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Show r Book Cliffs People from many walks of life opposed the Division of State Lands and Forestry Management Plan proposal pro-posal to discontinue the roadless area of the Book Cliffs. The designation of a large block of the southwest portion of the Book Cliffs as roadless was done by the state lands board in 1975. In 1978 three dry wells were drilled on the southwest edge of the roadless area. Because the wells were dry it was determined that the mineral value of the roadless area is minimal. mini-mal. The State Lands Board has a primary objective to make money for the state school fund from the lands it manages. All of the comments at last Wednesday's public hearing in Vernal opposed the discontinuance of the roadless area. Walt Donaldson, northeastern district dis-trict director for the Division of Agencies A joint investigation by the Utah Highway Patrol, the Vernal office of the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs continues in a two-vehicle accident near Whiterocks that resulted re-sulted in one death and the fatality of a pedestrian assisting at the scene. According to UHP reports, a 1985 Ford Bronco driven by Johnny R. Cesspooch, 20 of Randlett, was southbound on State Road 121 around 10 p.m. Wednesday, July 29. It was being followed by a blue Chevrolet pickup, allegedly driven by Jonas Poowegup, 18 of Whiterocks. The pickup attempted to pass the Bronco, and the Bronco moved left of the center of the road. The pickup struck the Bronco in the left rear pD'opeirty The Vernal City Police Department recovered property valued at over $1,000 that was stolen during several vehicle burglaries. If -U;-"' I rj : j 1 k (M ; ' jj I k ViLw' v I " - ' ill ttt'r ! v-p ' ". v -S, tL l OFFICER STEVE Hatzidakis examines property Vernal City. The tools and stereo equipment are recovered from several automobile burglaries In valued at over $1,000. CR UT PRf-SDRT -VO C l?319? UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION 467 E 300 8 SLC, UT Villi. 2606 Wildlife Resources, said there are negotiations underway to trade a large section of property owned by DWR in Salt Lake City for the roadless area. The property is located locat-ed near the Lee Kay Center at 21st South and 5600 West. The Salt Lake City property is less acreage, but the value per acre is much higher. "The primary delay with the exchange ex-change is agreement for fair values of the two properties in question," Donaldson said. J.C. Brewer said, at the hearing, that if the state could not transfer the mineral rights to the property, "what good would it do to transfer ownership to DWR." Donaldson said DWR could better manage the roadless area if it had ownership. "Oil and gas development develop-ment would have to be handled on a pnrolbe accnaflemitis ttharit CcnDD 2 and both vehicles went out of control. con-trol. The pickup left the east side of the road and rolled twice, throwing the driver and two passengers out. One of the passengers, Newton Nephi, 20 of Ft. Duchesne, was killed. The other passenger, Newman Nephi, 25 also of Ft. Duchesne, sustained serious seri-ous injuries to his upper body. He was transported to Duchesne County Hospital in Roosevelt and transported to the University Hospital in Salt Lake City. He walked out of the Salt Lake City hospital on Monday without a release re-lease from his doctor nor the hospital. hospi-tal. The Bronco also left the same side of the road, went through a fence and finally came to rest in some recovered! odd tairgllairies Property included tools, a tool box, drill bits and car stereos. The investigation investi-gation is continuing. Officer Steve Hatzidakis said that case by case basis to mitigate impacts." im-pacts." During the public comment portion por-tion of the hearing, Joe Dyke said recreation in the Book Cliffs "doesn't happen unless it is the hunting season." Dyke said the small oil company he represents would like to continue development in the Book Cliffs. "$3 million a year is spent in the local area by our company," he said. Steve Borton, Uintah Mountain Club, said he opposed the withdrawal with-drawal of the roadless designation. "Oil and gas prices are so low right now it would be better if they were not developed," he said. "It is like money in the bank." Lorin Squires said he objected to the State Lands Board primary objective ob-jective being to make a profit off the state school sections in the Book bushes. Neither the driver nor any of the passengers, Ondee Wopsok, 16, Richard Poowegup, 16, both of Ft. Duchesne, Terry Jenkes, age and residence unknown, were seriously injured. Clark Jones, 28 of Ft Duchesne, an officer with Bureau of Indian Affairs, was dispatched to the accident acci-dent It was reported to Officer Jones that the accident was approximately approxi-mately one mile north of the actual location. He was traveling northbound north-bound on S.R. 121 when he came to three pedestrians on the right side of the road. Officer Jones struck and killed Rexiana Cesspooch, 15 of Randlett, a bystander who was assisting as-sisting at the previous accident scene and who apparently moved into the lane of traffic. Johnny Cesspooch and Terry Jenkes, the two 16-year-old males were referred to Juvenile Court after the investigation investiga-tion showed they possessed the stolen property. Multiple victims are WEDNESDAY, August 5, 1992 Vernal, Utah 84078 100th Year No. 32 22 Pages Single Copy 50 Cliffs. James Lckas, mineral developer devel-oper in the Book Cliffs said he supported sup-ported maintaining the roadless area, but he opposed the State Land Boards support of the Book Cliffs Initiative. "It (Book Cliffs Initiative) will just add another layer lay-er to the regulatory burden," Lekas said. Karl Kappe, planner for the State Land Board, said the consensus of the Vernal and Salt Lake City public hearings was to keep the roadless area intact. The roadless area issue