| Show The Salt Lake Tribune Holiday Spirit Of Giving Is Alive and Well B Continued from A-- l just dont find that kindness any- more she said But apparently it still is around And there were gifts A d Sing & Snore Ernie for a homeless shelter in Roanoke Va toiletries and dinners of ham and stuffing for people with AIDS in Baltimore Even those who dont celebrate Christmas got into the spirit of the hard-to-fin- Legislator Wants Biennial season Thursday At the Beth Sholom Home of Central Virginia in Richmond more than 100 Jewish volunteers came in to entertain the elderly residents and let the Christian staff members stay home with their families Since the tradition began more than 20 years ago they spend the day celebrating the anniversary of the founding of Israel Christs birthplace Its just the greatest day every year said social services director Deirdre Arnowitz Other Christmas news: Instead of spending Christmas morning opening presents about 250 travelers spent Thursday aboard planes after their flights to Chicago on Wednesday were diverted to or stalled in Mil UTAHNATION Friday December 26 waukee because of a snowstorm It was just like Laurel and Hardy was running the airport said Croft Long 38 of Costa Mesa Calif who was en route to Little Rock Ark His plane was grounded for five hours at Mitchell International on the ninway with no Airport drinking water or working toilets President Clinton made the most of his Christmas Eve spending much of it on the move before settling in at the White House for a quite family gathering Thursday Wednesday night it was shopping with daughter Chelsea and dinner at the house of longtime friends Vernon and Ann Jordan followed by a church service at the National Cathedral As parents of septuplets 1997 Bobbi and Kenny McCaugheys gift was something they likely wont get on Christmas for a long long time: peace and quiet The Des Moines couple planned to spend Christmas with just their daughter Mikayla since their seven new daughters and sons arent expected to be released from the hospital until late next month The last time Christmas fell on a Thursday nearly half of US employers gave workers an extra day off But this year it will be business as usual for most workers today Business is business says Frank Messina owner of a Philadelphia home appliance store "It can t be any different just because it's the day after Christmas A7 Appliances need to get fixed A new survey found 36 percent of employers made Friday a paid holiday That's down from 46 percent in 1986 when Christmas last fell on a Thursday according to the Bureau of National Affairs a Washington research group And just 10 percent will have a paid day off Jan 2 compared with 22 percent 1 1 years ago If you ended up with a few white elephants this holiday store managers recommend that you act quickly to return them Most retailers ease their return policies for a short time after the holidays If you want to beat the crowds store managers suggest that you make your returns later in the day or wait until the crowds die down next week But remember that some stores have a time limit on returns and some return policies are more liberal than others A retired mechanic was fired as a mall Santa because he refused to promise a youngster a gun for Christmas Jim Hilliker got a paycheck Tuesday from Jackson (Mich) Crossing mall and w as told not to come back to work Mall officials said Hilliker who had played Santa since Nov 22 with just two days off w as let go because he was exhausted Hilliker 70 a Santa saw his dismissal differently My policy has been when kids come up and ask for guns knives or live animals I simply tell them that's up to their mothers and dads he said T Car Inspections B Continued from A-- l Not so fast says Capt Claron Brenchley of the state Motor Carrier Safety and Inspection Bu- reau We're in opposition to the bill the way it is now says Brenchley d HB14 would Harpers apply to all vehicles The only reference to model year is that vehicles with model years would be required to pass safety inspections in odd years pre-file- while even-numbere- model d years would need to be inspected in even years Brenchley says his agency part of the Public Safety Department would be more receptive to the legislation if it granted the inspection waiver only to models 5 years old or newer Youre not going to have a lot car go wrong with a brand-neBrenchley says But with older vehicles a lot of things can go r wrong in a period For example he says Utah Highway Patrol vehicles require new brake pads every 20000 miles mileage easily racked up in less than two years by some drivers The states Safety Inspection Advisory Council also has panned the idea of a blanket biennial inspection for all vehicles We have looked at some variations of that having to do with a car thats under 5 years old That would be a possibility says But spokesman Verdi White with older cars there could be some pretty unsafe vehicles out there after two years two-yea- HomeMakprs i i Texas Has Record Year In Executions THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HUNTSVILLE Texas The clatter and whir of sewing machines and the morning banter among dozens of men dressed in death-rowhite suddenly halts One prisoner stands and asks for silence then speaks a single name and requests prayers for the loved ones of the former cowho was put to death worker just hours earlier Its sad seeing people die that you got to know says Max Sof-fa- r one of the condemned murderers who works in the prison shop making uniforms This year the ritual was repeated 37 times at the garment factory at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Ellis I Unit home of the states death row Texas 37 executions is the highest number in a single state in a single year since 1930 when the federal government began an annual count For years Texas had reigned as the nations most active death-penalt- y state executing inmates at a steady pace: 12 in 1992 17 in assn vumtMisi YOUR 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HomcMaKers 1993 14 in 1994 19 in 1995 That changed in late 1995 when sm the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to consider an inmates challenge to a state law designed to hasten appeals The result was a virtual halt in executions last year The appeals court eventually upheld the law Cases blocked by the challenge moved forward along with those that would normally have come due this year Killer Richard Brimage became a historical footnote of sorts when he was executed Feb 10 - the first to die in a record year Condemned for the 1987 rape and murder of a Kingsville college student Brimage ordered all appeals in his case halted and volunteered for lethal injection Another inmate followed him to the gurney in March then six in April and eight in May When Earl Behringer became the fifth of eight inmates put to death in June Texas had topped the previous record of 20 executions carried out in 1935 The last 1997 ex- ertion came 1 nhcffiimcifiEn SALT LAKE CITY 1414 S 500 WEST 80 Dec 9 v Qua V 1-97- 3-2 OOO |
