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Show UINTAH BASIN STANDARD. January 2. 2UQ1- - PflgC-Why hasn't Duchesne County joined the bandwagon when the majority of felony and misdemeanor arrests within the county gre drug related? "We certainly have a problem," 3. freight railroad link between eastern Utah and western Colorado is expected benefits. The Isoto yield long-terlated Empire Rail project has already gained significant steam. Last April, $1 million was appropriated for a series of railroad feasibility studies. After a year-lon- g wait, Roosevelt has been given the green light to proceed with a water prqject that will ease the burden on their currentculi-nai- y water system which is pumping close to capacity in the summer months. The new water source will adequately Durrigan Springs augment the citys current water delivery capacity into the foreseeable fliture. REVIEW 2000 Continued from pegs 1 the Uintah Basin is days away from completion. The plan will detail how the Ute Indian Tribe's newly formed enterprise, Uinta River Technology, will work in conjunction with Oracle the second largest software Corp. company in the world inabusiness venture on the reservation. The pro- posed business is made possible through project BRAVO, a federal government program designed to create information technology Jobs on Indian lands and in surrounding ically-disadvantaged rural areas. econom- July April Public comment on the proposed sale ofthe Uintah Basin Telecommunications buyout of US WEST exchanges was overwhelmingly in ikvor of the action during a public hearing hoe ted by the Utah Public Sendee Commission. UBTA announced last December that a new subsidiary UBET Telecom will be formed to serve the 15,000 former US WEST customers looriedin Vernal, Roosevelt and Duchesne areas when the sale of US WEST territory is officially approved by regulatory agencies. Gov. Mike Leavitt and other state officials visited the Uintah Basin on the Capitol fora Day" tour. The governor met with the Ute Tribe Business Committee and discussed the efforts over a seven year period that led political leaders from the state and tribe out of the courtroom and into amicable roundtablediscuaskms. The result was the settlement of numerous issues which had stuck like thorns in the side of both governments for decades. May A lack of programs and binding at West Junior High, coupled with low teacher-studen- t ratios at the school has the Uintah County School Board consideringtransferringwestside students attending Vernal Middle School and Vernal Junior High to help the struggling junior high by increasing its enrollments. Many westside parents have bluntly let school board members know they prefer to keep their children in Vernal schools. UBTAUBET Communications broke ground on a new building. The new headquarters for the growing telecommunications company is located on prime highway frontage property in Roosevelt that has alternately stood vacant and been used as a garden nursery in the summer months. The construction project is scheduled to be completed in spring 2001. The Utah State Tax Commission last week issued special tax bulletins to Duchesne and Uintah county merchants to inform them of the upcoming change in gales tax charges on non-trulands for enrolled members of the Ute Indian Tribe. Effective July 1, "purchases of goods and services on non-trulands within the Uintah and Ouray Reservation are subject to state and. local sales and ua taxes, st st an enrolled member of the tribe, the tax bulletin stated. June A proposed acquisition between Flying J Inc. and Inland Resources, that fell through earlier this year, is back on again, and this time company officials say they expect the plan to face fewer obstacles. Flying J announced late last month that they had struck a deal to buy control of the Inland Resources. Denver, Colo.-base- d Inland employs about 65 people in their Pleasant Valley headquarters. (The deal later folded again.) After enjoying three consecutive years of wet winters and significant springtime showers, farm land in Duchesne and west Uintah counties wont exactly suffer from a drought, but water won 't be easy to come by. At a time when spring runoff from the mountains is typically just beginning, ' this year its already ended. The Uintah Basin experienced the lowest snowpack levels since 1993. A recent trip to Washington, D.C. state and local proponents of a . With oil prices nearly triple from what they were one year ago, and the strong demand for natural gas pushing its price up by 200 to 300 percent from where it stood a few years ago, work