El Paso Times from El Paso, Texas • 9

Energy tax plan: New Mexico gas producers have mixed response 6B El Paso Times Section nn Wj 17 i A ix if A if 1 Tuesday Feb. 23, 1993 City. Editor Robert Locke, 546-6100 AY 2B Deaths 5B Editorials El Paso's Tigiias consider casino-type games TT -L-Ll ...1 1 Today's question: Do you think parents and property owners should pay for the removal of graffiti on city walls? Times staff, wire reports gambling. i 1 TEXAS LEGISLATU ing Commission approved. McDonald said questions surrounding Indian casinos are complex.

"This is a national issue that's being contested in a number of states on what laws apply to Indian reservations and what jurisdiction the states have," he said. Since 1981, the Legislature has legalized three major types of gambling bingo games for charity, pari mutuel wagering on horse and dog races, and the lottery. Estimates are that tax revenue from those types of gambling will make up about $1.2 billion of the state's $36.4 billion Gener- Please see Gambling 3B School bond issue: Voters to decide May 1 3B state allows such gambling and other provisions of federal law are met. The study says the Tiguas and Kickapoos, who have a reservation near Eagle Pass, Texas, contend "that by initiating the lottery Texas opened the door to Indian-run gaming opera tions." A bill pending in the Legisla ture would authorize the gover nor to negotiate a state tribal gaming compact, providing tribes adopted a resolution authorizing such gambling and that the National Indian Gam The tribe doesn't need an agreement with the state to start the bingo games, but it does need to negotiate for the more intense casino-style gambling. Tigua leaders together with Tivolino USA, the group which has the contract to set up the bingo games have been searching for a site to locate the operation.

According to a new study by the House Research Organiza tion, federal law generally allows Indian tribes to engage in gambling activities on reservations, including casinos, if a AUSTIN Bills have been introduced in the Legislature to expand legalized gambling in Texas, with proposals ranging from charity "casino nights" to Indian-run casinos. A spokesman for Gov. Ann Richards said Monday that her office is looking into an inquiry from El Paso's Tigua tribe, about conducting casino-type gambling. "The governor's legal staff has entered discussions with the Tiguas," Chuck McDonald, her deputy press secretary, said. is saVA fSkMaM i ZjJ However, he said, "There has been no agreement on what the state allows with regard to gambling on Indian reservations." The Tiguas, already planning to establish high stakes bingo games in El Paso, are looking into creating what is known as a Class 3 operation, or casino Students protest official's vision for UTEP "The governor is very aware of Ei Paso's role on the border, and that it has been woefully neglected in the past Rosa Presley El Paso assistant store manager "No.

It's not the property owner's fault. The parents of those who did it should also be held responsible for removing it." Sen. Peggy Rosson El Paso. 185 jobs to be created with reopening of copper mine By Marilyn Haddrill El Paso Times El Pasoan named to state board By Robert Moore El Paso Times El Pasoan Rosemary Neill will be appointed this week to the state board that oversees mental health and mental retardation services. "This is a very important appointment for El Paso, especially for establishing the psychiatric hospital here," said state Sen.

Peggy Rosson. El Paso. Bruce Koehler El Paso lawyer "I feel that to the extent possible, they should make the vandals clean up their own graffiti. But, if need be, the taxpayers should pay so the city could be properly presented." I.IJJUHUULJ.... "I ,1.1.

I i 1 Af Jt 1 if''! i' Mf A i 1 A fJ "The governor feels it's important for El Paso to have voice on that board," said Chuck McDonald, a spokesman for Gov. Ann SILVER CITY A Silver City area copper mine idle since 1982 will reopen this year under new owners. Cobre Mining a subsidiary of Metallic Ventures, will use about 185 workers both for underground and open pit mining at a site near Hanover, about 15 miles northeast of Silver City. Most workers will be directly employed by the mine, while about 35 will work for a private contractor. "We're making all efforts to not only hire locally, but also to do all our buying and contracting of services locally," said one owner, Jeff Ward, in a telephone interview Monday from Tucson.

The other owner of Metallic Ventures is Rich McNeely of Reno, Nev. Les Acton of the Silver City area is president of the newly formed Cobre Mining Co. Ward, McNeely and Acton are all mining engineers. Ward said increased copper prices from about 55 cents per pound in 1982, when the mine closed, to about $1 per pound now was a major factor in the decision to buy the mine in December last year. "We feel very, very positive about the (copper) reserve base," Ward, who plans soon to move to the area, said.

