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Show MOAB, UTAH Volume 107 50 Thursday, July 13, 2000 www.moabtimes.com Number 28 BMEBHHnHBDBBQBBHHtBIHIMHHB WEATHER FORECAST Thursday W Killer storm cut swath over valley Sunday; lots of lightning It's a record Mostly Sunny High 96 Low 68 Friday. Partly Cloudy High 96 Low69 Saturday Partly Cloudy High 97 Low 68 Sunday . Grand Countys population tops 9,000 for 1st time Partly Cloudy High 96 Low 67 t:T" q "vv?v Sunday storm floods exceeded by Franklin Se staff writer by Franklin Seal staff writer Grand Countys population increased by in the 9,000 mark for the first 1999, topping percent year-roun- 1.9 d time in recorded history, according to a recent population j Enough is enough ;'1 farmer is A Green River estimate from the Utah Office of Planning and Budget. That 1.9 percent growth rate reflects a somewhat slower pace than the countys 3.6 percent average over the last decade. And it places Grand near the middle of the pack when ranked with all 29 Utah counties in terms of their population growth rates. According to the study, 9,060 people now reside in Thats up from 8,895 in 1998. Grand County is partly accounted for by 165 people The difference 41 more had births than deaths last fact Grand the that of the increase is asThe rest 53 deaths). year (94 births, sumed to be from a net meaning statisticians calculate that 124 more people moved into the county than year-roun- taking matters into his own hands as wildlife devastate his crops. B1 Weekly inside moved out of it. Grands growth rate matches the rate statewide. Utah grew from 2,082,502 in July of 1998 to 2,121,053 in July of 1999 for a gain of 1.9 percent. The new study shows that Utah has now experienced nine consecutive years of with 4,753 more people moving into the state than out. But that figure is far less than the record set in 1994 when 22,788 more people moved in than out. During the past nine years, the number of people moving into the state is estimated to have exceeded the number moving out by nearly 130,000, which is about 30,000 more people than live in Sandy City. Even with this large net more than 65 percent of Utahs population growth since 1990 has come from natural increase, which is the difference between births and deaths. Natural increase since 1990 totals over 260.000, while total population growth has been over 390.000. There were 45,434 births across the state between 1998 and 1999. Measured in terms of population growth, Grand is very average for the state. Tooele County, on the other hand, is the states growth hot spot," topping the list with an estimated 8 percent growth rate. Following at a distance were Morgan (4.0), Utah (3.8), Washington (3.6), with Iron and Daggett tied (3.4). Grand was the 12th fastest growing county in the state, but its neighbors had an entirely opposite experience. Carbon County experienced the single greatest rate of population decrease with a loss of one percent of its citizenry. Close behind was Emery with a 0.5 percent loss; San Juan dropped 0.1 percent. The new stats, presented with analysis by the University of Utahs Bureau of Economic and Business Research, Quartet in were published in the institutes JanuaryFebruary Continued on Pace A2 Inside The Times Business Directory: 84 Calendar, 84 Crossword Puzzle: Classifieds: 67 67 Dining & Lodging: 63 Editorials, Letters: AS, 9 Notices: B6 Region Review: B1 Television Listings: 62 WEATHER HISTORY Low-ftecf- Date-Hig- July 5: July 6: July 7: July 8: July 9: July 10: July 11: a - 61 57 58 73 Tr. 100 99 - - 101 97 94 96 63.05 59.65 - 62 101 Take interest Don't let interest rates dampen the season home-twym- g see Real Estate concert Mt. Peale Bed & Breakfast hosts the CEU and USU announce recent changes that will expand the cooperative Murphy Lane turns into Murphy Creek" Sunday evening after a thunderstorm unleashed half and inch of rain, flooding streets and highways. Photo by Joe Kiffmeyer. Lightning fire damaged senior on Sunday facility housing Captain John Flahie, by Moab Valley Fire Protection District The Rockridge Senior Housing complex in Moab was apparently struck by lightning early Sunday evening, July 9, 2000. Moab Fire Department was dispatched to a report of smoke in the elevator shaft at 6:47 p.m. A report of flames on the roof was received while firefighters were cn route. The first firefighters to arrive discovered a fire at the top of the elevator shaft. Teams of firefighters were sent to all three floors of the apartment complex to assure evacuation of the 19 residents who were home at the time. Other firefighting teams were dispatched to extinguish the fire in the elevator shaft from both inside the building and on the institutes. B3 ( General ExceHenc V TV Tmet- - There is no doubt that the heavy rain helped keep the fire in check , said Moab Fire Chief Corky Brewer. While there was extensive electrical damage to the entire building and some structural damage to the elevator shaft, Chief Brewer declined to estimate a dollar figure for the loss. Residents of the independent living complex were evacuated to the adjacent Grand County Community Center without incident, however, one firefighter sustained minor back injuries while moving a extension ladder. Residents were allowed back in their homes about 8:15 p.m. The buildings elevator will remain out of service until evaluations of its integrity and repairs to the shaft are made. 35-un- it 35-fo- Arches visitation down in June 10 percentage points by a big at National Park at Arches Visitation was down nearly 10 in June from a year ago. So far, the first six months of the year show a decrease of 6.9. So far in 2000, 369,822 people have been counted at Arches, compared with 397,278 for the first half of 1999. The visitation drop was even more pronounced in Canyonlands National Park. So far in 2000, 193,490 people a decrease year end, or visa versa. We are currently on a down side for the six month period and if the trend follows we should see an increase over the next 6ix months regardless of the