www.tooeletranscript.com TUESDAY Service dogs help those in need See B1 TOOELETRANSCRIPT BULLETIN January 9, 2007 SERVING TOOELE COUNTY SINCE 1894 VOL. 113 NO. 66 50¢ Baird sentenced to mental evaluation No end in sight for for having sex with THS student hot local job market by Alleen Lang Family Creamery in Tooele. The ice cream parlor and restaurant by Mary Ruth Hammond CORRESPONDENT Tooele County’s employment employs 35 to 40 employees. Sweat If this was a male defendant standing before me for this STAFF WRITER outlook is predicted to match or said the work environment he A Tooele High School teacher crime, there would be a bus with its engine idling in the exceed the bullish pace of the state works to create helps him keep the was sentenced today to undergo a in 2007, according to local employ- business staffed with young people parking lot to transport him to Utah State Prison. 90-day psychological evaluation at ment officials. who find “it’s a fun place to work.” Utah State Prison after pleading JUDGE MARK KOURIS The county’s unemployment rate While he has high expectations of guilt to sexually abusing one of her THIRD DISTRICT COURT is currently 2.6 percent, even lower his staff, he said the family atmo- students last year. than a statewide unemployment sphere of the restaurant, as well as Leslie Baird, 42, who worked at rate of 3.3 percent. And with less his practice of giving staff owner- THS for six years — most recently than 700 people looking for jobs ship of their jobs, has helped keep as a computer lab coordinator — countywide, competition for good turnover low. pleaded guilty to a second-degree employees is heating up, accord- The addition of small busi- felony charge of forcible sexual ing to Verln Christensen, Utah Job nesses like Leatherby’s along abuse of a 17-year-old male student Service business consultant. with larger corporations such as shortly after her arrest last year. Christensen said he advises the Wal-Mart Distribution Center She was sentenced this morning in employers to gear their job descrip- in Grantsville, Carlisle SynTech in Third District Court by Judge Mark tion “to steal employees from anoth- the Utah Industrial Depot, and the Kouris. er company.” He noted that many under-construction Conestoga Wood Through tears and sobs, Baird job notices highlight benefits, hours Specialties, also at the depot, is giv- apologized to her victims and fam- and good wages for that reason. ing more Tooele County residents ily and to “everyone I have hurt.” “I try to work with schedules, and the option of working in the com- A mother of one of the victims I pay employees pretty well,” said Baird sexually abused said during Mel Sweat, owner of Leatherby’s SEE JOB ON A5 the sentencing that she and Baird had been friends and sat at ball games together while watching their sons play. She told Baird she Former County attorneys would never forget what she had done to her son. The mother said her son is on nab full-time city jobs track to graduate from school this coming spring, though his grades by Mary Ruth Hammond have dropped from straight A’s to STAFF WRITER barely passing. He no longer partici- With the dawn of a new year, pates in sports. She said she hopes two former Tooele County her son will receive professional attorneys have found new counseling in the future. positions as city attorneys in Baird will be back in court April Grantsville and Draper. 17 for further sentencing, which Ron Elton was recently could include probation, further named full-time attorney for counseling or jail time. Grantsville City — a new posi- Although defense attorney tion that reflects the growth of William B. Parsons III argued Baird the city and its business — after is not a threat to the community serving the as Grantsville’s and would never again participate part-time attorney since 1980. in criminal behavior, Tooele County Doug Ahlstrom, who left the Grantsville City Attorney Ron Elton Prosecutor Gary Searle disagreed. recently had his job description “Although the state has no doubt SEE ATTORNEY ON A3 changed from part time to full time. that Mrs. Baird comes from a good family who will give her great support, no where in this (Adult Probation and Parole) board’s eval- Renters up in Tooele County uation does it mention that she Some rent to decide where to buy should be placed on probation,” Searle said. by Karen Hunt These days, renters don’t fall The prosecutor added that it into a single category. Some would not be in Baird’s best interest STAFF WRITER rent because they can’t afford to serve time in the Tooele County In close proximity