The Daily Spectrum from Saint George, Utah • 1

2d7d 23137 Zili Corp 112? 2c S. Salt La.ce City UT S4U3 THE DAILY Blue Jays fake load Pags A6 Embargo gains support PagA4 Como on 'inn' Page Bl Thursday, September 20, 1990 35 Vol. 29 No. 212 Souttieri Edition Briefs League of Women Voters opposes tax repeal "Until we are certain that Utah's tax structure will be more progressive and impact low-income people less, we cannot get behind what we consider to be an inappropriate initiative," she said. Independent Party Chairman Merrill Cook said he isn't surprised by the league's opposition.

"While they claim to be nonpartisan, they tend to follow government lines," he said. "I find it interesting they've never given me the courtesy of explaining why it doesn't have to hurt." Cook said the lost revenues could be made up through use of the state's estimated $50 million surplus, elimination of some tax "loopholes" and streamlining wasteful government. He also found it ironic that the league would be concerned over possible cuts in social services due to a reduction in tax revenues, while at the same time supporting the state spending $56 million in tax monies in search of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. McCulloch said that it would be ill-advised to rely on the surplus in light of predictions by the legislative fiscal analyst that the state will experience a $196 million shortfall over the next five years. Democrats have endorsed the referendum as a means to force lawmakers to revamp the tax codes.

But the league points out the Legislature has tried several times to restructure the income tax, "but has had little success." lion in revenues. Gov. Norm Bangerter has said he would trim services, not other budgets, to make up the difference should the measure passes. "The league suggests that citizens ask themselves two questions before they vote this November," the statement said. "Would the lost revenues be replaced or would the passage of the initiative result in cuts in critical services? "Would low income families be better off if they paid no food tax but received fewer social services?" it asks.

"If the wording of the initiative included guaranteed replacement for funds supporting health and human services, local government as well as public and higher educa- SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The League of Women Voters of Utah has announced that, while it op poses sales on food tax in principal, it cannot support the initiative to remove the tax on this November's ballot. In a statement issued Wednes day, the league said passage of the initiative could adversely affect Utah's poor more than leaving the tax in place. The Independent Party of Utah gathered nearly 125,000 petition signatures to place the measure on the Nov. 6 ballot. The initiative first showed sup port in the polls.

But its popularity waned with reports that its passage could cost state and local governments more than $100 mil "If the wording of the initiative included guaranteed replacement for funds supporting health and human services we could support it." Terri McCulloch league co-president tion, we could support it," said league co-president Terri McCulloch. Scientist reports Keeping city green a full-time job energy from fusion -i HONOLULU (AP) A University of Hawaii scientist performing "cold fusion" experiments has issued a revised report on his work that for the first time claims to have produced excess energy. The findings of UH researcher Bor Yann Liaw have been criticized by other university scientists who say he is misreading the results of his work. In the past, Liaw said his experiments had only produced excess power. His revised conclusions state that excess heat also was generated.

Critics of the experiments say excess power could be produced by creating a simple battery. Liaw says such a battery could not produce the excess heat he witnesses in his tabletop electrolysis experiments. "Our cell did not act as a battery when it produced excess power and energy," Liaw said in his re-vised report. Liaw said a California laboratory that analyzed his experiment concluded that the experiment's electrode showed the presence of helium-4 possibly indicating a nuclear reaction. Some scientists say such a reaction is not possible at the tempera A I tj Cult leader's son convicted PAINESVTTT.K.

Ohio (AP) The teen-age son of a religious cult leader has been convicted of helping his father lull a man and his three children. Jurors acquitted him of the slaying of me cniidren motner. Damon Lundgren, 19, listened to the verdicts with his head bowed Tuesday. He could be sentenced to death. The jury deliberated for about 11 hours over two days before convicting Lundgren on four murder counts and four counts of kidnapping in the deaths of Dennis Avery and his three children.

He was acquitted of murder and kidnapping counts in the death of Avery's wife, Cheryl. Commission calls for wood rules PROVO. Utah (AP) Utah County commissioners have approved a resolution supporting the development of rules to re strict wood burning, but officials wondered how such rules would be enforced. Utah County Sheriff Dave Bateman said Wednesday his department doesn have the manpower to enforce rules that would restrict the use of fire places and wood-burning stoves during winter inversions. However, Dr.

Joseph K. Miner, director of the county health department, suggested enforcement be voluntary. Member of his staff could ob serve chimneys while on their normal rounds during violation penoos, ne saia. Sheriff deputies and firefigh ters also could report violators while doing their respective jobs, and neighbors could com plain uiey wanted to, ne said. Cities protest census count OGDEN, Utah (AP) Weber County and the cities of Roy and West Pomt are on record as protesting their 1990 Census counts, but at least one of them isn quite sure why.

