Teen’s letter leads

to arrest in 2000 death

Spokane, Washington (AP)

A woman has been jailed for investigation in the death of her husband six years ago on the basis of their daughter’s recently discovered account of the episode. Teresa Rodriguez, 42, was booked into Spokane County Jail during October for investigation of first-degree manslaughter in the death of her husband, Dennis W. Coffey, 48. He never regained consciousness after falling down the stairs at the family’s home and died six days later on Oct. 20, 2000. Detectives said they learned only recently that their daughter, now 17, had witnessed her father’s death. Police said they were aided by Coeur d’Alene tribal police in Idaho as well as by the teenager’s letter.

Colville leaders seek federal aid to cut suicide rate

Nespelem, Washington (AP)

Alarmed by a suicide rate 20 times the national average, leaders of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville have enlisted federal aid to try to stop young adults from killing themselves. Nine suicides have been confirmed this year on the nearly 2,200-square-mile Colville Reservation, home to about half the 8,700 enrolled members in 12 Indian bands, Tribal Business Council Chairman Michael E. Marchand said. Andrew C. Joseph Jr., chairman of the council’s health and human services committee, said most of the deaths were among young adults, “some of them new parents.”

Charge dropped against man in shooting death

Farmington, New Mexico (AP)

A federal magistrate granted a request by prosecutors to dismiss a criminal charge against a 23-year-old Shiprock man, who had been accused in the shooting death of another Navajo member. Elbert Barber Jr. initially was charged in the Aug. 21 death of Frankie Burnside. However, the charge was dismissed during October without prejudice by Chief U.S. Magistrate Lorenzo F. Garcia, meaning prosecutors can refile the charge. “It means that they can bring the charge back later if they find more evidence,” said Norman Cairns, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Teen charged in fatal shooting in Green Bay

Green Bay, Wisconsin (AP)

A 15-year-old boy faces a charge of first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of a man outside two Green Bay nightclubs. Carl Morgan, who was living in Green Bay but had lived in Shawano near the Menominee Reservation, also was charged Oct. 18 with attempted homicide and recklessly endangering safety as a result of the incident October 13. Authorities said there was a verbal altercation that escalated until Morgan got a gun from a car trunk, shot 21-year-old Greg Smith of Green Bay to death and also shot at another man. Immediately after Morgan’s court appearance via videocamera from jail, his relatives expressed their sympathy to the victim’s family in a statement read by Jason fish, Morgan’s cousin.

Taken Alive found

guilty for manslaughter

Sioux Falls, South Dakota (AP)

A 30-year-old Mobridge man has been found guilty in the death of another man who was assaulted in March near Little Eagle on the Standing Rock Reservation. Ralph Taken Alive Junior was convicted in U.S. District Court of voluntary manslaughter for leaving Clayton Elling, 53, to die of hypothermia. Taken Alive also was found guilty of using a club to assault another man near Wakpala in February. Taken Alive will be sentenced later.

Honeywell agrees on $451 million plan to clean lake

Syracuse, New York (AP)

New Jersey-based Honeywell Inc. will spend $451 million to help clean up Onondaga Lake, once a sacred tribal waterway turned into a toxic stew by a century of municipal and industrial pollution. The agreement announced during October is one of the largest legal settlements against a polluter in state history, said Gov. George Pataki and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Honeywell will commit to a nine-year cleanup plan that calls for dredging 2.65 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the five-mile long lake on Syracuse’s northeastern limits, according to a consent order to be filed in U.S. District Court in Syracuse. Additionally, Morris Township, N.J.-based Honeywell agreed to seal 579 acres of lake bottom with a cap of sand, gravel and other material.

Harrah’s spends $8 million on casino question

Providence, Rhode Island (AP)

Harrah’s Entertainment has spent more than $8 million to push for a ballot question that would change the state constitution to allow a Narragansett casino in West Warwick. During September alone, Harrah’s spent $3.2 million, about $106,000 a day, on TV and radio ads, polls, consultants and “community relations,” such as donations to community groups, The Providence Journal reported. The main group that opposes the casino, Save Our State, has spent $1.4 million to date. Most of that money has come from the state’s two other gambling facilities, Lincoln Park and Newport Grand.

Police officers find marijuana in hamburgers

Los Lunas, New Mexico (AP)

Three workers at a Burger King restaurant were arrested during October after two Isleta tribal police officers discovered that the hamburgers they ordered were sprinkled with marijuana. The Isleta Police Department officers ate about half of their burgers before discovering marijuana on the meat. The officers used a field test kit to confirm the substance was pot, then went to a hospital for a medical evaluation. The three Burger King employees – Justin Armijo, 19; Robert Nuckols, 21; and manager Joseph Ledesma, 33 – were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and aggravated battery on an officer, a felony.

Sioux Falls agency gets federal grant for youth

Sioux Falls, South Dakota (AP)

American Indian Services Inc. of Sioux Falls is to get a $300,000 federal grant from the Community Empowering Youth Program, according to Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. The funding aids organizations such as American Indian Services in helping youth, Johnson said in a release.

State signs social services agreement with Arapaho

Cheyenne, Wyoming (AP)

The state of Wyoming has signed an agreement with the Northern Arapaho Tribe to provide for the delivery of social services to needy families. Gov. Dave Freudenthal and Northern Arapaho leaders approved the agreement with the Wind River Reservation. The agreement concerns the delivery of services through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The Wyoming Department of Family Services has helped with the delivery of social services to the tribes since the 1970s, and the contract makes that agreement formal.

Jamie Kevin Roach

charged with killing wife

Sioux Falls, South Dakota (AP)

An Eagle Butte man has been charged with killing his wife. Federal grand jurors in Pierre indicted Jamie Kevin Roach, 42, on one count of second-degree murder, according to court documents. He is accused of killing Debbie Sue Roach, 44, on Sept. 5, 2006, at their Eagle Butte home on the Cheyenne River Reservation. The indictment said Roach killed his wife by strangling and cutting her throat. Roach is scheduled to stand trial in November.

Yankton get grant to finish correctional facility

Sioux Falls, South Dakota (AP)

The Yankton Sioux Tribe Adult and Juvenile Correctional Facility will receive $695,000 for its justice system. The grant supplements a previous $2.9 million award to finish construction of the 21-bed facility, which will house nonviolent offenders under tribal jurisdiction.

Tomah district drops Indian logo and mascot

Tomah, Wisconsin (AP)

The Tomah School District will drop its Indian logo and mascot. The school board voted Oct. 19 to retire the Indians at the end of the school year. The decision came after the State Department of Public Instruction urged all Wisconsin school districts to drop Indian nicknames. Board member Joan Greendeer-Lee, an American Indian, urged the board to drop the mascot and move on to issues that promote education. Some local residents wanted to preserve the Indian mascot. A petition signed by about 300 people was presented to the board in support of it.