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Show Smmimiiminit ttn Sunimninmnit Aspen shocked by resignation THE ASPEN TIMES Aspen Aspenites and city employees em-ployees were startled at the resignation of City Manager Wayne Chapman. At a recent city council meeting, members mem-bers Blomquist and Krecht charged their three colleagues col-leagues with meeting secretly secret-ly to force Chapman from office. Mayor Bill Stirling told the Aspen Times that if Chapman Chap-man had not resigned, he would have sought to oust the manager. Chapman, he said, has not cooperated with efforts to cut the budget. The manager, he recalled, had recently threatened to resign when the council asked to cut the General Fund by 5 percent. The mayor said he had sought support from Council-men Council-men Collins and Walls. But he didn't meet with them secretly. Chapman responded the problem was not their desire to cut the budget, but the disruptive way they did it. Council made salary decisions deci-sions without consulting him, he said, and ignored staff suggestions for cutting money. The ex-manager received the feeling after CBS reporter report-er Harry Reasoner and his producer Greg Cook appeared ap-peared in the area to look at the controversial management manage-ment of the local elk herd. Reasoner may conduct interviews inter-views with local residents, but producer Cook said the project is at the research stage now. Teton County has lost an appropriation to maintain dikes along the Snake River, apparently because of a feud between local landowners and state senator Tom Stroock, co-chairman of the joint appropriations committee commit-tee at the 1984 state legislative session. Stroock said he opposed funds for dikes until landowners land-owners allow public access to the levees. His opposition stems from an unfortunate personal experience with a local property owner, said Representative H.L Jensen at a League of Women Voters meeting. Stroock is a good man, he said, but only 10 percent of the levees are private anyway and if the dikes aren't maintained, "the entire west side of the valley could be innundated by high water." The "Jackson Hole Guide" was harsher than t : i i i ti her suit, said the hotel's water pressure began to drop in 1974 because its water line began to take on many additional users. Also, the temperature of the water dropped some 80 or 90 degrees. The suit said the lukewarm water is caused by leaks in the system and by water lines pumped under driveways to melt ice and snow. The defendants have responded that the lower temperatures are caused by acts of God and improper maintenance at the hotel. THEl TRAIL Vail The police in the town of Avon are suffering a wave of firings and demotions oddly, in the wake of private detective's investigations that cleared the police chief of improper conduct. Patrolman Patrol-man Lee Wilson was fired because he attempted to undermine the seven-member seven-member police department, said Town Manager Dick Blodgett. The firing, he said, stemmed from information developed during the probe into the conduct of Police Chief Bob Willcox. Wilson, meanwhile, said he was fired because he refused to "kiss anybody's ass." Furthermore, he said Manager Blodgett had threatened him a year ago because Wilson's wife kept criticizing Chief Willcox to reporters. In related developments, Patrolman Keith McAdams, who made the original allegations against Willcox, was fired for filing false reports. A police sergeant considered a Willcox supporter sup-porter was demoted. And Willcox himself has been demoted to assistant chief, according to an Avon town council member. Blodgett denied the latter report. Deer-feeding efforts are underway in Eagle County, say officials. But the program has been hampered by poachers, by people who take the feed that has been set out for deer and by crowds of onlookers. The sight-seers and camera bugs have been dubbed "Looky Lous" by game officials, who say as many as 40 have gathered in a single crowd around a feeding area. Game warden Bill Heicher said most of the fawns will die before winter's end. Vail is asking the state of Colorado to approve its first traffic signals at a notoriously messy four-way stop intersection inter-section in town. The town council submitted a proposal to the Colorado Highway Commission for a computerized computer-ized system that would cost an estimated $250,000. Vail has offered to pay about a quarter of the cost. A spokesman spokes-man for the Highway Department Depart-ment said the intersection probably needs regular traffic traf-fic signals, but the city's proposal would cost four times as much and may not be justified. A mad bomber who claimed to belong to the PLO turned out to be a tourist trying to pay his lodge bill. ; The Marriott Mark Resort received a call from a man with an "Iranian accent" saying five bombs were planted in the resort and he wanted $5,000. Police picked up the culprit, a 25-year-old Washington, D.C. man at the Holiday Inn where the money drop was to be made. The man said he lost money while skiing on Vail Mountain and needed to pay his Holiday Inn bill. (He asked for $5,000 because the sum was more believable. ) When asked why he claimed to be PLO, the man said, "Because they blow up everything." praise from Aspen Times publisher Bil Dunaway, Police Po-lice Chief Rich Rianoshek and ex-council member Francis Fran-cis Whittaker. One Aspenite said the council was losing its last link of trust with city employees. Angry gays in Aspen said the local Paragon bar closed down early one recent night and forced customers out after men began dancing with each other. Not so, said owner Ted Koutsoubos. The club had problems with its music system but the bar remained open. The controversy contro-versy erupted at the traditional tradi-tional time (late January) when certain gay ski groups visit Aspen. Gay spokesmen estimated there were some 180 homosexuals in town. The gay community has clashed before with Koutsoubos, Kout-soubos, who formerly enforced enforc-ed a policy against same-sex dancing to lessen the chance of fights between gays and "rednecks," he said. After that fracas, the city passed an ordinance which prohibited barring of admission to public buildings on the basis of sexual preference. Phase IV, a proposed 233-unit employee-housing project received virtually its last vote of approval when the Pitkin County Commission Commis-sion approved it 4-1. Meanwhile, Mean-while, a lawyer for a group of Phase IV opponents said his clients have been intimidated and threatened. Attorney Ashley Anderson represents a group (currently anonymous) anon-ymous) which has petitioned to have the Phase IV site annexed to Aspen, where it would be under the control of an unsympathetic city council. coun-cil. But Anderson said the petition might be dropped because a Phase IV lawyer said if the annexation stops the project, the citizens might be sued for violation of anti-trust or civil rights laws. The developer's attorney, Harris Sherman, said he was simply declaring he would defend his client's rights. The Aspen Times reported re-ported that the county commission approved a new liquor store, but opposed nuclear weapons. The commission com-mission approved a liquor outlet for the Airport Business Busi-ness Center, after a zone change last year that allowed booze in the B-2 district there. The commission followed fol-lowed that with a vote opposing the MX and backing an eight-state group, Western Solidarity, which opposes the missile. Jateon Hols Guide Jackson Hole You know the day is bad, goes the saying, when a "60 Minutes" crew is waiting in your office. Jacksonites knew Jensen in an eauonai. it called Stroock a carpetbagger, carpetbag-ger, noting that he owns Teton Village property and often vacations here. Jackson attorney Gerry Spence has scored a victory against the Golden Arches. Spence won a $52 million award in Cook County, Illinois the largest in the county's history against MacDonald's for breach of contract. His client Tom Cummings negotiated with MacDonald's founder Ray Kroc to have his Cummings "triple ripple" ice cream franchised by the burger corporation. After the ice cream passed a buyer-acceptance test, said Spence, Cummings mortgaged his assets heavily to finance the product. Then MacDonald's went back on the arrangement. arrange-ment. Spence spent three months in Illinois on the trial. A Jackson resident owns one of 11 dogs in the country equipped with a pacemaker. The two-year-old black lab-rador, lab-rador, Molly, owned by Gail Grafenauer, received the device from Colorado State University's School of Veterinary Vet-erinary Medicine in Fort Collins. After Molly started having convulsions, local vets discovered she had complete heart blackage, a fairly rare condition for a labrador. "It's more common in the toy breeds," said vet Dr. David Thain. The operation opera-tion cost $400, but it was worth it for Grafenauer, who has owned Molly since she was a pup. Mammoth Lakes Skiing accidents at Mammoth Mountain resort are down 27 percent from last year, thanks to a strong effort to educate skiers about safety. The resort is directing customers' attention to pamphlets pam-phlets on skier courtesy and has posted signs detailing the "Skier Responsibility Code." The notices have even been posted on the back of toilet stalls. The resort is also warning hot-dog skiers that their lift tickets or season passes will be pulled if they're not careful. .-flOUmifl KetchumSun Valley Bald Mountain Hot Springs Motel in Ketchum has filed suit, contending it might have to close because it isn't getting enough hot water to satisfy its culinary, pool and heating needs. The defendant is a local hot-water distribution company, the owners of which originally built the hotel in 1929. The current hotel owner, in |