Grantsville High by Joshua Figueira Could Have Had No Idea His Life STAFF WRITER Would Come Full Circle Almost 30 When He First Set Foot Inside Years Later
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FRONT PAGE A1 www.tooeletranscript.com TUESDAY Grads across the county celebrate See A9 TOOELETRANSCRIPT BULLETIN June 5, 2007 SERVING TOOELE COUNTY SINCE 1894 VOL. 114 NO. 004 50¢ Cops apprehend HANGIN’ ON suspect in Wal-Mart parking lot stabbing Eighteen-year-old from West Valley City claims to have ties to brutal Salvadoran gang by Suzanne Ashe STAFF WRITER Police have arrested a sus- pect in the recent stabbing of a Wal-Mart employee in Tooele. Eighteen-year-old Mariano Zacarias of West Valley City was booked into Tooele County Detention Center last week on suspicion of stabbing A.J. Hayden, 23, during an alterca- tion in the Wal-Mart parking lot early on the morning of May 13. threatened by Zacarias and sev- Zacarias has been charged with eral juveniles at 4:45 a.m. Two of attempted homicide and rioting. the employees went inside the store, but Hayden confronted According to Tooele City Police officer Lt. Paul Wimmer, three store employees were SEE STABBING ON A5 Native son takes over at Grantsville High by Joshua Figueira could have had no idea his life STAFF WRITER would come full circle almost 30 When he first set foot inside years later. Grantsville High School in the Last week, McCluskey, now fall of 1978 as a seventh grader, 41, was named the new principal 12-year-old Travis McCluskey of GHS, replacing Leon Jones, who moved within the school district to take the head job at photography / Maegan Burr Rose Springs Elementary. A cowboy attempts to stay on a horse during the bronco riding competition at the Deseret Peak Stampede Rodeo Saturday. The two-day “It’s kind of been a whirl- rodeo handed out over $30,000 in prize money. (See story on A10) wind,” said McCluskey of his new appointment. “I’ve received a lot from Grantsville. This is my chance to give back to the school and community.” A long-time Grantsville resi- High-end homes not moving as market cools dent, McCluskey has spent much Excess inventory may be partially due to homes built before buyers are lined up of his life in the halls of GHS. photography / Troy Boman As a student, he was a three- by Mark Watson eral more months because finding 32 houses sold in the Grantsville wide for a home sold during the Grantsville native Travis McCluskey STAFF WRITER buyers for such pricey real estate area at a median price of $259,547 first quarter of 2006 at $155,065. was named the new principal at is particularly difficult at a time — up 58 percent in price from The average sales price for a Grantsville High School last week. SEE GRANTSVILLE ON A7 It could be a long, dry summer for home sellers at the top end of when the market is cooling off. this time last year. In the Tooele, house during the first quarter of the local housing market. Sales of homes in Tooele Valley Stansbury Park, Erda and Lake 2007 was $204,843 — a 32 percent About 111 houses in the price jumped dramatically from 2004 to Point, 213 houses sold during the jump. Police searching for three range of $300,000 to $1.4 million 2006, but have leveled off in 2007. first quarter of 2007 at a median Grantsville leads in the number are on the market in Tooele Valley, That slowdown, however, hasn’t price of $189,900 — a 32 percent of houses on the market priced at hooded men who shot into according to the Wasatch Front affected prices, which continue jump from 2006. $350,000 and above with 18 hous- Regional Listing Service, but real to rise, according to Wasatch Information from the Tooele Front Regional Listing Service County Board of Realtors showed estate agents believe those hous- SEE HOMES ON A6 Tooele woman’s apartment es could be up for sale for sev- data. During first quarter 2007, the average sales price county- by Suzanne Ashe sweatshirts. She didn’t recog- STAFF WRITER nize them, so she did not open Police are looking for three the door. When she walked Ex-Marine accused young men who fired multiple through the apartment toward rounds into a Tooele wom- her bedroom, a third suspect an’s apartment early Monday shot through a sliding glass of murder found morning. door at the back of her ground- The incident occurred floor apartment, littering the at 1:20 a.m. at the Gateway room with shattered glass. competent for trial Apartment complex located According to Lt. Paul by Suzanne Ashe behind Wal-Mart. Wimmer of the Tooele City STAFF WRITER Yvette Salcedo, 18, told Police, officers were called by Former marine Walter Smith was found