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Show WaHel - "I - , Wrestling championship gained wrestlers 9 the Morgan n ri ht Morgan County News McPhee has water . . . Cortez, Colo. Rumors that McPhee Lake is "dry" aren't so; there is enough water to sustain the area into the coming year, the Dolores Water Conservancy District board of directors reported last week. However, they warned, if there isn't enough rain and snow within the next few months, restrictions on use will have to be enforced. It is becoming one of the worst drought periods in the area's history, exceeding that of 1977, and the water board is concerned about what it will have to do if the dry conditions persist. It may mean reducing the flow from McPhee from 78 cubic feet per second to 20cfs. Cortez seeks new home . . Pageant of the Arts is American Fork The Utah Sentinel . Pageant getting a new home. They plan on moving the shop from the old American Fork Junior High School to another north Utah County location. Insurance protection on the old jufrior high school building was cancelled and the city asked the Pageant and other rents to find other quarters. The big question remaining for the pageant is the site for this year's production. It had been held at American Fork High School, but many felt the facility is not adequate. There is discussion of moving to Mountain View High School in Orem. ng American Fork Citizen Winter Festival set . . . Panguitch Final plans are polished for the Sixth Annual Bryce Canyon Winter Festival set for Feb. 9 at Rubys Inn. Events will ski race, ski archery competition, a include the annual snow sculpture contest, free clinics and a dance and entertainment at Panguitch's historic social hall, where proceeds will benefit the hospitals effort to recruit physicians. The snow sculpture contest is expected to attract many new entrants this year. A grand prize of $100 is being offered. 17-1- cross-count- ry ' , Garfield County News District looks at water shortage Price As water becomes more scarce, it becomes a . . precious commodity. To officials concerned with providing drinking water it becomes a matter of procurement. The Price River Water Improvement District is considering a proposal that will allow it to buy 1,092 acre feet of water per year fro ten years from the Carbon Canal Company. The water is the only right on the Price River that can be made available from Oct. 1 to March 31. It would be first rights after a 3.5 second-fethat is already leased to Utah Power & Light. The board did not decide to accept the proposal at its meeting, and will consider the contract and make a decision later. et Sun Advocate Missed winter storms . . . million dollar storms Manti Early February's of inches of snow. a with couple the only Sanpete Valley by passed And that light cover of white contained only .15 inch of water. By the first of February precipitation in the valley, with the first four months of the water year gone, is about 30 percent of normal. Over the years, local weathermen say, March and April are the wettest months of the year. much-herald- rTJ 1fl,111i 'tWir, 'i'1 "V"1,1'1 ed Fields Inc, selling properties , . franchise Fields The Park . d holder Park City Corp., for Mrs. Field's Cookies, has listed for sale four buildings and two vacant properties valued at $9.3 million. The real estate includes the Park City Main Street Mall, the Egyptian Theatre and the Dudler Building, all on Main Street, as well as the "Little Red House" on Park Avenue, a parking lot north of the theater and 10,000 square feet of ground behind the mall on Park Avenue. A spokesman said the Fields Corp. wants to maintain its holdings in Pyk City, and company officials aren't planning to cease operating their businesses City-base- there. The Park Record Dissolution vote wins , , , Montrose, Colo. The vote to dissolve the San Miguel Basin Park and Recreation District last week passed by a 7 to 2 margin, with 65 percent of the registered voters in the district casting their ballots in the hotly debated issue. The 702 votes favoring dissolution soundly defeated those 211 who wanted to retain the district. Norwood, where the most vocal vocal opposition originated, overwhelmingly voted to dissolved the district 266 to 29. The next step the district board will take is to pay the current bills, once the tax funds are received from the Colorado Department of Revenue. Then comes the final steps in dissolving the district, which was voted into being just a year ago. San Miguel Basin Forum Thiokol layoff coming Thiokol , , , corporation plans to lay off 250 space Brigham City operations employees by the end of February, a move dictated by completion of research and development on the Space Shuttle's redesigned rocket motors. All the affected works are in nonproduction