Idaho State Journal from Pocatello, Idaho • Page 11

IDAHO A JOUKNAL-6EU Construction on A.F By QUAKE KE.NYOX Associated Press Writer BOISE. Idaho (API- Officials are hopeful work can s'tart this summer on replacement of the American Falls dam across the Snake River, if no lawsuits get in Die way. The executive committee of some 35 organizations which hold water rights in the American Falls reservoir voted 6-1 Thursday to issue up to $44.7 million in revenue bonds to replace the 67-year old dam. And Rodney Vissia, regional director of the Bureau of Reclamation, announced that Interior Secretary Thomas Kieppe agreed to go along with any decision made by the spacehoi- ders so there should be no reason the project can't proceed. There may be legal obstacles to the dam replacement project.

Spokesmen for two irrigation districts which voted against the project indicated at a conference Thursday just before the vote they may seek legal action to stop the work. They said they may challenge whether the bureau, which originally built the dam in 1909 and sold water rights to Southern Idaho farmers, could let a private agency build the replace- ment dam and thus disrupt their legal water rights. "The vote this morning puts us in a position, after three years of hard work, to proceed with initial construction of a dam that needs to be replaced," said John Kosnoit, Tvin Falls, attorney for the spacehoiders. He gave this timetable: --Plans and specifications will be circulated as early as March to potential bidders. Bids mav be opened April 1.

--A contract could be awarded as early as June 1. Construction might start early this summer and it will take two years to build the new- dam. As lo the threats of legal action, Roshoit said he couldn't predict what the courts would do. But he said "in the cold light of day," it was possible the legal threats would never materialize and the dissenting districts would join the project. Al stake is a major water source to Southern Idaho farmers.

The old dam is deterioriat- ing and storage in the American Falls capacity has been limited to two-thirds the 1.7 million acre-foot capacity. Vissia said Ihe last five years have been good for water, but if there is a dry year, every drop Dam May Begin ir of the reservoir's capacity will be needed to keep fanning at i Is present level. Rosholt said some 935.000 acres of Idaho farmland are irrigated from the American Falls reservoir. Tola! replacement cost is expected to be upwards of 537 million, Rosholt said. The spacehoiders have agreed to issue up to $44.7 million in bonds.

with a S7 million contingency fund. "We're hopeful we can build I a less a a amount," he said, referring to the $44.7 million maximum. Idaho Power Co. has agreed to pay the bulk of the dam replacement cost, in the form of payments for water al the dam. That water is to be used for power generation.

Rosholt said Idaho Power will pay about $22.9 million for the water rights, plus about $600,000 as a spaceholder. That means the waterusers district will issue bonds up to S21.2 million, which will be repaid over many years. Spacehoiders have been voting the a two weeks on whether they approved the project. Vissia reported space- holders representing 79.9 per cent of the water voted in favor. 17.2 per cent voted against anil 2.9 per cent didn't vote.

Major dissenters are the Burley Irrigation District, which covers 48,000 acres of land and holds rights to 157,942 acre-feet of water and Minidoka Irrigation District, with 72,000 acres of land and 83,563 acre-feet of water. Spokesmen for those districts said (heir members had many objections to the project. Included were the fact project cost was vastly underestimated when first presented; il was put on a "take it or leave il" basis; not enough information was given out on the contracts and the project could cause a water shortage as construction proceeds. Bill Nichols of Ihe Minidoka district said his members understood if the project didn't get 88 per cent approval, it would be scrapped. Vissia and other officials said no firm figure was set.

Another irrigation district spokesman, Kent Foster of Idaho Falls, suggested exploring "other alternatives" with the 20 per cent who oppose the project to head off possible legal action. But Sen. John Barker, RBuhl, president of the American Falls Reservoir Distrit said now is a i Summer good time to start the project. "We've got at least eight major construction companies interested in bidding on the project and when we have that kind of interest we usually can get a good price," he said. Barker said current interest rates appear favorable.

