| OCR Text |
Show a Ik lake uribnnr IfiiiMav Mfirnin;: s i Janirirv ,u. VA y 0 linn J Removing Grocer Liability Only Knlarges Dram Shop Nonsense H-j- it I..Mnnl . Hi: H Silt Lake f'lty has om up wpfi an amendmen1 H I n ri s AI o.noiie Beverage Control Vf which he and he friend', in the re j.i bii'ine", ref OMitl.ei.ding The question 1 e remain', why-- Of courM ' the goal of House Bill 82 i' not Then there's the person who h'i had a couple of belts and stops by the local market on his way home from the bus stop for something to settle his stomach Could he be detained whether or not he intended to buy beer Apparently protect retailers from liability provision-- , of Utah's leaky Dram Shop Act If grocers are going to be 'Object to coil laA'Uits tor selling beer to someone who subsequent Iv injures another, they warn more tontrol in the matter 1 der Hep Kk hards' proposal0 Maybe to The proposed legislation may make some retailers feel safer, but it's ripe for abuse and is unnecessary and unfair In short, it's another example of problems inherent in the Dram Shop Act. which gives alcohol-relateaccident victims new incentives for involving third parties in court action The bill essentially would make enforcement officers out of quasi-lacitizens who sell alcoholic beverages, including beer It would enable store clerks to detain anyone they suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs without worrying about being sued for false arrest Consider the Utahn wlio has a degenerative muscle disease who reels and wobbles among vegetable bins and packaged goods at the local grocery store. The unusually large clerk, who happens to be a tackle on his college football team, is sure this slurring. uncooperative guy is plastered and stuffs him into the nearest grocery cart to await the police's arrival Meanwhile, the shopper endures embarrassment and possible injury and misses an important appointment Would he have legal recourse un The proposal doen t do anything for the retailer who doesn l have the strength to restrain an inebriated customer Nor does it offer any protection to people who serve drinks in their homes These hosts have no legal excuse for keeping a hostile, intoxicated person off the streets against their wishes More important than these points, however, is the fact that nothing now prevents retailers from simply refusing to sell beer or other alcoholic beverages to people they suspect of having had too much to drink Actually. Utah law requires such refusals So instead of restraining apparent drunks, sellers can simply deny such Knight Kidd r News; Two week' ago. the Detroit hre Pres' mailed off my apple atior to to btorue the fir- -t journalist m ride to shuttlf into space Would you stul go Meanwhile, with or without the Dram Shop Act. negligent retailers and others can be held criminally liable for a drunk's harmful actions Adding the civil liability, as the Dram Shot Act does, would encourage victims and their attorneys to draw additional. indirectly involved individuals into costly court battles Hep Richards and his colleagues on Capitol Hill are wasting time devising complicated ways to make an unworkable law easier for special interest groups to swallow Instead of dragging in more regulation and litigation. legislators should simply drum the Dram Shop Act out of existence. It s because ihe National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which advertised for juurnahsts interested m covering the space store firsthand has invited ordinary-peoplto participate in a small way m the with mos' glorious adventure of the age out the years of tedious study and physical conditioning that most space travelers have to go through It was hke buving a ticket on the lottery only better The risk seemed minor and distant the odds favorable, and the rewards immense About 500 journalists responded I think NASA s offer appealed to something congenital in newspaper people who tend to be afflicted with terminal curiosity, like cats who can t keep their noses out of interesting cor buyers extra intoxicants A Dream Materializes cars, buses and trucks are whisked between France and Britain aboard trains traveling through double railway tunnels 130 feet beneath the channel bed Also, under the agreement signed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatch- er and President Francois Mitterrand. a separate motor tunnel is to be built by the end of the century. While completion of the Channel Tunnel will be a major engineering and technological triumph, its great accomplishment will be symbolic. The Chunnel. as it is being popularly called, will be a monument to the end of the age-olantipathies that have repeatedly disrupted relations between two of Western civilization's oldest countries It will be. as Prime Minister Thatcher said at the signing ceremonies in Lille. something symbolic between France and Britain It does mean that Britain is very At last much a part of Europe" e d Commendable Coneepl A lum h of but dugs and chicken rice soup at a local soup kitchen for some Utah lawmakers might be a little hokey, but it is an effective way to demonstrate the value of one ot the most positive proposals before the current session of the Legislature House Bill 196, sponsored by Hep Ervin M Skousen. Lake City, would create a statewide council to coordinate activities for the homeless The plight of the homeless, in the minds of most Utahns, is probably believed to be strictly a Salt Lake City worry. But. as Mayor Palmer DePau-linotes, the plight of the homeless is a statewide concern Certainly Salt Lake City, because of its size, has the largest number of homeless persons However, Utah's smaller cities, like Provo and Ogden, have found it necessary to come up with new ways of providing food and s Orbiting lini-rap- li How com highly intelligent mankind needs instruction hooks loi Hongs other crcdtuics do by instinct dor-n- t The guv who son s a balking dog tin t"lhmai ks on ntdicd by id. be con bite his leg When you have two kids and onlv one IV more vmi.mc m set, there's likely to be it on than of it front St Bn ino'r T - VM an editor d'ked me Tuesday morning ni.w I would Its surely not bravery hat make' mt tee! that way If