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Show siS 3 i J (M ; t' 500 Volume 111 WEATHER J Mostly Sunny High 94 Low 59 Friday contributing writer Saturday Mostly Sunny High 92 Low 59 Sunday Mostly Sunny Low 59 Weather forecast courtesy National Weather Service Grand Junction office. Read all about it! Turn to The newly-design- ed section. B You'll find weekly events, a TV guide, horoscope, crossword, calendar, real estate listings, classifieds and more. Circle of Honor award 1 fig Business Directory: B8 Classifieds: B9 16-- 7 Region Review: B1 Sports: B1 B2-- 3 WEATHER HISTORY Dale High Low Precip. May 26 May 27 84 49 88 56 May 28 May 29 92 56 May 30 85 49 75 43 May 31 84 36 June 90 53 J 1 - .26 First Place in Four Categories Group m TlwTimM- IndapandMit To Times-Independe- - nt call subscribemoabtimes.com The This nt news-pap- er is And even though the official county deadline for voter registration is past, there is one last chance to register or change party affiliation, Townsend said. The county will hold two satellite registration days - June 11 and June 14 - offering potential voters a final opportunity to register. Those wishing to register may do so at the County Clerks office, or at the home of Ray Radley in Castle Valley. A special registration table will also be set up at City Market on both days, Townsend said. Investment planner Nolan Karras and businessman John Huntsman, Jr. face off in the June 22 Republican gubernatorial primary. The winner of that contest will face Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scott Matheson, Jr., son of former Utah governor Scott Matheson, in subscribe to The rs 22, Townsend said. Obituaries: A4 TV Guide: between Audrey Graham, Jim Salmon and Robert Ryan. The two top will compete in November for the seat being vacated by A1 McLeod. But the statewide primary races are not open to all voters. The state Republican Party is holding a closed primary in the races for Governor and U.S. House of Representatives District 2. Only registered Republicans can vote in those contests says county clerk Fran Townsend. Voters officially affiliated with another party must change their affiliation if they wish to vote in this primary. Those who did not affiliate with a party at the time they registered may request to register as a Republican at the polls on June vote-gette- ' w Inside The T imes Editorials, Letters: Notices: B4 & 10 fund tourism promotion, community projects and travel council administration on the local level, many business owners don't want it bricks-and-mort- ar hiked Moab Area Travel Council Advisory Board member and mote o ner Nate Knight is one of thoe who argues that the tax bite added to rooms - a total of 12.25 percent in Moab and nine percent in the rest of the county - can be a seri-Contimi- on I 'age V Primary election June 22 is not in Castle Valley, and precincts 6 and 7 in Thompson and Elgin, respectively, will be eligible to vote in the county council primary. In that contest, voters will choose B5 Js 11 er Learn details below Competed in what? See - first-quart- Utah tourism revenue is expected to rise noticeably this year for the first time since the late 1990s, and some industry leaders want to bump up the tax rates on that money for more state-wid- e promotion. The funding issue is the debate about who should pay to get visitors here, and how much theyre willing to pay to be here. A recent tourism-industr- y conference projected eight percent growth in 2004, compared to about one percent annually for the last few years. Much of the change is related to the weaker US dollar, which makes trips to the States much more affordable for foreign travelers. In Grand County, transient room tax (TRT) revenue is the most common benchmark for how the area is doing. B1 Cole Noyes. pg- Thursday, June 3, 2004 open to all voters Joyce Victor. recipient. See pg. properties still unaccounted for, TRT revenue of about $94,600 was already 14 percent higher than the amount reported by all properties in 2003. While the room tax can be used to With by Lisa Taylor Mostly Sunny High 94 Low 59 High 91 www.moabtimes.com Number 22 Tourism projections up, industry group focused on funding future promotion; tax raises discussed FORECAST Thursday rX'i . 7X) 3J printed on recycled paper and is recyclable. the November 2 election. This years House Congressional District 2 primary may seem like deja vu to many voters. Candidates Tim Bridgewater and John Swallow also fought for the nomination in 2002. Swallow edged out Bridgewater but lost to Rep. Jim Matheson in the general election. Bridgewater, a venture capitalist from Draper, and Swallow, president of a high-tec- h company on the Wasatch Front, are locked in a tight battle for the nomination. The winner will face Matheson, who is seeking his third term, in November. For more information about the primary or registration, contact the Grand County Clerks office, 259-132- 1. Crosses and flags pay tribute to veterans . . . Family and friends search for the names of loved