Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2004-01-23

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY
NEWS BRIEFS
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS
CLASSIFIEDS
2
3
4
7
One hundred
votes project
page 4
Leech Lake Tribal Council,
administration needs to be
seriously look at wasted
dollars on Reservation
page 4
District Representative
Jim White addresses Red
Lake members regarding
Homeland Security
page 4
LLB Attorney takes
issue with PRESS/On
A ray of hope at
Red Lake
page 4
Charles Hegstrom, Jr., case referred to Grand Jury
VOICE      OF      THE       PEOPLE
By Bill Lawrence
Charles Hegstrom, Jr., a 19-
year-old Red Lake resident
(believed to be a tribal member)
was arrested last week in connection with a January 10 shooting -spree in which Red Lake
Law Enforcement buildings and
several officers' homes were
peppered. Hegstrom appeared
before U.S. Magistrate Judge
Earl Cudd in Minneapolis on
Tuesday January 20. He indicated only that he understood
what the magistrate was saying;
odierwise he remained silent.
In a Star Tribune article, Randy Furst described the shooting
spree as eerily reminiscent of
the Washington, D.C. Sniper
shootings. Prosecutors are alleging in court documents that
Hegstrom drove an old Ford
Tempo around die reservation
while a juvenile male sat in die
back seat with a rifle, firing at
six residences and two Tribal
law enforcement buildings. No
infonnation has been forthcoming regarding the identity of die
juvenile.
According to a Court Affidavit by Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Timothy Ball,
no one was injured from the
barrage of rifle shots although
audiorities found several bullets
in die house of Red Lake Police
Officer William White, including two slugs lodged in rooms
where White's two young cliildren were asleep.
Ball reported a witness had
seen an older model Ford Tempo
chiving slowly past die Red Lake
Law Enforcement Center. In the
back seat was a person shooting
a "long gun in the direction of
the center." The witness "saw
approximately five or six muzzle
flashes as die care drove by."
According to die affidavit, law
enforcement agents interviewed
Hegstrom Thursday, January
22. Hegstrom acknowledged he
drove die car while the juvenile
fired a .22-caliber rifle numerous times at a residence where
he said he knew someone named
Marcel Rainey lived. He said
die pair then drove to four odier
Red Lake residences where die
juvenile fired additional rounds,
dien drove to die Red Lake police department and Red Lake
Detention Facility, where the juvenile shot at both structures and
at parked employee vehicles.
According to the Star Tribune
article, die homes of Red 1 .ake
Police Officer Herb May and
Francis Stillday (fatiier of Kenton Stillday, Detention Center
Officer) were fired on, as was a
personal vehicle parked at Red
Lake Police Officer Robert Van
Wert's residence.
The Tribune further stated,
"Using a federal search warrant,
audiorities searched the home
[of Aaron Hegstrom and Veronica Them Hegstrom, grandparents of Charles Hegstrom] and
found a 12-gauge shotgun and a
small amount of marijuana.  The
1991 blue Ford Tempo, owned
by Aaron Hegstrom, was seized.
Three shelling casings were
found in it."
There docsn' I seem to be
much information regarding a
motive for the shootings. Ball's
affidavit cited an unidentified
witness who quoted a 15-year
old juvenile as saying, "Marcel
[Rainey) pulled a gun on Charlie [Hegstrom]. That's why his
[Rainey's] house got shot up."
After a preliminary healing on
Thursday, January 22, a detention hearing for Hegstrom will
be held. Hegstrom remains in
custody.
According to die I I.S. N lagis-
trates office, 1 legstrom has had
a preliminary arraignment on
Thursday and the case referred to
die Grand Jury. The U.S. Public
Defenders office has been assigned his case. He continues to
be detained.
Leech Lake LICs lobbied for referendum vote on
fate of Shingobee Casino
Bv Diane E. White
CASS LAKE - On Friday,
January 16, 17 Local Indian
Council (LIC) officers met at die
Palace Casino & Hotel to determine die fate of die Shingobee
Casino & Marina Emporium
Leech Lake's Gaming Controller, Dim Erickson handed out
financial documents relating
to die $51.5 refinancing loan
from die Shakopee N klewakan-
ton Sioux and Bremer Bank
of Brainerd. Randy Fiiui also
handed out financial data outlining die initial S14.6 million
loan/investment plan from Marketing Acquisition Underwriters,
Inc. to the current prospective
lender, the Marshall Group's
four options. Steve Erickson of
die Marshall Group was on hand
to present the two newest loan
options, A and B. Loan Option
A is a loan for S 10,225,000.
