FRONT PAGE A1 www.tooeletranscript.com TUESDAY Faces of 2007: A Year in Pictures See B1 TOOELETRANSCRIPT BULLETIN January 1, 2008 SERVING TOOELE COUNTY SINCE 1894 VOL. 114 NO. 65 50¢ 2007 Top 10 Stories Allegheny Technologies comes to Rowley Back in May, focus on producing titanium sponge Pittsburgh- from magnesium supplied by US 1 based Allegheny Magnesium, and is expected to be Top 10 stories of Technologies, a $4.9 one of the largest titanium produc- 2007 billion-in-revenues ing facilities in the country. global metals pro- Dan Greenfield, Allegheny direc- ducer, broke ground tor of corporate communications, on a massive $450 million titanium said there will be a total of 125 sponge plant in Rowley near the edge acres developed for the facility, and of the Great Salt Lake, signaling a that the largest building on site is new era for economic development expected to cover an area of approxi- in Tooele County. mately 230,000 square feet. He said Allegheny will set up near US the Allegheny plant will be the first Magnesium and become the anchor titanium sponge facility built in the tenant in an industrial zone that United States in many years. could eventually become an incuba- Allegheny’s decision to come was tor for high-tech jobs in the county a major coup for Tooele County’s — a shift away from the county’s economic development brain trust, traditionally high-pollutant, high- which is working with the state in manual-labor manufacturing base. developing tax incentives for the Allegheny produces specialty met- company and other companies that als for the aerospace, medical and may want to locate within the new defense industries, among other industrial zone at Rowley. markets. This has lead to specula- Patrick Hassey, CEO of Allegheny tion that aerospace companies may Technologies, and other company now see Rowley as an attractive loca- officials were present at the facility’s tion in which to relocate or expand May groundbreaking. operations. The new Allegheny plant is sched- The new facility is expected to uled to become fully operational late employ 150 workers at an average this year, and is expected by officials photography / Troy Boman salary of $45,000 a year, according to be producing 24 million pounds of to company officials. The plant will titanium sponge a year by mid-2009. Construction crews use large cranes to poor cement at the Allegheny Technologies facility on Nov. 8. The 880-acre site near US Magnesium at Rowley will produce titanium for aerospace and other industries. McCall elected to Tooele City Council Housing market softens While the mander told me ‘In the Marine Tooele County’s cent to $217,900 in Grantsville. municipal gen- Corps, green is green.’” hot housing mar- The county is experiencing what eral elections Since that time, McCall said he 2 ket cooled off several other markets nationwide 3 for Grantsville has never had a problem and the Top 10 considerably in have been going through for sev- Top 10 stories of stories of and Tooele town has turned into much more 2007 2007, impact- eral months — a downturn the 2007 city councils than just another posting. ing not only local National Association of Realtors in November “Tooele grows on you,” he said. home sellers but called the worst in 16 years. The were fairly low- “I was told that when I got here.” also the local real estate, construc- weakening housing market has key and devoid of much political Speaking of his election to tion and financial services indus- been dragged lower by the sub- drama, they did produce one his- the City Council, McCall said, “I tries. prime mortgage crisis and tighter tory-making development: Dave wouldn’t say it’s groundbreak- Tooele County not only experi- restrictions on lenders. The sub- McCall became the first black ing. I’ve met a lot of really good enced a decline in total sales vol- prime crisis also hurt local mort- ever elected to the Tooele City people here and the fact that I am ume, but also a corresponding glut gage and title companies and Council. who I am hasn’t played a part [in of unsold homes as the market forced at least one, Alliance Capital McCall was the second-leading how I’ve been treated]. They’ve failed to absorb excess invento- Mortgage in Tooele, out of busi- vote-getter among the Tooele can- respected me for me.” ry. According to a report done by ness. didates, falling behind only two- Over the past 14 years, McCall, housing research firm Metrostudy, Tooele’s Re/Max Platinum term incumbent Mike Johnson. a human resources supervisor at there were 104 newly constructed Broker/Owner Dan Egelund point- When McCall, 49, arrived in manufacturing