areas. At the same time, however, the company said 35 additional production workers will be hired over the next 30 days, reducing the number of net jobs lost. The new job actions will bring the number of space operations employees to 4,300, and Thiokol's total work force in Utah to about 7,000. Box Elder News Journal Salt storm aftermath ... Richfield Crews from power companies affected by a recent "salt storm," continue to trace down power lines and equipment problems in the wake of a major outage Jan. 26 and sporadic isolated outages which have occurred since. A Utah Power & Light official said the cleanup of salt from insulators and other equipment at the is still underway to, removed the saltdirt Sigurd combination which came in with a wind which reached gusts of up to 50 miles per hour. The first outage, which occurred Jan. 26, put a large area of southern Utah in the dark for up to an hour and a half, from an area reaching from Gunnison and Delta on the north, to St. George on the south. The Richfield Reaper on j i Thursday, Feb. 8, Times-lndepende- 1990-B- 1 Looking over career in Congress, Nielson sees land issues as important to constituants According to Congressman Howard C. Nielson, the Bureau of Land Management recommendation to set aside 1.9 million acres in Utah as Wilderness is much too high, and he will do what he can to prevent its full implementation. At his last scheduled town meeting in Moab, Nielson, who will retire at the end of this year after four terms as Utah's Third District Representative, said he believes the BLM proposal could hurt the economy in Grand County. Too Much Land "It's too much land," said Nielson. "There are too many natural resource conflicts remaining. Parts of it I can go with, but much of it I can't." Nielson was especially concerned with some additional parcels of land in Grand County added to the BLM recommendation from the Bureau's earlier study of four years ago. He said he was against the plan to include three areas within the Book Cliffs area. "The Book Cliffs are already producing natural gas. I think it's wrong to put them in, he said. Mill Creek Canyon Nielson also said he agreed with Grand County Commissioners that the southern end of Mill Creek Canyon should also not be designated wilderness. "The new BLM recommendation didn't change the numbers very much, but what they did do was give up land in other areas, which may or may not have been good wilderness proposals, and add some in this county," he said. "I think the changes will generally be opposed by people in this county, at least by the commissioners." Book Cliffs He also said the Utah State Legislature will probably be against adding wilderness to the Book Cliffs, because of natural gas deposits in the area "Four out of every 36 sections of public lands belong to the state. The state is already receiving revenue on that land, and wilderness will cut that right off. The state uses that money for the schools, so I think theyll be upset with it." Nielson said he had hoped to vote on the wilderness bill this year, but now does not see a final decision for three or four more years. BLM Wasted Time "The BLM wasted three years time," he said. "They were supposed to have their preliminary study out two years before they did. Then they said they would have their revisions out in six months, and it took another two years, so at least three years of delay can be charged against the BLM. Secondly, there is no real push in the Senate or the House to consider the bill this year." While Utah Congressman Wayne Owens and various environmental organizations have called for more than 5 million acres of additional wilderness in Utah, leaders of the state legislature have come out for no more additional land set aside. The third Utah Congressman, Jim Hansen, has put forward a proposal for about 1.4 million acres. Although Nielson believes Hansens proposal is still too much, he believes a compromise can be reached. "The unfortunate thing is," said Nielson, "as long as it's left in wilderness study areas, it is effectively wilderness, so there can be no economic development at this time. So I hope it isnt left too long. I hope it's done in the next year or two. "I think there is a reasonable compromise between having some pristine areas, where we can have solitude for people who enjoy that, but also areas we can develop for livelihoods, for grazing and mineral exploration." Clean Air Act The Congressman is also involved in preparing a national Clean Air Bill, another controversial issue pitting environmental concerns against economic growth. Again Nielson believes a compromise can be reached, although he's undergone heavy criticism for some of his positions. "I think I'm an environmentalist. I've been very active on the Clean Air Bill, and