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Show MOAB, UTAH ww. moab t i mes co m Volume 108 'Number 36 50 Thursday, September 6, 2001 , rmrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmammmmtmmm WEATHER FORECAST Thursda- Judge won't delay oil exploration y- Sunny High 87 Low 53 A federal judge has denied an environmental groups motion to delay a seismic oil exploration project outside of Canyonlands National Park. After a four-hohearing last Thursday, U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins ruled the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) failed to show that the project, approved earlier this month by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), would irreparably harm the environment. SUWA argued that the ELM did not adequately consider threats to sensitive wildlife species and soils within the 36- - Friday. Isolated High 81 Low 52 -- Saturday . Low 53 High 86 Two-wheele- Qt xtv Partly Cloudy by ur vl -- . 'Qc ' Partly Cloudy High 86 Low 53 Sunday vy Protesters may block trucks rs of a different variety Continued on Page A2 Franklin Seal w riter staff Environmentalists launched a protest campaign last w eek aimed at blocking an oil exploration company from starting a seismographic project north of the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. The Bureau of Land Management last month issued a permit to Veritas DCG Land, Inc. to begin laying seismo- graphic cables and running their vibroseis" trucks on Sept. 1. The automobiletravel magazine VIA offers this feature of the Moab area, as pictured above. seems of a different sort motor- are also cyclists enjoying the area as they travel to rallies and vacations. B1 WEATHER HISTORY Date- - Prvcip. High-Lo- Aug. 29 100 Aug. 30 S3 63 62 --- Aug. 31 59 T 95 67 97 55 100 56 102 62 T 99 Sepll Sept. 2 Sept Sept 3 4 --- one-tim- Music, art, its all this week! It's time for the September Art Walk, and there are oodles of galleries to see this month.The event coincides with the annual Music Festival, so there is no shortage of entertainment For a of complete events, look inside The run-do- Extra! nt You'll find weekly events, a TV guide, horoscope, crossword, calendar, real estate listings, classifieds and more. Inside The T imes Business Directory. B7 Dining Lodging: B3 Editorials, Letters: A6-- 7 Historic Photo: A2 & Notices: 6 Obituaries: A2 Region Review: B8 Sports: B1-- 2 d exploring. The article also highlighted Moabs cushier side, giving Gonzo Inn, Center Cafe, Moab Brewery and Sunset Grill honorable mentions. But Murphys praise was faint. The town of Moab, much of its housing slapped together for uranium miners more than four decades ago, will always seem slightly underwhelming after a day in the surrounding canyonlands. But so what? Youre here to be outdoors. Moab also got a big splash in the summer issue of Continued on Page A2 The Times-lndepende- nt call ubscribemoabtime.com 7 be This nt news-pap- is 7 X) printed on recycled paper and is recyclable. I Hallelujah! Thats what Moab resident Jack Halverson remembers saying Tuesday morning after the phone rang. On the other end, Halversons Grand Junction, Colo, attorney told him the U.S. government had finally paid up. Later that day, Halverson traveled to Grand Junction to pick up a check for a little over $89,000. The money is part of a program to compensate uranium miners who later developed illnesses related to their work. Halverson first filed for the compensation in 1994, four years after the government created the program under the This is a scene from a computer game that provides the viewer a tour through the area. Can't get here this year? Try the computer by Franklin Seal staff writer Friends cant get to Moab this year? Not to worry. Just send them a copy of virtual Moab instead. A leading computer game developer two weeks ago released a new version of its popular racing simulation, including a virtual Moab along with two other racing environments. Actually, the developers call the environment Moab but reportedly', it is Archps National Park that gets all the attention. ofT-roa- d The game is called Test Drive Wide Open. Its the latest in a series of four racing games developed by Angel Studios of Carlsbad, Calif, and Infogrames, Inc., of New York, N.Y. Off-Roa- d: off-roa- d Under the headline, Live the dream. Feel the rush. Win the race! the developers website describes how the game works: New for Wide Open , you can go anywhere you want in three exotic locales: Yosemite, California; Big Island of Hawaii; and Moab. Dozens of tracks criss-cros- s these vast environ- - ments, providing a wide variety of racing challenges. Better yet, you can take rugged shortcuts across open terrain to reach the finish line in first place! Available only in the new Playstation 2 format, the game is sold locally by Wizards of the Desert. Wizards owner L.X. Skye has tried the game and says it's fun. Theres a mode called free roam where you can just drive around, Skye says. The areas around Moah arent geographically accurate, but we found Delicate Arch, Lions Back, Landscape Arch, Turret Arch, Arches National Park entrance (theres a sign you can run through) and, oh yeah, Balanced Rock. For those worried about virtual drivers somehow jumping the cyber barrier and clogging Moabs real Main Street, have no fear. Theres no hint of downtown Moab, Skye adds, theres just huge areas of desert. Complete with a soundtrack by Metalhea, Skye says Wide Open is aimed at a young audience. It sells for $49.95. Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1991, which recognized the contributions uranium miners made to the nations Cold War effort. He says until the mid-70- s he worked in a variety of uranium mining jobs, including two or three dog holes small exploratory mines. But the work petered out, Halverson remembers. When the government quit buying uranium they cut that business off. About two years ago, he began having difficulties breathing. He says he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. Now, he survives only by breathing from an oxygen bottle 24 hours a day. After filing for the compensation through his attorney, Keith Killian, who handles many similar cases, Halverson, like hundreds of other claimants, has had to wait. Though Congress passed the legislation in 1991, it has been slow to fund it. Finally, six months ago, Killian called Halverson to tell him the U.S. Justice Department had issued him an IOU because the trust fund for the payments ran dry in the spring of 2000. But years of lobbying efforts by the miners finally paid off last month when President Bush signed a bill that allowed the Justice Department to pay off the Continued on Page A2 Festival organizers duh second week boldly unique The Moab Music Festival in its second week offers an alluring line-u- p of diverse musical programming that is richly imaginative and boldly unique, organizers say. On Friday, Sept. 7, the festival presents one of the most unusual and interesting concerts in its history The Mysterious East. The concert showcases the work of the festivals 2001 composers-m-resi-denc- Story, Page A3 e Chen Yi and Zhou Long, performed by the Shanghai String Quartet, and other festival musicians. Among the evenings highlights will be the performance of Xu Ke, an g erhu Chinese violin) virtuoso sometimes referred to as the Paganini of the erhu through both his musicianship (two-strin- er ar by Franklin Seal staff writer ' See Related To subscribe to Moab miner receives $89K 7-ye- Travel pubs offer praise and digs by Franklin Seal staiT writer The bumper sticker reads New York, Tokyo, Paris, Moab the intent, to jar the reader with a non sequitur. Eight years ago, when that Bticker first began appearing on cars around town, the humor was obvious. But now Moab 6eems to be taken seriously as a world-clas- s destination. The summer issue ofAcura Style magazine had nothing but praise for the area. And the cover of VZA, the California State Automobile Associations membership magazine, listed travel articles about Tahiti, Sam Francisco and Moab and gave them equal billing without blinking. The article, which went out to approximately 3.5 million readers in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Utah, featured mountain biking on the Slickrock Trail, rock climbing in Castle Valley and white water rafting on the Colorado River. This southeastern Utah town is a launching pad for a dizzying array of outdoor activities," wrote the author, Austin Murphy, senior writer for Sports Illustrated. But along with accolades for its outdoor experiences, Moab took a few digs, as well. e home Murphy tours Arches National Park, of famed author Edward Abbey. After reading Abbeys Desert Solitaire to prep for the experience, Murphy drove through Arches, stopping as often as possible and covering 14 miles on foot in order not to irk Abbeys ghost. In his article, he mentioned Abbeys dread-filleprognostications of a day when Arches would be choked with automobiles, and concluded that just because Abbeys worst fears have come to pass doesnt mean Arches isnt wprth on Page A2 compensation after wait Moab on the map: It opportunities. nize and train more people." The protest is being coordinated by a new organization formed for the But by Virtual Moab becomes a reality Moab is known world wide for its mountain-bikin- g Wednesday morning, none of the thumper trucks had yet begun rolling over the high mesa landscape and the protesters w ho camped on the mesa over the Labor Day weekend had returned to town and were in a holding pattern. That's good," said environmental activist and Grand County resident John Weisheit, it gives us more time to orga- and jaw-droppi- technical displays. His in- novative technique and dazzling perfor- - POOR COPY mances have earned him the respect of inter- prestigious Charles Ives Living Award from the American national audiences and critics, and he has been invited to per- form with some of the worlds top orchestras. This concert presents festival audience mem- bers with a unique cultural and Music Festival artists Chen YI, above, and Zhou Long, at right, musical experience. Chen Yi maintains a fascination with how Eastern and Western music influence one another, and her compositions reflect that interest in their mixing of Eastern and Western influences and instrumentation. She recently was awarded the -in-residence Composer- Academy of Arts and Letters. Born in China in 1953, Chen Yi began studying violin at age 3, hut her formal training and her familys life were temporarily disrupted in 1986 w hen the Cultural Revolution took hold. In 1986, she became the first woman in China to receive a masters degree in composition, an event celebrated with a nationally televised concert of her work. Zhou Long's orchestral, chamber, and vocal works mer e the styles and traditions of 1 both his native China and his adopted homeland of the U.S. Zhou w as also born in China in 1353. He began studying piano at an early age, but the Cultural Revolution also disrupted his training when he was sent to a work as a laborer at a rural state farm. There, he says the natural scenes of roaring wdnds and fierce land fires made profound impressions on him. Zhou immigrated to the United States in 1985. He has received numerous fellowships including awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations. He has also won the 2001 Alpert Award, a $50,000 prize w hich his wife, Chen Yi, won in 1996. In addition to showcasing the works of Zhou Long and Chen Yi, who will be on hand to discuss their music and to take questions Continued on Page A2 tv |