Salt Lake Tribune | 2001-05-21 | Page 16

The Salt Lake Tribune UTAH PU BLIC SAFETY NEV Ss CLIMBER FALLS A rock climber was being treated at a Salt Lake City hospital Sundayafter falling 30 feet. The unidentified 24-yearold man was reportedly climbing with his wife when the ac- cident occurred shortly before 1:30 p.m. The man, who was climbing a rock face a mile into Big Cottonwood Canyon, reportedly fell while trying to hookhis rope into a safety clip, said Salt Lake County sheriff's Deputy Andy Arnn.During the fall, a second safety clip pulled from the rock, causing the man to fall the rest of the way to the ground. He landed on a boulder and suffered head trauma. The man also was complaining of someinternal injuries when he wasflown to the University of Utah Medical Center. Qa Dust-Control Effort Resumesat Tailings Site Sealing agent, grass seed used to helpstabilize fine particulates BY LISA CHURCH SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE MOAB — Thedust is finally starting to settle over the Atlas uranium mill tailings north of Moab. Work to seal the tailings was halted in January due to lack of money, but resumed Tuesday when a Grand Junction, Colo., contractor began to apply a sealing agent to bind the contaminated soil together in an attempt to prevent dust clouds — a source of complaints from town residents. Crewsfrom the company, W.D. Yards, also began applying a mix ofnative grass seed to terraced slopes along the edges of the tailings to prevent further erosion of Wednesday, PennyLewis,37, the pile located on the banks of the Colorado River. The 13 million tons of tailings, spread over 130 acres, were created by Atlas Corp., which processed uranium at the site until the of Beaumont, Texas,report- companyclosed the plant in edlyfell 50 feet while hiking in 1984. Atlas filed for bankruptcy protection in 1998, Federal studies have concluded that up to 45,000 gallons a day in toxic waste is leakinginto the river, which PARKFATALITIES Earlyinto thetourist sea- son, Zion National Parkalreadyhas had twovisitors fall fromtrailsto their deaths. the Kolob Terrace section of the park. Shortlybefore Lewis’ fall, she hadsplit away from two other hikers and headed backto the trailhead, said park officials. Lewis wasn’t found Monday, May 21, 2001 isa source ofculinary waterfor 25 million people downstream in Arizona, Nevada and California. A trust fundto stabilize the site was established as part of the bankruptcy proceedings and PricewaterhouseCoopers was selected as the trustee. Between September 2000 and January, trustee contractors moved 800,000 yards of soil, which hadearlier been treated, from the sides ofthe tailings to its top so the pressure would force out water trapped in the pile through 17,000 “wicks” inserted into the mound. Thesoil was to be treated with a sealing agent, but work halted when fundsin the trust ran dry, leaving untreated soil exposed to the wind, which blewit into Moab. An agreementreached last week between PricewaterhouseCoopers, the remediation trustee, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality freed up $400,000 in federal funds owed the trustee. An additional $1 million provided by the Energy Department will complete the dustcontrol measures. The Department of Energy will take controlofthe site in September and is expected to move the pile away from the river. Department of Environ- mental Quality officials made controlling the dusta high priority because it contains high levels offine particulates. “It’s unacceptable to have dust clouds blowing off that pile,” said DEQ Executive Director Diane Nielson. She said the trustee has also agreed,if timeandfundspermit, to place a dirt cover on the e: center of the tailings pile and construct an evaporation pond to hold water being drained from thetailings. Loren Morton, a hydrogeologist with Environmental Quality, said his agency will step up monitoring ofthesite to ensure PricewaterhouseCoopers is getting the job done. “We'll take a wait-and-see attitude,” Morton said. “They havetheir instructions and the goal is in sight. It’s up to PricewaterhouseCoopers to go to work.This is long overdue.” U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon said Tuesday further delays at the Atlas site will notbe tolerated. “Getting the dust mitigation process in place took too long and was too chaotic,” oe Cannon. “In the future, sues regarding the tailings pile Franklin Seal * Landscape workers spray a mixture of grass seed and mulch on an Atlas tailings pile Tuesdayasa soil-stabilization measure. are not resolved expeditiously, the properoversightaction will take place, be it congressional oversight hearings, [General Accounting Office} audits or any other measure thatwill facilitate resolution.” Fundsto pay for transfer of the tailings