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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, May 17-19, 2017 A-13 The Park Record Trump, DeVos embolden voucher supporters in Utah Overstock founder says there is a renewed interest By SALLY HO fort. Yet it was still considered an uphill battle given that the Byrne family alone contributed more than $4 million to ensure vouchers would be available. On election day, 62 percent of the voters spoke out against vouchers. Associated Press Emboldened by the new White House administration, the money man behind Utah’s ambitious voucher proposal that was crushed by voters a decade ago says there is a renewed appetite to expand school choice in the state. Overstock founder Patrick Byrne said the school vouchers movement has been rekindled in his home state now that his longtime acquaintance and fellow school vouchers advocate Betsy DeVos has been appointed education secretary by President Donald Trump. DeVos was in Utah last week at an annual education technology conference, where she compared school choice to being able to switch between phone service providers. “There’s all kinds of things I disagree with from the Trump administration, but I love that they appointed Betsy,” Byrne said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The time to strike is when the iron is hot, and the iron is hot right now.” In 2007, Utah lawmakers created what would have been the nation’s first statewide school voucher program. But opponents led by the Utah Education Association gathered enough signatures to take to repeal the bill. The teachers union was armed with millions of dollars for the ef- There’s all kinds of things I disagree with from the Trump administration, but I love that they appointed Betsy. The time to strike is when the iron is hot, and the iron is hot right now.” Patrick Byrne Overstock Founder And after some immediate political backlash, the issue largely disappeared from the spotlight. Lisa Nentl-Bloom, the Utah Education Association’s executive director, said lawmakers have stayed silent on this issue because every county in Utah rejected it. “It’s not really something they’ve had the political interest [in] revisiting because the people have spoken,” Nentl-Bloom said. Byrne on Thursday said the school choice movement has been nursing those wounds and that people recently have been asking for his support in making vouchers a reality. He declined to discuss specifics. “There are some things in the works. People who are back, re- YourParkCityAgent.com alizing the time is now, sharpening their swords,” he said. Byrne said he’s a devotee of Nobel Prize-winning free-market economist Milton Friedman, who in the 1950s first proposed school choice programs. Byrne also is board chairman for the Friedman-founded EdChoice advocacy group. Supporters of the school choice movement contend that children, especially the poor, get stuck in underperforming schools if there’s no ability to choose for themselves. Critics say vouchers hurt public education because it takes money from neighborhood schools. Nationwide, less than 1 percent of children in kindergarten through high school in 2015 used vouchers to attend private schools . Utah does have a limited voucher program, created in 2005 for students with disabilities and special needs. About 900 students use it for tuition and fees at 47 eligible private schools. State Sen. Howard Stephenson said that although the concept of vouchers has been bruised in the public eye in Utah, he and others seeking to expand school options are biding their time by focusing on other incremental changes. On the immediate horizon is Trump’s promised federal tax code overhaul, which advocates hope will include tax breaks for private school tuition that would ultimately encourage school choice. “The `V’ word is not anything special. That’s not what we’re after,” Stephenson said of vouchers. “What we’re after is the right for a parent to choose how and where a child is educated with the tax dollars they’re paying. That’s exactly what Betsy DeVos and President Trump is calling for.” Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — Utah authorities are warning about the increasing presence and potency of so-called “designer drugs” that mix several compounds into one pill, a dangerous trend that led to the death of two Park City teenagers and nearly killed another teen. Drugs such as “pink,” which killed the two teenagers, and other synthetic opioids fit under a trend of “designer drugs.” After the teens’ deaths, the DEA classified pink as a Schedule 1 Drug, which means it has no “currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Authorities held a conference last week to give their warning. Officials are working to determine the compounds being created and sold, Utah Crime Lab Director Jay Henry said. One pill can contain multiple We used to see it everywhere. Bath salts’ was the same thing. As soon as it was scheduled, it dropped off.” Todd Royce Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Analysts have identified 70 to 80 new street drug compounds since 2010, Henry said. Some are filled with “really nasty stuff” and disguised to look like legiti- FREE DINNER ENTRÉE When you purchase another entrée of equal or greater value. Limit two coupons per party or table. Not valid with other coupon or offer. Dine in only. 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SPACIOUS, LUXURY TOWNHOME IN HEART OF DEER VALLEY 1240 Pinnacle Drive, Deer Valley 4 BD | 4 BA | 3,511 SF | $1,295,000 | Details at 1240Pinnacle.com Large, beautifully remodeled and fully furnished Deer Valley townhome, featuring stunning mountain views! This spectacular mountain home provides easy family room walkout to expansive open space, and a short walk to free bus stop and easy stroll to Main Street. Convenient main level entrance, four spacious bedrooms plus an open bunkroom, gourmet kitchen with granite counters, separate family room, private outdoor hot tub patio, and private garage. Utah authorities warn people of so-called ‘designer drugs’ compounds, such as methamphetamine and Fentanyl. Officials said some of the compounds have the potential to be 100 times more potent than morphine, the Deseret News reported. WHAT MY CLIENTS ARE SAYING AL JOHNSON mate pharmaceuticals, he said. If officials can classify more “designer drugs” as scheduled, it might drop the drugs’ street sales, Henry said. When a compound is identified, the crime lab submits an analysis to the Controlled Substance Advisory Committee, which decides whether to schedule it, pending a vote in the Utah Legislature, Henry said. The sale of that drug then tends to drop off, creating relatively quick spikes of dealers moving on from one substance to the next, Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Todd Royce said. Officers say they hardly see “spice” — a synthetic compound that was added to the list of banned substances in 2011 — anymore, ever since it was added to the scheduled-drugs list, Royce said. “We used to see it everywhere,” he said. “`Bath salts’ was the same thing. As soon as it was scheduled, it dropped off.” 435.640.6008 BigAl@ParkCityDeerValley.com SearchDeerValleyRealEstate.com ©MMXVI Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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