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Show DAILY HERAL 0 AS ' SunCrest , ; . Continued from Al, s , -- Saturday, September 25, 2004 I 'j--?.v-s . " x - - , " Shoy from , officials in v Palm Beach, Broward and i-Dade are lobbying the state for permission to attach want our votes to be , counted," said Greene, a 61-printers to their new machines so votes can be tallied by hand Democrat. "I'd rather year-oldo absentee ballots than take a if a malfunction is suspected chance on the machines.' or a recount, is utueu iur. v ? But state officials, including: Greene is an unlikely critic of the electronic voting maGov. Jeb Bush, say the ma- chines. After all, she helped chines are safe, easy to use and replete with safeguards to get 5,000 of them deployed throughout this seaside county ensure accuracy. They note of 12 million residents. that a stored digital image of Ejection officials nationwide each vote can be printed for, a recount. And they say printwere anxious to toss their antiquated voting systems after . ers are expensive, difficult to maintain for poll workers, and the 2000 presidential election useless for blind people who debacle. Twenty-ninpercent of Americans will vote on cant read the paper record. touch-scree- n machines this "Creating a paper trail for' eachvoter is unnecessary exNovember, up dramatically from 12 percent only four cept to eliminate the paranoia . of the critics," officials with years ago, according to Secthe Florida Department of tion Data Services, a political State and the Florida State Asconsulting firm in Washington. sociation of Supervisors of Elections wrote in a policy paThe appeal of electronic voting machines was simple: per this summer. They eliminate the headaches Many voters seem comfort' of dealing with paper. able with the machines. As he With most models, voters emerged from a polling place in Palm Beach Gardens during select their candidates by Florida's August primary, pressing the screen just as Mike Tuchman, a physician, they would to withdraw cash from an automated teller masaid he hadn't thought twice chine. The machines ask users about casting his vote on a to confirm their selections becomputer. fore storing their votes on an "We make decisions about internal hard drive and ensure life and death every day with that ballots aren't disqualified these things," he said. "So I because votes are accidentally guess they can count my cast for more than one candivote." date in a race. Well, maybe not. Last fall, There are other advantages Fort Lauderdale political too. The screens can be prostrategist Ellyn Bogdanoff won a state Senate seat by grammed to display ballots in different languages, greatly only 12 votes out of 10,844 cast. reducing printing costs. And advocates for disabled people Mysteriously, 137 voters like the fact that the voting cast blank electronic ballots in terminals can display ballots the election. Either they had in large type and guide blind taken the trouble to go to the polls and vote for no one, offipeople through the voting cials figured, or the machines process using audio prompts. In April 2001, Greene flew hadn't registered the votes. to California's Riverside CounState law mandated a recount in such a close election. ty with a delegation of South Florida off icials to see the But since the votes were touch-scree- n machines inactstored only in the computer's ion. They came home with memory, that was impossible. So election officials just certirave reviews and spent $56 million to deploy them in Florified the race. da's three most populous coun- -' "The potential for problems ties: Palm Beach, Broward and this year dwarfs what hapMiami-Dadpened in 2000, because there's "We were not as knowlnothing to check," said U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Delray edgeable as we are now, so we made a lot of mistakes," Beach, Fla., Democrat who Greene recalled "We didn't has lobbied for mandatory pa ask the questions we should per trails since Honda started ma-- , have asked." considering touch-screeChief among them: How can chines. He even sued the state we conduct a recount if we over the issue and lost; the case is on appeal dont have any ballots to Miam- 1 celebraa,pd the Corvettes ' will be the first cars to drive the road once it opens. The road comes into Utah County from the top of the mountain and enters Highland near Micron, just west of Dry Creek, then intersects with State Road 92. Within Highland's city limits, the City Council has named its portion of the road Highland Boulevard. The road will mean changes for the residents of Utah County who also live in the city limits of Draper in the Traverse Mountain development. Students living on the hilltop in the Alpine School District boundaries will now have access to local schools, if they wish, instead of traveling to Jordan District Schools. Developers believe the road also will encourage people to move to SunCrest a belief that drives today's promotional events. It also will make it possible for more development on the Utah County side of the mouna lot more development. tain So far, 450 homes have been built in the area, most of them on the Salt Lake County side but when SunCrest is finished, most of the homes will he built in the portion of Draper that is in Utah County, said Ty SunCrest vice president of sales and marketing. Within the next few years, more than 3,000 Utah County residents will be living within the development, he said. "Several people up here have one (spouse) that works in Utah County, one in Salt Lake Coun- ty. This gives them more accessibility over the hill," he said. "It's primarily designed for people living in the community, but I believe people will drive it for its scenic value." Besides homes, there are plans for