FBI puts U.S. on high alert for today
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI warned of a possible terrorist
attack as early as Tuesday in the United States or against Americans
in Yemen, and investigators rushed to distribute photographs of
men believed to be involved.
Police nationwide were under orders to detain any of them immediately.
The warning identified one possible attacker as Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei,
a light-skinned, 22-year-old from Yemen with Western-looking features.
The FBI considered the information "credible," but it
was not specific about possible targets and was not corroborated
by other sources.
Officials acknowledged they did not know whether al-Rabeei was
in the United States and could not be sure even that he was still
alive.
Officials said they decided to issue the warning out of an abundance
of caution and because Tuesday was so near.
The warning, issued Monday night, came after interviews with detainees
in Afghanistan and Cuba, where some al-Qaida operatives are being
held, officials said. The FBI's alert listed about a dozen associates
of al-Rabeei, most from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. One associate
was listed as possibly coming from Tunisia.
The bureau published the alert and photographs of al-Rabeei and
his associates on its public Web site, www.fbi.gov, to help Americans
identify the possible perpetrators.
The alert, sent to 18,000 law enforcement agencies, cautioned
that, "recent information indicates a planned attack may
occur in the United States or against U.S. interests on or around
Feb. 12, 2002. One or more operatives may be involved in the attack."
The FBI asked police "to stop and detain" any of the
individuals named in the alert and said all "should be considered
extremely dangerous."
Although the alert was issued on the fourth night of the Winter
Olympics in Salt Lake City, officials said there was no intelligence
suggesting the games were a possible target. Instead, they urged
that all locations in the United States and abroad with Americans
to be on guard.
The alert did not say whether the attack was planned by or involved
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
Before Monday, FBI and Homeland Security officials had issued
three general alerts urging all Americans to be cautious and on
the lookout for possible terrorist activities.
The last was issued Dec. 3 and was supposed to last through the
holidays. It has since been extended through the Winter Olympics
in Salt Lake City and is to expire March 11.
In addition, the FBI has issued narrower alerts to specific industries
when uncorroborated information about threats to their facilities
emerges. In the last month, such alerts went to nuclear power
plant operators and to operators of Internet sites cautioning
about possible threats.
Often, FBI officials later conclude the information that prompted
such alerts is not credible or could not be corroborated.
On some occasions, local law enforcement officials have complained
they learned from news media about the warnings before they saw
the alerts over the FBI communications system.
Monday's warning was carefully organized to ensure that police,
news media and the public learned about them at the same time,
officials said.
On the Net: FBI announcement: http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/seekinfo/2-11-02.htm
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Denish says small business is key
Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer
GALLUP — With the state Democratic pre-primary one month away,
Lieutenant Governor candidate Diane Denish drove through Gallup Monday
rallying for local support.
"The grass roots is really where it happens," said Denish
of the importance of community support during the early goings of
her 2002 run for office to a well-fed crowd of local Democratic supporters
gathered for a campaign luncheon at the El Rancho Hotel.
Reflective of her interest in uniting disparate interests, Denish
invited not only those present to head to the ballot boxes on election
day. She encouraged the youth as well, Democrat and Republican alike,
emphasizing the interest the 2000 presidential race has renewed in
getting out the vote.
This will be her sophomore run for state Lieutenant Governor, having
won her party's primary in 1998 but failing to unseat the incumbent
Walter Bradley.
Denish relinquished her position as the state's Democratic Party Chairperson
- a position she held for the past three years — in January once
she announced her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor. The party's state
Vice-Chairman David Gomez will temporarily fill the vacancy until
the party's executive committee calls for new elections for the position.
"With so many incumbents leaving office" in 2002, emphasizes
Denish in her speeches and her omnipresent glossy campaign flyer,
this year — more than 1998 — "represents (the New Mexico
Democratic Party's) greatest opportunity in decades to make real progress."
What does that progress mean for McKinley residents?
Although pertaining to the northwestern region of the state more than
the county in particular, Denish talks of addressing disputes over
water rights between the Navajo Nation and its surrounding communities.
