Show I'' A ’- A A:'v' j'- ' A v A V1- A-- 'i ' A V ’ yf Sunday December 28 2003 t A""- A'A"-- i A3 Local aa:Av'' A ago we had virtually none at A air By Mark RandaH staff writer ' The state is under attach from masked bandits but not the kind that say “stick ‘cm - ' ' Up until aboiit the 1960s Utah had virtually no raccoons to speak of But over the past few years the pesky critters have become the number onCurban wildlife problem in the state With nimble hands and fra- gers just like humans and an insatiable curiosity raccoons ' get into just about everything from household trash to hay bales to back yard gardens “They make a mess in a ' ’ hurry" Israelsen said “They ! lip These bandits walk oh all strike at night and have a particular fancy for sweet corn V Cache Valley like other parts ' of Utah is experiencing an explosion in the raccoon popu- lation A A “We’ve got a lot of them” said County Extension Agent Clark Israelsen “A fewyears ' like to dig and tear things apart Sometimes theyend up on roofs and peej shingles off’’ Raccoons are a particular ' ' " menace to gardens : Israelsen said he gets a lot of calls from frustrated home1 Owners who have had their ' gardens raided by the night- -' " ' time bandits "A “They love sweet com" Israelsen said “And they know' exactly when it's ripe Folks will spend their whole summer trying to get their com to the proper stage and tte raccoons- will beat them to it” : : ' The Utah Departmentof 'Transportation completed installation of ' diodes of LED lights bn 30 traffic signals along US High- way 1 earlier this fall! mak- X ing Cache - light-emitti- 89-9- u County the first coqnty in the State to feature the' V cost saving signals on all state roads “Logan city has brought up concerns (to ' 'v ' - motorists So a that will increase safety" r “Orie of the big reasons to make the change was- : said -- om-- : Neff pared with a1 ' yearly change that saves man- - ' power and usjabout ener- -' -- Andy Neff labor” gy conserva- UDOT coordinator However the' so we tion iaboir savings 'A' ?— — — want to do our came With a part to save A'-- steep initial price tag Neff said energy’ said Andy Neff ' Xeach of the hundreds of LED UDOT’s Region 1 public ' involvement coordinator lights it takes to make a signaj v costs a few dollars while a sig- ' ' naljit by one incandescent bulb replace one large incandescent with hundreds' of tiny only costs from $70 to$ 70 He light bulb Asaid a single intersection traffic on each sig- jED lights nal and pedestrian sigiial con- including traffic signals aqd' sume approximately 20 percent pedestrian crossings roughly ' costs about $400 with LED less energy than the old bulbs Neffsaid drivers niay benefit Ughts That initial cost has kept as well' since LED lights bum "r ' 20 percent brighter than the old lights from switching over in ’t other Utah counties so far' V : light bulbs' “The brighterthey are the' v 'although Neffsaid the rest of ' ' the state is scheduled to recei ve more visible they are to Will increase v the LED benefits eventually" motorists so that ' “Region one is a little ahead” safety” he said he said “but slowly pother The major replacement pro- ' counties are catching up)” ject which began in fall 2002 : prohibited The extension office has large metal cage traps available for residents to borrow Raccoons are easily lured - V into the contraptions he said A because they are a curious ani- mal by natureand have large A appetites “All you have to do is put a Twinkie in front of the cage” Israelsen said ' State law prohibits releasing them because they have a ten- dency to return quickly ' ‘ ' - a - mm- - ! ' light-emitti- He said tie saw one Survivor and heard A Trigger controlled avalanches voices and called91 before the sec- Before sparcherson the ground ' A' could be sent Hack in the helicopter ondslide hit BroWit said he Went' back over snow A crew flew over the area' again io defer- mine if the avalanche threat had been that just came down and wanted to "' ' eased help but knew he couldn't because of families’’ said Sgt Yvette Rice Matt Long18 of Pleasant Grove ' 'thdanger':-was buried to his chest but dug himself spokeswoman with the Utah County' “We’re just very grateful for our : Sheriff's Department “We have told out JD Settle 20 also of Pleasant safely said Brown whose yoice ' but res-- -' them Specifically that the likelihood of GrOve was completely-buriequivered with emotion a& he recounted their children being found in a live and escaped with cued by a bystander the events “Each of those three slides ' Y V 'A'state is not very realistic’’ a knee injury' We Were certain our lives were oyer'' The operation 'resumed SaturdayLong was led by one pf the dog hah- The sriowbparders who were one of With a helicopter crew dropping cxplo- - dlers back up the mountainside to' three groups caught by the ayalanche sives on the mountainside to break tip : assist in the search late Saturday after- - were swept a half mile down a- narrow noon Long' Was fitted with an potential snow slides so search teams Aspen Grove Snow piled avalanche beacon like the rest df the could safely 'resume the search which 4- - io 4 feet up deep at the bottom of rescuers were weariilg during the ’ was led by the rescue dogs the slide which Utah County Sheriff v A' i' Officials said the rescue would con- search Jim TraCy said was' aboiit three city ' finueinto the afternoon and evening Craig Knight a family friend of : 'blocks wide ' Hebert and Merz said the men all depending on the condition of the The two' slides (hat follbwed were bitter-ly and in the as well Utah a and workers ' ' 'grew uptogether County dogs smaller Tracy said had gone to the canyon Friday morn- cold mountain weather The avalanche hif hear the ciid Pf a Rod Newberry 20 of Pleasant ing fora day of