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Show Emerson Alcott boards sued by former director By Geoff Lesik Uintah Basin News Service He was oncetheman tapped to help make the dream of a charter school in the Roosevelt area a reality. Now Bobby Drake is suing the Emerson Alcott Governing Board and its individual members mem-bers for breach of contract. Drake was chosen in late February as Emerson Alcott's first director. "We're really happy to have him on board," then-Emerson Alcott Board President Deb Richards told the Uintah Basin Standard at the time Drake was hired. "He has proven to be an excellent excel-lent teacher and we all feel like he has the ability, leadership, and knowledge to take this school where we want it to go," Richards Rich-ards added. . Emerson Alcott was slated to open in August for the 2008-09 school year. But trouble finding find-ing financing, and failure to meet state-mandated deadlines delayed the school's opening. That led the board to release Drake from his contract in late August. He is now teaching at Eagle View Elementary School in Fort Duchesne. The state has since revoked Emerson Alcott's charter and denied its appeal of the revocation. revoca-tion. According to the civil com Lawmaker wants rewrite of Utah's incest statute By Jennifer Dobkeb Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A state lawmaker said Wednesday he wants to rewrite Utah's incest statute to make it illegal for adult relatives to provide each other with seminal fluids or human, eggs for use in artificial insemination. insemi-nation. Sen. Dennis Stowell, R-Parowan, R-Parowan, said his goal is to block inappropriate family relations that produce children with serious seri-ous birth defects. Stowell also wants to eliminate as a possible criminal defense the claim that no sexual intercourse occurred. Current incest laws require proof of sexual intercourse and address offenses between adults and children under 18. Stowell presented a draft bill to a committee, which voted unanimously to forward the bill for consideration during the legislative session that starts in January. "We had a case of incest in Iron County. In the course of prosecuting, (what) the defense offered was that this incest was done by artificial insemination which is not covered in the law," Stowell said. "This is an attempt to correct that problem." Stowell said research of incest laws nationwide shows Utah would be the first state to address incest through artificial insemination. Allegations of incest were brought to sheriffs deputies 5 V 7 V ,h Vi-.un The NWs! Start 2009 off right with a subscription to the Vernal Express, the best source for all of your local news and sports coverage! Buy Now & Save! Subscribe now to the Vernal Express or renew your current subscription and take advantage of the 2008 subscription price. TT"1 VTRNAl, Exp vernal com plaint filed Wednesday in 8th District Court, Drake is suing Emerson Alcott Academy and the individual board members who hired him, seeking to recover $12,000 in consulting fees that were part of an agreement he signed with the school, plus an additional $8,000 in bonuses. Drake is also suing five "Jane and John Doe" defendants for $3,000. Those defendants represent the individuals who reconstituted the Emerson Alcott Al-cott board following the mass resignation of its membership in October. He claims they put a stop payment on a $3,000 check he was supposed to receive for completing one of the "benchmarks" "bench-marks" in his contract. At their Dec. 4 meeting, board members said the state had frozen fro-zen Emerson Alcott's account after its charter was revoked. They also said they were considering con-sidering disbanding the board or pursuing the possibility of opening a private school instead of a charter school. Roosevelt-based attorney Keith Eddington, who serves as a legal advisor to the charter school board, did not return a phone call or e-mail seeking comment on Wednesday. Drake's attorney, Michael T. McCoy of Murray, also did not respond to a telephone call late Wednesday. Contributing: Lacey Mc-Murry last year by three men from an Iron County family who feared their father was engaged in an incestuous relationship that had produced at least four children. DNA testing on one of the children chil-dren - paid for by the three men - indicted a high probability that incest had occurred. But prosecutors did not file charges because they could not get around the insemination defense provided to investigators investiga-tors during interviews with the child's family, Iron County Deputy Attorney Troy Little said. . ioit Turin l t ' Bis "The main issue here is that when we do have offspring, we want to protect that victim," Little told the committee. "This is good public policy, albeit very unusual." Consanguinity research shows that incest among first-degree first-degree relatives has a "highly deleterious" effect on offspring, said John M. Optiz, a University of Utah professor of pediatric genetics. Studies show children of incest have higher rates of mortality, mor-tality, birth defects, and mental retardation, he said. Stowell said the bill would not applyincasesofsurrogacy-ifthe surrogate female is not related to the male providing the sperm. It also would increase the statute of limitations forprosecutingincest from four to seven years. Incest is a third-degree felony punishable by a prison term of up to five years. New Xear! 60 East 100 North, Vernal 435-789-3511 Vernal PLOWING SNOW Snowplows were out in force last and ice packed for three straight the snow plows. No major injuries in two rollover crashes Utah Highway Patrol Trooper ' Matt Pratt responded to a pair of rollover crashes earlier this month in Duchesne County. On Dec. 19, at about 7 p.m., Pratt was called to a rollover crash just west of Roosevelt on U.S. Highway 