small markets and other small businesses, but there are no plans for big commercial development, he said. With the road in place, the look of the mountain will be changing with houses and new schools eventually dotting the mountainside. More than half of SunCrest's 3,800 acres are being preserved as open space, McCutcheon said, and there are no street lights along the road, which will keep light pollution down. The new road will allow . ' - Now electifo Continued from Al , to 11a.m. to 3 p.m. count? Voting r d .. ' - ; V a . e swatt .. " if JEREMY HARMONDaily Herald Suncrest Road winds down Traverse Ridge into Utah County. school buses to drive to the de- velopment, a first for SunCrest. Because of the unsafe grade of Traverse Ridge Road oh the Salt Lake County side of the mountain, Jordan School Dis- - ' trict buses have been unable to pick up children. SunCrest Drive will accommodate buses, and that could mean students living within Jordan boundaries will transfer to Alpine School District schools, said Jan Wilde, executive director for the southeast area of the Jordan School District. For the past two years, the two districts have agreed that Alpine students are allowed to go to Jordan schools, Wilde said. That agreement is still in place for this year, but she did not know, if any students had transferred into the Alpine district because of the road com- Jordan students will have to apply for a district transfer to switch districts, and the Alpine School Board will evaluate each ' pletion. transfer individually,' "We are really guessing," she said. "We don't know what is going to happen. We left the option open to have the same arrangements." Wilde did question whether Alpine district would have room if a majority of the Jordan students want to transfer. Jerri Mortensen, Alpine School District spokeswoman, also did not know how many students would be bused from the SunCrest development. And Shari Gillman in the district's transportation department also did not know, but expected busing to tentatively begin Oct. 4. Mortensen said. She was happy to finally have Alpine district students able to come to school and noted how different the situation is with Draper being in two counties and two school districts. "We are glad to have those students here and participate in Alpine School District programs," she said. "The whole north end is growing, so we knew this was coming. But I am not sure there is another neighborhood that has these issues. We are pioneering new ground here." e. n Jeanne Continued from Al , r-jfkr-- - ' - - - - TED r --.. S. WARRENAssociated Press a technical support specialist for nonprofit organizations, enters his PIN number on a keypad of a Flexcar shared vehicle while making a service call in Seattle, on Monday. David Shaw, Cars and when there is no other way to get her daughter to school. Still, Bourassa hopes to Continued from Al be able to save up enough to dwellers balk at the cost of buy another car soon. car ownership and look for alBusinesses are getting into ternatives. car sharing, too. Flexcar's business customers include Flexcar, which operates in more than 20 cities, has seen Starbucks Corp. and the North its membership grow to : American offices of Nintendo. g 22,000, from 16,000 a year services work ago. Zipcar, which operates in like this: In exchange for Boston and elsewhere, says , hourly andor mileage-base- d business is up 90 percent in a fees, the service generally foots the bill for everything year, to around 25,000 particifrom gas to tuneups to insurpants as of August. ance. Most rely on Rising gas prices have been a great boon for car sharing, phone and Internet reservasaid Eliot Dobris, spokesman tion systems and park cars for San Francisco's City throughout a metropolitan a nonprofit service that area for pickup and drop-ofhas more than 3,000 members. Fees vary depending on the But 0obf$ tjiinks it's a combi--' city and the type of service. natioft of fifianciafacfor that, Flexcar's Seattle service v. charges a flat fee of $35 a getsirtoightip. Scott Griffith, chief execuyear. After that, users can tive of Zipcar, said rnsirne pay $9 an hour for up to 30 members cite rising parking miles, or opt for monthly fees and insurance costs. He plans. To use a car for 25 hours and up to 750 miles says programs are also becoming more popuwould cost $200, for example. lar simply because more peoBecause cars can be used on an hourly basis, car sharing ple are aware they exist. A bad economy, or just a has an advantage over slow recovery, also can be rentals, which typically rebusigood for the quire a commitment of at least ness. one full day. "We tend to be a little bit For some users, has become as necessary as countercyclical, so as things get worse for consumers they owning a car once was. tend to look for alternatives to David Shaw, 59, sold his car save money," said Lance about four years ago when he Ayrault, chief executive of joined Flexcar. His wife later Flexcar. sold her car and now the two There are also personal cirrely exclusively on public cumstances that draw people transportation, bicycles and to car sharing. the occasional shared vehicle. Michelle Bourassa, of Kirk-lanShaw estimates that they Wash., needed to sell her spend $200 to $300 a month on car after a recent divorce. Flexcar about what he says She's arranged a ride to work the two would pay for parkbut expects she'll use Flexcar ing alone in Seattle's Capitol for doctor's appointments, Hill neighborhood , 24-ho- ur Car-Shar- e, f. car-shari- car-shari- g d, many acknowledged it was a losing battle. "With another hurricane, there's just too much there we just don't have the manpower to get it all done," said Martin County spokesman Greg Sowell, who estimated nearly 80 percent of debris remained