Show V Best Available Copy sunKui A3 Local state and regional news '(Q)(iS with a felony charge Voters can cast ballots in the Democratic presidential primary at six Cache County locations today Polls will be open from noon to 8 pm at the Hynim City Library the Logan City Library the North Logan Library Richmond City Hall the Merrill Library at Utah State Univer-sit- y and the Providence City Library The primary is open to all voters who will be 1 8 by the November election regardless of party affiliation ' By Jason Bergreen staff writer tion” In a statewide effort to crackdown on rising incidents of bank robberies in Utah the US Attorney’s Office has opted to prosecute alleged Logan' bank robber Joseph Manuel Reyes in federal court Cache County Deputy Attorney Tony Baird said Monday that Reyes was indicted by the US Attorney’s Office last week on a felony bank robbery charge He is expected to be Zions Sank branch to stay in Smith’s re ZionsBank branches at Smith’s Food and Drug locations from Brigham City to Cedar City will not affect the Logan branch said LeeAnne Linderman director of branch banking for Sons Bank through a press release on Monday Sons Bank has opted out of leas-es at IS locations in Utah where redundant services are offered less than a mile away and will be ' replaced by US Bank In addition to the Sons Bahk branch at Smith’s Food and Drug 17S E 442 North Sons Bank has five other locations in Cache Valley and 125 branches throughout Utah -- - ' - Logan police believe Reyes entered tiro Wells Fargo Bank at 5 S Main St on Feb 4 and handed a teller a note which reportedly stated he would shoot her if she didn’t give him money Reyes allegedly made off with about $3000 in cash ' A three-da- y manhunt ended Feb 7 when Las Vegas metro police arrested Reyes and another man in a Nevada motel Reyes was arrested Hard hard choices An announcement last week that 'US Bank will take over after Logan police learned from an’ informant that the pair had taken a bus to Las Vegas and were staying at a Travelodge “We (recently) indicted eight people in six different indictments for different bank robberies where notes were used” Sundwall said “This will send a message that all trank robberies are federal crimes and we’re going to prosecute the ones that we want You’re not going to go out and think that if you don’t use a gun you’re not going to risk federal prosecution” Sundwall said 133 Utah banks wererobbed in 2003 “That’s more than one every other working day and that’s too many” he said transported as early as next week to Salt Lake City for additional court ' proceedings federal prosecutor ' Kevin Sundwall said “What makes a bank robbery a federal crime is that the bank is federally insured” Sundwall said “That’s how we get federal jurisdic- US Attorney’s Office chooses to hit Reyes Six Cache polls open for primaries A person convicted of robbery in a federal court can receive up to 20 years in prison Sundwall said Cache County Sheriff’s deputies had also arrested Reyes on suspicion of stealing groceries from a Hynim convenience store the day before the bank robbery Reyes was booked into the Cache County Jail on suspicion of theft but was later released on his own recognizance The bank heist occurred about 15 hours later A preliminary hearing in Reyes’ third-degrfelony retail theft case is scheduled for Feb 23 He is also charged with a class-- B misdemeanor of use or possession of drug paraphernalia in the same case ee Lack of county funding may cancel night softball games at Willow Park By John Wright staff writer Officials may have to pull the plug on night softball games at the Sports Complex if the Cache County Coun- cil doesn’t increase funding for Willow Park In addition the Cache Valley Cruise-i- n the MS 150 bike race Fair the Great American West Rodeo and the Willow Park Zoo could all be impacted will discuss the matter '' tonight during their regular meeting which begins at 5 pm in the Multipurpose Room of the Cache Building “We’ve got to have a really frank talk as a council” said Councilman Cray Yeates who also serves on the Willow Park Advisory Board “It’s a bad situation because we want Wil- low Park to be open and accessible' to the public as much as possible” The park — which includes the Sprats Complex the zoo the Logan-CacFairgrounds and Fairview Park — is funded jointly try the county and Logan city under an ' interlocal agreement that says both will contribute equal amounts Last year the city and county were asked to increase their contributions by $80000 fra the fiscal year beginning 1 2003 The city has done so July ' but the county is about $34000 short of matching the city’s $336599 County Executive Lynn Lemon said he’s unsure whether the county which is in the midst of another tight budget year can afford to put any more money toward the facility ' “I think from our standpoint it’s going to be difficult” Lemon said “Right now it doesn’t look very likely I don’t think we’re in a posi- y : Coun-cilmemb- full-servi- ce County-Administratio- Air hits ‘unhealthy’ PM 25 levels again Air pollution again reached levels described as “unhealthy” in Cache Valley on Monday At 3 pm Logan’s running 24- hour average for PM 25 pollution was 688 micrograms per cubic meter which is above the Environmental Protection Agency’s health standard of 655 micrograms At levels above the health standard people with heart or lung dis- -' ease older adults and children ' should avoid prolonged or heavy Outdoor exertion Everyone else ' should reduce prolonged of heavy outdoor exertion: In addition wood- - and stoves or fireplaces must not be used people should reduce vehicle use by consolidating trips and industry should optimize operations to minimize air pollution emissions -- coal-bum-i- he ng Spring Creek parent meetings this week mm : Two peahens sit