OCR Text |
Show A-2 The Park Record WedThursFri, July 28-30, 2004 Families Year-old case still sees grandparents battling for visitation rights, father opposes request By PATRICK PARKINSON Of the Record staff A court battle over grandparent visitation vis-itation rights between a local builder and the parents of his deceased ex-wife could go to trial in Wasatch County. It's been almost a year since former Jeremy Ranch resident Natalie Turner, 31, was killed in a confrontation with law enforcement officers in Summit County. A gunfight that preceded the shooting shoot-ing left Turner with gunshot wounds and her ex-husband, Wasatch County resident John Pochynok in critical condition. con-dition. During a somewhat stormy marriage, mar-riage, the couple had two children, ages 8 and 5, who are now in Pochynok's permanent custody. Ogden residents David and Shauna Turner, Natalie's parents, last October petitioned Fourth District Court in Wasatch County for the right to visit their grandchildren. Pochynok opposes their request and a pre-trial conference is scheduled in Heber City Dec. 3 to determine whether a trial will be necessary. He refused to comment about the court proceedings in June but lays out some of his concerns in an affidavit filed Jan. 22 in response to the Turners' petition. "I discovered immediately upon regaining physical custody of the children chil-dren that not only did they miss me very much but that they had suffered for fear of my welfare. It was also clear to me that the children had been misinformed mis-informed or inappropriately introduced to facts regarding the case, their mother and me," Pochynok's affidavit states, about the period of time following Turner's death when his children stayed with their mother's parents. On Aug. 8, 2003, Turner, at the time a resident of Hailey, Idaho, was supposed sup-posed to drop the children off at Pochynok's Deer Mountain Estates Parkite lauds ex-presidents speech Continued from A-1 Dunn said Clinton's speech may have swayed some voters who have not yet decided between presumptive Democratic candidate John Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, and President George W. Bush. "It was a speech that talked about the big differences between the Republicans and Democrats," Dunn said. He added: "There is a real momentum momen-tum and desire to see Bush removed." Dunn has led Utah's 29 delegates to the convention. In the Utah Democratic primary, Kerry won 14 delegates and John Edwards, the North Carolina senator who is Kerry's running mate, won nine delegates. The other six delegates were not at stake in the primary. Dunn said all the delegates will go to Kerry. Meanwhile, Dunn said while in Scouts respond to fire lawsuit Continued from A-1 quate supervision of the boys camping camp-ing at East Fork, and do not confirm responsibility for the fire." "We remain confident that the legal process will determine the many facts surrounding the circum City Hall Continued from A-1 plows ensured that the street remained open after the Utah Department of Transportation closed the Mine Road, which is the other route between the two neighborhoods. neigh-borhoods. Power disturbances disrupted the operation of traffic signals at the Kearns Boulevard-Bonanza eUlND Open for UNFORGETTABLE SIDE battle in court home. But she allegedly took a gun. Investigators say she shot Pochynok two times that night at his house with a high-powered handgun before he, Turner and Turner's fiance, 31 -year-old David Gayler, of Hailey, sped off in a sports car. Units from four law enforcement agencies chased the car along S R. 248 as Gayler drove from near Jordanelle Reservoir toward Park City. He stopped near Brown's Canyon Road just after entering Summit County and Pochynok and Turner reportedly began struggling over the gun. Video cameras in the officers' vehicles vehi-cles document the incident. "During the struggle, Pochynok apparently obtained the .357 handgun and fired several shots inside the vehicle vehi-cle at Natalie Turner with some of them striking her," Summit County Attorney Robert Adkins states in a letter that clears a Summit County Sheriff's Office deputy of any wrongdoing in shooting Turner. According to Adkins, Turner regained control of the handgun and exited the passenger side of the car with the weapon in her hand. "The officers were yelling at her to drop the gun . . . Turner asked the officers offi-cers to shoot her, and she raised the handgun in the general direction of the officers and pulled the trigger," Adkins states in the letter. A Sheriff's Office deputy and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources conservation conser-vation officer each shot Turner once and she died at the scene. Gayler, a convicted sex offender, later hung himself in the Wasatch County Jail after he was charged with attempted aggravated murder and attempted kidnapping. Pochynok was recovering from his gunshot wounds when he was provided sole custody of the children last September. "The minor children have a substan Boston he will try to draft prominent Democrats to visit Utah to campaign for party candidates. He will also be the member of Utah's delegation to address the convention when the state's delegates dele-gates are awarded, saying "it will be my 1 5 seconds of fame." Dunn also said Democrats are hoping hop-ing for Election Day wins besides the White House, including in congressional