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Show I II Park Record Thursday, June 2, 1988 Page A1 1 AbM Sod Hit (E(D(B o o o BY TOM CLYDE The road to nowhere I think I am beginning to understand the workings of the Federal Government. It's not a pretty sight. A neighbor brought a horrible Federal scheme to my attention at-tention the other day. It seems the Feds are planning to help the State Highway people pave Highway 35. For those of you who are unacquainted with the major thoroughfares of the state, Highway 35 is the one lane dirt cow path that connects Woodland, where I live, with the thriving metropolis of Hanna, where I think nobody lives. The idea is to pave about 25 miles of a road that almost nobody uses now. When I asked the project coordinator in Denver about it, he explained that they hoped to facilitate commerce. Between Woodland and Hanna? Yep, that's the plan. If the road is paved, all 300 people in Woodland can drive 25 miles over a 10,000 foot pass to get a beer in the little bar in Hanna. The bar is that town's only business, and things have been slow. I tried to explain that very few of the folks in Woodland would be interested in driving anywhere for a beer, let alone all the way to Hanna. He then explained to me that the road ran both directions, and that the good people of Hanna could drive over the pass to Woodland to shop at the Woodland Store on this side of the mountain. If all 200 people in Hanna came over here and bought $10 bucks of groceries, the Woodland Store would be sold out. Besides, there is a store in Tabiona, and that's a lot closer to Hanna than Woodland. Well, the project coordinator for the Federal Highway Administration said, the road would still facilitate commerce. com-merce. In addition to the daily flow of commuter traffic between Woodland and Hanna there would be a lot of recreation traffic. Nice people in their Winnebagos would be driving over the summit in search of recreation and a quality outdoor experience in hermetically sealed air conditioned comfort. But they would have bought their groceries before they left Salt Lake, I explained. Yes, but they are almost certain to have forgotten something, and they will buy the stuff they forgot at Woodland or at the bar in Hanna. Unless, of course, they forgot something that cannot be bought in Woodland or Hanna. That would cover most things they might need or want. It's pretty hard to buy a sleeping bag or an air mattress in Woodland or Hanna. The only steaks available are made of Spam. I talked the plan over with the project coordinator, and asked why they don't pave some other roads, like maybe Interstate 80, instead of paving this cow path over the mountains. Apparently there is not enough money to pave important roads, but there is a special fund just chock full of cash to deal with cow paths that have never been paved before. I suggested that he pave a different route so that all the traffic from Hanna ended up in Kamas and Heber, instead of in my front yard in Woodland. If the paved road routed traffic into Kamas and Heber, there are a whole bunch, of merchants there. If each merchant was able to shake even a nickel out of each Winnebago that drove through, they would all be rich. Not only would the merchants of Kamas and Heber be rich, but those of us who moved to the edge of the known world to get away from the Winnebagoes would not find them parked in our front yards. That seemed like a plan that could make everybody happy. But, the project coordinator explained, those other roads, which are both much better than Highway 35 already, are not designed as state highways, and they are not about to use Federal Highway Administration funds to pave roads so insignificant that they are not even designated as state highways. That would be foolish, especially when there are major state highways connecting important places like Woodland and Hanna that are unpaved and become impassable whenever it even looks like rain. That would not be a wise expenditure expen-diture of Federal Highway funds. Just where do those funds come from, I asked the project pro-ject coordinator. Well, he explained, they come from gas taxes paid by people all over the United States. The good people of Vermont are very concerned about facilitating commerce between Woodland and Hanna. That's why they are helping to pay for the road with their taxes. But it's not just our kind friends in other states who are paying for this road. We even have international support. sup-port. Like most Federal funds these days, a big chunk of the change will come from a loan from the Bank of Japan. I guess they want a road that is passable for the average Toyota, not just Land Cruisers. I think that is part of their marketing strategy. Sales of Corollas will go up if you can get from Woodland to Hanna in one without tearing out the oil pan on a big rock. So, just to be sure I had the whole story straight, I summed it up. We are spending money we don't have, to pave a road that goes nowhere, to provide a safe high speed route between people who don't want to do business with each other, while by-passing two towns struggling to develop a tourist economy, with the added benefit that there will be hundreds of places to park Winnebagoes Win-nebagoes along the way, one of which is my front yard. Is that about it, I asked? Yep, that pretty well describes it, he responded. I'm sure glad we've got a fiscal conservative in the White House. There's no telling what might happen without tight restraint on the budget. SmumiumDjbt ttcm SMmmmmfitt COMPILED BY HEIDI WEST Teen drug use high in Aspen .