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Show If The Daiiy Herald Monday, Utahns split on gas tax increase JSSALT LAKE CITY (AP) -residents are split over a proposal that would increase the state's gasoline tax to help pay for billions of dollars in new road projects. ..Results from a new Deseret wstKSL poll, published in a Copyright story on Sunday, indicate, that about 49 percent of those polled said they either strongly or somewhat support tying the per-gall- gas tax to inflation. "'The move likely would result in n rf"penny-a-galloincrease in tax fich f year. forty-si- x percent opposed such ah; action and 5 percent didn't know. NMi.The poll, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, surveyed 668 Residents from Jan. It has a margin of error, of plus or minus 4 percentage points. last September, Jones found in a'similar survey that 52 percent ppppsed a gas tax hike and only 42 percent supported increasing the tax. According to the most recent poll;1 those numbers have about .. ; 2-- 4. d. Commission authorizes study A CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) $20,000 study of whether coyotes should be sterilized is one of three jKpjets that have been authorized by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. .J The commission last week also agreed to a $20,000 study of the swift fox and $4,000 for a canine distemper study that could help in d the' recovery of the ferret population. The funds come as the commission discontinued grizzly bear studies after two years and $55,000. Part of that effort yjyplved tagging 230 calves in the Black Rock area near Jackson to determine how many were killed by endangered grizzly bears. pame and Fish Director John flbott said the information will help evaluate ranchers' claims for livestock death compensation. But he said continuing the study would require two bears to be removed or cattle to be removed. ' "Both (ideas) are politically unpopular," he said. "We're in situation." kind of a Catch-2- 2 black-foote- Boulder cracks down on drinking " BOULDER, Colo. (AP) While the manhunt may have produced only marginal results, the message was clear: Boulder is cpacking down on underage drinking! V In' its first coordinated county-wid- e the such for offenses, sweep police department nabbed only about 10 percent of the 135 men and women with warrants for their arrest for failing to appear on underage drinking charges. Jilt's not that bad if you look at tbe;big picture," Boulder Police Sgt. Robert Sullenberger said Sunday night. "Even though the numbers are low, I consider it a success because the message is out: Underage drinking is going to stop and we are not going to give up on The warrant sweep was conducted by 25 officers, some from th sheriff's office, working in etht teams from noon to about 8 Pti. Sunday. Colorado mulls spending change In an S DENVER (AP) unprecedented move, the state transportation department will c$isider spending federal funds og projects other than roads and hhways, including the city's Iilit rail system. law, the agency cannot spj;nd state funds on anything but roof's and highways. But federal nmikfy can be used for other projects. "It's a new era for us, absolutel- y!," said Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman Dan Hopkins. Last week, the department unanimously adopted a pdh that is a radical departure frpm its previous position, said executive director Guillermo ! 20-ye- ar "Jiill" Vidal. "Some money is flexible, and if; that's where the priorities ate, we ineed to work with them." J SALT LAKE CITY Gov. Mike Leavitt and state legislators are talking this year about amending a statute that restricts' them to a spending limit. But it wouldn't be the first time. In 1990, just one year after its adoption, political leaders bumped spending caps to allow them to spend $100 million extra that year. This year, they want to again amend the State Appropriations and Tax Limitation Act to exempt spending on repair and expansion of aging highways. They may even lift the ceiling up higher, granting exceptions for cash payments for building and other construction. The cap was enacted in 1989 at the initiative of Norm Bangerter, who had repromised it as part of his election victory the year before. While it helped accomplish Bangerter's political goals in the wake of a potent anti-ta- x law had movement, the then-Go- v. come-from-behi- spending-limitatio- n Baby-sittin- g not easy job By REBECCA WALSH For the Associated Press SurSOUTH JORDAN teen-ag- e rounded by girls, three burly firefighters demonstrated techniques. Their hands tugged, pinned and taped the cloth and disposable diapers. Then, the men watched the girls' nimble fingers bundle dolls efficiently. At another table, Dave Ulibarri showed the girls how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the Heimlich maneuver on newborns. Callie Criner giggled