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Show C-1 B-1 DEEP THROAT SAYS GO TO LECTURE BUSINESS, A-7 USOC CHOOSES SALT LAKE CITY The United States Olympic Committee on Friday picked Salt Lake City to bid on a future Winter Olympics. For coverage, see parkrecord.com. WILDCATS DISPLAY THEIR CLAWS IN WIN COLUMNS, A-18 Park Record. DEER VALLEY CHIEF WELL-GROOMED FOR POSITION TERI ORR ENJOYS A FEW WINTER WONDERLAND HOURS The PA R K C I T Y, U TA H W W W. PA R K R E C O R D . C O M Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, December 15-18, 2018 Serving Summit County since 1880 Francis man charged as bullets fly | A suite performance Prosecutors level two attempted murder counts after he misses Vol. 138 | No. 90 50¢ Evacuations ordered amid a bomb hoax ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON The Park Record A 56-year-old man who, prosecutors allege, fired more than a dozen bullets at his two roommates at a home in Francis, narrowly missing them both, is facing two counts of attempted murder, along with a slew of other felony charges related to the incident. Prosecutors allege that on Dec. 9, Randal Weed Dickinson had been drinking all day and was “so drunk” he fell into the Christmas tree at the home he shared with two other men in Francis. The homeowner, 58, and his son, 33, were in the kitchen at the time. Court documents state the younger man helped Dickinson back to his room to let him sleep it off. The victims were walking through the kitchen to go outside and smoke Please see Francis man, A-2 Two PCMR bowls close, lease cited JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record Park City Mountain Resort has closed two tracts of high-elevation terrain as a result of an unidentified landowner opting not to renew a lease, the resort said on Thursday. A spokesperson for the resort provided the information in response to a Park Record inquiry. According to the resort, Scott’s Bowl and West Scott’s Bowl are closed to the public based on the loss of the lease. The closure is “until further notice,” the statement from the spokesperson said. The two bowls, accessed by the Jupiter lift, are close to the resort boundary. The statement indicated the resort will post signs and ropes marking the closure. The closure will also include terrain located between Scott’s Bowl and Constellation, a nearby ski run. The statement indicated terrain that is open off Pinecone Ridge will be accessible from the Quicksilver Gondola midstation. The resort said the landowner “has chosen not to renew the lease” after an agreement was in place for longer than 14 years. The statement said the talks with the landowner continue, “but it is likely that this area will not open for the 2018-19 season.” “Fortunately, the rest of the terrain surrounding Jupiter Lift will be open for normal operations this season,” the statement said. 3 sections • 38 pages Business ................................. A-7 Classifieds .............................. C-7 Columns ............................... A-18 Crossword .............................. C-4 Editorial................................ A-19 Events Calendar ..................... C-6 Legals ..................................... C-9 Letters to the Editor ............. A-19 Restaurant Guide.................. A-17 Scene ...................................... C-1 Scoreboard ............................. B-5 Sports ..................................... B-1 Weather .................................. B-2 TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Students from the Peggy Bergmann Ballet West Academy dance the Merliton variation during a performance of “The Nutcracker” Tuesday at McPolin Elementary School. The cast performed at various Park City schools in advance of its annual holiday presentation on Dec. 22 at the Eccles Center. Summit County leaders OK the hiring of 10 new staffers Other highlights from the budget include $28.4 million in capital projects ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON The Park Record Summit County will add 10 new employees next year, including the Sheriff’s Office, in an effort to address growing workloads within various departments. Elected officials agreed to the hiring of new employees on Wednesday when they unanimously approved next year’s budget, two weeks ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline. The $55.7 million operating budget features a 2.5 percent increase over the 2018 adopted budget and includes $28.4 million specifically earmarked for capital projects. However, the spending hike does not require a tax increase, something County Council Chair Kim Carson wanted to emphasize when discussing the increase in staff levels. “We are doing this within our current defined revenue,” she said. “We have been successful in obtaining grants for a lot of that revenue, and we try to do that at every opportunity whether it’s for transportation, the arts or the health department, which relies heavily on grants.” The Sheriff’s Office had originally requested funding for 11 new positions, four of which were granted. But, one of those positions will be paid for within the department’s current budget. Martinez figured out how to cut costs in other areas to fund one of the new employees. He has said a roughly 18 percent increase in calls throughout his tenure as sheriff has left his department