She would like to see more resources directed towards resolving these
disputes, often arising from conflicting land treaties negotiated
between Native Americans and the government, before they head into
costly, tedious and, according to Denish, unnecessary litigation.
As for the state as a whole, Denish says her campaign is predominantly
threefold, promoting 1) rural small business development, 2) improved
education and 3) increased access to health care services.
"Small business are the engine for economic growth," says
Denish, who herself heads a market research and fundraising company,
the Target Company, which she founded in 1990. With 80 percent of
area business being small business, she said that "we have to
give as much energy and enthusiasm to small business as we do to big
industrial recruitment projects."
By providing increased tax incentives for small businesses and more
micro-lending programs to "incubate" those businesses, she
hopes to reinvigorate the bottom-up approach to development over the
trickle down economics of others; "We believe that a rising tide
lifts all boats," she told the crowd.
With such a prominent rural population, Denish also advocates using
her small business initiatives to help sustain rural communities against
the forces of increased urbanization. She imagines brining this about
in part through more "skills programs" for workers, provided
by partnerships between government, business and the non-profit sector,
the latter of which she considers an underutilized resource.
Related to these skills programs is her belief in providing greater
vocational, technical and technological training in New Mexico schools
as a vital investment in the state's economic future. Her education
agenda also includes an expanded role for charter schools, fewer students
per class and raising teacher's salaries to level out the wage disparities
that drive many teachers to neighboring states.
Denish faces Democratic competition from state Sen. Linda Lopez and
former state Rep. Alfonso Otero. Republican state Rep. Judy Vanderstar
Russell is also running. Compared with the regional legislative experiences
of her opponents, Denish fells that the state-wide scope of her work
as the chairperson of New Mexico's Democratic Party gives her an advantage
in facing the wide-ranging office of Lieutenant Governor.
Luncheon attendees included Mayor John Pena, City Manager David Ruiz,
Commissioner Ben Shelly, County Commissioner Harry Mendoza, Municipal
Judge Linda Padilla, Superintendent Robert Gomez, County Sheriff Frank
Gonzales, County Democratic Party Chairperson Mari Ann Armijo and
Brenna Clani, Outreach and Community Service Representative for U.S.
Rep. Tom Udall.
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Zuni grandma: Baby not abused
Andrea Egger
Staff Writer
GALLUP — A Zuni grandmother is defending her daughter who is
facing charges she abused her baby.
Laura Pooacha has custody of her grandson, Lamar, 6 months, while
her daughter, Lawanda Pooacha, 21, of 351 Cedar Hills No. G-46, remains
in the McKinley County Adult Detention Center on a $25,000 cash bond.
She was arrested and charged with abuse of a child, resulting in great
bodily harm, a first-degree felony, after police said she confessed
to breaking her baby's leg and throwing him down twice, which caused
him to hit his head, according to Magistrate Court record.
"It breaks my heart to have people read what was written,"
Laura Pooacha said of news story about the charges that appeared in
Friday's Independent.
"He does not have a broken leg, and there's nothing wrong with
his head," she said. "He's the most happiest baby anybody
could ever see."
She said if Lamar had broken his leg, he'd be in a cast, and he's
not.
Her daughter remains in jail because her family can't pay $25,000
cash. "Maybe I make that much in a whole year," the grandmother
said.
She said Lawanda Pooacha is "not doing good" but is taking
some classes at the jail.
Her daughter recently moved to Gallup and has had a difficult time
living on her own with her son. Her daughter is troubled, but she
wouldn't hurt her baby that way, Laura Pooacha said.
"If she needs help, she needs help," her mother said, referring
to emotional support.
During an interview at the hospital, Lawanda Pooacha told Gallup Police
Detective Sgt. Gerald Tholund she resents her baby because she became
pregnant with him after a man raped her last year, according to records.
Laura Pooacha said police questioned her and her husband about whether
they abused Lawanda Pooacha, because that's what they say the woman
told them. Laura Pooacha said they never abused their daughter, and
she doesn't believe her daughter told police that.
