.
"The kids deserved to win. Our defense really picked it up and
shut Rio Rancho down. We attacked the zone well. We shot the ball
extremely well if we didn't turn the ball over. We controlled the
boards. This certainly puts us in the driver's seat."
The Lady Bengals outplayed the Lady Rams, who swept Gallup in three
meetings last year, from start to finish. Gallup outhustled, outrebounded
and outshot Rio Rancho to take sole possession of first place in the
district standings.
Gallup outshot Rio Rancho 43 percent to 27 percent from the field.
The Lady Bengals also enjoyed a decided advantage on the boards, 27
to 11. In the key department, Gallup converted 15-of-25 free throws
to 8-of-12 for Rio Rancho. In the final 1:32 of the game, Gallup sank
10-of-12 free throws to seal the crucial district showdown.
Gallup also made good use of a balanced scoring attack with seven
players sharing the scoring load while Rio Rancho was held to just
three starters accounting for all of the points.
Rio Rancho head coach Bob McIntyre admitted that Gallup simply outplayed
his team.
"John has a good team," McIntyre said. "They played
hard. They responded well after they lost Bailey. They shot the ball
well. They were the better team. We panicked a little bit. We had
to foul at the end. They had to make the free throws and they did.
You just have pick your poison. We have to keep them off the line."
In the first quarter, Gallup shredded Rio Rancho's 1-3-1 zone, burying
four three-pointers (the first two by Bailey and one each from Vanessa
Hubbard and Anna Antonio) to account for all of the team's 12-first-period
points. Rio Rancho drilled a pair of treys by Brio Brode, who was
averaging 17.3 points per game, and Laura Smith.
Rio Rancho's senior forward Terry Salazar got off to a fast start
as she tallied for six of her team's first eight points of the game.
But the Lady Bengals were able to shut Salazar down to just five more
points the rest of the way.
"She (Terry Salazar) was fired up," McIntyre said of one
of his top players who transferred from Grants to Rio Rancho her sophomore
year. "But at the end she got frustrated and started overpressing."
The Lady Rams grabbed the lead at 15-12 early in the second period
after Smith drilled her second trey. The Bengals countered as Candace
Roanhorse hit a turnaround jumper for a one-point game.
However at the 6:02 mark of the first half, Bailey went crashing down
to the floor after being hit in the throat.
Lomasney said he did not know the extent of Bailey's injury.
"She got hit in the throat," Lomasney said of the unfortunate
incident. "We don't know her condition yet. We don't want to
speculate. But we hope she's okay. She's a big part of the team. She's
our floor leader. She has a great love for the game."
Gallup stole the lead for good late in the first half on successive
treys by Sunny St. Clair and Hubbard for a 24-19 Bengal halftime advantage.
With a precarious one-point lead, 24-23, early in the second half,
the Lady Bengals then outscored the Lady Rams 9 to 1 in the final
seven minutes of the third period.
After Laura Smith scored on a quick in-bounds play and Rode sank a
pair of free throws, the Lady Rams were held in check to just one
free throw by Rode the rest of the quarter, thanks to an aggressive
and effective Bengal man defense.
With a comfortable lead, Gallup controlled the tempo of the game.
At the start of the fourth period, Gallup had the first possession
of the quarter and proceeded to run off two and a half minutes before
allowing Roanhorse to score inside.
With time running out, Rio Rancho was forced to foul, sending Gallup
to the charity stripe when the Lady Bengals sealed the win.
In the final 92 seconds of the game, Gallup sank a sizzling 10-of-12
free throws after a poor 5-of-13 with Rhonda Begay sinking, a perfect
6-of-6 in the final minute.
Gallup's Anna Antonio and Candace Roanhorse led the Lady Bengals with
11 and 10 points respectively. Hubbard chipped in nine points as a
total of seven players broke into the scoring column. Antonio also
led the team with eight boards with Hubbard with seven.
All of Rio Racno's points were tallied by just three starters, Laura
Smith with 13 points and Terry Salazar and Brio Rode with 11 each.
Gallup shot 43 percent from the foeld (13-of-30) with Rio Rancho shot
a poor 27 percent (10-of-37). The Lady Bengals enjoyed a huge advantage
on boards, 27 to 11. From three-point range, it was nearly identical
with Gallup 6-of-13 and Rio Rancho 5-of-14.
Looking ahead to Saturday's district home matchup with Valley, Lomasney
pointed out that it is still a long ways to go till the end of the
district campaign.
"We'll take it one (game) at a time," Lomasney said. "Nobody
will give it (the district title) to us. We'll have to play hard."
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Highlands Univ. has $2M debt
LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Highlands University ended
its fiscal year last June with a deficit of about $2 million, its
latest audit shows.
