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Show BATTER UP Youth baseball opens with full v slate over weekend. UTE SOCCER ENDS SEASON Uintah drops final game to Park City Miners. C12 TJ fn 51 52 'xx " 5130 5834 Occasional Mi of sun shower pos- ami clouds, sink Highs Hijirts in the in the kw ur-per 5 hi Vis and lows 2nd lows in in the low the mid Wv Weather by AM'LN BROOK RFAITY, INC. i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I . I . I .. I . I III SeeA7 UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION 1521 E 3900 S SALT CITY UT 84124-67(1S iPT 71 H n ' lll11 1 mmmmm 11 5th Year No. 18 Vernal, Utah 84078 50 COOTS www.vernal.com Wednesday April S0f 2C03 'Ji LI Your Hometown Newspaper lllllllll,ll work onbjic By Mary Bernard ami Les Bqwct Express Writers There are two - sometimes three - sleeping in the space originally designed for one. The kitchen designed for 54 serves enough food for more than double that number and an onsite laundry facility runs around the clock to supply clean bedding and clothes. The scene could be in any number of crowded housing facilities fa-cilities across the Uintah Basin. Instead, it's the Uintah County Jail. The situation will change however with the completion of the Uintah County's new jail and public safety facility at 631 E. 300 S. in Vernal. The county has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for May 2 at 2 p.m. to initiate construction of the building. "The pressure to do something some-thing about the jail has been there over the entire time I've been on the commission,"said five-year Uintah County Commissioner Com-missioner Mike McKees. "But about a year and a half ago the decision to build the new public safety complex was finalized." The jail is the most expensive piece of the complex and the project centers around housing inmates. But the complex will become home to the county's justice jus-tice court, attorneys and sheriffs department. Still more office space will be leased by Central Dispatch, Utah Highway Patrol, Adult Probation and Parole and Federal Bureau of Investigations. Investiga-tions. The task of developing funding fund-ing for the public safety facility is an ongoing process. However, Charges By Geoff Liesik Uintah Basin News Service A Vernal man is behind bars after police say he burglarized two businesses early Thursday morning and then set fire to one them. Chad A. Eldredge, 18, is charged with arson, burglary, attempted burglary, theft, unlawful unlaw-ful possession or consumption of alcohol by a minor, and posses Vernal City fire crews respond with arson and burglery along i : f v<yniti lil'ii' J'-hI. lit.-ii.aiL 1 '-' y " J.- j ' 1 tr'" kJ ; 61""""- erAl L I Exit Realty Professionals 1285WestHwy 40 Vernal, Utah 84078 (435) 789-EXIT (3948) commissioners readily state that construction funds for the $50 million facility are covered. "Funding for construction will be drawn from $6 million in grants, a $10 million low interest 2.5 percent loan and roughly $30 million in bonds," said McKee, adding that the first 10 years of the bonds will be interest only. "Bonds rates are yet to be determined, although every aspect of financial effort has been made to mitigate those costs that county residents will have to pay." In November, the county commission passed a bond resolution reso-lution for $50 million to cover the costs of construction for the public safety complex. And while they are reluctant to address the subject, they admit there will be some expense to the public in the form of property taxes. "We are cognizant that the community doesn't favor tax increases so we pushed the numbers num-bers back many different times to mitigate impacts," said McKee. Yet county officials have been unable to release how much of the bond will have to be born by county taxpayers. One reason is that the county has not closed on the bond insurance rate. And details for the bond rating will not have been finalized before Friday's groundbreaking. "Operational costs will have to be determined, but our goal is not to make the taxpayers take on any more burden than they can afford," explained McKee. "Funding for the operational portion of the facility may be premature but funding for construction con-struction is set." County officials are continu- SEE SAFETY COMPLEX A10 filed in Vernal arson case sion of tobacco by a minor. Vernal Police Officer Troy Davis, in a probable cause statement, state-ment, said he spotted heavy smoke coming from the area of 500 W. Main Street at about 1 :20 a.m. and went to investigate. Davis said he found heavy smoke pouring out of the shattered windows win-dows of the New Look Salon and spotted Eldredge walking along the sidewalk nearby. The officer said Eldredge to a fire at 600 West Main at about 1 :20 a.m. last Thursday. Chad A. with other charges related to the fire. a m i h 1 1 f" ' " : s ;J -' :-- s "--'4 - .ii t- 'r"-i V'-"' T ' -i-1 ' t X r J State inmates at the Uintah County Jail