Vernal Express | 1979-12-20 | Page 2 | Uintah County 1979 Chronology

UiETkh County 1979 Chronology- January 4. 1979 The first baby of the new year, Luke Isacc Usery, arrived at 4:50 a.m. Tuesday, January 2. Parents are Burt and Lorna Usery. He weighed 8 pounds 3 oz. and was 22 inches long. Lyle McKeachnie, chairman of the Ashley Valley Water and Sewer Improvement Im-provement District said this week that a regional valley sewer system would be built jointly by Ashley District and Maeser Water Improvement District. The two districts will build their system independent of Vernal City and will not use federal funds. The regional sewer system is estimated to cost about $3.5 million with from 1200 to 1300 connections. con-nections. $1.5 million is expected to be raised from connections and $2 million from a bond election. Building Inspector Ronald G. Stone, issuea a iotice and Order last week Friday demanding that Uintah Engineering and Land Surveying Company' vacate the new office building located at 85 South 200 East in Vernal. The Order was apparently triggered when Building Inspector Stone decided that the insulation in the. building installed last August constituted con-stituted a fire hazard. It is noted that Mr. Stone had inspected the building several times during the construction and after the insulation was in place. . . This is the second such controversy Inspector Stone has been involved in within the last month. Earlier Stone issued a Stop Work Order on the Lloyd Eaton building on West Highway 40 after approving the plans and allowing the building , to proceed nearly to completion. The thermometer plummeted to 43 degrees below zero at the Ouray Refuge Tuesday morning and was still hanging at an official 27 below at 10 a.m. An unofficial low in Jensen reached 45 below zero with other temperatures in that area reported from 38 degrees below to 42 below. Investigation is underway in the disappearance of a local 24-year-old Vernal man who was last seen as he left his place of employment about 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Steve Hicks, 5'10", 150 lbs. brown eyes and brown hair left Day's Thriftway to walk the 2- blocks to the family home and hasn't been seen since. A suit brought against the city by Uintah County involves the protest of the county over the city's annexation of industrial property along Highway 40 near 1700 South. . .The suit was filed by the county because it wants to receive revenues from the property. The area the city is annexing includes the land where most oil companies and energy operations in the area have their headquarters. County officers taking oath of office Monday noon included Richard Roy Ferry. West Uintah Justice of the Peace; Nelson Marshall, surveyor; Frances P. Southam. treasurer; Merrill B. Mecham. 4-yr. commissioner; com-missioner; Whitney D. Hammond, attorney; Brent A. Feltch, East Uintah Justice of the Peace; Arden W. Stewart, sheriff ; Neal H. Domgaard, 2-yr. 2-yr. commissioner; Morris R. Cook, clerk-auditor and Lola Anderson, recorder. Don M. Walker, assessor took his oath of office on Tuesday. January 11, 197!) Environmental Protection Agency i EPA) funds totaling nearly $5 million to construct a valley-wide sewer system in Ashley Valley are still possible, according to Vernal City Mayor Sam Snyder and City Manager Shane Luck, who met with EPA officials of-ficials Tuesday.- Vernal City and Uintah County apparently ap-parently have decided to enter into court with their dispute over the legality of annexation into the city of a strip of land along U.S. 40 east of Vernal, known as the Industrial Area. At stake is approximately $400,000 in annual sales tax revenues generated by . the businesses in the annexed area. The county alleges the city's annexations are illegal and invalid for failure to obtain the required number of signatures on annexation petitions and that many of the signatures which were obtained were secured by the city as a condition to granting culinary water connections. Uintah Engineering's eviction notice from their new building, due to Building Inspector Stone's decision that the insulation installed constituted a fire hazard, has been extended for a period of three weeks. A contractor has been hired to spray a fire retardant material over the existing insulation which meets the State Fire Marshall's code and laws and also the Uniform Building code. This work . will be completed January 9. As soon as the job is done the eviction notice will b.e lifted. Swearing in ceremonies were held at the Uintah School District Board office January 4 for three board members, Mrs. Elouise Turner, Ed Oscarson and John Smith. Elections were then held for positions of president and vice president of the board which will be filled by John Millicam (who served as vice president) and John Smith, respectively. Russian influenza, a strain of an infectious disease of the respiratory tract, has been isolated in the Uintah Basin. Prior to the holiday recess, approximately 400 children were absent ab-sent from school with symptoms of fever, upset stomach, chills, headache, muscle aches and sometimes exhaustion. Nasal drainage and sore throat were also noted among the students. January 18, 1979 A petition signed by five board members of the Ashley Valley water and Sewer Improvement District was filed with the Uintah County Clerk Wednesday of last week requesting the incorporation of a designated area surrounding Vernal City. Along with the request for incorporation were petitions signed by over 100 registered voters reportedly supporting the incorporation. in-corporation. Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges have been brought against Thomas Jessee Montoya, 30, Denver, Colorado, who was wounded Sunday in a shooting involving the Uintah County Sheriff Dept., Vernal City Police and Utah Highway Patrol. Building permits for 1978 totaled $18,876,965. Vernal City ended the year with $10,461,804 and Uintah County $8,415,161 in estimated construction costs listed on building permits. Willard and Nora Rasmussen celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary an-niversary recently at their home in Ashley Ward. Leon F. Hoty of Vernal has been appointed a first lieutenant in the Utah National Guard. Northwest Pipeline Corporation, Salt Lake City, has filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeking authorization to augment its ability to sell gas to Pacific Interstate Transmission Company a. unit of Pacific Lighting Corporation, Los Angeles, by utilizing gas stored in the Clay Basin Storage Field in Utah. Angela Parkinson voted UHS student of the month, is the first recipient of the award since the practice of honoring, a student as student-of-the-month ceased four years ago. Weldon Richards has been chosen Farmer of the Year by the Uintah Basin Soil Conservation District. The ' Farmer of the Year is chosen from the Basin on the basis of conservation and management practices applied and practiced in a farming operation. A proposal to end disagreements between Indians and non-Indians in the Uintah Basin will be presented to the 1979 Legislature. It is a compromise compact dealing with tax revenues, hunting and fishing rights, water rights and questions of who has legal jurisdiction in the basin. Joint government industry, cost shared program to advance oil shale development by determining the realiability and economics of full-scale equipment has been proposed in Washington D.C., by the Pharo Development Corporation of Grand Junction. ' While total 1978 wells drilled in Utah fell short of surpassing 1977, 1979 promises to be a banner year in the oil and gas industry. During 1978, 258 wells were driljed in Utah accounting for 82 oil wells 79 gas wells, 80 dry holes and 17 service wells. The 258 wells drilled compares with 281 wells drilled in 1977. The Dinah Mites installed officers Wednesday. Taking the reins of officer were Lynne King, president; Brent Feltch, 1st vice president and Rita Wetenkamp, 2nd vice president. January 25, 1979 Several common concerns of Vernal City and Maeser Water Improvement District regarding Central Utah Water Conservancy District assistance in funding a water study, problems with the manifold and desander at Ashley Springs and the updating of the water master plan were addressed by representatives of each entity at an informal luncheon meeting Jan. 19. The lawsuit involving a group headed by Tom Snyder versus the Uintah School District Board of Education and Superintendent L. Wayne Reid was dismissed Thursday in a Stipulation to Dismiss and Order signed by Fourth Judicial District Court Judge David Sam. The suit, charging improprieties and financial irresponsibility, was originally filed in the spring of 1977. Approval was given by downtown property owners at a meeting held Friday to move forward with Main Street beautification program. The initial project will be built concurrently with the Utah Department of Transportation Tran-sportation project of replacing Vernal's Main Street (U.S. 40) section from the turn at about 9th West to the turn at about 8th East. This improvement can be done for $30 to $35 per running foot. . The public affairs vice president 'of " Frontier Airlines, Dan Todd said wjeek in Salt Lake City that smalho like Vernal must be ready for jet craft in four years or face termiai Utah water projects should slightly more money in the fiscal federal budget than they ended up i in fiscal 1979, Rep. Gunn McKay Utah, said last week after versations with Bureau of Reclama officials. McKay estimated that Presii Carter would ask for between $55 $56 million for Utah projects in budget. Joseph L. Kitchens observed t 68th wedding anniversary. They v married in 1911 in the Salt Lake Temple. A book is being published by Jensen DUP for the purpose preserving and recording picture "Old Jensen" area and its people. This year's March of Dimes Po child is Bevan Biggs, three-year-old of Randy and Yolanda Biggs, Ver Bevan was born with Spinabifida. After 31 years of government sen Elmer Landsaw, Administrative ficer with the Bureau of L Management in Vernal stepped dc The proposal agreement to solve Indian claims in Uintah Basin has rejected by the Uintah County C mission, Duchesne County Commis and Roosevelt City Council, official - the three groups confirmed last w Uintah improved its Region Five 1 place record to 4-0 when they bom the Spartans in Murray last Thurs 59 to 6. The Utes downed Murray' season, 66-6. The Utes won the first 1 ' matches and had a 49-0 lead before Spartans gained their first win of contest. The Ashley National Forest infon area snowmobilers of the closure of East Part road from the junctioi Highway 44 to the Red Cloud L turnoff. A change of command has transp at the Vernal National Guard Arm Taking the reins last Saturday was Frank Kelly of Bountiful. He repk Captain Steven Ostler. Kliiiiii I. I7" It w ent down to the eleventh hour, Ashley Valley is going to have a vail wide sewer system. According to a sent by the Environmental Protecl Agency this week to Vernal City, nea $5 million has been granted to toward the construction of a ,vall wide sewer Sjystenx aqd Irpani icontinued on page 3)- ", Uintah County 1979 Chronology icontimied from page 21 plant. The total oust of the pro-Jtf pro-Jtf estimated to be $7.2 nullum. Ililm lUHiKiiison Kendall has been united as a candidate for Mother of j Year from the Vernal area. Vfm1 physician, Gordon l.ee Balka, , anight to be freed from the U.S. Ar-', Ar-', becaus he claimed he provided 2,jcw essential to the community, been ordered to active duty by a il appeals court in, a rutins yMin P's""'01 Court for Utah 1, order to stretch their budget rs. the Uintah County Library will xcksed all day Fridays beginning Fitrtary S. I'uiUh High School has scheduled an house February 7 for the new pt.JOO physical education complex 4 uncompleted Dec. 15. jut ramps at Flaming Gorge Reser-tf Reser-tf ir no longer operational due to peing conditions. Krbriuir . l7) (rnal area residents are being ad- by City officials to keep a small of water running from a faucet , jetr house to prevent their lines and ic service lines to their homes from eng.. .In January, it was reported B; is main water lines broke due to ninst level going below the 5 to 6 foot 4 TDere have been four breaks thus ft February. wording to the Nil. Weather Ser-c Ser-c station at the Vernal Airport, it s more than two months since the lhad 32 degree weather. December ft marked ihe last time the rjmitures hit the freezing level. In here were twenty-two days in wcber with recorded lows below ; i January followed suit with 17 days xiow lero or worse. The coldest in i urea, as recorded at the national : n 'vr station was on the second day ; it? when the gauge dipped to a '- l-sJ6. V number of fatal accidents and - ml vehicular accidents w hich oc-" oc-" ridinthelri-county areas of Uintah. - fesi and Daggett during 1978 sxilly declined over those figures ,C. according to a report released s teek by the Utah Highway LTL..The tri-county area registered i:ties in seven accidents, nearly a :. i-jf the 22 deaths in 1977 accidents. ..