from Frances.'He said some streets had debris piled 5 feet to 6 feet high. Pam Custis shed tears Friday as she looked at a heap of smashed furniture and flooded carpets in front of her Fort Pierce condominium, which has been stripped to a skeleton of concrete floors and metal frames. The debris pile was as tall as she is. "This is all we have left," she said of her condo's shell "When this other hurricane comes, this pile is going to be knocking down the rest of it." Eight counties along about 300 miles of coastline issued evacuation orders for resig dents on barrier islands, areas and mobile homes. That includes more than r 'I t w It L M a; low-hyin- Jeanne's danger zone and aiuirricane warning stretching from Miami-Dad- e County in the south to St. Augustine in the north, some questioned whether there was any safe place to run. "I ain't going anywhere unless they make me," retiree Larry Ruby said as he patched the roof of his Hutchinson Island mobile home. "I don't think you can get away from it." Jeanne, already blamed for at least 1,100 flooding deaths in Haiti, looked earlier this week kite it had turned north and safely out to sea, but it whipped around in a loop and headed straight for Florida. At 8 p.m., Jeanne was centered about 355 miles east of the southeast Florida coast and moving west at 12 mph. Forecasters said it could strengthen as it reaches warmer waters closer to Florida's coast. Elections Continued from Al to stay in Iraq on extended deployments then the American people should be told now, and not given the news "on the installment plan," Obey said But Army officials said Friday it is likely that during the elections, the U.S. military will have extra troops, in the country anyway. The Army is rotating fresh troops into Iraq this fall and winter to replace those whose one-yetours are ending, and it expects to have an overlap of 10,000 to 15,000 extra U.S. soldiers in January when the 3rd Infantry Drvi-skm's four brigades arrive to replace the 1st Cavalry Drvi-siothe officials said . Obey was among lawmakers worried about a Bush administration request to shift to secu' rity some money budgeted for othwater and Iraq electricity, er reconstructioa "Reducing supplies of potable water and increasing sewage will adversely affect the health g and of millions of Iraqis, but I see no alternative,'' said Rep. Jim Kolbe, chairman of the foreign opera-tJosubcommittee that held the hearing. ' The State Department recommended the shift after taking over in Jury as the lead US. , agency in Iraq, rejecting spend--' ing priorities the Pentagon laid out when it fed the military occupation. ' Slowing what Kolbe called the already "lamentably slow" progress on promised recon-struction projects win hurt the ns th . n, An eventual turn to the northwest was predicted but it was unclear when that would happen, and some models show the storm strafing the East Coast all the way up to North Carolina by Tuesday. Rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches were expected in the storm's path and flooding could be a major concern because previous hurricanes have already saturated many canals, rivers and lakes. The timing of the storm raised concern for Jews observing Yom Kippur. The holiest day on the Jewish calendar begins at sundown Friday and ends sundown Saturday. During that period observant Jews usually do not work or carry cash and many do not travel by car, all of which could hamper their hurricane preparations. well-bein- ar - PHEUN M. EBEN HACK Associated ' Press Jeanne to the list of Hurricanes that have hit Florida as she and Danny Lee board up the windows of their business in Satellite Beach, Fla., on Friday. Diane Hides, right, adds 750,000 people. But with almost the entire state in ; The National Hurricane Center advisory even asked people to consider that Jewish neighbors may not be listening to radios or watching television and may be unaware of the situation. "I don't know if I will evacuate or not," physician Armand Braun said as he stocked up supplies at a grocery store in Satellite Beach. "Jewish law says you put Jewish requirements aside if there is any danger." Taking nothing for granted, residents up and down Florida's Atlantic coast went about what has become an alkoo-familia-r . rituaL Three other tropical systems were spinning Friday, but ' none of them threatened Florida. effort to win Iraqi "hearts and minds" a key to defeating the insurgents, officials and , lawmakers alike fear. Speaking of the promise to' hold free and fair elections in . Iraq, Armitage said "It's got to be our best effort to get it into troubled areas as well ... I wouldn't want to leave California out of an election in the United States, or Wisconsin, or anybody." Before Armitage spoke, Rumsfeld reiterated m a meeting with reporters Friday that he believes the elections should go ahead even as he acknowl-- . edged some areas may be inaccessible to voting. He did modify his remarks from the previous day, however, saying: "Every Iraqi deserves the right to vote." ., "We and the government of , Iraq intend to see that the elec-- . tions are held ... that they're held on time" and "do everything possible to see that that happens, and to see that every Iraqi has the right to vote," he , ' said Interim Iraqi Prime Minister ' Ayad Aflawi said Thursday that January elections "may not be 100 percent safe." UN. Secretary-Genera- l Kofi . Annan suggested last week that there could not be "credible elections" if violence doesn't : .. abate. , .The United States has been pressing'the United Nations to , send more people to Iraq to he with elections, but UN. spokesman Fred Eckhard said i this week that any such in-crease "is crirkadry dependent ; on the overall security environ- - . ,-- . , . ment" - - v . |