Friday's article came out after Lawanda Pooacha waived her right to
a preliminary hearing, where Assistant District Attorney Karen Kingen
Etcitty would have had to prove to a magistrate she has enough evidence
to show Lawanda Pooacha might have committed the crime and should
be taken to trial.
Etcitty said she is working on a tentative plea agreement, where the
mother would have to plead guilty to a third-degree felony child abuse
and only serve a year in prison.
Because the mother "owned up" to the crime and feels remorse,
Etcitty said she agreed to the plea. She believes the New Mexico Women's
Correctional Facility in Grants has enough counseling programs to
help the young mother.
Etcitty added the year in prison also is an appropriate punishment.
"She put the child's life in danger," she said.
The plea agreement has not yet been signed by Lawanda Pooacha or her
attorney, Louis DePauli, and hasn't been entered into District Court.
Until that happens, the mother can still reject the plea.
Laura Pooacha said Tholund intimidated her daughter into making up
this "confession" after a two-hour interview with her in
which she didn't know she had the right to have an attorney present.
Gallup Police Sgt. Rick White, acting department spokesman Monday,
said a social worker initially called Tholund that January night when
Gallup Indian Medical Services physician Dr. Ken Stewart said the
baby had a fracture in his leg and bleeding in the front and back
areas of the brain — and that the mother's story of how her child
got the injuries didn't explain them. Stewart suspected abuse.
After talking with Tholund and social workers, Lawanda Pooacha confessed
that she was angry at her baby because he wouldn't stop crying.
She said she pressed the baby hard to her chest, then grabbed his
leg and twisted it backwards until "she heard a bone pop,"
Tholund wrote in the records. Lamar Pooacha continued crying, so she
said she threw him on the bed, where he hit the back of his head on
a hard, plastic toy.
Then she picked him up again and threw him face-down onto the bed,
where his forehead hit the toy again, records show.
While Laura Pooacha said she doesn't know what her daughter did to
the baby that day, she said Tholund didn't read her her rights and
she didn't know she had a right to an attorney.
But White said he spoke with Tholund, who said he read her rights
and Lawanda Pooacha signed a paper giving up her right to an attorney's
presence during questioning.
"Detective Tholund did a thorough investigation. He did a good
job on this case," White said.
The information about the baby's injuries listed in court records
came directly from Stewart, the physician working that night, White
said.
None of this information satisfies Laura Pooacha. "It's harsh
what (Tholund) wrote down and was publicly put in the paper,"
she said.
She supports her daughter and her grandson.
"We'll be there for her no matter what," Laura Pooacha said.
"We're not perfect people, but I'll do anything for that baby.
He's the most precious little thing."
The article caused her well-known family duress.
"People look at us and say, 'Is that the kind of family you have?'"
Laura Pooacha said.
She doesn't understand why her daughter has to remain in jail on so
high a bond.
"There's people that kill people, DWI, you name it, and they're
walking the streets," she said. "It's so unreal right now."
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New tribal judges set to take oaths
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Four new Navajo Nation judges will take their oaths
of office at 10 a.m. Friday in the Window Rock District Court, according
to Judicial Branch spokesman Ed Martin.
The district court, on the second floor of the Public Safety Building
on Window Rock Blvd., will be used because of its greater capacity.
New judges usually are sworn in at the much smaller tribal Supreme
Court courtroom.
The oaths will be given under the direction of Chief Justice Robert
Yazzie after his return from Geneva, Switzerland, where he servedas
as part of the Navajo team to a seventh annual United Nations commission
meeting.
Martin said Yazzie has made the following assignments to fill three
vacancies and an expansion slot among the 15 district judgeships:
Patricia Johnson as a third judge in the Tuba City district to help
Manuel Watchman and Jennifer Bennally.
Angela Keanhie-Sanford to Kayenta to help Leroy Bedonie after Lorene
Ferguson was elevated to the Supreme Court.
Judi Maestas to Chinle to help Ray Gilmore as the replacement for
Wesley Atakai.
Geraldine Benally to the three-bench Ramah circuit to replace Sharon
Johnson at Ramah, To' Hajiilee and Alamo.