to Salt to buy, they’re building up Detention Center where she would Lake City and known for less credit to buy, or have lost their sit there most of the day. He said expensive housing, Tooele home to foreclosure. Others there are programs, counselors County is becoming a draw have jobs that transfer often or and psychiatrists at the prison for renters as well as home simply like the flexibility rent- who can help her understand buyers. ing offers. photography / Troy Boman the crime she committed and “It’s a lot more common to “It’s really a variety of peo- Leslie Baird, a former Tooele County School District employee, reacts to Judge Mark S. Kouris’ why she did what she did. rent now,” said Rose Norwood, ple — single people, married order of 90 days at the Utah State Prision for mental evaluation. The sentence was handed down broker of Deseret Peak Realty. today in the Tooele County Courthouse. SEE BAIRD ON A5 “There are a lot more people moving out here.” SEE RENTERS ON A5 Heaviest storm of the winter hits hard by Suzanne Ashe Safe Driving the accidents, then started sliding STAFF WRITER off the road too.” The storm that hit Tooele Valley Lt. Mike Rapich of the Utah Marx said highway patrol troop- at the end of last week sent cars slid- Highway Patrol offered a few help- ers responded several slide-offs in ing off the roads and buried houses ful tips on snowstorm driving: both directions of I-80. • Slow down. The posted speed under a blanket of white — and “We got people back on the road, limits are maximum speeds. Drive a repeat may be on the way this and back on their way,” Marx said. to the conditions of the road. Many residents spent Saturday Thursday and Friday. • Make sure your car is ready shoveling sidewalks and driveways. Last week’s blizzard dropped for snow. Some drove the streets on four- 8 inches of snow on Tooele on • Make sure your windshield wheelers outfitted with plowing Thursday — a record for that date wiper fluid is topped up. attachments in an attempt to help — and continued throughout Friday. • Have old wiper blades clear neighborhoods. Several streets On Thursday alone, Tooele emergen- replaced and get new snow in Tooele remained snowpacked cy dispatchers received 22 accident tires. throughout the weekend. calls, 25 motorist-assist calls, and • Allow 30 to 60 minutes With the remnants of last week’s extra travel time when heading one call for a hit and run regard- major storm melting away in the to Salt Lake City ing an abandoned vehicle. Friday gutters, temperatures will begin to • If you are involved in an morning commutes were similarly fall again tomorrow and through- accident, stay in your car. Only disrupted as drivers tried to navigate out the week with snowfall likely slick, sometimes snowpacked roads. move your vehicle out of traf- fic when it is safe to do so. on Thursday night and continu- Dozens of cars, trucks and even a ing throughout the day on Friday, school bus slipped off the roads. No according to Monica Traphagan, “One car slid off the road, and fatalities were reported. weather forecaster for the National another car hit their brakes and Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Troy Weather Service. started to slide, but then a third car Marx witnessed 10 cars sliding County dispatchers said last slammed on their brakes and slid off off the roads all at once during Thursday was one of the worst days the road. And then another slid into Thursday’s evening commute. It was on record for snow-related acci- photography / Troy Boman the third car,” he said. on SR-138 just east of Benson Grist dents. Tooele City police officer Lonnie Collings closed down Vine St. between Second and Fifth streets during “Cars going westbound, watching last Thursday’s storm. Mill, he said. [email protected] OPEN FORUM A4 THE BULLETIN BOARD B3 INSIDE WEATHER Fifty percent chance of OBITUARIES A6 TV LISTINGS B4 Buffs, Cowboys place in top snow Thursday. SPORTS A8 CROSSWORD B5 10 at Best of West Invite Complete Forecast: A2 See A8 HOMETOWN B1 CLASSIFIEDS B6 A2 TOOELE TRANSCRIPT-BULLETIN TUESDAY January 9, 2007 Utah & The West Valley Weather Forecast As ranchers leave Legislature, Arizona loses ties to rural roots Local Weather by Robbie Sherwood But like so much of the state’s Jack August said. “They represent private property, water and gun to pioneer ranching families about THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC rural roots, that era is coming to a way of life that all of us want to rights, is rooted in its cowboy 30 miles apart on the high des- an end. keep in our hopes and dreams. A past.