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Show TheSaltLakeTribune M FORTHE RECORD, C-2 ROLLY & WELLS * M OBITUARIES, C-6 USOCSues Brighton NOVEMBER3, 2000 Westminster to House GamesSecurity Force Body‘unsatisfied’ with resort’s plan to settle Website dispute BY KIRSTEN STEWART THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE BY LORI BUTTARS The USOC madeits intent to sue known in letter to Brighton offi- THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PAUL ROLLY and JOANN JACOBSEN-WELLS ‘©2000,The Sait Lake Tribune . e + + * + . . cials on Tuesday. Theletter gave The war of words between the U.S. Olympic Committee and District Blocks Brighton Ski Resort has escalated into a federal lawsuit. Attorneys for the USOC filed a complaintin U.S. District Court late Thursday accusingtheresort of vi- E-Propaganda olating the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act with a Web site, www.brightonupthegames.com, From Cannon * > : There-election campaign of Utah + Rep. Chris Cannonhas been blocked } from sending e-mails to educators in t the Salt Lake City SchoolDistrict af» ter Internetletters sent Wednesdayof- { fended manyofthe teachers in thedistrict. : Lesley McLaughlin, media supervi{ sor for thedistrict, said she placed a + block on Cannon’s e-mail address af- « ter she was inundated by complaints { from teachers. Complaints about Can- they say unfairly associatesthe resort with the Olympic Games. “We were unsatisfied with their overall plan for wrapping up this matter, specifically the context in which this Website wouldbe used,” said USOC attorney Rose Ann Sullivan. “We went ahead andfiled the complaint because we weren't getting a clear signal on how they intend to use this Web site and we don’t wantto get into a game where today becomes tomorrow while they decide whatthey are going to do withit.” Brighton 48 hours to halt advertisements that featured five snow- what ceremonies are they talking about?” Sullivan said, adding that somepeople mightinterpretit as an express reference to the Olympics openingandclosing ceremonies. flakes aligned in a pattern the ° USOCsaid resembled the Olympic rings. The logo, accompanied by the The complaint points out that Brighton has track record of using the Winter Gamesas the punchline Website address, appeared in ads in in ad campaigns. Last year, the resort used the word “OlymCS aay pics” to play off the scan- Salt Lake City newspapers and in a display at-Salt Lake City International Airport responded—| Brighton Wednesday with a letter stating its plan to replace the group of five snow- @ WebLinks @ PastStories dal surrounding Utah's bid to host the Games. Chad McCoy, attorney for the ski resort, had not vinced of the resort's sincerity when other ads referring to “closing ceremonies” appeared in Salt Lake City Weekly on Thursday. “When they say ‘ceremonies,’ moneyto support as yet undetermined programs and on- campus needs. For students,it will mean an unexpected three-week break in the middle ofspring semester 2002 as classes are suspended Feb.1 to Feb.26. And for the public safety command, it will provide space to set up a central commandpostfor 504 law enforcementpersonnel from all over the country. In addition to using parking lots, agency personnel will set up a health clinic on campus and will occupy the on-campus led to believe we were working toward a resolution,” he said. “Funny how they called the media before the suit was evenfiled. It seems dorms. “We're really happy to be a partner with Westminster,” said Craig Dearden, Utah commissioner of public safety. “We've been lookingall over for places for housing. Westminster kind ofstepped uptotheplate.” Westminster President Peggy Stock began meeting with faculty andstaff earlier this week to inform them of the agreement, which was signed after 18 months of negotiations. During thatperiod, school officials negotiated with at least three other international groupsinterested |in leas- someone is trying to make this a ingfacilities on the Salt Lake City campus,Stock said. seen the complaint and wassurprised to learn the USOC was going ahead with the Rice flakes with a single snowflake in future ads. But the resort declined to discontinue using the Web site address, which it registered in April. USOC officials were uncon- Westminster College announced Thursdayit will lease its entire campus to the Utah Olympic Public Safety Commandfor a period of three weeks during the Winter Games. For the private college, the lease will mean extra lawsuit. 