have not been authorized. The federal budget submitted to Congress by President Bush does not contain funding for the move, whichis expected to take about 10 years at a cost of $330 million. But Cannon said he is confident funding will be secured. “The administration did not exclude Atlas from anylist, they simply allotted funds for current [Department of Energ¥] projects without line-item requests,” Cannonsaid. “I am extremely confident that Sena- tor [Bob] Bennett can secure fundingfor Atlas in the Senate, that our bipartisan group can secure funding in the House and that we have the full support of the Bush administration and the Departmentof Energy.” for several hours. On May 14, a 10-year-old boy was swept to his death bya flash flood in the canyonthatcrossed the Can- Was Humora Balm for J. Golden Kimball? ydn Overlook trail. Central Provo Fighting Over Downzoning Life wasn’t all laughs for ancestor, says great-grandnephew BY BOB MIMS TH ik SALT LAKE TRIBUNE CEDAR CITY — J. Gotden Kimball, BY MARK EDDINGTON THES. AKI rRIBU EROve Central Provo residentsat odds over student housing are learning that a neighborhood divided against itself cannotstand, Question is; What will they not stand for? More student apartments and condos? Or more single family homes and preservation of historic houses ‘Those questionsare pitting street vs. street, neighbor vs. neighborin the Joaquin neighborhood south of Brigham Young University. As yet, despite several meetings, there is no meeting of the minds be- tween homeowners and wouldbe developers. “The meeti have been pretty rowdy,” acknowledged Provo Community Develop- mentDirector Richard Secrist, whofinds himself refereeing the squabble. “Most homeowners who live in the neighbor- hood want to downzone the area from multifamily to Single-family homes. But in- vestor owners who don't live there are very much opposed.” Theruckusbrokeoutearlier this year when Joaquinneighborhood chairwoman Bonnie Callis and other homeowners asked the city for relief from student rentals theysay are ruining their neighborhood. Callis’ call for neighborhood preservation between Center Street and 500 North-and from Jast rallied some uncil membersto their , but also galvanized de- velopers to oppose the move and label preservationists as being anti-student. Led by Loren Bell, who owns three rental properties in the area, former BYU widereceiver Mark Bellini and other investment owners have formed the Joaquin Fairness Committee andretained an attorney. Bell points out the city ap- proved student housing for the area in 1967 to revitalize what was an economically moribund area, Hesaidthere is little singlefamily housingleft to save and, in any case, downzoning will not dothejob. “Look, 94 percent of Joaquin’s [1,124] housing units are already rentals,” said Bell, wholives in an 1877 Joaquin homelisted on the historic register. Only 23 percent of the 311 properties in the 53acre, 14block area are owner-occupied; absentee owners havetherest. Callis said the fact that apartments outnumber homes in Joaquin does not mean Provo should not try to save whatisleft. “If we don't do something, within five to 10 years we'll lose the Joaquin neighborhood.” Council members are set to consider the issue at their June 19 meeting. ‘ib.com medd. the former mule- skinner and cowboy turned Mormon general authority, remains as beloved today for his earthy, wry humor as when he preached to Latterday Saints nearly a century ago. But Kimball, who died near Reno, Nev., in 1938, was not just the carefree, frontier comic Mormon culture reveres. Indeed, his oft-quoted quips may have been outlets for angst overlong-runningfinancial woes as often as they were the fruit of a punster's mind, says James N. Kimball, his great-grandnephew. Speaking to the Mormon History Association meeting at Southern Utah University for funds from church leaders. on Saturday, Kimball — an Eventually, the church adjunct professorat Salt Lake granted him a stipendoffirst Community College known $100 and then $125 a month, for one-man showsportraying but muchof that was paid in his legendary relative — said tithing scrip — coupons many J. Golden Kimball lost a for- Salt Lake City businesses eitune investing in real estate ther refused or sharply during the panic of 1893, and discounted. finally had to file for bankTaking charity from the ruptcy in 1899. church hurt Kimball's pride. “His resulting impoverish- Shortly before his bankruptment defined his circum- cy, he wrote: “It makes me stances for therestofhis life,” tired of being under the neJames Kimball said. “To cessity of feeding at the corn present Golden'slife as one of crib.. . . lam desperately unlight-hearted humor and ir- happy. I cannot overcomeit. reverent observations, as I Am helpless.” have done over the last