OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, July 2, 2008 A7 Raymond wins; Labrum, Harrison lose primary races Vernal Express By Geoft LgsiK Uintah Basin News Service Duchesne County voters failed to turn out in significant numbers during last Tuesday's primaries and it cost Roosevelt's David R. Labrum a chance to contest the race for state House District 54 in November. Labrum, who had sought to continue the 28-year legacy of having a Duchesne County resident resi-dent represent District 54 in the Legislature, lost the primary by a margin of 132 votes to Heber City's Kraig Powell. "It breaks my heart in some ways. I can't figure it out," Labrum said, expressing dis Unofficial Primary election results posted House District 54 Kraig Powell - 2,033 David R. Labrum - 1,901 State Treasurer Richard K. Ellis -52,844 Mark Walker -37,051 Duchesne County Commission Com-mission RonWinterton-991 W.R. "Rod" Harrison (i) -780 Duchesne County School District NCC creates T-shirts to fight drunk By Lacey McMurry Uintah Basin News Service You never know what might cause someone to stop and take a minute to think about the negative consequences of drunk driving. At least, that's the line of thinking of a prevention specialist special-ist and a therapist from Northeastern North-eastern Counseling Center. Robin Taylor, prevention coordinator, and Zeke Burnett, clinical therapist, have teamed up to create virtual walking billboards bill-boards - T-shirts labeled with the acronym "UBAAD" - or Uintah Basin Against Alcohol-Impaired Driving. .;"My opinion as a prevention; specialist is that alcohol compa-. nies are using creative, catchy, and fun ways to advertise their product and we need to be just as creative with our prevention campaigns," Taylor said. The shirt was the brainchild of Taylor and designed and drawn by Burnett. It features a mus- Zeke Burnett, a clinical therapist with Northeastern Counseling Center and graphic artist, stands with NCC's prevention coordinator coordina-tor Robin Taylor holding the T-shirt he designed to help combat alcohol-impaired driving. U.S. mayors oppose tar sands use The U.S. Conference of Mayors May-ors convened in Miami last weekend week-end and adopted a resolution that challenges the use of tar sands, liquid coal, and oil shale. The resolution calls for the creation of guidelines and purchasing standards stan-dards to help mayors understand the greenhouse gas emissions of the fuels they purchase. These unconventional and synthetic fuels are derived from difficult-to-access, lower-grade raw materials, and production can emit two-to-five times more global warming pollution than conventional oil, according to a press release about the resolution issued by the Natural Resources Defense Council. "In the last few years, U.S. mayors have come out as leaders on environmental initiatives, specifically in the fight to stop global warming," said Susan Casey-Lofkowitz, a senior attorney at-torney with the NRDC. "Mayors see their residents' needs every day, and they see the impact that global wanning is going to have on their cities. That's why over appointment in the low voter turnout in Duchesne County. "I feel bad that people thought I would just walk in there because people know me and that they didn't care enough to vote. ... I think a lot of it was apathy." Unofficial numbers provided to the Uintah Basin Standard by the county Clerk-Auditor's Office show that only 8.5 percent of registered voters in Fruitland cast their ballots in last week's election, the lowest percentage in the county. The highest percentage percent-age of voter turnout occurred in Roosevelt's precinct 2, where 35 percent of voters made it to the polls. Overall, the county had only Voted Leeway Tax Yes -1,036 No-875 Uintah County Commission Commis-sion Mark Raymond - 966 Anthoney Paul Byron - 649 Uintah School Board AllenA.Huber-131 Shane Frost (i) - 114 Raymond Murray - 78 Jason A. Rasmussen - 33 Source: Utah Lt. Governor's Office cular bodybuilder - as well as the prevention acronym - in an attempt to appeal to the target audience of men ages 18 to 26. Taylor said she and Burnett decided de-cided to reach out to that specific audience because research shows that group is most likely to cause or be involved in alcohol-related vehicle crashes. The Uintah Basin is no stranger to crashes like these. According to statistics Taylor said she received from state law enforcement officials, of-ficials, Duchesne County has the second highest rate in Utah for the number