OCR Text |
Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black 75¢ Dracula Rises! See A6 GUNNISON VALLEY EDITION www.sanpetemessenger.com VOL. 84 NUMBER 39 MANTI, UTAH • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2005 Gunnison OKs Sun. beer sales WEA THER EATHER Wednesday 60/34 Cooler but sunny Thursday - 69/37 Mostly sunny Friday - 76/40 Increasing winds By Daniel Jackson Saturday - 71/40 Staff writer Sunny and windy Last Week’s Weather (Courtesy Ted Olson, Snow College) Date Sept.25 Sept.26 Sept.27 Sept.28 Sept.29 Sept.30 Oct. 1 Max. 71 85 69 69 72 81 80 Min. Prec. 38 36 53 .33” 47 .32” 40 36 37 KATHY LIN EGGLESTON / MESSENGER PHOTO AT A GLANCE Warden Lowell Clark leads the groundbreaking ceremony at the Central Utah Correctional Facility Friday for the new 280bed unit to be built by Valley Builders. Prison breaks ground for 288-bed expansion Sanpete primary election results available online Results of primary elections in Manti, Moroni, Mt. Pleasant, Spring City and Fairview came in after this week’s Messenger was printed. But you can log into sanpetemessenter.com where voting totals, stories and photos were posted last night as Messenger reporters covered the election. Warden praises community support during 15th anniversary celebration By Kathy Lin Eggleston Education editor Time to register for Girl Scouts The Girl Scouts of Utah is accepting registration of girls 5-18 years of age. Registration is $10 per girl. Call Eileen Jeffs at 283-4379. Forgotten Carols coming to Sevier Tickets are now on sale for Michael McLean’s Christmas production, “The Forgotten Carols,” to be presented Dec. 12 at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield. Tickets are available by calling the box office, or online at www.svc.snow.edu. You said It! “I lost by such close margins that the only way to stay on the ballot was to start my own party. Based on the positive feedback...from the citizens, I feel I have a good opportunity to win.” —Ephraim resident Ned Jensen, who failed to gain the Republican Party’s nomination for Ephraim mayor and so created his own party to campaign under. INSIDE Opinions ........ A4 Lifestyle ......... A5 School ........... A8 Sports ............ A9 Classifieds ... A11 Utah Press Association General Excellence winner 1999 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 KATHY LIN EGGLESTON / MESSENGER PHOTO 90-year-old Miles Jensen of Gunnison takes up the shovel again after being part of the first groundbreaking ceremony in May 1988. GUNNISON—The Central Utah Correctional Facility (CUCF) celebrated 15 years in operation Friday by breaking ground on a 288-bed expansion. “This is another historic day for us,” Warden Lowell Clark said during a groundbreaking ceremony. He thanked employees and volunteers who have worked at the facility over the past 15 years as well as residents of the SixCounty Region who have accepted the prison. “Without you, we would not be a success,” he said. Scott Carver, executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections, said, “We have a great partnership with the community. We have only come from where we were to where we are because of the contributions from the community.” Since CUCF’s opening on Sept. 26, 1990, the number of staff has grown from 243 to 377 while the number of inmates has risen from 353 to1,104. The operating budget was $13 million in 1990 and $22 million in 2005. “Prison expansion is not a celebration,” Carver said speaking of the 288-bed facility and a projected 192-bed facility. “It is, however vital to the well being of our community.” Carver added, “We are known for our outstanding work in corrections. We look forward to the [new] project because we have come to recognize the im(See “Expansion” on A2) Sanpete could be key in gov’s economic plan GUNNISON—The Gunnison City Council voted 3-2 this week to allow local businesses to sell beer on Sunday. The Council decided to review an ordinance prohibiting such sales after Gunnison Thriftway Market complained that the ordinance jeopardized its business by driving customers to nearby towns to purchase beer and picnic supplies on Sundays. Councilwoman Jerolyn Young, who was joined by Councilman Steve Buchanan in voting against changing the ordinance, were skeptical of the store’s claims. “I felt like there was no need to relax the law in place,” she said. “I didn’t think they were going to save that store by selling [beer] on Sunday.” In the past two years, several Sanpete County communities have approved or considered changing similar ordinances barring beer sales on Sundays. Ephraim and Fountain Green approved Sunday sales. Moroni rejected them. An assistant manager at Maverik in Ephraim said that, while he did not have exact figures, Sunday sales had increased significantly since Ephraim’s city council voted to allow Sunday beer sales. “They’re mostly locals” that have led to the increase in sales, he added. Ephraim could host agri-business and business innovation center By John Hales Assignment editor EPHRAIM—Ephraim stands poised to become a key player in Gov. Jon M. Huntsman’s economic plan for Utah. Dr. Bradley Winn, provost of Snow College and member of the Governor’s Rural Economic Development Coordinating Committee, says that Ephraim—and Snow College in particular—could become home to one of three pilot programs to test a major component of Huntsman’s economic development strategy. That strategy includes the establishment of regional business innovation resource centers, and Winn says that if plans currently under discussion come to fruition, Snow College could host one of those centers. In addition, the same center could serve as a statewide agribusiness resource center, a project championed by Utah Commissioner of Agriculture and Food—and Sanpete County native—Leonard Blackham. Winn says the center could help Sanpete, along with the entire Central Utah region, improve its overall economic situation, and that Snow College is eager to be a major player in that event. “It’s been very apparent to me that Central Utah did not take advantage of the economic boom of the 1990s,” he says. Last week, Winn says he and other “Sanpete shakers”—big names with respect to economic development in the county—took representatives from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development on a tour of the college’s West Campus, which conceivably would be the site of the proposed business center. Winn also says a meeting is scheduled with Commissioner Blackham to discuss incorporating an agribusiness consulting center into the plan. West Campus already houses Snow’s Small Business Development Center, a fact that the center’s director, Alan Christensen, says makes Snow a logical choice for the governor’s economic team to set up one of their shops. Christensen says the SBDC already does a lot of what the business innovation centers proposed by Huntsman would do. “Our region is working well, like the governor would like to see it work,” he says. “I don’t think there will have to be a lot of retooling.” According to Christensen, two main conditions need to be met to make the transition from SBDC to a business innovation center. The first would be to increase collaboration between resource partners including private service-providers, other business resource centers KAREN PRISBREY / MESSENGER PHOTO No one was injured—but plenty were startled—when a car accidentally rammed into Dr. Ernest Larsen’s dental office in Gunnison last Wednesday. Dental office gets drilled By Karen Prisbrey Staff writer GUNNISON—On Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 28 Dr. Ernest Larsen and his dental office personnel at 85 North 100 East in Gunnison heard a loud bang and felt the building vibrate. When they opened the office door they saw a car standing on end in the doorway. Diane Wilcox had just left Larson’s office, entered her car, started it, then reached for a water bottle. The car started to roll, and as Wilcox tried to put the brake on, she accidentally hit the gas pedal. The car lurched forward, went over two hand railings and landed in the stairwell of the office building, hitting into the door jam, which brought the car to an abrupt (See “Drilled” on A2) City getting ready to act on trees By John Hales Assignment editor GUNNISON—Gunnison City has a tree problem. For several years city officials have discussed difficulties posed by trees along Main Street, but the city might be getting KAREN PRISBREY /MESSENGER PHOTO ready to do something about it, s a y s c i t y r e c o r d e r M a r i l y n Gunnison councilmembers Jerolyn Young and Lori Nay worked with consultant to find solution to Main Street tree (See “Centers” on A2) (See “Trees” on A4) problems. |