anything years of reporting and editing disaster stories make you appreciate even more just huw brief and precious life is Its not stupiditN nor heedlessness. I hope, although members of the press share with other Americans a limitless faith in technology and a casual assumption of all sorts of ri'ks in daily life - ner' I think it ippeaed to something very implt and human in us. too the chance to participate in the most wonderful and liber- stood with several hundred other on the coastal plain, watched the stedtn billow up around the launch pad saw the first lick of flame from the engines and Then -- shelter for their homeless and transients Logic suggests, considering that Utah is the "crossroads of the West." that from time to time even the state's small towns have homeless and wandering persons to cope with That, fundamentally, is why Rep Skuusen's bill ought to be adopted It contains the mechanism by which problems concerning the homeless -how to feed them, where and how to house them, how to aid thorn in finding work, medical and psychological care and. even, how to clothe them - can be tackled in a united fashion The homeless coordinating council wouldn't fund or operate facilities or programs for the homeless Instead, it would be the means for people and agencies operating these programs to "get their acts together" so that costly duplications could be avoided and experiences exchanged, leading to more efficiently run services The council could be the vehicle by which the experiences ot one community can bo shared on a statewide basis The state's various successes, along with its failures, can be collectively analyzed and new courses charted It is a basically humane, practical concept th.it will make helping deserving people easier and more effective I reporter' ating experience of our time There always was a risk to it even before Challenger exploded Tuesday morning But in an age accustomed to miracles of technology. the risk seemed remote, the rewards immeasurable Besides, w hen you are young you think y ou re- immortal W hen you re middle-aged you want one last fine adventure before it s too late And when you are older, like Walter Cronkite. who at age 69 is one of the appLcants for the shuttle flight this fall, you must yearn for such a magnificent way to cap a career When the Free Press asked for reporters interested m entering NASA's competition fur a ride on the shuttle next fall 15 people applied I was lucky enough to be designated the newspaper's candidate I had a lot of rea sons for apply mg to get out of the office, but one of them was a joked memory that still tugged at the edge of my felt the earth shudder as rocket engines three milts awav ignited with a volcanic roar If you have ever watched a liftoff you moknow there is a brief ment when the rocket pauses and trembles over the pad and you think it cannot be done it is impossible for such a creation to fly And then it does, going up like the most beautiful soaring bird you have ever seen, until it disappears through a hole in the sky And you know then you have just seen the ape rise up and walk on two feet You have just seen three ships set sail from Cadiz You have just glimpsed mankinds next great leap into the future On Tuesday morning we saw the dark side of that adventure But no such leap m the history of the race has ever been taken without risk, error, tragedy and pain The risk is still there But so is the power that shook the earth that day so many years ago So is the human intelligence and loftiness of spirit that made it possible So is the s dark ocean of space still waiting for the to come heart-catchin- - mind In 1969 I was one of a group of Free Press staffers who went to Florida to observe the Apollo U) space shot in preparation for producing a special section on the Apollo 11, the first manned flight to the moon I was young, influenced by the social activism of the 1960s. and that the race to the moon was a waste of money better spent on Earth what that means Once you have - and been given aglimpsed chance, however remote to be part of it it down - you would not even t now-tur- Bears Make Arrogance Feel Great Chicago Tribune Service all modesiv. I have tu say that I v more than 22 years becoming an expert of sorts There's one thing 1 can do better than anyone in the entire country Or at least in Chicago Im referring to my talent for writing brave columns immediately after crushing humiliating losses by Chicago teams This gift wasnt something I was born with It just happened that 1 began my column about the time the Dark Ages m Chicago sports began So. through repetition and practice. I eventually developed a dazzling repertoire of columns for use when the citv s sports fans had sunk into another deep depression I could w rite them w ith my eyes closed, or flat on my back, which I sometimes did But now. on this historic day. I find that my unique skill has been made obsolete. And I m faced with writing something for which Another iew she can overcome that ' But I publicly picked the Bears to shut them out 41 to 0 The shutout is already-gon" I m going to be a laughingstock "You ve had a lot of experience at that Just relax and watch the game" T cant I have visions of Jack Murphy Stadium dancing before my eyes" But m only a few minutes zip. zap. just like that and we were tied and then ahead And within the hour, there wasn't any doubt left It was like watching a cruel, remorseless mugging But they were our muggers At halftime, a friend who is as obsessive a Bear fan as I am. phoned and said. Isn't this great?" "No." I said. "I find it kind of disgusting ' "Are you crazy0 Were going to stomp them " Thats what I mean They aren't even worthy foes Where is the vaunted Patriot running game? Where is their alleged tough defense? The least they could have done for our amusement is put a team out there that could challenge us This is like pulling wings elf flies " My friend, in an amazed voice, said "You I m a column exulting totally unprepared over a great victory And I don't know how to do it There was a moment when I thought I d be spared this problem It was at about 4 2(1 p m Sunday. Some New England thug slammed into Sweetness and the Patriots had