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About Dillon Tribune (Dillon, Mont.) 1989-current | View This Issue
Dillon Tribune (Dillon, Mont.), 01 Oct. 1997, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/2015269516/1997-10-01/ed-1/seq-1/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
[ W ednesday, O c tober 1,1997 Volume 118 No. 40 Following Beaverhead Traits Since 1881 75 Cents D illo n , M o n ta n a I Soldiers' Chorus puts words to the Army Band When the U. S. Army Field Band arrives in Dillon next week to perform at Western Montana Col lege, an integral part o f the per formance will be the Soldiers' Chorus. Both the Band and the Chorus will be in concert at the WMC Straugh Gymnaisum on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. The event is sponsored locally by the Dillon Tribune, with the help of Western Montana College, Beaverhead Post No. 20 of the American Legion and KDBM AM- ‘ FM. Free tickets for the event are available from the Dillon Tribune, Beaverhead Chamber of Com merce, The Bookstore and the WMC Campus Bookstore. Now conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Robert A. McCormick, the Chorus thrills audiences through out the world with its own special arrangements of music as varied as the communities it has visited. It was formed in 1957 and since that time has performed in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Far East, India, Central and South America, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The Soldiers' Chorus was honored in 1961 when selected to sing at the Prayer Breakfast for the late President John F. Kennedy fol lowing his inauguration. Notable performances Bince the inception of the Chorus include concerts at the New York, Seattle andKnoxville World's Fain; EXPO '87; Carnegie Hall; New York'a Lincoln Center, the Mormon Tab ernacle in Salt Lake City and at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Ange les. The group has appeared at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, on the Es planade in Boston, at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. In addition, they were featured during the rededication of the Statue o f Liberty in New York on July 4,1986 and performed in the Berlin Philharmonic on Novem ber 30, 1987 as a tribute to the 750th anniversary of the city of Berlin. The Soldiers' Chorus has been featured with several noted sym phony orchestras. Among these are the National Symphony Orches tra, the Detroit Symphony Or chestra, the Dallas Symphony Or chestra, the Cincinnati Pops Or chestra, and most recently with the Boston Pops Orchestra. Acclaimed as one o f the finest vocal groups now appearingbefore the public, the Soldiers' Chorus has also performed freguently on network radio and television. Whether performing at an out door concert or in an auditorium, in the United States or abroad, the Soldiers' Chorus continues to carry a message o f patriotism and good will to audiences everywhere. The Week In Review Data HI Lo Sept. 23 74 35 Sept. 24 78 37 Sept. 25 77 40 Sept. 26 76 54 Sept. 27 59 42 Sept. 28 71 35 Sept. 29 77 40 Pcpt Almanac................................A-14 Business/Ag ..................... Classifieds..............................B-4 Entertainment ........................ A-8 Lifestyle ................................... A-5 Obituaries ............................ A-14 Ruby Valley.............................B-7 Sp^rt& ..................................... A-3 Viewpoint...................................A-4 Making ''D a m \sure... > 'Safety diver îlaôdÿ 4 » , t i m Mann and JeffPeterson, ; two other raembere o f the> BureauoTReclamation's - d i m * ‘ J&fah&qt&W ifo life. aÙHimrhfiàirt ■ J j M » : ^ ^ 1 1 1 ia part of 12-year ule, : I n s p e c t i o n a n y t h i n g b u t By Paul Stewart For some people, conducting a \routine inspection” can be a rather involved process. Ask the three-man dive team, who last Friday donned full div ing gear, slipped into the Beaver head River directly under the Clark Canyon Dam, then carefully swam their way up a narrow con crete channel under roiling-wa- ters gushing out from the dam’s outlet. • The Job at hand was the in spection of the outlet stilling ba sin and the channel leading from the spillway. Such inspections take place, “routinely” every 12 years. The divers delineate smaller plots within tiie larger area, then conduct systematic survey’s within them, recording conditions with both still photography and under water video cameras. Last week’s effort was headed up by Phil Graf, dive team leader from the Bureau o f Reclamation’s Pacific North West Regional of fice. He and his three-man team operate out o f Boise, Id. and have conducted similar checks on a va riety o f Bureau dams up and down the northwestern states. As safety diver Randy Harris settled himself into position on the river bank, colleagues Phil Mann and JeffPeterson, began the care ful and detailed process o f check ing their equipment and familiar izing themselves with the envi ronment The water temperature, Mann noted was 68 degrees and visibility between four and five feet Both conditions were subject to dramatic change as the divers moved in and around the struc ture. Jay Chamberlain, of the East Bench Irrigation District, in formed the divers that the water pouring into the stilling basin was set to flow at a rate of 200 cubic feet per second. Later the flow would be reduced to 100 CFS, weakening the downstream cur rent to allow the swimmers easier and safer access. Mann and Petersen first sur veyed the spillway channel, the only evidence o f activity revealed by the pattern of bubbles which rose at regular intervals out the of dark water. Graf explained that since 1986 no water has flown over the spillway, so problems were not expected. This proved to be the case. However the last inspection revealed that some rebar had been exposed in the concrete channel half way down the stilling basin. Though not serious to the struc tural integrity its exposure war ranted some close attention. These local inspections are part of an overall series o f comprehen sive safety checks. The zoned, earth-filled dam, built in 1964, has r o u t i n e a structural height o f295 feet, and a volume of 1,970 cubic yards of material. The reservoir itself has a total capacity of 257,152 acre feet. It’s benefits include water storage for agricultural, industrial and municipal use recreational facilities and flood