as she puffed into the plastic infant's mouth and nose. Ulibarri swiped the doll with an antiseptic wipe and moved to the next trainee. South Jordan's first Red Cross Babysitting Course, now in its second week, has drawn 18 girls, ages 10 to 16. They signed up to spend $10 and two Saturdays with city firefighters learning basic infant care, first aid and CPR, child development, 'simple discipline and professional conduct. There was a time when baby-sittin- g seemed like an easy, job. No more. Sitters are. paid anywhere from $1 a child per hour to $5 an hour. With a bill like that waiting after a movie and dinner, parents' infant-diaperi- ur With all the things that parents have to worry about, people can't be quite as casual about babysitting as they once were." Laura Winder, Primary Children's Medical Center expectations have risen and competition between babysitters is fierce. "With all the things that parents have to worry about, people can't be g as quite as casual about Laura said once Winder, were," they of Primary Children's Medical Center public relations. Several area hospitals, including Pioneer Valley Hospital. Primary Children's Medical Center and St. Mark's Hospital, offer baby-sitttraining. But South Jordan officials are breaking new ground. Their fire department is the first in the state offering its own program. In most training sessions, students receive a tote bag for a babysitter kit and a notebook packed with information about children, games, simple recipes, pictures for. coloring and a checklist for setting up the job. Students discuss appropriate toys and food and games for children, characteristics of their favorite babysitters, their own bad experiences and the best responses to dangerous situations. "Your No. 1 responsibility is to protect the kids while the parents are gone." Ron Fullmer told the girls. "They're trusting you to stay calm and in control." Babysitters also have certain rights, Fullmer said. Babysitters should settle payment before agreeing to work. He urged the students to write down information about the family, home and number of children to care for before arriving. And babysitters should also avoid homes where children are sick with more than the common cold. "You guys don't have to baby-si- t in a house you don't feel safe in," he said. "This is a job just like anything else." baby-sittin- er flaws and critics from the beginning. Tinkering by the 1990 Legislature appeared to have solved the problem of bumping the cap so quickly. By 1993, state spending was a comfortable $48 million under the ceiling; spending was $49 million under in 1994. But Utah's budgets ever since have narrowly squeezed under the limit: coming just $220,000 under in 1995 and $600,000 in the current fiscal year. Leavitt's proposed budget this year, even after his proposed $75 million tax cut, will top the ceiling by $110 million without an amendment to the law. The cap w as designed to provide a check on government spending with provisions requiring the governor to declare a "fiscal emergency" and win two-thirapproval of the Legislature to exceed the cap. The limit is derived from a formula based on personal income, population growth and infla tion. Lawmakers cannot legally spend more than half the $563 million in surplus revenues and projected revenue growth under the current law. But the law's tough. provisions are largely illusory because the cap can be changed with a simple majority vote of lawmakers and no "emergency" declaration. The only serious opposition to changing the cap this year has come from the Utah Taxpayers Association. Among those who support changing the law to exempt transportation is economist Michael Christensen, director of the private, Utah Foundation research organization. He also argues for waiving the cap for cash outlays on buildings. The problem with the current law, said Christensen, is that it exempts from the cap debt payments on bonds used to borrow money for construction projects. non-prof- Escaped inmates caught SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Two Utah inmates who escaped from a privately-ru- n Texas prison have been caught, while another man remained at large. Brian Stack, who killed a Utah Highway Patrol trooper in Garfield County in 1979, was captured Sunday afternoon,- said Jack Ford, Utah Department of Corrections spokesman. He said authorities found Stack in downtown San Antonio after placing taps on telephones of relatives and acquaintances. Brandon Dahlquist, who admitted to shooting Troy Michael Weston, 20, at Willard Bay in 1994, was captured by Pearsall, Texas, by police officers shortly after 10 p.m. Friday. Rudy Romero, convicted of aggravated robbery in r 1994, has not been found. Ford, said Dahlquist was arrested after leading police on a chase through Pearsall. Romero also was caught by police after the chase, but escaped from the neighborhood. The