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Show ublic Safety Briefs Vernal Express Wednesday, December 26, 2007 A7 Suspect sought in knife attack Duchesne County sheriffs investigators have very few prospects of finding a man who stabbed one of his roommates twice during a dispute. Detective Jared Reary said the incident occurred at a home in Cedarview early last Tuesday morning. He said six men - believed be-lieved to be illegal immigrants - were in the home when two of the men began a drunken argument argu-ment over who came from the best part of Mexico. As the argument got more heated, one of the men went to the kitchen, Reary said. "He came back with a kitchen knife and stabbed the other man," the detective said. "He stabbed him in the gut once and then he went to do it again. The guy got his hand up and he stabbed him through the wrist." The victim was taken to Uintah Uin-tah Basin Medical Center where he underwent surgery for several hours. Reary said the suspect was gone when deputies arrived. None of the other men - including includ-ing the victim - were willing to provide any information to investigators. "None of them really wanted io be too cooperative," he said. Deputies were told that the suspect has changed his name several times. None of the men in the home knew the man's real name. Authorities did find a photo of the man and the truck he was last seen in. Reary said the only solid identifying information deputies depu-ties have for the suspect is that he's Hispanic. The man's truck is described as a 1993 two-tone, brown and beige Ford F-150 truck with Nevada plates. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Duchesne County Sheriffs Office at 738-2015. Rape defendant returned to USH A 43-year-old man accused of sexually abusing an underage female relative for at least three years was ordered Thursday to spend six more months in the Utah State Hospital. '".Robert Steven' "Taylor is charged' with three counts of sodomy on a child and three counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child. All six counts are first-degree first-degree felonies and could expose Taylor, who has developmental disabilities, to a possible life sentence if he's convicted. Taylor has been in custody since April 2006 when he was charged in connection with the sexual abuse of a girl under the age of 13. His competency to stand trial has been in question since his initial court appearance. appear-ance. In June 2006, two reports filed with the court showed that Taylor was incompetent to stand trial. At the time, 8th District Court Judge John R. Anderson ordered Taylor held at the state hospital or in a facility deemed appropriate by the Utah Division Divi-sion of Services for People with Disabilities, if there are no beds available at the hospital. Taylor is scheduled to be back in Anderson's court on June 19 for another review hearing. Poacher admits to killing deer A Louisiana man pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Vernal courtroom to two misdemeanor charges stemming from a Sep tember poaching incident. Derick Fontenot, 28, pleaded guilty to wanton destruction of protected wildlife, reduced from a third-degree felony to a class A misdemeanor, and discharging a firearm from a vehicle, a class B misdemeanor. Fontenot and 32-year-old JC Laughlin, both of Vinton, La., were arrested in mid-September on the Diamond Mountain Road after a state Division of Wildlife Resources officer said he found a deer in the bed of Laughlin's truck. DWR Officer Randall Scheetz said he was parked on Diamond Mountain Road shortly before midnight on Sept. 19 when Laughlin's truck passed him. He said the truck drove up the road and turned toward the east. Sheetz said he heard a single rifle shot and saw Fontenot get out of the truck and load something into the bed. When he stopped the truck, Sheetz said he discovered two deer carcasses in the back of the truck. Laughlin pleaded guilty in November No-vember to class A misdemeanor wanton destruction of protected wildlife. The two men were given suspended sus-pended jail terms for their crimes and ordered to pay a combined total of $800 to the DWR's Help Stop Poaching Fund. Laughlin was fined $2,000 and Fontenot was fined $3,500. Both men were placed on court probation for two years and Fontenot's rifle was forfeited to the DWR. Deal offered in Soto case Convicted drug dealer Joel Medina Soto is considering a plea offer from the Duchesne County Attorney's Office in the attempted murder case against him. Soto, who has been sentenced sen-tenced to 12Vs years in federal prison on a meth charge, was in court Thursday in Roosevelt for a status hearing. Defense attorney Roland Uresk told 8th District Court Judge John R. Anderson that because of a possible language barrier he did not feel comfortable having his client enter a plea without the assistance of an interpreter. Soto speaks and understands some English, Uresk said, but