of alcohol-related vehicle ve-hicle crashes per million vehicle miles driven. Daggett County has the worst rate, something Taylor said is "'more lthan" likely' a' result of the half a million visitors annually, and Wasatch County is third. Uintah County also ranks fairly high on the list, she said. "Our goal right now is mainly to get awareness out that this is happening," Taylor said. "Most people kind of think we have a 850 mayors across the nation already have taken action on climate change. This resolution will help implement their commitment com-mitment to fight global warming by giving mayors the information they need about dirty fuels such as tar sands oil." The resolution: encourages fuel lifecycle emissions analyses that include emissions from production, not just from burning the fuel; supports federal and state guidelines for trackingthe origin of various types of fuel; and . encourages mayors to track and reduce lifecycle emissions from their cities' municipal vehicles, ve-hicles, paying special attention to the use of unconventional and synthetic fuels. "We don't want to spend taxpayer tax-payer dollars on fuels that make global warming worse," said Mayor Kitty Piercy, of Eugene, Ore., who submitted the resolution. resolu-tion. "Tar sands oil emits up to three times the greenhouse gases in the production process X 20.3 percent voter turnout for the primaries. Labrum said he hasn't considered con-sidered whether he will seek the House seat again in 2010. He is also weighing whether he will throw his support behind Powell, who will face Democrat Neil G. Anderton and Douglas K. Thompson of the Constitution Party in November. Anderton and Thompson are both from Heber City. "I want to talk to Kraig a little more," Labrum said. "I'm definitely pro-Republican." Powell, in a letter the editor of the Standard, thanked the residents of Duchesne County and west Uintah County for their support and vowed to "work tirelessly tire-lessly over the next five months until the November election, day in and day out, to learn even more about the important issues facing the Basin" so that he could "effectively fight for those interests." Aside from Labrum's loss, the other surprise of last week's primary was the defeat of incumbent incum-bent Duchesne County Commissioner Com-missioner Rod Harrison, who lost by 211 votes to newcomer Ron Winterton. Harrison still seemed stunned by the defeat when contacted on Thursday. "I came as a surprise to me, absolutely," he said. "I knew it would be close, but I had no idea that I might lose it. I wasn't prepared for that." The one-term commissioner safe small town." And while doling out free T-shirts won't likely solve the awareness problem entirely, Taylor and Burnett Bur-nett said it's a start. They plan to distribute 1,000 T-shirts this summer at community celebrations celebra-tions in Neola, Vernal, Roosevelt, and Manila. Burnett said increasing awareness aware-ness goes a long way toward helping eliminate the problem, and if his T-shirt can help do that, he'll be thrilled. "We're hoping people will be interested in the way it looks and just take a minute to find out what it says," he said. "Having the job I have, I see people all the time who have been court-ordered court-ordered to come to us for drunk o-; drivings If we can reduce that type of problem, that's great." Burnett is no stranger to T-shirt design. Once, he took a shirt he had made for friends into a print store and company officials liked it enough that they asked him if they could produce the shirts to sell in their shop. Burnett said the image he ended end-ed up drawing on the prevention shirt was modeled after a picture of a professional bodybuilder he found on the Internet. Like most of the art he produces, he said, the image is stylized. "What I like to do is look for images I find interesting and that may be challenging to draw and then piece them together in interesting ways," he said. Funding for the T-shirts came from a federal grant given to officials in the Basin specifically to help reduce alcohol-related vehicle crashes. Taylor said she will get another an-other chunk of money within the next year or so and plans to put it too good use, too. Besides increasing awareness, another big item on the agenda is to gather local data, she said. Right now, prevention specialists special-ists have the county arrest rates for drunk driving, but don't have any rates specifically from cities. Knowing exactly what part of the county has the biggest