three inmates escaped Thursday, while another escape by Utah inmates housed in the Texas facilities run by Dove Development occurred just four months ago. Those prisoners eventually were appre- hended. The inmates were sent to the Texas prison in an effort to ease crowded conditions at facilities in Utah. A plan to send another 50 inmates to Texas has been put on hold, Ford said. . SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Look the find a and at star Big Dipper, up named Dubhe. The Utah Legislature has made sure it's distant glow will become a part of the state's centennial state rock; honeybee, the state insect; Allosaurus dinosaur, the state fossil; copper, the state mineral; California gull, the state bird; sego lily, the state flower; and square dancing, the state celebration. In addition to naming Duhbe, which means bear in Arabic, as Jab,'i star, during this 100th statehood anniversary. House Bill 140 also designated Utah's state astronomical symbol as a dim group of stars dubbed the Beehive Cluster. Dubhe is the uppermost of the two stars on the outer edge of the Big Dipper's cup pointing to the North Star. HB140 swept the House, 59-- and the Senate, 27-during the Legislature's first week in session after schoolchildren gave lawmakers a presentation about Beehive State symi bols. Among others, they listed coal, the folk dance. , . A 1998 Utah legislature 0, 0, . Texas private detention center again while still in handcuffs. "While en route to the detention center Mr. Romero worked his cuffs around to the front of his body," said Dove Development Capt. Mike Murphy. When Dove officers opened the door, Romero while still apparently knocked them down and then in handcuffs he scaled a perimeter fence covered ' with razor wire. He outran officers "who chased him into a Pearsall - i in it Rep. Marda Dillree, acknowledges the state's need for a centennial star and astronomical symbol was not that great, given the more vexing budgetary issues facing lawmakers this session. "Probably not," said Dillree, who sponsored the bill. "A lot of the sym bols we presently have we probably don't need them. But Utah is made up of a variety of people who have passions and interests. Symbols have great meaning for some people." The idea for the bill came from Hansen Planetarium Director Von Del Chamberlain, who said Dubhe and the Beehive Cluster are featured by the planetarium. When looking at Dubhe, "the light you see left there when Utah was becoming a state," Chamberlain said. "The light that leaves there now will arrive when we're celebrating our bicentennial." Legislative attorney John Fellows gave Dillree a mock analysis that warned: "Denizens of Izar, a planet circling the star Epsilon Bootis, have already claimed the star we know as Dubhe as their own." January 22, 1996 Couple face arraignment. 3 years later A Layton man in the death of and woman accused foster daughter face their arraignment this month, almost three LAYTON (AP) years after the teen's 1993 death. Tonya Vosburgh will be arraigned in 2nd District Court on Tuesday and her husband, Rick, will appear a week later. They were arrested about three months after the March 3, 1993, death of Bobbi Jo Womack, who had the mental capacity of a child. Authorities say someone trapped the disabled young woman in a Layton garage, poured gasoline between her and the door and ignited the liquid before running away. Layton police allege the were trying to collect on the life insurance policy. $100,000 girl's Davis prosecutors have blamed delays in the case on Tonya Vosburgh, who claimed mental illness and changed defense attorneys five times. Vos-burg- A fall in July 1993, subsequent brain surgery and hospital stays pushed the case into early 1994, when her first attorney filed a petition to determine her mental competency to stand trial. State law provides a maximum of 60 days for mental health evaluators to submit reports. Vosburgh's evaluations, ordered March 3, 1994, weren't " " finished until 1995. August Carvel Harward, chief prosecutor in the case, said the evaluations took longer because prosecutors, suspect1 ing Vosburgh was faking, wanted fop evaluators. He also said Vosburgh repeatedly refused to meet with examiners. As the months slipped by, Layton police .began to express frustration 6" Chief Doyle Talbot, who took the con? cerns to Davis County Attorney Mel Wilson. : "She was playing the court system," Talbot said. ,"She understood the system well enough to be able to ' string it out." By Dec. 21, she was declared competent. Last month, her husband's case also was split from hers after he offered to testify for the prosecution.' Tonya Vosburgh's attorney, Robert. Booker, said the delays were not intentional. "I assure you Tonya Vosburgh would rather have her health than her case delayed 30 months or so," he said. "The time itself hasn't served Tonya in any way.' Despite