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Show DISABLED PAKKITES, CITY PLANNERS AGREE: IT ISN'T EASY TO GET AROUND IOWN IN A WHEELCHAIR B U S I N E S S , A - 10 PARK CITY CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY: HOW WILL OBAMA GOVERN? PARK CITY, UTAH The PROFILE, B-l 7 PCHS ATHLETIC TRAINER-SPARKS Park Record. W W W . P A R K R E C O R D . C O M VOL. 128 • N O . 83 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, November 22-25,2008 Serving Summit County since 1880 PCMR opening delayed Gun case dooms judge's confirmation on the ball Merchants say later date is no big deal Lawyers praise Hilder, but state Senate rejects him, 16-12 By PATRICK PARKINSON Of the Record staff DAVID HYDEMPARK Criticizing Silver Springs resident Robert Hilder's temperament, state senators rejected him for a seat on the Utah Court of Appeals ending the bid of the controversial 3rd District Court judge, who is popular among lawyers in Park City. "I had a ton of emails on both sides of the issue, many people saying he was the greatest thing that had ever happened, and other people saying he was terrible, inconsiderate and inconsistent," Republican Sen. Allen Christensen, who represents most of eastern Summit County, said in a telephone interview. "The first email said, Thank you so much, you did a wonderful job. This is what we pay you for.1 And the next several just lambasted us. One said, 'I'm a constituent and I can work against you' - almost threats." The 16-12 vote against Hilder Wednesday in the Senate was unusual as most judicial confirmations are uneventful affairs. Christensen voted against Hilder and Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, a Republican who serves Park City, voted to confirm the judge to the Appeals court. Constituents who bombarded senators with emails demanding Hilder not be approved were concerned mostly about Hilder's siding with the University of Utah in a 2003 spat with state lawmakers" about the banning of concealed weapons on campus. Hilder's judicial career has included several highprofile cases in Summit County, including the 2001 RECORD Small patches of snow are surrounded by dry grass near the First Time lift Thursday at Park City Mountain Resort. By ANDREW KIRK Of the Record staff Park City Mountain Resort isn't open today. It was supposed to be, but . according to Krista Parry, resort spokesperson, in the last five years the resort hasnt been ready on its . scheduled opening day more often than it has. The delayed opening isn't expected to have much bearing on the season, though. During the last five winters the number of skiers in Park City has increased, and last winter it seemed to never stop snowing, she said. Snow during Thanksgiving week is a "bonus," she said. Skiers understand November snow is never guaranteed, and most people who .booked this week in the hotels did so for family and the holiday. \ The resort said Tuesday afterItioon that 72 hours of subfreezing ^-temperatures are needed to ready *.the slopes, and the unseasonably •Avarm temperatures made snow; making impossible. < Seasonal workers, meanwhile, *;cannot start their jobs. Parry said "the resort itself staggers the arrival of visiting workers to avoid overstaffing early in the season. Those who have already arrived now simply have more time to "settle in," she said. But employees of resortdependent businesses unable to start their jobs are milling around town looking for part-time work. Kate Ellis, manager at the Pizza Hut on Sidewinder Drive, said she's seen a lot of that lately. "Usually in winter we need extra servers, cooks and drivers ... but we're slow, too, before the resorts open so we don't need people," she said. A few small eateries are also left in a bind. Susan McGraw of the restaurant Boua1 Thai at the Resort Center is frustrated because her kitchen has made 5-gallon buckets of sauce in preparation for Saturday that won't freeze or keep. "It really screws up our inventory," she said. The restaurant spent all the money allotted for supplies in November and now has to wait and see if there will be anyone to serve. Catie Weekes, an employeejat Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at the Resort Center, said ^her store bought four large boxes of Please see PCMR, A^2 3 SECTIONS • 56 PAGES Agendas A-6 Business A-10 Classifieds C-13 Columns A-16 Editorial A-17 Events Calendar C-6 Letters to the Editor Legals A-17 C-17 Movies C-4 Restaurant Guide Sports B-13 B-1 , TV Listings. Weather Elite Meyer, center, tries to pass off the ball to teammate Marina Mayo, right, and keep It away from coach Margaret Hyatt during an Impromptu game of players versus coach during the 6th grade girls' basketball practice at Ecker Hill International School on Friday. Please see Senate, A-2 Ex-planner-goes to Talisker Killer due in court again Putt oversaw projects at Empire Pass, Quinn's Junction By PATRICK PARKINSON Of the Record staff Talisker Corp., which is developing much of Empire Pass in Deer Valley, has tapped - Termer Park City planning director as a consultant on projects in Summit County. Snyderville Basin resident Patrick Putt began advising Talisker on its controversial White Saddle development near Kamas after leaving his post as City Hall's top planner last February. White Saddle is a gated community proposed near the Tuhaye golf resort on State Road 248. "Talisker is one of a handful of projects I've got going on," Putt said. "Maybe I'm just too naive about it and maybe this won't work, but I'm enjoying it right now." • Putt insists the Talisker arrangement does not violate City Hall conflict-ofinterest rules meant to keep government officials from colluding with private enterprise when they leave