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Show - ... rp Millie T 11 LAX IT AH i:' K K ', ASSOC I AT f'.i-i )G SOUTH SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84111 Volume 110.No. 46 4 Sections, 58 pages December 21, 1989 5? Briefs Hansen Planetarium welcomes winter Hansen Planetarium is alerting aler-ting Utahns to the official return of Winter on Thursday, Dec. 21 at 2:22 p.m. MST. Known officially as the Winter Solstice, the arrival of Winter marks the moment the Sun reaches that point furthest south of the celestial equator. The celestial equator is an imaginary im-aginary line in space located above the Earth's equator. As Hansen Planetarium's education specialist, Patrick Wiggins, puts it, "The Sun has now reached its point furthest south and will soon start gradually rising higher and higher until next June when it will be furthest north, thereby marking the start of Summer." Sum-mer." Wiggins also noted that while Utahns and others who reside in the northern hemisphere mark the Winter Solstice as the start of the increasingly in-creasingly colder (but longer) days of Winter, those in the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed, see this event as the start of the in-creasingly in-creasingly hotter (but shorter) days of Summmer. For further information call 532-STAR, the Hansen Planetarium's free Starline information service. Park City torchlight parade Come to the Park City Ski Area's annual Christmas Eve candlelight service and tor-chlight tor-chlight parade. The candlelight service takes place at Steeps from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Dec. 24. The service is followed by a torchlight parade of skiers coming down Park City's Payday run. Christmas candlelight service Park City Christian Fellowship will have a Christmas candlelight service the evening of Sunday, Dec. 24, at 6:30 p.m. Come worship the Lord Jesus Christ. All are welcome. Realtors voice concerns... Plans made for basin by SENA TAYLOR Record staff writer A steering committee charged with developing planning guidelines for the Snyderville Basin presented its recommendations to a joint meeting of the Summit County Commission Com-mission and Planning Commission Dec. 19 in Coalville. The steering committee recommended recom-mended that a comprehensive master plan be developed for the basin, and that the existing development develop-ment code and permit system be retained re-tained and updated on a regular basis. Both commissions are taking the recommendations under advisement, advise-ment, and the county commission ultimatley will decide later whether to implement them. Officials from the Park City Board of Realtors attended the meeting to voice concerns about two of the group's recommendations which addressed ad-dressed designating commercial zones and creating a community council to oversee development. The steering committee recommended recom-mended that "a Snyderville Basin Community Council should be appointed ap-pointed to foster a greater level of participation in the government decisions affecting the citizens of the basin." The council would be comprised com-prised of eight residents or property owners of the basin. Board of Realtors President Bonnie Bon-nie Peretti said the board would oppose op-pose such a council (fit has "authority "authori-ty beyond organized input during the public hearing process.. .or if their review becomes an additional required re-quired step for development permitting." permit-ting." She told the Record that a community council would be "just another layer of government." Peretti said the Board of Realtors also opposed a recommendation concerning con-cerning the designation and development develop-ment of commercial nodes in the basin. The steering committee's recommendation recom-mendation on that matter said, "Primary commercial activities should be confined to major highway intersections. Development of strip commercial activities along the entry en-try corridors should not be permitted." permit-ted." Peretti said the Board of Realtors felt a professional study should be conducted on the commercial sites being recommended. She further said the committee's use of the word "confined" was "too strong." "We agreed with 90 percent of everything that the steering committee com-mittee wants to do," Peretti told the Record. "Some things need to be clarified... these are our areas cf concern and that doesn't mean they are wrong or right." Steering committee member and Snyderville Basin resident Amanda Peterson said the committee based the recommendations on residents' needs to "have a stronger voice in the future planning of the Snyderville Snyder-ville Basin." Countering the Board of Realtors' complaints about a community council and designated commercial zones, Peterson said those points had "unanimous support" from Snyderville Basin residents who had attended the steering commitee's meetings during the past three months. mon-ths. "It was very apparent to me that the residents want a very strong voice, and I would like to encourage you to form a community council, she told the county commission and planning commission. Peterson also read statements from two Snyderville Basin residents unable to attend the meeting who were in complete support sup-port of the recommendations. Old Ranch Road resident and Park City realtor, Mary Coehlo, wrote that she supported "all of the recommendations strongly," and said she considered the community council "among the more important recommendations. ..even though it might be one more hoop" for developers to jump through. In her letter, Coehlo said she differed dif-fered with her counterparts on the Park City Board of Realtors and said, "I want to see commercial nodes very precisely defined." The second letter was submitted by Highland Estates resident and Park City Board of Education member Lindy Blackbourn, who supported the community council concept. Peterson said she felt "very strongly about the recommendations recommenda-tions as well. We want to work with the county commission and planning plann-ing commission to make the Snyderville Basin a great place to live for the next 50 years as well as the present." Although the Board of Realtors sent a formal