understaffed. The other new positions that will be added next year include a deputy attorney, transportation planner, transit technician, environmental health scientist, energy analyst and a planner within the Community Development Department. Carson noted that some of the positions, such as the transportation planner, transit technician and environmental health scientist, will be primarily funded through other sources. The service districts — Park City Fire District, Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District and Mountain Regional Water — will fund the deputy attorney. Seventy-five percent of the transportation planner’s nearly $96,000 salary will be funded by the transit district. The new employee is intended to help ease the workload of Caroline Rodriguez, Summit County’s regional transportation planning director. “Caroline focuses a lot on the actual transit system, but there is a lot of transportation-related work she should be doing like creating a master active transportation plan,” Carson said. “This person will help out with that. The transit technician will be supported by the two transportation sales taxes voters approved in 2016, while laboratory fees will pay for the new environmental health scientist. “I’m really excited about that,” said Carson, who also sits on the Summit County Health Department’s board of health, of the health scientist. “They have to send lab work out so this will be a cost savings that Please see Staffing, A-2 Park City police officers position themselves outside The Park Record Building on Thursday after the newspaper received email messages indicating a bomb was inside. The messages were determined to be a hoax. The email messages demanded $20,000 in bitcoin as Park City is one of the areas targeted JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record The Park City Police Department ordered the evacuation of The Park Record Building on Bonanza Drive midday Thursday after several newspaper staffers received what was determined to be a hoax email message indicating there was a bomb in the building and demanding $20,000 in bitcoin by the end of the day. Police officers quickly responded, telling the staffers to leave the newspaper’s offices on the second floor and exit the building. People inside another business that shares the building were also ordered out. The editor of The Park Record, Bubba Brown, said the email indicated a “mercenary” was in control of a detonating mechanism. The email was vague in nature and did not explicitly target The Park Record itself. A Police Department lieutenant said the message was determined to be a hoax. Newspaper staffers and others were allowed back into the building after an evacuation of approximately 30 minutes. Dean Berrett, the building manager, said the staffers at a title company were also ordered out of the building. Two other businesses in the building were closed at the time. “Safety and take it seriously,” Berrett said. Officers from the Police Department also checked surrounding buildings. The Police Department checked large businesses and government buildings for anything suspicious through the afternoon. Schools on the Park City School District’s Kearns Boulevard campus were placed under a lockout due to the proximity to the Park Record Building, according to a City Hall spokesperson. The Police Department was asPlease see Evacuations, A-2 The mayor speaks of Raid the sweets ‘dark times’ in nation Andy Beerman makes comments in brief end-of-year address JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record The mayor of Park City on Tuesday indicated the U.S. is amid a time of darkness but did not provide details about what leads him to that conclusion during what amounted to a brief holiday address to the other elected officials and the audience at the Marsac Building. Mayor Andy Beerman delivered the remarks during a Park City Council meeting held as the holidays approached. The City Councilors did not respond in any detail. Beerman said he attended a menorah lighting the week before as the Jewish faith celebrated Hanukkah, sometimes referred to as the Festival of Lights. He mentioned the experience as he made his remarks. “I don’t know a ton about Jewish tradition, so I looked into what the lighting of the menorah stands for, and it’s really a celebration of the miracle of light, light and hope, triumphing over darkness,” Beerman said. “And as a metaphor, as we’re approaching the longest day of the year, and we have some dark times going on in our country, I think we need to keep that hope and that light alive.” He said the holidays can be stressful as he wished the community happy holPlease see ‘Dark times,’ A-2 TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Stein Eriksen Lodge created a Viking ship as its annual gingerbread creation. The ship, built over two months, consists of more than 200 pounds of gingerbread, 100 pounds of royal icing and roughly 1/2 gallon of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. VISITOR GUIDE Develop the exciting sounds of Spanish at library A bilingual story time will be held every Tuesday at the Park City Library. The event will feature books, songs and rhymes in both English and Spanish. This program is designed to stimulate language development through the exciting sounds of Spanish. More: parkcitylibrary.org. |