the public sector. Putt had refereed development battles in Park City for almost 13 years when he left City Hall. "I haven't really been involved in anything that would be, in my mind, coloring over the line. The basic ethics rule is, I shouldn't be representing projects that I worked on as the planning director, and that means Pat doesn't all of the sudden show up at the table as a project manager," Putt said in a telephone interview Friday. "That's appropriate and I have taken great care not to do that." Still, Putt wouldn't rule out possibly needing to advise Talisker on future projects within the Park City limits. "Most of the stuff that I have wouldn't fall under that category," Putt said. "I've got to take it project by project and day by day and I hope it works out." Mayor Dana Williams said he is OK with Putt working with Talisker as long as Putt follows guidelines the city has for avoiding conflicts of interest. "His consulting is outside of the city and that's absolutely fine," Williams said Friday. "Our rules have to do more with if somebody has pending stuff in front of us, or they're going to work for someone who is involved with the city. There are ethical questions on that." Prosecutor predicts judge will order a third trial for Erik Low By JAY HAMBURGER Of the Record staff Summit County Attorney David Brickey said this week he expects Judge Bruce Lubeck will have an "easy time" deciding to bind Erik Low over for trial on a manslaughter charge stemming from the 2003 shooting death of Michael Hirschey. Low is scheduled to appear in front of Lubeck during a preliminary hearing set to start at 1:30 p.m. on Monday. Afterward, Lubeck will decide if there is probable cause to bind Low, 40, over for trial. If he does, Low will face a third trial in the shooting death. The standard for a judge to bind someone over for trial in a preliminary hearing is lower than it is for a jury to convict someone in an actual trial. Low shot and killed Michael Hirschey twice after a night of partying and roughhousing. The prosecutors contend Low was intent on killing Hirschey. Low's side maintains he was acting in self-defense. Hirschey was 38 years old. In the first trial, the jury was unable to decide if Low was guilty of murder, resulting in the second trial. In the second one, the jury convicted Low of manslaughter. The state Supreme Court overturned the 2005 conviction on appeal, with Low's side arguing the jury was given faulty instructions. "I suspect he will be bound over," Brickey, the lead prosecutor in Low's two trials, said. Low's attorney, Ken Brown, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. Preliminary hearings share some similarities with trials, with witness testimony and cross-examinations. Brickey said he plans to call Todd Grey, the state's chief medical examiner, as a witness. His testimony will be in place of the late Maureen Frikke, the state medical examiner who investigated the death. The Summit County Jail is holding Low. Bail is set at 5250,000. Please see Talisker, A-2 Prop. 8 protesters target theater Cinemark owner backed measure By GREG MARSHALL Of the Record staff Opponents of the ban on samesex marriage that voters in California passed Nov. 4 continue to call for a boycott of the Sundance Film Festival amid new rumors that the owner of a local four-plex rented during the festival helped fund the legislation. Festival organizers haye been fielding phone calls a^d responding to angry emails that call for Sundance to pull about 120 scheduled public screenings from ^Ruk Record Strnnf Submit Cemty rinet I8S0 www.parkrecord.com C-11 B-2 V DAVID RYDER/flAflK RECORD •9493 00001 the Holiday Village Cinemark theaters on Kearns Boulevard, according to Sundance spokeswoman Brooks Addicott. A spokesman for Cinemark Theaters, which owns CineArts and Century Theaters, declined comment for this story. Sundance offers about 650 screenings for films during the 10day festival scheduled to begin in Park City Jan. 15. That means that nearly one in five screenings are held at the Holiday Village theaters, not including screens for the press and industry insiders. The imbroglio comes after a blogger based in Washington, D.C., John Aravosis, reported that Cinemark Theater CEO Alan Stock contributed $9,999 to bankroll the campaign in support VISITOR G UID E » Wheels of steel of the ban. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints also reportedly bankrolled the "Yes on Prop. 8" campaign. With seven weeks before opening night, when organizer will roll out the red carpet for the world premiere of the clay-animation film "Mary and Max," Sundance still plans to use all four screens at Holiday Village theaters as a hub for films, filmmakers and the media. Even with the addition of a new screen at Temple Har Shalom, Sundance is stretched to find places to show 125 feature-length films and several hundred shorts, Addicott said. Sundance headquarters, located in Park City, has received 200 emails in the past two weeks and Please see Prop. 8, A-2 The Egyptian Theatre presents "The Music Man" DAVID RYDER/PARK RECORD Dave Nicholls, a bobsled pilot, sledge hockey goalie and murder-ball star, hops a curb on Main Street He says getting around town Is as hard as any sport. To read more about the challenges disabled people face in Park City, please see page C-1. Park City's Egyptian Theatre is proud to present the %I1-American Classic, "The Music Man," running through Dec. 28. Celebrate the holidays with the. story_pXa_charming conman who ends up starting a boys' band. Tickets are on sale' at ~ 328 -Main St., online at ParkCityShows.com or by calling 649-9371. Regular ticket prices range from S16-S30. Opening night is Saturday, Nov. 22, |