| OCR Text |
Show -- - i 9- -1 21) y rrrTyrr The Sail Lake Tribune, nTirf,sTmnr,ry, w Saturday, I, January f rrro? "ww-- w t Mt o- - WTtnf WVTftfWTT'' rv1! -- f 1 1 M t M ,- -r rr '' T- - ()H(i Selling Cookies Helps Alcoholic Meet His Daily Requirements Editor' Correspondent Don Strlngham spent two years Hying on Solt Lake City streets researching a bonk now In progress. This story deols with One ol the many people he come to know there, the cookie salesman. 100-yar- track. He's not dashing now. He's selling By Don Slringlum Tribune Correspondent Frank is dying. His eyes and skin .are turning yellow again. He's almost ;y40, but somehow still looks only 30, Especially if he smiles. I He has one of those grins that disarms a person, melts, lakes all the falseness out and leaves the real without plastic. ! When Frank was in high school, his Jimile, physical mannerisms and personality won him the presidency of Jiis freshman and senior classes. It all t omes natural to him, like breathing, without effort or thought. It is a gift, maybe from God. j be-Jn- value, generally, to street people, He cannot bring himself to panhandle few street people do and it is looked down upon. Instead, Frank makes his approach by offering cookies for sale. Its a hard way but sometimes it works. Few take the cookies. It's also where street women sell their lavors for a few dollars, a bottle of wine, sometimes just a swallow. They are at the stage of alcoholism where they can't get money from anyone else. No one wants them or looks at them. Here they are talked with, accepted and even catered to. But they are female and therefore can provide services, relieve the tenif their smell doesn't bother sion He also was captain of the basket ball team which won third place at dash in state. He won the Nolo: Tribune cookies. He knows he is dying, but doesn't believe it. lie said to me "they said four years ago I'd be dead in a week if I drank again I'm still alive. They don't know what they are talking Because of a liver bypass. Frank receives welfare benefits and does not have to live on the street. Sometimes he pays rent for a month at a cheap hotel. Usually, he pays for a week or two. Like all alcoholics, his fear of running out of booze warps his judgment. Its a real fear, very real. Many alcoholics have seizures after a binge and suffer delirium tremens and fantasize distorted faces, snakes and bugs crawling out of bottles. - you about." house There is an old, behind a business that is close to a Iirjuor store. It sits back from the street and has no windows, only blackness. No one would suspect the house is ever used, except for a narrow path through the snow, leading around and through piles of junk and bricks. The house doesn't even have a front door, but it's a gathering place for street people when they are drink- Frank can usually be found here before and after meals at Sally's, Vinny's and the Rescue Mission. This is where he and everyone else barters, picks up street news, shares a bottle, hears about who is in jail or the detoxification center and try to rid themselves of loneliness. Frank trades whatever he finds on the streets for cookies. Cookies are given away after meals at the different soup kitchens and don't have any fire-gutte- ing. This fear makes Frank hang onto his money when he has it, unless he gets so intoxicated he loses his money, gives it away, gets in with the Suspect Sought In Alleged Burglary Ring , Special to The Tribune AMERICAN FORK Police are still looking for one suspect in an burglary ring broken in northern Utah County this week. Ll. John Durrant, American Fork assistant police chief, said a warrant has been issued for a Lehi resident in connection with the case, and more arrests are expected early next week. - Mark Donald Anderson, 35, 822 460 West, Lehi. has been charged in 8th Circuit Court in American Fork with felonious theft posHe was session of stolen property arraigned Monday, Lt. Durrant said. Lt. Durrant said police are still attempting to identify some $50,000 to $75,000 worth of items recovered in a jsearch of two Lehi residences Dec. 26. American Fork Police Chief Randy Johnson said the items, stored in the police evidence room at the American Fork Public Safety Building, said the merchandise is believed to have been taken in residential burglaries in cities in Utah and Salt Lake Coun- ' V 'A.- fU'4' iih, . 'H: it ' v; T; I X k - A-- rW' . Ia v ' , . . i i ,, fill fit U ? tle, He is back on the streets now. But for four years after he had his liver bypass he was taking medical treatments so he could atop the swelling and, more importantly, regain the will to live. Sober and with his capturing smile he would soon have a girl friend. Then he talked about how good he felt and how he wanted to kick his heels together and jump to touch low tree branches over the sidewalk. At times like that, he said, he felt sorry for coughing sick. didn't they day after day and the nightmare of finding sobriety. He has been in a hospital emergency room trying to detoxify, That kept him sober for awhile. Then the urge came again, which is part of the dis ease, to drink socially. Many times he succeeded, but then came the next morning and the hangover which he knew a beer could cure and mavbe some vodka would be better and he was off, the alcohol destroying his judgment. North ? He doesn't want to die, He wants to be sober and healthy and find a girl and walk in the park. Frank is on