-.deaths in a year equals the low est " oer of traffic deaths since records . ? been kepi. The 1978 figure listed ' Indents compared to 462 accidents : iTg in 1977. surve.vs completed by the Ver-;i Ver-;i Isirici Soil Conservation Service 1 show the water supply im- 'raj. With continued precipitation, rate irrigation water should be : SJp fnr Ihp pnmmo vpar lhi . indicated. Utah population Work Communis Commu-nis estimated that the population of :is County grew to 18.600 as of July -T. This is an increase of 600 over iised 1977 estimate of 18.000. Mu-iiiink !.. I7 ; l span of onlv two weeks, the writing and petition-circulating :a gn initiated by Mrs. Meg Hatch 'Mrs. Colleen Martin to persuade 1 rmy to terminate Dr. Balk's to active duty and to nullify his fwient made nearly a decade ago l:rned into a political struggle in 'ation's capital. It was reported 1 approximately 1500-2000 names !en sent on petitions thus far. " Uintah Ute matmen added f championship to their trophy shen they garnered first place in ''egion Five Tournament in Magna 'Friday and Saturday with a total of points. Uintah School District announces announc-es eek the hiring of Carolyn Han-l Han-l as the Career Education "alist for Uintah High School and Junior High School. Chew was nominated chairman Vernal District Grazing Advisory Paul McCoy was nominated 4 vice chairman. To celebrate the birthdav of Scouting l"; United States a Scout circus was held last Saturday. Sixteen of the Twenty Twen-ty troops in the area participated with ''Pproxinuitoly ir.O Scouts and unit leaders attending. Uintah County will receive $74,215 in additional payment from the Bureau of Land Management. These payments come under a program by which the federal government compensates local governments for taxes the United States does not pay on federal lands. Dinosaur National Monument attracted at-tracted a 4.1 percent increase in visitors during 19YH compared with 19,7 figures. Dinosaur monument reported 4:10,250 visitors lor 197H and 412,873 visitors for 1977. Vernal Junior High 9th grade cagcrs captured first place in the Uintah Hasin League, with a perfect record of 8 0. F li iinr 22. I')7 Uintah Ute Wrestlers win Kith state crown. Uintah amazed the crowd at the Special Events Center in Salt Lake City when they won 9 of 14 matches in the consolation bracket Saturday morning and went on to win their 11th championship champion-ship in 12 years with a total of 179 points. SlirVeV stlOWS School i-niili-i.-l renewal not favored; 57.4 percent ol the district employees contacted in a poll were not favorable to renewing Superintendent Wayne Hold's contract. Those who favored the move were 19 9 percent. Vernal Chamber Area Business Community Com-munity i ABC) committee made plans this year lor the two sidewalk sales instead in-stead of one. They will be held May 11-12 and 18-19. Uintah County and Vernal City Animal Control Oliaer Jack Lent announced an-nounced this week his department is adopting a "get tough" policy with owners ol dogs who allow them to stray with or without licenses. Vernal Terminal ot W.S. Hatch Company Com-pany has been awarded the company's sately travel trophy. The award is presented every three months to the terminal traveling luo.iitio miles without any accidents. The Utah Wildlile and Outdoor Kecreation Federation, the stales largest sportsman s organization, has initiated a legislative bill to raise the' price of fishing licenses in Utah. The bill. S B. 31 1. sponsored by Glade M. Sowards would raise the price ol a combination license Irom $18 to $19. and adult resident lulling license Irom SH to $10, the noil resident season lislimu license Irom $J." to S in and noil resident one-day lishing license Irom $2 lt il.Mi and the non resident hc-day lishinu license Irom $7. .VI to SHI. Uintah Cuunlv LilnaiN was recipieul ol a S.VHJ donalioii Thursday. Makinn the presentation was the Hntarv Clubol Vernal as their annual birthday donation Lucille Lipphardt was chosen BI'W Club " Woman of Ihe year". The honor is given for outstanding support ol Ihe club through her twenty years of membership. The Slate of Utah. Division of Stale LandsForestry and Fire Control has recently opened an oil ice in Vernal. Along with the new office is a new Area Forester, Dale Jahlonski, one ol six Area Foresters in the stale. Bids were opened last week by the Utah Department of Transportation on a contract to surface sections of U-35, the Duchesne River road, from its junction with U-20H near Tabiona easterly to its junction with U-87. Maieh I, ')7' The Vernal area's only air carrier service, Frontier Airlines, is continuing their service to the area and plans to provide air carrier service to Vernal for "quite sometime", according to Bob Slichter, manager of Community Relations Rela-tions for Frontier Airlines in Denver. Slichter denied, from his Denver office, of-fice, reports that Frontier is planning to drop service to the area. Twelve-hour Cancer Radiothon starts Saturday on KVKL-FM. The Uintah School District Board of Fducation voted last week to renew the contract of its Superintendent Dr. L. Wayne Reid, for two more years. The 3-2 vote to renew his contract followed an executive session lasting nearly two hours during their regularly scheduled meeting held at West Junior High School. A Uintah County Sheriff Deputy is recuperating at home following a beating Friday morning about 3 a.m. Deputy Bill Calder was hospitalized after being attack by three men from whom he was seeking identification. Boh Olsen, Mountain Bell, Customer Services Manager says 292 main station residents and business telephones were installed last year. Presiding over the 75th annual convention con-vention of the Intel-mountain Assn. Hardware and Implement Dealers, February 25 through 27 at Reno, Nevada was Lynne King of Vernal, president. Robert Jameson was chosen by the Teachers' Advisory Council as Employee of the Month for February for Uintah School District. Uintah High School's debate team returned last week w ith a second place finish from the Region Debate tournament tourna-ment held at the Murray High School campus Wednesday, February 21. First councilor, Frank Andreasen was released from Maeser 3rd Ward bishopric Sunday. Sustained were Lloyd Ferguson as 1st councilor and Dan Labrum 2nd councilor. Clouds in the area at the time made viewing and photographing the solar eclipse last Monday difficult but not impossible im-possible if one was persistant. The next solar eclipse in N'oi lh America w ill take place in the year 2017. Mnnli II. I'7' Eighty-one fires caused an estimated properly loss of $254,250 for the year 1978 in Uintah County according to the recently released report. Snow surveys completed by the Soil Conservation Service for March 1 show Ihe water supply improving and will) continued precipitation, the local area should have adequate, irrigation water for the coming year. The population of Vernal City has more than doubled to approx. 7,993 people peo-ple from the 1970 census figure of 3,9011, according to Vernal City Planner Ken Fisher. Since 1975, there has been an average of 104 dwellings built a year with the high of l:lli occurring in 1975 and a low of 117 in 197(. Community swimming pool struggles through red ink - the tolal operating expense ex-pense for the pool during 1978 was listed at $117,739 on the financial .statement. Income for the year was only $32,029. Construction is finally getting underway under-way again on the Uintah County Hospital, Robbinwood Lane School and Maeser Slake Center after the big freeze that hit last December slopped or scaled down the work to just skeleton work crews. The three projects represent repre-sent a total of $5,894,468 worth ol building construction. The Ute Indian tribe announced Monday Mon-day it is canceling any participation in the Central Utah Project and rescinding rescin-ding all water agreements with non-Indians non-Indians in the Uintah Basin. This would include water supplied to Roosevelt City Ci-ty by large Uriah Heap Spring, on Indian In-dian trust land. ..Mayor W. Ralph Shields said the spring supplied about half of the city's culinary water supply on a year-round basis. Crime is on the increase in Vernal but so is the clearance rate says Police Chief Jonathan B. Jones. Jones told the Vernal City Council that Part I crimes i which include homicide, kidnapping, sex crimes, assault, burglary, theft and vehicle theft) increased in 1978 to a total of 193 acts compared to 129 in 1977. He stated they cleared 91 crimes or 47 in 1978 while in 1977 only 29 crimes or 23 were cleared. Munli l.". I'J7 A delegation from the Ute Indian Tribe, intend on scuttling Utah's massive Central Utah Project because the tribe's demands for a five-month deer hunting season were not met by Ihe Utah Legislature, was in Washington Monday to see about getting get-ting Die water storage project scrapped. scrap-ped. Ruby Black, head of the Utah Indian In-dian Tribal Council, led a five-member tribal group to Washington. The Vernal City Council adopted a resolution during their March 7 meeting declaring its intention to create a special improvement district lor an approximated eighteen block area along Vernal's Main Street. The Vernal City Council unanimously signed a letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission's presiding ollicer in Washington, D C. Henry B. Cabell, protesting the FTC's proposal to control the methods by which standards are leveloped and used because the Com-mission Com-mission believes the present operation of the voluntary process leads to anticompetitive anti-competitive action, deception, delay in the introduction of new technology and increased costs. A $1 10,200 lawsuit alleging assault by a Uintah School District teacher and negligence on the part of the school board, district superintendent and the principal of the teacher in question was filed Tuesday of last week in the United Stales Court for the district of Utah. An eighth-grade West Junior High School student, Hamilton Bush, son of Woodrow and Neina Appawoo of Allerra, came away wilii top honors Tuesday, March 13 at the Uintah School District Spelling Bee held at the Vernal Jr. High auditorium. Danny "Little Red" Lopez' victory over Roberto Castanon of Spain was the Uintah Basin's fighter's 40th win. Lopez has a record of 40 wins and 3 losses. He has gained :)8 of his 40 wins due to knockouts. Mnnli 22. 