rescue effort, employee dies SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A Huntsman employee who was badly burned in Armenia and was returned to Utah aboard industrialist Jon M. Huntsman's private jet has died. David Home, 70, general manager of the Huntsman- family's humanitarian efforts in Armenia for the last seven years, expired at - 12:30 a.m. Sunday at University of Utah Health Sciences Center, said hospital spokesman John Dwan. A statement released from Huntsman Corp. on Sunday said Home died of heart failure. "David Home was truly the 'Angel of Mercy for an entire country," Jon Huntsman said in a prepared statement. "He brought the Armenian people hope and . saved many lives. We truly love him." In a dramatic rescue attempt, Home was flown to Salt Lake City on Thursday after he was burned over 85 percent of his body in Yerevan when propane from a leaking gas heater exploded. He apparently was lighting the heater in his apartment at the time of the accident. Huntsman, chairman and chief executive officer of Huntsman Corp., and experts from the U of U's Intermountain Burn Center flew to Lyon. France, where they picked up Home, a personal friend of Huntsman. On their return trip, they stopped briefly in Michigan when Home experienced respiratory trouble and to retrieve a spe cialist Huntsman knew. Huntsman was accompanied by his son, Peter, as well as the University burn center team, which he hired. The effort involved the use of two jets, a helicopter and doctors in France, Michigan and Utah, but Huntsman didn't care what the effort ended up costing him. "Sometimes you make decisions with your heart instead of your head," Huntsman said. "You just do it." Among the projects Home supervised in Armenia was the operation of a cement factory, ' which has produced materials to To house 30,000 Armenians left homeless following the 1988 earthquake. He also coordinated the shipment and delivery of more than 70 rail cars of food to residents during the last two severe winters. Home's wife, Jeanne, who worked with her husband in helpArmenian ing the people, described him as a "quiet man, doing what he loved to do and doing it well. He was a man of great integrity and his word was always his bond." Family members expect to hold a funeral in Salt Lake City on Wednesday. register any public comment concerning agenda items, please Your comments will be transmitted to Council members. call379-612- PROVO MUNICIPAL COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA THE PROVO MUNICIPAL COUNCIL MEETING DATE: OpeolOSLCsfVTlsnlssi APBTSYeljiLMitmteSi 1996 Council Meetings January 23, 1996 Time 7:00 p.m. Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance Approval of Minutes for the December 19, 1995 and January 2, Employee of the Month: Vera Davis, Parks & Recreation - Presented by Richard Brimnall CcflsenLAflftfltfii; There are nine items from the January 10, 1996 Planning Commission meetings. By law." the Municipal Council may take action on these items without inviting public comment. GREAT MOTOROLA ' FIVE NUMBER Dlj t j BEEPS I INCLUDES lilt rrjr-t- f All VIBRATES LIFETIME MAINTENANCE M COMMUNICATIONS. INC mm iiMmiwiHunwt Mm l A. Report on 1995 Festival of Winter. , B. PROPOSED ORDINANCE 1998-- . An STORAGE pagers require $40 start up fee. Some restrictions apply See store (or details. kW.-v- Action Agenda; QUALITY f tri afiYt. mr' mm j ordinance amending the Provo City Ordinances by amending Chapter 9.20 dealing with the preservation and protection oi trees on public property. C. PROPOSED ORDINANCE 1996-- . An ordinance enacting a new Section 12.03.120 in the Provo City Ordinances authorizing the adoption of standards for the care and maintenance of the Utility Forest and Electric Power Line Clearance Program. D. PROPOSED ORDINANCE 1996-- . An ordinance amending Section 9.17.060 in the Provo Citv Ordinances to provide for higher penalties for repeat parking offenders and to provide for doubling and tripling of late disabled parking violations; repealing Section 9.32.150; and amending Sections 9.17.020, 9.17.060, 9.17.080, 9.30.060, 9 31 020. 9.31 .040, 9.31.080 of the Provo City Ordinances E. RESOLUTION 1S96-- . A resolution approving the Municipal Council's nominees to fill Council board positions, Youth Services Board. F. RESOLUTION 1S96- -. A resolution approving Mayor's nominees to fill City board positions, Energy Board. G. RESOLUTION 1P36--. A resolution approving Mayor's nominees to positions, Board of Adjustment. H. RESOLUTION 199S- -. A resolution approving Mayor's nominees to positions, CATV Board. QuestionJetito Cpurtcff.rKf Jtoyor; fin City board fill City board The next Council Meeting will be held on February 6. 1996 at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers, 351 West Center Street. Provo unless otherwise noticed. For more infor mation, p'ease contHct the Council Office at 379-612- . |
