Salt Lake Tribune | 2001-11-22 | Page 34

. The Salt Lake Tribune UTAH Th ow i ’ 22, 2001 State Workers’ Gun Ban Likely to Be Lifted PUBLIC SAFETY N Salt Lake City police are seeking two suspects in the robbery of a business early, Tuesday. Em- ployees of the Blue Beacon Truck Wash,2020 S..900 West, told investigators two menentered the business office at about4:30 a.m. and ordered them into a back room. The suspects then broke intoa cash drawer,took an undisclosed amountofmoneyandfled. Anyonewith information aboutthe robbery is asked tocall police at 799-3000. Qa PEDESTRIAN KILLED Salt Lake City police cited a driverforfailing to yield in an auto-pedestrian accident Tuesday nightthatkilled Sophia DeKnick, 80, of Salt LakeCity,said Sgt. Fred Louis, police spokesman. DeKnickwas crossing 100 South at 1000 East around 6:30 p.m. when she was struckbythe car. She was transported to a hospital and later died, Louissaid. Currentrestriction violates Utah law, Shurtleff says __BYDAN HARRIE THESALT LAKETRIBUNE Utah officials have a New Year's resolution: that state employees be able to pack their concealed weapons to the workplace. Gov. Mike Leavitt and state personnel bosses are moving to repeal a rule prohibiting state workers from me armed onthe job,effective Jan. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff prompted the about-face with a legal analysis thatthe rule, implemented in 1997, violates state law reserving to the source Management Department said opinion. attorney-client privilege — was given to les, who was westbound, appar- ently lost controlof his car andit rolled across the median. Robles was not wearinga seatbelt and * was ejected fromthecar,said Sgt. Doug McCleve, Utah Highway Patrol spokesman. Robles wasde- clared deadat the scene. Qa BODY FOUNDATU. Investigators do not suspect foul play orsuicide in the death of aman whowas found inside a men’s restroom at the University of Utah’s Marriott Library early Wednesday,said university po- lice spokesman Kevin Nollenberg. Michael Jay Casey, 28, was discovered in a first-floor restroom by a custodian around 6:30 a.m. Leavitt unsolicited. Several BY KIRSTEN STEWART Brigham Young University students will get a reprieve next year from 28 years of consecutive tuition hikes. Citing an unstable economy, the Provo school announced Tuesday it will not increase undergraduate or graduate tuition for the 2002-03 school year. “We are sensitive to the current economic condition and the impact it is-having on families whose children attend ‘the university,” said BYU President Merrill J. Bateman in a prepared statement. “These families are faithful tithe payers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose funds are the major revenue source for BYU’s academic budget.” Undergraduates at BYU will pay $1,530 a semester next year and An infant delivered during emergencysurgery after her Calling him a “plague upon society,” U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Wednesday sentenced Timothy Brian Brown to more than 15 years in federal prison for molesting a young boy he met as a volunteer for Big cal Center, hospital spokeswoman Bonnie Midgetsaid. The baby Laytonafter her mother, Krista Koegh,25, shot herself, police said. Koegh later died and the babywas airlifted to Salt Lake City. The infantgirl wasin critical condition in a pediatric intensive care unit until her death Sunday, Midgetsaid. a CLERK FIRES AT ROBBER Police are looking for a suspect in an attempted armed robbery at aconvenience store Tuesday night in Woodside thatresulted in the would-be robberandstore ownerexchanging gunfire. Roy Pogue told Emery County sheriff's deputies that a man entered his store on U.S. Highway 6 around 10;20 p.m., shoved a gun in his face and demanded money. Pogue grabbed a gun hekept under the counterand shotat the robber, who returned fire while fleeing. Neither man was injured. Q ee RARE CHARGE Because tuition revenue provides about 30 percent of BYU's academic budget, administrators say, they can maintain the quality of the university’s core programs without an increase. Students should savorthe reprieve, however, said Carri Jenkins, BYU spokeswoman.“Weanticipate normal tuition increases will resume from here on.” BYU isthefirst university in Utah to set tuition for next year. Privately owned Westminster College in Salt Lake City’ won't make a decision abouttuition until February. Tuition hikes for Utah's 10 public colleges will be confirmed during the 2002 legislative session. Last year college students lobbied to keep tuition equal to the rate of inflation, but the jurisdiction of federal prosecutors. The boy, who was 9 whenthe abuse died at Primary Children’s Medi- wasdelivered Nov.10 at Davis The rule’s withdrawal has to go through a public commentperiod, and may be subject to a hearing if re- quested by an agency or 10 people, There is no indication yet whether anyone will challenge lifting the gunfree workplace rule. “We don’t know,” Whipple said. “When wefirst wrote the rule, [some] people were mad at us and [some] people were happy with us. We've got the same mix this time.” Sen. Mike Waddoups, RTaylorsville, author; of Utah's concealed-weapons law,was delighted at the gun-ban’s demise. Such a policy is “crazy” because it serves as an advertisement to criminals that public employees are easy victims, Waddoups said. “It paints a target on them. . . It says there’s no one there to fight back.” No figures are available on how manystate employeesare