7 An open house will be held March 30 in the new Vernal 1st, 5th and 9th Ward chapel, 250 N. 2nd W. The structure has 23 teaching stations and a chapel with permanent seating for 34b persons. It contains a cultural hall, Relief Society room, Junior Sunday School room, library and three offices. Ashley Slake will hold its first semiannual semi-annual conference March 24 and 25 with meetings under the direction of Regional Representative Glade M. Sowards. A wolverine, an animal thought to be non-existent in the slate, was shot and killed last week by Vernal resident, Robert Kay, along U.S. 40 near Raven's Ridge, approximately two miles west of the Utah-Colorado border. The last days of the ice fishing season at Flaming Gorge Reservoir are here according to John C. Combs, area ranger at Flaming Gorge. A few small areas of open water are beginning to appear. After April 1, 1979, any student (kindergartener or recent transfer student ) who has entered school for the first time in this stale must have adequate ade-quate immunizations against the vaccine-preventable childhood diseases, according to the Utah School Immunization Law. Sieve Wiseman, who heads the Utah Wildlife and Outdoor Recreation Federation, said that Division of Wildlile Resources Director, Douglas Day and Dept. of Natural Resources Director Gordon Harmston should have taken a firmer stand during recent negotiations with the tribe. The Tribe had asked for a harvest of between 1,000 and 2.000 deer during a seven-month season on non-trust lands. The state had originally suggested a harvest between 500 and 1.000 deer during a 60-day season. During negotiations Harmston olfered a 90-day season and between 1.000 and 1,500 deer. The Tribe agreed to the harvest figures, but not to the season. Unless the differences are resolved, the Tribe has said it will put a stall on Central Utah Project negotiations. M.irrli 2. ,Hi Charles and Lillian Henderson were joint recipients of the Vernal Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Public Service Ser-vice Award. L.Y. Siddoway, Chamber director and life-long friend of the Hendersons, presented the award at the Tuesday Chamber meeting. This is the first time that a couple has been eligible for the award stated Chamber president, presi-dent, Gary Taylor. Negotiations between Utah and the Ute Indian Tribe over hunting rights and other issues will resume Thursday, major issues in the proposed compact deal with hunting and fishing rights on former reservation lands no longer under the tribe's control, civil and criminal jurisdictions, water rights and sharing of tax revenues. Representatives from Vernal City, Maeser Water Improvement District and Ashley Valley Water and Sewer District met together last Wednesday to discuss recommendations of the Sewer Committee consisting of members of the three respective agencies. The group voted to establish a sewer fee hook-up of $1,000 for those residents living liv-ing wilhin 300 feet of the jointly owned sewer line that is to be built. The EPA makes it mandatory for all people residing within that area to hook on to the new lines since the system is designed design-ed to eliminate potential health hazards in the area. Officials decided they would study possible ways of assisting people in financing of the hook-up fee. Bids were opened last week on a contract con-tract to replace the existing Ashley Creek bridge and to widen the Steinaker Canal bridge. L.C. Stevenson Construction Company of Altamont turned in the apparent low bid of $202,773. Sue Watson was presented a corsage and spring bouquet along with the title, "Uintah Basin Poet of the Year" at the Uintah County Library March 24 at a public recital of her poetry. April 5. I'J7 Representatives from Hospital Corporation Cor-poration of America from Nashville, Tennessee have been in town checking the operation of the Uintah County Hospital. This huge hospital management manage-ment chain has expressed a desire to manage the local hospital. Bert Hatch retired Friday after 24' years with the Utah Driver's License Division. Detective Sgt. Bob Downard of the Vernal City Police Dept. reported this week that the city police department and the Uintah County Sheriff's Department Depart-ment is currently conducting a joint investigation in-vestigation into the chain letter going around town that promises a person "can make $100,000 without any risk." A DAK bulldozer went for $108,000 at the auction conducted at W.C. James, Inc. Thursday, March 29. In spite of a severe spring storm that prevented two planes from landing at Vernal, the sale icontinued on page 4) Uintah County 1979 Chronology (continued from page 3) pulled in 800 people who registered to buy. Rev. Ross H. Blackstock, pastor of St. Paul's Espiscopal Church, has accepted ac-cepted a call to become rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Alexander City, Ala. Approximately 68 of the land in Utah administered by the Bureau of Land Management that has been inventoried inven-toried to determine whether it has wilderness characteristics is being proposed pro-posed by the bureau to be dropped from further wilderness review. In the Vernal Ver-nal Dist. 1,742,697 areas were included in the initial wilderness inventory. Only 289-437 acres have been recommended for intensive inventory in the Vernal Dist., 17 of the total. The Ute Indian dispute will go to trial August 1, allowing four months for negotiations before then, it was decided last week by U.S. Judge Bruce Jenkins. Total employment for the Uintah Basin Planning District in December 1978 increased 9.0 percent compared to the last month of 1977, according to reports. Job market activity in the Uin tah Basin was greater in 1978 than in 1977. Job openings increased 68.4 percent per-cent and job placements were 82.0 percent per-cent higher this year than last. Gross taxable sales during third quarter 1978 showed substantial growth over a year ago with a 32.3 percent increase. However, new car-and truck sales, through October 1978, were down over 21.0 compared to the same period a year ago. April 12.1974 A mammoth rainbow trout weighing 26 pounds 2 ounces was caught at Flaming Flam-ing Gorge Reservoir on Saturday by . veteran angler Del Canty of Leadville, Colorado. Canty took the fish on a Zonker fly at 3 p.m. near Antelope Flat. First South and First North streets were approved as the two main traffic detour routes for this summer's Main Street improvement project. The nearly near-ly $2 million construction begins May 1 with the replacement of water and sewer lines by Vernal City. The state begins their project June 1 and is expected ex-pected to pay nearly $1 1 L million for the project with Vernal's share being aroung S4O0,000. Officials estimate the completion date to be around October 15. The Vernal Family Health Center will expand hours of operation and will remain open until 9 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and will be open a half dav on .Saturdays. 9 a m. to noon. ine vernal area, alter years oi complaints, com-plaints, may see a new animal control facility built. Dr. Ed Oscarson proposed to the Vernal City Council the building of a new facility to be constructed in July Ju-ly at his place of business, the Ashley Valley Veterinary Clinic. Dr. Oscarson proposed that a S2 per dog per day fee be written into the contract and in addition addi-tion to contracting for animals brought by Mr. Lent he will board dogs and cats as part of his business. The Ute Indian Tribe Monday called off scheduled appearances before congressional con-gressional committees to attack Central Cen-tral Utah Project funding. ..In a telegram to chairmen of both committees, commit-tees, Ruby A. Black, tribal chairperson, said in part: "The tribe and State of Utah are now involved in good faith negotiations regarding Indian water rights and other related matters. ..Utah Ute Tribe will support further funding of the Central Utah Project only upon the condition that storage facilities be constructed for the impoundment of tribal waters for tribal use before the diversion of any additional water from the Uintah Basin to the Wasatch Front via the Bonneville Unit. April 1. I97 At 3 p.m. Monday, Eldon Johnson, who has a 1280 acre ranch at the mouth of Deep Creek, 12 miles north of La-point, La-point, heard a terrible noise like a clap of thunder. When he got to the lower end of his alfalfa field, he discovered that a large section of his field had actually sunken into the ground just like a sinkhole. ...By Tuesday morning over 400 feet of paved county road had disappeared disap-peared into a 40 foot deep by 400 to 500 foot wide canyon that darted through an alfalfa field for approximately one-half mile. The continuance of the program an Uintah High school by which students may earn high school credit for taking Utah State University classes was aproved by the Uintah Board of Education Educa-tion at their bi-monthly meeting last Thursday. Investigative reporter, Jack N. Anderson from Washington, D.C. will be the speaker at the annnual Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce meeting Saturday. In 1972, he received a Pulitzer Award. He resides in Bethesda, Maryland and is married to the sister of Elizabeth F. Sowards of Vernal. The establishment of a Main Street Improvement District as proposed was approved by the Vernal City Council this week following a public hearing. In other action, the council determined the special $900,000 water and sewer bond election date to be May 22. Five Utah counties have been recommended recom-mended as Health Manpower Shortage areas by the Utah Health Systems agency to the Department of Health Education and Welfare. If Carbon, Emery, Duchesne, Uintah and Sevier counties are designated as shortage areas by HEW's Bureau of Health Manpower, Man-power, they will become eligible for certain federal health programs - designed to increase health manpower in underserved areas. "Thu irlc- Mnr I n 1 p r n a t i n n 'A 1 Language" is the theme for Uintah School District's Week of the Festival of the Arts for the Young April 23-27 at the Vernal Junior High when music, art, crafts and fun will be displayed. (i il 2d. 7 "The President of the United States is the servant of the people and not the master," was the theme of an address given at the annual Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce banquet Saturday Satur-day by Washington D C. investigative reporter. Jack N. Anderson. New chairman lor the Uintah County Republican Party is Harley Hales. The Uintah County Republican Party will be sending 30 delegates to the Republican state convention. The bond election to be held May 22 will consist of three separate elections. Vernal residents will vote on bonds of $250,000 for water and $650,000 for sewer. Maeser residents will vote on bonds of $250,000 on water and $650,000 on sewer. Ashley Valley residents will vote on $2,500,000 on water and sewer. An earthflow of unusual dimensions with unique characteristics has occurred occur-red in a sparsely populated area of Uintah Uin-tah County about 30 miles northwest of Vernal in the drainage of Smelter Creek, a tributary of Deep Creek, about ten miles north of Lapoint... .State geologists who visited the site reported that the earth movement which began Monday, April 16 about 3 p.m., is an earthflow of extraordinary occurrence. Gently sloping pasture land began giving giv-ing way and in a matter of hours the small gully grew to a giant gash over one-half mile in length, three hundred feet in width and in places twenty-five feet deep. Tremendous rumbling accompanied ac-companied the dislodging, overtopping and disintegrating of large masses of earth which continuously broke off the walls of the rapidly growing canyon. Geologsts indicate that the absence of ground frost combined with heavy snowfall and recent melting have contributed con-tributed to unusual infiltration of water into the ground and creation of intense sub-surface water pressure. By April 18, recession of the vertical earth walls had more or less ceased but