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Show ee GOODIES AS GIFTS | HOW MANY REFS. . . Give homemadeholidaytreats B-1 | ALIGHT, STAY UNLIT Doesit taketoflip a coin? C-1 Smoke-free in new airport? D-1 CheSalt Lake Cri http://www.sltrib.com une Utah’s Independent Voice Since 1871 Volume 257 Number 49 ©1998, The Salt Lake Tribune 143 South Main Street (801)297-2800 Salt LakeCity, Utah 84111 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER2, 1998 ESCALANTE OPEN HOUSE Exxon to Kanab Residents Acquire Voice Opinions About Monument BY BRENTISRAEL ‘THESALT Mobil LAKE TRIBUNE KANAB — Two years after President Clinton shocked the Westbycreating a new national monument in southern Utah, Kane County residentsarestill sore. Leah Hogsten/The It Lake Tribune From left, LDS Presidents Thomas S. Monson, Gordon B. Hinckley, James E. Faust and Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini hold a news conference about pians for a pedestrian mall. They may not be sore enough to be holding more anti-monument rallies, complete with black balloons, or to be hanging Clinton and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in effigy anymore, but New Plaza Proposed they remain skeptical about what life in their back yard now knownas the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument is going to belike. Ranchers — whoselivelihoods are largely dependent on being able to run cattle in the canyons, washes andplateaus of this vast, beautiful, rugged land — are the most concerned. “We're in a lot of turmoil about BY REBECCA WALSH | pact statement (EIS)released last month. The EIS exploresfive different alternatives, each of which divides the 1.9-million-acre monument into zones and governs what activities can and cannot take THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE sizes, close more than 1,100 miles of dirt roads, and still allow ORVs. It is the issues of road closures that rankles b.com ranchers the most. “We need the existing roads,” said Johnson. “They are essential to our operations.” In addition to the road question, ing on plans for the Mormon Church's downtown campus. “We're faced with an opportunity to ranchers, about 100 of whomrun cattle do the whole thing and do it well.” said Hinckley. “When you can combineutility with beauty, you do a verysignificant thing. This beautiful placewill inspire system took an unexpected turn Tuesday whenSteven O. Laing was namedstate superintendent of public instruction. Sa Members of the State Board of Education unanimously selected Laing for the post after a sur- Squarelast year. Last Friday, 30,000 to 60,000 people crammed the block for a traditional Christmaslighting ceremo- prise announcement bySuperintendent Scott Bean that he would parking and public space downtown critical, said H. David Burton, the church’spresiding bishop Deedee Corradini agrees. She sawas the death oflocal rights. Except for the ranchers, most Kane considers the Main Street Plazaa natural progression from the street's new spruced up light-rail stations and $20 million sidewalks. County residents appear to be coming to grips with the new monument “There's a sizable group ofresidents retire Jan. 8. Bean, 59, has led Utah’s pub- STATE STREET be completed in abouta yearanda half All of that makes the need for more bons, which they say signified what they Bean, who earned his doctorate in education administration at Brigham Young University, was the state’s 23rd superintendent of public instruction. eyed Beansaid he had enjoyed his 37-year career in Sree Cit PEUaR Kat education and believesit is the most honorable work on the planet ment of making our city pedestrian- make lemonadeout of lemons,” said Ken Sizemore, a monument-planning team AOnTH See PLAZA, Page A-10 member. City leaders and realize that the new monument will accelerate the county's economic growth. Al- Steven Laing In announcinghisretirementto the board, a teary- “This plazais going to be anotherele- who have determined that it is better to ALT LAKE TRIBUNE Leadership of Utah’s $2.3 billion public-education Ug ier Plaza Plan. ny. And a new 20,000-seat Assembly Building north of Temple Square will denounce the move. Manyarea businesses closed to observe the demonstration. The town was decoratedin black balloons and many residents wore black rib- <APOS and HILARYGROUTAGE between North Temple and South Temple. Construction could be Five million tourists visited Temple an angryrally at Kanab High School to Superintendent Scott Beanretires, Steven Laing namedto replace him Led The LDS Church wantsto build a pedestrian plaza on MainStreet faith where now there is asphalt and tional Park in Arizona to formally announce Utah's newest national monument. A fewdayslater, Kanab residents held Todd Adams The Salt LakeTribune ‘It’s truly a part of God's work. It is the mostsignificant thing we do for children,” he said During his tenure, the State Office of Education’s See SUPERINTENDENT, Page A-12 State’s Fifth-Grade Students ready, at least three new enterprises have been established to capture new monument business: a campground in Escalante, a restaurant near the Paria Utah's 5th- 8th- and 11th-graders were given the Stanford AchievementTestthis fall. Schoo! leaders say they are most concemed about 5th-gradereading and language arts scores. Utah 5thgraders scored in the 47th percentile in reading, meaning they can read as well orbetter than 47 percentof the studentsin 13 states whotookthe test Test Below National Average River and U.S. Highway 89, and a hotel in Cannonville Sweetening the “iemonade” is the BY KATHERINE APOS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE BLM’srecent decision to locate the monter in Kanab. ument's headquartersand visitor cen- | IND Courtesy of LDS Church Anartist's rendition of oneof the reflecting pools proposed for the new pedestrian zone on one section of Main Street. movingcars.” pearedat the nearby Grand Canyon Na- D7 Leadership Change For Utah’s Schools Above-ground reflecting pools and landscaped gardens would replace 2 acres of asphalt and cars. Below, the church would build a 650-stall, trilevel parking terrace for its employees and members. