COUNTY DISPATCHERS

Dispatchers work at their stations in the McKinley County Communications Center, Monday, in Gallup.

Photo by Douglas Tesner

---

---

DiPaolo takes over reins of Ceremonial

Bill Donovan
Special to the Independent

GALLUP — In the past week, the Gallup Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial board selected a new president and agreed to make several changes to this year's events.

Angelo DiPaolo, the former assistant superintendent for the Gallup-McKinley County School District, was elected the event's new president. Louis Bonaguidi, who has held that position for the past two years, has moved up to chairman of the board.

The changes include the addition of a third parade, more events scheduled on Sunday and a switch in the days of the Ceremonial powwow so it will be included in this year's Ceremonial events.

Bonaguidi, who has been given much of the credit for turning the Ceremonial around in the past two years, was approached about the possibility of a third term but he declined, saying he wanted to spend more time on his business, family and duties as a city councilman.

DiPaolo was a popular choice, being voted in unanimously at last week's Ceremonial meeting.

As chairman, Bonaguidi will be in a more or less advisory position. "Being chairman of the board is a lot less work than being president," he said.

But DiPaolo said he doesn't expect that being president now that the organization is back in the black will be as hard as it was during Bonaguidi's two years in office. "He had a rough time," DiPaolo said. "I want to build on what he and the other board members have been able to accomplish during the past two years.

DiPaolo has served as president and chairman of the board before and has served on almost every committee of the event. He has been an active member of the Ceremonial for the past decade.

Other officers for this year will be Dale Detrick, vice-president; Nancilee Howes, secretary and Harrison Underwood, treasurer.

Joe Athens, the event's executive director said that several changes have been approved for this year's event, which will be held Aug. 6 to10.

A third parade has been added and will take place at 10 a.m. on Friday. The other two parade times — Thursday at 9 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. — will remain the same.

Parades, said Athens, have always been popular with the downtown merchants since they increase business. "When I was a child, we had four parades, one on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday," he said.

A decision was made to move up the Ceremonial powwow a week.

Last year it was held the week before the Ceremonial but this caused a lot of problems in having to erect a powwow arena and then tear it down to get ready for the Ceremonial.

"We also had a lot of the powwow dancers say they missed not being in the Ceremonial," Athens said.

By holding the powwow during the Ceremonial, the powwow dancers will also have an opportunity to be in the parades as well.

The powwow will be held in the arena just west of the main buildings at the park on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. and also at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

"One of the things we are trying to do this year is give people more to do on Sunday," said Athens. "In the past few years, there would be so little happening that just a few people would be wandering around the park at 2 p.m. Hopefully, this will convince some of the tourists who come to the event to stay another day."

This year, however, the Ceremonial plans to have several events scheduled for Sunday.

The rodeo, which is usually held in the afternoon, will be held at night along with one of the pow-wow dances. A regular dance performance will be held in the afternoon by switching the Thursday performance to Sunday.

There will also be performances that day in the amphitheater so it's possible at any time during the day that visitors to the park will have two or three things that they could attend, as well as visit the arts and crafts exhibits.

In other Ceremonial news, the board agreed to sharply increase the number of brochures that have been put out at motels and restaurants.

Last year, the Ceremonial printed up some 60,000 brochures, placing them in racks along interstate highwaysfrom Amarillo, Tex, to Kingman, Ariz. This year that number will be increased to 350,000 with plans to distribute them to racks throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Colorado and New Mexico.

In yet another effort to get more promotion, the board decided to host a booth at the annual Gathering of Nations in April in Albuquerque which each year attracts more than 20,000 visitors.

And finally, the board decided to do something about the pennants that are hung around the town to promote the Ceremonial.

Locals are probably so used to seeing the pennants that they don't notice them anymore, said Athens, but the ones that have
been in use by the Ceremonial are getting old and faded. Some date back to the 60s.

So the board has agreed to purchase 150 new pennants made of vinyl, which lasts longer, and are planning to have a space at the bottom that can be used to advertise a local business.

"We'll sell space on the banner and use that to pay for them," said Athens.

| Top |

---

City's top cop born and raised in Gallup

Andrea Egger
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The Gallup Police Department's Officer of the Year just wants to help people.

Other officers in the department vote on the Officer of the Year, and Officer Billy Padavich, 28, was selected for the honor for 2002. He received a plaque that describes him as an "outstanding worker."

