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Show Z t 2 - ?J t r j - 4' & vf T i i Thursday, March 16, 2000 500 Volume 107 Number 11 WEATHER FORECAST IhursduL. jf iWC Mostly Sunny High 63 Low 36 Eriday iTiL Partly Cloudy High 60 Low 29 f Realtors City puts police audit on hold bullish on Moab market Mostly Sunny High 66 Low 33 -- Sunday. Vl Partly Cloudy High 62 Low 33 staff writer launches new tabloid: Real Estate Weekly T-- I Crossword Puzzle by Sadie Warner staff writer For decades real estate has been a booming business in Grand County. During the Uranium Boom fortunes were won and lost on its lucrative speculation. Now, in the new era of Moabs growth, real estate is becoming a luxury that visitors The Times -- independent begins publishing a recognize as a smart investment, whether for crossword puzzle this week. You will find it next to the classified ads. private or public use. Times-lnd- Jhlftsi The week launches pendent this Real . -a new Estate Weekly," aimed at See B7 sellers the most celebrates its 25th year. See Calendar, gg Inside The T imes Classifieds: B7 Dining & Lodging: B3 Editorials, Letters: 46-- 7 Notices: BS 9 Obituaries: 43 Region Review: B1 Sports: 44 Television Listings: B2 9 9 Spring savings Local merchants bring big savings to the sidewalk this week. General hours lui me spring sidewalk sale are Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. However, many shops te and coverage of the regional market. in-dep- th The Canyonlands Half Marathoin 1 e . pub-licatio- n, Silver Anniversary r" evening tentatively agreed to put off accepting bids on the audit until after a meeting with county officials in two weeks. Following tire shooting of local resident John Dinsmore by police two and a half years ago a number of local residents, including some members of the city council, called for an examination of police prac by Ken Davey management audit of the Moab Police Department is on hold while the city looks at a proposal to hire the Grand County Sheriffs office to provide law enforcement within city limits. The Moab City Council Tuesday A Saturday. TMMnrwiwgMTirTnririi The new tabloid will be distributed fresh each edition and inserted in the entire circulation of The Additionally, it will be placed on free racks at various points throughout the area. We feel this is a niche that has not been filled as adequately as possible," said Associate Editor Sena Flanders. This project is a nice fit with our business of publishing on a weekly basis. Real Estate Weekly should be a valuable tool for the real estate industry in our area." A recent report by the Utah Association of Realtors reveals some homes in rural Utah sell for $90,000 or less. The last time a Salt Lake City home was on the market for that price, the Slickrock Bike Trail wasnt even a gleam in Dick Wilsons eye. The price range for a home in rural Utah stretches from a low of $78,057 in Carbon and Emery counties, to a high of $141,127 in Grand and San Juan counties. All four are marketed well below Salt Lakes average of $172,000. Homes in Sanpete, Sevier, Millard and Piute counties sell for around $80,322, and in the Uintah Basin the average price is approximately $87,416. As a ruie, homy prices tend to rise over time, but over the last year in rural Utah, selling prices have Hmes-Independen- Continued onT'age kl are conducting tices Grand County Attorney Bill Benge concluded the Moab officer involved in the Dinsmore incident was justified in using lethal force, but criticism of the police continued to mount. The question became an issue last fall, with unsuccessful city council can- Continued on Page A 2 Man faces felony after bomb scare by Franklin Seal staff writer It was a small package, about the size of a breadbox. On the top, in black felt marker, was a warning: This is a bomb. Read carefully." Later, it was discovered the box contained a book; there were no explosives. But for many hours Thursday, March 9, the package was treated as a serious bomb threat, and it had serious consequences. It closed the Grand County Courthouse for a day and landed a Moab man in jail facing a felony charge. The makeshift cardboard container was found on the floor of the courthouse lobby around 9:30 a.m., near the door to the Sheriffs Office. The secretary who discovered it told authorities she saw a man wearing a backpack run into the building, then run out again. The possibility that the package contained a bomb caused authorities to immediately evacuate the building, including the jail. Later that afternoon, many of buildings in the sunounding neighbord hood were also evacuated after a Lake to arrived from Salt County deal with the possible explosives. But after the package, the bomb squad opened it and found inside a book from the 1980s: The Third Wave by futurist Alvin Tofller. Salt Lake County Bomb Squad arrives on the scene, above, while Sheriffs Detective Curt Brewer and Interim Police Chief Mike Navarre assess the scene. Photos by Franklin Seal the words written there, her intuition told her to call 911. Somehow she just knew, she says. Her quick action alerted authorities and furnished them with a description of a suspect wearing a backpack. Within minutes, a man was observed running away from the building wearing a backpack and was detained by bomb-squa- Secretary acted quickly The secretary that notified authorities did not want to be named in this article. She said she was seated at her desk with her door open to the hall. After seeing a man dash into the building and then run away, she got up and looked down the