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Show NEWS, MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 1977 DESERET UP8:L City-region- State puts focus on accelerated depreciation. This was approved by the PSC and implemented by the company after a March 1 hearing. The second part of the application asked for a $25.5 million increase to enable the company to maintain the effectiveness of its security issues, continue its construction program, cover the costs of inflation and install equipment required to protect the environment. The company has filed a suit against the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to overturn a ruling that the company must install pollution control equipment on three new generating units. will give consideration to the adoption of a flat residential rate. The matter of a connecting fee will be considered in future hearings. Commissioner Kenneth Rigtrup said that he had some reservations about the commissions decision but felt that generally he was justified in approving the decision. Commissioner Olaf Zundel, on the other hand, delivered a rather lengthy dissent from the commission's decision. UP&L filed a two-paapplication for the rate increase Dec. 30. The first part of the application asked for an increase of $11.8 million for the 1977 phase of construction work in progress, plus an allowance to normalize the tax effect of rt Sports Newsline: rate increase okayed The Utah Public Service Commission today a 10.25 percent rate of return on the companys announced its decision to allow a rate increase 'rate base. She said the deficiency in earnings of $17,258,472 to Utah Power & Light Co. then would be $17 2 million, the amount of on the Commission Chairman Milly Bernard said increase allowed by the commission consideraunder rate currently application this will bring the total rate increase allowed tion. the utility to $29 million. The commission further ordered that The company originally applied for an increase of $42 million, later amending this UP&L must instiiuie improved accounting amount to $39 million. procedures, taking into consideration all information that might be useful in pertinent The companys approved rate of return on common equity was cut by the commission future rate hearings. She said the accounting from the previously allowed 16 percent to 14.5 information had not been complete enough in percent. The commission also eliminated the the recent hearings. customer deposit requirement which the Mrs. Bernard took note of the fact that the company had been allowed to charge. commission will receive results of a cost of Mrs. Bernard said the package would allow service study in December, and at that time Deaths Business al the West Utahn will be extradited A Utah businessman charged with 113 felony counts of fraud in Arizona will be extradited sometime this week. Dean Sandquist. 25, a former employe of land fraud figure Ned Warrens Equitable Mortgage Co., was arrested in Salt Lake City on July 15. Sandquist subsequently fought extradition, but his petition was turned down by Gov. Scott M. Matheson. Sandquists attorney, Rodney Snow, said his client will return to Arizona next week. Sandquist is one of five men, including Warren, himself, who were indicted by a Fima County grand jury, charged with fraud involving more than $200,000. Jr Jr .'r c- -i rr y .A , S Equitable Mortgage Co. had an office in Salt Lake City before it collapsed last year. Sandquist has been operating his own company, Utah and Western Investments, since leaving Equitable. ' f Vl v' T v4' mKt, u ' ' .. Dunn gets national post UJ! Salt Lake County Commission Chairman William deadly 0 h ig h way rW' & 1&K , By Karen Wright Deseret News correspondent -s NEPHI Traffic accidents along the rural e highway between Juab and Millard counties have claimed 16 lives this year, and highway officials want to stop the number there. Utah Highway Patrol troopers have put together one of the tightest enforcement efforts in the state and are working overtime to curtail the bloodshed along the stretch of road. The highway is a portion of old U.S. 91 which is system. being integrated into the The 16 deaths between south Nephi and the Scipio Summit have added to the mounting state toll, which now stands at 213. The problem has attracted the attention of Gov. Scott M. Matheson because deaths have far outstripped the 169 to this date last year. Although not listed among the 50 most deadly stretches of road in Utah published by the Deseret d News last year, the stretch of rural e highway is probably unequalled in deadliness tins year. The Deseret News story was based on 1970-7highway reports. On Aug. 9, a special enforcement group of five Utah Highway Patrol troopers in unmarked cars was brought in from various locations throughout the state, according to Sgt. Ken Clements. Aided by officers in a plane, the troopers spent five days in a special patrol of the strip. Along with regular law enforcement officers from the area, they issued 698 tickets to traffic violators whose offenses d inspection stickers to being ranged from illegal aliens to speeding. The offenders might previously have passed through unnoticed by officers who were otherwise occupied m routine duties. It was effective. Traffic is slowing down some now, Sgt. Clements said. We'll repeat the same thing at random for some period of. time in order to mean business convince people that they need to slow down." stretch of road is deadly for many The reasons, including human ignorance, error and lack of respect for the law. However, the most significant problem may lie in the road itself. Plans to rush completion of this stretch of by the Department of Transportation emphasizes increasing awareness of the problem by state officials. There are some stretches of the road where a patrolman stopping a violator creates more of a hazard to his life and the lives of persons in other vehicles than does the offender, Sgt. Clements said. The areas are narrow with no passing leeway. At junctures where a freeway turns into a two-lan- e highway, the incidence