in the oil and gas fields is plentiful, but experienced hands are becoming scarce. The problem is attributed to two main factors: the boom and bust nature of the industry that has finally sent many oil field hands working in other professions and the nations low unemployment rate. During opening statements in a twisted and bizarre double murder trial, defense attorney Ron Yengich told jurors that wealthy Duchesne County cattleman, John R. Finder, would personally proclaim his innocence in the deaths oftwoofhis former employees. Yengich admonished jurors not to make his client "a third victim of the crime by finding him guilty of the 1 1 felony counts he feces. How do you keep a fishery from devouring itself? Its a question fisheries biologist all across the country have been askingfor years. Now biologists are asking this question about Starvation Reservoir near Duchesne. Walleye, a highly-value- d sport fish and top predator in the reservoir, are starving. After enduring low cattle prices for percent Jurors didn't look John R. Pinder in the eye when they filed into the 4 District Courtroom in Heber to renNovember Roosevelt police are sorting der their verdicts in his month-lon- g trial. After three days and over 13 through leads, conducting interviews, hours ofdeliberations they had made and waiting for laboratory results foltheir decision: John Pinder was guilty lowings pipe bomb explosion at Union 11 different times for crimes includHigh. The circular ripe bomb was lit ing aggravated murder, aggravated kidnaping, desecration of two dead human bodies, aggravated burglary, possession ofan explosive device and tampering w'th evidence. Roosevelt has been awarded an $89,900 USDA Rural Business Opportunity grant to assess the feasibility of converting the former Pennzoil nyfinerytaan ethanol production plan. Elthajoq use is an the rise as an addi-tiv- e in motor fuel because it iemore "environmentally friendly. A Neola ranching family filed a complain in 8 District Court in Duchesne against the State Water Engineer and Roosevelt city, claiming that plans to operate a culinary water well near their property will have a negative impact on their water rights. three-memb- the pest two years and holding on to herds in hopes of more favorable returns, prices received by cattle producers are definitely improving. However, at the same time the summer drought is making its impact with ld days dragon and irrigation ditches fill with dust. Currently the Uintah Basin valley posts 64 percent of normal precipitation, with normal being 100 commons area. The bomb wentoffjust after 3 a.m. on Nov. 1. Construction crews from Uintah Basin Telecommunications Association are busy laying 35 miles of fiber optics from Roosevelt to Vernal along Highway 40. Over the past several (4.2 yeari UBTAUBET has invested million in the extensive fiber-optic-s prqject. In the Duchesne County Commission race, Loma Stradinger, Hancock Cove, became the first woman elected to serve on the commission. Stradinger replaces Ted Kappen who did not seek The Moon Lake Electric Association Board of Directors voted in frill support of a $2 million rebate, which will appear as a credit on electric bills for residential, small business and irrigation consumers. The need for power in California and other states has proven beneficial for Moon Lake because the Bonanza Power plant is able to sell excess electricity on the open market at very favorable rates. October higher prices for hqy. A proposed addition to the Uintah Basin Medical Center has been downsized to 29,000 square feet, but plans forconstruction ofthe new medical office buildinghave been finalized and construction is expected to begin this month. Deseret Generation and Transmission at last turned the cornerto eqjqy pricey power sales. After struggling since 1985 to meet financial obligations associated with the construction of the $1.2 billion Bonanza Power plant in Uintah County, Deseret is not only making their debt payments, th had enough excess forMoon Electric Association to provide $2 million in rebates to their members. A clandestine methamphetamine laboratory set up in Cedarview area northwest of Roosevelt was uncovered when agents with the Uintah Basin Narcotics Strike Force went to investigate reports of suspicious acconvict tivity to find a hiding out with a girl. Clean-u- p of the toxic methamphetamine lab is expected to cost between $10,000 to $12,000. The Ute Tribe Business Committee formally agreed to provide $2.3 million in "start-umoney forahigh-tec- h business on the reservation. The money will allow the newly formed tribal