Show Serving Utah’s Great Pahvant Valley Oftta Utah S2QQQ In CPtnfr S2500 out of countv 6 months S1300 fin Advance GAO report on AF General Accounting Office officials say they never got a request from Sen Jake Gam's office to conduct an investigation into the electronic battlefield the Air Force wants to build in the West Desert Gam'a office confirms the request was never made at least to the extent expected by those who asked Gam to make the request The request for the federal study was made April 17 by the Juab County Commission in letters sent to Utah’s congressional delegation Gam wrote back May 24 saying he would ask for the investigation Gam staffer Mary Jane Collipmest said the GAO investigation was completed June 27 and “we are presently awaiting their response" Juab commissioners fearing the response would be superficial wrote again to Gam on July 19 asking for more detailed information They are still waiting for an answer There will be no repxrt since none was requested according to GAO spokesman Bob Peletier “There was no request for us to look at improvements to the test range” he said Peletier is Assistant Director of the GAO in charge of the Air Force’s work in tactical programs The GAO was asked for data by Jackie Clegg of Gam’s Washington DC staff Peletier said but it was not what the Juab commission had asked for In a July 27 Associated Press story Collipriest said Gam asked the GAO to “assess the status of plans for the project determine its feasibility and evaluate the cost efficiency of money spent to date on research” Instead Peletier said Clegg asked for some basic data regarding budget re“We proquests for fiscal year vided that data” he said "and that was the only assistance we provided to that office" Peletier said the data was compiled by another person in his office and to Clegg by telephone in June or early July He said he never received anything in writing from Gam’s office Steve Erickson spokesman for the Salt Lake military watchdog has also been group Downwinders waiting for the report He said he got tired of waiting and called the GAO Tuesday Nov 28 That’s when he discovered the GAO never got the Juab Senior Citizens (65 and older) S1S00 Copy 50c or point out one specific economic advantage of the battlefield to Juab County” Brough said “The only answer one could obtain from this distinguished list was that ‘the battlefield will help the overall economy of the state of Utah'” “We could have gotten a request for much more in depth study a long time ago had we not been strung along” Erickson said “Did they deliberately string us along on this or did they just screw up? Either way Utah citizens are not well served by Senator Gam's a ance” Peletier said he is also mystified “We’ve seen some of the newspaper articles and we’ve brought it to the tention of Senator Gam’s office” he said “I don’t know what’s going on” Peletier said he would like to get the matter clarified “We have gotten several calls from the press" he said “and I just don’t know what's going on We’ve been aboveboard with the press and we’ve also been aboveboard with the Senator’s staff” Juab Commissioner Richard Brough last month said he had “contacted Gam request coun tv S 2000 out of countv Brough said he was disappointed to hear Bangerter supported the project “I would like to inform the governor that the present set of circumstances is subject to change” he said "and change dramatically without notice” Brough said he was alarmed by an Air Force publication on the project which outlmed how the ECTC could produce a 30 percent increase in flights over the desert by 2000 “It is clear to the layman and also to those who use their gray matter" he said “that one must conclude that an extension of air space and the land area is absolutely essential in order to accomodate future growth of the ECTC project” Brough said he feared such an extension could reach west to the Nevada border or east as far as Nephi "The people in this increased arena would be forced by the Air Force to relocate" he said In addition to the project itself Brough has nothing good to say about s “Lies its proponents and downright deceit seem to be commonplace with these genetlemen" he said at least 25 times requesting the promised GAO report” He said Gam's workers told him they were trying to get the report for him but could not “I think that the GAO mess presents a slap in the face to me as an elected official and to the citizens of Juab County and the citizens of Utah" he said “I am thoroughly disgusted and disappointed with those we entrusted with our faith and confidence in this matter" Brough said nothing of value had come out of the GAO He said Gam had not asked the questions