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November 13, 2002
Witnesses Say Man Showed Little Grief in
Wife's Hiking Death
(Salt
Lake City-KSL News) -- Witnesses for the prosecution continue
to paint a portrait of a man with little grief in the trial
of James Bottarini, accused of pushing his wife off of a cliff
in Zion National Park. Friends of Bottarini testified he acted
calm and unemotional when he returned from Zion after the
death of his wife, Patricia. One neighbor testified this morning
that he seemed peaceful. Prosecutors say Bottarini pushed
his wife off a 500 foot cliff on Observation Point Trail in
May 1997 to collect more than $1 million in life insurance.
Bottarini is charged with federal counts of interstate domestic
violence, wire fraud and providing false statements to a federal
investigator. Later this week, in an unusual field trip, jurors
will hike the Observation Point Trail.
Top
Political Strategist Speaks at University of Utah
(Salt Lake City, KSL News) -- One of the nation's most
powerful men visited Utah today. Karl Rove's official title
is Senior Advisor to President George Bush. He's also been
called the "boy genius," credited with getting Bush
elected, and engineering last week's GOP success at the polls.
Rove has deep Utah ties. He attended Olympus High School and
the University of Utah. And it was at the U of U today that
Rove gave some insights into the presidency, his boss, and
the administration's policy on Iraq. You could call it the
ultimate political geek's revenge.
As a student at the U of U, Karl Rove was a leader of the
Young Republicans. Now he's the right-hand man of the president,
which means he can command a sizable audience -- including
a few dozen protesters -- lined up against the administration's
foreign policy. As
a speaker, Rove is a bit long-winded. But his command of historical
details and political strategy is encyclopedic, and thoroughly
on display when asked to weigh in on last week's big GOP victory
mid-term elections. "It
was closely split in 2000. I'm not certain it's so closely
split now. Nothing stays in gridlock or deadlock in American
politics. Things move one direction or another. To some degree
we have evidence that they're beginning to move in one direction,"
Rove says.
Rove's main theme: the qualities that make a great president.
Number one, he says, is clarity of vision. Today's most pointed
question offered a competing vision to the Bush team, and
made note of the hundreds of thousands of protesters around
the world opposed to a war on Iraq.
"The way to do it is to do it the way that everybody
else does, which is to talk to your representatives and petition
the Congress and petition the president. You talk about 200,000
people though, with all due respect, I worry about the 3,000
people killed on 9-11," he says. Apparently
Rove didn't stay long on this trip to Utah. He jetted in this
morning, and right after today's event, jetted back to Washington.
Commuter
Rail Planned to Ogden
(Salt
Lake City-AP) -- The Utah Transit Authority has launched a
five-year plan for commuter rail cars that would travel as
fast as 80 miles per hour between Ogden and Salt Lake City.
The trains could be running by the end of 2007, says Steve
Meyer, UTA's commuter-rail construction and engineering manager.
Utah Representative Stuart Adams says the project is badly
needed given the court-ordered setbacks for Legacy Highway.
A federal appeals court in September ordered additional environmental
studies for the highway before a decision can be made whether
to resume construction that was halted on November 16th, 2001.
But Congress must get on board for commuter rail. The UTA
is counting on federal lawmakers providing 50 percent or more
of the funding.
Most
Airports Will Meet Screening Deadline
(Salt Lake City-AP) -- More than 90 percent of the nation's
airports will meet Congress' December 31st deadline for screening
all checked bags. The nation's transportation security chief
discussed the issue today with airport administrators gathered
in Salt Lake City for a conference. Retired Coast Guard Admiral
James Loy, administrator of the federal Transportation Security
Agency, say 94 to 95 percent of the airports will be ready
by year's end. He said he wouldn't support across the board
extensions, a response to comments yesterday by airport managers
who said the
government hasn't given them the money or equipment necessary
to help the TSA meet the cutoff date. Waivers are needed,
the managers said, to avoid crippling the nation's airline
system with delays as airports work to incorporate
the government's intensive security checks.
Man
Pleads Guilty to Faking Anthrax Threat
(Salt Lake City-AP) -- A man accused of faking an anthrax
threat during last fall's terrorism scare changed his plea
to guilty today. In exchange prosecutors will recommend that
he be spared additional jail time. He's already spent more
than seven months in custody. Terry L. Olson, age 30, from
Price, pleaded guilty to unlawfully threatening to use a weapon
of mass destruction last October. After initially pleading
innocent, Olson admitted in federal court today that he put
sugar and chocolate milk powder in a junk mail envelope and
told his neighbors he believed it was anthrax. Two days later,
under FBI questioning, Olson admitted creating the hoax to
get attention. His attorney, Ron Yengich, said Olson always
admitted what he did was wrong. Olson would likely serve five
years of supervised release, similar to probation, if prosecutors'
recommendations are accepted.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights
Reserved.)
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