Weber is on the U.S. Census Bureau's protest list, but says it checked preliminary figures and found them accurate. West Point thinks the figures are wrong, but says it now has to comolete the Drotest over again because it didn't get the right forms. Roy maintains its Census count was wrong and that it can Drove it. xne census Bureau released preliminary figures in August of the count made earlier this year.

The figures are sketchy, showing just numbers of house holds and estimated population. They were intended to give governments a chance to check preliminary housing-unit figures against their own data, said Census spokeswoman Ellen Dumm. Today's verse "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adver sity." Proverbs 17:17 MM Abby.il: B2 B4 Classifieds B10 Comics B14 Local, Region Obituaries Opinion- Sports A2-3 A8 Today's People B2 T.V B14 Weather See page A2 Gam, Hatch blast budget deadlock tures used in the exoeriments. The cold fusion process was first announced in March 1989 by University of Utah researcher Stanley Pons and his British colleague, Martin Fleishmann. They claimed to have produced large amounts of excess heat by immersing a palladium and platinum electrode in deuterium oxide, or heavy water, and then charging it with electricity.

It was hoped that the experiment would lead to an almost inexhaustible source of energy using sea water, which contains deuterium. Nuclear fusion, in which hydrogen atoms fuse into a helium atom, is the reaction that powers the stars and thermonuclear weapons. Until the so-called "cold fusion" experiment was thought only to occur at extremely high temperatures. The controversial experiment has split the scientific community. An advisory committee to the U.S.

Department of Energy has advised against federal funding for the experiment. The Utah Legislature appropriated $5 million to fund the National Cold Fusion Institute and to pursue patents for the process. and programs. Republicans Garn and Hansen said their offices are receiving increasing amounts of mail and telephone calls critical of Congress and the budget process. "We received over 300 phone calls and lots of said Garn.

Rick Guldan, press aide for Hansen, said a steady stream of letters has been flowing in to the Utah and Washington offices. Garn said most letters say it's unfair for federal employees to bear the brunt of congressional inaction. "While I'm sympathetic with the federal employees' plight, there's much more at stake. If the sequestration goes into effect, it will affect the whole government and its operations," Garn said. Hansen told his House colleagues, "One group of federal employees not affected by sequestration is members of Congress." 91-year-old person we never know, but he's doing very well," Sorensen said following the 2-hour operation at IDS Hospital Wednesday.

Sorensen said he removed clots on each side of Benson's brain that were 1M to 2 centimeters thick and covered "a significant portion of his head," compressing the brain. The clot on the right side was easily drained through a burr hole drilled in the skull, but removal of ST. GEORGE Tim Apple, caretaker for the historic Brigham Young home, says that caring for lawns and the surrounding foliage is a full-time position in southern Utah. (Spectrum Lynette Olsen) by Alleen sorenson Staff writer ST. GEORGE During the dog days of summer, when everything else has faded to brown, a few spots of green shine like jewels on the horizon the golf courses, the city parks, and the landscaping around historic homes and buildings.

These islands of green are no accident, they require round-the-clock work from a small army of gardeners, landscapers and even some volunteers. Mike Wyble of St. George Leisure Services is charged with keeping 120 acres of parks, athletic fields and garden spots in a green and attractive condition. He is assisted in this task by six full-time park workers and five summer employees, who water, mow, weed and tidy these high-use areas. This is gardening on a large scale.

Wyble says he and bis crew use everything from push mowers to 15-foot large mowing equipment just to keep the grass cropped. Detailing the equipment involved, Wyble says "we have a total of four motorized riding mowers, four hand mowers, four trimmers, two edgers, three blowers, two tractors, a chemical sprayer, a fertilizer spreader, an aeraitor, a seeder and a The equipment doesn't just stay in one place, either. Acreage under Wyble's care includes Panorama, Bloomington Hills, Sunset and the Vernon Worthern Parks and a plethora of playing fields including the Sunbowl, Elks' Field and the Snow Park baseball complex. In addition, he and his crew groom the grounds around the Bloomington Fire Station, the waste-water tereatment plant, the Arts Center and the airport grounds. If it's a green public place owned by the taxpayers of Dixie, chances are good Wyble and his crew are keeping it that way.