enterprise Uinta River Technologies to team up with Oracle Corp. in a venture that could bring an estimated 300 new technology-relate- d jobs to the Uintah Basin. August Many Uintah Basin fanners without access to reservoir water may find themselves without much of a crop this season as unusual ly hot summer a stuffed and mounted cougar in the school's by a fuse and placed below UBTA Communications is one-ste- p closer to providing service to approximately 15,000 US WEST customers in Vernal, Roosevelt, Duchesne, Ballard, Myton, Jensen, Naples, Gusher and Fort Duchesne. Roosevelt used up the 10,000 designated 722 telephone prefixes and a brand new prefix 725 was added. So how did the Roosevelt area happen to use up all of their assigned prefixes? It wasnt new growth. Instead its attributed to the increasing use of telecommunication technology such as cell phone, fax machines and Internet service. WATER RIGHTS Continued from page The citydiscovered they would have to approach Congress to make the change official and permanent, so they hireaa water rights attorney to lead the charge. Hamlin estimates it cost the city between $40,000 to $50,000 to get the title cleared up. "Thats pretty expensive to get a title on something we already own, but when it's done when anyone needs a fairly good amount of water we can say, yea." The Ute Tribe will benefit from the legislation as well. The tribe has substantial holdings of undeveloped land in Duchesne City. In recognition of their cooperation Ute tribal members wanting to hook up to the city water system would not be assessed normal connection or development er December A majority of Utahs teachers walked off the job on Dec. 5, but educators from the Duchesne County District werent among them. However, members of the Uintah Education Association didjoin their counterparts statewide in the one-da- y "job action, in an attempt to publicize the need for long-terfunding plans for public education. While the headlines flash news of enormous hikes in electric rates across Moon the West, the Roosevelt-base- d lake Electric Association wants to reassure their members that despite chaotic circumstances in the electric market "Moon Lakes power rates are stable. In feet, Moon Lake is sitting in an extremely favorable position because they are part of a regional coalition ofuectric cooperatives with their own power facility. Utahs nine mineral producing counties are banding together to lobby for a bill which proposes to bringback millions ofdollars in oil and gas severance tax revenue to the point oforigin. During calendar year 1999, the state collected $15.5 million in severance taxes from oil and gascompanies. Rural counties being drained of their nonrenewable resources say they could use some of that money to revitalize ailing infrastructures and stimulate depressed economies. The Duchesne City Water Rights Conveyance Act resolves a legal conundrum that has prevented the city of Duchesne from having frill control over its water rights, commented Sen. Orrin Hatch DRUG COURT Continued from page County Commissioners would likely need more knowledge of Drug Cou rts before they would be willing to make a judgement call about the need for one in Duchesne County. 1 Judges Payne and Anderson see around 40 participants in Uintahs Drug Court. "These are some great people going through the program whohavehadalifetimeofdnigabuse, commented Payne. Drug Court is a wonderful processPayne said, because it holds people accountable. ApilotDrugCourt was launched in Uintah County in 1997, it became permanent in 1998. Judge Payne stated that it is never easy to start a Drug Court It requires participation ofthe county commissioners, county attorney, law enforcement and the courts. A Drug Court also requires funding. Uintah County haa grant from the state that will hold them through 'July. "I think it is worth it, commented Payne. "It is a great program. I have often wished I could have it for the people in Duchesne.1 Wallentine Drug Court administrator and chief deputy Uintah County attorney, agrees with Payne. "The program will not succeed without the prosecutor, sheriff and law enforcementonline,saidWallentine. (NAPS) An increasing number of shoppers are discovering a good sign of freshness in food can be found on the outside of the package. Many consumers now find food wrapped In an especially strong packaging that can seal liquids In, air out Reading the label on a package of meat can mean a healthy understanding of safe food coolring and handling, serving suggestions, nutrition content of processed food, recommended sale date if the any