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Show file MOAB, U 500 Volume 111 www.moabtimes.com Number 14 Jeep Safari gets off to quiet start WEATHER FORECAST by Lisa Church contributing writer Thursday PM Showers Wheels smoking and transmission grinding, Mike D Pa'ma inched his 1952 Ford pickup up the steep High 68 Low 46 Friday Few Showers High 80 rock face. Below, spectators hooted and cheered as the beefed-u- p customized vehicle finally lurched up over the top of the rock. rubber-streake- d Low 58' Saturday off-roa- Partly Cloudy High 63 Low 37 Mostly Sunny High 64 Low 35 TfV Read all about it! Turn to The t's newly-design- ed section. B You'll find weekly events, a TV guide, horoscope, crossword, calendar, real estate listings, classifieds and more. Sarah Fetters and company, Special Olympians, all. See The Moab Ministerial Association invites the public to the annual sunrise service to be held again this year at The La Sal Mountain turnout in Arches National Park. The service is scheduled to begin at 6:30 a.m. daylight sav- and company, future B7 business leaders. See fee 20-3- It's time to start the war on weeds by Jeannine Wait contributing writer The Grand County weed board wants to arm the public with information to help win the endless war on weeds. This is a battle of patience and persistence against all weeds, which are simply plants that people dont want. But like the posters in the post office, there is a most wanted list of serious offenders. Among the most noxious are bindweed (whose seeds can remain viable for 50 years), purple loosestrife, many thistles, medusa head and the various knapweeds such as Russian, spotted and diffused. Weed supervisor Tim Higgs has a lot of experience, training and information to share with the public. In his office, which the weed warriors share with the mosquito abatement district on Sandflats Road in the complex with the recycling center, there are color photos of the most obnoxious offenders to help in identification. 9 for The weed office can be reached at information or to arrange a visit. Information can also be obtained from the Grand County USU ex8 for other plant- - related issues tension at including options for weed control. Time is now of the essence! Many weeds (such as hoary crest) are getting ready to flower and to avoid unnecessary expense and chemical use it is important to spray when they are as young as possible, before the blossoms set. Some chemicals work quite slowly and if they are sprayed too late, seed production can continue. It is good to know as much as possible about the chemical one chooses as some are specific. Some (such as are for broadleaf plants and are thus good for weeds sprouting up in lawns. Others might cause people to innocently harm thier neighbors grapes. The weed crew sprays all the county roadsides and the public can call them for help with spray- 259-136- 259-755- non-chemic- al Inside The T imes Business Directory: B Classifieds: BIO Editorials, Letters: A6-- 7 Historic Photo: B1 Notices: B2 Obituaries: A4 Region Review: B3 Sports: B1 B8-- 9 Weed-Be-Gon- e) Continued on Page A2 WEATHER HISTORY High- - Low Precio. Mar. 31 Apr. 1 Apr. 2 Apr. 3 Apr. 4 Apr. 5 Apr. 6 78 52 75 52 .02 66 49 69 42 .03 63 45 .32 .11 .01 71 41 First Place v yIn Four Categories - Group! THoTIoim- - -- Vk Mopondwt contributing writer The Moab Area Travel Council will hire R&R Partners, Inc., the advertising firm that created the highly successful What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas campaign, as the agency of record for Grand County. The Grand County Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the Travel Councils recommendation, giving MATC the green light to negotiate a contract with d the Salt Lake company. Travel Council director Marian DeLay said she City-base- contributing writer subscribe to The Times-Independe- nt call subscribemoabtimes.com The This Times-lndepende-nt news-pap- er is 7 X) printed Dg on recycled paper and is recyclable. The front wheels of Mike DePalmas 1952 Ford pickup become airborne as the Cheyenne, Wyo. man tries to climb the Dump Bump on Saturday. The obstcle located on private land southeast of Moab is a dont miss for many of the enthusiasts who are rolling into Moab during the 38th annual Easter Jeep Safari. DePalmas decked out classic truck eventually made the climb as a small crowd Photo by Lisa Church cheered and whistled. off-roa- Tanner: Negative statements . . . d The Grand County Council on Tuesday postponed a scheduled vote on the countys general plan update. Council members unanimously agreed to table the issue until the councils April 20 meeting so that community comments can be fully considered and revisions completed on the document that serves as a guide for the countys future. Council chair Judy Carmichael said the council is no longer accepting citizen comments, but wants more time to thor reported no accidents or mishaps on the trails, and the events first days appeared to go off without a hitch But like much of the Saturday morning Dump Bump crowd, thousands of who eschew the organized event, will also flood the streets and backcountry roads, creating their own unofficial four-wheele- rs off-roa- d Continued on Page A2 might have a cost told to keep it positive County employees Lisa Church by contributing writer Grand County is not attempting to muzzle employees, and has not barred department heads from speaking to news media, says county administrator Judy Bane, but employees were told that when they give interviews or speak in public they should keep it positive. Bane said that after council members came to me and expressed concern about quotes in The that were attributed to individual county employees, she is Times-Independe- and county administrator Judy Bane will immediately begin working to develop the terms of the contract, including the agencys annual fee for services. Last