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Show PAGE 3 THE ZEPHYRMARCH 1995 During these winter months, without i deadline looming just ahead, I had the time to look back for a while at the Zephyr and where it's been. 1994 was a Strangs year; in the past the and Zephyr has done battle with Road Districts who want to build $100 million highways, and Theaters rascally County universities who want to build pork barrel Kokopelli Commissioners, and bureaucratized federal land agencies. The fight was mostly one waged But against government, and what could be more popular these days than bashing government? last year was different In 1994 we addressed and focused on the impacts of tourism and the effect its phenomenal growth was having on the permanent social structure and infrastructure of Oils town. As you may recall, people went nuts. Suddenly the Zephyr was perceived to be the enemy businesses from Elgin to the San Juan County line. Telephone d of all hardworking g and anonymous campaigns to deter businesses from advertising in the paper came and went. Friends and foes alike told me to stop whining about the changes and learn to live with it I took all this to heart. Maybe they were right. Maybe I should embrace the New Moab with all my heart and soul. Maybe Rutter's advice was correct I should welcome all the new fast food joints in Moab and then quadruple my advertising rates... Quadruple? I don't think so. After much deliberation and soul searching I came to several conclusions. First whether you call it whining, lamenting, protesting, tilting windmills, fighting a losing battle, or simply 1 documenting the demise of a town the way it used to be, it's what we do here at the Zephyr. believe, deep down, even my good buddy Randy Day would be disappointed if I capitulated and became the mouthpiece for unrestricted ridgeline development Second, the role of this paper Is, among other things to provoke. We are the provocateurs. We come upon an issue, one that perhaps no one would even be aware of if it weren't for the for the public to Zephyr, and we throw it out there (with, admittedly, our own particular slant) examine, to ruminate on, and, if it chooses to, act upon. It is up to the public; the citizens of this decide if it community, to decide if it agrees with us or not And it's up to the community to wants to take an active role or not. The tram is a perfect example. All I could do was to tell the readers that such a project was chose underway and convey my concerns about it. That's it Whether anyone in Grand County choices were they made to go to the meetings, or put together petitions, or form citizen groups citizens' groups. for themselves. Personally I detest going to meetings almost as much as joining 1 am no idealist. I never succeed to the to linked expect made, and Third, point just directly at helping to stop any of the baneheaded projects or runaway development that have left me in a permanent cringe for the last five years. I'm not like the Christian who thinks if he docs good deeds he'll go to heaven. I always remember what Abbey said: Throw a rock at something big and glasay..what have you got to loser 1 do not suffer from a profound sense of disappointment and despair when something doesn't go my way. If 1 were that type, I would have made the leap off the end of Grandview Point a long, long time ago. And when something does go well, when a Book Hiffa Highway project goes down the tubes, for example, 1 feel pleasantly surprised, but crazed idea, tempered by the realization that the highway, like every other temporarily defeated me haunt to back can come again. And finally, if the Zephyr doesn't whine and moan and complain and agonize and protest, if we don't antagonize and provoke and infuriate, then...who will? So, to summarize, if you find this paper not to your liking if you don't realize that, in addition to everything else I've already said, we're just trying to be entertaining until the next comet scours the planet dean, don't read it. Change channels. You'll find nothing controversial in Grit Magazine. 1 highly recommend it And if you're an advertiser in this paper and you abhor the bizarre collection of opinions expressed herein, if you believe your association with this publication is destroying your reputation, if you think that the ZephyT has destroyed the local tourist economy by altering international travel trends, then I think you have no choice but to withdraw your advertising immediately. But remember this, if we really do have the power to alter international travel trends, we also have the power to turn you into a toad. Fair warning tourist-relate- letter-writin- single-handedl- It's They may still be boring, however, and collectively they're even longer. Read one at a time. less painful that way. For the last four years. I've been running old photographs from Herb Ringer's fantastic archives of foe Old West. They are a remarkable document and I've been proud to be able to share them with you. a Recently, Herb gave me something else to consider. In addition to his photos, Herb kept of several much out threw it he erf his early days in Nevada. Unfortunately, meticulous account be of no interest to anyone. But a few of his journals survive. could it years ago, thinking Sometimes they are accounts of trips he took in foe West or even across the country. Others are simple observations and notes of life in the wooly West of 1938. Beginning this month, I am don't going to print some of those Herb Ringer observations in addition to foe photographs. They I am that no a of time