Loan Option B is a loan for
$8,003,000.
The proceeds of each loan option will build the proposed casino building at Shingobee and
purchase the land adjacent lo
die building. Each loan option
will also pay for land located
behind the Northern I ights
(known as the "Mallory" land)
and fund a portion of die 100
1 Iomes Project. Neither option
will fund die entire 100 homes,
instead Option A will fund 65
homes, mid Option B will fund
38 homes.
Chainnan Pete White lobbied
hard during the entire meeting
for die LICs to accept one of
these loan options stating his
Administration has cunendy
shut down construction at Shingobee and discontinued building homes until the financing is
in place. The option to build die
100 homes is definitely tied to
building the Shingobee Casino
and purchasing the adjacent
land; however, the marina is op
tional. While insisted the 87 slot
machines that will be moved
from the Northern I ights Casino will be solely used to pay
back one of these loan options.
Chainnan White painted a
rosy picture of the refinancing debt repayment stating the
Northern Lights revenue alone
satisfies the $356,928 monthly
payment and forecasted the 87
slots are expected to net S1.5 to
$1.8 in annual net revenue on
a forecast of $ 1-U) per machine
per day.
George Goggleye 111, White
Oak and Northern I ights,('asino
Manager refuted these statements. He stated he reviews
weekly financial reports ;md
slates the Northern Lighi  .
"barely" makes its monthly
payment to the .\ [dew akanton/
Bremer refinancing loan. He
further stated that another 87
slots at White Oak will not
LICS to page 5
Moondance Jam party at Northern Lights Hotel on
Leech Lake Tribal members
By Diane E. White
WALKER, MN - Chainnan
Pete White and guests celebrated
die 2003 summer event, Moon-
dance Jam, chalking up $6,784
in room charges, including a $50
charge to repair a carpet burned
by a cigarette. Guests included
Archie LaRose, LLBO Secretary-Treasurer, Mike Johnson,
former Chief Executive Officer
at die Business Corporation;
Craig Potts, owner, Casino Cash
Systems, Inc.; Irene Auginaush,
(cunent or former) While Eardi
Tribal Council Member; Bill
Bieloh, owner promoter Moon-
dance Jam; Sarah Wakanabo of
Deer River; and Steve Hoopman
of Grand Rapids.
White and Bieloh each stayed
in a suite at a cost of $235 per
night. Bill Bieloh is the owner
and promoter of the annual event
Moondance Jam. He also owns
Moondance Ranch and recendy
sold Bieloh's Grocery Store to
Jubilee Foods of Duludi. Odier
members of die party single
room charges ranged from $120
per night to $194 per night.
White charged $1,105; Bieloh
charged $740. LaRose charged
$480.
Internal gaining records show
all charges were made between
July 11 - 13,2003 and charged
off, including taxes; records stating, "No tax, Tribe's paying."
This amount was flagged and
reported to the Tribal Council
by an ashite A/P Manager who
reported that a check was made
out to Gaming as requested by
Chainnan White.
According to NIGC, "eomping" is a practice that has guidelines. The Tribal Gaming Regulatory shall approve and comply
widi procedures for the authorization, issuance, and tracking
of complimentary services and
items, including cash and noncash gifts. "Comps" may include
conditions or limits and shall
include effective provisions for
audit purposes. A person who is
not authorized to give "comps"
(such as an auditor) must provide
on a mondily basis, die 1) Name
of customer who received the
complimentary service or item;
(2) Name(s) of audiorized issuer
of die complimentary service or
item; (3) The actual cash value
of die complimentary service
or item; (4) The type of complimentary service or item (i.e.,
food, beverage, etc.); and (5)
Date the complimentary service
or item was issued. These reports shall be made available to
die Tribe, Tribal gaming regulatory audiority, audit committee,
other entity designated by die
Tribe, mid die Commission upon
request.