the immediate im-mediate vicinity remained unstable and hazardous. Federal outlays in Uintah County during the fiscal year ended September 30, 1978, totaled $24,804,000. May 3, 1979 Residents of Ashley Valley will be faced with the decision of whether to bond for a maximum combined three entity total of $4,300,000 in three separate special bond elections to be held May 22. Last week, after Governor Matheson announced his campaign to enforce the 55 miles per hour speed limit, was the first time a traveler on the interstate could drive at the posted speed and not be passed by the general flow of traffic. Vernal and surrounding area will be freatured in a new monthly pictorial magazine called "Mr. M s Scrapbook". Irregularities developing in one of the three power generators at Flaming Gorge Dam Wednesday of last week has resulted int he shutdown of the unit for an overhaul. On April 25th the Vernal Jr. High School Band Dept. hosted a band festival. Schools participating were Roosevelt, Wasatch and Vernal Jr. High. Vernal Jr. High's Concert Band won first place with an A rating while the beginning band took second place with an A- rating. The state supervisor of music has stated that Vernal Jr. High has as fine a band as any Jr. High in the state. The recommended preferred site for the Moon Lake coal-fired power plant project is in Uintah County northwest of Bonanza, known as site 3. The purchase of 1,040 acres of land on Diamond Mountain north of Vernal by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has been authorized by the State Board of Examiners. By purchasing the land, fishermen will have access to Calder and Course reservoirs, two excellent fishing reservoirs. May 10, 1979 Red Fleet Dam, 15 miles north of Vernal, is past the halfway mark. The construction work is on schedule and should be basically finished by the October 15 deadline. The Vernal City Council approved a $244,347 increase in the budget for this year, but delayed action on rezoning 3.7 acres of land to build five condominiums con-dominiums and a new water policy in the council meeting. May 2. Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce officers for the 1979-80 year elected Tuesday were Gayle F. McKeachnie, president: Brent A. Feltch, first vice president and Lloyd Winward vice president. Accidents have been down citations have more than doubled sin! the April 16 directive by Governor Matheson to enforce the 55 mie hour speed limit, according to Howard Powell of the local Divuinr Utah Highway Patrol district. The sidewalks will be bursting vri countless bargains as varini businesses take part in Vernal's Ann City Wide Sidewalk Sale, Friday Saturday, May 11 and 12 and t following weekend, May 18 and 19 Vernal will be the location for t Square Dance Fesitval this weeka and the Lion's Convention May 18 i 19. The Uintah County Search ai (continued on page 5) Uintah County 1979 Chronology (continued from mm 41 jfliiiie Pi,,,vl ''Hi'Pl,i( -itly is aUmt j.voru-hvr tins week duo to fho an-siK an-siK Rummage sale held Satur- W- May 17, l79 Venial voters will no to tlit Hills T0lil' ' lVddl' ' WtH'tlUT to bond in aa-unuil;iti $4,300,000 in water ' d" sewer improvement projects :hin Ashley Valley. ! A luncheon meeting w ill W hold in 'X.M Tuesdav. May 22 to honor Nil. ham for his life of service to the ,,'i;,.is of Utah. jde I'int.ih District School Hoard viewed the new changes in Title 1. -ul funding of the program in Uintah 'ty is $203,000 which included in salaries, $15,770 in '.'jienals. $2,000 in travel, $2,319 in n-e and $1,000 for the Parent Ad-.sorvOommitlee. Ad-.sorvOommitlee. The Board provided -,xiey to pave the west parking lot of -on High School and set discipline as jvil for the up-coming year. The House Appropriation sub-..eimittee sub-..eimittee on public works approved ji million Thursday of last week for .fiiruction work on the Central Utah Soject ta public hearing held Friday, the vnUke Electric Association Roard iPirwtors approved a pass-through of released power and fuel costs jred for electrical energy to meet -rrnt demands. The pass-through .amount to 1.2 mills per KWH on all ,-Hs sold in Utah. The in-rsein in-rsein residential rates ranges from J fervent to 5 40 percent, depending 1 usage. The new rates become ef-?;jve ef-?;jve 011 May 15. Due to proposed v.-wsein wholesale power cost. Moon consumers can expect additional xBases this fall and early next year. a homeowner using 1,000 kilowatts .-er. the rate increase translates -3 about $1.20 to monthly utility bills. !iis year marks the 100th an-.ersary an-.ersary of rainbow trout culture in s United States. Hatcheries shipped zstsixand one-half million rainbow re; during fiscal year 1978. Wording to the U.S. Dept. of -culture, Soil Conservation Service ;:l'tah Dept. of Natural Resources, : :on of Water Rights, the water c:!y outlook is near average for the 2ih Basin and Daggett County. May 24. 1979 iater and sewer improvement rjeets in Ashley Valley were over-ifjningly over-ifjningly approved in three separate )J elections Tudesday. Vemal City ers voted 248 to 69: Maeser Water "CTOvement District voters approved project by a vote of 183 to 52 and the .iey Valley Water and Sewer Im- f T'.ement District received the most i ::ition with a vote of 254 for and 172 Jinst. I'ter three months in the planning i iree meetings with all agencies j flicjpating, a simulated airport -aster crash was conducted Saturday I ising at the Vernal Municipal 1 ""prt" 5 The Utah Department of Tran-y Tran-y 'rtation has notified Vernal City that ( rl accept the bid of J.M. Sumsion & 2 sof $1,250,101 for the reconstruction Vernal's Main Street. The UDOT innate was $1 ofifi.14.3 The contract ifor complete reconstruction of the J mile downtown street, w hich is I a of Highway U.S. 40. 3 total number of traffic accidents '-' the first quarter (Jan -Apr.) is j compared to 126 during the first rter in 1978. This is a decrease of 15 f'it. The number of persons injured : accidents during the first quarter ;s 15 in 1979 and 26 in 1978. This is a ease of 42 percent. The total - wnt of property damage was listed .429 in the first quarter in 1979 and W15 in the first quarter in 1978. The 51 significant increase was a 79 'nt increase in the number of sts for driving under the influence ' a'cohol, stated City Police Chief Lilian Jones. 1 'hoollUwrdliasoffeitHllopavu frst year teacher with a Bachelor's "euree and no previous teaching exivnence $10,000 and leaders who ,;'ve taught at least 12 years and who wvo a Master s degree, 175 percent of .: sliirtiiiK teachers salary. In ad-, d" tin' district will pay fringe insurance in-surance benefits and give a $140 bonus to all teachers in December, Jacobsen ;dded. The above oiler will place Uintah School Teachers' salaries near or at the lowest in (he state stated Richard Jacobson, publicity chairman of the UCF.A. May 31, 1979 Construction work on the Maeser Stake Center Ward complex and the new elementary school buildinJTat Kohinwood l.ane is now on schedule after falling behind because of the recent severe winter. The Maeser structure represents 25,000 square feet of floor space at a construction bid of $1,200, 000... The new elementary school at Kohinwood Lane is 4ti,ooo square feet with a construction bid of $1,823,000. The all-out search for Audrey Hughes, a missing seven-year-old Naples girl ended on a happy note late Tuesday night when she was found approximately 4'j miles from the family camp-out in the Flaming Gorge area, west of Greens Lake. She had apparently wandered away from the camping area Monday afternoon. The 42nd annual Uintah Basin Junior Livestock Show and Sale will conclude today and tomorrow. Approximately 309 animals will be auctioned off. Despite the fact that most gasoline distributors have been cut to 70 and 80 percent of the supply of last year, Vernal distributors say there is enough gas to supply Vernal during the summer, sum-mer, but the price will keep going up. "BaMcally gas prices win increase every two w eeks." Kent Bowden, office manager of Bow den, office manager of Bowden Oil said. The price of both gas and diesel have gone up 10 to 12 cents since the first of the year which is two to three cents lower than the average price of gas outside the basin. Because of the entrance of new stations in the Vernal area, competition is high and the price of gas is at a minimum Bowden said. At the time of publication the price in Vernal for gas was from 79 9 to 82.9 for regular and the price in Salt Lake City was from 81.9 to 85 9. With combined efforts, residents of La point andTridell arestriving to raise funds to build another fire station w hich will house their second recently acquired fire truck. June i. l79 A preliminary' 1979-80 budget showing a grand total of expenditures of $9,972,682 w as presented in a meeting of the Uintah County School Board, May 24. nih! 1 nimMinwMftimi mXi,' Ltd m iniim id nf tin AN(JKL Color woodcut by JoHcph Donijan, lorii 1907. I bin beautiful woodcut iniiken line of many intricate and cluirniing putteriiH. The Metropolitmi Muni-tini of Art, gift of die urtiMt, 1959. The budget gives a 7.3 percent increase in-crease in teachers salaries and shows $7,758,144 for maintenance expenses. The budget is $516,370 over the 1978-79 budget which, is an increase of .05 percent. At the Monday Uintah County Commission meeting it was reported that the allocation of the oil distributor supplying Uintah County with fuel has tx'en reduced to 60 percent on diesel and 70 percent on gasoline. ..This catches the county at a bad time as over 6,000 gallons a month is used for' essential road work and operation of the asphalt pit. The county is near the end of its supply of diesel fuel and will immediately im-mediately go to the open market in an attempt to obtain enough fuel to carry on its summer activities. Traffic along Main Street in downtown down-town Vernal will be shut off and rerouted next week. It was noted that the Vernal Main Street project would have to be reduced to 7th West to 5th Kast because of t Ik high bid and lack of DOT funds. The city improvement project which includes the sidewalks and curbs will still be built for the entire length of the original project. A plane which was taken from the Uintah County Airport sometime U'tween Wednesday and Thursday of last week was found 30 to 40 miles southeast of Tucson, Arizona. The plane had made a forced landing in the desert. The pilot had not been found at press time. Because of ample water drainage, "this year will be a great one for mosquitoes." The abatement district will utilize an entirely new chemical agent, "Altosid SK-10" this summer to help combat the county's tremendous mosquito population, said Dr. Steven Komney, abatement director. Three days of scoping meetings were held last week on the proposed Moon I.ake Project, a 800-megawatt coal-fired coal-fired power plant to serve a group of Rural Kleclrificalinn Associations. June II, 1979 A tentative budget which will "emphasize payment by those who receive services" was presented in Wednesday's City Council meeting... A (x-rsonnel survey which will examine the pay scales of employees in outside; areas were also presented in the meeting. Closure of Main Street between 7th West and 5th Kast will probably be postposed until the first of next week. Siening delays prevented the preparation of the detour routes.. .J.M. Sumsion and Sons Construction, Spanish Fork, has the $1,250,101 Main Street project and must complete the job in 75 working rlavs A mammal bone has been found in a prehistoric riverbed southwest of Bonanza. Ned Cook of Vernal found the none while digging at an oil rig site. "The mammal lived after the dinosaur period and after the formation of the Kocky Mountaias, 15 to 10 million years ago," said Dee Hall display preparator for the Field House of Natural History. I le identified the bone