of accidents increases, statistics show. Problems also are generated when fast freeway traffic mixes with slower local traffic. Both situations exist on this road. Many local drivers refer to some sections of the road as "The Washboard of the West due to its rough surface. On narrow spots, where there is also a grade, g traffic is bottled up behind vehicles. On Levan Ridge, between Levan and Nephi, a truck traveling 45 to 50 miles per hour may become an irritant lo a whole line of cars wishing to travel at the 55 mph limit or above. Illegal and unwise passing becomes a shortcut to an accident when the frustration level overrules caution. A few years ago, travelers stopped to assist after an accident and a nurse who was volunteering help became the next victim on the road, where visibility is limited and there is little maneuvering room. Speed also is a factor in many accidents and adds to the potential for death as well as property damage. The estimated speeds of vehicles involved in two recent fatal accidents in the area were 100 and 80 mph. See DEATH on B 9 m ft-"-- v. $ ' . 4 - ' -- V Cs! 1 ' v fhi E. Dunn has been elected to the National Association of Counties (NACo) board of directors for 1977-78. f The election took place during NACos recent 42nd annual conference in Detroit, Mich. g arm board is the The of NACo. It sits as a resolutions committee each year to evaluate proposed amendments to the American County Platform, which is the national policy statement of counties on issues ranging from community development to welfare reform. The association, formed in 1935 and representing more than 1,600 counties, has as its goals Improving county government, acting as a national spokesman for counties, serving as a liaison between counties and other levels of government and fostering public understanding of the role of counties. 7V policy-makin- ' j .i ; . tr . A two-lan- Juab-Millar- two-lan- 4 out-date- w-- e slow-movin- 4 Davis to push school prche Two vehicles were shattered in collision on head-o- n which killed a Hunter couple. 3 tcillod in highway collisions Hunter couple and a Sandy woman collisions killed in separate two-ca- r on Utah highways Sunday. The deaths raise the states 197 traffic fatality toll to 213 compared with 168 at this time last year. KILLED: Blaine L. Nielson, 39, 5558 Karma Ave., Hunter. Janet G. Nielson, 35, his wife. Roma K. Hardy, 59, 8135-80- 5 East, Sandy. Two other persons involved in the collisions were hospitalized. Mr. and Mrs. Nielson were killed d Sunday about 8 p.m. when their near 6400 on auto was hit head-oA east-boun- n by a westbound car which first sideswiped another car, then crossed the median into the eastbound lanes, officers said. Mrs. Nielson w'as dead on arrival at Cottonwood Hospital, and her husband died at 11:30 p.m. The Utah Highway Patrol said the driver of the westbound car, Jeff Lynn Allen, 19, 1650 Conifer Way, was treated and released. Occupants of the car which was sideswiped, Orrin T. Farnsworth, 26, 9514 David St., Sandy, his wife, Judy, and their son, David, were not seriously injured. Mrs. Hardy was killed Sunday at 5:58 collision at the intersec p.m. in a two-ca- r South WAL feels Private firms rated best on garbage fees ir publicity was motive in hijacking The man who hijacked a Western Airlines airplane from California, demanding it be put down in Salt Lake City Saturday night, may have been seeking attention, an airlines official speculated today. The man, Jerry Richard Mills, 36, Escondido: Calif.: was brought before the U S. magistrate today and arraigned on federal charges of air piracy. The complaint was signed by Dennis Moler, an FBI special agent. After surrendering quietly to FBI officers at the Salt Lake airport at about midnight Saturday, Mills was booked into Salt Lake County Jail, police officials said. The incident began in San Diego, Calif., when a man approached a flight attendent soon after flight 550 left the California city about 10:05 pm. The man told her he had a bomb and demanded to be taken to the cockpit, Jerry R. tion of 3800 West and 8300 North near Pleasant Grove. She was a passenger in a car driven by her husband, Clyde H. Hardy, 63, officers said. He was listed in serious condition today at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. Another passenger, the couples daughter, Claudia, 31, was treated and released. Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Gary Johnson said the Hardy car was traveling south when it collided with an eastbound car driven by Dave Scott Holman, 18, American Fork. He was treated at the hospital and released. A passenger in the Holman car, Michael Taylor, 20, American Fork, was listed in fair condition at American Fork Hospital today. Mills according to Grant Murray, regional vice president of Western Airlines. We wondered how he could have gotten anything past San Diego security. He just didn't have anything. Just a white paper bag. I surmise he just wanted attention, Murray said. Investigators said Mills has been and family described by members in California as a quiet, reliable and dedicated worker and a very straight person. His brother, Michael, 19, with whom he shares an apartment, told officials the elder Mills had shown signs of stress in the past week, and he said someone was threatening his life. He did not identify who he thought was making the threats, the brother said. No one was hurt during the hijack-Se- e HIJACK on R-- 9 Average costs for garbage collection are lower when the work is done by private firms instead of local government, the Utah Taxpayers Association said today. A study by the association showed the average cost per home is $2.24 a month when a private company does the garbage pickup. A public system costs an average of $2.61. However, some communities, including Salt Lake City, gather and dispose of their own garbage at a lower cost than the private Collection figure. Salt Lake Citys estimated cost per residence is $1.88 per month; Brigham City, $2.04; Clearfield, $2.10, and Logan, which serves a'l of Cache County, $2. Local governments which