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Show -- . ; Vrt zt - - 1 ; I I : I 1 ' Lr !K - . I ,. I,?. ; 4 A t 1 - : ' jr - r h C. t 4 1 1 t- -- -d 1 50c Volume 107 WEATHER FORECAST Thursday jm. wsww Riin Low 33 High 57 Friday Partly Cloudy Thursday, February 24, 2000 Oil firm announces Moab Salt purchase Candidates' filing period is March 7 by Sam Taylor Intrepid Oil and Gas LLC, a energy company, has purchased Moab Salt, Inc., from PCS Phosphate Company, Inc., 7-1- Low 30 High 51 Number 8 Saturday Partly Cloudy High 54 Low 28 jml Sunday Partly Cloudy High 59 Low 37 Denver-base- d While the campaigns of those who want to replace Bill Clinton as president of the United States are getting a lot of attention, this is the year for several other federal, state and local elections as well. Time is growing short for persons interested in filing for office. The general election is Nov. 7. Filing which owns the Cane Creek Potash Mine near Moab. Intrepid Oil and Gas is privately held. Specific financial details were not discussed. ' The agreement provides that the operation of the mine will continue 7. n. Third District U.S. Rep. Chris Cannons seat is also on the ballot. Gov. Mike Leavitt has announced he will seek a third term. Other state offices to be voted on are Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Auditor and State Treasurer. Also, the Utah State Senate seat held at Star Hall Prairie Three-tim- e Home Companion guests "Kirkmount" will perform at Star Hall at 7 p.m. Friday. The Feb. 25 concert will feature these three brothers from Woodland Hills, Utah as they perform by Franklin Seal 6taff writer For the past six month Judy Powers has worked with her organization to find homes for 55 stray dogs and 35 cats who would otherwise have been put to an early death. As a leader of the by Mike Dmitrich, Democrat from Price representing the district including Grand County and much of the rest of southern Utah, is up for election. The Utah House of Representatives seat held by Keele Johnson, Blanding Republican is on the ballot. Johnson rep- resents Grand, San Juan and part of Celtic music in the tradition of their ancestors. Tickets are available at Music of Moab or at the door. Inside The Times which are expected to extend the mine life significantly into the future. The modernization process is expected to take 12 to 18 months. Mining activity will continue dur- - Continued on Page A2 Animal advocates try to sell city council new shelter proposal period for those offices is March A primary election will be held June 27. U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, a veteran of 24 years in the Senate, is seeking reelec-t- i Kirkmount "as is." Rick York, mine manager, will continue in that position and employment will be offered to all who are currently on the payroll. Intrepid plans to apply modem mining techniques to the operation. Emery counties. Three Grand County School Board seats will be decided. Those will be from Precinct No. 3, including all of Election Precinct Nos. 5 and 11; Precinct No. 2, including all of Election Precinct No. 4; and Precinct 4, which includes all of Elec- Judy Powers, a leader of the Moab Valley Humane Society, gives her friends, Chance, left, and Lady Romance a hug in front of the Moab Veterinary Clinic which doubles as the Moab Pound. Powers wants the City of Moab and Grand County to jointly fund an animal shelter. As of press time, Chance needs a home, and Lady Romance has been adopted. Photo by Franklin Seal. - tion Precinct Nos. 2, 6r 7 and 8. Moab Valley Humane Society, she says much of that success has come from simply buying the animals more time to get adopted. Tuesday, she went before the Moab City Council to ask their help in creating a joint citycounty animal shelter to institutionalize that same process and help find more homes for the strays. Currently, animals picked up by animal control officers are impounded at the Moab Veterinary Clinic on Spanish Valley Drive. The animals owners, if they have any, have three days to claim them. When that time has run out, if they are not claimed, the animals are generally put to sleep. Exceptions to that three-darule do occur: if during those three y days someone has decided to adopt an animal, they can take it home at the end of the third day. And, depending on how many other 6trays are at the pound" at that time, and how adoptable the animal seems, it may be given a few more days before it is put down. Powers said that three-dalimit is a key part of the problem. Also, to no fault of the Moab Veterinary Clinic, the situation there y Continued on Page A2 Business Directory, S3 Classifieds, 86-- 7 Dining Guide, A4 Editorials, Letters Notices, E5 46--7 Obituaries, 45 Region Review, B1 Television Listings, B2 Public hearing mixed on changes to govememnt pre-annexati- by Ken Davey staff writer Rope some fun The Old Spanish Trail Arena hosts four days of action Thursday through Sunday with the U.S. Team Roping Championships. For details, see the Community Calendar B3 WEATHER HISTORY Precla. Feb. 16: 17: Feb. 18: Feb. 19: Feb. 29: Feb. 21: Feb. 22: eb. 55 56 53 57 56 66 30 43 37 25 29 34 59 41 -F- .01 .15 .01 Tr. Tr. Tr. Show tunes on the airwaves Moab's public radio station KZMU introduces some format changes this month. B1 To subscribe to The Times-Independe- nt, call 435-259-75- 23 edHornicalximes.cofn e The This nevs-pao- er is printed on recycled paper and is recyclable. City denies recommendation to rezone property Council members cite need City approves hallmark to protect neighborhoods agreement from commercialization for Moab Springs Ranch Should Grand County change its form of government, adopted in 1992, to outlaw term limits and recall capabilities? That was the question at a county