the streets again, Wiling cookies, and trying not to get drunk, but still drinking a bottle of wine a day to keep away seiaurea. He spends nights at the transient shelter because I,; Then came the mornings he couldn't hold a drink down, not the first, second, third but perhaps the fourth. Short on money and booze, he caught his vomit in a coffee can to be recycled. Then he would try to get to the store on wobbly legs. He tried his best to look sober, his head pounding from fear he wouldnt be served. Sometimes hes forced to drink anyshaving lotion, thing with alcohol rubbing alcohol, fuel for stoves -anything to keep his alcohol level lip so he won't have a seizure and die. sidewalk. Its heartbreaking for him to spend a day selling cookies only to have the fruits of his efforts spill on the cement. I have seen Frank cry then, looking down at the broken green bot- know how good life could be, how pre cious and beautiful to see things with new eyes after the horror of drinking ; i wrong crowd and ends up in the weeds with empty pockets. Lately, Frank has been showing up broke on the streets a couple of weeks after receiving his check. When he is drinking hard he shares with his street friends too much. Franks liver is swollen so much he looks pregnant, but it doesn't show much now. It's winter and Frank s coat is red with sweaters underneath and a vest with a special pocket opposite his liver. He sewed the pocket especially to accommodate a bottle of wine. He has learned from sad experience that tucking a bottle inside his jacket, holding It from the outside with a forearm, sometimes results in broken glass and wine spilled on the with the smelly bodies, snoring, and someone next to him He has to leave by 7 a m. with no place to go in the winter and walks the streets. He often goes to the Department of Employment Security Labor Office until the City Library opens. He waits for the liquor store to open at 10 a m. Between four men he met at the shelter they have enough for a bottle of wine which gives Frank a few swallows and enough strength and courage to sell cookies. Frank fights a never ending battle to keep the alcohol coming. He would' go to the detox center tomorrow, but he is afraid he might not make it, especially with his liver function gone. Maybe tomorrow he will go to detox. Once he gets another check he will go. Thats what he will do, he says. The last time J saw Frank, easy to spot in his red coat, he was walking up the street, bag in one hand almost touching the sidewalk uptown to sell cookies. He Is dying and Knows It, but doesn't really believe it. ft gtf Board Adopts Changes For State Constitution ties. Included in the items piled in the evidence room are guns, stereos, video recorders, video tapes, a micro-wavoven, jewelry, tapes, coins, a silver candelabra and other items. Although part of the items were used, many of them were still in orige - inal boxes. Chief Johnson said the items had been recovered when police from Lehi, American Fork and Pleasant Grove served search warrants on residences at 822 North 460 West and 498 North 900 East in Lehi. He said the arrests and recovery of the stolen goods were the result of continuing undercover work by sev- eral police agencies. A total of ten burglaries including cases in American Fork, Orem and Pleasant Grove have been cleared with the recovery of the items, Lt. Durrant said. Several burglaries in Salt Lake County are also expected to be cleared. "We are still looking for more stolen items from the burglaries, and are asking individuals who might have purchased or received these to contact us." the officer said. "There is also a strong possibility of confirmation of items taken from the Salt Lake area," he said. Hansen Finds Hope In Exchange by Reagan, Gorbachev The exchange of LOGAN (AP) televised New Year's messages by President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev "could mean a new beginning, and we may be able to sit down and reason together after all." said Rep. James Hansen. Hansen told the Logan Rotary Club that 1986 could be the year some kind of agreement could be reached on arms reductions. "Right now I'm considered a hawk in Congress, but I'd love to stop voting to build up the nation's defense system. Right now. however, we don't have the luxury of slowing down." he said. r Hansen voted against the new farm bill, which he said was too far over budget. He also voted against the bill, but said he could support a modified version if some ol the Republican alternatives were included He voted for the balanced-budge- t bill and he said it will be interesting to see whether members of Congress have the courage to live up to the measure, which calls for a balanced budget by 1991. "People keep telling me this is going to create a great deal of hurt in America. That's nonsense, because a balanced budget will help rather than hurt, although the cuts necessary to get the deficits down will make it tough for a while." he said Asked if he thinks it is realistic to balance the budget without a tax increase. he said it is possible that some kind of increase will fie nece-sa- n "In the event that Congress r liausts every possible way to cut and still can't do it. I would suppuit ,i i,t increase, because it is more impoi lanl to me to balance the budget than to oppose a ln m crease." he said By Peter Scarlet Tribune Education Editor NORTH OGDEN Position hold-in- g closely with those of the Constitutional