two Someof his woes, his diadecades, is an excessively ries reveal, he blamed on John narrow view. It does a great W.Taylor; son of LDS Church disservice to this honorable, President John Taylor. Along dedicated, unpretentious with manyothers, J. Golden man. Kimball and his brother, J.Golden Kimball's diaries Elias, invested thousands of contain frequent, worried en- dollars in a Taylor-led Canatries about financial reverses dian land scheme that went and times when, with banks bad. threatening foreclosure and Yet, Kimball's sense of hufood running out for his wife mor did not abandon him, and children, he had to plead evenif fortune had. One story is told ofKimball’s response to persistent bill collectors: “Nowlistenhere,fellows. You knowthe way I handle myaccounts,I takeall of thebills at the end of the month and I put them in the wastebasket. “Then I stir them around and see onethat looks good andif I can,I'll pay it. But if you don’t quit bothering me,I won't put yours in -the wastebasket.” An_ 1897 journal entry, penned as he was mired in courtroom battles with creditors and resources running thin, was bitter, desperate and darkly humorous. “I leave this confession as an object lesson for my posterity,” referring to his financial missteps. “If they desire the same unhappy experience let them try the same experi- mentand they will also ‘learn obedience throughthe things’ whichthey suffer,or else rebel against God and harden their hearts, and goto hell.” [e-mail] Longtime Broadcaster, KBYU-TV Creator Earl J. Glade Jr. Dies at Age 89 Earl J. Glade Jr., the creator of KBYU-TV and a longtime broadcaster, died last weekin Salt Lake City at age After working in Boise radio and television, Glade became director of broadcast services 89. where helaunched thecollege’s public TV station, KBYU-TV’s educational, entertainment and spiritual programs now draw a large audience. While at BYU, Glade taught communications and broad- Glade’s 53-year career started at an Ogden radio station. He then became a writer and news editor at KSL Radio, founded by his father, Earl J. Glade Sr. PTA Falls Out Of Favorin SomeCircles @ Continued from B-1 at Brigham Young University nation. There were 14 new PTA groups organized -this year, bringing the total membership in the state to about 149,000, Taylorsaid, National- ly, the PTA claims more than 6.2 million members. But outside the Beehive State, the PTA isn'taspopular as it once was. In Massachusetts, for example, only 5 percentof parents participate. Less than a quarter of the nation’s schools — or 27,000 of 110,500 are PTAaffiliated, Frandsensaid. In Utah, more than half of the total annual PTAdues, between $3 and $4 per family, is divided among the regional, state and na- according to a report comtionaloffices. piled by the magazine PTO Local PTAleaders say that Today. at both the state and national Money and the PTA's nalevel, the organization takes tional political agenda are the positions in line with pro- two biggest reasons parents education politicians from leave the organization, said both sides of the aisle, includ- Charlene Haar, president of ing school reform, adequate the conservative Education school funding, decreasing Policy Institute. Haar, author class size and preventing vio- of The Politics ofthe PTA, belence and drug use. Jieves the national organiza“PTA is supportive of pub- tion is out of step with local lic education,” said Colleen chapters, Taylor, Utah PTA president. “The rank andfile are re“Webelieve that [public edu- ally uninformed about what cation] is the level playing the {national} organization field for all kids.” loes,” said Haar about the Since its formationin 1897, national agenda, when it was called NaHaar was surprised that tional Congress of Mothers, Utahns, known for being PTA members have worked family-oriented conservaon behalf of ch: tives, tend to be strong PTA schools, The PTA played a 8 rs. key role in getting schools to But some believe joining serve lunches and to require the PTA may be more of a rechildhood inoculations, flexive action on the part of pe recently, the Utah Utah parents, pushed the Legislature isa each school dividends from ae the school trust lands. Utah had the highest proportion of PTA-affiliated schools — 87 percent of schools belong — in the casting classes. Since 1965, he awarded students there with the Earl. J. Glade Award for student excellence, in honorof hisfather. One notable winner of the honor was Jane Clayson, co-host of CBS’s “The Early Show.” Glade is survived by six of his seven children, 29 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildmembership. She attributes falling numbers to an increasing number of dualincome families rather than political views. Taylor called accusations the PTA hasaliberal agenda mere rhetoric