as the front, right arm bone of a rhino-like mammal called a Titantheres. Residents in the Davis Ward area experienced a short power outage Saturday when a low-flying crop dusting plane flew under the power line near 5000 South and 1000 Kast hitting and breaking the neutral conductor, possibly clipping it with the propeller. The new plan for running boats through the Dinosaur Monument area of the Green River is to change from an allocation number to limiting the number of launrhinps a d;iv Onlv four launchings per day through the summer sum-mer will be allowed and the maximum party number will be cut from 50 to 25 persons. Visitation to Dinosaur National Monument is apparently reflecting the effects of the increasing price of gasoline and problems of fuel availability around the country. According Ac-cording to Acting Superintendent, Ted Nichols visitation for May was 25,800 compared to last year's figure of 35.550. June21, 1979 Detour signs to route U .S. Highway 40 traffic at 10th West and 5th Kast around Main Street are holding ud the start of the reconstruction project on Main Street from 7th West to 5th Kast. A massive emergence of mosquitoes throughout the county this spring has given the Uintah County Mosquito Abatement District its most challenging season since its creation in v.n:. Steve Higley has been named by the District Health Department as Uintah Basin Sanitarian. His jurisdiction covers Uintah-Daggett Counties, the east side of Uintah County and in Duchesne County. Victor and Den ice (Winward) Angulo announced plans this week to start an opera workshop in Vernal. The instructions in-structions will be free of charge and is open to anyone interested in singing and willing to work at it. Noted Texan landscape artist Arnold Vail is conducting his fourth workshop in Vernal this week. Operating funds for the Uintah School District will rise by $619,580 or 10.1 percent next year, as a result of the new school finance bill passed by the 1979 Utah Legislature. Only one bid was received by the Uintah School District for three new school buses. Bryson and Sons were the low bidders for three Bluebird buses at $:16,405 each plus delivery charges of $800 based on 80 cents per gallon for fuel for each bus. Uintah Countv is listed as the highest county in the state for the increase in per capita personal income between 1977-78. Total personal income for 1978 increased in Uintah County 14.2 percent. per-cent. There was a population growth of 3.3 percent for a total population of 18.600. June 28, 1979 In a noon meeting of the Vernal City Council, Monday, a tentative budget was proposed which shows $1.9 million in total revenues budgeted for the General Fund. This is an increase of $841,284 over last year's General Fund. 'continued on page 6) Uintah County 1979 Chronology I (continued from page 5) A lease was signed this week to build a new 30.000 square foot grocery store at the northeast anchor end of a shopping mall on west Highway 40 which will eventually join onto the Vernal Yellow Front store. ..The announcement an-nouncement was made in Vernal by Deon Dove, Springville, owner and general manager of Dove's Double Discount Mark-It Stores. The Vernal City Council moved to double the rate for a water hookup beginning July 1. The council set $1000 as the rate for a new water hookup in the city. The previous rate was $500... Presently it costs $1000 for both water and sewer hookups in the county. ..The Maeser Water Improvement Im-provement District increased their hookup charge at the first of the year from $500 to $750. The Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce Com-merce "Outstanding Public Service Award" was presented to Glade M. Sowards Tuesday at the weekly Chamber director' luncheon meeting. The Vernal Municipal Airport board has voted to apply for federal funding to relocate and build a new commercial airline airport terminal building. The new terminal will be located south of the e-s runway, near the center of the main n-s runway. The architectural firm of Ehliers and Ehlers of Salt Lake City has opened a Vernal office in the Uintah Engineering bldg. In a statement this week, Warren D. Mott denied the charges made public Thursday of last week that accused him by a federal grand jury of soliciting and accepting title to mineral rights in return for procuring a $350,000 loan from the bank for which he was branch manager. July 5, 1979 Traffic and economic problems created by the closure of Vernal's Main Street and establishing new detour routes were discussed Friday noon by the Transportation Committee of the Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce.. Com-merce.. .One businessman reported that his formerly one to two thousand dollar per day business dropped last week to $125, $45 and $17 per day. In a noon meeting Wednesday, June 22 Vernal City Council approved a final city budget of $1,610,897, 41 percent higher than last year. The 1977 census of service industries in Utah ranked Uintah County fifth and Vernal City 6th largest counties and cities ranked by volume of receipts in 1977. A Whiterocks man, Gale Rasmussen, was killed instantly Sunday about 6 p.m. when he was struck by lightning while crossing his field in the Farm Creek area. Approximately $1100 went up in smoke at the annual Elks Lodge fireworks display last night, July 4. Vernal's Lori McNeill captured fifth place in the all-around in the National intercollegiate Rodeo Finals in Lake Charles, Louisiana, June 18-23. She also placed sixth in the nation in breakaway roping. . The 1979-80 officers of the Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce were recognized at the annual installation dinner held Thursday. New officers are: Gayle F. McKeachnie, president; Brent A. Feltch, vice president; and Lloyd Winward, 2nd vice president. Joe Merino and Michael Perry are newly elected board members and Jack Wallis was re-elected to the board. July 12,1979 Professional cowboys from Utah, Colorado, California, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Kansas. Texas, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Louisiana, Iowa and from several other states in the nation will be in Vernal for the 29th Annual Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo this weekend. The assessed valuation of Uintah County for 1979 reached an all-time high of $85,921,387, according to 'state and local valuation reports released this week. The additional , assessed valuation will give more money to the county and may enable a reduction to be made in the mill levy.. .The mill levy for Uintah County last year, for unincorporated areas, was 65.19 mills, in 1977 the mill levy was 62.57. Manila. ..The old courthouse was moved to a new location, June 27. It was sold to the Lingle Brothers, who operate the Vacation Inn Motel, across highway 43 a short distance southwest of the courthouse. The building was moved to the front of this condominium style motel. ..The space vacated by the old courthouse and the area surrounding surroun-ding it is to be used for the new park. It is a total of two acres. "Complaints about aerial crop dusting and questions about the effects of the pesticides used in the area have been formally registered by the Uintah County Health Department in the past few weeks. These contacts have caused some concern to our department," said Steve Higley, sanitarian. Rich Reinwald of Manila broke the Flaming Gorge lake trout (mackinaw) record with a 32 pound fish that he took last Thursday in Lucerne Bay. The big trout hit a perch-colored flatfish trolled deep on copper line. Uintah County Commissioners Monday granted Brent A. Feltch, UintahCounty East precinct Justice of the Peace, a salary increase from $800 to $1200 per month retroactive to April. It was pointed out that over 400 cases had been handled and over $7,384 turned over to the county from fines and forfeitures... The commissioners stipulated that if the case load drops a re-negotiation will be required. July 19, 1979 Forty professional and 24 championship cham-pionship division amateurs have signed up for the Superior Tire-Bridgestone Golf Classic, which will be held at the Dinaland Golf Course in Vernal, Saturday and Sunday. A group of local leaders met with officials of Frontier Airlines in Denver Tuesday morning concerning the future of the Vernal segment of Frontier. "We were given the impression that as long as Frontier was making a profit on the Vernal flights it would continue to serve the area," stated councilman Bill Gibson. Funeral services were held for the Vernal Main Street, which passed away due to internal and external injuries caused by heavy machinery. ..Construction ..Con-struction Boulevard was selected to replace Vernal's Main Street, which is now a dirt filled corpse. ..Vernal Area merchants will be staging a "Remember the Main Street Sale-a-bration" wake in downtown Vernal during the construction period. An 850 acre timber fire is contained after burning since July 10 in the Trail Hollow area about 50 miles Northwest of Duchesne. ..The fire, which originally occurred from a suspected lightning strike, flared up again last week. June travel figures for Dinosaur National Monument show a 40.1 percent decrease from one year ago. Total visitor count for June was 52,953 compared to 92,400 for the same month in 1978. The district unemployment rate for March was 3.7 percent, the lowest unemployment rate registered among the various district's in Utah. Job openings and placements in the district were at higher levels during the first quarter 1979 than a year ago. Job openings rose 40.3 percent, while job placements increased 41.2 percent. Most of the impetus for these gains was caused by job market activities in Uintah County where job openings and placements were substantially ahead of year-ago levels. July 26, 1979 Salt Lake City professional James Blair added a pro title to the amateur crown he nabbed a number of years ago as he fired an 8 under par score of 136, which netted him top honors in the Superior Tire-Bridgestone Golf Classic at the Dinaland Golf Course in Vernal, Saturday and Sunday. Blair's 136 total tied the golf classic mark, which was set by Jack Sommers in 1978. A $1,200 purse was the prize. Naples and the Ashley Valley Water District have threatened to sue Vernal City and withdraw from the Valley Sewer Project if the city doesn't return the Naples water system. ..About six firm to audit the city's water fees. "From the audit, Naples felt they had been overcharged," said Shane Luck, city manager. Passenger traffic at the Vernal Frontier Airlines terminal for June is 26 percent over the corresponding month last year for outgoing passengers and 4 5 percent over for incoming passengers. On the other hand, freight volume is down about 20 percent compared with last year. A new director has been hired for the Vernal Family Health Center. Beverly Hamilton will succeed Richard Welker, who transferred to Arizona in May. A twelve-year-old Sandy, Utah boy was released from the University of Utah Medical Center Sunday after being flown there for emergency treatment. He was the victim of a rattlesnake bite near Vernal Saturday. The Bureau of Reclamation is building a main Soldier Creek access road and relocating the westside road in Strawberry Valley as part of the Central Utah Water Project. ..When completed in the fall of 1981 the 11 mile westside road will be improved from U.S. 40 to the Indian Creek turn off. Red Fleet Dam is now about 50 feet above ground level with about 95 feet more to go before the October 15 contract con-tract deadline, according to Bob Koelofsz, assistant project engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation. According to Gayle McKeachnie. attorney at-torney for the Naples Culinary Water Company, letting the Naples water suit go to court will not solve the problem. A letter dated