licensed to carry concealed weapons.Identities of tuition rose 5.5 percent, outpacing the ConsumerPrice Index by more than twopoints. Lawmakers also approved a newtuition plan that permits statefunded colleges to ask for institutionspecific tuition increases in addition to the statewide adjustment. This year students are taking a more moderate approach, pushing instead forlegislation that wouldtie tuom hikes to an inerease in financial aid. According to a national College Board tuition survey released in Oc- tober, tuition hikes at public schools outpaced those at private schools for thefirst time since 1996. Average private-college tuition rose 5.5 percent in 2001, compared to. 7.7 percentfor public schools, Tuition at BYU rose 4.1 percentlast year and has grown at an average rate of 4.3 percent a year over the past decade. Brothers-Big Sisters ofUtah. “T see almost no redeeming social or public service value to your life,” Bensontold Brown,34. Brown,assigned by the Big Brother rogram to be a mentorfor his victim, molested the boy for more than a year. Hetook nudepictures of the child and posted them on theInternet. Interstate use ofthe Internet putthe crime under began, eventually reported Brown to authorities. “As a result of [the boy’s] courageous acts, Brown will not be able to victimize someone else,” Richard Lambert, assistant U.S. attorney for Utah,said after Brown was sentenced. Brown, whopleaded guilty July 25 to the federal charge of sexual exploitation of a child, is also charged in state court with three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and two counts of sodomy on child, all first-degree felonies. He pleaded guilty to the state charges Tuesday and faces the possibility of life behind bars when sen- tenced Jan;18 in 3rd District Court. Brown “wants the court to know he is extremely remorseful,” said his lawyer, Deidre Gorman. “He is very sorry for the griefthis child will suffer.” Saying it was something she had “never done,” Gorman requested that her client be sentenced to the maximum penalty, saying that Brown had made the request as a display of contrition. But Benson — who did impose the maximum sentence — expressed skepticism over Brown's request. “Tsuspect [Brown] feels it may be to his advantage in the state case,” Benson said, calling his ene any independentofwhatthe state does. [e-mail] $3M DonationIs Boost to Envision Utah Mission BY MARK EDDINGTON and Back. And the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s $3 million gift will help the partnershipfulfill that ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE With a $3 million donation, Envision Utah plans to helpcities in west Weber County craft a GreatSalt Lake shoreline plan similar to one. Davis County cities are drafting. The public-private planning partnershipalso hopes to help: Tooele County devise a smart- growth plan. Cities along a proposed commuter-rail line devise transit plans. @ WasatchFrontcities make better use of underutilized land such as abandoned warehouses near railroad tracks. mission. “With significant resources, Envision Utah is poised to bring its vision into reality,” Michael Fischer, pro= officer for the Menlo Park, Calif., foundation said this week before presenting Envision Utah Chairman Greg Bell an IOU for the money. Hewlett’s donation dwarfs the $100,000 it has given to Envision every year since 1999 and represents the single most important part of the foundation's strategy ofensuring that closerto $2.7 million. Besides helping cities with shoreline preservation, Envision Utah is looking to use “in-filling” to cut down on urban sprawl. “If you can reuse or recycleland, it takes the development pressure off open space, agricultural land and wetlands in outlying areas,” said Stephen Holbrook, executive director for Envision Utah. As for transit, Holbrook said Envision’s focus will not be limited to po- The money — $1 million a yearfor Formed in 1997, Envision Utah the next three years — will boost En- counteach ofchild rape, sodomy ofa child and dealing harmful material to a minorin connection with the videotaped sexual abuse of twogirls. Gogins, along with Sammeyale Ramsey,22, and John ne2A, made twovideo- tapes from encounter with a ippearcd on Nov.20, court records said. Cummings turned over the first videotape — after police accused him of raping the girl — in an attempt to prove the girl voluntarily performed tes acts on him. During a of Cummings’ vehicle, poiendoeraed asecond videotape. promotes “quality growth” solutions to transportation, pollution and loss of open space along the Wasatch Front BY JOHN KEAHEY ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, WILD CARD: King of Spades ere in private South Salt Lake clubs dancers, “They are artists who go out and do the same thing as dancers in moderndance or ballets,” McCullough said. “Who says one should be licensed and the other free and open to last spring passed an ordinance forbidding such dancing. [e-mail] Former Provo Mayor Will Head UpState Facilities, Construction Gov. vie Leavitt and state AdServices D) Raylene elana have announced the appointment of former Provo Mayor Joseph Jenkins to head the state division overseeing construction, state buildingsand realestate. Jenkins spenthis first day on thejob Monday as the new director of the Division of Facilities and Construction Management. “Tam so pleased that he was able was Jenkins’ administrative ass! eee 1980s and Itis not Jenkins’first stint in the