"This is one of the highest grade open pit copper mines in the United States, and that gives us a lot of comfort." Ward said most employees will be placed on salaries ranging from $20,000 to $30,000 annually, and will be taught at least three skills to give the company more flexibility in using worker talent. Acton said almost half the work force has been hired, and interviews are being conducted from applications submitted to the New Mexico Department of Labor Silver City office. Yolanda Y. Silva El Paso banker "It should not be paid for by the taxpayers. The ones who write graffiti should be responsible, or their parents if they're under age." Jeff Bowen El Paso Times Protesting UTEP student Victor Colotla displayed a depiction of Texas Higher Education Commissioner Kenneth Ashworth as a gorilla during a rally on the campus Monday.

Students were angry over Ashworth's statement that UTEP will never become a major research university with multiple Ph.D. programs. Senate candidate Jose Angel Gutierrez spoke at the rally. Story, Page 3B. --ii i wiwwiiiiiMMiiiiiwwiiii'iiiiiiii'liiliWHitiNiiriri Ne'" He con- tirmed the governor sometime this week will announce Neill's six-year appointment to the board of the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

The last El Pasoan to serve on the board was Peter DeWetter in 1965. The nine-member board oversees the state agency's $1 billion annual budget. Neill is a social worker who has long been involved with El Paso mental health agencies. "I've seen what absence of good service means for people. I'm a real advocate of community-based services," she said.

Neill, 46, is currently child care administrator for the YWCA. She formerly was director of the Area Agency on Aging for the Rio Grande Council of Governments and directed health and human services programs for the council. She is a former board member of the Casa Blanca Halfway House and is currently on the board of directors of the Life Management Center. She said a top priority will be to make sure the state follows through with its commitment to build an 88-bed psychiatric hospital near Thomason Hospital. The hospital is expected to open sometime next year.

"The Life Management Center has been very active in the local coalition pushing for a psychiatric facility. This community can't continue to exist with the current level of psychiatric services, especially with the lack of adolescent services," Neill said. Neill is the 55th El Pasoan appointed to a state board by Richards since she took office in 1991, McDonald said. Former Gov. Bill Clements, in contrast, appointed only 25 El Pasoans in his last four-year term, McDonald said.

"The governor's focus is definitely on the border," Rosson said. "The governor is very aware of El Paso's role on the border, and that it has been woefully neglected in the past." Editorial: The Times' view 5B Jason Schwarz El Paso student "No. It should come out of a different budget besides property taxes. The city should take the money from different things and do something about the vandalism problem," 't i i 6 to be inducted into women's hall of fame of Kids 'N' Company, a local children's performing troupe. Public service Olga "Cookie" Mapula is a founding member of La Fe Clinic and Mothers Against Drunk Driving in El Paso.

She has served on the board of directors of many civic groups. Civic leadership Mayola Lightfoot Senior, honored posthumously, was the organizer and director of PREPS (Preparation for Responsibility, Etiquette and Place in Society), a club for minority high school girls. The 1993 El Paso Women's Hall of Fame inductees: Civic leadership Ruth Kern, a lawyer has been active in civil liberties and AIDS causes. Professional Kathleen Barber, executive director of the El Paso Diabetes Association, associate executive director of the YWCA and a professional nurse. Science and health Davie Johnson, the only geriatric nurse in El Paso.

Education Iris Burnham, founder of the School for Educational Enrichment. Arts Jan Wolfe, founder mmmMi imMM By Danielle McGIII El Paso Times Six El Paso women honored for their accomplishments will be inducted into the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame March 4. The El Paso Commission for Women will recognize a few of the many women "who have made a significant contribution to El Paso or whose work or gifts have improved the quality of life," Bonnie Escobar, chairwoman of the El Paso Commission for Women, said. The inductees are honored in different fields: civic leadership, professional, science and health, education, the arts and public service. Nominations for the Hall of Fame are taken from area lead ers, as well as from businesses, non-profit organizations or private individuals, Escobar said.

A committee then evaluates each nominee, considering'con-tributions and historical significance to the community. For example, Diana Natalicio, a 1990 Hall of Fame inductee for education, is the first woman president at UTEP. The induction ceremony for the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame includes dinner and begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Tomas Rivera Conference Center, the third floor of UTEP's Union East building. Entertainment for the evening includes music by Monica Gomez; dancing by Lisa Smith; and a 10-minute bilingual play by Las Hispanas De Hillcrest, a I Leland Gamblin El Paso court reporter "The property owners should be responsible.

It would help maintain their buildings in a proper manner." and orders must be mailed by Feb. 25 to the El Paso Commission for Women, P.O. Box 3897, El Paso, Texas 79923 3897. group of seventh and eighth grade girls from Hillcrest Middle School. The play deals with "some things women face," Escobar said.

Tickets are $20 in advance, 532-2355 or Information: 594-2600..