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Show GETTING READY HORNETS ‘OUTWORK’ JAZZ TROJANS BEAT UTES —TheSalt Lake Gritituiniie Bush confers with GOPleaders A-3 _\_Malonestill chasing Chamberlain C-1 Cohesionlifts USC to 65-60 win C-1__ Utah’s Independent Voice Since 1871 Volume261 Number50 ©2000, TheSalt Lake Tribune 143 South Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah #4111 Telephone numbers listed on A-2 SUNDAY, DECEMBER3, 2000 Lawsuit Alleges D-News, LDS Intrigued to Acquire The Tribune BY KRISTEN MOULTON A-2 AA-1 @ Letter from. The Tribune editor @ Every Utahn'sFight, editorial THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE From the momentthe newshitthis fall that the Deseret Neivs was trying to buy The Salt Lake Tribune, executivesat the News have been adamant: The paper owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has nointerestin owningits rival and leaving Salt Lake City without a newspaperindependentofthe church. The News, Chairman Glen Snarr has often said, merely wants fair treatment from Newspaper Agency Corp., the company the papers jointly own which is headed by The Tribune publisher and handlesall advertising, promotion,printing anddistribution of the papers. Butin the lawsuit filed Fridayto try to block the paper’s sale, Tribune managers describe and document a concerted three-year effort by News executives and churchattorneys to buy The Tribune's par- ent company, Kearns-Tribune. OnSaturday, Snarr acknowledged that the News, at the invitation of AT&T, had indeed discussed buying Kearns-Tribune.“If the discussion with AT&T had led to the purchase of Kearns-Tribune, we would havesimultaneously conveyed the paper to other ownership to ensure its editorial independence,”he said. “Tf we had owned it, we would have spunitoff. We don’t want the legal problems,” he acknowledging there, would have been antitrust implications. Thelawsuit and a motion for a restraining order were filed hours after The Tribune learned thatits owner, AT&T Corp., had agreed to sell KearnsTribune to Denver-based MediaNewsCorp., owner of the Denver Post and 47 other daily newspapers. MediaNewsreportedly offered $185 million. The lawsuit is against AT&T, but it alleges that News executives began negotiating secretly with Kearns-Tribune’s owners shortly after The Tribune lost its centurylong independence in its July 1997 acquisition by Tele-Communications Inc. TCI sold Kearns-Tribune to AT&T when the said, See TRIBUNE,Page A-16 ROLLING DOWN THELINE f E 5 Deseret News Associated Press file photo Chairman Glen Snarr at the Deseret News building. Arms Law Put to Test Ly In AOLsuit, courts may Claify limits of Utah’s concealed-gunslegislation BY RAY RIVERA and GREG BURTON once-obscure clause about carry- ing guns without restrictions much more significant. The change meant thousands more © 2000, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE When it comes to making law, the Utah Legislature has long had this message for the judicial branch of government: Hands off. But when it comes to Utah’s ambiguous concealed weapons laws, someofthe state’s most powerful senators and representatives seem relieved to step aside,letting judges go where lawmakersfear to treat it states that churches and homeowners can ask visitors to keep constituencies: private business and the gun lobby. Butit leaves unclear public and private workplaces. The Legislature, meantime, has Now those two forces are headed for a collision in a pending court battle between America Online, the nation’s largest Internet provider, and three former employees who werefired for having guns on a parking lot outside AOL’s Ogden call center, in violation of the company’s no-weapons policy. Photos by Ryan Galbraith/The Salt Lake Tribune The lawsuit — the first chal- Gateway employees Bob Rice and Duyen Huynh pack computers in their shipping boxesat the mail-order computer company’s Salt LakeCity facility, which employs about840full-time and 450 temporary employees. Companyofficials extol the quality of work force. lenge of the gun statutes — has been eagerly awaited by business owners and gun enthusiasts alike. At issue is whether private businesses have the right to restrict employees — even those with concealed weapons permits — from bringing guns onto company property, including parkinglots. In 1995, the state revised its Utah preparesto lure second waveof successful companies in new economy ind LESLEY MITCHELL BYLISA CA The harsh lessons of the new economyare coming to bear on Utah's hightech industry. Before the Internet changed everything, Utah, hometo software inventors Novell Inc, and WordPerfect Corp., was second only to Washingtonstatein software development. And proclivity toward the pioneerideals of independence and self-sufficiency enabled old economy innovators to thrive, birthing healthy