compe- police she was woken up by a Salcedo just after the incident. tent to stand trial earlier today for the March 2006 knock at her door. When she Police had responded to a fight murder of his girlfriend and the mother of his two checked through the door’s that occurred at the apartment children, Nicole Speirs. Smith is being held at the peep hole, she saw two young Tooele County Detention Center without bail. men dressed in dark hooded SEE POLICE ON A5 Smith originally told police that Speirs, 22, had drowned in the tub of the couple’s upstairs bath- room. Then on Aug. 4, Smith, 26, a veteran of the Local parents tackle growing war in Iraq, checked himself into the Veterans Administration Hospital in Salt Lake City. While there, he reportedly told his uncle, and later the problem of kids’ screen time police, he was responsible for Speirs’s death. Smith had under gone a 90-day competency With school out, the battle to keep kids away from evaluation to determine if he was able to stand trial. television and video games is heating up This morning 3rd District Court judge Mark Kouris said that he had read two competency reports — Olsen is not alone in cutting by Karen Lambert one from the prosecution and one from the defense her kids TV time. As parents and CORRESPONDENT — and found the trial could proceed. educators become more aware Shelli Olsen of Overlake Speirs was the mother of Smith’s young twins, a of the role “screen time” — i.e., rations TV time for her kids to boy and a girl, who are now being raised by their time spent in front of televi- one hour a day tops, year round. maternal grandparents. The couple had lived in a sions, DVD players, computers, As a result, she said her four duplex near 700 South and 800 West in Tooele. video game systems, etc. — can girls, ages 3 to 9, will spend At the time of Speirs’ death, Smith told officers play in childhood obesity, many the summer riding bikes, selling on March 24 that he and the children traveled to are working hard to ensure their lemonade and making up neigh- a family gathering in Burley, Idaho, and returned borhood clubs. “I love it when kids don’t spend summer vaca- photography / Troy Boman Walter Smith is escorted into 3rd District Court for a competency hearing today. Smith was they use their imaginations and SEE MARINE ON A5 leave the TV off,” Olsen said. SEE PARENTS ON A6 found competent to stand trial for the March 2006 murder of his girlfriend Nicole Speirs. WEATHER OPEN FORUM A4 CROSSWORD B3 INSIDE Showers with highs in OBITUARIES A6 THE BULLETIN BOARD B4 Local clothing boutique the mid 50s Wednesday benefits at-risk teen girls and Thursday. SPORTS A10 TV LISTINGS B5 See B1 Complete Forecast: A2 HOMETOWN B1 CLASSIFIEDS B7 A2 A2 TOOELE TRANSCRIPT-BULLETIN TUESDAY June 5, 2007 Utah & The West Corrections The 2007 edition of the Tooele County Segregation fears linger under surface of voucher debate Summer Guide, which was distributed in the May 24 edition of the Tooele by Brock Vergakis South Carolina has also come Transcript-Bulletin, contained some ASSOCIATED PRESS under criticism, she said. factual errors. On Page 14, it was report- SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — “Among African-Americans ed that Ophir Days will be held on July Private school vouchers are they were very, very con- 12. The correct date is July 28. The for- often touted as a way to level science about it. It’s like deja mer Tooele County Search and Rescue the educational playing field vu — we’ve seen this before,” Demolition Derby is now called the for less affluent families, par- Synnott said. Deseret Peak Demolition Derby and will ticularly minorities living in “They’re not hitting on that be held on June 16. On Page 20, the date poverty. ‘We don’t want your child to of the Festival of the Old West was listed go to school with blacks or But in Utah, one of the chief as Sept. 22-24. The correct date is Sept. poor people.’ They’re saying, critics of the nation’s broad- 26-30. The Independence Day photo on ‘You’ve got to be a good par- est voucher program is the Page 10, the Demolition Derby photo on ent,’” she said. “Back in the NAACP, which fears vouchers Page 18 and the Junior Livestock photo ‘60s there were segregation are a backdoor to creating on Page 26 were photographed by Missy academies founded in South segregated schools. Thompson. The Transcript-Bulletin Carolina. Some didn’t admit “It is a large fear that apologizes for the error. blacks until the ‘70s or ‘80s. In that’s exactly what’s going Valley Weather Forecast those early years, race was on to happen,” said Jeanetta everyone’s minds.