Show Vi 1 T i IMP ‘ J i WA V r' I Liberace’s body tested for £JV 4— - i T" - Bonneville 80 Box Elder 50 Roy 71 Weber 65 Layton 87 Clearfield 59 Sky View 73 Ben Lomond 72 East Canyon fish kill investigated Sewage suspected — LocalIC AIDS Report expected today — National5A plant tmitori-feattitVol nw-T- 77r vs iiiTrairlatiTmraaaflfc—M er Saturday February 7 1987 — 100th Year of Serving Northern Utah 100 No 38 Controversial consolidation 35 cents v t i A r-A- rn t ef ff ' ' t By SUSAN IPAKTCHIAN Standard Examiner staff SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House of Representatives killed a controversial bill Friday that would have resulted in only one school district per county eliminating existing districts After two days of debate and several attempts to amend the bill sponsored by Rep Kim Burthe House ningham 2 rejected the measure in a vote But although the bill is dead the district consolidation movement still has a little life left Burningham plans to bring a weaker bill before the House' that would deprive the affected districts of approximately $45000’ apiece annually in state money if they choose not to consolidate “I’ll just bring it up and see what happens" he said For now it means that the Ogden and Weber districts will remain separate Weber Superintendent Jay Taggart said he was glad thebill didn't pass because he thougHT there were too manylproblems with it — “However I’m sure we’ll be back talking about this again next year" Although most of the Weber n More Legislature 87 on Legislature — County delegation voted against the4)ill three — Nolan Karras Grant Protzman and Joseph Hull — threw their support behind it The defeated bill would have reduced the number of school districts from 40 to 29 and would have taken effect July 1 GOP supports flat income tax SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The House GOP caucus voted by e a margin Friday to income tax to support a replace the state’s presenflystem of graduated tax brackets that critics say is outdated and regressive Meanwhile state budget analysts warned lawmakers that a downward trend in sales tax collections could point to more red ink in the current budget which already has fallen some $100 million in the hole House Republicans voted to support the flat tax concept a day after hearing presentations on the proposal from Rep Franklin V 1989 Burningham said consolidation would save money in three main areas: cutting $600000 a year in administration costs eliminating unnecessary duplication of services and by reducing the need for school buildings He said it would also trigger true educational reform by forcing districts to creatively meet the challenges of consolidation '“Here is reform Vote for it as reform" Burningham said before the vote “Out of changes and struggles will come improvement” IHssaid the effective date of 1789 gave districts 2Vi years to work out the problems associated with consolidation Some lawmakers continued to See SCHOOL on 2A Knowlton of the Executive Appropriations Committee and Rep Craig Call Call is sponsoring a bill that would impose a 52 percent tax and eliminate all state exemptions Knowlton has proposed a 575 flat rate which would raise about $50 million in new revenue Support for the flat tax bill has been gaining momentum for more than a week as lawmakers have begun seriously looking for revenue sources to shore up erosions in the state's traditional tax base Se TAX on 2A ‘Seventy-si- x WASHINGTON (AP) — President Reagan told he was about to get a briefing on a program walked into a surprise party marking his 76th birthday Friday and was saluted by the Marine Band playing Trombones" “Seventy-SiHundreds of White House employees — from senior staff to secretaries — were waiting for Reagan when he stepped inr auditorium to the of the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House They burst into applause and Reagan grinned broadly Press spokesman Marlin admitted beforehand that Reagan might have a hunch about what to expecL But if he did the president made a good show of playing along With assistance from the Ma Weather Sunny and mild and a in the lower £0s 2A forecast tittle ' ' ‘r”' r? Associated Press the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet conduct maneuvers sidering allowing some vessels to leave for home to dis-i- n the Mediterranean The Pentagon was said to be con-- courage speculation that a military strike was imminent Units of US naval activity tapers off WASHINGTON ( AP) — Despite the recent buildup of US naval forces in the Mediterranean Washington has almost no military options to aid the eight Americans held hostage in Lebanon government officials say “There is not a lot we can do to help the hostages” one Pentagon source acknowledged privately US naval activity off Lebanon tapered off Friday although two Marine assault groups remained in the area One of two aircraft carrier task forces suspended its patrol of the waters off Mediterranean Lebanon while a Amphibious Ready Group carrying 1900 Marines had linked up with a force