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Show Wednesday, October 8, 2008 A7 Vernal Express Man charged after telling police about alleged rape ? l ..... , . is i fj ' S 4 i i , : I : M r W. f PAG, kii By few Lrsix Selma Sierra, state director of the Bureau of Land Management, was on hand to turn over 1,238 acres of patented land to the county for the Buckskin Hill Motor Sports Park. Pictured are Sierra, Commissioners Darlene Bums and Mike McKee, Grants Administrator Heather Hoyt and local Directors Bill Stringer and Jerry Kenczka. BLM grants land to Uintah County The Oct. 6 meeting of the Uintah County Commission was also the occasion for visiting visit-ing State BLM Director Selma Sierra to present the county with a patent to lands currently used for the Buckskin Hills Recreation Complex. "Days like this, I look forward to my job," says Sierra, mentioning mention-ing that her fall-colored drive I from the Wasatch Front was a pleasant diversion. "The Bureau of Land Management granted a patent for over 1,0000 acres to Uintah County in partnership for the Buckskin Hills Motor Sports." I Sierra praised the valued partnership that has come out of working with the county. These kinds of programs that serve the public make this announcement one that I have looked forward to." The Buckskin Hills Recreation Recre-ation Complex is located between the Brush Creek and Diamond Mountain Roads about 5 miles east of Vernal. The motor park will take pressure off of the other public lands. "The advantage of consolidating consolidat-ing the motor park in one place is that we can preserve other resources elsewhere on BLM lands," says Sierra. The grant is the second of two provided by the BLM; the first was a donation of 1,079 acres donated in 2005 for the Buckskin Hills Shooting Range. "This grant is a tribute to the partnership between the county and the BLM. It is the largest of its kind as a recreational grant in the state," says County Commissioner Com-missioner Mike McKee. Bill Stringer, BLM Green River District manager, says, "The motor park is an excellent example of government and community coming together to solve problems and provide recreational opportunities to a broad segment of the public." A press release from the BLM, Vernal Field Office, states that the Buckskin Hills offers a stock car oval, the Diamond Speedway, a moto cross track, an OHV Baja course, an OHV saf ety-and-tr ain-ing ain-ing area, mud bogs and a free-ride area, campgrounds and hook-ups for 112 camp sites. Future developments are planned for the facility include everything from a go-cart track to BMX bike tracks and a rock crawling course. In honor of their successful partnership the county presented pre-sented Sierra and Stringer with two handcrafted clocks. Uintah Basin News Service A Vernal man who contacted police to report his alleged sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl has been charged with rape. Travis Adam Johnson, 21, made his initial court appearance on the first-degree felony charge on Wednesday in 8th District Court. According to a probable cause statement, Johnson contacted Vernal police officer Michael Kes-ter Kes-ter in late September "wanting to talk to him about allegations he said would be reported soon," concerning his contact with a Security expert cautions against online family trees SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - An Internet security expert warned that posting a family tree online can be a dangerous move that sometimes results in identity theft. Linda Criddle told attendees at the Utah Attorney General's Economic Crime Conference on . Thursday that family trees can . be dangerous because a mother's , maiden name is a common security question for online accounts. ac-counts. "Utah is a big state for genealogy," ge-nealogy," said Criddle, a former Microsoft employee who specialized special-ized in online safety. "If you are into genealogy, you should not be putting that information out there." Criddle said criminals also frequently check birth announcements, announce-ments, wedding registries, and obituaries for information that might be useful. She said those announcements announce-ments also provide notice to potential identity thieves that a person may be going through an emotional time and not notice jiew debts.o;,.. ,v ..s-.m-w ..: "There is an opportunity every step of the way," Criddle said. She said schools and government govern-ment agencies in some states are also posting too much personal information online, such as mortgage mort-gage information that includes Social Security numbers with property records. Sometimes, it can be a picture of a house that is dangerous, she said; Criddle told a story about a girl from Nebraska who posted a picture of herself sitting on the porch of her house and another that showed the view from her home. ; . ,. .Xriddle said the house numbers num-bers were visible, the view from the house showed, an easily identifiable business and a railing suggested an older person might live there. Using the information, someone some-one could stake out the house from the business across the street and burglarize an elderly person's valuables, she said. By Gtoff Lffsw Uintah Basin News Service Eighth District Court Judge a t n J : . - t M I ,V1 II rHVIIH I1HMIHII H IHIIIlhL Wednesday from the attorney for accused child molester Carlos Moreno Graham to reduce his client's bail. Graham, 45, is charged with six counts of sex abuse of a child and one count of rape of a child. He is accused of sexually abus ing a now-12-year-old girl over the course of several years. All of the charges are first-degree felonies. Court-appointed defense attorney John Beaslin had asked Payne for a reduction in Graham's $145,000 bail, stating that his client was not a flight risk because he owns a home in Vernal, has ties to the community, and is employed. Deputy Uintah County Attor ney Greg Lamb argued against lowering Graham's bail, citing the serious nature of the crimes he's accused of and telling Payne that Graham admitted to the offenses when interviewed by. police. Payne chose to deny Beaslin's request, based on Lamb's arguments. argu-ments. Graham is due back in court Oct. 15 for a preliminary hearing. He remains in the Uintah Uin-tah County Jail. Utah may get $32M share of HEAT funds Utah maybe able to help more low-income households pay their energy bills this winter, thanks to additional federal funding of its Home Energy Assistance (HEAT) Program. The U.S. Senate on Friday agreed to fund the federal Low-Income Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program at $5.1 billion, nearly double the 2008 appropriation. 