The new Judge Johnson is a resident of Yah Ta Hey, a 10-year member
of the Navajo Nation Bar Association, and was the Window Rock District
Prosecutor when she applied, having been with the office since 1993
after a year with a private law firm in Gallup.
A 1980 graduate of Tohatchi High School, she earned an associate of
applied science in business technology from the University of New
Mexico-Gallup in 1985.
The new Judge Keanhie-Sanford is a resident of Shiprock and Naschitti,
and a 21-year member of the tribal bar association. Since 1981 she
also has been with the prosecutor's office.
A 1972 graduate of Viewmount (Bountiful, Utah) High School, she attended
San Juan College, then Navajo Community (now Din) College to earn
an associate of arts in social work in 1991. In the 1980s she was
active in the Navajo (United) Way.
The new Judge Maestas is a resident of Indian Wells, and became a
member of the tribal bar association 14 years ago, but went inactive
due to being off the reservation. When she applied, she was with the
tribal Social Services Division as a Public Law 93-638 compliance
officer.
She also spent a year as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Pacific in
1998-99 after serving briefly with the Navajo Public Safety Division.
She assisted the warden at the Arizona State Prison in Winslow with
legal issues from 1990 through 1993. Starting in 1988, she spent two
years as a hearing officer for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment
System.
A 1962 graduate of Phoenix Indian High School, Judge Maestas attended
Diné College-Tsaile, before earning her bachelor of science
in justice studies in 1994 from Arizona State University-Tempe, followed
by a master of science in the same field three years later.
The new Judge Benally will join her sister Jennifer in the unique
distinction of being the only sisters who are Navajo judges, serving
at opposite ends of the reservation some 180 miles apart.
A resident of Window Rock, and a bar association member, she was a
White Collar Crime Unit prosecutor when she applied, having been with
the office since February 2000. Before that, she was the Crownpoint
District Prosecutor for two years. She also was on the prosecutor's
staff in Tuba City and began as a juvenile presenting officer in 1992
in Kayenta.
She attended Mesa Community College, Navajo Community College and
Northern Arizona University-Flagstaff, from which she is just short
of earning a bachelor's degree in psychology and criminal justice.
On Thursday the Navajo Nation Council confirmed its appointments by
President Kelsey Begaye, ending almost a year's search by the council's
Judiciary Committee that also had to find two new Supreme Court associate
justices during a period that began with a single opening.
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Pinto honored at Legislature
Walter Howerton Jr.
Legislative Reporter
SANTA FE — Another day, another budget.
A new budget proposal moved to the floor of the New Mexico Senate
on Monday as lawmakers try to come up with something they can live
with and Gov. Gary Johnson will not veto.
Time is due to run out on the 30-day legislative session at noon onThursday
and Johnson already has said he might be willing to let the state
shut down on June 30 if lawmakers cannot pass a budget that suits
him.
The Legislature's first effort at a budget was vetoed by Johnson last
week. He also vetoed the House bill that would have allowed the used
of millions of dollars from the national tobacco settlement to shore
up the budget...
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Bill benefits drug offenders
SANTA FE (AP) — Some people released from prison after serving
sentences for drug-related felonies would be eligible for welfare-to-work
benefits under a proposal approved Saturday by the House.
Currently, drug offenders with children are prohibited from receiving
cash payments and other welfare-to-work benefits for five years
after their release from prison or the completion of their probation.
The proposal by Rep. Joe Thompson, R-Albuquerque, would eliminate
that prohibition...
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Ex-escapee's wife is also under arrest
Andrea Egger
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Gallup Police arrested a jail escapee's wife after
she tried to hide her husband Saturday.
Harold Grey, 29, of 609 E. Wilson Ave., was arrested Saturday on
charges of escape from jail and eluding police after he escaped
from the custody of a McKinley County Adult Detention officer Friday
morning at the McKinley County Courthouse, where he was going to
plead in five separate felony cases, according to a McKinley County
Sheriff's Department report. An anonymous person reported Grey and
his wife, Lucinda Grey, 27, of Yah-Ta-Hey, were seen getting into
a car at 513 E. Princeton Ave., according to a Gallup Police report.
