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Show Utah The Salt Lake Tribune THURSDAY, February 1, 1996 | €666 Weber Davis Salt Lake Utah Red - Wood Burning Prohibited Yellow - Wood Burning Discouraged Green - Wood Burning Allowed AIR QUALITY 533-7239 ° SECTION B BUSINESS Page B-4 Massive Slide Pours Into Provo Canyon W.Valley Lobbying Avalanche Shuts Highway 189, For Funds Buries Business By Taylor Syphus SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE PROVO — David Growhadhis livelihood wiped out early Wednesday morning whena wall of snow 1,000 feet wide plunged over Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon andburied his business. “Wedon't havethe resourcesto rebuild,” Grow said as he surveyed the destruction caused by the avalanche that broke loose about 2 a.m. and pouredoverthe aptly named Cascade Mountain. The Provo resident owns the concessions at the waterfall, whichis popular with summervisitors and features one of the world’s steepest trams. The tram provided an aerial view of the falls. Grow also maintained snack and gift shopsat the site, and two railroad cars, one of them an antique caboose. Wednesday they all lay under 60 feet of snow, which also blocked the Provo River. “It's hard to give up,” Grow said. None of the damagedstructures was insured. Damageestimates have ranged from $500,000 to $1 million. Fearing the natural dam would cause floodingin the Utah County community of Springdell, a mile below thefalls, officials evacuated about 100 residents from 25 houses about 4 a.m. Wednesday. However, all were allowed to return to their homes after workers at Deer Creek Reservoir diverted the water that would have flowed downthe river. By 6 p.m., the snow blocking the river had been undercut by the backed-up waterandofficials expected the river's flow to be runningat normallevels today. Kevin Griffith, avalanche control specialist for the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT),said the avalanchestarted at 10,400 feet above sea level on the south side of the canyon and fell more than 5,000 feet, plowed across U.S. Highway 189 andtraveled 200 feet up the canyon’'snorth side, leaving a 1,000foot-wide swath of snowlittered with debris. Asthe snow ripped throughravines, it pushed 200-mph winds beforeit, uprooting and splintering trees like matchsticks. A 70-foot-long boxcar that Grow usedforstorage at the falls @ See AVALANCHE, B-3 By Rebecca Walsh THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE WestValley City and the Utah Grizzlies are not leaving anything to chance in their effort to build a $34.5 million hockey arena — andtheir quest for state money to help payforit City Council members agreed Tuesday to pay lobbyist Rob Jolley nearly $10,000 to persuadeleery legislators to give West Valley City a $3 million grant for the 10,500-seat arena. And Dave Elmore and Donna Tuttle, co-owners of the Grizzlies, have hired Paul Rogers to garner support for several accessory bills that will boost the city’s LynnR. Johnson/TheSalt Lake Tribune David Grow of Provo ownsthe tram and concessionsat Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. Wednesday's avalanche wipedout hisfacilities, which were not insured. Damageestimatesat the site range from $500,000 to $1 million. Provo Canyon Slides Have A 60-foot wall of snow pushing 200-mph winds Killed Four Over the Years By Robert Kirby and Ann Shields SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE PROVO — The huge avalanche in Provo Canyon on Wednesday was the latest in a string of slides that have claimed at least four lives since 1897 and made the canyon's road impass- able, sometimes for weeksat a time. Thefirst recorded death from an avalanche in Provo Canyon happened on Feb. 19, 1897. William Ferguson was killed around midnight when his house near South Fork, approximately two miles above Bridal Veil Falls, was crushed in a torrent of moving snow. Despite the avalanche danger, Ferguson customarily wintered in the canyon, providing shelter to travelers who bravedthe two-day trek between Provo and HeberCity. Theslide also killed Ferguson's cat and dog. Twenty-seven years later, in March roared down the south side of Provo Canyon Wednesday blocking the Provo River, forcing an evacuation of some Springdell homes and burying tourist concessionsatthefalls. eternamanner ne © Pleasant “ Grove Provo River f169) 1924, an avalanchekilled three Denver Rio Grande Western employees. Thevictims were membersof a fiveman crewhired to remove the snow and debris of two previous avalanches from the railroad tracks near Bridal Veil Falls. The group was packing 50-pound bundles of dynamite through the slide area when they stoppedto rest. Without warning, an avalanche plunged down Cascade Mountain, carrying two of the mento their deaths, The third victim was hurled 250 feet through the trees by the avalanche. It took crews five days to dig out the bodies. Despite the increasein traffic, there have been no avalanche-related fatalities in the canyon in recent years, There have beenclose calls, however. In 1993, an avalanche destroyed the Avalanche began above Bridal Veil Falls 1997, the year the arena is slated to open. Rhonda H. Maylett TheSalt Lake Tribune, @ See SLIDES,Page B-3 Singer Kicks Off Black History Month in Style [rere oy Al Hartmann/The Salt Lake Tribune Almeta Speaks, a jazz singer and pianist from Canada, sang for an audience of Utah students at the state Capitol on Wednesday to kick off Black History Month. By Samuel A. Autman THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Resplendent in a flowing Afrocentric red and white gown,jazz musician Almeta Speaks used a black baby grand piano at Rowland Hall-St. Mark's High School Wednesday to teach black history