The current Leech Lake Gaming Regulatory is die Reservation
Tribal Council. There is a current investigation into diis hotel
"eomping" scandal by District
Representatives and the National
Indian Gaining Commission to
answer the five questions listed
above and to determine if dicft
OCClUTCd.
United States v. Lara: Issues of sovereignty
By Jean Pagano
Arguments before the LIS.
Supreme Court in the case of
LI.S. v Lara were held today in
Washington D.C. in a landmark
case concerning Native Sovereignty. The case, involving
Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe
member Billy Jo Lara, presents   .
a unique challenge to decide
who controls the designation of
Indian Sovereignty, die U.S. Supreme Court or Congress.
On June 13, 2001, Bureau of
Indian Affairs (BIA) police officers arrested Billy Jo Lara for
public intoxication on die Spirit
Lake Nation Reservation. The
charge of public intoxication is
a non-federal offense that falls
under die jurisdiction of die
tribal courts, in this case, die
Spirit Lake Nation. While Lara
is a Turtle Mountain Chippewa
emollee, he may still be charged
and prosecuted by another Uibal
govenunent. During the arrest
process, while being reminded
that he was subject to an order
excluding him from die Spirit
Lake Nation Reservation, Lara
struck one of the arresting officers.
Lara pleaded guilty in Spirit
Lake Nation tribal court to three
violations of Spirit Lake Nation
Uibal code, including violence
against a police officer, resisting
arrest, and public intoxication.
He was sentenced to 90 days for
striking the BIA officer.
On August 29,2001, Lara was
indicted by the United States
District Court for Nordi Dakota
for die charge of assault against
a federal officer. This indictment
was for the same incident diat
Lara was charged and sentenced
for by the Spirit Lake Nation
tribal court. Lara moved that die
charge against him be dropped
citing double jeopardy".
The U.S. District Court Judge
rejected Lara's claim that he was
being tried twice for die same
offence by the same sovereign.
The judge claimed diat since
the United States government
and the Spirit Lake Nation tribal
govenunent were bodi sovereign, that Lara was in fact being
charged bv two different sov
ereigns and could dierefore be
charged separately by die U.S.
govenunent.
Being unsuccessful in getting
die judge to dismiss die charge,
Lara conditionally pleaded guilty
to the charge, thereby preserving his claim of double jeopardy.
The case was dien sent to die
LIS. Court of Appeals for die
Eighth District which affirmed
the raling as a divided panel.
At issue are a fonner Supreme
Court mling and a change to
die Indian Civil Rights Act by
Congress. Depending upon the
outcome of die Writ of A Certiorari currendy in front of the
nine Supreme Court justices, die
issue of Native Sovereignty may
become diluted from how it currendy exists.
In die case of Duro v Reina
(1990), the Court held diat Indian Tribes no longer possessed
the inherent authority to enforce
their laws against members of
other tribes. Congress moved
quickly to close this loophole by
CASE to page 3
web page: www.press-on.net
Hative
American
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.  Copyright, Native American Press, 2004
Founded in 1988
Volume 16 Issue 31
January 23, 2004
Incoming Minneapolis police chief, mayor meet
with over 500 indigenous Ecuadorian residents
By Vincent Hill
Mille Lacs Ojibwe Anishish-
nabe Elder & Activist-\ Ipls
With the ink still wet, from
the Mpls police chief confirmation process at City Hall
last Friday, incoming Police
Chief .\ Ic.\ lanus and .\ layor
R. T. Rybak followed through
on a commitment to meet
widi Ecuadorians, residing in
NE. Mpls diis last Sunday.
It should be noted that other
'Latinos' were present at this
(Community Public Forum,
sponsored by The Jobs and
Affordable Housing Coalition at Family & Cliildren' s
Sen ice, 414 Soudi 8di Street,
Minneapolis.
The new Chief mid Mayor
were asked to support the following: 1) Keep and support
die resolution in Mpls regarding Policc/INS separation.
(Immigration and Naturalization Service) 2) Support bills
in the Congress that give
opportunities to immigrants
to obtain drivers licenses. 3)
Teen guilty
of firearm
charges
John Renville certified
as an adult; found guilty of
felony charges stemming
from Dec. 2003 incident.