Spanish is his first language. Neither Uresk nor Duchesne Deputy County Attorney Grant Charles discussed specifics of the plea offer that's been extended to Soto. Soto is accused of shooting a Roosevelt man in the hand with a 9 mm pistol during a dispute over a car in December 2006. In addition to the attempted murder charge, he also faces one count of unlawfully possessing a handgun. A disposition hearing has been set for Jan. 17, when Soto is expected to enter a guilty plea with the aid of an interpreter. In Utah, meth labs may be thing of past, DEA agent says Express 54 North Vernal Avenue Vernal, Utah -435-789-3511 USPS: Take' checks still posing a threat FARMINGTON, Utah (AP) - Utah's crackdown on methamphetamine labs is practically complete. After years of vigorous enforcement, authorities say they couldn't find any major meth labs in 2007 to shut down. Restrictions on the sale of drugstore chemicals aided the effort, says DEA agent Eric Breyer. Meth use, however, shows no sign of declining. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration says 4,549 people in Utah sought treatment for use of methamphetamine and other amphetamines in 2006, a 4 percent increase over 2005. Drug enforcers say meth bought in Utah is now manufacturedinforeign markets, principally Mexico. Breyer said he started working for the Drug Enforcement Administration at the peak of local production in 2000, and has seen the labs almost eradicated since then. His office seized a stockpile of chemicals necessary for meth production this year, but the lab was not yet operational. Breyer said it was possible that local police agencies seized some minor meth labs during the year, but he was unaware of it. Two economic forces pushed "mom and pop" meth labs out of business, Breyer said. Over-the-counter decongestants that contain precursor chemicals for meth production are now regulated in the U.S., although they are still widely available in Mexico. Despite all the attention meth labs got in past years, they were never a huge source of production for Utah meth users, he said. "When we would break up a meth lab ring, the impact we would see would be relatively small. It would be limited to people who knew the cook," he said. Lt. Allen S wanson of the Davis Metro Narcotics Strike Force said meth labs could still exist in Utah, but are insignificant compared to Mexican drug cartels' abilities to import. ".Sometimes it comes directly to Utah from Mexico, or through California or Arizona from Mexico," he said of the local drugtrade routes. "We win many battles here, but sometimes it's a little frustrating that we're not winning the war overall, and that's because of the demand." UBMC, TCHD earn primary care grants The state Department of Health has awarded 50 health care agencies in Utah, including Uintah Basin Medical Center and the TriCounty Health Department, Depart-ment, a total of $1.6 million in grants to increase their capacity to provide primary health care to the state's medically under-served. under-served. The medically underserved in-. elude Utahns who are not eligible for CHIP, Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance or the Primary Care Network. UBMC received $40,000 to go toward primary medical care at its newly established clinic in Manila. TriCounty Health was awarded $23,333 to aid in the operation of its dental clinic. The Primary Care Grants Program provides much-needed health care services to those who lack access to care. Target populations are the working poor, children, the elderly, Native Americans, migrant and seasonal farm workers, individuals with chronic diseases, the homeless, and single heads of household. Grants can be awarded to non-profit or public agencies who provided acute care, adult immunizations, im-munizations, support for chronic illnesses, dental treatment, diabetes control, mental health services, preventive care and health care services for women. The program uses a competitive com-petitive bid process. Fifty-seven grant applications totaling nearly $2.2 million were considered con-sidered for FY 2007-08 funding, with $1,576,259 being awarded to 50 projects. Twenty-eight of the approved projects are in rural areas of the state and several projects encompass more than one county. In all, the 50 projects will serve an estimated 19,500 Utahns through June 2008. v Best Wishes in the New Year! To all of the companies who have made the UBATC Petroleum, Energy and Transportation program a huge success by sending their employees to our classes: Petroleum Technology Well Control Rig Pass Safety Energy Services Safety Training OSHAand ENCOSHA Medic First AideCPR Blood Borne Pathogens H2S Respiratory Protection & Fit Testing Mine Safety (MSHA) CDL Truck Driving Certification Mountain Driving Defensive Driving Thanks! Jean, Judy, Miranda, Barbara, Shana, Lezlee, Mike, Dan, Walt & Gavin ?Uintah Basin Applied Tecfmology College a UCATatmpus U.S. Postal Service