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Show 1 UT CK msOKT -- 81 ASSOCIATION FKKSS UTAH "(07 W Si,C. 200 UT S 84101 Wonderful C C tSUJS ( retirement See page B1 Seven day forecast See page A7 Single Copy 50 t ! Wednesday, August 13, 2003 Vernal, Utah 84078 111th Year No. 33 24 Pages i I as SUPPORT OUR TROOPS Express online: www.vernal.com piroces 5 cerate aft The price of gasoline in Vemal took a five cent increase over the past week, mainly due to a $2 increase per barrel of crude oil. Increased demand for gasoline and low supplies of crude are blamed for the increase in the price of gasoline at the pumps. All Utah cities in the AAA survey registered increase this past month for regular unleaded gasoline. Both Provo and Venial saw a five cent increase for the uverage price $ .64 per gallon in Venial and $1.60 in Provo. The uverage price in Moab increased one cent to $1.75. St. George had the biggest jump, ten center, for an average price of $1.68. The main component in the price of gasoline is the barrel price of crude oil," said Rolayne Fuirclough, AAA Utah spokeswoman. "On Friday the barrel price reached $32.85. This was its highest point since March 18, just before the start of the war in Iraq. It closed Friday at $32.18. The increase in gasoline prices was felt by motorists in the Gulf States, the Midwest, the Fast Coast and in the Intermountain West. In Utah the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline increased six cents to $1,64, The national price jumped five cents to $1.57. The surrounding states saw price increases with the exception of Nevada where the price remained the same at $1.70. Arizonas average price increased only one cent to $1.62. Colorado motorists now paly cents more for an average price of $1.60. Wyomings average price 1 Stacy Lynn Johnson. i . (ueemis reign over Fair After an outdoor scholarship pageant featuring swimsuit competition, evening wear, talent and onstage interview, Rachel Hadlock was crowned Miss Uintah County. are Her attendants Brittany and first, Hayley Shaffer, Murray, second. Hadlock is the 19 year old daughter of Tim and Ellen Hadlock. Her goal is to provide a way for parents to understand drugs, their effects and the signs of drug abuse. 1 wanted to start a parent class, but 1 was surprised to find out that there already was one that I could Hadlock said. work through, There are a couple of programs in Vernal that help with this issue. Three injured accident accident at 500 A West 100 South sent three people to hospital Monday. The collision occurred at about 3:36 p.m. When a 1999 Dodge pickup driver by Kellie Belless of Vemal turned south off of Main Street. At the 100 North intersection, a 1989 Toyota driven by Eula Lorimor of Vemal' turned left in front of the truck. The impact of the truck crushed the passenger side of the vehicle and pinned Lorimor inside. A young daughter of the driver of the pickup was not wearing a seat-be- lt and w as thrown into the windshield suffering some injuries. The h Vemal County Fire Department responded to the scene to extricated Lorimor. She was taken to Ashley Valley Medical Center and later Life Flighted to a Salt Lake City hospital for internal injuries, said Sgt. Rick Reynolds, investigating officer with Vemal City Police. The passenger and driver of the truck were treated and released at Ashley Valley Medical Center. Reynolds was assisted on the accident by UHP Troo pel's Craig Young and Travis Lemon. Witnesses of the .accident said they believed that Lorimor was going to stop before turning. Arvin Nelson, a resident near the intersection, said that a traffic light would help deter the number of accidents that are occurring at the interaction. He said in the past six weeks there have been three at the intersection and countless two-vehic- le am looking forward to preparing for the Miss Utah State Fair in September apd for the Miss Utah Pageant nexf June. She really worked hard and is in the pageant for her platform and the service aspects of the pageant, said the former Miss Uintah County Raquel Kremin. She has financial - 1 t v support . can accomplish her service projects," she added. Last year I had to raise those funds on my own, and there wasn't a lot of support. First attendant, Brittany Murray is the daughter of David 1 1 See Queens on page A12 Investigation continues into police shooting Law enforcement agencies are investigating the shooting of a Ft. Duchesne man last Friday when they responded to a domestic disturbance at a home in the Turnkey Subdivision in Fort Duchesne. When officers responded at about 4 a.m., Eddie Martinez, 40, existed the residence and shot at the officers after which he returned inside his home. When he came out of his home a second time, officers returned fire and Martinez was killed. i Officers were responding to a call from Martinez' mother, Gloria she Mountain Lion, because believed her son was beating his wife, Bonnie Yazzie Martinez. Police and ambulance responded and were able to remove Mrs. Martinez from the home after she had been assaulted. Martinez, however, stayed in the home and was said to be armed with a shotgun. His body was taken to the State Medical Examiner for an autopsy. City-Uinta- collision. h nop tilftie mwnraijs increased eight cents to The $1.58. average price in Montana and Idaho increased five in Motorists cents. Montana now pay $1 .67 per gallon., Idahos average