- ... ,- . ..... ... k V- U, ' Wr. MM! Wtt, HM Ho i IW 'tJ : The Aspen Times A survey of Aspen students shows high school seniors use alcohol and several other drugs more frequently than the national average. At least half of the high school students have used marijuana, more than a third have tried cocaine, and surprisingly, hallucinogens are almost as popular among juniors and seniors as cocaine. Seniors are four percentage points above the national average for having tried alcohol, 23 percent higher for marijuana, double the average for cocaine and almost triple the national mean for hallucinogen use. The survey was conducted by the American Drug and Alcohol Survey organization in Fort Collins, Colo, under the auspices of Gov. Roy Romer's "Communities for a Drug Free Colorado" and the Aspen School District. It polled about 80 percent of the school's students in seventh through 12th grades, and officials declared that probably made their estimates "conservative." But, the' study showed about 16 percent of the 11th and 12th graders are in a "high risk" group, meaning they get drunk andor use drugs every weekend or more frequently. fre-quently. They are considered "in danger of becoming dependent on alcohol or drugs. " Students said they use alcohol and drugs most often when they are at parties, hanging around with friends or driving around. More than half said they are drunk or high at school events. But, the survey showed most students feel great harm can come from regular consumption of alcohol, cocaine, LSD, PCP, "uppers" or marijuana. Several of the more than 150 parents in attendance at the meeting where the survey findings were revealed stressed a finding that Aspen students smoke less tobacco tobac-co than youth in other areas. They credited a community-wide condemnation of cigarettes with convincing con-vincing youth that "it is not cool" to smoke, and suggested sug-gested a similar anti-drug campaign might work. Hunter on hot seat Readers are once again outraged at Aspen resident Hunter S. Thompson for his recent column on how to torture tor-ture a fox. Thompson apparently wrote the piece last year and simply re-ran it last month, but the Denver-based American Human Association (not Humane Society) is still after his pelt. Spokesperson Susan Halberstadt said the group hopes to work with the Humane Society, the Colorado Div. of Wildlife and any other organization interested in-terested in investigating whether or not Thompson really real-ly did what he said he did in his column. So what did he say? Thompson claims a fox ate his cat and was harassing his pet peacocks, so he live-trapped it and sprayed it with a mixture of glue, tar and peacock dung. Then he covered it with feathers, blinded it with mace and released it. The Oregonian newspaper in Portland issued as apology to its readers for running the column, but not before several outraged readers called the Human Association, said Halberstadt. Dr. John Grandy, vice-president in charge of wildlife for the Human Society, said from his Washington, D.C. office, "Obviously this column is an outrage, but he Newspapers-f or-Trees recycling program 4fciM fc..... JUi. !...., (Thompson) thrives on outrageous columns." Grandy recalled the last time Thompson published the column or a very similar one, and noted a Humane Society investigation in-vestigation led to nothing. Local Div. of Wildlife officer Randy Cote said he talked talk-ed with Thompson when his last column came out. "His (Thompson's) first reaction was, i could write about raping and disemboweling a human being and not get this kind of reaction'," said Cote. Thompson was unavailable for comment. THE alL TRAIL U irniitu I He's beary hungry A hungry bear tried to filch a pair of pork chops off an outside grill at George and Lizette Lamb's home in East Vail. George said he was barbequing the chops on a covered grill on the porch when one of the couple's dogs started acting a little strange. Lizette looked outside and saw the bear trying to pick the cover off the grill. At that point, another dog who was sleeping only a few feet from the marauder woke up and chased the bear into in-to a nearby meadow. Neighbors Tim and Dave Gorton joined the chase by car to drive the bear out of the neighborhood. It ambled back and forth from one meadow to another, said the Gortons. They saw a jogger and let him know the bear was in the neighborhood. Just then, the bruin ambled into view and stood on his hind legs. He looked to be about 6-foot-2, said George. Since then, several people have reported a local hunter planned to bait and kill the bear. But, receiving a chilly reception to the idea, decided against it. Wildlife officials have noted moving the bear will not help, since it is likely then to harass backpackers or campers. Poison killed birds The ten eagles found dead in the Vail area probably died from poison meant for coyotes, say wildlife officials. of-ficials. Nine bald eagles and one golden eagle have been found dead in recent weeks, along with 26 magpies, one raven and one woodpecker. All were found within several hundred hun-dred yards of each other at the State Bridge area. Although one eagle showed very high levels of mercury, mer-cury, a lab analysis showed it contained far less than the minimum lethal dose. By process of elimination, researchers resear-chers have decided the birds were most likely killed by poison. Strychnine, cyanide and thallium are all poisons traditionally tradi-tionally used to kill coyotes which also kill birds eating the tainted bait. But, all three are banned pesticides. Gene Bryne, a biologist for the state Div. of Wildlife, said he recalled a similar incident in the mid-1970s where another eight to 10 birds died near State Bridge. They were found to have died from thallium sulfate, the poison used most commonly to kill coyotes. Drop your old newspapers in the bin at Top Stop Tito Great GrubSteak Offerings! First-Our Catering. Be a guest at your own next catered affair with the expert help of Executive Chef Sue Haygood. In addition to the delicious, homemade fare that has earned Grub Steak its outstanding reputation, Sue offers take-out and delivered meals, full bar service, serving personnel, and immaculate clean up. Call 649-7100 ext. 2330 between 8 am and 5 pm Second-Our Restaurant The GrubSteak, Par City's largest steakhouse is famous for its superb: Steaks, Seafood SC Prime Rib Friendly Service 35-item Salad Bar Sunday Brunch Homemade bread SC pastries Hours: Lunch 1 1 :30 am - 2:30 Dinner M-Thurs 6-10 Frist Sat 6-10:30 Sun 5-10:00 Sunday Buffet Brunch 1 0-2 pm at Aston Genesis Resort 649-8060 RESTAURANT Ride into Spring with Snug We Specialize in Mountain Bikes: Featuring Mongoose Scott Nishiki Repairs Accessories Full Bike Shop Rental Rides with Robbie-Ladies only, Thurs. evenings. Meet at Snug Resort Center SERIES. 649-7688 watch for details Located on the first level at the Park City Resort Center we?: |