letter to the county commission and planning commission commis-sion opposing a community council, PLANS to A2 Fun is everywhere California resident Jeffrey Gordon had to spend a little time away from the ski slopes one morning last week when his parents went to run an errand. However, Jeffrey Jef-frey and his sister Jennifer weren't about to miss out on all the snow we've gotten lately, so they made their own slope near Prospector Square. Police investigate Dec. 1 4 Deer Valley assault by ROBIN PORTER Record staff writer Police are searching for a woman who assaulted a Park City woman in her Deer Valley home one week ago. Police say they are not sure yet whether robbery was a motive or not. Bonnie Mathews, 69, told police she found a woman in her Centennial Court home when she returned from shopping at about 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14. The woman described in her mid 30s, blond and slightly built waved a gun, ordering Mathews to lie down. The woman told Mathews "This is a robbery, just do what I say and you won't get hurt." She then tied Mathews up with silk scarves and placed a plastic bag over her head. Though Mathews offered the young woman money and jewelry, police have said neither appear to have been taken from the residence. According to Police Chief Frank Bell, the 110-pound Mathews, fearing fear-ing she would be smothered by the bag, broke free. She began Wrestling with the assailant, and took the ASSAULT to A2 Mitchell found guilty of manslaughter by TERI ORR Record editor After four hours of deliberation, the jury in the retrial of Preston Mit-chell Mit-chell returned a verdict of manslaughter Dec. 14 in the 1984 shooting death of former airline pilot Fred Duncan. Mitchell's 1986 first-degree murder conviction was overturned by the Utah Supreme Court last summer which ruled the hypnotically hypnotical-ly enhanced testimony from the key eyewitness, Patty Tyrrell, was inad-missable inad-missable and therefore Mitchell was entitled to a new trial. The verdict is a second-degree felony and it carries a sentence of one to 15 years. Mitchell was originally sentenced to life in prison for the death of Duncan. The five-day trial was a sensational sensa-tional look into the drug world, and it heard testimony from more than 20 witnesses who tried to prove the state's case that Fred Duncan was a rival drug dealer and Preston Mitchell Mit-chell shot him because he was honing hon-ing in on Mitchell's drug territory. But the defense maintained that while Mitchell was indeed involved in drugs, it was a drug deal "gone sour" involving Mitchell's friend Brian Oliver that caused Mitchell to break into the home and accidently shoot Fred Duncan. In his closing arguments, Summit County Attorney Bob Adkins who prosecuted the case told the jury Mitchell's act was one of "utter brazenness." Adkins said it this was a case of credibility, and he asked the jury, "who can you believe?" Adkins then showed the jury a series of lies the defendant had told during the trial. As for a motive, Adkins explained ex-plained that Duncan and Mitchell received their drugs (specifically cocaine) from rival sources and that was one motive. Adkins said Mitchell's Mit-chell's relationships with women, who were also somehow involved with Duncan, had created another layer of problems between the two men. In his arguments, Adkins repeatedly stated "someone is lying." ly-ing." He concluded by saying Mitchell Mit-chell admitted he lied under oath to place the blame on someone else. "If he was willing to lie about something less than his murder charge, don't you think he would lie about this?" Adkins asked the jury. "Don't let him get away with murder." Defense attorney Ken Brown told MITCHELL to A2 Trail plan delayed by tailings problem by SENA TAYLOR Record staff writer Plans to convert an abandoned train route in Summit and Wasatch counties Into a recreational path are being delayed by possible hazardous waste deposits on the outskirts of Park City, where the path would travel. For almost two years, state and local officials have been developing a proposal to turn 30 miles of abandoned aban-doned Union Pacific Railroad right-of right-of way into a path which could be used us-ed by hikers, bikers, equestrians and cross-country skiers. The old train route stretches from Echo In north Summit County to Phoston in Wasatch County. A & K Railroad Materials, which purchased purchas-ed the line from Union Pacific for salvage purposes, donated the right-of-way to the state last summer. If the trail Is developed it will be administered ad-ministered by the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation. Proponents of the trail have encountered en-countered several stumbling blocks which concern adjacent landowners, how to manage and fund the trail, and even a legal case now before the U.S. Supreme Court questioning the reversionary right to land no longer .used by railroads. The hazardous waste question has emerged as perhaps the greatest obstacle to a plan which would con vert the line into a path following the guidelines of a national "Rails to Trails Conservancy," whichthas transformed old train routes across the country into public parkways. State Assistant Director of the Division of Environmental Health, Brent Bradford, told the Record, "the railroad ran through a couple of sites that are involved in the EPA's superfund process." The sites contain con-tain old silver mine tailings left over from Park City's mining days in the early 1900s, and they are located in the Richardson Flat and Mayflower areas near U.S. Highway 40 between Park City and Heber, said Bradford. Traces of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals have reportedly been left from the tailings. "There becomes a question of the liability associated with developing a recreational facility on property if there is a potential for public health impact," said Bradford. Jerry Miller, the director of the Division of Parks and Recreation, told the Record he is "hopeful" that the Division of Environmental Health can conduct some testing of the areas in question with funding from a legislative appropriation. A report made by the federal Bureau of Land Management about TRAIL to A2 |