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Show U'ETTES SHOW OFF t1 State champion drill team J RODEO FHEPS FOR JULY 33 3i4 Weather by ' . . " i ' . j 4 4629 4025 -. Mm nt ram Ram and , .uid snow miow show- HF-AITY, INC- thoviere, ers . Hrjihs in -J -L 1 thelo4il Cqq A7 and lows in OCw I the mid 20s. Newly organized committee has high hnnfts for Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo perfoms r'" n ,,uc Jl J hnna M ll" ,!,l,i,V,W,!,i,KllVi'vi''vi'i'i-i..i.i".i.i.i C? ' ' 7tT-,r - ' --i3-DIGri n u v- 1 M i (J J-.l 3 i a j ' j a y g fa A ij 1 Jj A t tS L 1 J 11 5th Year No. 11 Vernal, Utah 84078 iOcons www.vemal.com Wednesday RlOTfl 12,2000 r Hometown Newspaper B4I; r- .. . . , . . . 'fy( X" 2 - -.v a $ f You k. Taser suit settles out of court for $40K By Geoff Liessk akd Les Bowew Uintah Basin News Service Jared Massey, the Vernal motorist who was Tasered by Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Jon Gardner during a Sept. 14 traffic stop, agreed to drop his federal lawsuit against' the trooper Monday in exchange for $40,000. Massey, who pleaded guilty in January to a speeding charge arising from the stop, had filed the suit in federal court the same month and requested a jury trial to determine damages for alleged civil rights violations. According to a press release from the Utah Attorney General's Gener-al's Office, the state agreed to pay Massey $40,000, which money for attorney's fees and medical expenses. In turn, Massey agreed to drop any current or future claims against the state, Gardner, the UHP and the state Department Depart-ment of Public Safety related to the incident. "This settlement was the most efficient resolution of what would be lengthy and expensive litigation of a strongly disputed claim," said Assistant Utah Attorney At-torney General Scott Cheney in a prepared statement. By Mary Bernard Express Writer Oral history is the spoken recollection of the past personalized personal-ized by its participants; it's living history in the truest sense, and on March 5 four Uintah Basin residents brought the past alive for an audience at the Uintah County Library in Vernal. The symposium, a brainchild of library director Sam Passey, was developed to bring community commu-nity members into the library for a presentation on local history. his-tory. Passey invited four senior citizens from the area to speak about events and share their knowledge of the past. Their reminiscence was met with laughter and tears. Guest speakers included Hayden "Bud" Cooper, Alice Taxpayers By Kristin Baldwin Express Writer The cost of methamphetamine on the community is immeasurable. immeasur-able. The environmental contamination con-tamination and its subsequent cleanup cost the United States taxpayers millions of dollars each year. "If you don't even know anyone any-one who has ever used meth, if you've never been impacted by it, you still have at least been financially affected by meth because meth users are stealing things from your house to support sup-port a meth habit," said Dylan Rooks of the Vernal City Police Department. "These people are doing identity theft right and left to support a meth habit. Even if you are fortunate enough not to be a victim of anything, you may not realize that meth is affecting your taxes." Unlike drugs derived from plants like marijuana or heroin, meth can be manufactured or "cooked" using store bought chemicals in very crude labora- SEECOST OF METH on A3 , Jll'ldiihliHI A motion to dismiss the civil charges against Gardner was filed in federal court Monday. UHP Sgt. Jeff Nigbur said in a telephone interview Monday evening that the agency had concluded its internal affairs investigation, which confirmed the findings from a preliminary review of the incident that Gardner's actions were justifiable. justifi-able. Nigbur said, however, that Gardner has received a letter of counsel for failing to communicate communi-cate adequately with Massey during dur-ing the traffic stop and for failing to follow the UHP's protocol for removing the Taser probes from Massey 's back. Nigbur said Gardner Gard-ner did not to use rubber gloves to remove the probes or the clean wounds with alcohol wipes. " A letter of counsel is not considered a reprimand, Nigbur said. It will remain in Gardner's file while he works in the UHP's Section 5 - the section that serves Duchesne, Uintah and Daggett counties. The letter is not a permanent part of Gardner's personnel file, though, and will not follow him if he transfers to another section. Gardner was placed on ad- SEE TASER SUIT on A3 White, Chuck Preece, and George Long. Each gave a brief presentation, presen-tation, beginning with Cooper's talk on how Myton got its name. Cooper was born and raised in Myton by his parents, Lee