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley considers the MainStreet Plaza ic- Their level oftrust for the federal | | See EXXON, Page A-10 Boeingwill drop 48,000 workers by 2000 church's blockof office buildings government plummeted on Sept. 18, 1996, whenClinton and Babbitt ap- 1 He added: ‘‘The objective is to be best. If in being While the merger is one for the record books, it connect Temple Square with the inside the national monument, are concerned about whether they will face new grazing restrictions there. j j profit.” best youalso happento bebiggest, that’s fine.” North Temple and South Temple to facilities within the monument, outlaw camping on 114,000 acres, limit group | “T have no interest in being the largest company in the Fortune 500,” Raymond said at a news conference. ‘‘Revenues mean nothing to me. What countsis Leaders of The Church of Jesus | | those jobsin the new Exxon Mobil Corp. Lake City unveiled plans Tuesday to permanently close the street between would minimizeconstruction ofvisitor orlHERE But size isn’t the point, insisted Exxon’s chairman and chief executive, Lee Raymond, who will retain Christ of Latter-day Saints and Sait j | ‘Thedealalso reunites two of the biggest chunks of by the federal governmentin 1911 Two years after a proposal to close part of Salt Lake City’s MainStreet to create a pedestrian mall died an awkward death, the idea has been resurrected. This time, it is smaller. place. They range from the status quo to alternatives that would restrict human Exxon, the biggest oil companyin the nation, announced Tuesdayit will acquire Mobil to become the biggest in the world. The all-stock deal, valued at about $77 billion based on Exxon’s closing share price Tuesday, will be the biggest merger in U.S. history and create the biggest company on the Fortune 500. sold to LDS Church,closed ‘The BLM’s goalis to gather public activity, even prohibit the use of nonstreet-legal off-road vehicles (ORVs). Preferred by the BLMis a plan that CHICAGO TRIBUNE John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust, busted up commenton a draft environmental im- j SALLIEL. GAIN! Corp. mergeris a big deal. Downtownstreet would be | | B From almost any angle, the Exxon Corp.-Mobil On Main what's going to happen . We're confused and we're disgruntled,” said thirdgeneration rancher Calvin Johnson. Johnson was one of about 85 people who attended a public meeting Tuesday night, the first in a series of “open houses” being held by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) during the next two months. Mergerofoil giants to create largest company in the U.S. xX Utah educators areraising the red flag after results —. “This is cause foralarm. As a state, we should be eee f rom a 19 8 998 statewide statewide public-school public-school testing program showed a dropin reading and language arts. doing better,” M athematics fens said Barbara Lawrence, state director Language oftesting assessment Utah's fifth-gradersscoredin the 44th percentile in Science 1S j ]se7_ | 1008 sath th 68 68th eee S3rd 53rd _Sulest Mathematics A re Language | 1907_[1998 corn nh 6 60th en eed 50th 62nd 62nd Science seth Soc Soth 58th cast M athematics hee Subtest 2 Language 1987 [1 | 1997_| 1998 ! 52nd ni 49th i Lat | | 47th | 44th Science soth sot Social Ann Landers iran 88 DAG Movies Ghilaatin 8S €4 | | ianguage and in the 47th percentile in reading, down 2 and'3 percentage points, respectively, from 1997 coe seit | Thinking Skits ee 52nd S2nd ee ee 88th 8th Thinking Skils. ar bea 53rd 3rd Bridge Col D47 Puzzles pia | dscnslie hs ks | 60th Total Basic Battery} 54th 54th Total Basic Battery} 50th D7 Sports co Business Clessifieds Comics D43 BS . nae ment Test this tall, and were the lowest scores Utah StarGazer 43 TVPrograms BT + students earned Scores on the Stanford are reportedin median percentile ranks, or the middle score obtained bythe ae overall test group. Scores at or near the 60th percen- ae U0 00 L | { tile represent excellent performance, while those at or nearthe 40th percentile needattention Inthe case of fifth-grade reading, a score in the 47th percentile means typical fifth-graders cannot read as well as the average student in the overall test group. } Total Basic Battery 58th Thinking Skis] Source: State Office of Education In presenting the scores to members of the state Board of Education on Tuesday, Lawrencesuggested 50th The national norm is 50 for each subtest Todd Adame The Salt Lake Tribune contributes $1,854 per student. Local schooldistricts add more. that Utah's low financial investmentin schools may he “We've lost that edge,” Lawrencesaid. “These scores indicate that the system is not providing as For years state leaders have bragged that Utah students outperform the rest of the nation despite the fact that Utah spends among the lowest dollar muchat the earlygradelevels as it needs to rearingits headin the form oflowreading scores amountsper pupil in the country. Currently, the state ; Officials say several things would improvethe situSee TEST SCORES,Page A-10 \ / |