the commission wanted asked Staff for the senator who was in Europie attending arms control talks at the time said Gam's intentions have A statement was been misunderstood released Friday Dec 1: “It is Sen Gam’s position that the underlying purpose behind the Juab County Commission’s requests for a study by the GAO of the electronic combat range is to use the inquiry as a vehicle to kill the proposal all together “This was not Sen Gam's intention For this reason the senator never requested that the GAO conduct an analysis of the need for the Electronic Combat Test Capability Rather he did request that the GAO assess the budget status of the project" The statement said that more minor budget review was needed “to understand the budget requirement of the Utah range for the 1990s because of an $80 million discrepancy between the local Air Force projected figures and Pentagon officials’ project spending for 1990” The statement also said Gam explained to the Juab commissioners that a inquiry was not needed "because their concerns could be fully addressed by the Air Force during the comment public pienod for the environmental impact statement which is expected in January 1990" The statement also said Gam Air Force officials to extend the public comment period from the required 45 days to 60 days to allow commissioners and others to be heard Nephi was also added to the towns in which hearings on the E1S will be held It said Juab commissioners were sent a letter “This will outline the GAO budget analysis and the final approved budget for the range which was approved by Congress and signed into law on Nov 1989” A “something” was faxed to the Juab County Clerk's office Friday Deputy Clerk Ruth Ann Garrett Pec locked it up until commissioners could see it Juab County Commissioner Joseph Bernini said the letter was to be reviewed Monday Dec 4 at the regular commission meeting “I think the letter will explain everything” Gam’s press secretary Laurie Turner said Bernini said he reserves the right to be skeptical “It appiears they will build the battlefield whether we want it or not" he said (Fldttor’s note: A full account of the commissioner’s reaction will appear In our next issue) by Ken Rand Messiah scheduled in Baker Delta Fillmore Performances of Handel’s Messiah are planned for this Christmas season in three area locations Baker Delta and Fillmore The Baker performance is scheduled for Friday Dec 8 The Delta performance is planned for Sunday Dec 10 at the Delta Stake Center The Baker and Delta performances are being sponsored in part by the West Millard Cultural Council In Fillmore the performance is planned for Sunday Dec 17 It is being sponsored in part by the Fillmore Arts CounciL The Delta chorus is again under the direction of Joseph Moody of Delta About 80 to 85 singers are expected to participate in Delta Some of the singers will come from the east side of the county and participate in all three perSome Delta residents are formances also participating in the Fillmore Messiah The Eskdale community orchestra under direction of Douglas Child will - again be a part of the Baker and Delta programs For Delta the soprano this year is Karrol Corey of Delta alto is Kathleen Terrell Knight of Fillmore tenor is Ray Western of Deseret and bass is Douglas Nielsen of Fillmore Glcna Moody of Delta plays piano to accompany soloists Organ accompaniment is by Jay Finlinson of Delta For the first time the Delta Messiah will feature three generations of performers from the same family Cecil Losee of Delta w ill participate again this year along with his sons Gary and Mark Gary's son Russell joins the chorus this year “A lot of people are bringing in their children now" Glena Moody said “but that’s the first grandchild we've had" The first Delta performance was in 1967 The Fillmore production is under the It will be direction of Kirby Giles accompanied by a string quartet There is no charge for any of the performances Bring your family USPS Vol 80 21 No December 7 1982 doesn't exist AF plans alarm Juab commissioner Among the most vocal opponents to the Air Force’s proposed electronic battlefield in the West Desert Juab is County Commission Richard Brough Brough finds nothing good in the project at all “The asset side of the ledger can be disposed of with just one word none” he said “The liability side reaches into the depths of the deepest ocean one can find on the globe” The project called the Electronic Combat Test Capability will be cated on the Utah Test and Training Range and south of the UTTR in western Juab County and to a lesser extent Millard County The Juab commission has talked with Sen Orrin Hatch a spokesman from Rep Jim Hansen’s office and a spokesman