on tion at least at this point in time to provide additional funding” Yeates said a delay in - two-mon- th J! Spring Creek Middle School will ’1 be holding parentteacher confer-ences from 4 to 7 pm on Thursday and 9 am to noon on Friday There will be nor school on Friday Stu- dents are encouraged to attend the conferences with their parents - r idt ! J The Cache County Coundlwi hold a workshop on contracting with the state Department of Corrections to house prisoners at the new County Jail at 4 pm in the Multipurpose Room of the County Administration Building f 79 N Main in Logan : V The Cache County Council will meet at 5 pm in the County Administration Building 179 N Main Agenda Willow Park is a second public hearing on Community Development Block Grants Hearing an update on the Bear River Heritage Area from Maridene Hancock ' Considering a contract with the state Department of Corrections to' house prisoners at the new County V-- V r wtv seen from the air in this photo taken in May 2002' ' Ex-Gin-ci Former sfiricultiirsl 'i : v v :: company ' P LuceroHorald construction of the new jail has cost the qounty precious revenue from housing state inmates there“We could really be strapped if we don’t get this jail up and running quickly” Yeates said “We’re just in a state of slot of unknowns We are beingvery careful with what tax rev- enue we’ve got We’ve got a lot of projects ongoing” If the county doesn't provide the $34000 the city could reduce its funding by that amount creating a $68000 shortfall in the Willow Park budget according to Logan Parks and Recreation Director Russ Akina That would lead to a reduction in mainte-- : nance for special events the elimina- tion of nighttime softball games due to utility costs a reduction in hours of operation and implementation of admission fees at the zoo Logan Mayor Doug Thompson said he’s unsure What die city will do if the county doesn’t approve theadditional funding He said that in past years the city has made its full' Considering a request to hire add-tipnal staff for the new jail Hearing an update on the Cache County Courthouse restoration project Discussing a rezoning request by ' Flora Obray for a parcel near Avon Hearing a budget request concerning Willow Park and the Logan-Cach- e Fairgrounds from City Parks Director Russ Akina f Considering a resolution expressing opposition to reduce the sales tqx to support water projects and revolving funds Discussing adoption of Land Eval uation Sits Assessment program - 16nt: By Jason Bergrawi staff writer ' : - r third-degre- ‘ hi SeeAGENDASonAS SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The former president and ' publisher of the Cincinnati lead theageitcy Enquirer will that prints distributes and ' sells advertising for the two competing Salt Lake City daily newspapers Harry Whipple 56 was introduced to the staffs of the : Deseret Morning News and The Salt Lake Tribune on Monday as the new president and chief executive officer of ' the Newsper Agency Cor' poration V “The directive I have from v the board is to build both newspapers” he said of the drive to increase circulation and advertising revenue He served as publisher in Cincinnati for 11 years retir ’ A former employee of CRJ Genex has pleadied guilty to five counts of felony forgery fra signing checks wnt- ten out to his employer totaling as mudi as $16000 ' Mikel S Faver 3 1 of Richmond worked as a bull semen salesman fra the agricultural company between Dec- 2001 and Dec! 2003 He admitted guilt to the five e felony charges Monday in Logan 1st Dis- Court trict Cranpany representatives of CRI Genex began investigating Faver in January 2003 after receiving complaints from customers of being billed for goods dray had already paid fra i: See FORGERY on A6 Journal contribution even when the county has been unable to pay However there is no guarantee that will hap-pen again this year “We’re strapped as well ” Thompson said “It’s supposed to be a joint " project It puts us in a difficult posi- tion We don’t want to kill the but we donT think it’s tair that Logan city pays more fra the programs than the other partner in the arrangement We’d be the ones to girt the blame” Brendan Pratt recreation manager fra Logan city said dial if night soft-ba- ll games are eliminated die city’s biggest recreation program essentially would be cut in half The program includes 125 adult teams from throughout the valley as well as girls' fastpitch and othjsr youth leagues “It may come down to choosing between adult softball and girls’ fast pitch” Pratt said “I’d hate to see that happen but we may have to make some hard hard choices I'm ' keeping my fingercrossed” pro--gra- nnsti publisher to leed : 'Jail vi-- a fence at Willow Park Zoo on Monday afternoon - Herald Journal file photo itemsindude: Holding - V - : ing in May 2003 He said he spent a “luxurious sabbatical” flying his plane and vis- iting his chil- -' dren Whipple said he looked forwaird to the challenge and was excited by the growth potential 'offered in the Salt Lake Valley Tribune Publisher William Dean Singleton selected Whipple for the position and received the unanimous ' backing of NAC board mem-- ' beta representing both news- papers Whipple takes over the agency as it prepares to build an $80 million 320000-square-fo- : N AC state-of-the-- ot structure that would hold the papers’ new printing presses distribution equipment and V the NAC sales staff The building should be ready for business in the spring of 2006 Whipple replaces Joe Zer--: ' bey who took the NAC- post in January 2001: Zerbey will become vice president of operations for Denver-base- d MediaNews Group’s East Coast newspapers said Singleton also the chief execu- tiVe officer of MediaNews Z The Deseret Morning ' News is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ' V ' s ‘ 7 |