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Show 4 4 . , Record-breaking mudslide damages lift towers at Snowmass ski resort THE ASPEN TIMES Mudslides hit Snowmass Aspen The nearby town of Snowmass was hit by two mudslides in mid-July, one slide among the largest in the town's recent history. The bigger slide measured 250 feet in width and 1,250 feet in length and covered 14 acres. The slides are the center of a mystery, since the first slide was reported to the town's Communications Communica-tions Center shortly after its occurrence late on a Saturday night. Yet town and county officials weren't notified of a problem until 7 :30 a.m. Sunday, two hours after the second, more severe slide occurred. A Center spokesman, Pete Murphy, said they received a call from resident Sue Helms at 11:45 p.m. that a slide had partially blocked Old Divide Road. He said more action might have been taken then if the situation had been described as serious. But Sue's husband, Bob Helms, said his wife reported the road was impassable. The slide damaged four lift towers of the Aspen Skiing Co., but the damaged land was not in an area open to skiing. One possible cause being studied is water flowing from an irrigation ditch in the area. The Times besides teaching it how to work better with Snowmass' biggest developer, the Snowmass Company. . The services of two people from ACCORD costs $1,000 a day. Councilman Dick Wall dissented, saying he didn't approve of the money or how it was approved. Msoii Hole Guide Scientologist fights court Jackson Hole Local ski instructor Bill Briggs, a defendant in an accidental-death lawsuit, will not turn over evidence possibly related to the suit because he says it violates his religious principles as a Scientologist. Briggs is the director of the Great American Ski School at Snow King Mountain. A suit y Pamela Muheim charges negligence because, on Feb. 16, 1984, two of Briggs' instructors accompanied her husband, Pierre, to a steep bowl outside of the ski area. Pierre Muheim died in an avalanche there after suffering numerous fractures. His widow's suit also charges two companies which own the Americana Snow King Resort. The plaintiff's attorney, Keith Goody, learned Briggs had taken a "dianetic assist" from Ed Garcia, one of the instructors who saw Muheim killed. (Briggs said an The study, done by Yale student Scott Sklar, said a 1 percent tax would yield $280,000. But Chamber Director Suzanne Young has estimated $500,000 is needed for a promotion effort. Sklar found 3 percent would bring in $840,000, which would also help ' buy buses for the local START system and construct nine bus shelters. Jackson Hole News Mentally ill a problem, says county's sheriff Jackson Hole Police facilities in Teton County can't handle mental patients, said County Sheriff Roger Millward, and the problem was illustrated by three patients held over a July weekend. One patient, a 22-year-old Utah man, was arrested Sunday after he made repeated suicide threats. He attempted to hang himself with a towel the next day in his county jail cell. He was committed to the State Hospital in Evanston. The second man, a 37-year-old Utahn, was arrested for public intoxication Saturday. But Millward said the man, a prisoner of war during the Vietnam war, suffered flashbacks when confined to St. John's Hospital in Jackson. He escaped from a straitjacket three times, and damaged the door of the hospital security room. Finally, a local man was arrested Sunday for exhibiting bizarre behavior beha-vior such as back flips and screaming. He has a history of drug abuse, said Millward, and was sent to an alcohol rehab center in Pinedale. He is part of a problem with "weirdos" who seem to be untreatable by the State Hospital, said the sheriff. Indian relics cited An archeologist will nominate portions of the Jackson Lake dry bed for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Melissa Connor said she and a five-member team have mapped 40 sites on the bed used by aboriginal Indians. . She said the area was a base-camp area for tribes from the Wind River and Green River basins and the Snake River plains for a period of 8,000 years ago up to the year 1200 or 1600. A National Register listing would force the federal government to study possible adverse effects if it changed the operational level of Jackson Lake, according to Tom Marceau, an officer with the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Preserva-tion Office. However, it would have no effect on current operation of the lake, he said. slides, prompt action late Saturday could have switched it off before it caused the second slide. Snowmass Town Marshal Gary Haynes has asked for a meeting with the Communications Users Board to investivate the breakdown in communication. com-munication. Resort plan killed The Pitkin County Planning and Zoning Commission shot down a proposal by Aspen Highlands to build a world-class resort at the base of the Highlands ski area. A major obstacle "was that the resort, with 60 units already approved, asked for 240 more. Since county policy only allows 20 additional units per year, Highlands would take up the allocation for 12 years. The design, a European village, also was attacked by a planning member who called it "...sort of a plastic nowhere." Other objections were made to a height variance in the plans; a proposed 150-foot tower; projected traffic congestion; sewage removal; and additional lights and brightness around the hotel. The Snowmass Town Council is receiving criticism for three of its proposals a town maintenance shop, a recreation tax and a "mediator" to help the town run more efficiently. On the first issue, voters will be asked in a forthcoming election to approve a mill levy increase to fund a $2.7 million maintenance facility in the Divide area. Planning Commissioner Commis-sioner Chuck Perrecone said too much time would be wasted driving from the facility to service areas. But the council said the cost is worth it, because the building would be in an area of little visual impact. The council also proposes to use a new 50-cents-per-person recreation tax to build a $2.6 million parking structure and meet other transportation transporta-tion needs. Citizen Bob Kevan said other methods should be used to raise the money, such as a fare for the shuttle system, a bed tax or a real estate transfer tax. Finally, the council voted 5-1 to pay up to $8,000 to ACCORD & Associates, a mediator firm from Boulder, Colo. The firm is helping the town government to communicate communi-cate and operate more efficiently, "assist" is a process, similar to psycholanalysis, where a Scientology minister helps a person deal with psychological trauma. ) Goody has demanded the tape of the assist, assuming it will have material relating to the case. But Briggs said Scientology code forbids disclosing the contents of an assist and church officials have told him not to do so. In any event, he said, the material does not relate to the lawsuit. He said he will go to jail if Ninth District Judge Robert Ranck finds him in contempt of court. Ranck, a proclaimed born-again Christian, has ordered Briggs to release the information, saying Scientology is not a religion and Briggs is not a minister. Lift ticket prices rise Ski lift ticket prices at Jackson Hole Ski Resort are increasing, but not as much as some Colorado rates. The resort's marketing director,, Harry Baxter, said day passes will go from $20 to $22 and five-day passes will increase from $90 to $100. But the Guide noted Vail day passes jumped from $22 to $27, the day pass at Aspen Mountain increased from $24 to $27, and at Copper Mountain, lift tickets will jump from $22 to $26. Hydro power ahead? Jackson Hole has been issued a federal permit to study building a hydroelectric power plant. But the study alone will cost $60,000, said Councilman Jim Critchfield, and it will cost $15 million to $18 million to construct a plant able to generate 10 megawatts of electricity. Two other questions, he said, are (1 ) whether the plant could produce income through electricity sales and (2) whether power can be transmitted transmit-ted through Grand Teton National Park without harmful impact. The permit was granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Commis-sion. A 2 percent bed tax or possibly 3 percent would generate enough funds fa a good tourist promotion program, according to preliminary results li a study done for the Jackson Chamber. |