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Show States Immunity J ' I Wanes in Assault of Suits w ,. Citizens Pay In the end, of course, it is all citizens who pay such claims, mostly through taxes. At some levels of government, that is the sole method of raising judgment money. Other entities also rely on a certain amount of commercial insurance. How would the U.S. government, for example, pay the claims of hundreds of people who believe nuclear weapons testing in Nevada caused cancer in their relatives and who sued in U.S. District Court for Utah? Final damages in the case, which is far from settled, could range into the tens of millions of dollars. According to Jeffrey Axelrad, director of the torts branch of the U.S. Justice Department, a final judgment in the weapons testing case would be paid for out of a special judgment fund. The fund was established to pay most tort, or personal injury claims and is replenished by a general congressional appropriation. Checks to claimants are printed by the U.S. Treasury after the General Accounting Office determines that a judgment is final. Years Away A settlement in the fallout case, for example, would not be final for years. Although testimony was concluded this month, fmal arguments will not be delivered until December and a ruling is not expected until next year. Any ruling is almost certain to be appealed, probably all the way to the U S. Supreme Court. The judgment fund doesnt pay all tort claims, Mr. Axelrad said Claims against the U.S. Postal Service, for example, are paid for out of the agencys budget. Individual government departments are the key to Utahs system for paying judgments, according to Stephen A. Alexander, the states risk manager." Although the state pays annual premiums to several commercial f Thousands and thousands of shoppers will be swarming the through stores . . from . now on out. And Id like to Dan Valentine Jr. take time to sa lute a valiant crew of workers: The salespeople who man the counters in all the retail stores during the holiday shopping spree. These folks are in for a month of hard, nervewracking grueling, work. It calls for patience, energy, enthusiasm, understanding. Its a .tough job waiting on the Christmas crowds. As a veteran Christmas shopper, I continually marvel each year at how these men and women work under the stress and pressure of the holiday sales wave without going stark-ravin- g mad. Its bad enough during the clearance and spring and sales, but it is twice as hectic during the Christmas holiday season. And somehow . . . somehow . . . they manage to keep their sense of humor. Take for example, the sales clerk at a local downtown store last season: As the story goes, a lady shopper had pestered this clerk for several hours. The customer had demanded to see everything. But she had purchased nothing. Finally, the sales clerk said, Pardon me, madam, but are you shopping? "Of course I'm shopping," the lady answered back sharply. What else would I be doing? To which the sales clerk quipped, Oh, I thought maybe you were taking Inventory! On another occasion last Christmas season, I'm told, a customer walked into a downtown boutique and told the sales clerk, "I'd like to see your dresses." The clerk showed the customer where the dresses v ere. Later, the back-to-scho- t 1 w ARMY -- r U FEAST! it Ijoral News Features insurers to cover individual claims totaling more than $100,000, most claims are paid out of a fund to which each department contributes Section II annually. The "premiums are not equal, according to Mr. Alexander. Rather, they are assessed on the basis of what damages the department paid the previous year. In theory, the sytem is supposed to give government agencies an incentive to reduce negligence, he said. Because of the nature of their work, some departments always pay more claims than others. The Department of Transportation, for example, normally generates about 70 percent of all the claims filed against the state each year, he said. responsibility for which the state cannot be sued, Mr. Alexander said. There are certain things that the government has to do, that people are forcing them to do . . . that it seems to me to make sense to provide governmental immunity, he said Utah, in fact, has suffered less immunity erosion than other states, he said. He calls the state one of the last bastions of conservatism in regard to immunity." Even so, Utah annually pays an average total of between $700,000 and $800,000 in claims, according to Mr. Alexander. The claims fund now contains approximately $2 million. For Salt Lake City, is the only means of paying injury claims. A half mill tax levy generates enough money to cover the average $200,000 the city dishes out each year to injured parties, said city attorney Roger Cutler. Limits Size The city enjoys an immunity of sorts stemming from limits on the size of judgment that can be won. Judgments 4n claims involving property cannot exceed $50,000. A $100,000 ceiling exists for individual claims and judgments stemming from a single incident cannot exceed $300,000, according to Mr. Cutler. Salt Lake County also relies on a half-mitax levy, according to LaMar Guiver, director of the claims department. Hie fund, which currently contains about $1 million, covers claims that amount to an average of $100,000 per year, he said. Unlike other government entities, however, the countys fund also pays workmans C-- 7 ll i age One Viet Vet Is Arrested Tear Gas Ends Shooting Spree By George A. Sorensen Tribune Suburban Editor - WEST VALLEY CITY A Vietnam veteran who apparently suffered a flashback early Thursday, fired a dozen random shots through a mobile home as police waited patiently for three hours beforei flushing him out with tear gas. Booked in Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault and discharging a firearm was Chester Macomber, 38, 1137 Sierra Dawn (3465 South). No one was hurt during the episode which began at 12:36 a m. when police responded to the home on a reported family fight, Sgt. Charles P. Illsley said. Barricaded in the Home arrived they found the man barricaded alone in his home with two rifles. The mans mother had fled the home earlier. We made several attempts to call him on the telephone and it was not until an hour and a half later that we were able to talk to him on the phone, Sgt. Illsley said. In the