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Show Utah Prboo ioeoclation 467 East 300 8uth Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1984 Vernal, Utah 84078 92nd Year No. 1 INSIDE Wetenkamp to be honored 3 Snowmobilers 4 Moon Lake Electric refund 12 1983 reflections 13 'Camelot' auditions 16 Alumni wrestling matches 21 Editorial 2.3 Classified Ads ....10-11 TV Guide 17 Obituaries 6 Expressions 13 20 Out; Adv. Insert Public Notices 8,9 Sports 21-26 26 Pages Single Copy 25 18 Burglars strike in Vernal Burglaries either ended the year or brought in the new year on the upswing upsw-ing as Vernal City Police report three occurring sometime between Friday and Monday. Monday, Christensen's Department Store, 25 South Vernal Ave., was burglarized apparently between 6 p.m. Saturday and Monday morning. Lt. John Parker, Vernal City Police, said that between $2,000 and $3,000 in clothing pants, jackets and shirts-was shirts-was taken from the store. There were some minor damages to the building where a forced entry was obtained. Saturday police investigated another burglary which occurred either the same day or the day before at Ashley Elementary, 350 N. 1300 W. A person or persons entering the building smashed in the south door, took the change from a pop machine and did other damage totaling $370. Detective Paul Parker, Vernal City Police, who is investigating the three burglaries, said a total of items taken in the burglary hadn't been totaled Tuesday. A total would be released when teachers are back in the school. A third burglary occurred at the U.S. Forest Service shop and maintenance area at 500 East 200 South. A nine passenger vehicle was stolen from a fenced-in area, and some loose change and vehicle keys were taken from the main office. The vehicle was recovered Sunday on Main Street in Roosevelt, said Lt. John Parker. A $1,700 tool set was taken from the vehicle, the back window win-dow broken out, and other damages were sustained when the vehicle was driven through the gate at the Forest Service storage area Forest Service officials estimate the total damages at $2,800. Detective Paul Parker said that there are possible leads in all three cases. Police, Tuesday were uncertain if the three cases were related or not. Persons with information are urged to contact the Forest Service or Vernal Ver-nal City Police. 4 will be for frolf wit h o Experts in the business of tourism are touting 1984 as a good year. And Utah State University's expert in that area has to agree, with an ' 'if" or two. William C. Gartner, director of the USU Institute for Outdoor Recreation and Tourism says, "Everything is in place for a record travel year to Utah." Gartner notes that those attending a travel outlook forum in Washington, D. C, were optimistic about the upcoming up-coming tourist season. There is a feeling feel-ing that people have the time and money to travel again. "Figures showed 1978 and 1979 were our best years in Utah and the downturn came with the spring floods last year. So the big if is whether or not we are under water this year, and what sort of coverage the national media give any local disruptions caused caus-ed by water," the travel institute director says. Business travel continues to move upward, and Utah has an image which makes casual visitors want to return, he notes. "If we can get people to visit and Deseref Deseret Generation and Transmission Transmis-sion Cooperative, which is building the 400-megawatt Bonanza power plant northeast of Vernal, is lobbying legislators about the need for its rates to remain free of state regulation. Last May, a U.' S. Supreme Court decision gave the state utility commissions commis-sions the right to regulate wholesale power rates of public power organizations. Deseret sells wholesale power to its six-member rural electric cooperative in Utah, which in turn sells retail power to thiir local customers. IT'S COLD and there is a lot of on two cross-country skiers on rrsts -do New Year's weekend in Uintah County was relatively quiet five drunken driving arrests according to law enforcement agencies. Lt. Norman Steen, Utah Highway Patrol, said UHP officers only made three arrests over the weekend for driving under the influence (DUD. we hope some of the half million from outside California going to the summer Olympics will visit then we can usually get them to come back," he says. "Our current regional advertising is slanted toward the Fort Worth-Dallas area, and since there is direct flying service, coupled with the fact that a tourist can fly to Salt Lake City in the cpr0f New Year's baby born January 3rd The Vernal area finally got its first baby of the year as an eight-pound two-ounce boy was born at 9:51 a.m. Tuesday. The first baby of 1984 was born to Shauna and Larry Dotter of Vernal. The Dotters plan to name their new boy Chase Herbert Dotter. Both mother and baby were doing fine at the Ashley Valley Medical Center Tuesday. lobbies for no regulation of power The Utah Public Service Commission Commis-sion has been regulating Deseret's power plant construction and the rates and service of its member retail cooperatives, but hasn't touched Deseret's wholesale rates. Public Service Commission Chairman Chair-man Brent H. Cameron said he doubts the PSC will want to start regulating Deseret's rates, but will have to analyze the issue before deciding. If the Legislature doesn't specifically specifical-ly change state law and foreclose the regulation option to the PSC, the cooperative will lost $600 million in 1IV , - ; , v 1 : . ' ... . : J - .-'' " ' : . '-. ':.'