2 “Wehave been exchanging voice mails all day [Thursday] and were public example.” e-mail: lorib@sitrib.com See CAMPUS, Page C6 = non campaign propaganda, which ba- « < + + sically contained insults aimed at Democratic opponent Donald Dunn, also camefrom Granite, Davis and Cacheschooldistricts. HOT AIR, COLD AIR ‘Teachers complained of taxpayer- + funded computer systems used for partisan purposes and having their time consumed by reading unwanted messages. Qa Curious Timing When Salt Lake County commissioners tentatively agreed in a private meeting tosettle a five-year propertytax dispute with defense contractor Alliant Tech last week, County Assessor Lee Gardnerpublicly questioned their judgment. The settlement would take a $3 million to $4 million bite out of Granite SchoolDistrict's revenuepie. Gardner'soffice, which has valued the property annually at about $100 million more than Alliant Tech thinks it is worth, has prevailed on the appeals to the state Tax Comimission. Another appeals hearing was to begin : at the state Tax Commission on MonY. Butafter Gardner madethesettlementdiscussion public, commissioners privately directed their attorneys to postponethe hearinguntil next April, when the commission no longer will exist because of the change in the county form ofgovernment. County insiders, as well as Granite District officials, are hoping commissioners are notjuststalling until after Tuesday’selection before giving, withouta public hearing, a multimillion-dollar tax refund to what has been a generous campaign contributor to the commissioners. a Backto the Future A campaign flier for Republican state Senate candidate Carlene Sharp-Tailed Grouse Walkerfeatures the picture of a young Notin Trouble, Feds Say girl on the coverwith the caption: “Now You See Me. . .” On the inside page is anotherpicture ofan overcrowded classroomwith the caption: “Now You Don't.” Theflier, which promises Walker will reduce class sizes, not only is identical to the flier former Democratic state director James Roberts produced for Democraticlegislative candidates in 1992 and 1994, butit also uses the samepictures. Whenthefliers were originally produced, Roberts received permission from the parents ofall the children, whoatthe time were thirdgrade students at Uintah Elementary Schoolin Salt Lake City. Those kids now are 16 years old and no permis- | * » * © Ahot-air balloonrises above a Park City neighborhood dusted with snow early Thursday morning.Chilly temperatures and mostly clear skies should prevail over the Wasatch Front and Backtoday,with forecasters saying snowislikely on Sunday. See the complete Utah weatherforecast, Page A-12. sion was given to Walker to reuse their pictures. Walker, who is runningin Salt Lake County’s SenateDistrict 8 against Democrat James McConkie Jr., said she was unawaretheflier was a copy of old Democratic brochures. She said hers was produced by acampaign consultant, whom she did notidentify. : Mingling With Riffraff? ‘Within days after Salt Lake Organizing Committee President Mitt * Romneychided citizens at a Central + City Neighborhood Council meeting for not being able to afford $20 Olym» pic tickets, he received this memo * from University of Utah President and ! SLOC board member Bernie Machen: + “After spending 90 minutes trying un+ successfully to access the ticket Web S site, I have concluded there should be a better wayfor directors to purchase tickets. We all expect to pay for our } tickets, but requiring us to go through * the public sign-upis a bit much.” Rolly and Wellswelcome email at { rolly&wells@sltrib.com ' Backers Defend English-Only Push Proponents denounceclaimsofracism; opponents say initiative offends immigrants BY BRENTISRAELSEN BY HEATHER MAY the official language of Utah governmentheld a news conferencein Salt Lake City on Thursdayto dispel the “myths” they say the opposition is using to derail the movement. wouldstep in to help non-English speakers. Tannertried to dispel the idea the initiative is racist or anti-immigrant. “This is an absolute expression of wanting to make sure immigrants have all the same advantages and same opportunities that Englishspeaking individuals have,” he told The Salt Lake Tribune. Rowan added that immigrantswill get even better “Clearly, someoneis spreading a greatdealoffear,” access to English language classes once the initiative THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Federal wildlife officials have rejected a petition by envire nentalists to place the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse on the endangered-specieslist. The grouse, whichlivesin eightstates that are part of the Columbia River Basin, does not warrant range-wide protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, according to a decision released recently by the U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). After studying the grouse’s status for a year, the agency foundthe chicken-like upland gamebird is not at risk of extinction noworin the foreseeable future. The FWS's decision sets the stage for possible“ittigation by the Boulder, Colo.