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Show Single Copy 500 Vernal, Utah 84078 113th Year No. 17 wed ' Apn EDUCATION UHS Latin class WEATHER takes top honorsJ See A12 ., Wed Thli fit . 427 428 429 OP. Z?k . 6440 5937 5733 See All' Accused child abuser found desd An accused sex offender in Ft. Duchesne took his own life last Friday after 20 law enforcement officers surrounded the area where he was last seen when he failed to show up for the second day of his jury trial. At 9 a.m. Friday Uintah County Sheriffs Department received a 911 telephone call that Bruce "Buz" Iorg had taken one of the many firearms in the home where he was staying stay-ing on the Whiterocks Road and had gone to "the pond" near the home. He told his wife the night before that he was going to "just go and end it" the next morning. His wife made the 911 call. Iorg was on trial in District Court for seven counts of sexual sex-ual abuse of a juvenile. On Thursday, the victim of the crime he was charged with testified tes-tified before a jury. Twenty officers with the BIA, Highway Patrol and FBI and two search dogs surrounded a four mile radius around the area believed to be where Iorg was located. Roads in and out of the area were barricaded. "We were cautious in locating him, because we didn't want it to be a suicide due to a shot from law enforcement," said Sheriff Rick Hawkins, Uintah County Sheriffs Department. Hawkins requested air assistance assis-tance with the search for individual. indi-vidual. "As luck would have it, a Utah Highway Patrol helicopter was available. It flew over the site and pin-pointed the body," Hawkins said. Iorg was found about a half mile south of his home. He had shot himself in the head with a 7mm rifle. Parking lawsuit receives new judge Plaintiffs still feel strongly about case By Steven R. Wallis Express Editor A lawsuit filed last October by Vernal businessmen concerning Vernal City parking may have hit a few bumps in the road, but plaintiffs still feel strongly about the issues in the case. "It is a shame to have a beautiful beauti-ful Main Street with all the flowers flow-ers and just a half a block away be in a blighted area," said Gary Showalter, one of the plaintiffs in the case. The downtown businessmen allege numerous ordinance violations vio-lations by the City that have resulted in "a serious public hazard as patrons are forced to park in places not designed for parking, in unlit, remote locations, in illegal locations, in locations hindering traffic and in locations susceptible to crime." The hearing of the case in court has been delayed as former for-mer Vernal City attorney, Judge A. Lynn Payne, excused himself him-self from the case, and former Vernal City Council member, Judge John Anderson, removed himself from the case because of possible conflicts. Seventh District Court Judge Bruce K. Halliday has assumed the case. "I am in the process setting up some hearings with Judge Halliday, who is new to the case," Gregory M. Simonsen, attorney for the businessmen, said last week. Vernal City Attorney Dennis Judd last month filed a motion -mmmr I If I J I 111 V 1 to' 11 vWP t5l Gary Snow and crew with the Uintah Conservancy District burn the banks Weir officials Water officials agreed Tuesday that more has been done this year to prepare for high water on Ashley Creek and Dry Fork than any year previous. "I an very happy with what the county has done up to this point," said Bill Rasmussen, canal company director. "I think they have done everything every-thing possible and we are as ready as we can be." The optimism among water users comes as the snow packs on major drainages in the Uinta Mountains begin to show some t ) . Gary Showalter retains a wrecker to Street. to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the owners of Vernal Theatres, Inc., Showalter Motor Company, Inc. and Star Investment Company LLC. Judd claimed that the businessmen busi-nessmen were not directly affected by the construction of the Cobble Rock Park and the loss of the 15-20 parking spaces in the center of Vernal. He also claims that the businessmen didn't follow the proper procedure proce-dure in filing their concerns with the city zoning and planning plan-ning board. Showalter, who has attended many Vernal City Council meetings concerning the downtown down-town parking issue said that he was offered by the City Council to sit on a committee to come up with solutions to the problem. ( V., .V movement. SNOTEL sites measurement mea-surement of snowpack at Trout Creek, 163 percent of normal; Kings Cabin, 141 percent of normal; Chepeta, 228 percent of normal and Mosby, 169 percent of normal. All have decreased in the past week. "It appears that things are starting to move," Bob Leake, Vernal office of the Division of Water Rights, said during Tuesday's water meeting. County crews will continue contin-ue to burn slash piles along Ashley Creek and the bank of Ashley Creek continues to be f-' " - - - M free his vehicle off a hump in an alley way a half a block south of Main "I agreed to serve on the committee, com-mittee, but no committee was ever formed," Showalter said. The complaint also alleges that the City has mismanaged misman-aged or ignored the downtown parking fund. Vernal City ordinances require new businesses busi-nesses or new downtown land users to provide adequate off-street off-street parking for those uses. If the new business or land user does not have adequate off-street off-street parking, the ordinance requires the landowner to pay a fee into the downtown parking park-ing fund and that the fund be used to acquire new parking or upgrade existing parking. "We have reviewed the City Council minutes for the last 10 years and it appears the city has no intention of complying comply-ing with this ordinance," says of the Steinaker Service Canal to prepare it to be filled with water. are optimistic reinforced with large rocks placed on the south side near the Kiwanis Park on 1500 North and 1700 West. Seven dump trucks have been scheduled this week to haul rock from the Simplot Phosphate mine to Ashley Creek. Last week the mine ran out of available rock, but after additional blasting at the mine, more rock is available. avail-able. Sandbags are available at the County Road Shop. To volunteer volun-teer with sandbagging call 781-5497. 