congression-al and gubernatorial contests. He is confident con-fident about the Utah gubernatorial race between Democrat Scott Matheson, Jr. and Republican Jon Huntsman, Jr. He noted gubernatorial elections in New Mexico, Arizona and Wyoming as well. Anodier Parkite in Boston is Linda Blonsley, who is accompanying her husband hus-band Gill, a convention delegate. She said in an interview that the Democrats have rallied around the Kerry-Edwards ticket. "They believe their candidates are the candidates that are addressing the stances of the fire, many of which remain in question." South Summit resident Mark Jones, scoutmaster for Troop 149, said the Scouts should have had adult supervision in the woods that night but couldn't say for sure whether the boys were responsible releases flood report Drive and Kearns Boulevard-Comstock Boulevard-Comstock Drive intersections. Those disturbances caused minor traffic issues and 100 residents and businesses were without power for a few hours, the report states. In Prospector, where flood damage was reported, the government govern-ment used sandbags in an effort to channel the waters away from buildings. The report indicates that DQq Blind dog Restaurant, Patio and Sushi Bar lunch and Dinner.Monday thru Saturday 1 1am Brilliant Seafood, Fabulous Appetizers, paired 3U3i; y.pirr fort : W mw: tial relationship with the Turners and loss or cessation of that relationship is likely to cause harm to the minors," states the petition for visitation rights filed by Sharon Sipes, the Turners' Ogden attorney. "Visitation is in the best interests of the minor children." The Turners request the opportunity to speak to the children on the telephone tele-phone and visitation privileges every other weekend from when school ends Friday until Sunday at 8 p.m. They request "reasonable visitation during the holidays ... the opportunity to celebrate cele-brate the children's birthdays and notice of the children's school, sporting and special events." The Turners would also like the children chil-dren to participate in some family activities activ-ities and request "two weeks of uninterrupted uninter-rupted visitation during the summer months." Neither Sipes nor David Turner would comment on the dispute. The Turners' therapist disagrees with the children's therapist about whether the couple should be allowed visitation. "It has been my observation that the Turners have made some progress in therapy to date, including progress in working through their understandably profound grief ... I find no reason to consider the Turners inappropriate to have visitation rights with their grandchildren grand-children from the point of view of their psychological status," states the couple's cou-ple's therapist, Gregory L. Mayer in a letter to die court. However, the children's therapist, Pat Drewry Sanger, states in a letter to the court that past statements made to the children by David Turner perhaps poisoned their view of their father. "Although my general opinion is that grandparents add to the enrichment and positive relational experiences in a child's life, I believe that circumstances do not warrant the rights of visitation for these particular grandparents," Sanger states in the letter. "Currently the children are carrying a dual concept con-cept (of Pochynok), one based on hearsay and one on their own experience." issues that Americans are concerned about most," Blonsley said, listing issues like education, health care, the economy and the war in Iraq as being important in Boston. Blonsley, who arrived in Boston on Friday, said there are lots of lawmen in the city and compared the security presence pres-ence to that of the 2002 Winter Olympics. "After having gone through the Olympics, you understand it. It's not upsetting at all," she said, describing the security as not being intrusive. She reports that business in downtown down-town Boston was off because lots of Bostonians left the city to avoid the convention. con-vention. Blonsley also said that the mood of the Democrats does not reflect that of a minority party that does currently hold the White House or either house of Congress. "You couldn't tell it," she said. for the wildfire. "I heard that there was a young women's camp that was up there and also some people on four-wheelers four-wheelers that shouldn't have been up there that were in that area as well," said Jones earlier this month. the Public Works Department put sandbags along the banks of Poison Creek in an effort to stop floodwa-ters floodwa-ters in the future. The government released the report after receiving a round of criticism from some flood victims, who said that the city had done little lit-tle in the years before the flooding to prevent such flood along Poison Creek. y DISHES AND ir ifstts Storm spotters needed in EC. Continued from A-1 observe what the weather conditions are," he said, adding that the agency heavily relies on spotters when weather events occur. "These observations, for us, are incredibly valuable," Mclnerney said. Weather spotters, who volunteer their time, monitor conditions and quickly report them to the Weather Service. Information from the spotters spot-ters can help the Weather Service decide when to issue advisories and Dead man is revived on 1-80 Crash victim in critical condition after North Summit EMTs, Life Flight crew resuscitate him By PATRICK PARKINSON Of the Record