-based Biodiversity Legal Foundation, which petitioned the agency to study the grouse’s plight five years ago. In its yearlong study, the FWS concluded the grouse is in good shape because mostofits habitat is on private lands that have been withdrawn from crop production or intensive grazing. The study also showed that although some of the grouse’s smaller populations are at risk of extinction, there are larger populations that are “relatively secure and possibly increasing.” The grouse’s survival furtheris beingaided by state andfederal conservationefforts. Once found in great numbers throughout the midelevation ranges of British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Nevada, the grouse was hunted extensively in the late 1800s. . In Utah, the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse ranges primarily in Box Elder and Cache counties..Its numbers are estimated to be about8,500 in Utah, enoughto allow limited hunting seasons the past few years. This year's hunt, in which 667 two-bird permits were issued, runs fromSaturdayto Nov,12. Asister species, the Gunnisonsage grouse, whichlives in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, is the subject of another petition filed with FWS by environmentalists, Terry Ireland, biologist for the FWS’s GrandJunction, Colo,, office, said his agency soon will announce that the Gunnisonsagegrouse is “warranted but precluded”from an endangered-species classification. That means the agencybelieves thebirdis threatened but can do nothing aboutit because oflack of money. Th LT LAKE TRIBUNE Proponents ofaninitiative that would make English said Joe Hunter, spokesman and consultant for Utahns for Official English, which also includes former Utah County state Reps. Tammy Rowan and Jordan Tanner, both Republicans. The Utah group is funded by U.S. English, based in Washington, D.C., which haspassed similar lawsin 20 otherstates. Initiative A would prevent government business from being conducted in passes because the measure urges thestate school board to improve such classes. However,the initiative provides no moneyto create more languageclasses. Rowan said she trusts thatlegislators will provide y those funds if voters apC4 prove the measure, 1 Matheson wants ads pulled Utah's Martin Luther @ ‘Questar bill’ under assault C-5 King Jr./Human Rights & Ortonrips Leavitt finances @ County candidates debate C-5 Commission, part of the C-6 state's community and development E-1 conomic department, issued a languages other than En@ Companyoffers English class glish, with exceptions for newsrelease Thursday to such things as judicial and pooppose Initiative A, saying the measure would “abrolice proceedings, for health reasons, in schools andcol- leges, andto promote tourism and the Winter Games. Opponents, including several politicians, church leaders, minority advocates and educators, say the proposed law will harm immigrants by cutting them off gate rights to freedom of expression and equal protection of the laws.” Lorna Vogt, spokeswoman for Utah CommonVoices, hostile to non-English speakers. More specifically, there is somefear the law would prevent schools fromteaching students English as a second language; opponents said immigrant and minority groups are deeply offended by the initiative because they see it as a “clear attempt to make them second-classcitizens,” Nationally,the official language movementhas beén criticized as racist because it comes at a time of un- also say it is incongruent with hosting the Winter precedented migration of Latin Americans and Asians Games,an obvious multilingual event. to the UnitedStates. “The intentions. may be good, but if they really wanted to do something to teach English and unify us” they would endorse “English plus” legislation, Vogt said, which would encourage immigrants to learn English while valuing other languages. e-mail: hmay@sltrib.com from vital services and by creating an environment Supporters, gatheredin their attorney's office, reit- erated their view that the initiative will help immigrants learn English more quickly because it will require them to know the language to get government services, But they also said the initiative has enourh exemptions that non-English speakers could get vital services in their native tongues.“I have yet to hear of onecritical need that won't continue to be met,” said Rowan, whounsuccessfully tried three times to pass an official language lawinthestate Legislature. If there are governmentservices not covered in the initiative’s exemptions, Rowan said she was sure that private individuals, nonprofit groups and churches CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS Jeff Salt of the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society expressed concernabout the Jordan Riverfish kill. A story in Tuesday's newspaperincorrectly identified him. |