1 VIMJU xpres 54 North Vernal Avnu Vernal, Utah -435-789-3511 www.vernal.com The measure passed the House and now heads to President Bush for his signature. Utah's share of the spending proposal is $32 million, a 69 percent per-cent increase over 2007's budget of $18.9 million. The measure also contains $1.6 million in new money for Utah's weatherization program. "We expect growing demand for assistance and this money will help us meet that demand," said Sherman Roquiero, Utah's HEAT manager. "The depressed economy, recent utility rate hikes, and the rising cost of gas and food is taking a toll on many households." In 2007, Utah helped 32,323 households with their, energy bills. The average HEAT benefit was $414. Eligible households have incomes below 125 percent of poverty, or $14,000 annually for a family of two. Utah's HEAT program begins accepting applications on Nov. 3. For more information, visit: http:housing.utah.govseal heat.html. t Medical Professional Building 3 . 3B East 1DD North ivr ,, l Renovated medical clinic contains 10 offices, 3 bathrooms, break room, reception area and waiting room. Offices are sound proofed. Integrated phone system and high speed internet. Lots of storage. Large parking lot. $490,000 Call 828-2545. Realtors welcome. teenage girl. Kester spoke with Johnson and then contacted Vernal Police Detective Vance Norton for assistance with the case. Norton, in the probable cause statement, said Johnson allegedly alleg-edly told Kester that on Sept. 26 he had consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl at the apartment where he was staying. The girl was there to babysit the tenant's children while the woman went out, Norton said. Based on the information Johnson provided, police contacted con-tacted the babysitter's mother and set up an interview with the girl. Norton said the girl was "very emotional, crying and very reluctant re-luctant to speak" to him during the initial interview, but told him that Johnson had sex with her without her consent. The detective said the girl also corroborated cor-roborated Johnson's account to the incident, with the exception of his statement that they had consensual sex, during a second interview at the Children's Justice Jus-tice Center. Johnson, who has past convictions convic-tions for assault, drugpossession, and violation of a protective order and is currently on probation, remains in the Uintah County Jail. His next court appearance had not been scheduled at press time Monday. Prehistory Week poster contest State History last week announced an-nounced the launch of the 2009 Utah Prehistory Week Poster Contest. The winning poster will be professionally printed and distributed nationwide to promote Utah's unique past. Each year, Prehistory Week celebrates Utah's rich archaeological, archaeo-logical, paleontological, and cultural resources during the first full week of May. Events all over the state include lectures, programs, activities, demonstrations, demonstra-tions, and tours. The poster contest is open to all ages. Entrants may choose any material, design, or medium, but the principal elements of the design should depict aspects of Utah archaeology, and entries should be less than 16 inches No reduced bail for accused molester wide and 24 inches long. Winners in three categories will receive cash prizes: grand contest winner: $250; secondary school winner: $ 100; elementary school winner: $100. Posters should be submitted no later than Jan. 7, 2009, to: Antiquities Section, State History, His-tory, 300 S. Rio Grande Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84101. 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Highs in Highs in the upper lows in the low 40s. lows in the low 40s. lows In the mid 30s. the upper 40s and 50s and lows in the lows in the upper low 30s. 20s. Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset 7 20 AM 6 47 PM 7:22 AM 6 45 PM 7:23 AM 6 44 PM 7:24 AM 6 42 PM 7 25 AM 6 41PM tfiWl c Celebrate Hometown Life I i iH j!T4 -M Stones f"- nf about hometowns just like yours. Look for us each week in tills paper J Utah At A Glance Logan 6637- 3J. 4 Ogden y Salt Lake City h O 7045 v. Vernal ,. Pv 7343 ZO;, 6941 Cedar City 7745 J Moon Phases First Full Oct 7 Oct 14 CD O Last New Oct 21 Oct 28 UV Index Wed 108 8 High Thu 109 6 High Fri 1010 5 Moderate Sat 1011 5 Moderate. Sun 1012 5 Moderate Tha UV Index is measured on a 0-11 number scale, with a hiqlier UV Index showing the need for giptr skin protection, pro-tection, o ",mm 1 1 Area Cities Beaver Blanding Brigham City Cedar City Delta Elko, NV Evanston, WY Fermington, NM Fillmore Flagstaff, AZ 42 nibl sunny 47 sunny 40 mst sunny 45 sunny 42 mst sunny 35 mst sunny 36 pt sunny 41 sunny 45 mst sunny 31 sunny (JianU Jet, CO Green River Heber City Kanab Logan Moab Mt Pleasant Ogden Park City Preston, ID 77 46 61 36 78 48 66 37 78 45 69 40 67 41 58 37 63 34 21 sunny mst sunny pt sunny mst sunny mst sunny mst sunny mst sunny mst sunny pt sunny mst sunny Hnce Provo Richfield Roosevelt Salt Lake City Sandy St. George Tooele Vernal Wendover 62 4 1 69 41 75 41 64 39 70 45 68 46 89 60 66 43 73 43 69 44 pt sunny mst sunny mst sunny mst sunny mst sunny mst sunny sunny mst sunny mst sunny mst sunny National Cities Atlanta Boston Chicago Dallas Denver i bi lain 68 50 pt sunny 65 51 ram 83 57 sunny 71 43 sunny Houston Los Angeles Miami Minneapolis New York tiu bl sunny 85 63 sunny 65 78 t-storm 67 44 pt sunny 63 55 pt sunny t4 1 sunny San Francisco 78 54 mst sunny Seattle 55 44 ram St. Louis 70 56 rain Washington, DC 74 62 pt sunny |