problem will help officials target their prevention efforts, Taylor said. Taylor said the grant money will also help fund environmental scans to document how alcohol per barrel as conventional oil production," Piercy said. "Our cities are asking for environmentally environmen-tally sustainable energy and not fuels from dirty sources such as tar sands." "The mayors have once again confirmed that they're seriousabout combating climate change," added Mayor Marty Blum of Santa Barbara, Calif. "Not only will we give preference prefer-ence to clean, renewable energy sources, we are standing our ground when it comes to synthetic syn-thetic petroleum-based fuels that exacerbate global warming." The High Carbon Fuels Resolution Reso-lution was submitted by Piercy and co-sponsored by the mayors of San Francisco; Des Moines, Iowa; Santa Barbara, Calif.; Pleasanton, Calif.; Waukesha, Wis.; Trenton, N.J.; Dubuque, Iowa; West Sacramento, Culif.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Austin, Texas; and Alameda, Calif. The resolution is available nt http:docs.nrdc.orgairair 0806230 lA.pdf. said he plans to spend his remaining remain-ing six months in office "doing the county's business. " As for his plans after that, Harrison said he hasn't given it much thought. "That's pretty much an open field," he said. Winterton, who spent last week vacationing in Mexico, said he learned of his victory on Wednesday afternoon. "I was hoping that I'd have a good showing. I knew the incumbent in-cumbent had an advantage on me," the Roosevelt businessman said Sunday night. "We were just quietly campaigning ... in a way (winning) was a surprise to me." Harrison carried voters in Altamont, Duchesne, Fruitland, and Tabiona, while Winterton took Myton, Mountain Home, Neola, and the more heavily populated Roosevelt precincts. Winterton will now face Democrat Alma Richens in November's general election and said he plans to continue learning more about voters' concerns. "If there's something people need to have addressed, I'd be willing to listen and see what I can do," Winterton said. The biggest winners in Tuesday's Tues-day's balloting were teachers in the Duchesne County School District. The district's proposed voted leeway tax passed by a margin of 161 votes, and will bring an additional $100,000 into the district's coffers this year. is being advertised and promoted in the area. "We're going to attempt to counteract coun-teract that with more prevention advertising," she said. In abest case scenario, Taylor said she hopes to bring national prevention campaigns like "Over the Limit, Under Arrest," to the Basin. Programs like that could help address the teenage alcohol lL jrS - mrmmamammmtmmtutitinvmwm fg Hf fTihzhi ifa ASPEN BROOK 1 UZil REALTY INC. ,vt -- sr- & iA Li 'p - - ' ' t, M, - .. v , -v-. t r, --J if !4. ... $ f-, f 4 ft j-y 1 p.? i : j . ' ftp. --Lmmw umm tWJkj M I Commercial Property Awesome Main Street Location! Great spot for a retail business or office. New furnace, New central air, New water heater! Call Pat or Jessica Today for all the details! "Expect the Best" 1340 West Highway 40, Vernal, UT 84078 Office: (435) 789-7555 Fax: 781-2913 fcsdMittMiiibrJMMrsrinisiT 6jfliitWMAaw'wwftHMi tx -.ti n- 'vti.TTivt'iiy.ini ani nrfc inr - ' ' Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 72 73 774 775 76 9360 9560 9563 9361 9259 Times of sun and More sun than More sun than Times of sun and Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the clouds. Highs in the clouds. Highs in the clouds. Highs in the clouds. Highs in the low 90s and lows in mid 90s and lows in mid 90s and lows in low 90s and lows in low 90s and lows In the low 60s. the low 60s. the low 60s. the low 60s. the upper 50s. Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset 5 52 AM 8 49 PM 5 53 AM 8 49 PM 5 53 AM 8 49 PM 5 54 AM 8 49 PM 5:55 AM 8 48 PM TIM L A 'J Utah At A Glance Logan A 9260 -U; . Ogden 9466 -' Salt Lake City O 9768 ,. Sj. Cedar City 9459 ) Area Cities LiuriVHr Rlandino. Ungham City Cerinr City Dnlla Llko. NV Evanston, WY Farmington, NM Fillmore Flrtgsmff. AZ mL ttuiiny mst sunny sunny mst sunny sunny sunny mst sunny pt sunny mst sunny mst sunny 98 64 94 63 94 59 96 62 95 54 82 55 93 55 96 61 82 44 National Cities AllxiiM Hoston Chlcftcio Dnllas t)nvr 61i Oi sunny 83 66 pt sunny 87 62 t-storm 9 75 mst sunny 85 68 cloudy C.viO AniMnrrtn Prnltlo Momolown Conlnnl Rorvice Duchesne Schools Superintendent Superin-tendent John Aland said the money will be used this year to offset