the fumble on our line "Don t do that." my wife said, as I began the wall pounding my forehead against " ' Plastering costs a fortune "It's going to happen again.' I groaned as the field goal put them in front d point Lei Gas Tax Fuel Deficit Cuts A From The Washington Post tax increase is now essential how big and what kind of a but tax' The arithmetic stjrts with the federal it which in the absence of further action. would be about $1115 billion this year It doesn t need lo be reduced to zero The target ought to be a small deficit ot about $50 billion a year not enough lo threaten economic trouble, but enough to exert a gentle pressure tow ard business expansion and a lower unemployment rate That leaves a gap of $165 billion to be closed home of it can be gained through cuts in spending although it is not plausible to expect very much more than $15 billion there - Perhaps something can be gamed from the sale of government assets, although the which congressional tangle over Conrad seems to be moving toward total deadlock -illustrates the difficulty of selling even those assets that ought to be sold On balance, roughly $150 billion a year needs to be raised in additional revenue - here'1 The (ailing price of oil offers Congress a glorious opportunity Each penny of tax on a W gasoline raises $1 billion a year If were to raise the gas tax 25 cents a would still be cheaper, discounting than it was four years ago It would have none of the harsh social and commercial effects of a tax on fuel oil Nor. like a lax on oil imports, would it dis tribute most ol its benefits to American oil producers There is no better wav to reuse $25 billion than with the gasoline tax It would also lie reasonable to tax half ol all Social benefits as ordinary income without the present high threshold that exempts all but those recipients with incomes well above average It would Ininfinitely fairer than delays in increases, which, unlike the income tax, would hit recipients living at the gallon of Congress gallon it inflation - Patronizing Disdainful " I realized he was right And. boy. did it feel good I swaggered into the living room for the second half and sat there chuckling, snickering and guffawing "Why are you making those strange sounds0" the blonde said "That happens to be my arrogance, my patronizing, disdainful manner. The new me Hah Look at that quarterback sack I wonder if the poor sap will emerge alive " All these years of hearing and reading sports pundits from other parts of the counmaktry especially the Sun Belt sissies tired about wisecracks our and Chicago ing loser syndrome Thai's over Whats the word now out there m Frisco. San Diego. Miami and all the other towns where they just sat and watched and envied0 I hope." said the blonde, "that you will to sound as modest in victory as Mike try Ditka docs Listen to how gracious he is." Like hell. Ditka's only been the coach ve been suffering for two for four years decades By the way. who do we know in Boston0 I want to phone them all tomorrow to cackle a bit " So left the house for the office feeling about as modest and gracious as General McArthur But before coming up hetc, I stopped in rnv favorite bar to lift one And there I saw Wally the Worrier Chicago s most pessimistic sports fan said On this night, Wally, even you must be without a care in the world. Lets drink a toast The days of worry are over " He turned his sad eyes to me and said "What if somebody hires away Buddy Itvun0" Damn e bill now halfway-througwill the tax base broaden Congress and improve the law in important respects That bill ought now become the vehicle for a tax increase That $115 billion would represent an increase of slightly over The income-tax-refor- - one-fourt- in present income taxes alternative is a tax or -tIt's far less desirable than the income tax. for it makes no allowances for the differing circumstances among families and businesses But if Congress prefers it. a 5 percent value-addewould with no exemptions tax raise the necessary money When Reagan came to office free years ago he promised to cut taxes, cut spending and balance the budget Cutting taxes was the easy part lie has never even asked (or spending cuts large enough to balanec the 3nd Congress has rejected some of budget the ruts for which he did ask The he same thing - We know how you sound0" "How0" "You sound arrogant edge of poverty as well as the more affluent Broader taxation of Social Security and benefits the other could reduce the cost of federal entitlements by more than $10 billion a year All of that would still leave something in the range of $1 15 billion a year to be raised How? The best and fairest American tax is still the income tax between rich and poor p Jistingu-he- s and between those who carry heavy obligations and those who do not income-maintenanc- defn It s only a trifling three points, 'aid value-adde- - a national sales tax - 1 1 - lie inherited a substantial deficit and over the past years he has let tt soar to the highest levels since World War II It is pushing up interest rates, distorting the structure of the American economy and jeopardizing prosperity 1 The federal government is raising only lor everv $5 that it spends. The time has come fur the United States to do a better job of paying Us bills $1 i f g vov-ager- In Doubtlessly some day it will rank among the top 10 civil' engineering marvels of the wo: Id. but at the moment the most remarkable thing about the decision of Britain and France to dig a tunnel under the English Channel is that after more than two centuries of talking about it. the thing is going to be built By 1993, and after the expenditure of nearly $7 billion, trains will be runtunnel from ning through the Dover to Calais, the materialization of a dream first advanced in 1753 by a French engineer. Nicolas Desmaret Desmaret said the tunnel would "take Britain out of its proud isolation" Britain has long shed much of its ' proud isolation" but it is still something of a hassle to get. for instance, from London to Paris When the tunnel is finished the trip will take just 3 hours and 13 minutes. The "underwater part" will take only 30 minutes, as 30-mil- Yes, I Would Still Ride the Shuttle i |