Revision Commission on revising the Utah Constitutions education article were adopted Friday by the state school board. Members of the Utah State Board of Education adopted their postures on the constitutional issues during their January board meeting, held at the Kimberly Clark Corp. factory in North Ogden at the invitation of company officials. Several of revision proposals are controversial and board members decided against any radical departures front recommendations of the Commission, which was set up by legislators several years ago to go over, up- creates in his back yard each winter. Tradition started with a hose left running. Although he has viewed it some 22 times before, Oral Eskelson checks out icefall he Iceman Cometh Yearly to Build Castle By Ann Shields Tribune Correspondent The curious come from as far who as Florida and Alaska and are among passers-b- y stop to view the colorful ice palace Oral Eskelson has erected at his home in American Fork. They are usually either people visiting here and friends or family bring them by. or people who once lived here tell their friends coming to the area about it, Mr. Eskelson said. The ice castle, as the Eskelson's call it, is about 35 feet tall this year and about the same width. Us colors include reds, blues and greens. At night, the Eskelson's put spotlights on it and it shines brightly through the cold and fog. The Eskelson's cant remember exactly when they first started the winter panorama, which has grown over the years with the trees that serve as it's backbone, but say it was about 22 years ago. Now it has become a winter tradition, and, Mrs. Eskelson noted, at the first sign of cold weather, neighbors and friends begin asking when they are going to begin the frozen scene. "You've got to have it. it's tradition, they tell us," she said, "but you've got to wait until the temperature gets cold enough or it just melts on you " That hasn't posed a problem this year. I usually put color on it in the daytime, then turn the water on at night." Mr. Eskelson said, adding this year he hasn't had to add color as often because there hasn't been any melting AMERICAN FORK "We really weren't going to do it anymore, but it is worth it to see the many people who enjoy it. There has really been a parade this year, Mrs. Eskelson said. Mr. Eskelson said a few years ago the panorama was on the tour-bu- s schedules and buses of tourists came by to view the ice masterpiece and take pictures. "This year a fellow from Alaska stopped in and asked he wanted to make one in Alaska when how we dd it he got back home," Mrs. Eskelson said. "One fellow stopped to ask the couple for permission to climb the ice sculpture. We told him he couldn't, he'd better look somewhere else for something to climb. "You'd really be surprised at the comments and the suggestions we get, the couple said. The natural ice sculpture began by accident when a hose broke in the cold and squirted water all over. When Mr. Eskelson discovered the break the next morning, his rose bush had turned into an icy masterpiece. "I looked out out the window and here was this rose bush and it was just beautiful," he recalls. "I went in the kitchen and got some of my wife's cake decorating colors and threw them on the bush and that made it even better." Mrs. Eskelson, an artist, liked it so well, she encouraged him to make it bigger and bigger each year. As a result, as the years went by, the hose was left running on purpose and more and more colors were used. To make the sculpture. Mr. Eskelson uses large poles with attachments to reach up into the trees. Instead of cake coloring, dyes that are used in making ice cream are used. The colors are thrown or sprayed onto the ice. five-yea- Alnif.es Alleged Uivil-Kih- ts 12 Utahns File Suit Against W.V. Police Twelve Utahns have tiled suit in federal court claiming the West Valley City Police Department routinely violates citizens' civil rights because West Valley City Municipality completely failed to train its police lorce," According to the suit, filed Thursday in I'.S. District Court for Utah, violations the 12 suffered at the hands of West Valley City police when it raided an Ogden tavern Jan 24. 1983 Kathy Gilliham. Luanna Richardson. Martin J Martinez. Shirley Crist Vicky Martinez. Terry Salazar, Tom my Coleman. Betty Edk. Ken Gander. F.d MacCann. Sherry Bass and Russell Baldwin have sued West Valley City, the West Valley City Police Department and 5(1 "John Doe" ol lift's ol the West Valiev and Ogden police departments Tliev ask lot unspeeilied general civil-right- s I Urtfrf' v and punitive damages in the action. Plaintiffs' attorney Randine Salerno said the 12 were residents of Weber County at the time of the Jan. 24 incident, although three now live out of state. According to the suit, the Ogden and West Valley police departments raided the Kokomo Club in Ogden, where they suspected a sale of stolen property was to take place Jan 24 That night several members of the Weber Women's Pool Association and other patrons were veral in the tavern Se- police officers, who were "wired." were also in the club to identity the patrons Oflicers were also staked out in a van listening to wire transmissions, along with a judge who issued search warrants, said Ms Salci no t about 1U3U pm. dining the womens pool tournament, "an unidentified man waving a gun ran into club through the front entrance and forced his gun against the head of the proprietor of