and Sally Calvert Cooper. He served in World War II and upon returning return-ing to the Basin, married Alexia "Ludy" Lewis in 1945. Copper served as mayor of Myton for 12 years. His wife also served. "My wife was the first woman elected mayor in the state of Utah," Cooper said. Their daughter, daugh-ter, Kathleen Cooper, serves as mayor today. Cooper and his late wife established es-tablished the Myton Memories Museum and he remains its sole curator and historian. The Coopers Coo-pers were honored last year by the Utah State Historical Society SEE ORAL HISTORIES on A2 absorb cost of meth Crystal meth is often smoked in a pipe. The toxic waste left from in homes long after users and producers have left the area. llfl Wh.i'i li'TPi- ii i " hi 'i ii ii . iMTrmT iini-dnn i i1 n mi i'-TTnff 3 Itcilroom, 2 Bulli, I nlinished Buscmciit ?' yj r Charles Denny performs at the By Kristin Baldwin Express Writer Hoop dancing was a gift that Uintah High Senior Charles Denny received from his grandfather grand-father when he was 8 years old. Charles is a Chippewa-Cree-Ute Indian from Fort Duchesne. He never expected to become the world champion hoop dancer by his 18th birthday. "Charles was around 8 years old when hoop dancing was given to him," explained his mother, y&e sta . . . " ; vr ; r . f ; .... k I - x ... .. " I -1 ' : I . x ' 1 J I McMullin Homes! Smart, Efficient, Affordable Ate-a i ii Exit Rp.alty (435) 789 . t&-A, - ,.' ' m ', -', - ' 1 8th annual world championship Lelilah Ossie Denny. "His grandfather grand-father saw something special in Charles and wanted to give it to him. It is a special dance and an honor to have it. It is like a prayer that he offers for all he dances for." Hoop dancing is an honored tradition among American Indians. In-dians. The dancers must have speed and agility to create difficult dif-ficult and unique designs as they manipulate their bodies through up to 50 hoops. In competition it is important to show their cleanup cooking and using meth are left -w y i Professionals - EXIT (3948) 4 Itrdroom, 2,5 .17-'-.' rrfir X t hoop dance contest last February. r ai'lhilete a. amce dfoaBimpi! creativity and skill. The 18th annual world championship cham-pionship hoop dance contest this year was Feb. 9 and 10 in Phoenix, Phoe-nix, Ariz., at the Heard Museum. In an intense contest where only five points separated the first four places, Charles Denny was crowned the Adult Division World Champion; the youngest to ever achieve that title. From the time Charles could walk he also danced. He started pow-wow dancing from a very young age. His love of dance and strong work ethic were a natural fit for a chosen hoop dancer. "I'd heard about the championship champi-onship hoop dancing when I was young but I didn't want to go in without being prepared and get beat out," Charles said. "So I practiced and practiced until I Rodeo's fate turns on financial gain By IVSary Bernard Express WRiter When Mechelle Miller accepted accept-ed the job as Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo president she had an idea of the organization's financial woes. But it was no easy task to present that information to a joint session of city and county officials on Feb. 29. "We had a $58,780 loss in the rodeo last year," Miller said. "Saying that, we have moved quickly to make changes in our financial structure." Miller outlined some of the changes the rodeo committee has made. "First, we brought Boyce Itnlliw, I'nliuislu'il Dascnicril J S 9 JL - Vs'v-t5- ai was 15 before I attended my first contest." In 2005, he attended the 15th annual world championship. Charles didn't know what to expect and wasn't sure how he would compare to the other more experienced dancers. Charles was excited when he made it to the final round and earned third place in the teen division, only losing by three points. Now motivated by experience, he went home and continued to practice, making great improvements. improve-ments. Many people said he was favored to win the 16th annual an-nual teen division championship. Knowing he had worked hard and was prepared, Charles performed his best and would have won if seHOOP DANCER on A2 Coombs, accountant with Caldwell, Coombs and Foley CPAs, on board to creat e a budget bud-get for the rodeo," she said. "We haven't had a budget in years." 1 By tracking revenue and expenses ex-penses more closely, the committee commit-tee hopes to be able to see where it can make fiscal changes. "To structure a workable budget bud-get we built in better financial controls so they could operate as the charitable organization they were intended to be," Coombs said. But city and county leaders wondered how the rodeo reached last year's deficit and questioned whether the problem would con- SEE RODEO FATE onA3 |