meantime the suspect called a neighbor and said he thought he was in Vietnam. The shooting did not start until after telephone contact had been made, Sgt. Illsley said. Periodic Shots Fired At first three shots were fired. Then shots were fired periodically at seven to 12 minute intervals, he added. A total of 12 shots were fired, all of them going through the length of the trailer home. It took several cannisters of tear gas fired into the home through windows before the man finally came out, Sgt. Illsley said. Police did not return the fire because the shots didnt appear to be aimed at them, the sergeant said. When police -- Above, the 3rd Annual Thanksgiving Feast sponsored by the Salvation Army, KSFI Radio and the Yellow Cab Company treated between 1,200 and 1,300 people to a traditional turkey dinner Thursday at the Central Center, 613 City Multi-Purpo- S. 300 East. The Yellow Cab Co. donated 20 cars and volunteer drivers to deliver dinner to about 400 shut-in- s across the Salt Lake Valley. KSFI donated the food and public service announcements for the event and the Salvation Army supplied the manpower to cook, serve, cleanup and assist in delivering meals to shut-inKSF1KDYL operations manager Lane Rogers said, We anticipated about that many because of the economy and the transient situation in Salt Lake City. George P. Lamb, 91, right, who founded Lambs Grill, shares a drumstick with a patient at the Intermountain Unit Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children. For the past 35 years Mr. Lamb has provided the turkey and fixings for the 22 youngsters being cared for at the Salt Lake City facility. s. customers had every dress in the place off the racks and on the counter. Turning to leave, the customer said, Thank you, but Im just looking for a friend. Well, dont rush off, the clerk told her, if you really think your friend is somewhere among all these dresses, Ill be glad to go through them with you again! But only the gods know how because customers can be a pain in the old Take for instance, the elderly gent who walked into one of the downtown department stores a couple of Christmases ago. Spotting a sales clerk, he said, Excuse me, but would you mind taking that yellow tie with the purple spots out of the window for me? Id be happy to, the sales clerk told the customer. Thank you, the gent replied, exitmg. That ugly thing bothers me every time I pass it. Being a sales person in a retail establishment during Christmas time can have its embarrassing moments, to. A case in point: Last year, according to the story, a shy young lady approached a clerk in a store and asked him to Evacuated Only one nearby home was evacuated during the shooting because police felt occupants would be in more danger in the streets than in their homes, although the rifle shots were going through several mobile home walls, Sgt. Illsley said. Detective Jim Crawley and Patrol Officer Fred Mattfeld were overcome by the tear gas. They were released after treatment at Valley West Hospital. Police recovered a n rifle and a 7.7 mm Japanese-mad- e rifle along with several spent and live cartridges in the home, Sgt. Illsley said. er bolt-actio- The Christmas holiday season will be escorted into Salt Lake City officially Friday night with the lighting of the citys downtown decorations and The Salt Lake Tribune's Community Christmas Tree. honor last April when her name was drawn from among the names of more thart 3,000 children submitted to The Tribune by its readers in 1960, the year the paper established Christmas Tree grove at Mountain Dell Golf Course. ing has been conducted to find the wmner, who officiates at The Tribunes Arbor Day tree planting activities, receives a blue spruce tree and has the honor of lighting the Christmas tree to open the holiday season. The traditional tree and street lighting ceremony will begin at 6 pm. in front of The Tribune Building, 143 S. Main, site of the Winners Honors Each year since, a random draw The arrangement of the new downtown decorations and lights was coordinated by the improvement district's lighting committee for which Mrs. Phyllis Steorts served as chairman. Also assisting in the lighting program will be the Salt Lake City public works and parks departments and Utah Power & Light Co , which coodinated electrical papers Community Christmas Tree. Adding a holiday flavor to the festivities will be the West High School a cappella choir. The students will begin singing Christmas carols about p m. the young lady said, Oh, no, shocked, not those kind of teddies I want the kind my little baby girl play likes to with. year will be an aerial fireworks display that Ken Of One Home Downtown Christmas Lighting Bites Tonight course, said the clerk And running over to the lingerie department, he picked up some teddies and brought them back. her some teddies. Page Barricaded Immunity Remains Despite assaults on the immunity principle, there remain areas of show Obits Friday Morning, November 26, 1982 Nothing Serious - .i SALVATION annual THANKSGIVING Dan Valentines A FOND SALUTE: Today the marks day after Thanksgiving the official start v of the Christmas shopping season. .. Welcomes you to the Once Kings Were Immune But Peasantry Still Pays By Anne Wilson Tnbunc Staff Writer Once upon a time, kings and their kingdoms were protected from accusations of negligence by a principle known as "sovereign lm- munity." But little by little, U.S. courts have chipped away at that transplanted English notion and governments have been forced to find ways of coughing up money won on lawsuits filed agamst them by their citizens. 4 Fireworks Display A new feature this Lantis of Lantis Co. Inc , Salt Lake City, will send bursting into the night sky from Ensign Peak immediately after the decoration lights are switched on Key participants m the lighting will be Jess Agraz, chairman of the Central Business Im- program provement District Board, which purchased all new decorations and lights for the downtown area this year with fees raised through a surcharge on downtown business licences, and Cynthia Squire, Midvale, who will flip the swich to light the hundreds of lights on The Tribune tree Cjnthia, 26, won the tree lighting James Maher directs a West High School a cappella choir rehearsal. The students will perform Friday at the annual tree and street lighting at 143 S. Main St. |