Padavich was born and raised in Gallup and decided he wanted to make a difference in his hometown. He has worked before becoming a certified officer as a volunteer firefighter and a member of the McKinley County Sheriff's Department's reserves.
"That turned me on to police work," he said.

In the reserves, he saw that some people in the community, he felt, needed guidance of some sort, and he wanted to help these people as well as other residents.

Padavich applied to the sheriff's office where some of their applicants were already certified and Padavich had yet to go through the police academy. "Their stumble was our gain," said Gallup Police Lt. John Allen.

Of his job, Padavich said, "It's great. I love it."

Highlights in his career were going to the Olympics in Salt Lake City where he assisted with traffic control as well as other police duties. The other telling moment, in a sad way, was when SWAT team member Cpl. Larry Brian Mitchell was killed May 30, 2001, while rushing a home in which a man barricaded himself with a gun.

Padavich said he always understood the dangers of the job, but this case taught him quite a bit about how what seems like a "simple domestic call" can quickly go south. "I think sometimes we don't know what we're going to run into. Domestic violence can turn very, very bad very, very fast," Padavich said.

Since the incident when Mitchell died, Padavich said he hasn't seen a domestic violence situation as bad. And he's more cautious on the job.

Padavich enjoys working for the police department. "They're a great bunch of people, the detectives, other officers," he said.

He added that he's "still green" when it comes to some police work and definitely detective work. "It's an honor to me," to have all the other officers select him for the award.

Officers like to harass each other in a fun way. Padavich has had to live down the nickname "Papavich," which is what a class instructor who couldn't entirely read Padavich's name tag was calling him throughout the class.

Padavich said he might like to try his hand at detective work, but he'd like to obtain more experience on the streets.

"My contacts on the streets will help tremendously when I come into the office," he said.

He and his wife, Donna, have two boys, William, 10, and 15-month-old Cory. They were high school sweethearts.

They think Gallup is a good place to raise their children. He said he would be scared to have his children become police officers, because of the danger, but he would support them if they did.

Padavich's parents, Debbie Ramirez of Gallup and Donald Padavich of Canyon, Texas, don't like that their son's job puts him in harm's way daily, and they wish he had stayed at his computer job from years past.

"There's always a risk, yeah, that you might not come back. That's scary, but the training I've had up to this point makes me feel confident I can handle any situation," Padavich said.

Padavich went to Gallup High School and after graduation, a trade school for computers in Albuquerque. He later worked as a computer technician.Allen praised Padavich's attitude toward police work. "I think a lot can be seen just in speaking to him, that his whole philosophy centers on helping people," Allen said.

Padavich also is there to help other officers, he said.

"He's done great work. He's really helpful," Allen said.

| Top |

---

Begaye: Shirley to be plagued by jobless rez

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Around noon Tuesday the Navajo Nation's fifth president, Kelsey Begaye, will be a private citizen again for the first time in almost a quarter century.

He will still crisscross the reservation, Kelsey promised in a recent interview, but it will be to concentrate on his Christian ministry, as a layman who sings, plays music and preaches.

"Maybe someday I'll settle down and pastor a church," he added. There are an estimated 1,500 churches spread across the 25,000 or so square miles of America's largest Indian reservation.

Begaye began his tribal career at age 26 and 26 years later he leaves one of only two tribal offices elected by all the people with just a few words of wisdom to his successor. To Joe Shirley Jr., a one-time Bible translator and now a member of the second major religion on the reservation, the Native American Church, he says, "Be humble; be simple; have faith."

The outgoing president believes his successor's biggest problem will be the unemployment side of the economic development picture.

"For sure, it's not going to go down," he said, adding it will take several terms to turn around.

The incoming president will have to deal with climate changes affecting agriculture and natural resources, as well as national security's impact on the tribe. "We are no where near being secure if anything happens, but we do have our foot in the door in Washington, D.C. My hope is that the Shirley-Dayish administration will aggressively pursue this," he explained.

To the Navajo people, Begaye advises, "Continue to unify yourself as a nation, as a people. Some day it would be great to refer to our tribe as The Great Navajo Nation," Begaye said in an obvious reference to the tribal seal.

The president, in his last full day of office today, believes people would make more progress at the local level if they became involved in their chapter.

"This is the only way LGA (Local Governance Act) will work," he prophesied. Begaye was Speaker in April 1998 when the 18th Council adopted the new title to the code, but so far only two chapters have received their certificates from the Transportation-Community Development Committee.

"It's the only way communities can move forward and reap the benefits of what a fast-developing chapter could get. But the chapters themselves have to move, we can't dictate to them from here, because they know their needs," he explained.