control. The dam was last inspected fully in 1994, revealing no prob lems whatsoever. Chamberlain has described it as, “one of the better dams that I’ve seen in my career.” In addition to the regular safety checks the construction is also subject to thorough inspec tions every time there is an earth quake within 200 miles o f the area. These look for cracks or misalignments throughout the structure. So far no problems have been detected. Studies undertaken have concluded that there is little likelihood of an earthquake gen- Continued on page A-16 Teachers settle for 1 percent hike Woman's call helps prevents assault By Paul Stewart An alert Dillon resident may have prevented the rape of an 18 year old Western Montana Col lege student, after making a 911 telephone call when she noticed a disturbance in her yard. When police responded they caught a man engaged in what they believe was a sexual assault. According to Assistant Police Chief, Paul Craft, officers were alerted by the 911 call at 2:40 a.m. last Thursday morning. The com plainant who lives on the comer of Helena and Center Street, across from the High School and almost in view of the Law En forcement annex, reported that a man was sitting on top of a woman in her yard. Craft explained that Officers Tim Homung, and Larry Erikson, who were less than a block away, arrived first at the scene, the head lights of their patrol car catching 22 year old Rudy Lopez, sitting on top of the screaming victim. Both were fully clothed. “He took off running,\ said Craft, “but after a short chase on foot, the officers apprehended the suspect and took him into cus tody.” The woman told police that the man, who she did not know, had followed her from the downtown area where she had tried to find her roommate, after locking her self out of their apartment. The police report states that after grab bing her Lopez threw her down and threatened to kill her if she didn’t cooperate. The officers ar rived shortly afterwards. Earlier, Police Chief John Gutcheck stated that this was the first case o f its kind in his 18 years on the force, “where someone has been caught in this way breaking the law of that nature.\ Lopez is facing three felony charges of intimidation, aggra vated kidnapping and attempted sexual intercourse without con sent. He appeared and was chargedbefore Justice o f the Peace Joan Eliel and was remanded to the County Jail. The incident was the second of two alleged sex crimes that have been investigated by police in the space of less than one week. On September 19, a WMC student reported that she had been raped by a male student in a college dorm room. Thus far police have not charged the individual alleged to have been involved, and therefore are as yet, unable to release de tails of the incident Investigations are ongoing. council opts for new liner District, BEA finish talks By Paul Stewart Contract negotiations between the District 10 Board of Trustees and teachers represented by the Beaverhead Education Association have been settled. The board rati fied the salary’ and conditions agreement on September 25, bringing to an end discussions which began last spring, and which intensified after the previ ous contract expired on July 10. The agreement allows for a one percent increase on the base sal ary of $21,990 over the next two years. For example teachers at this level would receive $22,220 for the 1997X98 year and $22,430 the year after. Only beginning teachers would receive this amount, al though, noted Superintendent Larry Blades, “we don’t have any at this level.” District 10 has a total of 59 teachers, each paid in accordance with a salary schedule that awards duration o f service, years o f expe rience and enhanced educational qualifications. The highest paid teacher has a salary of $42,755, with the lowest paid around $31,000. The agreement also dictates changes to the District’s health insurance program. The District will contribute 80 percent of the premium costs with employees paying the remaining fifth. The previous agreement required em ployees to contribute the first ten percent o f any premium increase. This will no longer be the case, costing the District $34.66 more in the case of a family. Also in the agreement is a for mal “reduction in force” policy which specifies lay-off procedures if the need arises. “It is basically a last hired, first fired’ agreement,” Blades explained. The agreement also provides for increased stipends for teachers involved in the Odyssey of the Mind Program with rates increas ing from two percent o f the base to four percent. In addition there is an increased amount for staff who perform lunch, bus and play ground duty. “There are no real winners or losers in this agreement,\ said Blades. “As Superintendent, I’ve watched both sides during the ne gotiations, and I know that both sides have a mutual respect for each others positions.\ He commented that both sides were keenly aware that the loss in student numbers will have direct implications on future budgets and management decisions. ‘ They tried to be as fair as possible in their dealings with each other,” he said. “Neither side is particu larly happy, but we’re stuck be tween a rock and a hard place.” “Obviously I would like to pay our teachers at the rate they do in states like Connecticut, but until we find a different way of funding our schools in Montana, that’s not realistic and we just can’t afford it. He was referring to the method by which state funding for schools is calculated, whereby an average number of students over the year Cent :d c n p - p c A-l 6 By Paul Stewart After a short meeting last Mon day to discuss the beleaguered wastewater treatment facility, the City Council accepted the recom mendation o f its water and sewer committee, and voted unani mously to instruct the engineers to install a different kind o f liner in the lagoons. The action follows weeks of uncertainty, scrutiny and debate that arose after it became appar ent that the Geosynthetic Clay Liner (GCL) originally designed for the project, was not meeting the specifications required by the contract. Tests showed that the liner was exceeding state speci fied leakage limits by more than 1900 times the amount allowed. This initiated a debate between the engineers who designed the facility and the contractors who installed it as to who was respon sible for the failure. Knowing that the City was not Cc-.l >;— 1 c r r-.geA-iC