on a work program wait in the crowded and small laundry facility. Inmates wash for more than 100 inmates in a jail designed for 54. County officials will break ground on a new jail and public safety complex on Friday. Primary elections set commission races By Geoff Liesik Uintah Basin News Service Republican voters in Duchesne Duch-esne and Uintah countitis will head to the polls in June to elect their candidate for county commission after close voting by delegates Wednesday night failed to narrow the field. Republican delegates met in Duchesne and Vernal to listen to speeches from candidates for national, state, and local office. They were also tasked with casting cast-ing their ballots for the two can smelled of alcohol and had blood on his clothing. The teen said he'd gone to investigate the smoke coming from the salon and cut his finger on the broken glass, Davis said, noting that Eldredge was also bleeding heavily from a cut on his right ankle. Eldredge was ordered to empty emp-ty his bulging pockets and the officer said he counted $163.64 in loose bills and change covered in hair clippings. He also found it, i JT.r.Tr. h Beautiful tnq hon with ovpr 3000 sq.ft. ol living atm. Ttili piop? rty Inttuiii"; two hwm and three ai g.ir.ig. 2) aun of ptoppi ty. tlx U bam and w.HPf ,vrs Indmh'd MILLION DOLLAR VILWI Call Smin I2S 6086 for your showing. ;'m didates in each county seeking a seat on the county commission. In Duchesne County, incumbent in-cumbent W.R. "Rod" Harrison received 62 votes from the 99 delegates in attendance. His challenger, Ronald Winterton, . garnered 36 votes. Had either candidate earned 67 percent of the delegate vote, no primary would have been necessary. Whoever wins the June 24 primary, will face Democrat Alma T. Richins in the general election on Nov. 4. Richins was confirmed at his party's county convention, a green lighter, a small whiskey flask, a can of chewing tobacco, and two cell phones. Another officer checked Jiffy Pawn, which neighbors the salon, and found that it had been burglarized bur-glarized as well. Davis said there was blood on the broken glass in Jiffy Pawn's store front. After placing Eldredge in handcuffs, Davis said the teen began "making statements" to SEE ARSON CHARGES on A2 Eldredge, 1 8, has been charged 3 bedroom, 2 bath, nice living room, 2 dining rooms, beautiful panoramic deck and tingle car garage. Call Suan ol 828-6086 : ;-""!" jf 1 "J :. , j A ' , ! ' - ... ' ' "I. j n.-nirnr Miwamiwitf, - which was also held on Wednesday Wednes-day night in Duchesne. Delegate voting in the Uintah County commission race was tighter than expected by some Republicans. Mark D. Raymond claimed 81 votes, while Anthoney Paul Byron received 75 votes. Neither man was able to, reach the 70 percent mark needed to avoid a primary. Because there is no Demo l'' ' ' : - : - ! ( EHI1 V V V Alternate Transportation Coiridor Alternate transportation corridor map with future options to bypass downtown Vernal with the heavy truck traffic. Truck mute study to be discussed at open house The Uintah Transportation special service district will host an open house on May 7 to discuss future alternate transportation corridor, often referred to as the "truck bypass." The meeting is scheduled at Western Park, 302 E. 200 South in Vernal from 6:30 to 8 p.m. This is a follow-up to the public meeting last November. At that time, the officials and members of the public determined deter-mined that three routes south of Vernal were preferable among '."It Beautiful fxpnitiw home InMafsetlwitKin'Ovw 5,100 sqfl with 4 hfdmoim, twthv fofrrwl livintj room, tomily mm m wnndpdul homr niitri Mi then. Awrsonv htaMrr Suite wilh etted luh dud wJlk in iort. Ihis home i u like nfw. only bfttei; Ipmwl ipiinhlrr yNtem. J r dt qtt Mr ft totvol (omffir for HV wriunq Cll Suwm for your thowtnq today HJfl 6084 i r ; cratic challenger for the county commission seat, the winner of the June 24 primary will be elected to succeed Commissioner Dave Haslem when his term ends in January. Haslem opted not to run for re-election. In addition to voting on candidates can-didates for county commission in June, Republicans may also be asked to elect their candidate SEE CONVENTION on A2 . US? Hwtt " Pimftis its Tm 13 suggested corridors. Further evaluation has narrowed the access route to the McCoy Flats turn off from U.S. Highway 40 which could tie into one of two alternates to enter the Ashley Valley. Officials at the meeting next week will introduce the evaluated evalu-ated choice and discuss possible north-south accesses. An open house provides a platform for public comment before the final decision is made, and officials encourage public participation. J A Beautiful model home ready to move into. 2 story design with i bediooms, 3 baths, 1 llvinq rooms, and tons of upqrades, granite throuqhout, untinished basement. Beautiful alder kitchen with larqe pantiy. Four more models tothooselrom. ' Cull Smiin for dtiiM12B-f08S |