FRONT PAGE A1 THURSDAY www.tooeletranscript.com TUESDAY Tooele Chamber of Commerce celebrates 60th anniversary See B1 TOOELETRANSCRIPT BULLETIN February 5, 2008 SERVING TOOELE COUNTY SINCE 1894 VOL. 114 NO. 75 50¢ Voters STD rates speak out continue on Super to climb by Doug Radunich Tuesday STAFF WRITER Rates of sexually transmit- Economy, war and ted diseases in Tooele County immigration drive have more than quadrupled over the past eight years, mir- county residents’ roring a statewide trend that has made Utah one of the choices for president worst states in the nation for STD rates. by Tim Gillie According to a study STAFF WRITER done by the Utah Health Department, Tooele County Super Tuesday brought Tooele went from only 16 reported County voters out to polls with cases of chlamydia in 1999 to strong opinions and the hope of 87 cases in 2007. This made influencing a wide-open presi- the county the eighth highest dential race. region for chlamydia cases in The economy, immigration and the state out of the 12 regions the war in Iraq were the issues surveyed in 2007. The county foremost in the mind of voters came in sixth out of the same this morning as they came out of 12 regions surveyed for gon- the Tooele County Courthouse orrhea cases last year, with 13 after voting in the presidential cases reported for 2007, com- primary. With clear skies for the pared with no cases reported first time in days, and the pros- for 1999. pect of a up-for-grabs election Since 1999, the overall num- with no incumbent president or ber of chlamydia cases state- vice president for the first time wide grew 260 percent. More in decades, voters were ready to than 11 percent of women have their voices heard. in Utah between the ages of “I am concerned about the 15 to 24 who were tested in economy and the mortgage family planning clinics were industry problems,” said Camille found to have chlamydia in Topham while she held her 2006 — the fourth-highest daughter McKenzie in her arms. rate in the country. The report “We are getting ready to sell our also showed that more than house and buy again.” 6,400 Utahns had either chla- Many voters echoed Topham’s mydia or gonorrhea in 2007, concerns about the economy, and that Utah’s rate of gonor- even if they disagreed about who rhea increased faster than any could best fix the problem. other state from 2000 to 2005. “With the mess in Washington, Amy Royal, communi- D.C., I don’t want to send anoth- ty nursing coordinator for er insider back there,” said Paul the Tooele County Health Jackson. “They can’t fix the mess. Department, said she has Romney’s the man, he can really seen a significant rise in chla- fix the economy.” mydia and gonorrhea cases Marisa Wilson agreed that the since she began working at weakening economy, along with the department in 1995. But the ongoing war in Iraq, were top she attributes that increase to priorities — explaining why she more people being tested and voted for Hillary Clinton. diagnosed and better detec- Surprisingly, immigration Photography / Troy Boman tion methods, rather than reform, which has not consis- Shirley Lewis votes at the Dow James Building Tuesday. Lewis cited domestic issues as a top priority for this election. more people having unpro- tently been among voters’ top tected sex. issues nationally, was mentioned “We get a lot of calls to the as an important issue by a major- health department now from ity of local voters interviewed people wanting to get testing this morning. done, and we see all age rang- “Immigration and the econ- es of people, from teenagers omy were our top issues,” said on up,” she said. Rodie England, who was voting Royal said awareness of with her husband Joe. “Along chlamydia and gonorrhea is with the state of our nation — all on the rise, with many people the bickering and fighting — we getting checked for the dis- SEE VOTERS ON A5 ➤ Jeannette Bunn Joe D. England Valerie Shelton Versal Shields SEE STD ON A9 ➤ Above-average snowpack has water experts optimistic about spring runoff by Sarah Miley As of this morning, the Mining Fork years, excluding 2005, which was an STAFF WRITER measuring station in the Stansbury extremely wet winter that yielded Mountains was 144 percent of aver- some snowpack records. An extremely snowy January has age, Vernon Creek was 128 percent “We’re good, but we are nowhere put Tooele County in great shape for of average and Rocky Basin in the near that good,” he said. spring runoff, according to natural Oquirrh Mountains was 101 percent While there is a chance things may resource experts. of normal. go dry, Julander