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Show wv tVW r, ( u V--:- ' t i 1r ;! I & 1 .' ' j '" "' HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER FOR SAN JUAN COUNTY, UTAH Volume 88 Number 8 50 cents SINCE 1915 November 24, 2004 Kidnapping charged on county roads In a bizarre incident that allegedly took place on San Juan County roads, seven residents of Mexico were taken hostage at gunpoint and held for ransom. After Navajo Nation Police offices raided a Kayenta, AZ hotel, five Mexican citizens have been charged with kidnapping. The incident began on November 13 in the Mexican Hat area, when the seven Mexican citizens traveling in a van were pulled over by a car with blue flashing lights. The driver said he stopped the van and assumed he was being pulled over by law enforcement officials. However, instead of law enforcement officers, the driver claims that two armed men forced themselves into the vehicle and drove to a Kayenta motel, where the driver and passengers were held for ransom. After the van was recognized at the motel, Navajo Tribal Police made the arrests. Five men have been indicted in Utah's federal court. If convicted, they could face up to life in prison. This is not the first known incident of kidnapping of Mexican nationals on the remote highways of San Juan County. In 2002, two Mexican nationals were arrested and convicted af- Felony court report - See page Veterans Memorial progress W Funeral services for Vernon Schafer will be held at the Monticello Community Church on Wed., Nov. 24 at 1 1 a.m. The viewing is from 10 to 1 1 a.m. The San Juan County Courtwill close Thurs. and Fri., Nov. 25 and 26, for Thanksgiv- house ing. The County Treasurer's office will open Friday from 9 am to 3 pm. In addition, the San Juan Record Recent storms created ideal circumstances for a raucous snow ball fight Significant precipitation in October and November, culminating in a heavy snowstorm over the weekend, has significantly impacted the water supply, according to local officals. There is 3.7 inches of moisture in the 16.8 inches of snow at the carrying undocumented Mexican workers were pulled over and the workers were either robbed or kidnapped. water, is 147 percent higher e than the average precipitation at this point. The moisture has saturated portation corridor for undocumented aliens. Officials state that the recent kidnapping may be related to previous incidents. City Water Manager Nate Langston. Increased water Diabetes campaign The National Honor Society at Monticello High School is sponsoring a diabetes awareness basketball shoot. Students at Monticello El- ementary will bring home forms seeking sponsors for a basketball shoot that will be held in January. The sponsor sheets are due back on December 3. Reed Anderson and Scott Frost are heading up the project, designed to raise funds to sup- port diabetes awareness pro- grams. They will be assisted by Dr. Jay Reddy. in Monticello. Year-to-dat- e year-to-dat- soils and resulted in increased runoffs, according to Monticello flows and increased efficiencies of the water collection system has resulted in Monticello taking in much more water than the city uses, even during the generally dry fall months. Typically, the Monticello City water system uses more water than it takes in during eight months of the year. The city historically relies heavily on spring and early summer months to replenish the water supply. However, so far in 2004, it appears as if the water system will take in more water than the city uses for eight of the 12 months. Langston states that in November, 2003 the city water system collected approximately 156 gallons of water a minute. This month, the water flows are nearly 500 gallons a minute. Over the past six years, city residents have used approximately 214 gallons a minute in the month of November. This means that even in the typically dry month of November, the city will make a significant increase in the amount of water stored in city reservoirs. While the increase is due primarily to a significant change in the water situation, the city has also continued to increase the efficiency of the water collection system. Langston reports that city workers recently found several clogged areas in the pipeline and cleaned them out. The result is a significant impact in the amount of water the city is collecting. The entire water collection system, upstream from the wa- ter treatment plant, will be completely upgraded. Contractors a walkthrough of the new project on November 12. It is anticipated that bids will be opened soon on the nearly $4 million project. recently completed The refurbished water collection system will include an upgrade of every spring collection. The hope is that the city will take advantage of its year-roun- d water right and alleviate the impact of drought seasons. In a typical year, Monticello collects more water than it uses in March, April, May, and June, with the city water system running at a deficit the remaining eight months of the year. However, in addition to the four months, the col- heavy run-of- f will close Nov. 25. Staff photo Storms have significant impact on ground water a kidnapping of Monticello. north The kidnapping followed several reports of incidents wherein vehicles Highway 191 through San Juan County is a popular trans- - See page 2 MHS Alumni to meet - See page 7 Camp Jackson reporting station north of Blanding in the Abajo Mountains. This is 168 percent of the average 2.2 inches. precipitation at Camp Jackson, currently 7.5 inches of ter attempting 2 lection system brought in more water than the city used in July and it also has done the same in October and November. If trends continue, the city collection system will bring in more water than city residents use in eight of the 12 months in 2004. Through October 2004, the city system has collected more than 267 million gallons of wabeter, with water use ing 129 million gallons. This compares to the drought year of 2002, when the system collected 87 million gallons of water and city residents used 135 million gallons. to-da- boy Denim Cruize Kristy Saltsman November 10 Samuel Revere boy Amanda Randal Bouchard November 1 7 & te Monticello had .5" of snow Nov 20 and 12 Nov 21. Blanding had 1" Nov 20 and 5" Nov 2 1 pIK Congress approves funds for county Congress approved more than $48 million in funding for road, transit, health care and public-safetprojects in just-passe- d omnibus appropriations legislation headed to the President. The money supports high pri- ority projects underway that contribute to a better quality of life for all of us here, said Congressman Jim Matheson. Matheson said he secured $500,000 for the Utah Navajo Health System in Montezuma Creek. He also secured $350,000 for a stretch of highway between Route 191 and Montezuma Creek. Language in the bill bars any federal funding from being used to study or drain Lake Powell. November 22 snow report 3.6 of water in 16.6" of snow 2.2 is multi-yea- r average 4.9 In 1992 is multi-yea- r high Current snow is 1 64 of normal La Sal snow is 1 76 of normal its |