month, the council put the brakes on MATC plans to hire R&R Partners to develop a new brochure to promote Moab because R&R was the only company invited to give a presentation to the MATC board. Instead, council members required MATC to reopen the bidding process and narrow the finalists to three top contenders. This week, three agencies - Razor, General plan vote postponed by Lisa Church To As of press time, law enforcement sued the clarification of county policy in a meeting with department heads last week. Basically, the message is could we not bash the county, Bane said in an interview last week. I told them enough. We all work for the county. Even if we dont agree with something the council does, too bad. Last Wednesday, several department heads told the that all press inquiries must now go through the county administrator. But Bane characterized their statements as a misunderstanding Times-Indepen-de- Travel Council given green light to sign contract with R&R Partners for new marketing materials, strategies by Lisa Church 83 37 off-roa-d ings time. The National Park will allow visitors into the park admission free if the visitor departs the park by 9 a.m. The estimated time from Moab to the turnout where the service is held is 15 to 20 minutes. The length of the ser0 vice is generally minutes. Visitors to the area are always encouraged to join local residents in attending this service. B1 Andrew Brown Date d four-wheele- Easter Sunday TV Guide: may have to come down and try it again, DePalma shouted from the ledge w here he had parked to watch. As the first driver of the day to successfully climb Moabs Dump obBump - a now famous stacle popular with of all skills -- DePalma earned the small crow'd's respect At least until the next dm er rolled up to test his skills. Its a sight that has become synonymous with springtime in Moab as thousands of enthusiasts roar into town for the annual Easter Jeep Safari. Ber Knight, information officer for the Red Rock sponsors of the event, said about 1,700 registered drivers will officially take part in this year's 38,h Jeep Safari. At least 3,000 more will ride along on the 30 guided backroad trail runs before the event ends on April 11 The official event got off to a slow start Saturday, with only a few hundred participants trickling in to pick up their registration packets. But despite light rain and cooler temperatures, all nine scheduled trail rides departed as planned from various points around town. Sunday and Monday brought more rain, but participants and organizers seemed undaunted by the weather. Theres not that much rain, Knight said. If we get deep mud, wed have to cancel some trails, but this is fine I oughly review letters and public statements offered by the community in the past month. What weve decided to do is take into consideration all the letters weve gotten since our public hearing, Carmichael said. We will have a clean document available to the public soon. In the next week, Carmichael and council member Joette Langianese will work with Planning and Zoning Administrator Mary Hofhine to complete the revisions to the plan, Carmichael said. Continued on Page A2 - Richter7, and R&R presented proposals to MATC during public meetings. DeLay said all three companies presented strong proposals, but R&R sur- passed the rest. There was a certain charisma about them, DeLay said Wednesday. The other factor is how enterprising they are. Their reputation precedes them, and they can receive a lot of advertising for free because of their existing contacts. DeLay said Grand County residents neednt worry that the companys marketing of Moab will resemble the Las Vegas campaign. Everybody on the travel council agreed that campaign was veiy over the top for Moab, DeLay said. We want to appeal to all the different groups who come here. Thats what the message developed by R&R will be designed to do. The agencys first order of business, once a contract is signed, will be to develop a new marketing brochure. DeLay said MATC is running low, but currently has enough older brochures available to respond to inquiries about the area. We wont reprint the old brochure. We want to get started as soon as possible developing new marketing materials, she said. The brochure will be R&Rs first project. S of the policy she discussed in an earlier meeting with department heads. Instead, Bane said, she told department heads to keep her informed of any media inquiries, or requests for interviews from reporters, and to discuss what they might say in advance of the interview. didnt tell them they couldnt talk to the media, I said I want to I know when they do, she said. And if the subject is considered controversial, Bane prefers to speak on behalf of the county. She explained that serving as the county public in- formation officer has always been part of her job description. I would never put a gag order on anybody, she said. I think my department heads are very capable. She added that if an employee gave an interview critical of the county council that would be inappropriate. The message is keep it positive. Bane said this week that she is meeting individually with department heads to straighten out the misunderstanding. During a March 3 1 workshop session, council members sparred over whether the new policy is appropriate. Council member Rex Tanner said in an interview earlier in the day that he had pointed out to Bane that she needed to reread her job description. He said county employees who make negative statements about the council or about county policy - either in interviews or in public meetings - must understand that such actions might have a cost. Were all free Americans. You can say anything you want to say, he said. But if your boss doesnt like it, there are consequences. Judy is their boss. If a department head wants to stick their neck out and make a comment, that is between Continued on Page A2 1 |