s THE PORTAL TRAM-MOR- E REALITY This is month old news for those of us who actually live here, but if what Moab's Emmett Mays says is accurate, 'his company, Portal Recreation, Inc.(PRI), will start construction of a 2200 foot chairlift to the top of the Portal this September or October. Mays says the financing is almost in place and expects the chairlift to be in operation by the spring of 1999. PRI will be expected to pay 40 of the cost of widening Kane Creek Blvd. from its intersection with 500 West, a distance of a couple of hundred yards, and must post a $50,000 Restoration Bond to remove the tram if the business fails. According to an interview with Franklin Seal, a guest writer for the T-- Mays said that the project will make visitors to our area more environmentally sensitive. "Our intent will be to educate the visitors about the environment not to step on the ciyptos stuff like that." Well, golly, I feel better already. I can't help but wonder what the impacts will be to all of 500 West and to most of Kane Creek Blvd. if, as PRI projects, 200,000 visitors annually ride the tram in the years to come. Imagine the traffic that will congest these two secondary roads, roads that pass mostly through Moab's residential neighborhoods. Who is going to pay for that cost, not only in dollars for road improvements but in increased risks to pedestrians, especially children, in these neighborhoods? As always, we will J, HOW ESSENTIAL IS ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE? There are so many issues to stay abreast of (or hide from) these days, and were it not for a letter from a subscriber, this one would have passed me by. Alpine Air and Redtail Aviation have been competing for the Essential Air Service contract for Moab to Salt Lake City, and as we prepare to go to press, it appears Alpine will hold onto the contract it's had for many years. Essential Air Service contract in the first place? Why is there a government-subsidize- d The argument is that it protects small communities from being bypassed by airlines and thus keeps us accessible to larger cities. But at what cost? While visitation to Grand County has skyrocketed in the last decade, ridership on Alpine Air has actually decreased slightly over the same period. At the same time, the government subsidy for Essential Air Service to Moab, funded by taxpayers like you and me, will exceed $1.4 million in just the next two years. In addition. Grand County intends to invest some of its transient room tax revenues to build new hangers at the airport, for use mostly by Alpine Air. If I decided to start using my GMC truck to shuttle people to Salt Lake City, can I expect the county to build me a new garage? I doubt it Finally, I took a look at a page of numbers under the heading: SUBSIDY CALCULATION FOR ALPINE AIR'S ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE AT MOAB, UTAH. I noticed that while direct operating expenses are broken down in a fairly concise way, indirect annual expenses of $367,094 are lumped into that one figure and with no further explanation. And apparently no explanation is required. The Department of Transportation says that "indirect operating expenses" are "proprietary information" and therefore not available to public scrutiny. How can a subsidy of $769,572 a year be based in part on indirect operating expenses that are a secret? The next time all you good conservatives out there who support this kind of pork barrel spending, but rant and rave about liberals who "foolishly" spend your tax dollars on school lunch programs for poor kids... well-let- 's call it a draw. just profit-motivat- ...and furthermore Id like to say that ifs time we got this countTyof ours moving again. We must build a bridge to the 21st centuryl A chicken in every potl As long as... Uh, Wm...this is your ad for the campground. The campaign ads don't start until the Fail. ed BUSTER THE CAT IS MISSIN- G- Buster disappeared on the 21st of March near 300 North 6 400 East n neutered male, (the Sunflower Hill B 6 B area). He is a tannish-orang- e 6 with a stubby tail. full-grow- If you have seen Buster call Erin at 259-258- 2 Grill House MOABS STEAK PLACE OPEN: 10am to 9pm & Mon.-Thurs- .: FrSat-Su- n: 10am to 10pm For the first time nine years, have I reason to advertise in the Zephyr. .ASy ft. Grandpa Buck 1393 N. HIGHWAY 191 SERVING DINNER NIGHTLY (435) 259-520- 1 STATE LIQUOR LICENSEE 61 N. Main St. Moab. UT 84532 (435) tillphatlasal.net 259-980- INTERNET: 8 (888)479-980- 8 www.tomtill.com www.moabutah.combucks