Clifford Darington of the Burley Irrigation District cast the only vote on the executive committee against the project. He said the extra assessments for the new dam would work extreme hardship on irrigalors. He said irrigators would face higher payments for the next 40 years. Some irrigation district spokesmen said they wanted the Bureau of Reclamation to replace the dam, then sign water contracts with farmers to repay costs. But Barker and others said it might take up to 20 years to replace the dam through that route and the project can't wait.

Vissia said the bureau has a "no new starts" program in effect and it might be difficult to get Congress to authorize a new- federal dam in view of President Ford's efforts to cut the budget. "Let's get pouring the concrete," one irrigator said as the session ended. Emergency Closes Polluter ALICE MICHAELS With Holy Font inkoin Woman Releases Holy Font to Cataldo By MARCELL WANNER Journal Correspondent INKOM--It would be difficult to measure the great worth of the original Holy Water Font that Alice Michaels, Inkom, recently donated to the Cataldo mission in Northern Idaho, but that didn't faze her. "I was watching a television program telling of the restoration of the mission, and the report indicated it was nearly complete, except for a few incidentals. Right away 1 Knew I had in my possession a holy water font from the old mission," she said.

Mrs. Michaels explained that many years ago, she and six foster children along with two of her own, picked cherries at their home in Clarkston, Wash, and earned enough money to take a vacation into Northern Idaho where they visited the Cataldo Mission site. Among the rubble from the abandoned mission Mrs. Michaels picked up the holy water font. She called the television station and offered the font to the restoration committee.

It will be placed in its original setting, just inside the door of the old building, which is said to be the oldest standing building in Idaho. Research is being done to determine whether the font was brought west by Catholic Father Peter De Smet, when he visited the Flat Head Indians in 1840, or whether it was brought at a later date. The mission was designed by Rev. Anthony Ravalli and was built with available materials. The walls were made by interlacing willow saplings and grass, which was spread with adobe mud.

In place of nails, wooden pegs were used. A broad axe, an auger, ropes and pulleys and a pen knife were the only tools available. Ravalii, two brothers, and a band of untutored Indians did air the construction of the original building. "I hope in some small way to pay Father Cody of St. Joseph's in Pocatello, for his kindness to me," Mrs.

Michaels explained as she told of her special reason for donating the font. She returned to Idaho about 1958, as an alcoholic with two small children. Father Cody was instrumental in her rehabilitation as she and the children spent some time living at the Slick-Poo Mission in Culdesac, Idaho. Mrs. Michaels' story will appear in the winter issue of Idaho Heritage magazine, which will appear on the newsstands in about two weeks.

SALT LAKE CITY AP)The National Weather Service held out hope today that winds would clear the fog-plagued Salt Lake Valley, where a Kennecott Copper Corp. smelter remained shut down after it was closed Thursday because of a pollution emergency. The company closed its smelter at Magna in the valley's west end at 5 p.m., when the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the surrounding air reached .78 parts per million. State ail- quality regulation's prohibit more than 1 part per million of the gas. Company spokesman Vern Huser said the sulfur concentration peaked at .98 parts per million early today, then dropped to .93 by sunrise.

He said Kennecott's full day shift would report to work, however, and would carry out maintenance tasks until the smelter is ready to reopen. Huser said that won't be until the sulfur dioxide level drops below .80 parts per million. A skeleton maintenance crew worked overnight at the closed smelter, he said. Meanwhile, Utah State Prison inmate activity was restricted, with medium security prisoners, limited to their cell blocks and outside work projects of minimum security prisoners curtailed, said Warden Sam Smith. As the low-lying clouds affected the Kennecott smeller and the prison in the far reaches of the valley, some commercial aircraft were overflying equally foggy Salt Lake City to other destinations.

Fog has settled in the valley much of the week and, at early as last Sunday, had closed Salt Lake International Airport as planes were diverted to other Western airports. An air traffic controller at Salt Lake International estimated about one dozen aircraft in one hour Thursday night were either put into holding patterns or were diverted. Cloud-seeding operations helped some aircraft to land, however. Kennecott announced Thursday that its Utah Copper Division was shutting down its smelter about 10 miles west of Salt Lake City because of a pollution emergency, the first in its history. Utah air quality chief Dr.