high-tech start-ups at a respect: able rate. ‘The luste. of Utah's early successes, though,has dulled. The twice-acquired WordPerfect no longer exists as its own company, and Novell, beset by market losses and a series of layoffs, is but a fraction ofits former self. When Silicon Valley offshoots such as Redmond, Wash., and Austin, Texas, are mentioned, Utahseldom makes thelist. “We're in the midst of a shakeout,” said Curt Allen, chairman of MyFamily.com, a Utahcompany that develops genealogy-related Web sites. “The state has yet to see its second waveof successful companies.” The state's economic developers are aware of the problem. ‘Their solution? Go outside thestate help. Armed with what they consider Utah’s best attributes its young, Well-educated work force, supportive government, quality research universi- thes and relatively low cost ofliving they are marketing Utah to California's Silicon Valley with the hope ofenticing ll Aerospace bridges age gap E-1 Theyalso have a trumpcard. Gov. Mike Leavitt and others behind the so-called Utah-Silicon Valley Alliance are opening doors using what they call the state’s “cultural draw” — a lure no other state can copy. Tech-savvy membersof The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are everywhere, but often would preferto be in Utah. “People wantto come home,” Leavitt said. i To say Utah has lost groundas one of BROWNSVILLE, Texas — In speech after speech, Mexico Presi- dent Vicente Fox argues for his dream: a free flow of workers across an open border, an international boundary that ceases to be a barrier. But the 2,000-mile frontier between Mexico and the United States is delineated by steel walls and barbed wire, watched over by uniformed guardsfrom the Border Patrol. “Tt will never happen,” Rosalinda Arebalo of neighboring denythestate its accomplishments, Utah is home to 2,456 mostly small technology companies that sold $7.7 billion in products and services in 1999, up from $7.1 billion a year earlier, according to the Utah Information Technologies Association (UITA), Among those companies are neweconomysuccessstories; Salt LakeCitybased Campus Pipeline Inc., a well heeleddeveloperof university intranets, comes to mind. But it's the course other promising start-ups often take that troubles economic developers. Whenit comestimeto traded powerhouse, many optout, “It’s a concern that thestate's hightech industry doesn’t hi any home run public companies,” said Todd Stevens, managing director of Salt Lake See HIGH-TECH, Page A-4 ‘ clarify the law. Sen. Michael Waddoups, RTaylorsville, sponsor of the 1995 law,said at the time the law was crystal clear. Now he says he would welcomethe chance for the courts to do some fine-tuning if led. “I would like to see a case broughtup”in court for a judge to resolve any ambiguity in the law, hesaid this week. Waddoups, like lawmakers on both sides oftheaisle, said he believes employers’ and private property owners’rights supersede an employee's right to carry a gun. Thelawsuit resonates in a state See GUN CONTROL,Page A-12 If anything, the border is closing down. The United States announced plans this fall to step up border security with 1,300 miles of road and fence, cameras and thousands ofportable floodlights. From 1998 through 1999, the number of BorderPatrol agents doubled from 4,000 to 8,000. “Tl be honest, your country isn’t ready for it,” said Fernando « Kleinfingher, a computer consult- Matamoros, Mexico, said flatly of Fox's dream.“Ifit did, it would bea miracle.” See BORDER,Page A-8 Mostly sunnyskies._A-17 AnnLanders _ THE ARTS Book Reviews “The Nutcracker," Salt Lake's long-treasured holiday tradition, is back, D-1 eaieiad : “ Computers roll down the assembly line ready for shipment. Gateway has added sales, financing and cus- passed up several opportunities to ant in Tijuana, Mexico. “It would be very hard for America to accept.” “The United States will never allow an open border,” predicted Faustino Avalos, a 65-year-old farmer strolling home to WEATHER progress from small start-up to publicly their guns out. U.S.-Mexico Open Border Likely to Stay Just a Dream THE ASSOCIATEDPRE the nation’s high-tech hot spots is not to 4 \, concealed-carry laws, making a BY MEGAN K. STACK new economy know-how tothestate. airports and Olympics venues, and That's notsurprising, consider- ing the lawsput in conflict two of the Legislature's most beloved High-Tech Shakeout Utahns would qualify for permits to carry concealed weapons. That wide-open provision has triggered a five-year debate over where a gun owner’s rights begin and end. The law and recent amendments restrict weapons in secure areas such as courthouses, jails, DAYBREAK Nothingis reallyoff-limits in holiday decorating. F+1 tomerservice divisions atits Salt Lake City operation. ( aoe F-8 Earthweek Fo Lottery D5 Movies F-4 Obituaries 0-8 |