and how well-protect- product may be. t i I. on your I & s September During summer semester enrollment at the Utah State University Uintah Basin branch campus almost doubled, going from 105 students in 1999, to 195 students in 2000. The same trend held true for fall semester. On day 12 of classes, enrollment figures are posting 157 more students signed up for courses, with registrations still coming in. A new campus facility is being built in Roosevelt to accommodate the growth. The Public Service Commission issued their order grantingthe sale of US WEST Communication's rural Utah assets to a consortium oftele- phone cooperatives. In Duchesne and Uintah counties that means that to the It Uintah Basin Standard! r : r Take Advantage On Tuesday, Congress approved the able, utterly replaceable employees. Americans With No Abilities Act, The legislation also provides corsweeping new legislation that pro-vid- porations with incentives to hire bcneilts and protection for more d workers, including tax than 135 million talentless Ameri- breaks for those who hire one cans. The act, signed into law by worker for every two President Clinton shortly after its talented hirees. Finally, the Ameripassage, is being hailed as a mqjor cans With No Abilities Act also convictory for the millions upon millions tains tough new measures to prevent of US. citizens who lack any real discrimination against the d skills or uses. by banning prospective employers "Roughly 50 percent of Americans- from askin g such quesno bultoftheir own-d- o -through tions as, What can you bring to this not possess the talent necessary to organization?" and "Do you have any carve outs meaningful role for them- special skills that would make you selves in society, "said Clinton,a long- an asset to this company? time ANA supporter. "Their "As a d person, I freexist- quently find myself unable to lives are futile ha mater-whekeep ences of unrewarding, dead-en- d who have up with documents writbusywork: Xeroxing them, said Mary Lou ten by others, filling out mail-i- n Gertz, who lost her position as an rebates for Black & Decker toaster unessential filing clerk at a Minneovens, and processingbureaucratic apolis tile wholesaler last month beforms that nobody will ever see. Sadly, cause of her lack of notable skills. d for these millions of "This new law should really help Americans, the American dream of people like me. With the passage of working hard and movingupthrough the the ranks is simply not a reality. Americans With No Abilities Act, Under the Americana With No Gertz and millions of other untal-enteAbilities Act, more than 25 million "middle man unessential citizens can finally see a Important-soundin- g positions will be created in the light at the end of the tunnel. white-colla- r d sector for Said Clinton: "It is our duty, both as lawmakers and as human beings, persons, providing them with an illusory sense of purpose and ability. to Mandatory.'non-perfotmance-baae- d provide each and every American citiraises and promotions will also be zen, regardless of his or her lack offered to create a sense of upward of value to society, some sort of space mobility for even the most unremark to take up in this great nation. of our Reduced Rates! 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. non-able- Uil non-germa- - - - Through January 31, 2001 - - - For DeliveryJN the Uintah Basin Area non-able- What Prices Good w With Coupon Only!! i s $ non-able- $ el or For Delivery OUT of the Uintah Basin Area Regular Speciai $32.00 36.00 $50.00 56.00 non-able- r-- ? d, :opy and Duchesne counties share the same judges the program would be relatively easy to expand into Duchesne County. Obtaininga DnigCourt starts with gaining the attention of County Commissioners, the County Attorney and the Sheriff. Duchesne County Attorney Herb Gillespie, said the issueofDrugCourts has not really been looked into in Duchesne County. He concurs with Wallentine and Payne that a lot of work would be required to start a Drug Court. Funding has to be secured, and administration and staff muBt be chosen and trained. More time and effort would be required of many county officials. Look To The Label fWJ ongress Approves Americans With No Abilities Act non-able- stated Rep. Gordon Snow lie feels that since Uintah 1 J (Men. Good with Coupon Only!) Clip and Send To: Name Uintah Basin Standard 268 South 200 East Address Give A Gift Subscription! w.wiCenda Card in your behalf SEW or Call 3 1, Free at BMM27-M7Mention this Special and use your VISA or MasterCard Toll V City. 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