781-5497. Leake urged canal operators . . - Showalter, owner of Showalter Motor Company. "As near as we can tell either the city is not collecting the funds, or the funds are being collected and then diverted to other uses," he said. One of the first businesses to contribute to the parking fund was the Cobble Rock Restaurant. The City is looking for downtown property to purchase pur-chase with this fund to provide more parking. The suit doesn't request an amount in damages, but requests that the city restore the downtown parking. The suit claims the some downtown businesses are being treated differently when it comes to the administration of parking requirements. to have those controlling the laterals to the canal to be ready to open them up as high water begins. Spring run off is beginning nearly three weeks before it did in 1983, a year with similar snowpack as this year, which produced substantial flooding on Ashley Creek and Dry Fork. In 1983 peak flows occurred in mid-June. Officials are hopeful that the snowpack will continue to melt and runoff will not come all at once as it did in 1983. Assault charges filed after Honda Hills incident By Steven R. Wallis Express Editor Saturday was an eventful day for those riders involved in a case of aggravated assault at the Vernal Honda Hills. A group of up to 20 adults and teens were riding motorcycles and four-wheelers four-wheelers at the popular spot when a truck driven by irritated resident Sonny Kilgrow came racing up behind them. "He was just ten feet from the back of my son's bike at one point and even went airborne a few times while he was attempting attempt-ing to chase them down," said Scott Merkley, father of one of the boys involved. "If my son would have stopped, or wrecked or anything for that matter he would have definitely hit him." Quick action saves house in Maeser Quick action by neighbors and by local firefighters saved a house in the Maeser area this past Saturday. The owner of the house was not at home at the time of the fire, but had left the garage door unlocked as she was expecting expect-ing the delivery of a new appliance. appli-ance. When the delivery truck arrived, the driver backed into the garage to unload the appliance. appli-ance. He then called into the home through the connecting door between the garage and the home. Finding no one home, he closed the connecting door and returned to the truck. By the time he reached his truck, smoke was billowing out from the vehicle. Neighbors saw the smoke and called Central Dispatch. Another neighbor called the homeowner's adult City supports festival By Virginia Harrington txpress writer The Vernal City Council voted to donate $1,000 to support the second annual Wildlife and Rivers Festival. Speaking on behalf of herself, her-self, Ron Stewart of Division of Wildlife Resources and the festival fes-tival volunteers, Nancy Ebbert gave the council members and Mayor William Kremin an overview over-view of the coming event. Ebbert said the turnout last year was more than had been expected, given the fact that it was the first year of the festival and the weather was cold. The festival committee is expecting to increase the number of participants par-ticipants significantly this year. Many events are planned for youngsters, adults and families. One of the most anticipated events is the Plein Aire art competition. com-petition. Ebbert said all materials materi-als for the competition must be certified by members of the festival fes-tival committee to prevent any cheating. Artists may use any medium they want, but they have only two days to complete their work. Laguna Beach has a Plein Aire contest every year with a purse of $20,000. Helper also has Plein Aire competition competi-tion every year and in the five years since the first competition, competi-tion, the prize money has grown to $5,000. Ebbert said she hopes the competition in the Wildlife and Rivers Festival will grow to rival these events. Ebbert also told the council coun-cil that the digital photo shoot is unique to the Wildlife and Rivers Festival. There is no entry fee for children even though they can win prizes of $25, $50 or $100. Last year there were two youth competitors from Salt Lake City. The memory mem-ory chips in the digital cameras are certified by the committee before the competition begins. Kilgrow's wife, Letitia, was also involved in the assault by chasing the riders down with a metal pipe and trying to hit them. Another group of riders said they had been shot at with a sling shot and marbles by the couple earlier in the day. Scott Merkley called 911 when the chasing incident took place. "The Sheriffs office did a great job in responding to our call very quickly. We were really real-ly pleased about that and at least no one got hurt," said Scott. A few of the adults who were present finally got the man shut down. Sonny and Letitia Kilgrow were arrested by the Uintah County Sheriffs Department Saturday and charged with aggravated assault. son, who made a quick trip to a nearby retail outlet to pick up his mother. By the time mother and son arrived at their home, the fire department had responded and had extinguished the fire. Minor smoke damage occurred inside the house and there was considerable smoke damage to the garage. Damage to the truck was extensive. Fire Chief Dennis Poulson said the house was saved because the connecting door was closed. Poulson said doors connecting an attached garage to a house must have a burn through time of two hours, matching the burn through time of dry wall. Leaving these doors open constitutes con-stitutes a violation of the fire code and endangers homes and their occupants. 1 |