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Show WILDFIRE WARNING:Report says 90percentof Utah forests are vulnerable. B2 U The Salt Lake Tribune inside For the Record B2 Obituaries B4 Weather B8 WEDNESDAY August27, 2003 9 WWW.SLTRIB.COM Sextopics put teacher underfire Labor Day 1s a chance Bo i = RARE ee q e4 to play i Fun abounds: Utahns are preparing for outdoor, end-of-season recreation Alpine SchoolDistrict officials investigate on the holiday weekend remarksin class about orientation, By Tom WHARTON marriage after some parents complain The Salt Lake Tribune Utahnssearching for ways to eo ie ae Sar ent FR celebrate Labor Day weekend may find their favorite campgrounds full, water levels down at reservoirs and fishing areas more crowded than normal. Then again, a variety of activities throughout the state might keep many from straying too far from home. College football games at the By MarK EDDINGTON The Salt Lake Tribune OREM Alpine School District officials are investigating Orem High School teacher Ruth Stanton McAtee after some parents complained she told their children in an honors English class to be open-minded about sexual orientation and same-sex marriage. University of Utah and Brigham Young University kick off the holiday weekend Thursday night. After that, the weekend festivities begin in earnest. From Midway’s annual Swiss Days held Friday and Saturday to Hooper’s Tomato Daysto Payson’s 74th annual Onion Days Grand Parade, special Labor Day weekendevents promise fun. “It’s the end of the season,” said Hollie Brown of the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation. “Everyonegets out for one The probe comes at the request of an Orem couple, Arthur and Michele Brady, who complainedthis weekin aletter to the district about McAtee’s comments to their daughter, Hannah, and her classmates. The Bradys further alleged in the letter that McAtee told students to refrain from telling their parents about her remarks. “T felt like she wastryingto get us to drop ourbeliefs to get us to believe what she believed. It made mereally uncomfortable,” Hannah Brady, 14, was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. Neither the Bradys nor McAtee could be reached Tuesday for comment. Districtofficials say they have last bash.” Dog lovers can visit Soldier Hollow in Heber Valley, Friday through Sunday, for the Sheepdog ChampionshipTrials, while those looking for something a little more esoteric can enjoy the 23rd annualBelly DanceFestival on Saturday and Sunday at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center at 1530 W. 3300 South. Four-wheel-drive enthusiasts will be out in force in the Moab area for the annual Labor Day See LABOR DAY, B3 corroborated some of the complaints. “We talked with several par- , ents and_ students,” District spokeswoman Jerrilyn Mortensen said Tuesday. “[McAtee] made some comments that were not appropriate and were highly offensive to some, but not to others.” As the investigation contin- ues, the district has cautioned McAtee andassigned a mentor to monitor her lesson plans. Orem High School also has permitted five of McAtee’s 30 students to transfer to honors English classes taught by other teachers. Even so, Mortensen says there is no evidence the teacher told her sophomore students to keep quiet about her remarks. “A couple of students haveinterpreted her_comments that way,” Mortensen said. “She says she told them that what is acceptable in one arenais not in another, but that she absolutely did not tell kids not to talk to their parents. She is a parent herself and would not give that advice to children.” See PARENTS, B3 Ryan Gausrarru/The Salt Lake Tribune Ogden hotel death stumpsdetectives Personal watercraft and boats on Tuesdayget an early feel for the Labor Day weekend at Jordanelie. Despite low water levels, many recreation areas are expecting large crowds of four-wheel and fishing enthusiasts. Fiestas, parades and fireworks are scheduled around the state ~ or, for those who would rather relax at home, there will be college football games on television. NOTA DROP TO DRINK Waiting for test results: More than two monthsafter the shooting, the question of murderor suicide remains East CanyonCreek, a key Park City area water source, ran bone-dry this summer By ASHLEY BROUGHTON The Salt Lake Tribune By CHRISTOPHER SMART TheSalt Lake Tribune ark City and Snyderville Basin are knownforalpine ambience, winter sports and trendyliving. Nowaddtothat deadfish. On Aug.13, a 1.5-mile stretch of East Canyon Creek, between Kimball Junction and Jeremy Ranch, ran bone dry, leaving a slew of cutthroat and browntrout baking in the summersun. Once pristine fishery, the creek has suffered from a decade of intense developmentand a five-year drought. Utah's premier resort community now has one more thing in common with Las Vegas and Los Angeles: It’s running out of water — fast. For years, water experts have predicted that Park City and Snyderville Basin would outgrow western Summit County’s water resources. That day looks to be close at hand, says Jim Carbine, general