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Show LOCAL N EWS Tuacahn Center dedicated :i!...... ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Mormon Tabernacle Choir waits to perform at the outdoor amphitheatre Saturday night at the dedication of the Tuacahn Center for the Arts. ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) - A week of festivities celebrating the opening of the T uacahn Center for the Ar culminated with a dedication by Mormon Church President Gordon B. Hinckley. Hinckley delivered a tribute to pioneers who "walked this desert from Cedar City to Las Vegas Springs and had terrible experiences with the natives on occasion." He also cracked a couple of jokes, referencing environmental concerns that centered on the threatened desert tortoise and nearly ended construction of the 80-acre, $20 million center at the base of Snow Canyon. "Those pioneers managed to placate them (natives) without lawyers," Hinckley said during the ceremony on Saturday. "I suppose they (pioneers) may have seen a desert tortoise or two, but didn't pay them much attention. They never dreamed how costly they could be." The recently-sustained president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints was brought to the stage in an elaborate horse drawn carriage and sea ted alongside Heritage Arts Foundation executives. Gov. Mike Leavitt, U .S. Sen. Bob Bennett and Rep. Jim Hansen al o attended the event that featured an open-air concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Operated by the Heritage Arts Foundation, the Tuacahn Center For the Arts is not affiliated with the LOS Church, and is funded through private donations, according to founder and Executive Director Doug Stewart. The board of directors is independent of the church, but all are members. Hinckley said the complex is a tribute to the state and its rich history, as "UTAH!'' - the featured outdoor musical drama starting this summer - spreads the "depth and breadth" of the pioneer determination. "(It will) convey to the world, to millions of people, some true sense of what Utah, and particularly Southern Utah, means in tem1s of struggle and fortitude," he said. " I think this represents the fruition of something that began 141 years ago." 'Civic Dialogue' meetings set Workshop to deal with natural disasters On April 26, at the Holiday lnn in Cedar City, the Utah Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management' Natural Hazard Section will be conducting a workshop on reducing the losses from natural disa ter with mitigative efforts. The following four-day workshops will be conducted: The Po t Disaster Declaration Proce s; Earthquake Preparedness for Schools; Floodplain Management and the National Flood In urance Program (NFIP); and National Flood Insurance Program Training for Mortgage Lenders and lnsurance Agents. Th workshops are open and free to all who are interested. . Nancy Barr, state floodplan manager and workshop coordinator said, "The goal of this workshop is to address local concerns, create better working relationships between state and local government , and ultimately reduce the loss of life, injury, and pr perty, and protect the environmen t through mitigative efforts." To register or for more information, please call the Utah Division of Comprehensive Emergency Managem ent at 801-538-3400 or toll-free l-800-753-2858. KUED-TV and the Spectrum invite SUU students and southwestern Utah residents to participate in two town meetings on April 24 at the Cox Auditorium in St. George. Tackling issues from southern Utah development and growth to environmental concerns, the public forums will be taped as part of KUED's public affairs series, Civic Dialogue. Hosted by Ted Capener, the meetings will begin at 6 p.m . with a look at growth and development in St. George and southern Utahand will allow concerned residents to voice their various opinions on the region's development boom. The second hour-long town meeting will address environmental concerns-water issues and the Endangered Species Act. Civic Dialogue will examine outhem Utah's dependence on water access, and how the area's growth affects water use. The public forum will also look at the Endangered Species Act and its effect on Land acce s, development and the area's fragile wildlife. "The town meetings provide a chance for people of St. George and southern Utah to speak out about environmental concerns and the development boom in their region, 11 says Scott Thompson, Civic Dialogue producer. "Because all sides of these issues will be represented, public input is very important." ln addition to giving locals the chance to voice their opinions, the town meetings will also feature a panel of experts, including local and county officials and environmentalists people from the southern Utah area. Following the second hour-long taping, KUEO,will provide a reception with light refreshments for all who attend the free event. The public fornms and taping will take place at the Cox Auditorium at the Dixie Center in St. George, located at 425 South 700 East. Doors open at 6 p.m. for the first hour-long taping, 11 outhem Utah Growth and Development" which will be followed by the second hour-long meeting, "Southern Utah Environmental Issues." Civic Dialogue: "Southern Utah Growth and Development" will air on KUED April 25 at 9 p.m. "Southern Utah Environmental Issues" will air May 2 at 9 p.m . Cedar wages lag behind inflation By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Cedar City continues its steady growth, but average wages figured after local inflation takes its bite are down by more than 7 percent since 1991. However, SUU economics professor Alan Hamlin says his statistical study shows that while wages do not keep up with inflation in Iron County, the same is not trne for neighboring Washington County. Hamlin's findings are part of a 10-year study, and he says that what he found was startling. Between 1991 and 1994, Iron County workers saw a decrease in wages of 7.19 p rcent. Washington County workers saw an increase of 3 .73 percent during the same period. Hamlin said that eight years ago, St. George was in the same position Cedar is in now. St. George has seen a dramatic increase in growth because it reached its "critical mass" in the mid '80s. "T look at the St. George numbers and I have hope," he said. "If they can have 3 percent average increase in wages when their economy is service and retail based, with our economy focusing on manufacturing and other higher paying job we should see an increase." Hamlin said in the past, businesses have come in to Cedar City and paid the local going rate instead of basing wages I on state or national averages. That contributed to wages 30 percent lower than those paid along the Wasatch Front and 10 to 15 percent lower than those in St. George. The average wage in lron County, excluding executives and administrators, is $8.36 an hour. ln Washington County, the same wage is $8.77. Hamlin, who has taught at SUU since 1981 and who is also a Cedar City councilman , said the city has taken some steps to increase wages. Any new business that wants tax incentives or other savings benefits such as land, or a waiver of hookup fees, must agree to pay 20 percent higher wages than the going Alan Hamlin average rate. . . ..... . . .,._. |