price is $1.65. motorists California experienced a decrease of five cents for an average price of $1.77. Last winter oil supto dropped plies extremely low level due to the reductions in output by the OPEC countries and the strike in Venezuela. These conditions forced refineries to draw down on their stockpiles. These invennot have tories increased due to the great than anticipated demand for oil. The increase in oil price is looked upon Gas prices in Vernal increased 5 cents last good month on the average in Vernal.. Store manlocally as a for the local thing ager gets a workout making the changes. It makes economy. some of the marginal oil wells more viable if higher price are susthe effects of the strike. While it tained for a long period. was able to resume production for a Consumers and tracers hoped Iraq brief time production is decreasing would export enough oil to ;e stock due to the reduced work force and inventories and move prices lower. lack, of investment capital. Other However, postwar sabotage to OPEC members are slowing pipelines and other oil infrastrucdecreasing their production levels to tures has delayed exports. Iraq is offset their earlier now pumping about one million this summer, which also has the barrels a day, less than half its outeffect of reducing supplies. put before the war. Venezuelas oil industry is feeling concern Sagebrush to resource managers die-of- f, According to estimates made by biologists with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DW'R), more than 197,000 acres of sagebrush in the Uintah Basin is dead, dying or severely stressed. When combined with similar losses estimated at approximately 160,000 acres in Southeastern Utah, the total is over a quarter of a million acres. Were definitely concerned with the increasing documentation of City-Uinta- Vemal cp County firemen extricate woman from her vehicle as being involving in a two-vehic- le sagebrush mortality associated with the long-terdrought in eastern Utah," said Walt Donaldson, DW'R Northeastern Region supervisor. The majority of the mortality scents to be located in the lower elevations of critical deer winter range, roughly 5.000 to 6,000 feet (in elevation)." Most of the loss has occurred in communities of the Wyoming variety of sagebrush. Utahs mule deer and pronghorn arc closely tied to the quantity and condition of sagebrush for their overwinter survival. Other species such as sage grouse arc also highly dependent on sage communities for food, shelter and nesting cover. In addition to the impacts to wildlife species that rely on sage communities, biologists are concerned that invading weeds such as cheatgrass will become established and make recover difficult if not impossible. Biologists and range specialists I .and from Bureau the of Management (BLM), Forest Service (USFS), Ute Tribe and the DW'R are participating in evaluations and future planning to deal with the crisis. In the Uintah Basin, about 27,000 acres have lost over 90 percent of their sagebrush plant cover. These are principally in 6 areas important as mule deer winter ranges and include: Rabbit Gulch (DWR and private lands). Clay Basin (Ute Tribal land in Duchesne County), Red Fleet (BLM), Island Park (BLM and Dinosaur National Monument), Browns Park (DWR and BLM) and Lucerne Valley in Daggett County (USFS). Sagebrush communities recover at varying rates depending on the sagebrush variety, elevation and climatic factors. Wyoming sage communities often take longer and are subject to conversion to cheatgrass which then prevents the sage from reestablishing. Cheatgrass, a native of the Middle East, has invaded the western United States and is a plant of low value for grazing or soil sta .1 bilizing characteristics. It is therefore considered an undesirable plant on Utahs rangelands. According to Donaldson, the have assembled a agencies statewide assessment team of plant, range, fire and wildlife personnel to review the mortality and stressed sagebrush areas. The team visited the Uintah Basin area in July. The group is to provide recommendations on how to begin a restoration After discussions with program. the other agencies, we feel strongly the high mortality sites are priorities for targeting cooperative restoration, preferably starting some this fall and others as quickly as we can get National Environment Policy Act clearance," Donaldson said. The project is unique. According to the range experts involved in the evaluations, this type and scale of has never been sagebrush die-orecorded before. Combining the size, sagebrush ecology, time period required to establish sagebrush plants, competition from invader plant species such as cheatgrass, the cntical importance to wintering big game herds and animals that have been petitioned as endangered and the species problem looms large for livestock and wildlife interests. As the impact of the losses become apparent and as restoration efforts progress, resource management will likely have to be altered. l or example, population objectives for deer on these sites may have to be reduced to avoid high deer mortality during heavy winter," Donaldson said. If herds are not reduced, the forage utilization impacts to sagebrush plants that still remain may become excessive. The agencies' commitment to this restoration will be long-terand will require monitoring to improve restoration techniques over time," Donaldson added. ff i |