manager of Mountain Regional WaterDistrict. “The water in the basin — obviously, there isn’t enoughofit.” There appears to be more water on paper See CREEK, B7 Ryan Gatanattu/The Salt Lake Tribune Mike Luers, general manager of the Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District, on Tuesday checksthe trickle in East Canyon Creek that was spawned by weekend rains. Two weeks ago the creek was dry, stranding fish. | The suspicious death of a 38year-old Salt Lake City womanin an Ogden hotel room remains under investigation more than two months later, police said Tuesday. Meanwhile, Kimberly Rae Welch Kavoukas’ boyfriend the only other person in the room when shedied has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of possessing a firearm as a convictedfelon. Kavoukas was found dead June 19 in a room at the Budget Inn, said Ogden police Detective Jim Gent. She died from a gunshot woundto the head. The question police are now trying to answer: Did Kavoukas kill herself as boyfriend Ty Mullen claims, or was her death a homicide? “You have two people in a room, andonedies, and the other can’t comeupwith a good explanation for it,” Gent said. “We’re trying to find out what happened. Some things make sense and some don’t.” Kavoukas’ family believes there was no way she could have killed herself, despite her struggles with drug addiction and mental illness. “T don’t want it to be said that this girl committed suicide,” said Russell Druce of Salt Lake City, Kavoukas’ father. “She had too much going for her.” For example, his daughter was overjoyed about the impending birth of her first grandchild, he said. Thebaby wasborn in July after her death. Kavoukashad traveled to Ogden to be with Mullen, 33, a white supremacist, because she was See DETECTIVES, B3 Pair’s kids caught up in a tangled bureaucratic web spite her protests that she had an active 3 2 protective order against her estranged husband. Wilkins signedthe order after Garcia-Rojas submitteda petition that based allegations of neglect and abuse against the mother on unnamed thirdparty sources. Martha Rojas pleaded for the officers to check the protective order before taking the children, but 2 COPY) Ro.tiy & WELLS Centerville police Lt. Paul Childs said the officers were compelledto follow the order of Wilkins, which was dated after the protective order against the husband and therefore took precedence. Childs also said theofficers kept Garcia-Rojas at a distance from Martha Rojas’ home, so theydid not violate the protective order designed to keep him : away from her,not the children. But nobody checked the divorce order, submitted by Ogden JudgeErnie Jones, which limited Garcia-Rojas’ contact with the children to supervised visits, based at least partially on a report issued to the judgein 2001 by Division of Child and FamilyServices case worker Debbie Robertson. Nancy Volmer, spokeswomanfor the state Administrative Office of the Courts, said when parents petition judges for protective orders,they file them as sworn statements underoath andit is a felonyto providefalse information. She said Wilkinsrelied on the assumedtruthfulness of the sworn statement. Jones’ divorce order also prohibited both parents from taking the children out of state. But Garcia-Rojas has taken them to Twin Falls, Idaho. Wilkins has & 4 set a Sept. 4 hearing date to determine what happens next with the children. Theolder child was supposed to start school Monday. speed, changelanes excessively, follow other cars too closely and do other stupid things. Passing the buck: Firefighters And the winner is: Last week we throughout the valley promise not to hindertraffic safety while standing on the curbsides collecting cash for the annual fill-the-boot campaign to fight musculardystrophy. Jay Ziolkowski of the Salt Lake CountyFire Department said drivers are encouragedto not break any traffic laws to get their cash to the firefighters. If a light changesto green, go throughit and catch upwith the next boot carrier, he said. The campaign continues through Sunday askedyoutoselect from alist of final ists the best slogan for the Utah Departmentof Public Safety's aggressivedriving campaign that will be launched Thursday in timefor the Labor Day weekend. The winner: “UHP: Putting the brakes on aggressivedriving.” It edged “Please be cool,.don’t drivelike a fool” by onevote. Theslogan will be used by the Utah Highway Patrol to discourage reckless driving. Troopers who have beenassigned to special “aggressive driver” shifts will be out in force beginning Thursdaylooking for drivers who A Paul Rolly and JoAnn JacobsenWells welcomee-mail at rolly&wells@sltrib.com. —— hen 2nd District Juvenile Court Judge Diane Wilkins signed a protective order Aug. 19 that allowed Mario GarciaRojas to take his two minor children from the homeof their mother, who had been grantedsole custody pending a final divorce order, she apparently didn’t check the history of the case. Three Centerville police officers took the 6-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy from the homeof Martha Rojas, de- |