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Show The Salt Lake Tribune UTAH/WORLD Governors governors have moved into position for presidential cam) Wield Different Levels of Power Beyle argues that his rankings give a good indication of which governors havethe best shot at pushing through their agendas — and which ones mightgo higher on the national itical ladder. Buteven in state thatties for last on the powerchart, the chief executiveis still the most powerful politician. After all, in vecnning,Democrat Howard Dean doesn’t have much competition. Lawmakers there meet four months a year and have nostaffs. Likewise in Utah, the short 45-daylegislative session gives the executive branch more power than, say, in New York, California andIllinois, where the legislatures meet year round. “The fact the state legislature meets for a Short amount of time gives the governor more flexibility through the year,” Davis said. Of course that hasn’t prevented the executive andlegislative branches — both domi- @ Continued from A-1 told The Salt Lake nate people for election to the state Board of Education sets him apart fromhis peers across the nation. Told where the Utah post ranks nationally, Gov. Mike Leavitt, attending the Utah: Utah State football game Saturday night, laughed andsaid, “I hope nobodytells the Legislature.” Focusing on the statutory powers of the nation’s governors, and not the individuals whohold office, University of North Carolina political scientist Thad Beyle looked at fine points ofgubernatorial heft. Beyle weighed budgeting authority, veto and appointmentpowers and the numberof statewide elected officials such as a secretary ofstate or an attorney general who could becomerival power brokers. Barely budging the clout scale were the governors of Rhode Island and Vermont, whotied for last. > The West Virginia governor — Democrat Bob Wise — won the top rating because of his wide-ranging authority, the absence of term limits and the ability to veto only part ofa bill, called a lineitem veto. The nation’s 50 governors may share the same title but their authority is as different from state to state as a Yankee twang is from a Southern drawl. While Utah’s governor,like others, can ask for federal help in nat disasters such as cricket invasions, he cannot, unlike his Texas counterpart, spare the life of a convicted murderer. the Board of Pardons,. which he. appoints, can do that. Oneatypical power granted the Utah governoris selecting Peera lawmakers, said. ichard Davis, Brigham Young Unigertty political scientist. Forir ice, Leavitt will select ‘Sen. Pete Suazo’s replacement. But he can’t pick just anyone. Because Suazo, who was killed Aug. 19, was a Democrat, his party will submita list of candidates. “In other states you would have an election,” Davis said. The process of comparing gubernatorial political clout started in the 1960s, when a Michigan State University political scientist assigned numerical values to the ingredients ofpolitical power. In recent years, political junkies have taken more interest in periodic updates as state Al3 Sunday, September2, 2001 nated by the GOPfor the past 16 years— from competing for power. Bangerter recalled how he got the final word even after lawmakers overrodehis veto of a bill to spend money studying buildings the state couldn’t afford. “Ti ‘i the money anyway,”he said. Knight Ridder News Service contributed to this story. by consecutive days of torrential rains in the wave of flooding to hit the region this month. = Military toops and volunteers evac uated thou: i pe At least 20people have died in the Upstream in Cambodia, 22 people woebiasin accompanying floods durwere ing the previous week. * At least 40 people in northern Nigeria were killed and 10,000 others were dis- placed by flash flooding that swept through dozensof communities. Pan American Drought A prolonged drought during Central America’s usual rainy Periodhas put 1.6 million residents in peril, according to a Persian Gulf have been measured at as Tropical Cyclones high as 97 degrees. A Kuwaiti newspaper Tropical storm Dean reformed reported thatthe fish kill may have been for a short period in the North caused by toxic waste, radioactive s Atlantic after losing force just north of Puerto Ricoduring the |. The three-month drought has ‘ment or contaminated material flowing in previous week. affected Guatemala, El Salvador, from Iraq or Iran. Nicaragua and Honduras, and is creating + Hurricane Flossie moved well off the most dire conditionsin the region since Red Tide Source Mexico's Pacific coast before losing force the devastationleft in the wake of hurriAnew NASA-funded study has late in the week. cane Mitch in 1998.Anestimated 80per* Typhoon Wiitip and tropical storm concluded that the toxic “red cent ofthe region’s grain crop has been tide” outbreaks in the Gulf of Sepat moved over the open waters of the lost to the parched conditions. Residents Mexico are caused by huge westem Pacific, far from any significant from Nicaragua to Guatemala have been clouds of Saharan dust that blow in from land areas. forced to scavenge for mangoes and North Africa. Thecloudsare typically genbananas due to the loss of their bean and erated by windstorms over the Sahara Earthquakes cor crops. ‘A magnitude 5.3. earthquake Desert and are subsequently carried for near Japan’s ancientcapital of thousands of miles at high altitudes by Kyoto halted train service and Kuwaiti Fish Kill easterlytrade winds. As the iron-rich dust may have beenresponsible for Atleast 1,000 tons of dead fish falls into the Gulf waters off Florida, it 5 have washed up on Kuwait's feeds plant-like bacteria called Tri- the sudden fall ofan elevator. Noinjuries /,"shores since mid-August, chodesmium, which in tur provide a hos- or significant damage were reported from pitable for the toxic algal the shaking. * At least two people in northwestern tion to determinethe cause. Environmen- blooms. Red tides havekilled large num4 talists theorized that a recent heat wave bers of marine mammals, fish, shellfish Turk “that brought temperatures above 122 and birds. They have also been responsi- quakehit nearthe city of Duzce. + Earth movements were also felt in degrees Fahrenheitin the shade may be to ble for skin rashes and respiratory distress in humans. southwestern Bulgaria, the Greekisland of blame. Water temperaturesin the northern report bythe United Nations World Food Skyros, western Iran, southern Sumatra, the Maluku Sea region and south-central Alaska. Owl Antics Two youngowls have beenterrorizing residents around the" New Brunswick city of Fredericton, yanking ponytails,threatening pets, dive-bombing joggers and stealing hats. The winged pair has taken over Odell Park where officials warned city dwellers not to walk after dusk. Many have ignored the warnings in order toget a lookat the avian delinquents. Swooping victim Barbara Baird said, “The full weight of the owl came down on my head. Thad no time to react atall.” Park officials in the eastern Canadian city theorized that thetwo owls could be trying out their hunting techniques. One park forester said, “Their behavioris a little odd right now Wethink they will grow outofit.” The Los Angeles Ti di E-mail: mail@earthweek.com ©2001Earth Environment Service GET A SPECIAL BONUS FROM LUCKY YOU LUCKYBRAND * Park City Outfit Makes Offer for Denver Ski Area BY ROBERT WELLER ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Powdr Corp., the owner of Park City Mountain Resort, is among six bidders competing for a partnership deal at Den- . ver’s debt-ridden Winter Park ski area. Denver Mayor Wellington Webb's office identified the other bidders as Intrawest, a Canadian companythat owns Colorado’s Copper core East ners of Aven, Colo.; and Okemo Mountain Resort ofVermont. Winter Park has struggled to draw skiers from more popular resorts owned by Vail Resorts, Intrawest and American Skiing Co.,and had to skip a scheduled payment owed the city earlier this year. To reverse its market slide, Winter Park in 1998 offered passes,” bringing lift ticket prices down to 1970s levels. 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