received most of the attention during the comment period, he said. The comment com-ment period on the State's plan for the holdings is the Book Cliffs has been extended until Sept. 15. "By extending the comment period, we hope to encourage diverse and informed in-formed comment rather than those based on emotion. driver and passenger in the Bronco, were also struck and injured. According to UHP reports, Johnny Cesspooch and Jenkes did not move onto the highway but were struck and injured. Cesspooch was transported trans-ported to the University Hospital in Salt Lake City in critical condition. He was reported Tuesday to be in fair condition. Trooper Jack Peterson of UHP is treating these accidents as two separate sepa-rate incidents even though they are related. The accidents are under investigation in-vestigation by all agencies and evidence evi-dence is being analyzed. None of the occupants of either vehicles were wearing seat belts. According to UHP, Officer Jones is on administrative leave while the investigation continues. involved which adds to the difficulty of the investigation, said Officer Hatzidakis. "Vernal City Police Department requests re-quests the cooperation of the public to lock their vehicles, making it more difficult for break-ins," Officer Hatzidakis stated. "Some citizens believe be-lieve that Vernal is exempt from burglaries. bur-glaries. But it does happen." He recommends rec-ommends that citizens engrave their property with their Utah driver's license li-cense number for easier identification. identifica-tion. The vehicle burglaries, the police believe, took place near 1200 West in Vernal. In a separate case, Vernal City Police arrested two adults, Joe A. Espinoza, 32, and Gail Graham Espinoza, 23, both of Vernal, and charged each with one count of burglary bur-glary of a dwelling, a second degree felony. The arrests came as a result of information in-formation received that the couple al- Continued on page 2 Drug cases clarified: county tough with appeals An article in last week's Vernal Express may have conveyed that County Attorney Harry Souvall is plea bargaining many of the cases in the Uintah Basin Roundup to lesser charges. Nothing could be further from the truth. "Early on we decided to be consistent con-sistent with a felony offense," Souvall said. "If a person was charged with a felony, his pica would be felony." "There have been only two exceptions excep-tions to this case," he said. One exception lacked enough evidence evi-dence and another was because of the special circumstances of the defendant de-fendant Of the Uintah County cases in Uintah Basin Roundup last April Inside Fantasies run wild. Page 5 Cloggers place first Triathlon produces fast times. Page 18 MISS UINTAH COUNTY Nikki Lemon waves to crowd watching the Uintah County Fair Parade Monday. Faiir actinviftiies ft appeaD to aDI The Uintah County Fair is in full swing this week with activities planned through Saturday night Nikki Lemon will reign over the Fair after being crowned last Saturday night during the Miss Uintah Scholarship pageant. Her attendants at-tendants are Dajah Dyck and Aaryn Snow. Babies will be judged during the baby show contest Wednesday. Judging begins at 9 a.m. and will run until 4 p.m. Recording star, Michael Martin Murphey will headline the state finals fi-nals of the True ValueGMC Truck Country Showdown Wednesday night. The show begins at 8 p.m. in the outdoor arena at the Western Park. Home arts and crafts and 4-H exhibits ex-hibits will be open each day until the fair closes on Saturday. They are located in the exhibit hall of the Western Park. 4-H small animal exhibits ex-hibits will also be open until the fair closes and will be in the indoor arena. are-na. A carnival with thrilling rides and games will be located in the east parking lot of the Western Park on 14, have pleaded guilty and 9 cases arc pending. It was wrongly stated in last week's Express that Joel Turner and Stanley Kccblcr have pleaded guilty to distribution of a controlled substance. Cases against Turner and Kccblcr arc still pending. pend-ing. Also pending are cases against Jocsph Cranford, Troy Floyd, John Simmons, Kenneth Shclton, Warren Two judges to be on county ballot Sixteen Utah judges, including two from Uintah County, will appear ap-pear on the ballot this November. A. Lynn Payne, District Court and Leslie D. Brown, Juvenile Court will be on the ballot for Uintah, Duchesne and Daggett counties. Page 16 ,43d I vx v ' J a 3i& e 1 iBf f Wednesday, Thrusday and Friday. The carnival will open at 10 a.m. each day. Roving musical entertainment can be enjoyed each day until the fair closes Saturday. Kid's "choo choo" train rides can be enjoyed by the youngsters from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. The Farm Bureau and 4-H Talent Find will be Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the amphitheater at the Western park. The demolition derby will take place Friday starting at 7:30 p.m. in the outdoor arena. The 1992 Uintah County Fair will close Saturday with the Farm Bureau cook-off on the patio at the Western Park; the pie baking and homemade ice cream contests in the exhibit hall; the local talent show in the amphitheater and the County Fair dance, featuring Marty Combs in the exhibit hall in addition to the other events already listed. All of the events are open to the public and Uintah County residents arc encouraged to participate in the various activities planned. Turner, Susan Warden and Kevin Broadhcad. In federal cases, Kenneth Shclton pleaded guilty to a firearms violation. viola-tion. Federal trials arc set in August for Rhctt Scarlc, John Madscn, Pat Langford and Emmctt Brumficld, said U.S. assistant attorney Mark Vincent. Utah voters arc asked to choose whether or not to retain the judge in office. This procedure is different from most Utah elections where offices of-fices arc "contested" (More than Continued on page 12 |