Highlands collected $31 million in revenue but ended the year with
a $1.7 million shortfall, auditors said.
The report said the university overspent its unrestricted instructional
and general funds by more than $1.07 million and over spent its unrestricted
instructional and general funds by $1.4 million.
As in previous reports, the auditors added a disclaimer — meaning
they did not trust the accuracy of Highlands' financial statements,
including ending balances, and thus could not form an audit opinion.
It said the same problem pertained to the university's federal grants...
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Ganado schools wait for $990K
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
GANADO — Pass the $990,000 check please, the Ganado Unified
School District is asking the Navajo Nation Division of Human Resources.
The Gando district operates one of only two adult-attended high
schools in the state, as well as a separate alternative high school,
Superintendent Peter Belletto said. Last fall, after announcement
in August that the tribe had received a large Youth Opportunity
Grant funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, it was made known
that $990,000 would go to the Ganado district.
Belletto said the grant funds will be used to provide counseling,
after-school programs, recreation, increased self-directed learning
opportunities and other programs for adult and at-risk high school
students...
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A Laguna casino?
Staff Report
The Pueblo of Laguna Development Corp. has announced plans to expand
its Rio Puerco travel center into a casino.
The new Laguna Casino & Travel Center will expand the pueblo's
convenience store at exit 140 on Interstate 40, which has been open
for a year and includes Conoco gas and Dairy Queen.
"We will be doing a $1 million development and remodel adding
additional products, additional gas pumps and new diesel stations
along with parking for 50 trucks," said Laguna Chairman Floyd
Correa...
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Grants mayor gets charged on assault
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — Mayor Bill Snodgrass defines it as a "piece of
his mind" he gave Tom Sandoval at a junior varsity basketball
game here Tuesday. Sandoval, who lives in Milan and is confined
to a wheelchair since a mining accident in 1986, said it was a whole
lot more than a piece of mind, but rather a physical attack by shoving
and cussing at him in front of the kids at the game.
Snodgrass said he gave Sandoval a piece of his mind because he was
cheering for the wrong team and was not setting a good example for
the kids. Piece of mind or not, Sandoval filed a criminal assault
complaint Thursday against Snodgrass in the Cibola County Magistrate
Court.
Sandoval admits he was laughing during the game. "The refs
were making some funny calls," he said, and when asked if he
was so loud the people sitting around him complained, Sandoval said,
"No..."
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Gallup presses feds for $30K reimbursement
Bill Donovan
Staff Writer
GALLUP — City officials still have not given up on the hope
of getting the federal government to reimburse the city because
of an accident last January which closed down Interstate 40 for
several hours.
Gallup City Manager David Ruiz said the city is still talking to
federal officials, including officials at the Defense Department,
about reimbursing the city something in the neighborhood of $30,000
to pay for emergency personnel overtime and other costs associated
with the accident and the closing of the Interstate.
The reason the city is seeking federal compensation is because of
the time it took hazardous material officials from Kirtland Air
Force Base to get to Gallup after a munitions truck skidded on the
interstate alongside Gallup...
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Governor backs low grocery tax
SANTA FE (AP) — Gov. Gary Johnson says he would sign a measure
that would eliminate the state's portion of gross receipts taxes
on groceries — even if the state loses revenue.
A measure pending in the Legislature to drop the state's share of
the tax means shoppers would save $1.97 on $60 worth of groceries.
They would continue to pay the tax share that goes to cities and
counties where the groceries are bought.
"I'll go ahead and sign a food tax reduction, believing that's
real money in people's pocket every single week," Johnson said...
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Deaths
Emerson Jerry John
PINEDALE — Services for Emerson John, 33, will be held at 1
p.m., Saturday at Tse Bonito Chapel.
John died Jan. 22 in Gallup. He was born Dec. 17, 1968 in Gallup
into the Dark Streak in Wood or Forest People Clan for the Red Running
into the Water People Clan.
John graduated from Hillcreast High School, Sandy, Utah. He received
the Eagle Scout Award and appeared in the movie, The Windwalker.
Survivors include his sons, Preston Emerson John and Emerson Jerry
John Jr. both of Gallup; parents, Anita and Harry Pete both of Pinedale;
brothers, Gary J. John of Chinle, Ariz., Jim J. John of Albuquerque
and Larry J. John of Window Rock; sisters, Marie Showie of Fort
Defiance, Ariz., Julia Baloo of Pinedale and Rosita Smith of Mentmore.
Pallbearers will be Gary J. John, Jim J. John, Larry J. John, Terry
J. John Jr., Timothy Showie and John R. Rodriquez.
Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
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