He added that the tribe needs to keep striving for self-sufficiency, to preserve its sovereignty, first of all, and to continue to preserve its traditions, culture and language. His comments came straight from the March 1999" Declaration of the Two Guiding Principles," that he signed, along with Council Speaker Ed T. Begay and Chief Justice Robert Yazzie.

Begaye thinks he and Vice President Dr. Taylor McKenzie will be remembered in history as the team who restored stability to the positions after three men held the office in a little over a year in a tumultuous 1998, his last year as Council Speaker.

And, he believes, his administration will be remembered for what he called "first time ever" projects, many having to do with finances, such as the gas tax on autos and trucks, the sales tax, and the rural electrification project which he believes is the single most important accomplishment of his four-year term.

Other top accomplishments that he lumped into the same category include the establishment of 10 (soon to be 14) Boys and Girls Clubs and the Uranium Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

Begaye also is proud that in his entire career: "I've never had a black mark on my record. That's a good achievement."

With about 18,000 Navajo homes lacking electric service, and another 40,000 without running water, Begaye commented that "to even put a small dent in that is gratifying."

He referred to the five-year bill Congress approved for up to $15 million a year, or $75 million total. Although only about $3 million a year is actually being used, the Kaibeto Chapter member said "It depends on how hard tribal leaders push," with the help of friends such as Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., to get approval to use the full $75 million.

Begaye added that he hopes tribal leaders also will push hard to get more money for road maintenance, although the 18-cent-a-gallon tribal gas tax will help. (It is expected to raise about half as much as Congress allots to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the whole country.)

His two biggest disappointments in four years, the Vietnam War veteran said, were not being able to get President George W. Bush to re-affirm President Bill Clinton's commitment to deal with tribes on a government-to-government basis and not solving the frustrations of the half-dozen Navajo families facing eviction for living on Hopi-Partitioned Land without signing the 75-year leases with the Kykotsmovi-based government.

Begaye reported that he and Dr. McKenzie often were embarrassed at how poorly the tribe pays its top leaders compared to other First American nations. But he understands that while the U.S. president has a "package for life, the Navajo Nation cannot afford that luxury."

The 1969 Kayenta Monument Valley High School graduate turned 52 on Jan. 7. He will live in his son's home in Kaibeto, but said the Navajo Housing Authority house is too small for 16 people of the two families and expects his son, a welder, will have to find work.

"I still need to put food on the table," Begaye said, so he is looking at various offers as he needs three more years to qualify for tribal retirement. Before becoming a council delegate, he worked for the tribe's Behavioral Health Department
Begaye said he also wanted to clarify some things about the recent situation concerning his Kaibeto house, which was incorrectly reported as being in Kayenta.

"With Navajos there is no such thing as being homeless because of our clans and extended families," he said.

He added that Delegate Young Jeff Tom, in introducing a resolution to take $75,000 from the Undesignated Reserve Fund to help Begay with housing, "without my coaching," was to replace a home the veterans blessed my family with in 1990 or 1991."

Delegate Tom "was coming from the length of my service record with the Navajo Nation and thought it would be a kind gesture to someone who has devoted (all those) years to the Navajo Nation government," Begaye explained.

He added," It was the council's choice not to replace it, so I have to look for other resources."

The Begaye home in Kaibeto burned down in 1996 while he, wife Marie, and their children were living in Window Rock when he was speaker. The tribe provides the speaker, the president and Miss Navajo with official housing during their terms of office.

| Top |

---

Area Sports

Alan Arthur
Assistant Sports Editor

GALLUP — The Gallup Bengals put together a championship effort to win a championship game.

The Bengals, after falling behind 19-0 to start the game and trailing by 23 points early, rallied for a 78-72 victory in the title game of the 59th Annual Gallup Boys Basketball Tournament Saturday night at Gallup High School.

The Grants Pirates captured the third place trophy with a 54-50 victory over the Espanola Sundevils. Taking fifth place was Los Lunas with a 57-41 win over Moriarty and Shiprock left seventh place after beating Window Rock, 68-65.

"It's great. It is fantastic," Gallup head coach Ryan Cordova said after his team improved to 9-2. "It's fun being here and playing in front of these fans. This is probably the most fans that boys basketball has had in quite a while."

The big crowd had their feelings played with early on. The Broncos (8-3) jumped out to a 19-0 lead in the first quarter as everything they did went right and everything the Bengals did went wrong.