40. According to the trooper, Roosevelt resident Neesha Richins, 28, was driving east on the highway when she lost control of her car. , Pratt said as the car left the road, it was traveling backwards. It struck a pole and overturned, coming to rest in a ditch. Abandoned development raises concern By Mary Bernard Express Writer At the Dec. 19 combined Vernal City and Uintah County meeting, Vernal City Manager Ken Bassett asked what could be done to improve a derelict development devel-opment on East Main Street. "Is there something we can do about the condition of the abandoned property??, Bassett asked .county officials, passing on criticism he's received about the eyesore on the east end of town. Before the snow fell, the parcel - located in the county and not within city limits - was a weed-covered weed-covered dust bowl, offering little beauty for the visiting sightseer. Without jurisdiction the city cannot can-not affect changes or improve the appearance of the property. Bassett says he met the county planner about the abandoned development de-velopment only to discover there were financial issues to consider. Apparently, a cash bond banked locally by the original developers 42" Plasma TV Upon Closing Sales office PdymfnUwtiiMtloihjngf Bjwdon$l44,'tt(U6 Express ' r ; si i week as a series of storms hit the area and kept the roads slick days. People are urged to have patience and asked not to pass Richens had four passengers in the car: Crystal Nuttall, 23, and three children. They were all taken to Uintah Basin Medical Center where they were treated and released for minor injuries. Pratt said alcohol use was a contributing factor in the crash. The following day, at about 3:24 p.m., Pratt was called to another rollover crash on U.S. 40, this one between Bridgeland and Duchesne. Pratt said Duchesne resident may not be available to mitigate nuisance problems. The bond money use, Bassett says, may be restricted for improvements associated with development rather than other applications. County official Dave Haslem took issue with the assessment saying, "The bond was put there to mitigate impacts created by development, including the unfinished un-finished property 1 ' f v' ' 1 u 1 Because bankruptcy proceedings proceed-ings are in litigation, it is not possible to identify the current property owners. There is no one to hold responsible to come forward for-ward and repair the property. For now, though, nearby residents resi-dents and the county bear the responsibility for reparations. Bert Clark, city councilman, said that a neighbor of the abandoned development had to replace a fence destroyed by the developers at their own expense. In the spring, the county may level the land to reduce dust being be-ing blown from the mounds of SUN5URST TERRACE mmmsmmmmmm 484 West 2100 South or call Licia at 435-781 -8567 and model homes open Mon-Fri 9-5; Sat 10-4 WAFR, Wypji, Mpjymfnl kin wilh)di)iundmiiiiililyijymrnuol 517. Upiimiplf mdlmnm Ow month monger paid up ic I. MX) SiJfiwI nftri don not jnnly lo W m HI SHPimxMv watt , Austin Angus, 19, was driving east on the highway when he passed several vehicles. As Angus returned to the eastbound lane, his car traveled across the rumble strips and he over-corrected losing los-ing control of the vehicle. The car spun before going off the north side of the highway and rolling twice, the trooper said. Angus was taken to UBMC. His passenger, 19-year-old Bren-nan Bren-nan Grant of Duchesne, was uninjured. un-injured. Both men were wearing seat belts, Pratt said. dirt left by the developer. Still, there is no county ordinance or-dinance that covers nuisance properties but officials agreed to look into doing something about the eyesore. mbernardvernal.com Third Party Inspecton Services Welder Qualifications Welding Procedures Pipelines Compressor Stations Wednesday, December 31, 2008 A3 Supreme court rules state ROW records are public SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Utah Supreme Court says state information about potential rights of way on federal land are public. The Southern Utah Wilderness Wilder-ness Alliance in 2004 sought access ac-cess to state records in a database relating to Revised Statute 2477, a law dealing with passage across federal lands. Identifying routes that might qualify under that law has been a long-running controversy, especially in southern Utah. The state released some of the documents SUWA sought but said others weren't covered by Utah's public records law. SUWA took its case to 3rd District Court, which upheld the state's decision in 2006. In a decision issued last Tuesday, Tues-day, the Supreme Court said the records were never classified as nonpublic and don't fall under any of the exemptions in the state public records law. State courts to leave at least 1 vaeancy unfllIed SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - State court officials say they plan to leave judicial vacancies unfilled because of the state's sour budget. The court will not fill the vacancy left by Utah Court of Appeals Judge Judith Billings, who is retiring at the end of the year. State Court Administrator Daniel Becker says Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has agreed not to fill the appeals court position for now. Becker says the Utah Judicial Council may also hold open the seats of other judges who leave next year, including those on district and juvenile courts. Courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer say s that, as far as anyone knows, such a move has never been made. The courts have already instituted in-stituted a hiring freeze and will start using electronic recording equipment instead of court reporters re-porters during some cases. Blue Stake Fire Watch - Heavy Equipment Operators General Oilfield Personal 1 Month Mortgage Paid By Seller Upon Closing |