company Carlisle single-family homes sitting vacant ed out that the housing market has Tooele in 1993 with the military, SynTec, has become entrenched in Tooele County as of the end of always been cyclical and will surely he said he was unsure of how in the community. September, compared with only 18 bounce back. people here would receive him He said he is looking forward new homes sitting vacant at the “Lower prices attract more buy- since the majority of the state is to being a part of planning for end of September 2006. ers, and if we were still selling Caucasian. Tooele’s future, and all the new Despite the lack of sales, the homes for $169,938 like we were “I was totally uneasy. I didn’t things that will come to the city. Wasatch Front Regional Multiple back in July of 2006, I’m sure we know what I was coming to,” “I’m here for the people,” he Listing Service found that at the end would go back up to the number he said. “I was the only African- said last November, “not for any- of this year’s third quarter, Tooele of homes sold that we had back American in my unit, but my com- thing else.” County’s median home sales pric- then,” he said. “However, a family Dave McCall es had risen noticeably compared can still come out here and get a to 2006, going up 13.4 percent to home for $73,000 less than a home $189,950 in Tooele, and up 19 per- in Salt Lake County.” Roller-coaster year for EnergySolutions 2007 was, in many EnergySolutions from changes in Utah’s At the end of March, the governor ways, the best and radioactive waste disposal laws made in and EnergySolutions announced a 4 worst of times for 2004. The changes would have required deal. EnergySolutions abandoned its Top 10 EnergySolutions. After approval of local government planning plan to pile an additional 4.3 million stories of wrangling with legisla- and zoning departments, as well as cubic yards of waste on its current one- 2007 tors and the governor legislative and gubernatorial approval, square-mile plot in exchange for the at the beginning of the before EnergySolutions could make any governor’s approval for EnergySolutions year over oversight and changes in its current operation. to use another piece of its land to store operational issues, the company hit a At the time, the company had plans 3.6 million cubic yards. EnergySolutions high point with a successful initial pub- to increase its capacity for waste from also had to vow not to seek approval to lic offering in November, then became 8.8 million cubic yards to 13.1 million bring hotter waste to Utah. embroiled in controversy again follow- cubic yards by piling the waste higher In October, the Utah Radiation ing the announcement that it wanted on its currently approved site. Control Board announced an agree- to import nuclear waste from Italy for Tooele County Commission Chair ment with EnergySolutions to provide storage at its Clive facility in the west Colleen Johnson testified in favor of a guarantee of $13.6 million for the desert. Senate Bill 155 while representatives perpetual care of the Clive facility after In March, after the legislature of the Healthy Environment Alliance of it closes or if EnergySolutions should adjourned, Governor John Huntsman Utah opposed the bill, claiming it would go out of business prior to the facility photography / Troy Boman allowed Senate Bill 155 to become law take elective officials out of the approval Ted Elliott stands in front of his now-closed business, Alliance Capital Mortgage, in without his signature. The bill exempted process. SEE ENERGY PAGE A3 ➤ downtown Tooele on Nov. 13. The high rate of defaults on subprime loans caused many of Elliott’s lenders to go out of business. WEATHER OPEN FORUM A4 HOMETOWN B1 INSIDE Snow showers over the OBITUARIES A5 BULLETIN BOARD A8 Top five sports stories of 2007 weekend with sunny skies TV LISTINGS A10 CLASSIFIEDS B2 See A10 peeking through Monday. Complete Forecast: A2 SPORTS A9 ANNOUNCEMENTS A5 A2 A2 TOOELE TRANSCRIPT-BULLETIN TUESDAY January 1, 2008 Utah & The West Valley Weather Forecast Crandall Canyon disaster tops Utah news stories SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The all children. The law was reject- Local Weather early morning cave-in at a ed with 65 percent of the vote. central Utah mine that would Utah, with a generally conser- Sun entomb six miners, followed vative electorate, a Republican 31/14 by the frantic attempt to res- governor and GOP-controlled 12/30 cue them, claiming three more Legislature, was seen nationally Snow showers. Highs in the low lives, was chosen the top state as a key test of voter sentiment 30s and lows in the mid teens.