said he’s optimistic With nearly two months left in “We’re looking for some really that snowpacks will stay at least at the accumulation season, Randy good streamflow coming down to average. Julander, snow survey supervisor at Grantsville and Vernon reservoirs, “It’ll have to go pretty dry to reverse the Salt Lake office of the Natural and even to Settlement Canyon the trend of fortune we have right Resources Conservation Service, Reservoir,” Julander said. now,” he said. said, “If we get average from here on The consecutive, heavy-hitting Bear River is the driest area in Photography / Troy Boman out we’ll be in great shape and have storms have given the county one Clouds drift below the summit of Deseret Peak Tuesday. Snowpack in the Stansbury range is SEE SNOWPACK ON A9 ➤ some decent runoff.” of the best snowpacks in several up to 144 percent of average. WEATHER OPEN FORUM A4 HOMETOWN B1 INSIDE Snow showers expected tonight BULLETIN BOARD A8 TV LISTINGS B2 THS boys take fifth through Wednesday morning OBITUARIES A9 ANNOUNCEMENTS B3 at state tourney with highs in the low to mid-30s. See A10 Complete Forecast: A2 SPORTS A10 CLASSIFIEDS B4 A2 A2 TOOELE TRANSCRIPT-BULLETIN TUESDAY February 5, 2008 Utah & The West Valley Weather Forecast As LDS church grows, it works to retain converts Local Weather by Eric Gorski McDermott, a professor of religion at ASSOCIATED PRESS Roanoke College in Virginia. “At a time Tue 28/16 when America is not really popular over- 2/5 PROVO (AP) — Every Wednesday, hun- seas, that’s not going to win friends and Mostly cloudy skies early, then dreds of young Mormon men and women influence a lot of people.” partly cloudy in the afternoon. not far removed from high school arrive on Then there are the demands of the faith Cold. the campus of Brigham Young University, that can turn away some — such as tithing where they are severed from family and 10 percent of one’s income and forsak- text-messaging and entrusted with the very ing coffee, which is a big part of Latin future of their faith. American culture. Wed 29/20 Sequestered in classrooms for 14 hours “Becoming a Mormon if you live in 2/6 a day, these missionaries-in-training are California is hard enough,” said Richard Morning snow showers. Highs in taught to boil down core doctrines to Bushman, a LDS scholar and professor the upper 20s and lows in the low make them understandable and consis- emeritus at Columbia University. 20s. tent, whether their audience is in Utah or There are signs of change: Missionaries Uganda. are now urged to spend more time follow- But increasingly, classroom conversa- ing up with new believers. tions at the Missionary Training Center And in a recent broadcast of a worldwide Thu 35/29 have centered not just on winning new training meeting, some Mormons noticed 2/7 believers but on keeping them — a topic that a church apostle sitting alongside Chance of a few snow showers. looming as a critical challenge for President Filipino church officials wore not the stan- Gordon B. Hinckley’s successor Thomas S. dard suit and tie but a short-sleeve dress ©2005 American Profile Hometown Content Monson. shirt. He still wore a tie. Service Although retaining members is a chal- “The different kinds of people around Temps / Precipitation lenge for all evangelizing faiths, the LDS the world, they will keep their person- church appears to have a particularly poor ality and their traditions,” said Dieter F. Date High Low prec./inch. retention rate in some countries. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the first Jan. 29 32 14 tr The foreign retention rate is critical to presidency. “The point is that the core doc- Jan. 30 31 15 .12 the future of the LDS church. An American- trine brings the members together.” Jan. 31 29 15 0 born denomination, The Church of Jesus A Czech-born German who was head Feb. 1 40 24 .13 Christ of Latter-day Saints now boasts more pilot of Lufthansa airlines, Uchtdorf is Feb. 2 38 19 0 members abroad than at home — about 55 the only member of the Quorum of the Feb. 3 42 28 .06 percent of the world’s 13 million Mormons Twelve born outside the United States. He Feb. 4 35 23 .14 live outside the U.S., according to church said Mormon retention is remarkably high figures. given that the church relies on a lay, unpaid Ned Bevan, Tooele’s weather The LDS church is working hard to main- congregational leaders. observer for the National tain doctrinal integrity and still compete in AP photo / Douglas C. Pizac Uchtdorf also said that in areas with fast Weather Service, reports that the spiritual marketplace for converts.