Leavittadministration. He served boda Sgicnlochiteemryaig sare i Development from apie Salt Lake officials, that's Se Oe Nate line: 208-334- ‘The dancers have been denied thouere ho reine a can calltheIdaho BY STEPHEN HUNT THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE In 1985, Warren Clifford Hales allegedly shook his girlfriend’s 5month-old boy hard enough to leave the infant blind, mute and unable to learn to care for himself — but. prosecutors declined to charge the man with child abuse. Twelve years later the boy, Luther Deem, died after spending his life in whatdoctors call a “persistent vegetative state.” After a Wednesdaypreliminary hearingin 8rd District Court, Hales was ordered to standtrial in Luther’s lingering death. Ifconvicted offirst-degree felony murder, the 41-year-old defendant nudedancer work-card renewals { Hales says the boy was accidentally injured Dec.3, 1985, when he slammed onhis brakes to avoid another car and the baby hit the dashboard. But physicians, including the boy’s pediatrician and a state medical examiner, testified that Luther’s massive brain injuries were inflicted when he was violently shaken on Dec.5, 1985. And the experts insisted Luther’s death, 12 years later, resulted from that shaking. Michelle Westerman testified that her son was sleeping peacefully the nightof Dec.5, 1985, when sheleft her Midvale apartmentfor 20 minutes to get groceries andleft the infantin Hales’care. According to Hales’ interview with police, he checked on the baby “ soonafter the mother leftand found that he was not breathing. Hospital physicians diagnosed shaken baby syndrome after observing a classic triad of injuries: retinal bleeding, bleeding in ie brain and severe swelling of th the boy’s demise 12 years later. Not only had Westerman battled drug addiction, which called into doubt her ability to care for her son, but she at one time discussed expediting the boy’s death with an overdose of his prescription medication, she said. Butpediatrician Frank Bentley blamed all of Luther’s medical problems on the alleged shaking. The boy suffered from seizures, rertently inhaled vomitinto hisatwhich caused For winning numbers andprize amounts, oe =* cash budget to butions are thrown in, the total is An Orem attorney says nude danc- within the city. But the City Council — McCullough’s new clients are six ‘The winning numbers in Ida- In Boy’sDeath 12 Years After Alleged Abuse roughly $2.2 million.If in-kind contri- go from Salt Lake City to Ogden. because the city’s ordinance now forbids such activity. The clubs involved have operated for more than a decade pasties. Butinstead ofthe three clubs being named as plaintiffs —he already has a suit in their behalfbefore a statejudge SenCoat aia vision’s annual Dancers’ Suit Says G-Strings, Pasties Interfere with Freedom ofExpression So Andrew McCullough has filed a suit in U.S. District Court contesting South Salt Lake's new sexually -business ho's Wild Card lottery worth those licensees are confidential under state law. But Waddoups saysthe rule affects many employees, some of whom have complained to him. “They all felt it was an abuse,” he said. “Some of them had been threatened. People hate government workers andpoliticians.” While guns may soon be permitted in most state offices, weapons bans for employees, students and visitors are stillin effect at the avery ofUtah and other institutions of higher education. “Our position is that we have the authority under higher education statutes to promulgate rules governing the campus, and that extends to faculty, staffand students,” said John Morris, counsel for the U. “We don’t intend to change those rules until it’s authoritatively determined that they’re not legal.” Shurtleffhas not approached the U. aboutits gun ban, Morris said. e-mail: [e-mail] facesupto life in prison. BY KEVIN CANTERA mother committed suicide has Hospital and Medical Center in grievance. Big-Brother Child Molester Gets 15 Years ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE INFANT OF SUICIDE DIES “We've had very little trouble with” the no-gun rule, said Whipple, addingthere has been nolawsuit or, graduates $1,930. Law and MBAstudents’ tuition will remain $3,070 a semester. ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Anautopsyis planned. Q the agency was surprised at the as far as he is aware, employee BYU Students Get Tuition-Hike Reprieve Man Charged A single-car rollover accident the 3.a.m.accidentin which Rob- curred with the analysis, Leavitt signed offon the rule's deletion. “Wesaid, ‘OK, you heed to do what needs to be done,’” spokeswoman Bridget Fare said. Conroy Whipple of the Human Re- The opinion — whichShurtleffsaid is a confidential report under 1-80 CRASH KILLS ONE on Interstate 80 in Parleys Canyon early Wednesdaykilled Eric Management reviewed it /and con- Legislature all authority over firearms regulation. Qa Robles,26, of Park City. Investigators are unsure what caused legislators requested the review, Shurtleff spokesman Paul gion said. He did not identify lawmakers. Legislative attorneys,in their own opinion three years ago, also found the rule in violation of the law, but nothing was donethento resolve the apparentconflict. Leavitt previously has resolutely defended the employee gun ban as part of an employer's legal right to create a safe workplace. But when the Department of Human Resource the job in some time, albackground. \ pneumonia. Bentley added that Westerman tet oncetect 9pree ROBBERS SOUGHT