July 13 from McKeachnie warns the city thai if no progress is made toward a transaction of the Naples Water System back to Naples in 30 days an action will be filed in court requesting a full accounting of all water and monies used by Vernal City in the 1961 contract and the revenues from the water obtained by the city with damages for breach of the relationship of trust. American Gilsonite Company, headquartered head-quartered in Salt Lake City, Monday marked 75 years of mining gilsonite in Bonanza, according to Roy E. Nelson, president. The Ute Indian Tribe and the state of Utah have apparently reached a settlement settle-ment on two of three major issues that have been fought over for almost five years. A major environmental battle over the Central Utah Project over whether adequate water would be left in streams diverted for the pn ject will be fought in a public hearir in about a month. Uintah Cattlemen and CowBelles wi host the 1979 Utah State Cattlemen summer convention August 2 and 3 i Vernal, said Charles Gray, Presiden Approximately 300 cattlemen and the wives are expected. July 24th was the day to get out ar celebrate the coming of pioneers I Utah. The weather helped as much i did the community to chalk up anothf success for district scouts for their a; nual fund raising breakfast. Foreigners who owned or had at lea a five percent interest in Uintah Counl farmland on February 1, 1979, mu report ownership to the Agricultur; continued on page 7) Uintah County 1979 Chronology (continued from page ii) yl.itiilu'iilum and Conservation Service jtl'V August 1, 111;), 'l'luis,- m'iiiir-Uiul m'iiiir-Uiul after February 1 imisl report transfer within !H) days. ,$20 I'tah 4 Her's winded their way w Japan for a month long stay, their jnose counterparts arrived in Utah. WfK'oniind exchange students to Yor-wl, Yor-wl, on July 24, v.ere tlie families of Ar-njj Ar-njj tiaker, Gary Bascom, and Larry White Arnold Baker is hosting Keik'o fttuta; C.my Haseom, Fusaro Sluhui; jnJ Larry White is hosting c'hiyo Vuiisi . 7 I'intah County residents will reeeive jn overall reduction in their h)7 pro-prty pro-prty tax mill levy of 5. 175 mills aseom-prtdwith aseom-prtdwith last year's levy. This redue-(nin redue-(nin is mainly due to a 6 mill reduetion u the I'intah District School tax levy. the Ashley National Forest and the Inlermountain Region of the Forest Service are experiencing a very critical fir? situation, reported Vaughn Franks, Fran-ks, district forest ranger, m Llaho, (tvoniing. and Nevada, major fires are ao buring out of control. Five of these fres have blackened about UO.ooo jores of National Forest lands. The May 1, 19SO completion date for I'intah Count v Hospital is still ex pected, according to new Job Superintendent, Lynn Stevenson 'We "'ve made up the bulk of the eight weeks we w ere behind in schedule caused caus-ed t.y the severe winter and are still Planning on the May deadline." Friday, August nth, has been proclaimed pro-claimed Discovery Day at Dinosaur National Monument. This dale marks 'he 7(ith anniversary of Karl Douglass' original Imd of a string of eight tail vertebrae of the huge dinosaur apalasaurus talso known as bron-tosaurus). bron-tosaurus). Traffic volumes on the various highway systems throughout the state showed an overall decrease of 1.6 permit per-mit compared with the corresponding Juno last year, according to Utah Department of Transportation Traffic Hulletin. Torrance L. Thedell, Vernal, was informed in-formed recently that he had been nominated lor an honorary award recognition for Who's Who Among American High School Students for 1H78-79. Torrance was awarded because of his academic achievements. He is the son of Corrianne L. Thedell and the late Aron A. Thedell. The National I'ark Service has released a draft wild and scenic river study report and draft environmental statement on its study of the Green and Vampa Rivers. The study team included includ-ed representatives of the National I'ark Service, the Colorado and Utah Departments Depart-ments of Natural Resources, the Forest Service, llureau of Land Mangement Fish and Wildlife Service, llureau of Mines and llureau of Reclamation. Aiimhi Id, l7' At a Uintah Basin Association of Governments (U11AG) meeting held Wednesday of last week the three Uintah Uin-tah County Commission representatives represen-tatives gave notice that they were leaving leav-ing the association. Uintah County representatives have claimed for some time that the representation was unfair to Uintah County, with a population of 18,600 to have only five votes when Duchesne County, with a population of 11,700 has six votes and Daggett County, Coun-ty, with a population of only 800 is given four votes on the UBAG Hoard. Federal Aviation Administration has granted $2!Hi,413 to the Vernal Airport under the Airport Development Aid Program tADAP), according to word received from U.S. Congressman Gunn McKay's office Monday. The money is to be used to acquire land and for construction con-struction and renovation purposes. Dr. Robert Sloan of Robertson Research (US) Inc., and his crew finished off a productive five week assignment to evaluate the fossils of the local llureau of Reclamation Red Fleet (or Tyzack) dam and reservoir north of Vernal. According to Dr. Sloan, "The reason for the study was to salvage some of the fossils to be covered by the reservoir and to evaluate their scientific scien-tific and cultural importance." Dedication for Ihe New Vernal 1st, 5th and !)lh Ward Chapel will be held at 4 p.m. on August 19 as a three ward Sacrament Meeting, the building has been in use since December l'JVII-dediealory services are not allowed allow-ed until buildings are paid for according accor-ding to LDS regulations. The local share of funds came from donations from the members of the three wards. In a special meeting with five Naples water representatives Wed., Aug. 8, the Vernal City Council reviewed the water complaints of Naples water users. Attorney, At-torney, Gayle McKoachnie, spokesman for the Naples group, said he was happy to hear that the city had changed its mind and decided to work with the Naples people rather than letting the issue go to court. Uintah County 4-11 and Youth Fair was held Wednesday through Friday of last week at the Vernal Junior High School. Exhibits were accepted in 4-H and Open. Judging of the exhibits was completed on Thursday. iiiis 2.5. 17 Uintah County Commissioners announced an-nounced Monday afternoon that the county had purchased 18.14 acres of land in line with the south end of the main runway at the Vernal Municipal airport. The land was purchased from Verdon Manwaring at a cost of $4,000 per acre. One of the many problems developing with the new Main Street reconstruction reconstruc-tion project is what to do with the new water line that has just been installed for ten blocks along the north side of the construction job. The new line has broken eight times from Vernal Avenue to 1st Fast, and several blocks of the 8-inch, white plastic line has been dug out and replaced with a more durable blue plastic pipe. The Uintah School District has set their new teacher orientation day for Friday. The group will meet at the District Hoard office 635 West 200 South at 8 a.m. The Ute Tribe has rejected Gov. Scott M. Matheson's conditions for a compact on hunting, fishing and water rights. Gov. Matheson demanded the tribe drop claim to the original reservation boundary. Stephen G. Boyden, the tribe's legal counsel said last week. In an Aug. 10 letter to Mr. Boyden, the governor reiterated his refusal to sign the compact without separate agreement agree-ment that the tribe give up its claim to the origianl reservation area (4.2 million acres, including most of Duchesne County and southern Uintah County). The rate Utah Power & Light Company Com-pany charges Moon Lake Electric Association for wholesale power will increase in-crease 28 percent on September 11. In addition to this increase, special energy charges (energy that exceeds our contracted con-tracted amount) have been costing 2' times the regular rate schedule. All of the increases in power cost that Moon (continued on page 8) Uintah County 1979 Chronology (continued from riaee 7) Lake has put into effect in the last 10 years have been to recover the cost of wholesale power except for general rate increases in January 1978 and one in 1973. Moon Lake rates still compare favorably with other electric rates in the area. "I am looking forward to my service in the St. James Catholic Church in Vernal," Ver-nal," said Father Lawrence Spellen. "In fact, I let it be known that I would like to come here as pastor, when Father Davitch was seeking a replacement replace-ment and was selected." Father Spellen said he is looking forward to continuing the programs already started in the Vernal parish; especially the religious education which includes children from kindergarten age through 12th grade. Aniii .'JO. ll)7l) 450 employees of the Uintah School District readied themselves this week for the onslaught of more than 5100 students who began the first day of school Wednesday. Preparations began for approximately 250 teachers, 150 substitute teachers and about five student stu-dent teachers and district employees Monday when they were officially welcomed to school by superintendent Dr. L. Wayne Reid. . There has been a lot of speculation around town as to when the construction construc-tion activities on Vernal's Main Street will be finished, and when this main artery will again be opened for traffic. The Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce Com-merce first started guessing when the completion would be finished by erecting erec-ting a sign counting off the 75 working days of the project. The Chamber set Sept. 15 as a celebration date and started counting off the days. A jointly sponsored artists reception will honor David Ahrnsbrak Uintah County resident artist, Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. in the conference room at the Uintah County Library. The reception is sponsored by the library and the Little Lit-tle Gallery of Arts. : Early this month, the North Fork Sheep Creek Trail on the Ashley National Na-tional Forest was closed to all vehicle traffic. Originally intended as a loot (rail, vehicle use has seen it transformed transform-ed into a jeep trail. Vehicle use has damaged the vegetation, leaving wheel ruts at stream crossings and through the meadows. Dan Williams and his Young Conservation Corps ( YCC) crew of four worked for three and one half days, maintaining, reconstructing, and blazing the trail. Uintah High School's flag twirlers pocketed second place honors in the United States Cheerleading Association's Associa-tion's national championship competition competi-tion in Lansing, Michigan, Thursday. The Vernal team placed second in a division of six variety group routines. A $10 gift certificate was presented to Carol Johnson, an employee of Ashtons, for generating a large amount of enthusiasm en-thusiasm throughout the company for donations to the bloodmobile last Monday. Mon-day. Membership Week for the Uintah County Concert Association is September 10 through 14, according to Mrs. David Condon, membership chairman. chair-man. This is the 22nd year that the Uintah Uin-tah Community Concert Association has brought artists to Vernal, stated Mrs. Condon. September 6, 1979 Two hearing dates have been scheduled in Vernal and Rangely for public comments on project plans and site selections for the proposed two unit 880 megawatt coal-fired electric generating plant called the Moon Lake Power Project. The Utah site is located northwest of Bonanza in Uintah County. The Colorado site is located northeast of Rangely in Rio Blanca County. The draft environmental impact statement will be prepared and include statements made at the public input hearing