The Daily Sentinel from Grand Junction, Colorado • 1

I Flats probe not mishandled REGION Page 3A BLM transfer should ease tension local page ib GJ netters rip Fruita SPORTS Page 2B Mesa coaches eye postseason in future SPORTS PAGE 2B insisii Friday, April 22, 1994 Grand Junction, Colorado Vol. 101, No. 155 350 newsstand 56 pages Rapist fails to show for Nixon in deep coma, near death Associated Press NEW YORK Richard Nixon lay near death in a deep coma today. Two Marine sergeants arrived at the hospital on Thursday, ready to serve as the former president's honor guard if he dies from the stroke he suffered Monday. His condition has deteriorated.

Hes in a very deep coma, Kathy Robinson, a on probation spokeswoman for New York Medical Center, said late Thursday. His family is at his bedside. His condition remained the Nixon same this morn ing, Robinson said. Nixons daughters, Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, were with him, she said. Hospital officials announced earlier in the day that the 81-year-old Nixon slipped into unconsciousness after developing swelling of the brain, a potentially deadly complication of the stroke.

Doctors sometimes try to reduce such swelling by using a respirator to speed up breathing, but Nixon was not on a respirator, and news reports 'said he had left instructions that he not be resuscitated. Kathy OConnor, a Nixon spokeswoman, confirmed he has a living will, but she would not discuss it. Nixons doctors and aides would not discuss his treatment or condition in detail But other doctors said the coma sharply reduced his chances of survival and virtually guaranteed he would never recover his powers of expression. Nixon had been partially para- lyzed on his right side and unable to speak even before the coma. His chances of dying are much greater, and his chance of See Nixon, page 7A Sharyn Wizda and Judy Miller Daily Sentinel A warrant was issued this morning for the arrest ofGlenwood Springs rapist Shannon Bear Smith after he failed to appear for his scheduled probation-violation hearing.

District Judge David Bottger ordered the which will join another he ordered on Wednesday after Smith reportedly missed three appointments with his probation officer and one with his attorney. A $10,000 bond was issued with the two warrants. Bottger said he would be willing to reconsider the amount of the bond after Smith is found. Smiths attorney, Grand Junction Public Defender David Eisner, said he was worried that Smith, who in the past has indicated suicidal thoughts, has harmed himself. Were just real concerned about his welfare, Eisner said this morning.

His family is concerned about his mental well-being. Jane Westbrook, the Glenwood deputy district attorney who is prosecuting Smiths alleged probation violations, said she thought he has simply skipped town. Its my belief that Mr. Smith has absconded, she said. I dont believe hes harmed himself.

Smith, 21, was scheduled to appear before Bottger this morning to determine whether he violated his probation proceedings that already have been delayed twice. Shannon Bear Smith, right, and his attorney, David Eisner, were in court earlier this month when his probation hearing was postponed. A warrant for Smiths arrest was issued after he missed his hearing this morning. A March 31 hearing was delayed because of illness in the family of Robin Garner, a public defender investigator working on the case. An April 6 Rearing was delayed because Smiths former attorney, Deputy Public Defender Matt Day-mon, became ill and had to See Rapist, page 7A Museum wants vote on taxing district Ballot issue seeks to provide long-term operating money Bob Silbernagel Daily Sentinel The Museum of Western Colorado board of directors voted 5-3 Thursday to ask voters this November for long-term operating money for the museum.

money, and watch us in November. Bacons group recommended the board take 30 days to study various aspects of the ballot measure, and board President Terry Wakefield initially agreed with that. And that, more than anything, was what split the San Juan butterfly extinction predicted Although the vote was split, the sentiment was unanimous for a ballot issue. The only question was when to officially move forward with it. Herb Bacon, co-chairman of the steering for the museums capital construction campaign, recommended the board go forward with a ballot issue simultaneously with the capital campaign.

The board hopes to raise $4 million for its expansion effort. I think its a given that the issue of the operating fund needs to be resolved in order to move forward, he said. A ballot board vote. for one, dont know enough about it now, said board member Ed Lipton. I want a plan other than, Lets go to the voters in 1994.

We dont have a plan yet. Zollner said it was just avoiding the issue to study it another 30 days Efforts to get the information Lipton wanted can.be ongoing as the campaign moves forward, he said. The board appointed a five-member task force to look into what is necessary for the ballot issue. 1 issue looks like the only way unless we hit the lottery for $6.5 million. Long-term operating funds are in question because the county commissioners have said they plan to end the $400,000 a year they contribute to the museum after 1995.

Nobodys moved an inch since we started discussions with the commissioners, said board member Joe Carrier. Were back to square one. Our choice has been dictated to us. I dont see that we have any alternative, said board member Dave Zollner. I think waiting until 1995 is out if were not on the 94 ballot this museum is out of business.

Both Bacon and museum Director Richard Sims said the expansion fund drive and the ballot issue could work together. Any time you try to raise funds, donors challenge you, Sims said By tying these two together, were creating the biggest challenge of all. Were saying, Hold your Drop property tax from school financing to end archaic system, Foster, Prinster say 5E3 Bob Silbernagel Daily Sentinel Property tax will only be increased from 3 percent to 5 percent or 6 percent, Prinster said, or the state income tax from 5 Associated Press DENVER A rare butterfly known to survive only on the coldest, wettest slopes of two peaks in the Colorado Rockies will soon vanish in the wild, but scientists say its extinction will be caused by nature and not humankind. Native to the San Juan range, the Uncompahgre fritillary was added to the national endangered species list on June 24, 1991. The light-brown butterfly has been found to exist only on the northeastern slopes of Uncompahgre and Red-cloud peaks near Lake City, in southwestern Colorado.

But a team of scientists is urging the federal government to forego any extraordinary attempts to save the species. According to an article published in the March issue of the scientific journal Conservation Biology, only 692 of the hutterflies were known to exist at last count. I like to think that were watching a natural extinction, said Peter Brus-sard, president of the See Extinction, page 7A repealed if voters OK an increase in other state taxes. percent to 7 percent or 8 percent, or some combination. Approximately 60 percent to 70 percent of the property taxes paid statewide go to schools, he said.

What people have to (Understand is the Legislature is going to abolish property taxes only if people agree to another source of funding, Prinster said Last month, Michigan voters approved the first sales tax increase since 1960, by a 70-30 vote, after scrapping the property tax part of that states school finance system The property tax provided 64 percent of school funding theie Led by Grand Junctions two state representatives, the Colorado House of Representatives on Thursday voted to do away with property taxes for schools in 1996 if voters approve substitute funding in 1995. What were saying is we want to do something different because we think the property tax is archaic, said House Majority Leader Tim Foster, a Grand Junction Republican. Foster amended his own property tax bill to include the repeal measure. The property tax, which makes up slightly less than half of the funding for most school districts, gets something on the 1995 ballot to replace the property tax. I have consistently pressed for more state aid for schools, which comes from sales tax and income tax, Prinster said.

They are less regressive taxes than property taxes. Under property taxes, people with fixed incomes may see their bills go up, without their income also increasing. To replace the property tax, the state sales tax would have to be The Daily Sentinel is printed in large part on recycled paper and is recyclable For the recycling station nearest you, call 241-2871. will only be repealed if voters agree to increase other state taxes such as income or sales taxes to make up the difference. Nobody is willing to just wipe out 41 percent of the funding for schools, Foster said.

Were giving voters the option. State Rep. Dan Prinster, a Grand Junction Democrat, amended Fosters amendment to say the tax repeal cannot move forward unless the Legislature.