a such exists, but longer feeling they give pertain to this area specifically, to of will interest be great convinced that they you. As many of you have already heard, foe Zephyr "watchdog, foe much maligned Scott Groene of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, has moved to Cedar City to open a SUWA office there. Moab is to Cedar Gty what San Francisco is to Moab. As a result, we are happy to still be report that Groene has not been shot or even tarred and feather ecL.yet. However, he will affect of issues that environmental our to as we included in this paper coverage expand attempt oT that his with boy, all of southern Utah. He will sometimes good piece Ken Raitt. I don't know Raitt very well but he always looks so damn serious on television. You'd think he was on a mission to find the Holy Grail or something. Well see how well Ken holds up in the Zephyr. laugh-a-minut- e, Speaking of humor. I recently read a piece in the Sait Lake Tribune about Utah towns that have For example, gone to a lot of time and trouble to come up with a logo for their communities. Move." (No kidding. Bountiful is "The Gty of Beautiful Homes and Gardens." Provo is The Right In 1992, Clinton finished fourth, behind Bo Gritz.) St. George claims it's the place "Where the Summer Sun Spends the Winter." And Clearfield is "Proud of the Past, Keeping Pace With the Future." I think Moab should have a slogan of its own, and I'd like to solicit contributions from you in the form of a contest. The winning suggestion would run across the bottom of the front page, in place of the current slogan: "Clinging hopelessly to foe past since 1989." Be creative. Something like: "Moab: Future Home of Processed Burgers," or "Will Zone to You get the idea. Suit" Or "We're And it seems like a good time to warn all of you...look for the first annual Zephyr Swim Suit Issue, probably in July or August when we're all so damn hot again, the thought of consuming any serious news will be just too much of a strain. Before any of you Gloria Aired Feminists start to file sexual exploitation charges, this issue is for everyone. It's not even limited to humans. We are accepting photographs now for the Summer Centerfold. The winners receive a free subscription and our eternal adoration. Tram-Happy- !" y the County Courthouse to the halls of the US. Congress, from Dale Mosher to Newt Gingrich, we are all feeling a dramatic change in this country. I hope that at all levels of government, the conservative movement remembers what that label means. Or at least what it's From supposed to mean. And who it is they're supposed be speaking for. At a national level I am not much different than a lot of other Americans. I am sick of waste in government. I am sick of bureaucratic red tape. On the one hand, 1 am wary of the Republican slash and burn approach to spending controls, with little thought given to the real people affected by such actions. On the other hand, even the most programs offered and by Democrats usually fall far short of their goals. And it's because no matter how passionate dedicated a lawmaker may be about a particular cause, that passion rarely trickles down to the level of implementation. And so a good law falls into the grasp of the bureaucracy and is transformed...mutated into something it was never meant to be. Job Security for middle management public servants. I Still, whether the program is laden with administrative waste or not, when hear that social 1 have to wonder programs like free school lunches for poor kids are on the chopping block, I what is happening to our compassion as a people. And find it particularly ironic that many conservatives will fight literally to the death for the rights of the unborn child, but will abandon that child, without hesitation, foe moment it is born. In foe West, a lot has been said lately about the concept of individual property rights and the which claims it wants to heavy hand of foe federal government. The wise use movement, that the goal can be achieved is only way "preserve the custom and culture of the West," insists have suggested that Arches through the privatization of public lands. Some politicians locally would be better run by Grand County than by foe National Park Service. West is. But if it means Maybe I don't understand what foe "custom and culture of the foe rural character of its towns, if it means keeping foe open spaces open, if it means maintaining for a surprise. Selling off the public lands in are folks use wise foe trying to live a simpler life, think about foe prospects. to It me scares it. West know we as just will finish foe of the West is: to tear it apart until culture the and custom what But then maybe thats exactly we about to finish the job? now...are 150 years theres nothing left. We've been doing it for 5 vCi tV '7 well-intention- last November's election issue Expect to see some more changes in the ZeffoyT this year. After 1 stared at that mass of for candidates Council County and its 7500 word interview with the would mind their and wondered why anyone in attempt to wade through it all? right dense type The Zephyr interviews have always been long and somewhat tedious; but I didn't fed comfortable cutting snippets from the interviews other. I've avoided the "out of context" charge for most of the last six years and I don't want to start now. But instead of one lengthy boring interview this year, I am going to attempt to do several short interviews with a variety of public officials, agency heads, and private citizens. 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