Grant S. Winn said the pollutant buildup was recorded in an area surrounding the plant but had not been noted in other areas of the valley. He said the company began closing down on its own initiative. Company spokesman Ken Kefauver said the firm's computers projected that, if the smelter had not shut down, at some time Thursday evening the 24-hour sulfur dioxide average would have violated the state-set legal limit of one part per million. "As of 5 p.m., Utah Copper Division is suspending operations at its smelters for an indefinite period," he said.

"This action is in conjunction with our pollution emergency episode plan which is on file with the Utah Air Conservancy Committee." The night shift put the smelter into standby and Kefauver said it wasn't immediately known whether the more than 500 day workers would be called to their jobs today. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service said a cold front from the Pacific was moving inland and could brush northern Utah late this afternoon or evening. Forecasters said the front would allow fog in northern Utah valleys to decrease, thereby easing smog conditions, but would not scour the valleys completely. Western Grazers Protest Rate Raises Wheat Growers Back Suit over Exports By JOHN LENGEL Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) Western cattle and sheep ranchers on Wednesday protested hikes in federal range grazing fees at an informal meeting with some members of a House interior subcommittee. The subcommittee is shaping an omnibus public lands bill with an aim to streamlining and reforming federal administration of the public lands, which make up 20 per cent of the nation's land area.

The ranchers were concerned about a provision in the legislation which would preserve the current federal formula for grazing fees, which are rising each year. Currently, the stockmen pay $1 per head, per month for running their stock on federal lands. The fee next year under the formula will be approximately $1.60. The formula hikes have been delayed three times since 1969, most recently last year, when President Ford said the fee hike would aggravate harsh economic conditions in the livestock industry. If the fee hikes had not been set aside temporarily, the stockmen would be paying $1.94 per head next year.

In the legislation, the subcommittee has adopted the formula along with provisions to plow back half the fee revenue into range improvements and to go further in guaranteeing a slock man continued access to the same land. Rep. John Melcher, and some other members told the stockmen that the legislation as written was a compromise with the best chance of appeasing various factions in the House. Rep. Gunn McKay, R-Utah, said there is pressure in the House to increase the fees two and three times the current formula.

Congress is under pressure to manage the public lands for all the public, not solely for the ranchers, the House members noted. "The rest of "the world doesn't understand your problems," McKay said. The fee per head amounts to appreciably less than one per cent of the rancher's costs, according to subcommittee staff sources. The stockmen favored a low, stable fee, or a formula that would peg fees to the prices they get each year. The Ford administration opposes a change in the current formula.

Melcher, without making any promises, said the staff would review some of the factors in the current formula. Rep. Jim Santini, opposes the current formula and said it hurts the small ranchers, who "are taking one gut BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) The board of directors of the National Association of Wheat Growers on Thursday authorized its executive committee to bring a lawsuit against the fed- era! government over lost export sales allegedly suffered by farmers. The association contends President Ford's action last year in placing an embargo on export grain sales was illegal.

Approved by the directors was a resolution that gives the executive committee three options toward seeking redress or keeping the government from interfering with grain marketing. In addition to a lawsuit, the options are a congressional lobbying campaign and a public relations program. The resolution said a fund for such "legal, legislative and public relations work" is to be created with a goal of $1 million. It said the money is to be raised by contributions "from grain growers and others." The measure, as approved by the general membership on Wednesday, did not make reference to public relations work. The directors' adoption of the measure came at the conclusion of the association's annual convention, which attracted wheat producers, market experts and agricultural officials from the nation's major grain- growing states and several foreign countries.

On Wednesday, Jerry Rees, a i a i i secretary, eslimated that the nation's farmers lost up to $200 million as the result of the gg: export embargo. The con- vention also heard a report from an association lawyer who said he had concluded that the embargo and subsequent U.S. trade agreement with the Soviet Union to limit grain exports were illegal. But Dr. Don Paarlberg, a De- partment of Agriculture econo- mist, told the association that the Ford administration was Si confident it had acted within the law in restricting the amount of wheat and corn that can be sold to Russia over the next five years.