percentage, she said. Some of the potential reasons for the decrease, DeLay believes, could be the price of gasoline, the strength of the dollar, or the decrease in the number of international travelers. Also, she said, Arches and Canyonlands are destination parks, whereas Capitol Reef, Zion and Bryce are parks. Travel in those areas is up slightly for the year. According to Travel Trade future projections, international travel is expected to rise during the last 6 months. Reports from the federal government predicted a decrease in visitation this year as well as next year, she said. drive-through- " Sunday afternoon, an unusually fierce thunderstorm deluged parts of Moab and Spanish Valley. Some of the slickrock domes surrounding town gushed small rivers in every direction. Water falls sprouted in improbable places. Lightning flashed and cracked around the valley as if several armies had converged for a battle to the death. And when it was over, the streets and creeks ran red with water, mud and rocks. Sunday night and Monday morning, city, county and 6tate crews were busy cleaning up the mess Moab City Public Works Director Brent Williams said, As far as damage, it wa3 pretty mild. There was lots of mud and rocks on some city streets, he added, but no property damage was reported. Part of the reason, may have been precautions taken last fall and wdnter. Williams said last year his crews installed 100 bales of straw in some of the washes. The bales are nailed to the ground with sections of steel rebar and act like speedbumps to slowing the raging fiashfioods as they descend toward town. An inspection Monday and Tuesday revealed that all of them had survived, though one did break. A Utah Department of Transportation worker said state crews had been busy cleaning up a section of Highway 191 immediately south of 400 East Street. The four-lanhighway was covered in red 6and and mud. The worker explained that a culvert on the south side of the highway may have been overwhelmed by debris and that may have caused a chain reaction as neighboring the water, e culverts were also overwhelmed. He said debris found in the offending culvert looked as if it may have been branches that were recently trimmed and left in a ditch. He had not heard of any prop- - Continued on Page A2 Early letter to editor reveals first GCHS class to start tradition TI ) Jj To subscribe to sr Imjgggndent can sutwcrfcemoabtimes.com 17J Tmrn4ndepndni This news-TV paper is TT A printed on recycled paper and is recyclable. 'y Franklin Seal 6taff writer Last week The carried the news that Moabs Big white G a letter painted on a cliff about 300 feet above town had been painted ever and obliterated. The incident sparked a brief inquiry into the history of the giant letter, which most residents have always assumed represents the first letter in the name of the local high school. Grand County High. Several longtime Moab residents could date the presence of the G as far back as the 1930s, but the year of its first appearance remained a mystery until, that is, Moab native Elaine Peterson dug through her files and came up with the following clipping from an undated Tlmes-Indepe- 30-fo- Ihs-Iims- thunderstorm. roof. by On The fire occurred during a torrential Big 'G' dates to 1924, local historian says relationship between the two higher education N Life in the slickrcxk desert is a study in extremes, especially w hen it comes to weather. Within the space of a day in the air some cases, even a few hours you breath can turn from a dry, inferno, into a vertical river of rain from the sky (Imagine that the weather gods suddenly got hold of a fire hose with a nozzle.) The resulting fiashfioods can he dangerous, they can damage property They are also sometimes the object of intense fascination. Moab residents often take to their cars during thunderstorms in order to watch fiashfioods cascade down canyon walls or to see normally dry washes suddenly fill with raging red water. mile-wid- e should be better, visitation-wise- , based on figures from the last ten years. She and her staff have prepared a graph that shows the trends in 6 month and yearly totals over the ten year period. It shows that each time there has been an increase at 6 months there was Personnel changes U 100-degre- have visited Canyonlands, compared with 209,097 a year ago, a drop of 7.5. Marian DeLay, director of the Grand County Travel Council believes, however, that the second half of the year Carlos Nakai Quartet in concert this Saturday evening. Check out that and other events in the Community Calendar, R. level 100-ye- ar ni A glorious fourth ... mririrnwniiiLiisiLiLM nmi m Moab volley residents were treated to one of the finest fireworks demonstrations ever last Ttesday evening. The featuring multiple bursts of many varieties, was staged by Rick Fullam, Castle Valley resident, who professionally creates similar displays all over the region. Photo by Jeff Richards d's-pla- 4 t t I y, tradition that each graduating class Times-Inde-pende- letter to the editor: "Dear Adrien and Sam: I am writ- ing regarding Lara Johnson Douglas' letter . . . asking about the Big G on the cliffs north of Moab, where The gjg q cou(j be seen frorn most vantage points around Moab everyone can see it from almost every angle in the valley. Theclas8of 1924, with 19 members, was the largest class to graduate from Old Grand High to that date. It was a leave a legacy for the next class. "There was a problem of just what to leave that would last and have a meaning. There was a great deal of study and debate. We finally counseled with a relative of Lester Taylor, a Don Savage who had experiences painting objects in high places, and who came home on a vacation at the time. "When the G on the cliff was suggested, Don offered his services. He stayed at the bottom of the cliff to direct activities. Winford Hector informed them height didnt bother him. The boys with Winford went to the top of the cliff, where they made a lariat swing with a seat large enough to hold the equipment Continued on Page A2 |