ones among the flags and crosses installed in Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Moab each year. This year, the Grand County chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars installed 373 crosses bearing the names of military veterans buried in the cemetery. Across town at Grand Valley Cemetery, the local American Legion Post 54 created a similar memorial that includes 180 crosses and flags. See story on this and other Memorial Day activities on page A3. Photo by Lisa Church Decision on library architect raises debate among interested parties by Lisa Church contributing writer The Salt Lake City architectural firm that is designing the new Grand County Senior Center will also design the new Grand County Public Library. On Tuesday, the Grand County Counin cil, a split vote, approved hiring Gould Evans as the architect of record for the new $2.5 million facility that will be located adjacent to the old Grand County Middle School building. But Gould Evans was not the library boards first choice for the job. The board recommended Cooper Roberts Simonsen (CRS), also of Salt Lake City and the same firm tapped by Moab City to transform the old middle school into a new City Center office complex. Library Board president Russ von Koch said the board selected CRS because state-of-the-a- rt the company has extensive experience in building libraries. But he said the li brary board and staff will be happy to work with Gould Evans. CRS has a strong reputation in Utah for library design, said library director Eve Talhnan. She said the decision was difficult, and Gould Evans, which designed the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, MO., was the library boards second choice. decided that CRS fit our needs she said. Gould Evans is a nabetter, tional company, and while they have built many libraries, their library specialist is not located in Utah. Because the library and the city offices will share a geothermal heating and cooling system that will be designed by CRS, the library selection committee also felt that having the same architect as the city would be an advantage, Tallman said. Gould Evans, theyre excellent, We Times launches new website The this week unveils its new web page, www.moabtimes.com. With technical and design assistance from Duncan Mackie, of Mackie Visions, the s new site, located at the same web address readers a brand new feature: breaking news on as its old site, will offer e and front the web, page photos that are as colorful as the community itself! We are going to break the mold of the traditional format of news being available only weekly from a weekly newspaper, said Times Editor Adrien Taylor. On the new website, we will be posting news stories as they develop duron local breaking news ing the week, allowing our readers to be as as we are. This feature is made possible by the use of a virtual front page, updated from each current issue of The Times , and augmented by stories on news as it happens. A news archive from prior issues will be available, searchable by key words, and will expand as stories are added to the website. A number of other links to key information sites are being developed, as well as community information. Assistant T--I Editor Sadie Warner, who has been instrumental in the development of the new site, invites web users to "Make www.moabtimes.com your home page, and stay current with Moab news!" Times-lndepende- nt T-T- on-lin- te Tallman said. But the heating and cooling system is complicated. Cooper Roberts Simonsen has a good reputation for building libraries and theyll understand the system. The recommendation sparked a long, sometimes heated, debate about which architectural firm is best suited for the job. County Building Inspector Jeff Whitney said he had concerns about CRS based on his experiences in dealing with the firm during the renovation of Star Hall several years ago. Whitney said the CRS architect assigned to the project did not always communicate well with the county. My first choice would have been Gould Evans, Whitney said. Marvin Day, county maintenance director, also expressed reservations about CRS. Day, who coordinated the Star Hall renovation for the county, cautioned the council and the library board to think carefully before awarding CRS the contract. We had serious problems with the architect before and I think serious discussion should be held before a decision is made, Day said. He said that CRS once threatened to sue Grand County over a payment dispute related to Star Hall, and said it appeared that the contractor attempted to bill the county for more visits to the site than he actually made. County Administrator Judy Bane noted that there was no lawsuit, but she said the Star Hall renovation did cost the county almost $50,000 more than originally budgeted, largely due to changes in the types of windows installed in the building. But that overrun was a decision made by the county and the window contractor, and not the fault of CRS, Bane said. Continued on Page A2 |