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Show A-2 The Park Record The Park Record. Serving Summit County since 1880 The Park Record, Park City’s No. 1 source for local news, opinion and advertising, is available for home delivery in Summit, Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties. Single copies are also available at 116 locations throughout Park City, Heber City, Summit County and Salt Lake City. SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Summit County (home delivery): $56 per year (includes Sunday editions of The Salt Lake Tribune) Outside Summit County (home delivery available in Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah counties; all other addresses will be mailed via the U.S. Postal Service): $80 per year To subscribe please call 435–649– 9014 or visit www.parkrecord.com and click the Subscribe link in the Reader Tools section of the toolbar at the bottom of the page. To report a missing paper, please call 801–204–6100. 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No portion may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the managing editor or publisher. The Park Record (USPS 378-730) (ISSN 0745-9483) is published twice weekly by Wasatch Mountain News Media Co., 1670 Bonanza Drive, Park City, UT 84060. Periodicals postage paid at Salt Lake City, Utah, 84199-9655 and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, UT84060. Entered as second-class matter, May 25, 1977, at the Post Office in Park City, Utah, 84060 under the Act of March 3, 1897. Subscription rates are: $56 within Summit county, $80 outside of Summit County, Utah. Subscriptions are transferable: $5 cancellation fee. Phone: 435–649–9014 Fax: 435–649–4942 Email: circulation@parkrecord.com Published every Wednesday and Saturday Continued from A-1 Staffing increases can also attract business from other area agencies. This will be really a positive thing.” Some of the other highlights from the budget include significant capital projects that the county plans to fund next year. Of the $28.4 million for those projects, a large portion will be spent on improvements to the Jeremy Ranch interchange. The project is estimated to cost $11.2 million, with $3 million coming from outside sources, such as the Utah Department of Transportation, and $1.9 million from impact fees. The rest of the cost will be funded through the transportation sales taxes. The project is scheduled to begin in the spring. Another project mentioned in the 2019 budget is one to improve the S.R. 248 corridor. That project has a price tag of $6.4 million. It will include safety and lane improvements. The County Council also decided to fund a $100,000 study of the historic Rail Trail. Not all members of the panel initially supported the allocation, especially after trails advocate Charlie Sturgis, executive director of the Mountain Trails Continued from A-1 Evacuations ordered sisting the School District. A tweet from the School District indicated the lockout was lifted at approximately 12:05 p.m. The investigation continued into the afternoon. City Hall is requesting anyone who receives a similar email to contact police dispatchers at 615-5500. A business in the Silver Creek Business Park, meanwhile, received a bomb threat via email, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies who investigated did not find a device. The agency indicated it was the only case in the unincorporated area of Summit County. The business is an architectural light- Continued from A-1 ‘Dark times’ in nation idays. He said the holidays can be a time to reflect on family and faith as well as “all the good things that happened in the last year, and get excited for 2019.” The mayor declined to discuss the comments in any detail afterward. “I think there are pockets of negativity” in the nation and world, Beerman said in an interview, opting not to identify those pockets. Park City’s elected officials serve in nonpartisan roles, but Beerman has long supported causes of the political left and has contributed to Democrats. His contributions to Democrats have included $1,000 to the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton in 2015 and $250 to Donna McAleer’s congressional campaign in 2014, according to the candidates’ Federal Election Commission filings. Other Democratic contributions have included those made to the con- Organization, encouraged the Council to reconsider it. The study will explore the potential for increased utilization of the Rail Trail and connections to economic development. Carson emphasized that the money won’t just be spent on a consultant, but it will produce a plan of how to bring development to the adjacent areas. The county plans to use transient room taxes to provide the funding for the study. Those funds are collected from overnight stays at locations such as hotels and nightly rentals in the county. TRT funds may be utilized for promoting recreation, tourism, film production and conventions, including the construction of sports and recreation facilities. “Until we know just how we want to use it, we need the plan in place,” she said. “This is another one where we put a placeholder in the budget for it, but the funding is contingent on bringing some specifics back to the Council.” Along with the approval of next year’s budget, elected officials also approved the 2019 fee schedule Wednesday, which included a $4 increase to the annual curbside fees for garbage collection. Summit County residents will see the hike reflected in the bills that will be sent in July. The total for trash collection will now be $40. “Trash is expensive,” Carson said. “To be able to recycle and build that program is also expensive. The whole solid waste management program is really an expensive operation. We are not adding any new projects with this increase, it is just for keeping up with inflation.” ing, design and engineering firm called Adaptive Design Group. The owner, Glenn Merlin Johnson, said the firm received two emails from two different sources just after noon. The messages were similar to the others ones, including a demand for $20,000 worth of bitcoin currency and a threat of a mercenary entering the building with an explosive device. There were six people inside the office at the time, Johnson said. The Sheriff’s Office arrived shortly and determined there was not a threat, he said. Johnson said he has “no idea” why Adaptive Design Group was targeted. “It made me very, very nervous,” he said, adding, “It was very concerning.” The Sheriff’s Office requested anyone who receives similar emails to call the office at 615-3600. According to KSL, organizations in a number of other cities across the state, including West Valley City, South Jordan and St. George, also received bomb threats. There were also widespread reports of similar situations in other areas of the country. gressional campaign of Ben McAdams and the Utah State Democratic Committee. Beerman as the mayor continues to press issues like environmentalism and the wider ideal of sustainability and social equity, two topics that are wedge issues between the Democrats and Republicans. There has also been broad concern in the community about President Trump’s hardline immigration policies. The mayor’s remarks on Tuesday, although brief, resembled an end-ofyear address and were delivered toward the beginning of the last City Council meeting he is expected to preside over in 2018. He did not dwell on his comment about the good things he sees as having occurred in 2018 or the excitement for next year. City Hall, though, enjoyed notable successes in 2018, led by the ballot measure to raise most of the funds necessary for the municipal government to acquire the Treasure acreage overlooking Old Town in a conservation agreement. Voters overwhelmingly approved the ballot measure, which ended a long-running dispute about the Treasure development proposal. City Hall also made progress on a wide range of other issues such as housing and the creation of an arts and culture district. Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, December 15-18, 2018 Opioid lawsuits may soon be consolidated Other cases could be folded into one brought by Summit County ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON The Park Record As other counties in Utah have followed Summit County’s lead in filing lawsuits against some of the country’s largest opioid manufacturers and distributors for their alleged role in the national opioid epidemic, a judge will soon consider whether to consolidate all the lawsuits into the county’s case. Summit County’s 240-page complaint was filed in March by the three firms retained to represent the county against 25 businesses and individuals from nine major opioid manufactures and distributors, including Purdue Pharma L.P; Endo Pharmaceuticals; Allergan; Teva; Cephalon; Janssen; AmerisourceBergen; Cardinal Health; and McKesson. The lawsuit claims deceptive and misleading marketing campaigns have led to the epidemic. The lawsuit further asserts Summit County has been forced to spend a significant amount of money to combat the opioid epidemic locally, similar to the argument that is being made in hundreds of other cases nationwide. There are currently 12 similar opioid cases that counties have filed in the state, with the team representing Summit County soon planning to file three more cases on behalf of other counties, Margaret Olson, county attorney, said in an email. The defendants made a motion on Thursday to consolidate all of the lawsuits in the state into either the litigation in Summit County or Salt Lake County’s case for evidence gathering, Olson said. The counties would likely seek separate trials in their respective counties if the cases proceed to trial, she said. “Summit County is not opposed to consolidation as it puts one judge in charge of all rulings, avoiding inconsistent rulings, which could happen if the cases stay before different judges,” Olson said. Continued from A-1 Francis man charged when they heard a gun going off, documents state. Documents state the victims then saw bullets exploding in the kitchen, prompting them to run and take cover behind a wall. One of the victims said he felt a bullet pass behind his head, leading him to believe the bullet had grazed him. When the gunfire stopped and they noticed the gun was in a locked-out position with the clip emptied, the younger man tackled Dickinson, documents state. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office received the report at approximately 2:48 p.m. Dickinson was transported to a hospital in the area for minor injuries sustained during the scuffle, including a scratch to the forehead, and later taken into custody. Law enforcement later found 16 shell casings in the hall outside of Dickinson’s bedroom and bullet holes throughout the kitchen, indicating that he was tracking and firing at the A hearing is scheduled on Feb. 22 in Salt Lake City before 3rd District Court Judge Richard Mrazik, where Mrazik will determine whether the cases should be consolidated in Summit County or Salt Lake County. “The other plaintiffs around the state are opposing consolidation,” Olson said in an email. “We are not opposed to consolidation of all the opioid cases in Utah for discovery. With one Utah judge ruling on evidence-gathering, the discovery process will be streamlined and more efficient. If the cases stay separate, different judges would possibly rule differently on similar issues, creating confusion and delay in all the opioid cases.” There has been a concentrated effort from the team representing Summit County to maintain as much control over the county’s case as possible. Olson said the team has successfully avoided having the county’s lawsuit removed from state court and consolidated with other cases that have been filed across the country. She said the case would have been sent to multi-district litigation in Cleveland before the federal court. “We prevented removal by making claims against the defendants only under state laws. No federal laws are involved,” she said. “We want to stay in state court so a local jury can hear the case.” Olson said it’s critical that the pharmaceutical distributors and manufacturers are held accountable for the impact the opioid epidemic has had in the county. She reported that there was another opioid overdose fatality in the county within the last 10 days, adding “like each of the others it was a tragic loss of human life and potential.” “I am only comforted that serious efforts are underway here locally to address this national epidemic and tragedy,” she said. “The opioid epidemic continues to claim lives, devastate communities, and destroy families at an alarming rate. These lawsuits seek to hold the opioid companies accountable for their part in causing this crisis. The lawyers are working hard to make sure that Utah counties receive funding necessary to combat the opioid epidemic.” two other men, documents state. Prosecutors allege police also found extra loaded clips in Dickinson’s room. Lt. Andrew Wright, of the Sheriff’s Office, said Dickinson had lived with the family for some time, but was not related to them. A report from the Sheriff’s Office stated there had not been a confrontation between the three men prior to Dickinson knocking over the Christmas tree. The charges against Dickinson were filed Wednesday in Summit County’s 3rd District Court. He faces two counts of attempted murder, a first-degree felony; possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony; 16 counts of discharging a firearm, a third-degree felony; carrying a dangerous weapon while under the influence of alcohol, a class B misdemeanor; and intoxication, a class C misdemeanor. Attempted murder is the most serious charge and carries a maximum penalty upon conviction of five years to life in prison for each count. Dickinson is being held on $500,000 bond. Court records show he was convicted of aggravated assault in 2007. It was unclear as of Thursday afternoon whether Dickinson had retained an attorney. The Summit County Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case. 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