and said the PTA doesn't care whatside of the aisle legislation comes from if it helps children. “We put the child in the center of the table and ask what's the best thing for children,”said Taylor. But some Utah parents believe that goal is better achieved if they operate autonomously, ParkCity parents cut their ties to the PTA abouta decade ago, the largest group to do so to date, The Park City members bolted after the state PTA backed legislation that equalized property tax revenue among districts — which means monied Park City District helps support poorerdistricts, Taylor said. State PTA leaders say Utah parents shouldn't assume thelocal organization's stands mirror those taken at the national level. “State PTA can and has taken different stands on na- think that's how support the schools, and they don't think beyond the school,” Frandsensaid. But Taylor, who calls her- ren and one great-great grandchild. Glade will be interred Tuesdayin Salt Lake City. A funeral will be at noon at the Edgemont LDS Sixth Ward chapel in Provo, 4000 N. 650 East (Timpview Drive). There will be a viewing today at Provo’s Berg Mortuary, 185 E. CenterSt. kids hitting each other with the buckles. The PTA operates much like a political party, where viewsat the locallevel can be filtered to the national level through conventions and caucuses, And sometimes the national organization lends its clout to help drivelocal issues which happened when. the Utah PTA pressured lawmakers on schooltrust lands money, Taylorsaid. Not everyone agrees that works, “We have no representation, no voice,” Frandsen said, “You give them $1.25 [in dues] and have no recourse, They do whatthey wantwith it. They say you are represented, but you're not.” For some parents, like many at Vista Elementary, there is greater value, and possible greater good, to be had in independence, Zolman, whose husband is former conservative Republican lawmaker David Zolman, believes the proposed separation would increase parental involvementat the school, “We want to make decisions at our own schoollevel our own bylaws,” Zolman said. If the proposal passes, Vista Elementary would become the first school in Gran3 District to separate from PTA. “We want to have more parents say, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is only going to work if I'm there,” Zolman said. “There is this false sense that it’s taken care of [under the felt research didn't show the PTA.” benefits would outweigh added problems,— such as Harper Takes Audience on Music Journey BY DEBBIE HUMMEL THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE In a more than two-hour performance at the Delta Center on Friday night, singer, songwriter and guitarist Ben Harpertook fans on a journey. They were treated to tender acoustic ballads, instrumentals, the blues and heavy rock crescendos in an impressive display of the musician's diverse talent. Dressed in a wide-brimmed black hat and a flashy cowboy———v——— style REVIEW shirt, Harper and his band, the Innocent Criminals, casually sauntered on stage before the lights had gone completely down. Harper took his trademark seat on a blanket-covered chair in the middle of a raised platform at center stage, noodled a quick guitar check and began with “Excuse Me Mr.,” during which he interjected part of Bob Marley's song “Burning and Looting.” As Harper and band launched into “Burn One Down,”an ode to recreational marijuana use, the response was downright giddy, and several membersof the audience took the song to heart aslittle clouds of smoke emerged throughoutthe arena. Harper must haveoneof the busiest guitar technicians in the business, switching from his lapslide to acousticorelectric versionsof the instrument after nearly every song, Harper, with Juan Nelson on bass, Dean Butterworth on drums arid David Leach on an array of other percussion instruments, jammed through song after song. Harper thanked the crowd often and, before launching into the epic soundof “Forgiven,” acknowledged the importance of the personal interpretations his fans have of his work, “I stay away from defining the meaningofsongs, but I will say that I leave out one verse from every song and that verse is people's lives,” he said. “I don't want to overstate the importance of music, but I don't wantto understateit either.” soulful version of “Woman in You,” a fun cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition" and the closest thing Harper has to a radio hit out- side of college radio,“Steal My Kisses,” rounded outtheset. Harper returned solo for an encore. Instrumental “Number Three”andstirring versions of “Roses From MyFriends” and ing lack Johnson got crowd's attention with a cover of Bob tune “Trenchtown Rock” and finished up his set with “Inaudi- ble Melodies” from his self. titled album. 9