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Show t: i?M99 307 W 200 S tibOQi, SIX,. UT 84 1.0 1. ' Bike fest leaves mark page 181 Small business beating page 2 Price named grand marshal .page 3 Bullrider remembered page 10 Miss Uintah County page 15 New 9 holes open page 22 Serving one of the Top 50 Best Small Towns in America" , - v vir---v ......'..,... ;,--. - ... : ,.-.. - - J J Vernal. Utah 84078 101etycori:o.31 AT 3 1 f by Steven Wallis Express Editor The construction on the $ 12.5 million mil-lion modification to Steinaker Dam will start four days early as Bureau of Reclamation officials predict that winter storage can begin by November. Construction on the dam was delayed de-layed 30 days while a archeological team from Brigham Young University scoured the base of the dam to determine if any significant artifacts could be found. Last year a backhoe uncovered a burial spot which contributed to delaying the project for a year. (See related story on this page) The archeological study will be complete by Aug. 11, after which a 20-foot trench will be dug around the base of the dam. Two large backhoes will be used to dig the trench. The trench will be completed complet-ed by Sept. 30, said Karl Justsen, Bureau of Reclamation Dynamic compaction of the ground in the trench and material as it is placed in the trench will commence com-mence Oct 1. During this phase, a large weight will be dropped from a crane so that it hits the ground in overlapping sequences. The filling and compaction in the trench should be compete by Nov. 21, at which time filling of Steinaker Reservoir can begin. Dave Rasmussen, Uintah Water Conservancy District manager, said 170 cubic second feet of water are being released from Steinaker. Normal demand for the water is 130 cfs, so about 40 cfs is flowing down Ashley Creek. On Aug. 3 there was approximately 9,740 acre feet of water in Steinaker lake. By Sept. 1 the lake has to be drained so the soil in the trench is dry during compaction. com-paction. "I can only guess how much water BARRY RIGBY, formerly of Vernal, will speak about Somalia USUEC. 1 k'L Dry Fork sawmill finally receives business license Two and a half years ago Joe Wheyerman applied for a conditional condition-al use permit to build a sawmill in Dry Fork Canyon that was when his problems began. When Wheyerman applied for the conditional use permit, neighbors in Dry Fork complained to the Uintah County Commission about noise and fire hazard problems. After moving his sawmill two times and adhering to special requirements re-quirements of safety and noise reduction, re-duction, Wheyerman was issued a business license last Tuesday. The mill is located at 13250 North Dry Fork. An inspection of the mill on July 25 by Uintah County Building inspector in-spector Dale Peterson, determined that Wheyerman had complied and made a good faith effort to comply with the conditions set by the former for-mer Uintah County Commission. Wheyerman has been allowed to operate op-erate his sawmill under a temporary permit, if he continues to comply BYU field archeologists prepare to abandon excavation ex-cavation site after spending about a month look will be drained because no one knows how much silt has collected at the bottom of the reservoir over the past 30 years," Rasmussen said. Delivery of water from the Steinaker reservoir will stop Sept 1 which will leave fall crops short this year. Barbara Lube, Uintah Water Board member asked if water from Steinaker could be delivered through Sept. 15, but Rasmussen said he did not believe so. UN field service director to speak on Somalia Barry Rigby who recently returned re-turned from a United Nations assignment as-signment in Somalia, will speak in Vernal on Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Utah State University Education Center. His topic will be "Current political status sta-tus of the refugee problem in East Africa." Rigby received his academic training at the University of Utah, where he obtained a bachelor's degree de-gree in physics and a master's degree de-gree in social services. He has carried car-ried out professional assignments as a field service director for the United National High Commissioner for Refugees in the Sudan, in Pakistan, and most recently re-cently in Somalia. He is now in his with the requirements of the commission. com-mission. In approving the business license, the commission outlined items that need to be completed for renewal: complete a 20-foot fuel break, two 20-pound fire extinguishers, pressurized pres-surized values and water outlets, a 20-foot fire break around the log deck, a seal pond and the construction construc-tion of the building for the mill. Wheyerman agreed to comply with the requirements, but questioned the installation of dry hydrants on the pond. "I am an hour away from fire response, re-sponse, so by the time they get to me the hydrants would be of no value," val-ue," Wheyerman said. ' . , Commissioners will review Wheyerman's progress when the license li-cense comes back up for renewal. "Most of the requirements were implemented by the formed county commission," said Max Adams, Uintah County Commissioner. ing and finding Steinaker Dam. "The further we can extend the water, the better it will be for crops like com," she said. After Sept. 1, the only water in Ashley Creek will be 30 cfs from Oaks Park and the natural flows of the creek. Some water could be put into Ashley Creek from Red P.eet, tut that amount is limited and costly. cost-ly. Rasmussen said the Nov. 20 date to begin filling the reservoir is two-months two-months earlier than anticipated. second year of assignment to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, where the U.N. is attempting to maintain some semblance sem-blance of stability in Ethiopia's post-revolutionary period. His wife, the former Lelani Widdison, also has a rich background back-ground in foreign service, having spent two years in the Peace Corps in Thailand and several years in New York and West Germany . She has worked for the United Nations International Children's Education, and will speak