inspectors are stressing vigilance against international con artists following a recent seizures of tens of thousands of mailings bound for the U.S. containing counterfeit checks. Last week, a team of Canadian and U.S. fraud investigators based in Montreal announced the seizure of over 50,000 pieces of mail containing fake checks, with a face value of nearly $195 million. The announcement was made by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who spearhead "Project COLT," a cross-border partnership aimed at disrupting and preventing fraud. Postal inspectors have been members of this partnership since its inception in 1998, along with other federal agencies in the U.S. and Canada. "Even though over 600,000 fake checks have been seized since the global initiative to stop these scams began earlier this year, the scammers have not stopped trying," said Chief Postal Inspector Alexander Lazaroff. "We are grateful to the RCMP for continuing to lead this cross-border partnership, which aims to keep these scams from reaching U.S. and Canadian consumers and maintain their confidence in the mail." Most of the letters seized last week were addressed to U.S. recipients. The seizures were made by Canada Post in coordination with the RCMP No arrests have yet been made, and the investigation is continuing. The seized mail contained a letter telling the recipient they've won a cash prize of up to $50,000 in an international promotional campaign, and includes a $2,000 to $5,000 check. To collect the full amount of their "prize," recipients are asked to cash the check and quickly return all or part of the proceeds, usually via wire transfer, to pay for some kind of international administration fee. Authorities say by the time the check has been found to be fake, the scammer has the money and the recipient is on the hook to their bank to repay the amount sent back. Postal inspectors warn there is no legitimate reason for any contest promoter, business or organization to send individuals a check and ask that it be cashed and wired back to them, especially for a promotional campaign or contest that the recipient never entered. To learn more about check scamsvisitwww.FakeChecks.org. If you receive a letter containing a check and you suspect fraud, don't cash the check, report it to postal inspectors through the Web site or by calling (800) 372-8347. r"r f, - iujjjiii,ii.i'P", w I .J-5"; - CY ' wmmiiimmiiiuiii Bwrn m .I (it the year come lo a cloe, we welcome the opportunity to extend our thanks to you, our cutomer, for your friendhip and invaluable support. UJe hope the coming year brings good fortune to you, and we look forward to serving you in 2008! v V l-'TV" Pat Harrell & Jessica Schofield, Agents Coldwell Banker Aspen Brook Realty 4 1340 West Highway 40, Vernal, UT 84078 Office: (435) 789-7555 Cell: (435) 828-5063 n ASPEN BROOK REALTY INC. Today's Weather Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 255 2213 237 188 256 Snow showers at Mix of sun and Snow showers at Mix of sun and Partly cloudy. Highs times. clouds. Highs in the times. clouds. in the mid 20s and low 20s and lows in lows in the mid sm- the low teens. 9'e digits. Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset 7:36 AM 4 56 PM 7:36 AM 4:56 PM 7:37 AM 4:57 PM 7:37 AM 4:57 PM 7:37 AM 4:58 PM cot1 J We Celebrate Hometown Life Stories for and about hometowns just like yours. Look for us each week in this paper Utah At A Glance Logan M 3016" Ogden 3321 Salt Lake City 3119 Provo 3317 Cedar City 3716 J 1 Vernal 255 Moon Phases i v First Full Dec 17 Dec 24 O O Last New Dec 31 Jan 8 UV Index Sun 1223 i Low Mon 1224 2 Low Tue 1225 1 Low Wed 1226 2 Low Thu 1227 2 Low The UV Index Is measured on a 01 1 number scalo. with a higher UV Index showing (he need for gtontor sktn protection. pro-tection. 0 " 1: 1 1 Area Cities beaver-Blanding beaver-Blanding Brigham City Cedar City Delta Elko, NV Evanston, WY Fnrmington, NM Fillmore Flagstaff, AZ sn shower pt sunny sn shower pt sunny sn shower sn shower sn srfower 14 pt sunny 17 sn shower 6 pt sunny National Cities Allitntd Boston Chicago Dallas Denver 04 JJ tain 47 27 cloudy 23 18 snow 52 31 mst sunny 38 1 7 pt sunny Grand Jut, CO Green River Heber City Kanab Logan Moab Mt. Pleasant Ogden Park City Preston, ID Houston Los Angeles Miami Minneapolis Now York M sn 32 6 sn 28 9 sn 38 15 sn 30 16 sn 34 11 sn 30 10 sn 33 21 sn 25 14 sn 28 15 sn shower shower shower shower shower shower shower shower shower shower Price Provo Richfield Roosevelt Salt Lake City Sandy St. George Tooele Vernal Wendover 24 33 38 26 31 32 48 32 25 33 9 sn shower 17 sn shower 15 sn shower 8 sn shower 19 sn shower 21 sn shower 30 cloudy 20 sn shower 5 sn shower 18 sn shower bo 4u cloudy 68 47 sunny 79 68 pt sunny 19 10 sn shower 55 32 rain turn Phoenix 01 JO sunny San Francisco 58 44 pt sunny Seattle 44 41 rain St. Louis 35 24 mst sunny Washington, DC 59 39 rain rwitu Amonrnn Ptofiln Hnmntrwvn Onntnnt Snrvlro |