Gallup finally got its first basket with 2:50 left in the period as Robb Erickson hit a jumper for a 19-2 score. A steal and a layup by Jeremy Lewis made it 19-4.

But the Broncos got a three-pointer from Chase Hathaway and Dax Crum to increase the margin back to 25-4. A fastbreak score by Hathaway put the Broncos on top by 23 points at 27-4 with 43.3 second left.

With Kirtland leading 27-6 at the end of the period, things looked bleak for the Bengals.

Gallup was still trailing at 30-8 when they went on a 6-0 run with goals by Domonic Romero, Fermin Gallegos and Erickson to cut the margin to 16 points.

Later in the quarter, Romero hit a three-pointer and followed that with a putback of an offensive rebound. Lewis then scored on a fastbreak layup that got Gallup within 11 points at 34-23 with 3:45 left before halftime.

The streak continued as Fermin Gallegos hit 1-of-2 free throws, Erickson had a putback for a score, Guliford hit a pair of free throws and Romero nailed another trey to get the Bengals within 34-31 as the large contingent of Gallup fans cheered loudly.

In that 13-0 run, the Bengals forced the Broncos into five turnovers, all of which Gallup turned into points on their side of the court.

"It's a hot and cold ballgame," Kirtland head coach Steve Scott said. "Excellent start. I think we got complacent. We didn't do what we needed to do in the second quarter to take care of business."

"They just started playing hard, instead of watching things and thinking about things, they just started reacting and playing
with their heart," Cordova said. "I didn't make any major adjustments. We came out with the same game plan we had. We just
started playing harder."

Cordova added, "I wrote on the board that we needed to play heart-er. We had to play with our hearts. And they finally started
getting after it. They were tired of getting embarrassed, I think."

Gallup trailed by only three points at 36-33 at halftime, but they had the momentum. Frustration was also showing on the
Kirtland sideline, as coach Scott argued with the officials over the calls as he went into the lockerroom.

A layup by Clinton Yazzie gave Kirtland a 38-33 lead to open the third quarter, but Gallup went on another run.

Lewis scored on a drive to the basket and Guliford hit one-of-two free throws to get the Bengals within 38-36. A three-pointer
by Guliford with 6:20 left gave Gallup a 39-38 lead.

The Kirtland offense continued to struggle as Gallup added two more fastbreak layups by Guliford and a trey and a goal from
Romero to give the Bengals a 48-38 lead at the 3:55 mark.

Kirtland fought back and tied the contest at 56-56 on a free throw from Yazzie early in the fourth quarter.

The Bengals responded with an 8-0 run, started by a three-point shot from Romero. The Bengals then hit 5-of-6 free throws as
their lead went back up to 64-56.

The closest Kirtland got after that was at 71-68 with 1:55 to go on a short jumper by Matthew Benally. After that shot, Gallup
got the inbounds pass in quickly and Guliford scored on a fastbreak layup to keep the Bengals on top.

Gallup had a strong effort from many players: Romero had 21 points with four three-pointers to go with two assists and two
steals, Guliford had 18 points, three assists and two steals, Lewis had 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and Jared Montano had
10 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals.

For Kirtland, Devon Manning finished with 18 points, five rebounds and three steals, Dax Crum had 17 points and seven
assists and Benally had 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the field.

"I questioned what kind of gas we had left after playing five games in seven days. The way we started in the first quarter, it just
seemed like we were doing everything right," Kirtland's Scott said. "We caught some fatigue. Our biggest problem was our
mental fatigue. We didn't play mentally sharp and you have to do that against a quality opponent like Gallup."

Scott gave a lot of credit to the Bengals.

"They're a very athletic team. They had what happened to them in the first quarter, but they're not going to play a full game like that. My hat goes off to them. Their mental toughness was really evident tonight," he said.

Cordova also shared some of the credit for the victory with the 'sixth man.'

"We put that little press on, gave them some trouble, got the fans in it. That sixth man just takes us to another level and that's what these guys love."

Third Place Grants 54, Espanola 50

Boudy Melonas scored 25 points to lead the Grants Pirates to a 54-50 win over the Espanola Sundevils in the third place contest Saturday.

Grants hit nine three-pointers in the first half, with five of those coming from Melonas, sa Grants took a 31-23 lead by halftime. Marcus Corley and Victor Aldaz each added two treys apiece in that first half.

Grants finished with 11 three-pointers in the game as Aldaz and Melonas each added one more apiece in the second half.

| Top |

---