exceed the average cost for public garbage collection include, Salt Lake County (which has begun to tax unincorporated areas for garbage pickup) $4, CedarCity, Ogden and Orem, $3; South Ogden, $2.79, and Bountiful, $2.75. Costs to communities with their own garbage systems ranged from $1.88 to $4, while costs of those with contracts to private firms ranged from $2 to $2.50. The communities, including Salt Lake County, which are above the average in garbage costs might profit from getting out of the garbage collection business," the association said. County seeks assurances on redlining Salt Lake County plans to ask lending institutions to sign a pledge that they are not redlining older neighborhoods, County Treasurer Art Monson said today. Those that will not sign or are found to be redlining theoretically will not receive deposits of the countys tax money, he said. In a press conference in the Crossroads Urban Center, East, Monson said bank representatives have already assured him they are not redlining and are willing to sign such a pledge. Redlining is the practice of lenders not 347-4t- h to make home improvement loans and mortgages in some areas containing older homes. Instead of determining credit worthiness of individual applicants and thp economic life of a house, the lenders or refuse to make loans in redline certain neighborhoods, said State Rep. Jeff Fox, D Salt Lake, during the press conference. Monson said the county takes in about $200 million a year in taxes, which is kept in banks for short periods of time in lesser amounts, depending on how much money is on hand. The pledge, he said, is innocuous, one they should be able to sign with no trepidation if, in fact, they are not redlining. Although the lenders say they are not redlining, Rep. Fox said Salt Lake City has a traditionally redlined area from South Temple south to 21st South, and west of 13th East. He said the county's pledge is a courageous action. We are not asking the banks to make bad loans, Munson said, but rather to The Davis County Attorneys FARMINGTON Office will informally continue investigation into allegations of irregularities in the Davis County School District building program, an assistant county attorney said today. Assistant Davis County Atty. Rodney S. Page said his office has decided it will not issue formal subpoenas for persons to testify under oath until a few more individuals are questioned without subpoenas. The Davis County Sheriffs Office and the Attorney's Office have been investigating allegations that school district personnel received gifts or favors from persons involved in district construction projects. Gifts reportedly included carpet work, cement work, roofing, trips and loans. An eight-pag- e report on the investigation was concluded by the Sheriffs Office last week and turned over to the County Attorneys Office for consideration of criminal charges. That report recommended an audit of the building program and that subpoenas be issued for persons to be questioned under oath to clear up inconsistencies in statements already taken. The investigation started last spring based on an informal tip to the Sheriffs Office. Utah skies fair and dry Some residual moisture remains over Utah for a few afternoon and evening thundershowers, mostly in the south, but for the most part skies will be generally fair through Tuesday. Showers Sunday dropped .37 of an inch of rain at Bryce Canyon and .21 of an inch at Milford, where winds gusted to 53 miles an hour during a' thunderstorm. Richfield had .09 of an inch, Ogden .07, Helper .02 and Hanksville .01. Hail fell In a heavy rain near Monticello. The temperature reached 89 in Salt Lake City Sunday, and low this morning was 64. High for the state was 101 at Bullfrog. Hanksville and St. George had 100. Afternoon temperatures today and Tuesday will range from 85 to 95, and lows tonight will be 55 to 65. The extended forecast indicates much the same weather pattern and temperature range through Friday. Bomb rips potato chips A homemade incendiary bomb exploded Saturstore, 2900 E. 45th South, the day night in a second bombing in that area in three nights. The bomb destroyed about 20 bags of potato chips and caused less than $25 damage, sheriffs deputies said. Two "good looking youths, about 6 feet tall with long blond hair, entered the store at 11.45 p.m., said store clerk Joseph R. Hoffmann, 51. The young men acted suspiciously at the back of the store and then' left hurriedly, possibly in a black Mustang, Hoffmann said. The bomb exploded immediately after they left, he said. Bomb fragments taken into evidence included pieces of cardboard, a blasting cap and plugs of plaster. The homemade bomb was the same type as one thrown into the front seat of a car at 4426 S. 3035 East, said Alvin Britton, Salt Lake County emergency services director and the countys bomb expert. No one was injured in either bombing, deputies said. Parking survey begins consider all credit assets m applications. They ask me for a pledge every time they give me a time certificate, so this is nothing more than that in reverse, he said. The pledge is not the ultimate answer in combating redlining, Monson said. Federal and state legislation against such a practice would be better. State Sen. Art Kimball, Lake, said the Legislatures Business, Labor and Economic Development Committee plans to study anti redlining legislation this fall. tt Salt Lake City Streets Commissioner Jess Agraz wants downtown business patrons to help improve parking for the area by participating in a large-scal- e study of parking and business patronage. The study, Commissioner Agraz said, will help the city determine future parking requirements for the central business district area and is designed to lenefit business vitality. The commissioner said the study began this morning and w ill continue throughout the week. It will involve shoppers filling out questionnaires in stores and at parking lots. The The study will be conducted by persons emblazoned with a special logo, wearing saying 111 big red letters, "Uet HIP tHeip Improve Parking). |