on the status of women and their special problems. Rigby is a former resident of Uintah County. He is the son of Arvard and Virginia Rigby. His father fa-ther was a principal at Uintah High School and a former Superintendent of Schools in Uintah County before continuing his career as an educator with Brigham Young University, the Utah State Department of Public Education and the U.S. State Department in Thailand. The public is invited to attend. Twins born Thursday to Chamber VP Thursday morning while other Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce directors were laboring over the goals for next year, LeeAnn Morgan, executive vice president, was engaged in a labor of her own. At 2:16 p.m. and 2:17 p.m. she gave birth to twin girls, 6 pounds 10 ounces and 6 pounds 3 ounces. LeeAnn and her husband Russel will name the two girls Savanna Rae and Shyanna Jo. The Chamber and Convention Bureau staff will host a baby shower show-er for the parents and newborns at the Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, Aug. 10. The babies will be on hand with Mom from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 11 - 1 ancient remains near the foot of "The two months could mean an additional 6,000 acre feet of water," Rasmussen said. Beginning in November the construction con-struction of a berm on the dam will continue and hauling of material from a gravel pit at 1500 West 2000 North will begin. Justsen said the only thing that could stall the project is weather. The modification is required as part of the Federal Dams Safety Act ; .111 . '-v.; ; . ' iiiniiliili-'M' - z . - 1, .,: - , . ' - - -$". " '!"''-:" '';()',' J , ft''" ' " "",-' k 1 v If " SI X: . - '.:.mV L i vf r us BELL-SHAPED holes is where archeologist founds remains of four ancient infants The excavation site will be evacuated next week as construction will cover it. " $30,000 to lay groundwork for outdoor institute A $30,000 grant was awarded through the Department of Agriculture to do a feasibility study for an outdoor educational institute. The Ashley National Forest and the Uintah County Economic Development Board applied for the grant and were among the 23 of the 45 applicants to receive a grant. This is the only grant of its kind in the Uintah Basin, said Mary Wagner, District Ranger and member of the Uintah Economic Development Board. The grant precipitated from several sev-eral committees formed in 1992 for tourism and recreation as part of the formation of an Economic Impact Plan contracted with Bonneville Research. "The number one goal identified Plane crash claims two Dives A single-engine Bellanca aircraft crashed in the East Cactus Flat area of the Dinosaur National Monument in the early evening hours of Wednesday, July 28. According to Superintendent Denny Huffman, both occupants of (the aircraft were killed in the crash. Officials of Dinosaur National Monument were notified around 10 p.m. by the Moffatt County Sheriff's office that an aircraft had gone down in the Park in the vicinity vicini-ty of Thanksgiving Gorge. Search crews from the park, the Sheriff's . A 4 '"1 " i ) '.' "! i by these committees was to establish estab-lish an outdoor education institute," insti-tute," said Marian Eason, executive execu-tive director of the Dinosaurland Travel Board, Inc. The Travel Board has been chosen cho-sen to be the administrator of the grant and to implement the study process. To formulate the process of the study, a meeting will be held Thursday, Aug. 5, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Vernal City Hall conference room. Questions to be answered by the feasibility study include: Who will conduct the study? Who will run the program? Where will the institute be located? What will be the focus? And what will be the name? department and the Civil Air Patrol were immediately dispatched to the scene and began searching for the wreckage around midnight. Due to darkness and difficult terrain, the wreckage was first discovered by Park Service employee, Kelly Pontbriand and her search dog "Sweep" at approximately 5:45 a.m. Searchers trained in emergency first aid examined both occupants and found no signs of life. Both occupants occu-pants were entrapped within the See Crash on page 3 More finds uncovered at Steinaker The oldest irrigation system in the Uintah Basin was uncovered by a archeological crew last month, but the find will be covered back over to make way for a modem irrigation system. A team of 10 archeologists from Brigham Young University have also al-so uncovered two more ancient infant in-fant burial sites at the foot of Steinaker Dam. The 80-foot by 40-foot excavation will end Aug. 11, and construction crews and will prepare to make modifications to Steinaker Dam which will cover the excavation with up to 20 feet of fill. The discovery of two other infant burial sites last year contributed to a delay of a $12.5 million modification modifica-tion project on the dam. The project will make the dam secure in the event of an earthquake and is mandated man-dated by the Federal Dams Safety Act Field archeologist Rick Talbot said that on July 1 his crew found two more bell-shaped chambers where the remains of two infants were found. The remains were taken tak-en to a lab at BYU. It is estimated the infants lived at the site about 200 A.D. and were part of the archaic ar-chaic or pre-Fremont culture. The bones were found about nine feet below the surface. A user area was uncovered by the archeologists as well as a small ditch which goes about 20 feet southeast and turns east for about 10 more feet. "It could be some type of irrigation irriga-tion system," Talbot said. Uncovering of an archaic skeleton is rare because most graves have been destroyed. It is estimated the infants are 8 to 18 months old. "It is an indication of high infant mortality," Talbot said. "There is also al-so evidence that ancient people lived at this site for long periods." This week archeologists will be preparing to leave the excavation site. Once the infant skeletons are examined in the lab, they will be re-buried re-buried in a different location. |