an increase in insurance premiums for district employees and teachers. "That will prevent an out-of-pocket expense which would be a reduction in salary," he said. The district will collect the voted leeway tax at its new rate for the next nine years, Aland said. By that time the tax will generate $900,000 annually for the district while costing homeowners hom-eowners an estimated $5 per year for each $100,000 in assessed home value. The district has pledged to use the additional revenue to bolster teacher and employee salaries. "In reality, we're just not going go-ing to reach the Park Cities and some of those other districts, or even the Wasatch Front large districts," Aland said. "But we can reach the state average, which will put us up near the top of what the rural districts pay." Uintah County Commission candidate Mark Raymond also secured a win in last week's primary. Raymond defeated Anthoney An-thoney Paul Byron by 317 votes to become the Republican candidate can-didate for the seat being vacated by current county commissioner Dave Haslem. "I have a great deal of respect for Anthoney Byron ... when you have two good men to chose from it sure makes it a lot easier. driving in Basin rate. The tri-county area has the highest juvenile arrest rates for alcohol consumption per capita in the state, Taylor said. At the same time, rate for youth perception percep-tion of getting caught is one of the lowest. "I'm not sure how we're going to address that, but we'll be working work-ing on it," Taylor said. "I don't think people truly understand the risks involved. Research shows that alcohol affects the rc Celebrate Hometown IAfe Stones for and about hometowns just Itke yours. Look for us each week in this p.ipor. Vernal 9360 Provo 9563 GldllU Jt. CO Green River Heber City Kannb Logan Moab Mt. Pleasant Ogden Park City Preston, ID uu ji hui illy 65 mst sunny 53 pt sunny 57 mst sunny 60 mst sunny 64 mst sunny 56 mst sunny 66 sunny 56 mst sunny 58 mst sunny 100 83 94 92 100 91 94 80 91 f iouMlun I. os Angeles Miami Minneapolis New York 2 ut sunny 66 sunny 79 t-storm 59 t-storm 68 pt sunny 86 88 79 86 But I must say I'm excited to be the successful candidate," said Raymond, who is expected to assume Haslem's post in January, Janu-ary, barring a successful write-in campaign by anyone else. Raymond said he has already begun working to fill his position with the Utah Science Technology Technol-ogy and Research (USTAR) initiative in expectation of becoming be-coming a county commissioner. He believes his experience with USTAR, a state liaison program pro-gram that's helping promote the Utah's oil shale reserves to energy extraction companies, will help him and the other commissioners he'll serve with in shaping the county's future. "I certainly hope that I have the opportunity to work further fur-ther with the companies that I've worked so closely with," Raymond said. "The challenge that I see is the potential for a Democratic president and that's going to have some significant repercussions re-percussions on the development of our natural resources." The final local race on last week's ballot was the contest for the Uintah School Board seat in District 4 held by Shane Frost. Challenger Allen A. Huber received the most votes, 131, to Frost's 114. Raymond Murray and Jason A. Rasmussen were eliminated from the race. Huber and Frost will face each other in November's general election. brain differently for teenagers because the brain isn't fully developed, and it's important for them to know this. It's not just one night. This could have some long-term effects." Taylor said she would love any input on how the grant money could be put to use or other feedback that might help her gather data. Her office number is 725-6300. Jessica Schofield 828-5280 L2 LJ Pat Harrell, Agent, GRI, CRS 828-5063 Moon Phases Last New Jun 26 Jul 3 o o First Full Jul 10 Jul 18 UV Index Wed 72 11 Extreme Thu 73 11 Extreme Fri 74 n Extreme Sat 75 11 Extreme Sun 76 i ' Extreme The UV index Is measured on a 0-1 1 number cale, with a higher UV Index showing the need for greater skin protection pro-tection O - ,,-!E&!it 1 1 t::sT8:-:.:.n:-m Puce tiJ i mst sunny 95 63 mst sunny 93 65 mst sunny 87 68 t-storm 97 68 sunny 95 68 sunny 107 76 sunny 92 66 sunny 93 60 pt sunny 98 67 sunny Provo Richfield Roosevelt Salt Lake City Sandy St. George Tooele Vernal Wendover -'hoenix lob til msl sunny San Francisco 78 55 pt sunny Seattle 82 62 mst sunny St. Louis 94 74 pt sunny Washington, DC 88 71 mst sunny |