carrying a similar number of Marines south of the island of Crete During the buildup of the last two weeks Pentagon and White House officials said they planned no military strike but wanted to be prepared for possible retaliation if the kidnappers began executing hostages The fleet might also be used to evacuate several hundred American citizens who remain in Lebanon Pentagon officials said The US military record in the region has been mixed in recent years In 1980 an American mission to rescue US hostages in Tehran failed and three years later 241 US servicemen died in the bombing of a Marine barracks in Beirut The Reagan administration had better luck in 1985 using Navy warplanes to di- - Terrorists threaten hostages BEIRUT Lebanon (AP) — A extremist group threatened Friday to kill two American hostages if US forces attacked Lebanon and to kill a Frenchman if France supplies arms to Iraq In another development the magazine that broke the story of American arms sales to Iran reported Friday that hostage negotiator Terry Waite was in but would be freed next week ' captivity The death threats were made by the Revolutionary Justice Organization in Arabic statements delivered to a Western news agency and the independent newspaper That group claims it holds Joseph James Cicippio 56 formerly of Norristown Pa who was acting comptroller at the American University of Beirut Edward Austin Tracy also 56 a writer from Rutland Vt and 35 of France’s Antenne-television station In the latest in a series of unconfirmed reports on Waite’s fate the weekly quoted unidentified Islamic sources in Beirut as predicting the Anglican Church envoy who disappeared Jan 20 would be released “after the US military storm in the Mediterranean settles down” It was referring to the flotilla of US warships stationed off Lebanon US officials have said they were scaling down the buildup and that no attack was planned The Anglican Church has said it could not confirm Waite who disappeared while on a mission to negotiate the release of foreign hostages was being held against his will vert an airliner carrying the hijackers of the mander on the ground according to PentaAchille Lauro cruise ship And last year gon sources The naval bombardment which claimed US forces outgunned Libya in air and nasome civilian casualties raised val attacks sentiment in Lebanon And that hostilIn September 1983 the White House orin part for the dered a naval bombardment of ity was responsible forces overriding the objections of subsequent bombing of the Marine barracks and the wave of kidnappings CoL Timothy Geraghty the Marine com Planes come close over SL airport President Reagan shouts to reporters djrtng a surprise part celebrating his 7Cth birthday His wife looks on hary today Hghs SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The pilot of a Western Airlines 737 carrying 59 people took evasive action Friday after a small plane overshot its approach to Salt Lake City International Airport and strayed near the airliner a federal official said "The Western pilot reported that he slid to the left a bit" said Lee Fryer Federal Aviation Administration duty cfficcr in Seattle "It was not what you would call a violent evasive action" e A Cessna 172 and Western Flight 882 from Las were Ncv Vegas given final clearance to land on parallel runways at 1:05 p m Fryer said He said the Western pilot was runtold to land at a way to the west and the Cessna pilot was directed to a runway to the cast The Cessna strayed too far to the west and close to the commuter pljne but Trycr was uncertain how close they came "A pilot can call it out as a delayed — 5A Commission near miss" Fryer sail "Some pilots may consider a half mile as a near miss “My suspicion in this case is a few hundred fret" he said Fryer said FAA investigators would interview the plots examine radar records to determine how close the planes came and review radio communications to learn why the light plane strayed He declined to speculate on the cause flight 882 carrying 54 passenand a crew of five orginatcd in Las Vegas and cn route to Rapid City S D with a stop in Salt Lake City gers On Jan 15 a Sky West commuter plane and plane which had wandered into restricted a’r space collided about eight miles from the Salt Lake airport killing 10 people Inside today t w ' ’Srsr Trombones’ rine Band the audience sang “Happy Birthday Mr President" The chorus was interrupted by applause as Nancy Reagan slipped onto the stage to help her husband blow out seven candles on a huge cake Underscoring the theme of the day a banner above the stage read: “Happy Birthday Mr President Here’s to the Spirit of 76" He threw away his prepared remarks — literally tossing them over his shoulder — and cut the cake with assistance from his wife “You’re on your own" she said laughingly “I don't know about you" he remarked “I’m just trying to think of something to say" Reagan still on a restricted work schedule after prostate surgery Jan 5 looked healthy and happy T "ft- Reagan surprised with birthday party Marines play ' |