hall. Though she did not walk down to the package and see Moab Police officers. Reportedly, the man threw down the pack and tried to run as officers approached him. That act caused policy to suspect the pack might also contain ex that man the after arrested, shortly being plosives. Sheriff Jim Nyland said told officers, Theres nothing you can do. Its going to blow up." Continued on Page A2 additional promotional. Publishers honored for service to profession See A8 WEATHER HISTORY March March March March March March March 7: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 26 52 55 54 62 65 67 70 f , .21 40 .04 26 -- --- 35 30 30 Happy St Up In smoke Times-lndepende- Adrien and nt were given the state's highest honor cause of the HMK fire. B1 JL To subscriber to nt, Dont expect Moab to plunge into the North End planning issue, beyond working with individual landowners who want to annex into the city. That was the discussion Tuesday evening at the Moab City Council meeting, when council members reviewed the 3 decision last week by the Grand County Council to withdraw from a e joint agreement to look at development along the Highway 181 corridor from Moab city limits north to the Colorado River Bridge. That planning pact was proposed during a meeting late last fall of the city and county councils and planning commissions, and was written by county planner Richard Grice. The agreement called for jointly organizing development along the corridor and starting a process to al 4-- long-rang- call 25 cdiiffiHmoabtimej.ccsn This newsIs paper printed on recycled pajfer and is recyclable. r ll If POOR il Sam Taylor their profession. staff writer iu9 435-259-75- in by Ken Davey THs Ongoing efforts to upgrade quality at The paid off last weekend as Moabs newspaper took top spot among papers of its size in the Utah Press Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest held last weekend in St George. Not only did the T--I receive General Excellence for work in all categories of competition, its publishers, Sam amiAdrien Taylor, were each accorded the associations highest award for service to the profession, the John E. Jones Award. First-placplaques were presented for e . Best News Story, Best Sports Column, Best Feature Photograph, and Best Advertising Campaign. Second places were awarded for Best Editorial, Best Feature Story, and Best Feature Column, and third places for Best Sports Photograph and Best Promotion. The winning news story by Franklin Seal, was about a dump truck carrying low-lev- el nuclear wastes turning over and spilling part of its load on Sept 29. It was supported with other coverage of the Continued on Page A2 City wincing over county's rejection of North End pact h Times-independe- receives excellence award, from UPA Times-lndepende- - Officials determine the See T--I -- 33 Candidates file, Friday COPY x low commercial development in the area to hook up to the city sewer plant and water system. In exchange landowners would agree to eventually be annexed into Moab City, and collect the same sales and motel taxes charged within city limits. But some North End property owners strongly objected, calling city officials liars" who could not be trusted. They said they did not want to be part of Moab City, and preferred that the Grand Water and Sewer Service Agency provide them with services. County Council members JKim Schappert, Al McLeod and Susanne Mayberry supported the planning effort, but Bart Leavitt, Ken Ballantyne, Harvey Merrell and Frank Nelson sided with North End landowners, and voted down the deal. For City Council Member Rob Sweeten, the criticism of the city was a bit much. Saying he did not appreciate city officials being dragged through the mud, Sweeten said he believed the city should tell North End property owners who want water and sewer services that the countys action precluded that. I think when they come through the door, we should tell them to go to Center Street, to the County) courthouse," he said. The signal we got from the county) was, dont bum a single brain cell on this project, we dont want you." But Sweeten agreed with council mem- bers Kirstin Peterson and Joseph Lekarczyk that individual property owners in the North End contiguous to city limits can continue to request annexation, and that city services will be supplied. ' A deadline looms With three days left before Fridays March 17 filing deadline, five candidates had turned in petitions and filed for three of the four county council seats coming open in the Nov. 7 election. Council District 2 is being vacated by Ken Ballantyne who served the allowed two terms and cannot run again. Michealene Pendelton and Jerry McNeely have both turned in petitions and are running for that seat. Ai McLeod, the only incumbent to file for reelection, is running for District 4. both filed for the seat being vacated by Council Member Harvey at-lar- Merrell, and Jim Lewis, who could only run for that seat, picked up petitions but had not yet filed. Council Member Frank Nelson from District 5 has said he wont run again and as of Tuesday afternoon, no candidate had filed for his seat. But Joette Langianese reportedly had more than enough signatures on her petition and was set to file for District 5. School board has 3 seats open Three of the five seats on the Grand County Board of Education will also be elected Nov. 7. The filing deadline for those offices is also March 17, but the rules for filing are different. Candidates do not need to gather signatures on a petition. Instead, candidates simply file Continued on Page A2 |