No less daunting, but on a somewhat smaller scale is the job of Tim Apple, who maitains the landscaping around the Brigham Young and Jacob Hamblin homes. Apple is charged not only with keeping things green, but also With sticking as close to history as possible. He tends the types of plants one might have seen during the days when Hamblin and Young settled into the area. the left-side clot required a craniotomy (removal of a piece of the cranium), Sorensen said. "That is all out and he's been put back together.

He came through the surgery very well. For a man of 91, he's very strong," he said. Benson will be hospitalized for 7-8 days if things go well, he said. Drains in each side of his head to remove saline solution used to irrigate the areas of the clots will be razor wire. Smith entered the prison in 1988 and was serving a sentence for first-degree murder in Beaver County.

He was not slated for a parole hearing for 20 years. Post was serving 0-to-5 and l-to-15-year sentences from Salt Lake County for possession of a controlled substance, theft and attempted escape. WASHINGTON (AP) With federal budget deadlines growing shorter and no deficit-reduction agreement in sight, Rep. James Hansen and Sen. Jake Garn have criticized Congress for its impasse.

"I'm embarrassed and disgusted at our inability to come to an agreement," Garn said from his Washington office. "Congress shouldn't be scaring federal employees, Social Security recipients or anybody else. Members should be above board and get the job done." Hansen said on the House floor Wednesday that Congress should "furlough itself" if it can't reach agreement by Oct. 1. Thousands of federal employees in Utah could face furloughs if Congress doesn't adopt a fiscal 1991 budget by Oct.

1. If no budget agreement is forthcoming, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act will mandate across-the-board federal cuts in personnel 4f i summer starts early in the spring. He aerates in the spring, soaks the ground well and gives the grass a heavy dose of fertilizer. Then, throughout the summer, he says, he waters deep every other day or every third day instead of every day to allow the roots to go deeper. This is better for root growth.

In addition, he says he cuts the grass fairly high to protect the roots and hold in the moisture, and he uses a heat-tolerant grass. Shade trees around the showp-lace homes also help keep the grass green, he says. But even with trees to help hold in the moisture, Apple says keeping a well-landscaped lawn is a full time job. The surgery was the same as that performed three times in two years on Benson's predecessor, Spencer W. Kimball, who died Nov.

5, 1985, at age 90, Sorensen also treated Kimball. Dr. Bruce F. Sorensen Benson, agriculture secretary during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, assumed the presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the faith's senior apostle.

Benson in serious but stable condition, neurosurgeon says Cotton may be the most exotic plant he cultivates, and he says of the plant that brought Mormon settlers to southern Utah, "it is somewhat of a delicate plant." Over his 10 years of caring for the Brigham Young home, Apple says he has developed a feeling for the cotton, but notes "sometimes I have good luck, sometimes I don't." He also cares for fruit trees, pomegranates, pecan, almond and fig trees and grapes "a cross section of what Brigham Young would have had in his era." So how do the experts keep their grass green and the other foliage attractive during the hottest times of the year? Apple says a green lawn in the removed in two days and he will be moved to a private room, Sorensen said. He said the clots had "an acute component," meaning they had formed within the past week. Family members knew of no falls or injuries that might have caused them. "Why they are there, we don't know," said Sorensen, who added that his chief concern was that new clots could accumulate. He said the ailment could have a significant impact on Benson's mental capacity, but that cannot immediately be determined.

Benson had experienced difficulty in swallowing and was plagued by severe headaches in the days prior to his admission to the hospital on Tuesday, when his swallowing became more labored, the surgeon said. A brain scan Tuesday night showed the clots, which Sorensen said eventually could have been fatal. When Benson was hospitalized for four days in June with a bacterial infection, a brain scan showed no clots. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Mormon Church President Ezra Taft Benson, described by his surgeon as "a tough guy for 91," was in serious but stable condition today after removal of two blood clots on his brain. Dr.

Bruce F. Sorensen, the neurosurgeon, could not say if more clotting would occur or whether Benson suffered any brain damage. "The ultimate outcome in a Officials foil POINT OF THE MOUNTAIN, Utah (AP) Corrections officials say two Utah State Prison inmates, one serving a term for murder, were caught apparently attempting to escape through the fences. Spokesman Dave Franchina said the incident occurred at the Oquirrh Facility at Point of the Mountain at 7:43 p.m. Wednesday.

inmates' escape attempt He said one was caught before the first fence and the second was between the two fences. The two inmates were Tracy Eugene Smith, 23, San Bernardino, and Michael Post, 22, West Valley City, Franchina said. Franchina did not know which prisoner made it over the first fence and did not know whether there were any injuries from the SHOPUTAH'S DIXIE.