He also argued that if the as- socialism succeeded in nullify- ing the trade agreement, Con- gress might impose strict con- trols to limit exports and keep grain prices down. $1.69 Million Judgment Awarded Drug Conviction Ruled Improper BOISE, Idaho (AP)-The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled a Kootenai County drug conviction was improper because officers searched the locked trunk of an automobile without a search warrent. The court on Monday issued an opinion that reversed conviction of Barret P. Krull on a charge of possession of marijuana with intent to sell. An opinion written by Justice Charles R.

Donaldson said searching the locked trunk of Krull's car without a warrant violated his rights. The opinion said after the man was arrested, there was no indication that Krull would have been able to gain possession and destroy marijuana locked in the car trunk. Donaldson noted there were four magistrates available for issuing search warrants, so it appeared there was no reason why a search warrant could not be obtained before the trunk was entered. Referring to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Donaldson warned that the word "automobile" is not "a talisman in whose presence the 4th Amendment fades away and disappears." In the same case, the.

court affirmed convictions of James L. Miles and John J. Lassfolk for unlawful delivery of marijuana. The defendants contended marijuana seized in the case was not the species covered by state drug laws. But the court ruled that the history of state drug laws indicates all species i of marijuana are outlawed and sufficient evidence was in- (reduced to support the con- SJ viction.

BOISE, Idaho (AP)--A judgment of S1.69 million in damages against Sun Valley Airlines and Beech Aircraft was awarded Thursday following a four-month trial in a suit stemming from an airline crash which killed five persons in 1972. The Sun Valley Airline crash near Fairfield, Idaho, Feb. 20, 1972, killed Pilot Holland H. Smith, presidenl of the airline; Airline Mechanic Otto Carlton; and three passengers, Lynn Reidy, Ketchum; Dr. Harold McCabe, Columbus, 0., and Lisa Merrill, Santa Barbara, Calif.

The families of the victims and the airline filed four suits in U.S. Court asking more than S4.2 million in damages from numerous defendants. Numerous counter-suits were combined into one trial. The jury of five women and four men deliberated eight days before returning the verdict to end the 70-day trial. It found the airline misused the 1966 Beech Queenair and that was part of the cause of the crash.

The jury said the crash was partly caused by faulty design by Beech. The verdict attached 90 per cent of the cause to the airline and 10 per cent to Beech. It found no fault on the part of A i manufacturer of the engines. The verdict awarded Smith's estate Carlton's estate Miss Reidy's estate McCabe's estate and Miss Merrill's es-' tale The jury also awarded the airline $58,000 for loss of the aircraft and $10,000 for loss of the sale of assets when became Sun Valley Key Airline later. punch after feel they're on the brink of extermination." Dean Rhnaris.

whn runs 3,000 head of cattle near Tuscarora, Nev. said, "The rumbling in the country is terrific. If the fees go up, there will be" a lot of ranchers in Nevada who won't be running cattle." Nick Theos, a cattle and sheep rancher from Meeker, said if fees dp go higher, the government should provide more protection to stock from predators and bar the land to hunters, who kill stock. The stockmen were representing the National Wool Growers and American National Cattlemen's Associations and the Public Lands Council, a panel of stockmen from the trade groups representing interests of western stockmen. REGIONAL NEWS BRIEFS 28 Companies in Race As Operators of INEL IDAHO FALLS (AP)--Representatives from 28 companies were on hand at a pre-proposal conference in Idaho Falls Thursday on the new operating contract for the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.