Jackie Lueck - staff writer
Redwood Gazette
On January 9, John Renville, 16, agreed to be certified as an adult.
"We did a deal based
on the fact that is appears
that our witnesses may
have been lying - at least
in some part," Renville
County Attorney David
Torkelson said Tuesday
afternoon. John Renville
became a household name
in the area Dec. 7 when he
and a female companion
allegedly faked car trouble
on Renville County Road
15. According to initial
report, a man and woman
stopped to help Renville
and Iris companion, when
Renville allegedly pointed
a rifle at them and fired numerous shots.
One of the victims was
also reportedly struck in the
head by the butt of the gun.
Renville and his companion lied the .scene.
She was apprehended
TEENS to page 3
Quarterly meetings with F.cua-
dorians, and other Latinos lo improve communication and neighborhood safety. 4) Expand die
Civilian Police Academy to odier
communities, such as Latinos. 5)
Timeline in the establishment of
an Honorary Consul in Mpls for
die Ecuadorian population.
'Hie questions posed at diis
Forum were more specifically
focused on problems peculiar
to La\ino immigrants-whether
recendy arrived or diose settled
in \ lpls neighborhoods for many
years. Stable mid hard working
South mid Central Americans,
widi their families, by example,
have been residing for die past
decade in near N. E. Mpls.
I thought, both Chief McManus and Mayor Rybak answered
questions that indicated a willingness to comply with die list
of demands posed as questions.
Items # 1 and # 2 listed above
arc sore points for immigrant
Latinos. The seemingly endless
stream of illegal immigrants
from soudi of die border to diis
promised land' jeopardizes services, in my opinion, for established documented workers in diis
country. Perhaps, President Bush's
new proposed temporary worker
program diat is 'to match willing
foreign workers widi wilting employers' will hopefully bring about
some measure of relief in how immigrants are treated.
During die open discussion period a number of comments centered on police misconduct issues
related to ignorance of cultures
and language. 1 was told by one
of the Forum coordinators diat
die outgoing police chief Olson
had in die past refused to work on
listed concerns delineated above.
He eventually begin to listen and
help. The fear is diat recent positive gains made with the Mpls police department will stop.
The new chief promised to
meet with die Ecuadorians and
Latinos on a quarterly basis as
requested. " And I will meet widi
you more often if necessary,"
added die new MPD leader.
Supreme Court hears arguments
over tribal prosecutions
By Jack Sullivan
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -The
Supreme Court will decide
whether an American Indimi
who punched a police officer on
another tribe's reservation can
be charged twice for die same
swing.
The case, being argued before
the court Wednesday, questions how tribes gain the right
to prosecute members of odier
tribes. It stems from a 2001
altercation on the Spiiit Lake
Indimi Reservation in Nordi Dakota.
Billy Jo Lara pleaded guilty
in a Spirit Lake tribal court to
punching a Bureau of Indimi Affairs officer mid was sentenced
to a total of 155 days for diat
mid two other charges.
Lara is a member of die
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, which governs a reservation about 65 miles from Spirit
Lake.
Federal prosecutors later
charged him in LIS. District
Court with assaulting a federal
officer, but die 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered
die lower court to dismiss die
charge.
The appeals court drew a line
between Lara's case mid those
in which tribes prosecute their
own members - which they
do as sovereign governments
within die United States.
In cases such as Lara's, die
appeals court ruled, tribal prosecutors are carrying out powers
given diem by the United States,
making a second prosecution in
U.S. District Court a violation
of die Constitution's double
jeopardy clause.
Solicitor General Theodore
Olson is asking die Supreme
Court to reverse that decision.
In court papers, Olson argued
diat the Spirit Lake tribe's audiority to prosecute members
of other tribes is inherent in its
status as a sovereign government. As such, he argued, both
die tribe mid the Uiiited States
are allowed to file charges over
die same actions.
Eight states, the National
Congress of American Indians
mid 18 individual tribes support
die federal govenunent's position in the case. The uibes argue
that the ability to prosecute
other Indians is crucial lo maintaining public safety on their
reservations.
The case is United States v.
Lara, 03-107.