OCR Text |
Show L V. a ,. D ... It- 1- 50 CENTS THE NEWSPAPER OF CENTRAL UTAH VOLUME 80, ISSUE 98 Gas leak blamed in house explosion W rail Associated Press Writer By JARED COWLEY WASHINGTON OREM Investigators suspect a loose gas line coupling is responsible for an explosion that leveled a house in northeast Orem on Tuesday morning, but they still aren't saying if the explosion was an accident. A man who was inside the home when it blew up two-sto- ry with escaped injuries, minor according to Orem Police Lt. Doug Edwards. The other occu- were not in the Eants at the time of the blast. The house, at 811 E. 200 North, is near Cascade Elementary School. The stretch of 800 East between 400 North and 100 North was closed for much of the morning. Four fire trucks and three ambulances clogged the street as white puffs of insulation snowed on policemen, firefighters and interested onlookers stationed behind yellow police tape. The house had been reduced to a heap of debris for investi- WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2002 4 PAGES OF ELECTION COVERAGE INSIDE By ALAN FRAM The Daily Herald - Repub- licans narrowly seized control of the Senate early today, ousting Democrats in Georgia and Missouri and giving President Bush a major political and legislative boost as he starts the final two years of his first term at the White House. By winning their 50th seat, the GOP was ensured control because Vice President Dick Cheney will cast votea Their team will include at least seven new senators, including two who briefly challenged Bush for their party's presidential nomination in 2000, Tennessee's n. MM In Georgia, Republican In Rep. Saxby Chambliss defeat- Demoed moderate first-tercratic Sen. Max Cleland, a triple amputee from the Vietnam War, after chiding him for opposing President Bush's plan for creating a new Department of Homeland m Lamar Alexander and North Carolina's Elizabeth Dole. Democrats took just one seat from Republicans when Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor, the son of former Sen. David Pryor, defeated incumbent Sen. Tim Senate candidate Norm Coleman gives a hug to his wife, Laurie, Security. Because of former Rep. Jim Talent's victory in Missouri, the GOP also could take consession trol of the lame-duc- k of the current Congress, of the chamber next year while awaiting election results. KING Associated Press ANDY See SENATE, A9 Cannon, Matheson win; waste initiative rejected RADIOACTIVE WASTE INITIATIVE Yes through--. ! All See EXPLOSION, 98 THE DAILY HERALD A Jfrtjb NEWSPAPER Index Classified Comics Business Horoscope Movies Obituaries Opinions Sports CI C5 B6 C7 C7 A5 A10 Weather 6 nil Hl,61055 0005 Qllll jmI '' - I X V. Initiative 1 gets solid 'no' from Utah voters & The Daily Herald - PROVO Tuesday's negative vote on Initiative was a resounding "no" to corporate warfare by initiative, according to Hugh Matheson, who led the opposition effort. "People don't like the idea of taxing one company by initiative," he said. 1 - STfVECW'fOoNTIieAsiociaied Press Down to the wire: Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson and his wife, Amy Herbener, take their son, Will, to the stage to rally supporters Tuesday in Salt Lake City. Matheson narrowly defeated John Swallow in the 2nd Congressional District. Tight race ends with Democrat on top in Utah's 2nd District - As of press time, U.S. Jim Matheson was the PROVO Rep. unoffi-cial- s winner of the race with Republican challenger John Swallow for Utah'S'-hCongressional District. d had a 1.31 perMatheson, cent lead over Swallow, a state legislator from Sandy. However, neither candidate would issue a public statement until five outstanding Utah County precincts were counted in the vote. In Utah County, Matheson had 3,753 votes to Swallow's 8,265 votes, with 35 of 40 precints in Alpine, Highland, Lehi, American Fork and northern Utah County counted. The Associated Press called the race for Matheson. Clint Warhy, Matheson's campaign spokesman, said Matheson was waiting for the final tallies to come in before he would make a speech at a Democratic gathering in Salt Lake City. "We have to be careful here," Warby said. "We don't want to have another Florida." Emily Christensen, Swallow's spokeswoman, said the Republican candidate would wait until this morning to- speak to reporters about the race. Libertarian Ron Copier and Green Party candidate Patrick Diehl were trailing far behind in the polls. Attempts to contact them were not successful. The race was the first in a district - "There's just something inherently unfair about that." But supporters of the initiative say the defeat is not the end of the debate on storing and taxing radioactive waste in Utah. "We gave it our best shot and opened the discussaid sion," Phyllis Sorensen, past president of the Utah Education Association and a member of Utahns for Radioactive Waste Control. "I hope the Legislature takes up this CONGRESS 3rd District 4 67 Burton (L) Cannon (R) Woodside (D) 296o 99 precincts reporting 2nd District Copier (L) Diehl (G) Matheson (D) Swallow (R) 97 1 1 50 48 issue." Sen. Curtis S. Bramble, Utah County of Utahns Against Unfair Taxes, agreed that the debate is far from over. "We will now take the debate to Capitol Hill, where it belonged all along," said Bramble, precincts reporting redrawn to give Republicans an advantage. The district was designed to dilute to combine rural areas the Democratic vote in Salt Lake County. The district goes from eastern Salt Lake County, takes in a corner of Utah County and heads east to Vernal, south to Four Corners, west to St. George and north to Cedar Initiative See MATHESON, A6 COMPLETE RESULTS INSIDE: KEY RESULTS Bl B8 Tn precincts reporting By DONALD W. MEYERS h, PROVO, UTAH ,s j f . The Daily Herald 2k 32 68 No By DONALD W. MEYERS High 53 Low 33 the lead: Republican gators to carefully sift Edwards said gas company investigators, a Utah County bomb squad and members of a drug detection unit sifting through the ruins Tuesday after--" noon discovered a natural gas line that was loosened to the point that it would have accounted for a natural gas leak." "Saturation levels from the leak needed only to reach sufficient density to ignite and come into contact with the pilot light from the furnace or gas heater, both of which were nearby, to cause the explosion," Edwards said. Investigators were still trying to determine whether the line was tampered with or if the blast was accidental. Police said a man was in an upstairs bedroom when the house exploded. As the house collapsed, he rede the top floor down to ground level and was found about 20 feet inside the home. Police were able to lay down some planks and the man was able to walk out on his own. Online: xHartTheHerakLeon 1 would have See WASTE, A6 A6-- 9 UTAH COUNTY CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTY UTAH COUNTY UTAH COUNTY STATE SCHOOL ZAP TAX AMENDMENT 1 COMMISSION B CLERKAUDITOR ATTORNEY BOARD, DIST. 64 36 Layton (D) 22 White (R) 78 Jackson (R) 78 22 Munoa(D) Yes No 38 62 Yes No 91 CALL 375-510- 3 precincts reporting TO SUBSCRIBE 4 Bryson(R) 88 McCullough(L) 12 Coombs Dalton 3 43 57 |