The five-year contract, which will begin in October, is estimated to be worth $100 million annually. Aerojet Nuclear Co. currently holds the contract and has indicated it will make a strong effort to obtain the new one. The pre-proposal conference which runs through Friday, will include a tour of the INEL facilities. Bids will be accepted by the Energy Research and Development Administration until March 8 and those determined to be within the competitive range will be.

announced about the first of April, John Crawford of ERDA noted. Final ranking will be established in early May, he said with results of the evaluations to be completed in early June. The selection process, headed by top ERDA officials, should be completed by July 1, he said. Jerome May Adopt First Plan JEROME (AP)--The city of Jerome will become one of the first governmental entities in the state to adopt a comprehensive plan if its current schedule is maintained. Four public information meetings have been held in the city in the past two weeks.

Marjorie Slotten, city planner, said there was little criticism of the proposed plan and most who attended these sessions only had questions. She said the explanation of goals for the bare land under the economic development category appears to be too vague and will have to be reworked. In the executive summary, Mrs. Slotten said, "The overriding concern of the Planning and Zoning Commission members while developing this plan was to create enough flexibility to meet changing conditions to design guidelines for future decision making. The citizens and taxpayers of Jerome and their property rights were constantly considered while goals and objectives were being formulated." Mouth To Leave Denta! Trade SALT LAKE CITY (AP)-An Arizona psychologist predicted Wednesday that dentists will someday make two-thirds of their income "in some other way than in people's mouths." Dr.

Kenneth J. Olson, Scotts- dale, a member of the Ameri- jj can Society for Preventive Den- gtistry, said dentisls may be faced with the conquering of tooth decay. 3 "I feel dentistry will be changing because there will ei- ther be a sealant developed or a vaccination that will stop bacterial plaque," Olson said. "There will be no tooth decay- then and dentists will become more involved in preventive medicine." Speaking to a state dental convention, Olson said dentists might find themselves concerned with such matters as nutrition, taking blood pressure and giving innovations. Fire Destroys 2 Downtown Goodmg Stores Washington Power Rates Up GOOD1NG, Idaho tAPl--The Merc, a department store, and Kendrick Drug Store were destroyed by fire in a blaze that threatened other downtown Gooding businesses before being extinguished Thursday night.

The fire was reported about 5:30 p.m. but was still shooting flames into the air al 9 p.m. Richard Philips, owner of Richards Service Center, said he saw a window o( the department store knocked into Main Street by a small blasl as the erupied. -I saw it blow out Ihe front window and there already was smoke inside. A son of mine who works there said a gas heater was in the corner," Philips said.

A first-ait! post was set up al his gas station about one-half block from the blaze, Philips said Ihe front wall of (he two-story brick department store collapsed into Main Slreel, narrowly missing a fire truck and striking the arm of volunteer fireman Bobby Peterson. He said Peterson and another volunteer fireman, Gary Adams, who suffered a cut hand, were trealed at Ihe firsl- aid station. lie said he didn't know of any oilier injuries. The fire was kepi from spreading to Ihe adjacent First Security Bank or the Lincoln Inn, a molel and restaurant. One witness reported flames were slill shooting 50 lo 100 feel into the air several hours after Ihe blaze slarted.

Police and Gooding County sheriff's deputies blocked Main Street and two side streets as a crowd of spectators gathered. According to Philips, the firsl floor of Ihe building was owned by Bud Schubcrl, owner of a downtown Ihealer, and was leased lo the department slore and drug outlet. He said Ihe second floor was owned by Cleo Faulkner, who also owns the Lincoln Inn. BOISE, Idaho (AP)-The Idaho Public Utilities Commission today authorized Washington Water Power Co. to raise its rates and pass on $1.2 million in increased natural gas costs to its Idaho customers.

The increase will amount to about $1.46 a month for the av- erage natural gas customer in Northern Idaho served by the company. Washington Water Power applied for the increase last August, citing a net price increase to be charged by its pipeline supplier. The rate increase is effective Saturday. Fire Hazards Found at Plant KETCHUM, Idaho A Ketchum Fire Chief Bill Brand says he has found 37 fire hazards at the Scott USA ski goggle plant here, and may close the plant unless corrections are made within a week. Bill Ringer, Scott director of administration, said in a telephone interview today that the company is complying with some of Brand's recommendations for change..