for Gov Norm Bangerter Air and with several Force officials “Not one of them could document in David Church left was the second witness to testify as the jury was seated Monday morning Here he identifies an item found in the trunk of his son's car for Prosecutor Warren Peterson right Photo by Brian Tregaskis Provo Daily Herald Archuleta jury selection ‘slow’ in 21 February Jury selection began Tuesday with the distribution Nov of question naires to 70 prospective panelists Attorneys hoped the more than 250 questions on the form would help speed up the selection process On Friday Nov 24 presiding 4th District Court Judge George E Balhf agreed with a defense motion that the selection process take place in private when it began Monday Nov 27 The motion was endorsed by the prosecution Many of the jurors had said on the questionnaire that they would prefer to be quizzed in private Both defense and prosecuting attorneys said they could not disqualify any of the jurors based only on the questionnaire that all would have to be quizzed further Earlier predictions that a jury might be selected as early as Wednesday Nov 29 were quickly revised The trial itself is expected to last about three weeks What were the biggest stories of 1989? This year we hope you’ll help us of the top write our annua stories of the year What were the most important stories of 1989? We'd like your opinion and comments Below is a list of many of the major stories on which the Millard County Chronicle Progress rejxirted during the past year Please list the stones one through 10 as you think they should be ordered Send your list to our office or drop by and visit us We've also left some space at the bottom of the box for you to write in what the most important story m your life was during the year Perhaps we missed it Now is a good timetobring i' to our attention We'll print some of them In addition (why not?) how about an annual report card7 How are we doing? What are we doing nght7 What can we do better7 Take a nnn ute and let us know You might just make the Chronicle Progress a better newspaper in 1990 For which we thank you very much 1989 stories Joseph Moody conducts a rehearsal of the Delta Messiah chorus Performances begin at 7pm Details about the Delta sobists pictured below and other Messiah stories are on page 3 process Prosecutors last week used one word to describe the jury selection process in the murder trial of Michael slow Anthony Archuleta Millard County Attorney Warren Peterson said prospective jurors were being qualified to serve (or not) at the rate of about two per hour A 2 member jury with two alternates was expected to be named Monday Dec 4 with opening arguments immediately following Archuleta is accused of murder in connection with the Nov 1988 death of Gordon Ray Church The trial was moved from Millard County to Provo on a change of venue Lance Conway Wood is also charged murder in connection with with the case He will be tried in Provo (In no particular buys a bowling alley and builds courts Prosecution begins against Michael Archuleta and Lance Wood for homicide The second George Hamilton murder trial of Preparations by the Air Force to build an electronic battlefield m the desert The municipal elections and the referendums on the ballot Efforts to bnng ming pool to Fillmore a new swim- Criminal charges brought against store owner Deon Dove Consolidation of the Della lice department into the Sheriffs partment poDe- Delta High School students write a bill about vending machines that gets passed by the stale legislature or- School taxes go up der) The efforts to keep hazardous waste out of Millard County The Delta High School tnp to Pans The new county fairgrounds County attorneys office pands to meet heavy workload ex- The struggle to get CUP water downstream Dcltaoffersrewardfornewdoc lor The proposed merger of the east and west side hospital districts IPP texes protested West Millard Recreation District lems Mormon crickets create the county prob- in Dog owners warned Ray Western Karroll Corey Millard County Sheriffs Department officials are warning pet owners that dogs caught harrassing livestock can be legally killed by the livestock owner Deputy Forrest Ropersaid in the past six to eight weeks 65 to 70 sheep and pigs valued at about $9500 have been killed by dogs running loose He said most of the animal attacks have taken place in the Sutherland area Two dogs were killed by a farmer in the Sutherland area Saturday Nov 25 “They were five or six miles north of their home" Roper said “which was on the Jones Road in the Sutherland area" Roper said the two dogs were shot by a livestock owner as the dogs were entering a weiner pig pen Continued on Pg 3 |