staff Utah Highway Patrol troopers credit North Summit Emergency Medical Services and Life Flight responders for bringing a motorist back to life Tuesday morning after a rollover crash near Coalville. According to Trooper Matt McWhirter, Scott Hahn, 21, of Aurora, Colo., died at the scene when his Isuzu Trooper rolled across Interstate 80. The man was traveling east-bound east-bound about one mile south of Coalville when he drove off the right side of the road, overcorrect- Opening Soldier Hollow to provide big screen for opening night of Athens Summer Games The Utah Olympic Park is staying stay-ing open late on Friday, Aug. 13, to celebrate the 2004 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on the big screen at the foot of the K120 ski jump hill. The public is invited to bring blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy the festivities from Athens, Greece, on a grassy field under the stars on local NBC affiliate KSL-TV KSL-TV (5). The broadcast begins at 6 p.m. The first 100 families will receive free the Bud Greenspan Olympic DVD documentary called Salt Lake 2002: Stories of Olympic Glory. People dressed in togas receive 50 percent off admission. Attendees will also get coupons worth more than $100 in, discounts for Utah Olympic Park and Utah Olympic Oval activities. Papa The Park Record. o)iroifi)tt u The Park Record introduces its new online photo reprint service Order reprints of Park Record photos taken by our award winning staff photographers Scott Sine and Grayson West SETTLED. WITH WONDERFUL WINE 2j:n (WU warnings, such as in times of flooding, flood-ing, severe thunderstorms and winter storms. Mclnerney said forecasting technology tech-nology that meteorologists use is good for some weather predictions but it does not offer the same information infor-mation as somebody observing the weather. The Weather Service provides spotters with a guide and a rain gauge. The guide helps spotters estimate esti-mate weather conditions like wind speed. No other equipment is provided, provid-ed, Mclnerney said. Spotters can be ed and rolled until the vehicle came to rest in the median upside down, a UHP spokesperson said. The man's heart stopped beating but emergency responders revived him before he was flown to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City in critical criti-cal condition, she adds. According to McWhirter, the man was wearing his seatbelt and may have fallen asleep at the wheel. The crash occurred around 7 a.m. Michelle Andersen, a North Summit emergency medical technician techni-cian said one of the department's EMTs witnessed the accident. ceremonies to air Murphy's will be serving ticket holders a free slice of pizza. Tickets are available in advance by calling (435) 658-4206. All day regular Utah Olympic Park admission is in effect at $8 for adults, $6 for seniorsyouth and $4 for children. A discounted family pass is available at $25 for five people with $5 for each additional person. Free activities during the Athens Celebration that night include aerial aeri-al bungee, K120 chair lift rides and saucer rides on the K64 and K90 hills. Zipline rides and wheeled bobsled rides are also available at their regular cost of $12 forXtreme Zip, $7 for Ultra Zip and $65 for the Comet. "Athens is hosting the first Olympic Games since Salt Lake in Goto www.parkrecord. com and select: photo reprints vKQIC v-V-V -54- mm trained over the phone and Mclnerney said he hopes spotters will give the Weather Service a one-year one-year commitment. Weather spotters must make their reports quickly, he explained, noting that information from a previous day is not helpful when the Weather Service is considering whether to issue a watch or warning. "You need to be prompt," Mclnerney said. For more information about the weather-spotter program, contact Mclnerney at (801) 971-2033. "She saw the dust cloud after it happened so she was the first on scene," Andersen said, adding that the helicopter crew was contacted immediately and arrived in roughly seven minutes. "We were on scene at first and we contacted Life Flight for a rapid transport to the hospital." She couldn't comment on the nature of the man's injuries or how he was revived, adding that it was because of "our protocol that we do on a patient with no pulse, no respiration." res-piration." "That's the fun part, when you can actually help somebody," Andersen said. Jess Gomez, a spokesman for LDS Hospital said Tuesday that Hahn was listed in critical condition. condi-tion. 2002, and we want to celebrate the passing of the torch with a community commu-nity event," said John Bennion, president and CEO of Olympic Parks of Utah. "We will relive the spirit of the Games in Greek-style. We invite the public to join us and KSL at the Utah Olympic Park for an Opening Ceremony party. With the renewal of the Games, Olympic fever will be in the air, and I can't think of a more appropriate place to remember the glory of the Games than an Olympic legacy facility." The Opening Ceremony will be televised on the 12-foot by 16-foot Impact Illuminator screen, which the Utah Olympic Park has used for World Cup sports events. A program with KSL and Olympic athletes will kick off the festivities. No glass, pets or alcoholic alco-holic beverages will be permitted at the Utah Olympic Park. For more information, visit www.olyparks.com. 'til close with -itu;jrM- - m V1 r ff& SUS H I |