some of the key amendments to it, yet the Clean Air Coalition thinks I'm the worst guy who was ever there. Im trying to preserve the community, clean up the air, but keep industry alive, he added. "The bill we have is a good compromise. It has 150 sponsors, and it will probably pass. If you are too extreme on either side, you don't Legislative Report State By (R-Gra- nd Manti Messenger sub-stati- T'ipY by Ken Davey Morgan Region captured wrestling championship recently at Juab High School. Morgan High School's last region wrestling championship was in 1971 under Coach Brent battle between the Trojans and the Juab Thome, it was a Wasps. However it was the strength of Morgan's five individual champs that eventually made the difference. hard-foug- i1li',iiwiiJi"riMrTjir The ' wllii :lifiinlllli Review ,. ii Representative David Adams & San Juan Counties) Republican Leadership in the House of Representatives is proposing the following seven point program for education. 1. The formation of a strategic planning force to focus on education and develop a five year plan for education. The task force will be composed of representatives of government, state board of education, local school boards, society of superintendents, teacher groups, classified employees, PTA, principals' society, taxpayers, etc. Never before in my years of government service has a group of this nature gotten together to lend their expertise to such an important endeavor. 2. After surveying superintendents to determine the need for textbooks in the classroom, the legislature will appropriate $12 million additional dollars to insure that each student has access to textbooks. This $12 million is in addition to current expenditures for textbooks. 3. Technology and computers are a must if our students are to compete in a rapidly advancing society. The legislature will appropriate $15 million to be matched by about $60 million from industry. This partnership of industry and education will put the most advanced high technology teaching methods in our classroom. 4. One thousand dollars has been added--o- n a permanent basis--t- o every classroom teacher's salary. In addition, the state will pay benefits as- sociated with this raise. For the teachers with a few years experience, inthis translates to about an 8 crease. This raise, coupled with the automatic increase that a teacher receives for an additional year's experience, could amount to a 12 increase. There will be additional increases to the amount of money that the local districts receive from the state that could amount to If the local district chooses to pass some of that increase on to the teachers, the teachers on the lower end of the 3. salary schedule could receive a compensation package in excess of 15. 5. The legislature will enact an enhancement package to the state retirement system. A teacher who entered the system prior to 1976 will now receive 2 for every year of service. For example, a teacher who has worked for 30 years will receive 60 of his salary as a retirement benefit. This is an increase in retirements benefits of over $300 per month. If a person were to buy a single premium annuity that would pay him $300month for the rest of his life, that annuity would cost $38,000.00. In other words, a teacher who retires within the next few years, just received a retirement policy that would cost him $38,000 if he were to purchase it personally. 6. If the local school districts determine that the state funding for education is inadequate, we are considering two additional ways to raise money. The local board will be able to raise local property taxes by 2 mills or, by a vote of the people, there will be a 4 surtax added to a persons state income tax return. 7. The legislature is considering laws that will require school districts and individual schools within the district to be more accountable to the public. Test scores will be accumulated and published so that patrons will know if the school is improving or declining. Information will be published to show where dollars are being spent, i.e. how much on textbooks, how much on teachers' salaries, how much on buildings, how much in libraries, how much on repairs and maintenance, etc. This information will be published on a simple form known as "Truth in Spending" and should be readily understood by the public. The education of our children and , grandchildren is of major concern to me and occupies a great portion of my time at the legislature. I feel like we have made yet another major commitment to education. win over anybody." Retirement Coming Congressman Nielson retires at the end of the current Congressional session. Looking back, he is proudest of the work he has done on the Energy and Commerce Commission. "It was good for me, and it was good for the