council public hearing Tuesday evening, and the answers were numerous and varied. Views on term limits were mixed. Support for recall was solid but not across the board. And a constant theme throughout the discussion was the belief that since voters chose those provisions, it should be voters, not the county council, who make the final decision. Eight years ago, following widespread discontent among residents over issues ranging from the Book Cliffs Road to operation of the Travel Council, voters abolished the county commission and replaced it with a council. The adopted optional fora of government also included limits permitting council members to serve no more than two consecutive terms and recall, allowing voters to re- - Continued on Page A2 by Franklin Seal staff writer the the property to allow for commer- Voicing strong concerns about need to protect Moabs "old town" neighborhoods from encroaching commercialization, the Moab City Council voted down a zone change recommendation from the planning commission on a property at the comer of Center Street and 300 East. The property, owned by the Borreson family, has had a long history with various commercial uses. But for perhaps as long as 50 years, those commercial use3 have been permitted as a use within an R-- 3 residential zone. For the past year, the Borresons have sought to change the zoning on a portion of cial development, originally envisioned as a plus a commercial building on the comer. In this latest version of their proposal, they requested zoning for a combined office building with a shop, which necessitated a zone change to C-- 2. The planning commission on The Moab City Council approved its first agreement Tuesday. The hallmark, unanimous vote allows the Moab Springs Ranch development on the north highway strip to move forward. The high-ton- e resort centered on the historic Grand Old Ranch House restaurant, will be annexed in phases. All but the final phase when the hotel-lik- e lodge is built, will proceed through development under Grand County building regulations. Each phase will be annexed as city water and sewer services are made available or just prior to hook up. voted to recommend the change, with three members voting yes, one member absent and one abstaining. But the city council, voting on a motion by Gregg Stucki to send the request to a public hearing, rejected it soundly, with Stucki the only member voting yes. The purpose of zoning laws are not to ensure profits for landContinued on Page A2 1-- 4, - Accident near rail tracks kills Denver man, injures wife, closes main line for four hours by Franklin Seal staff writer A young man from Denver was killed, and his wife was critically in- jured early Monday morning when their car left near the West Cisco exit, then sailed across a railroad cut and crashed into a dirt embankment on the opposite side. Thomas R. Reichelt was driving the young couples new Chevrolet Corsica eastbound on the interstate around 5:15 a.m. when, according to Utah Highway Patrol officers, he most likely fell asleep at the wheel The car drifted into the dirt median, sped down it approximately 550 feet, then vaulted into the air over a deep railroad cut where the tracks cross under the freeway. Once airborne, the car hit a wooden utility pole and toppled it across the tracks. That collision twisted the car in as it continued across the railroad cut and then smashed into the side of the dirt embankment on the far side. Bouncing into the air from the impact, it then landed on its side 15 feet higher up on the embankment, then rolled back down the hill coming to rest on its wheels. mid-ai- r The old Reichelt died of massive head wounds shortly after the crash. Reichelts wife, Corina, was found in shock, standing next to the vehicle when a train pulled around the curve at the scene of the accident at 6 a.m. The trains crew had . bera alerted to the possibility of trouble &t52o a.m. when an alarm lit up on a railroad control console 25 miles east in Grand Junction. Railroad controllers said the alarm was set off probably within ten minutca of when the utility pole went down, putting the time of the 22-ye- accident at between 5:15 and 5:25 a.m. Emergency crews and Utah Highway Patrol officers were called to the remote desert scene, arriving around 7 a.m. The woman was transported by AirLife helicopter directly to St. Marys Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo, where she was listed in critical condition Monday afternoon. Tuesday morning, her condition had improved to serious but stable. UHP Sgt. Rich Haycock said the airbags in the vehicle deployed and that both victims were wearing seat belts. But given the severity of the impact. Trooper Andy Peterson said it was amazing the woman survived. All train traffic on the main east-weline was stopped for approximately four hours until the utility pole and wreckage could be cleared from st the tracks. Turning old wheels into new jobs Alternative Middle School students Kassi Markland and Mike Burgess check the shifting on this donated Schwinn mountain bike as teacher Ed Oak looks on. The bike was donated by the Sandflats Recreation Area, and the students participated in restoring the machine during their weekly bicycle maintenance clinic. The bike had been sitting at Sandflats so long no one was exactly sure of its origin, so Sandflats director Mike Smith donated it to the Youth Services Bureau; YS3 caseworkers will find an appropriate home for the bike. The students have also received support from all four local bike shops, whove donated over $200 in retail goods to help restore and maintain bicycles. The students have been enthusiastic about the weekly clinics, and some are well on their way to jobs at local bike shops. Photo by Ron Georg A |