with tunes andtales. “We all know why we celebrate Black History Month in America,” Speakssaid in a throaty Southern accent. “It was interesting to be on tourin Africa and have to explain it to the Africans.” Sheis performingthis week in Salt Lake City, compliments of the Salt Lake City School District, to kick off February’s Black History month. Today and Friday, she'll be at Clayton and Glendale middle schools, the University of Utah and New Pilgrim Baptist Church. Her repertoire borrowsfrom blues, gospel, folk and jazz traditions. Wednesday's songs included ‘‘Georgia On My Mind,” “Kum Ba Yah,” “This Little Light of Mine” and “Hymn to Freedom.” Born in North Carolina, Speaks sprinkled details of her relocation from America to Canada and how she came to teach black history through music. Her two recordings, ““Almeta Speaks” and “Almeta Speaks Again,” are sold in revenues once the arenais built. “Every city does this,” said City Manager John Patterson, echoing the explanation he used for requesting the funds in the first place. Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini lobbied legislators herself and received $1.8 million from the Legislature to help pay for Franklin Quest Field. Ogdenofficials lobbied state leaders last year to obtain $1 million for their own ballpark. Patterson is unsure the city really needs the lobbyists, but said he doesn’t wantto risk not getting legislators’ help. City leaders had beencriticized for not mentioning their plansto go to the Legislature for $3 million last July when they pitched their arenaplanto the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee. “Let's face it,” Tuttle said. “This is a time in government when we'reall trying to be careful with funds. Governmentis looking for good reasons to give away money. Somehow, there was a misunderstanding.” RogersandJolley will try to convince legislators of the arena’s nurturing effect on state economic development. Neither lobbyist returned telephone calls from The Salt Lake Tribune seeking comment The handshaking started Tuesday night, when several dozenlegislators attended a hockey gamecourtesy of the team. West Valley City leaders already have assembled legislators who represent areas of the city or surrounding neighborhoods to sponsor legislation that will raise the city’s status. Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City, is sponsoringlegislation that would allow West Valley City to use its first-class, 100,000-population status to establish parking and ticket fees to pay back the bonds usedto build the arena. Only Salt LakeCity has been ableto raise revenue this way. Mayne’s bill would expire in North America, Africa, Australia, Europe and Asia, whereshe has toured. Indeed, Speaksmaintains that black music is America’s single most important contribution to world culture. “We didn’t give the world opera, symphonies or anyof the Europeangestures,” she said. ‘But when you talk about a unique contribution,it is black music.” Speaks begansinging in church with her sisters in Reidsville, N.C., and she credits religious and popular black music with influencing her musicalstyle. Ten years after performing throughout New York City, Speaks landed a gig in Canadain 1968. She nowlives in Toronto and frequently comes back to the United Statesto visit her family and to perform. When Speaks delved into the history of Canada’s black community, she discovered Canada had slavery between 1628 and 1792 — a fact that most history books overlooked. “Because I had this wonderful scoop, I decided to do a television series,” she said. “Hymn to Freedom: The Contribution of Blacks to the Historical Development of Canada,” has aired on 14 PBSaffiliates in the United States and on Canadiantelevision stations. & See BLACK, Page B-3 Return to the GOP Fold, Governor Urges Cook By Laurie Sullivan Maddox THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Political maverick Merrill Cook, who left the Republican Party eight years agoin a fit of disillusionment, is poised to come back — probably as a GOP candidate for the seat held by embattled Rep. Enid Greene Waldholtz. If enough party leaders, delegates and elected officeholders throw out the welcome mat the way Gov. Mike Leavitt did at a private meeting last week, Cook said, his days as an independent spoiler are over. The explosives-company magnate said the Republican governor was “warm and cordial.” Leavitt invited Cook to return to the fold and the two discussed the 2nd Congressional District race. Cookranfor the seat in 1994 as an Independent, gaining 18% of the vote in a three-wayrace with Waldholtz and then-incumbent Rep. Karen Shepherd, a Democrat. Thelosing bid was Cook’s sixth failed attempt to win public office and heswore it would behislast. IfYouWant AReservedSeat, You Have"To CallIt First. ADelta Air Lines You'll love the way wefly l Rep. Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville-Bennion,is sponsoring the proposed $3 million appropriation. But then Waldholtz’s promising career imploded amid allegations offinancial wrongdoing. As a federal grand jury began looking into illegal campaign financing and check kiting, Waldholtz held a five-hour December newsconferencein Salt Lake City and acknowledged that her $2 million House campaign was funded improperly with $1.7 million from her father. She blamed all of the misdeeds on her estranged husband and onetime campaign treasurer, Joe. & See GOVERNOR,B-3 CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS The University of Utah Wind Symphony, featuring clarinetist Christie Lundquist, will appearin a benefit concert Mondayat 7:30 p.m. in Gardner Hall on the U. campus.Anarticle Sundayin The Salt Lake Tribunelisted an incorrect date of the concert |