district," he told The He is also pleased with his work in helping rural health care, and his help in engineering various land transfers that have allowed the state and local areas to realize economic development, along with his efforts to protect Westwater Canyon as a Wild and Scenic River area. Nielson has only one major regret in his congressional career. "I should have made more of a major play to Times-lndepende- get on the Budget Committee. I have skills in that area, and perhaps I should have gone after it my second term." Instead, Nielson agreed to join the Government Operations Committee, and in the following Congressional session, rules were changed making it difficult for Nielson to shift to budget work. In his remaining 10 months in Congress, Nielson wants to wrap up a number of pending land transfers, finish up the Wild River designation for Westwater Canyon and work to fine tune the Clean Air Bill. "I've enjoyed working with the various county commissioners, the various mayors, the people in the district. I've enjoyed the job," he concluded. Sal leasing impacts being studied Manti-L- a The Forest Service is planning to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for oil and gas leasing on lands administered by the Manti-L- a Sal National Forest. This EIS will be tiered to the Manti-L- a Sal National Forests Final Impact Statement (FEIS) and Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP), dated November 1986. According to George Morris, Forest Supervisor, the need for a new EIS prompted by enactment of the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987 (Oil and Gas Reform Act). The Oil and Gas Reform Act gave the Forest Service authority to object or not object to oil and gas leasing of National Forest System lands as proposed by the Bureau of Land Management. Under the Oil and Gas Reform Act, the Manti-L- a Sal National Forest must address additional information and authority not already discussed in the FEIS. Oil and gas leasing on the Forest has been suspended pending completion of the new EIS. The Forest is encouraging those who wish to make comments to stop by the office and discuss their e concerns during an scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 8 and 9, in Price at the Forest open-hous- Supervisor's Office. AIR FORCE PROMOTION Carmen L. Riches has been promoted in the U.S. Air Force to the rank of master sergeant Riches is a primary care clinic supervisor at Randolph Air Force Base Clinic, Texas. She is the daughter of Oretha M. Walthall of Bangs, Texas. Her husband. Air Force Airman 1st Class Gary V. Riches, is the son of Clark Riches and Carol Riches, both of Green River, Utah. The sergeant is a 1976 graduate of Bangs High School. The Manti-L- a Sal National Forest will be receiving comments until March 12, 1990, at the Forest Supervisor's Office, 599 West Price River Drive, Price, Utah 84501; the telephone number is Written and oral comments received 7. by this date will be considered. For additional information contact Aaron Howe, Forest Engineer, or Carter Reed, Forest Geologist, at the Supervisors Office. Services held in Virginia for A. J. Coffman, Sr. Aldine J. Coffman, Sr., died Tuesday, January 30, 1990, in Denver, Colorado at the age of 82, after a brief illness. Mr. Coffman was a native of Newport News, Virginia, a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and a retired professional engineer from the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. During World War II, he served in the US Army Corps of Engineers in the European theater for three years. He also was retired with the rank of Captain from the Army of the United States. In 1978, he and his wife Anna, moved to Moab, to join his son's family. Though a life-lon- g Methodist, while living in Moab, he and his wife attended the Episcopal Church of St. Francis. Mr. Coffman was an avid student of western history, and served for several years as a trustee of the Moab Museum, which he considered to be a high point in his retirement years. In 1987, Mr. and Mrs. Coffman relocated to Denver, to live with his son and daughter-in-laand their family. He is survived by his wife Anna Eggleston Coffman, his son Aldine J. Coffman, Jr., and daughter-in-laPenelope D. Coffman, and two w HERE FROM DENVER Howard and Eleanor Bennett were happy to have one of Howard's daughters, and husband and children from Denver, Colo, visit them last week. Eleanor celebrated her birthday Feb. 8th and a group of friends called to wish her "happy birthday" and brought gifts. grandchildren, D'Maris and Derek, all of whom are residents of Englewood, Colorado. Funeral services were conducted at the Noland Memorial Methodist Church, Newport News, Virginia, on Saturday, February 3, 1990, and interment was at the Greenlawn Cemetery. |