snowboarding that dumped 29 inches of snow stprm VA’ 18 Mike and and hked to Merz Grove Adam they played ' in the play “They Sundance area in 24 hours Hebert 19 both of Orem were among hard said Knightwho was serving to the National Weather Ser- according as a spokesman for the familiesa group of five friends who were 'v A A the avalanche avalanche siipwshoer reported Friday swept down hy the '' main avalanche' the Tf appeared : Grove A in the afternoon afternoon Two others of the group Aspen Friday the chute at broke the of and awqy top survived but the three were still miss-- : ’ area of Provo Canyon about a mile ' that none of the skiers or snowboard-er- s north of Sundance ski resort The area ing when the search was called off appeared to have triggered if ': because conditions were too danger- - v ' is considered backcountry and has no : ' ' avalanche control Tracy said r ous with loose snow tilt trickling 'None ofthe snoWboarderscarried Dell Brawn who was snowshoeingA downhill and masses of snow clinging standard avalanche safety equipment his said wife and he his with search area the to slopes above family '1 such as radjo transmittess shovels or " covered their the and to fell were ground dropped Explosive charges probe poles Tracy said from a helicopter Saturday morning to two small children after the' first slide 1 - J - : " - U ' c : - chute-abov- : - 1 - ' A - - aA i “Ax"-'-- : a''- -' iAii- - : ' : '"'J " 1 a'- - : -- ’ - v‘ r ' ' v - - - over the Roberts Horn area dropping explosive charges to stabilize the snow foTrescue crews that wM continue the search for three snowboardeis lost in an avalanche near the Aspen Grove trailhead above Sundance Ski Resort on Saturday - - ' Sf - - - " - A heOoopter flies ¥ 1 - APphoto - : fi u £ ' - A i 4 kit I 4 4 -f- I 4 I -" r V! ' i “ if tm v - i v‘ s : ' I i y - : A i - v-'- - i A f “A lot of times' people will take them iip iq the canyon and let them go " Israelsen said They probably almost beat uS back home” J Israelsen does have some V advice for gardeners who love their sweet aim tjuit may help: The use of small electric fences around the garden helps deter the prowlers ' “Five or six inches above the ground seems to' keep' them out of the garden” Israelsen said- “It’s better than losing the gar- den to them” - ’s f - - - A:±m j y: ist - h y: -- nt - ' : SALTLAKE CITYfAPl— About 9!5(K) res- idents were still without power nearly two days ' after a devastating Snowstorm crippled parts of the Salt Lake valley The storm was to blame for countless acci- - ' : dents sim the show started falling Christmas ' ' V Day And in Provo Canyon the search was to r'tlrv resume Sunday for three missing snowboardeis' : The three were caughi in a series of four r"'" ' j fAi avalanches after 29 inches of snow fell Friday- it v and are feared dead The stalled low pioessure system dropped A' almost IS inches of snow in Salt Lake City A-- ' ' and more iii the niiHHitains — Dec 25-2- 6 Another 5 inches fell Saturday with the potential ' for 2 more said Eugene VanCor a physical with the Weather service:' “It’s a short little ripple in the atmosphere bringing the last gasp of the winter storm that hit ' ' ' the area” VanCor said V Utah Power crews were around-lhe- -' working ' clock to restore power to thousands of residents! The wet heavy snow downed tree branches ' and power lines leaving nearly 70000 people in y ' the Salt Lake valley in the dark Friday V Power had been rcsktred to all hut 95(X) resi- dents late Saturday the company said Mostshould have' service back by Sunday night but a few may have to Wait until Monday ’ ' X Shelters have been opened for people who V :' A don’t have power at home It appears many didn’t heed the Utah High1-- ' : way Patrol’s advice ito stay honie unless they it " was absolutely rtecessary to drive ‘ f More than 1 200 accidents had teen reported through Saturday night said patrolspokesnian ?' '"'x- A Chris Krariier s ' "People just have U slow down” Knirner A- - i A' said A The storm left downtown Salt Lake City a vir- tual glktst tpwn on Saturday considered d strong postTiristnuLs shopping day ! ' A ' One downtown restaurant even pibstCd a sign'” saying it Was closing two hours early because of v-V “extremely slow business” i" 'After a dry Sunday MinCor said moresnow ' should fall friHn another stomi ' system Monday inextrenie northern Utah and southern Idaho However the service is not making any pre- -' r dictions about snowfall totals for Mtniday's ' v MitcMascarqHerald journal Y storm just yet mainly since tlxry are still busy diodes- New crossing signs along Main Street feature working last week s snowstorm' m 1 - ? 'charge of a firearm in city lini- -' Its or in a residential area is ' yimt AedAA'X 1 a-- across valley '&iW- bulb need- - “The brighter they are the more visi- ble they are to electricity-an- d ' each incandes-ce- "' reqional news aa - " arid was recently completeil : " should be the last for a number of years LED light manufacture ' ers claim the new signals will r ' last for 10 years saving the three UDOT maintenance work- ers that cover an area from-DaviCounty to Cache County considerable time over the : annual changes - staff writer A a- d recovery from winter storm Gounty is fi rst U DOT cirea to feature efficient LEDs By David Nelson Raccoons also have a hankering for chickenshe said “They are just death on poulIsraelsen said try” ' Israelsen attributes the explosion in the raccoon popu- lation to the fact that the ani-mal doesn’t have any natural A’-predators While they have turned up all across the valley raccoons are especially a problem along the benches and higher eleva- tions The only way to deal with them is to either shoot them or trap them However the dis- -' state-ari- ’ v 'a ' - J i’t s 14 i4 4 " r “"' : AA”i s T'' 4 AA'''V |