the club," the suit states. "Shortly thereafter, many other unidentified individuals entered the club and began brutalizing the patrons. including the plaintiffs, by pushing kicking and otherwise physi." cally abusing plaintiffs The suit claims that club employee Sherry Bass was falsely arrested and each of the other club patrons were wrongly detained Jan 24. yet they had not been disturbing the peace The 12 ask US District Judge Bruce S. Jenkins, to whom the case was assigned, to find that West Valley City "completely laded to tram or supervise its police force, or trained and supervised its oftieers in such a reckless or grossly negligent manner so that police misconduct was . . . . . . date and modernize the Utah Constitution, On the question of school fees, board members opted to endorse the Commission's recommendation that constitutional language be written to specify that elementary schools be free of charge and whether to set fees for secondary (junior and senior high) schools be left up to the Legislature. Bernarr Furse, state superintendent of public instruction, said the fee question has been a controversial one with some groups urging that all public schooling be free of charge while others proposing that fees be allowed for some activities. Margaret Nelson, the board's vice chairman, said she met with a group of parents who objected to a local school decision to disallow a visit by elementary students to the Ramses II exhibit at Brigham Young University because several students couldn't afford the $3 charge for students. "I wouldn't want to see the door opened to imposing fees in elementary schools like they are in secondaries," said Mr. Furse. "I agree," said board member Linn Baker. "The damage to one kid who couldn't afford to go to Ramses would be more severe than the benefits for those who could." Board member Darlene Hutchison said she has heard from both camps. Some parents, she said, think fees should be allowed for enrichment activities while others oppose anything in which student participation Involves the need to pay a fee. As now written, the Utah Constitution specifies that the "common schools" shall be free, Judicial interpretation holds that public achool through the eighth grade shall be free while fees can be levied for school activities in high school or grades nine through 12. Board member M. Richard Max-fiel- d said the current body of law on the matter Is "fairly clear but that abuses exist because of the complexity of the situation. If we can't come up with a better idea, lets just replace 'common schools' with eighth grade, he Mid. "If we depart from the CommiMion on an issue of this magnitude, we won't get it resolved," said Ml. Nelson. "The balance they struck ll a good one. We should adopt the Commission recommendation." Also given support by the itate school board was the CommlMlon's recommendation that the State Board of Regents be given constitutional legitimacy as the governing body for higher education in Utah. Mr. Furse said he believed a Significant part of the collegiality existing between the state school board and regents, between public education and higher education, involves the board's support for regents being included in the Constitution. While the state school board has long been identified in the Utah Constitution as the governing board for public education, regents have SO far been obliged to be content with more ephemeral statutory legitimacy the Higher Education Act of 1M9. The difference between Constitution and statute, a legal one, lies in the ease in which a law can be modified or rescinded. Statutes can be changed or repealed simply by the same body or legislature that created them. Constitutional provisions or d changes require approval by a majority in each house of the Legislature as well as subsequent voter approval at a general election. "A contingent in the House (of Representatives) wants to keep the regents out of the Constitution. The Sentwo-thir- ate backs the Commissions recommendation to include them and the govenor (Norm Bangerter) is vacillating," said Mr. Furse. Ms. Nelson said the board has previously agreed with regents to support the latters inclusion in the Constitution and urged her colleagues to back the Commission's recommendation to do so. Gunmen Get Cash From Bank Special to The Tribune COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS Two gunmen, taking advantage of a lull in business, herded four employees of a suburban bank into the vault Friday - morning and escaped with an undis- closed amount of money. The two entered Tracy Collins Bank & Trust Co.'s Brighton Branch. 7229 S. 2000 East, at 10:15 a m. and fled before the employees were able to get out of the unlocked vault, said Sheriff's Capt. Bob Jack. They entered the bank and told three tellers and the bank manager, "This is a holdup. Move over here into the vault," according to Capt. Jack. They then asked for "big bills" and closed, but did not lock, the vault door. The four employees remained in the vault for a few minute before getting out ard notifying the Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office. The bills were taken from two tell- ers' drawers as the gunmen fled. Capt. Jack said "not much" money was taken. One was wearing a ski mask and the other a "beanie cap," One carried a pistol that may have had a silencer on it. Sheriff's deputies said they may have fled in a light-bluFord Mustang late-mode- l, e |