meetings. The Vernal Rotary Club hosted District 542 Governor, Dr. Richard A. Forney Thursday at the annual District Governor luncheon meeting at the Lamplighter Inn. Construction bids for a new relocated terminal building for the Vernal Municipal Airport will be opened Tuesday at 2jp.m. by the Uintah County Commission. Besides the new terminal building, the airport project includes construction of the apron and taxiway to the building along with lighting, paving, road, car parking, utilities, fencing and marking for the new terminal ter-minal complex. Crime in Vernal is on an upward trend, according to Sgt. Chuck Hill, VCPD in reference to a dispatch call log which showed a steady climb since January this year. Announcement was made this week of the new Dinosaur Roundup rodeo Committee officers which will include Myke Hall, president; Mike McKee, vice president and Becky Young, secretary. Twelve courses will be offered to the evening students of the Uintah School District's Adult High School, according to Rhoda T. DeVed, Supervisor of Adult Education. Classes will begin the week of September 10, with registration held the first session of each class. All . classes will begin at 7 p.m. Groundbreaking ceremonies signaling the start of the new Dina Enterprises Development Center building will be held Friday, at 5 p.m., at the west side of the Uintah Basin Vocational Center in Roosevelt. Several classes are being offered by Utah State University Education Center during the daytime. These college classes will be held at the Uintah High School and are also offered to high school seniors. September 13, 1979 Saturday, September 29 has been set for an all day celebration to climax the Main Street Construction Project. Planning for roads into the rich energy area of Uintah County was the main input from the local residents attending the Utah Department of Transportation annual district meeting Thursday of last week. American Gilsonite Company is marking its 75 years of mining gilsonite in Bonanza and at the same time showing off its new $5.3 million consolidated con-solidated processing plant this Saturday. Cellist Ryan Selberg will be soloist with the Utah Symphony when the orchestra appears at the Vernal Junior High School Auditorium on Tuesday, September 18. The concert is sponsored by the Vernal Business and Professional Women's Club. Bids on the Vernal Municipal Airport relocation terminal project checked in Monday afternoon at 47 percent over the engineers' estimate for the low bids. August travel figures at Dinosaur National Monument show that visitation was down 24.8 percent from 1978 figures for the same month, according ac-cording to Acting Superintendent, Joe Kennedy. Radio station KUIN and the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo Committee ar sponsoring the Billie Jo Spears Show in Vernal, Saturday, September 15, at $1 Uintah County Fair grounds. ' Over 90 Blazer Scouts and their leaders gathered at Remember the Maine Park Saturday for their annual Day Camp. During the morning the Scouts rotated between five skin stations. During the afternoon thebovs rotated among model camp and lashing, signaling, compass, and en vironment and conservation. Enrollment in the Uintah School District as of Sept. 7 is up slightly from the predicted 5100 students announced the first week of school. September 20, 1979 In an effort to prepare the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed 800 megawatt coal-fired Moon Lake Power Project, the Rural Electrification Administration and the BLM jointly sponsored two scoping meetings in Vernal and Rangely last week to gain public input. Utahns favor a Utah site and Coloradoans favor a Colorado site. Twenty-three Uintah High School (continued on page 9) Uintah County 1979 Chronology (continued from pae H) candidates vied for the honor of lYSiMitinn their school at the animal Huiuvoiuiiig l.anvda Williams was solfcted to reih us queen, Jolynn jji-kson was 1st attendant and jon jjemiiiittivi second attendant. "It's not a fight over tho tree," saiii gltvrt Haese. owner of the la,v K yotel, "It's a fight over the inoc,l."..ese is also owner of a too ft. poplar tree behind his motel whieh is in five air space" of the east west safety jirstnp at tho Vernal municipal airport. air-port. lna population boom study present oil fi Suporinteixient Wayne Heid to the j-hiil board Sept. 13 it w as show n that fintah County can expect a substantial increase in population during 1980-95 ja in part to the energy project in the I'intah Basin Area. The study shows that by ltWS I'intah County will need itiree new elementary schools, one new junior high ami one new high school. President Carter is expected to veto the public w orks bill containing Central Utah Project appropriations, Kep. Gunn McKay, D-L'tah, said Mon-tv Mon-tv At his reouest. Rod. McKav sjiM jiv...At his request, Kep. McKay said tudget director James Mclntyre has jreed to visit Utah Oct. 3 to review tater needs in I'tah. September 27, 1979 After studying the recent bids on the Vernal Municipal Airport terminal dotation projects opened Sept. 10 it Ss been decided by the agencies in-relved in-relved to accept part of the project and jrt id the rest. ..The project cost will be i'ared by an FAA grant, I'intah County cd Vernal City. The Vernal City Council refused to s!l the PW Industrial Park a master nter meter, but moved to sell a .. isle, wan-r meter by the Maeser "ei tank to service U'twoen the upper and highline canals. A joint investigation directed by luet Jonathan Jones, VCl'D and Mienlf Arden W. Stewart has resulted i charges being filed on four persons the breaking up of a burglary ring I hat has been in oprention since May in the Vernal area. Approval was granted last week by he Vernal Airport Hoard for Trans Western Airlines to use space in the ernal Municipal Airport terminal According to airport board members a new tnket counter will be built for Trans Western and they will use the terminal and airport facilities along with Frontier Airlines. The I'intah School Hoard will meet Thursday, Sept. 27 at 5 p.m. to discuss the population boom impact, the purchase of the Maeser Chapel and the problems of employee attendance. The outstanding Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce Public Service award was presented (o Gary B. Taylor Tuesday at the Chamber board of directors' meeting. October 1, 1117!) Jiunes T. Mclntyre, Jr., Director Office of Management and Budget appointed by President Carter, urrived in Vernal at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, accompanied ac-companied by Hep. Gunn McKay. Hep. McKay invited Director Mclntyre to the Vernal area to gain first-hand information in-formation concerning the CUP water development and energy related projects proposed for the Uintah Basin. Two city councilmen, Harvey Madsen and Terry Anderson stated they would not seek re-election on election day, Nov. 6, 1979. Officers representing an organization called Airport Betterment Committee of Ashley Valley met with the Uintah County Commissioners Monday afternoon af-ternoon and presented their reasons for halting present and future expansion plans at Vernal Municipal Airport. Nearly 600 people were served at the public barbecue of elk, moose and beef and an estimated 2000 attended the Disco, Square and Senior Citizen (Unices at the festivities last weekend celebrating the first annual Dinosaur Day and the opening of Main Street. The Bureau of Heelamation has awarded a $1.3 million construction contract for the enlargement of Dutch John, Utah water system, Colorado Hiver Storage Project, Secretary of Interior Cecil D. Andrus announced today. Traffic volumes over Highway U.W. 40 in eustcrn Utah for the month of August showed an overall traffic (k-crease of 4.6 percent. In lieu of taxes, more than seven million dollars is being paid to Utah counties by the Bureau of Land Management. Uintah County is receiving $441,005. October 11, 1979 Filing before the Tuesday deadline for the three councilmen seats up for election in the upcoming Vernal City Nov. 6 election, are seven Vernal residents; independents, Karl Migliori, Stanley Anderson, Jack A. Seitz and Lloyd E. Eaton; and Progressive Party, Greg Hawkins, Ned R. Lee and Jack T. Parkinson. Vernal businessmen, east of First East, voiced disapproval of the new curbs and gutters laid as part of the Main Street project. It was pointed out that the new curbs and gutters are higher than the present sidewalks and if the new sidewalks are sloped to meet the curbs, water will flood business places. Uintah County property tax notice statements for 1979 will be several weeks late this year due to a change in the mill levy made in the middle of making out the notices. The problem was caused by the Central Utah Water It was announced this week that the high school yearbook staff was awarded a national first place rating for its 1978-79 yearbook. Conservancy District changing its mill levy from the proposed 2 mills back down to 1.88 mills. ..The deadline for paying the property tax for 1979-is still November 30. No action was taken by the Vernal City council to not re-install parking meters on Main Street after it's completion. com-pletion. The ABC association disapproved disap-proved the action to discontinue the parking meters by a vote of 7-12. The association agreed to have the meters five, ten and twenty-five cents instead of one, five and ten cents. The contract deadline for finishing the Main Street reconstruction and surfacing project was Wednesday, Oct. 10. According to officials, it will be two weeks more until traffic is opened on the main artery through Vernal. Utah Gas Service Co., which sells natural gas in Daggett, Uintah, Grand and San Juan counties, has been tentatively ten-tatively granted a 10.01 percent rate increase. ..The company said its average residential customers will pay an extra $39.97 per year as a result of the rate hike authorized by the Public Service Commission. October 18, 1979 The Uintah School Board is petitioning property for future schools. Potential sites should be for 40 acre pieces. ..The board agreed that there will Ix; the necessity of two middle schools 'grades 6-8) with the high school consisting of grades 9-12. ..The board reviewed a letter from Forrest Cuch, education director for the Ute Tribe requesting a seat on the School Board be granted to a member of the . tribe. '. Traas Western Airlines held a ribbon-' cutting ceremony Monday morning for its first commercial flight into the' Vernal Municipal Airport. Utah's buck only deer hunt begins Saturday and will last until October 30. Forest Service officials are con-i cerned that the prolonged dry spell coupled with increased use of forest and range lands by hunters and. woodcutters is resulting in a serious, fire situation throughout the In-.' termountain Region. Improved camping and boating, facilities were installed at Pelican Lake : last weekend by the Vernal National Guard Unit. Bill Sweeney, owner of Great Lake Timber Inc., has been named national treasurer of the Federal Timber (continued on page 10) Uintah County 1979 Chronology (continued from page 9) Purchasers Assn. The Ute Indian Tribe has lost a bid to block Utah's claim to 157,000 acres of oil shale lands. ..The U.S. Supreme Court Monday rejected a tribal request to intervene in a lawsuit which will determine whether the state has the right to claim the oil shale land under turn of the century land grant-s... grant-s... However, the court allowed the Utes to file a friend-of-the-court brief to argue that some of the land sought was on its reservation. The National Cowboy Hall of Fame of Oklahoma City has recently added to its honor rolls the names of two of Vernal's former residents rodeo champion, Earl Bascom and his father, John W. Bascom. October 25, 1979 The City council moved to lease with