.t . - - - - - , .. : ' V - - j . -,-'' V,f i ..,"'''' ' " ' ' ' 1 , - - i t, i snow, but at least the sun shines a slope near Taylor Mountain. Fog One of the reasons for less drunk drivers on the road was because many people are now using the assigned driver system, he said. The assigned driver system is choosing, choos-ing, before the party begins, a person who will drive the drinkers , home. yor morning and be on Wasatch ski slopes in the afternoon, we have a definite appeal ap-peal to out-of-staters," Gartner says. Both 1985 and 1986 are "iffy" in the eyes of the travel expert. "If the federal budget increases, new taxes are added and federal spending spen-ding is reduced, there is the possibility possibili-ty of choking out the recovery," Gartner Gart-ner concludes. Staff at the medical center said another baby was born just hours before the new year. As the first baby of 1984, the family will receive prizes from 18 Vernal merchants. The prizes include a case of strained baby food, afghan kit, blanket, gift certificates, Johnson's baby gift set, shoes, bathtub, and a subscription to the Vernal Express. financing benefits over the next 35 years, Deseret says. To win support for a change in the state law during the coming legislative session, Deseret has been making presentations to legislators in lunch and dinner sessions at the Alta Club and other meetings around the state. Deseret attorney Lynn Mitton said the $800 million power plant, scheduled schedul-ed for completion in October 1984, is currently being financed by conventional conven-tional means at an average interest rate of 11.5 percent. But Deseret hopes to refinance it few its in the valley seems to be pushing more and more skiers and snowmobilers into the high country. rom-icisf ycsr Hosts from many parties are now helping help-ing provide transportation for their guests who are too intoxicated to drive. Lt. John Parker, Vernal City Police, said that city officers stopped several vehicles where everyone in the vehicle vehi-cle appeared to be intoxicated except the driver. Also there wasn't as much attendance at public parties over the weekend. People stayed home to drink, he said. q 1 If If ' 1 1 ! . J ft , "Sxf v - , 1 m iiir-'-'"-- , t a 1 i X "i f ' Vol! ," 'ffy ) , . PROUD PARENTS, Larry and Shauna Dotter hold their new baby boy who was the first baby before October with a leveraged lease that would yield a 7.5 percent rate. The difference between the two financing methods is a $600 million savings over the 35-year life of the plant. Because it is a non-profit but taxable association, Deseret can benefit from leveraged leasing because it has more tax credits and accelerated depreciation deprecia-tion benefits that it can use. Under a new leveraged lease, it sells its plant property and equipment to large companies that need additional tax credits and appreciation, then leases the assets back at an effective During the weekend Vernal City Police made on DUI arrest. Reports from both the Uintah County Coun-ty Sheriff's Department and Naples City Police follow suit with only one DUI incarceration. Lt. Steen said that Utah appears to have experienced a fatality free holiday. holi-day. Fatal accidents in the Uintah Basin area are also down from a year ago. There were 21 fatals in 1983 compared com-pared to 22 in 1982. born at Ashley financing rate of 7.5 percent. For the assets to be legally eligible for accelerate, five year depreciation, they cannot be classified as public util-ty util-ty property. And if the potential exists for Deseret's rates to be state-regulated, state-regulated, the Internal Revenue Service Ser-vice will classify the property as public utility property, Mitton said. That wouldn't normally be a problem, pro-blem, he said, because the state PSC hasn't enforced state laws permitting regulation of Deseret's wholesale rates. It has relied instead on a 1927 U. S. Supreme Court case that said states Brrrrrrrrr chills tingle backbones A favorite topic of discussion around this time of the year is typically the weather, and lately, the conversations have centered around the freezing temperatures and the amount of moisture the area has received. With the onset of the cold weather, many people in the area are not only experiencing poroblems with their vehicles, but are also having problems with water pipes freezing. The problem pro-blem with the amount of snow the area has received is trying npt only to keep the roads cleared off, but also trying to keep driveways and sidewalks clear of the white stuff. The official national weather service reporting station for the area is at Skywest Airlines and according to Brad Gale, manager of the airlines, the average temperatures in November and December were in the teen and 20s. The lows were zero or below. The average temperature in December was a mere 22 degrees. According Ac-cording to Skywest, the average temperature is based on the low and high temperatures throughout the month. The December average was based on a 29 day month because temperatures weren't recorded on the holidays. The 1982 average temperature for December was 23.6 degrees. December 21 and 29 tied for the coldest col-dest days of 1983 with an actual temperature of -10 degrees. The coldest col-dest day recorded in 1982 was on Feb. 5 with a -18 degree reading. Gale said that the chill factor does not play an dominant role in the temperatures in the area because there is very little wind. Gale said that the amount of precipitation is significantly more than it was last year. The precipitation for December 1983 was 1.13 inches, which increased from .98 inches in 1982. The total amount of precipitation in 1983 was 17.48 inches which increased increas-ed from 11.17 inches in 1982. Although it might seem like it's going go-ing to remain cold forever, there were some warm days last summer. The high temperature for 1983 was recorded record-ed on Aug. 6 at 98 degrees and the high temperature in 1982 was on three separate days of July 21, 22 and Aug. 8 with a 98 degree reading each day. Valley Medical Center in 19S4. rates could regulate only retail rates. But a new Supreme Court ruling last May reversed the earlier decision. In that case, the court said arguments could be made that rates of an Arkansas wholesale power cooperative similar to Deseret don't need to be regulated, because the coop's co-op's ratepayers are also its owners ah argument Deseret used with lawmakers at this week's luncheon. But the court siad it wouldn't second-guess the Arkansas Public Service Ser-vice Commission's decision that the public interest required regulation. J ''f ) |