Officer Melanie Tom wrote in the police report that she and Officer
Landon Zunie went to the Princeton address and met with the Greys
inside a car. But at first, Lucinda Grey said the man in the car
with her was Gerald Grey, and that Harold was inside the residence...
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Crime Stoppers has reward against burglary
Staff Report
GALLUP — McKinley County Crime Stoppers are offering a reward
for information about a burglary Thursday in Gallup.
Gallup Police were called around noon to the 700 block of South
Seventh Street to investigate a burglary, according to a police
report. Dispatchers described the "suspect vehicle" as
a four-door, older model blue car.
Officers met with Gilbert Torres, who said he came home and noticed
the car parked in the dirt in front of his house. He saw a man running
from the house, carrying clothing, according to the report.
"The vehicle started to speed off, almost dragging the male
that was running from the house," Officer Rosanne Morrissette
wrote in the report.
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Dennehotso recall election canceled
Jim Maniaci
Dine' Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Election Administration has canceled
the Dennehotso Boarding School board's recall election originally
scheduled for today.
Elections Director Carol Kirk Perry said when the recall committee
submitted its amended petitions it listed all five board members,
while the tribal law clearly requires one petition per name.
"In addition, internal review of the petitions also indicates
that the petitions present some evidence of alteration of signatures
and duplicate counts," Perry wrote to Recall Chair Martha Littleman.
Under tribal law at least 60 percent of the people who voted in
the last election for the officer proposing to be recalled must
sign the petition seeking the special election...
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George Winston coming for concert
Staff Report
GALLUP - The Gallup Community Concert Association and the Community
Food Bank are sponsoring a special concert featuring Grammy Award
winning pianist George Winston. The concert will be held at 7:30
p.m. on Monday, February 18, at the Gallup High School auditorium.
The price of admission is $15, plus the donation of one or more
non-perishable food items, which will be given to the Community
Food Bank. There will be food collection baskets at all the auditorium
entrances. Season ticket holders of the Community Concert Association
are entitled to a $5 ticket discount.
For nearly thirty years, George Winston has been a successful recording
artist, world-renowned pianist, composer, and music producer. He
began his career as a solo pianist and guitarist in 1972. In that
year he released his first album,"Ballads & Blues 1972,"which
still remains an active and popular recording...
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Deaths
Julius Dean Dehiya
MARIANO LAKE — Services for Julius Dehiya, 31, will be held
at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 13 at Mariano Lake Community Church.
Pastor Jones Dehiya will officiate. Burial will follow at the private
family cemetery, Mariano Lake.
Dehiya died Jan. 27 in Albuquerque. He was born April 26, 1970 in
Gallup into the Mexican People Clan for the One Who Walks Around
You People Clan.
Survivors include his son, Delano Dean Dehiya of Pinehill; daughter,
Selena Dehiya of Pinehill; parents, Rena Tabaha of Chambers, Ariz.
and Jimmy Dean Begay of Gap, Ariz.; brothers, Aaron Tabaha of Albuquerque,
Joshua Tabaha of Mesa, Ariz. and Travis Tabaha of Phoenix; sisters,
Corena Flowers of Columbia, S.C. and Serena Ann Groves of Spanaway,
Wash. and grandmother, Irene C. Dehiya of Coolidge.
Dehiya was preceded in death by his grandparents, Angie Dehiya,
Ben Dehiya and Frank Dehiya.
Pallbearers will be Darrell Eskeets, Harold Eskeets, Aaron Tabaha,
Joshua Tabaha, Travis Tabaha and David Yazzie.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Alfred Plummer Sr.
TOHATCHI — Services for Alfred Plummer Sr., will be announced
at a later date.
Plummer Sr. died Feb. 10 in Gallup.
A family meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., tonight at the Tohatchi
Chapter House.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Correction
GALLUP — In the obituary published
for Esther Unale Delara, 75, a surviving son, Max J. Delara, Albuquerque
was omitted from the list of survivors.
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