option to buy an IBM computer at the most equitable monthly payment in order to see if the computer would be a good investment. "The computer will forestall addition of staff," said Joseph Bradbury, city finance director. Red Fleet Dam topped out last week as Brown and Root Western, Inc., contractor for the Bureau of Reclamation project ten miles northeast nor-theast of Vernal began to reduce its work force and equipment numbers. Supportive comments on the proposed White River Dam project were received Wednesday of last week by the Bureau of Land Management during a public meeting on the mi l -n i I :i 1 i project... ine project win ue uuin auuui 40 miles southeast of Vernal on the White River and will include construction con-struction of a dam, reservoir and hydroelectric power plant. "A combination of motorists ignoring intersection signals on one hand and drivers ignoring the barricades restricting Main Street traffic is causing a potentially dangerous situation," stated Vernal City Police traffic Sgt. Chuck Hill this week. Stan Ostrowski, Gusher, Utah, thinks that his hand-made helicopter will revolutionize the helicopter business. The most striking differences in Ostrowski's $70,000 helicopter and any conventional helicopter are the two propellers situated directly on top of each other. A 6-month-old whooping crane, one of fewer than 100 birds in the nation, died near Rangely, Colorado after being attacked in flight by an eagle, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported. The snow and mud caused problems for hunters in the Utah deer opener on Saturday. November 1, 1979 Higher sewer rates have been authorized by the Vernal City Council to cover increased costs and expansion... ex-pansion... The total result is, Vernal residents will pay a service fee of $6.75 per month per connection. A commercial com-mercial service fee of $6.75 per month per connection plus $ .35 per 1,000 gallons over the minimum usage will be charged. Seven Vernal men, Jack A. Seitz, Karl Migliori, Stanley Anderson, Lloyd Eaton, Jack Parkinson, Ned R. Lee and Greg Hawkins are making a bid for three vacant seats in the Vernal City council. ..City councilmen whose terms expire this year are Harvey Madsen, Terry Anderson and Bill Gibson. Gib-son. ..Holdover councilmen for another two years are John D. (Jack) Stagg and Gene Anfinson. Mayor Sam Snyder also has another two years in his four year term. At the Uintah School Board Meeting a . letter from the N.U. Service Center Superintendents that was sent to all nine board of education members was ' read. The letter protested the extracurricular ex-tracurricular activities which necessitated students leaving school for activities on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. ..Activities are to be held after school on Thursday, daytime hours on Friday and Saturday policy was waived this year but all principals and coaches are instructed that this policy will not be waived next year and they must arrange their region schedules accordingly. Traffic on Main Street was officially opened Friday, October 26. The only work left until spring was clean-up and fixing of some driveways. ..Next spring a sealcoat will be put on the street and the detour routes will be repaired.. .The traffic light at Fifth West and Main will be functional as soon as the city receives a transformer. The lights on Main Street will be shiDped Nov. 26 and 1 (continued on page 11) Uintah County 1979 Chronology u'onliinii'il (rum pauo 10 ,tyiVl they iU l Imif for tlu jstnuis lights, IVivmU-r 15. No 1-niln'r S, 1979 .wlv i-Uvtfd i-iMiiu-ilmt'ii, Jack (., Mil Miliori and I5ivn Hawkins I'l.tW iffHt' January 7 at 1 noon. VAslilt'y Valley Water mui Sower irn-l hoard will moot Nov. 7 al 9: 15 Miisutera piotvsal hy Vernal City to uiiv S3 peivem ef a lagoon site for a sower itispusal plant. ..If the lll'D ,it money. $o-UHXt allotted to tho city lusiwly fiu- sewer development is ustl soon by tlie e it y for piircluse of l.ixin site, it could be lost. ,-riul City is awaiting Hie ruling of ie J. Kobett lUillock on whether vun spend J-JSO.OOO in saks tax n,-y collected from the annexed ,ins areas in Vernal.. .The salt tax iH-v has been held aside by the court wuvt ion w ith a suit against Vernal i tn the County. ..If the city were to Mhesuit. Vernal City w ould lose $3.5 Jk in assesst1 value. $230,000 in ..s per year and an increase of 17 4milts in taxes would result to cover loss and maintain the current vices, said Shane l.uck, city -.uer. tieVmtah County School Hoard w ill csea new member to the board seat by the resignation of John Warn. Pr. Keid said the board w ill vt land ww for future schools in ertocut costs in half and '"if there is vpulation boom we can take im-i:ate im-i:ate action." realise of a recent water study :'.Tmed by Vernal City which shows c.ty is losing 54 percent of its water, ,r.e Luck, city manager, was jested by tho council to present a er audit to the Council Nov. 7. November 15, 1979 ' KiKhty five acres of land in three pieces were approved bv the Uintah .V H.0 Board to he purchased for future M-bool use. Total cost of (he land is "early half a million dollars. According to an analysis, a $2:; 000 ill low and Infiltration project per-formed per-formed on the Vernal City sower system has been largely inof-iectiye...Tho inof-iectiye...Tho city council moved not to Pay the $nt,oon tho t.ity owos ()) t,K, project until some effectiveness of the I&I project is shown.. .Total cost of the pro.Hvt to the city was $(i(),ooo and the M A paid the rest of the $23C,.ooo or 70 percent. A public hearing conducted by (he u" 1VP'- "f Financial Institutions was held in tho Uintah County Courthouse Cour-thouse Tuesday to hear reasons and protests for establishing a new unit state bank in Vernal . Authorization or rejection of the bank application will prolubly not be made for another two to three months. The Vernal City council approved tho first two phases of a water audit proposed by Community Consultants, Inc., Trovo, which will cost tho city between $40 and $40 thousand if all five phases are completed. Because the Ashley Valley Water and Sewer Project called for the conjiection fees to pay for themselves, sower connection rates w ill be raised, decided the Vernal City Council, Nov. 7. The now rates will bo $750 instead of the previous $350 for single family home connections. According to a recent report to the City Council the Vernal City sewage disposal plant is on its last leg. It is estimated that the city will begin bidding on a new plant in the winter and (continued on page 12) s j 4 l. ., ! i ' 1 ' r ; I , i r I ' i A CHRISTMAS STOCKING, tilled with all a nurse could ever hope lor on Christmas, decorates a wall in the Uintah County Hospital. Uintah County 1979 Chronology (continued from page 11) building a lagoon system in the summer; sum-mer; it will take a year to 18 months to complete. November 22, 1979 Funding for realignment and paving a 10 mile section of Uintah County Road trom the bottom of Diamond Mountain to the Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery Hat-chery road has finally been approved, according to Uintah County Commissioners Com-missioners this week... The Dept. of Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, now Water and Power Resources Service, will fund the estimated $1,390,000 project to provide all season access to the U.S. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife section of the Davis-Naples main water line located south of 1500 W. The new sodium-vapor light street lights, which are going up this week, use 50 percent less power and give off twice as much light as the old lights. Main Street will be lighted nearly a month before scheduled because of an early shipment of the street lights. Final preparations for the production of "Brigadoon" are underway at the Uintah High School. About 80 actors, singers, dancers, artists and musicians are all busy with the production. A program to control salinity in the Colorado River will be implemented through the ACP Program of the V. V. 1 Li I. V-U U VIH-O ilUlUllQl 1. 1 ion Hatchery. With winter coming on, Vernal City maintenance crews are pushing to repair two major leaks in the water system. One is located at the Maeser water tank and the other a 50 yard Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Con-servation Service in Utah. Two million dollars is to be made available to farmers in Duchesne and Uintah counties of the Uintah Basin to improve irrigation system efficiencies. Six new members welcomed into the Ashley Valley Chapter of the Jr. Honor Society, Tuesday, Nov. 20 were Doug Bowen, Vicki Fowler, Michelle Green, Kelly Sorensen, Judy Jameson and Paul Kay. November 29, 1979 Over 800 people crowded into the Zion's Bank parking lot bundled up in heavy coats, wool hats and gloves and waited nearly an hour to win either a turkey or beef roast. ..Saturday's drawing was the first of four drawings which will be held each Saturday until Christmas. The next drawing will be Dec. 1 in the Zion's Bank parking lot. In a condemnation suit concerning a tree encroachment at the east end of the Vernal Municipal Airport East- West runway Tuesday, the court authorized Uintah County to cut the tree down. ..The court action Tuesday now opens the way to remove the tree and open the runway. Vernal City officials have been ordered or-dered a second time by the 4th District Court to deposit $288,000 plus money in sales tax collected for annexed areas in a trust fund. Uintah County Sheriff's Department has installed a seven-day 24-hour dispatch system to handle all county two-way radio business, according to Sheriff Arden W. Stewart. The Vernal Chamber of Commerce, during their noon meeting at the Lamplighter Inn last Tuesday, honored Lloyd Clark and presented him with a Certificate of accomplishment for his 15 years of community service as a Hunter Safety Instructor and his nomination to the Hunter Safety Hall of Fame in cooperation with the Division of Wildlife Resources. With Thanksgiving over, area residents will be preparing for the Christmas season with Christmas music, bright colored . lights, candy canes, homemade treats and house decorations. ..To give recognition to their efforts, the annual home decorating contest will again be sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce Com-merce under the direction of Robert Langford, chairman. December 6, 1979 Uintah County commissioners have submitted a proposed $9,148,943 budget for 1980, according to a final budget report of department expenses and expected revenues for the coming year. The Vernal City Council has given General Properties, Inc., which owns the culinary water system of Air Village Hills, Inc., 90 days to come within the bounds of its contract or negotiate a new contract with the city or its water will be turned off. During the city council meeting, Nov, 28 councilmen were updated on the progress of the city water audit. Community Consultants, Inc Pr0 reported to the council that of 'the 3tk small water meters tested, 23 We dead, 29 registered low and the rea were within the 90 to 100 percent a curacy range. , A drive to obtain additional equirv ment for the new Uintah Counh Hospital has been initiated by th Vernal Area Chamber of Commert Civic Health and Medical committee Two lawsuits alleging price fixing at natural gas by six Utah suppliers and distributors were filed Friday in U S District Court for Utah.. .The defen dants in both suits are listed as Utah Gas Service, Co., based in Vernal' Gary Energy Corp., Colorado; Chevrw USA Inc., CA.; Amerada Hess Corn MAPCO Inc., and Tenneco Oil Co. al listed as Delaware corporations. An exclusive, long-term contract was signed November 2 between the Ute Indian Nation in Ft. Duchesne, and Al McClelland of Rocky Mountain Expeditions Ex-peditions based in Buena Vista Colorado. '