Thanks to a century-old sci-fi novel and a modern-day rebate, Utah is looking forward to an out-of-this-world economic boost of $60 million and about 400 temporary jobs this spring.
Walt Disney Studios scouted locations in southwest Colorado last summer for the upcoming film production of "A Princess of Mars," but ultimately chose the red rocks and white sands around Moab and the strange geology southwest of Lake Powell to make what will be the largest-budget movie ever filmed in Utah.
"Film production now is driven by incentives, and right now, Colorado is toward the bottom of that list," said Kevin Shand, executive director of the Colorado Film Commission, explaining why Colorado lost out on the production.
"It's the only reason films are coming to Utah," confirmed Marshall Moore, director of Utah's film commission.
Along with iconic desert landscapes, Utah offers a menu of tax and rebate incentives for film producers that includes

EDWARDS - Jimmie Heuga, the American skier who won a bronze medal in the 1964 Olympics and later used his battle with multiple sclerosis to help other people diagnosed with that disease, died Monday.
He was 66.
In 1984, Heuga founded the Vail Valley-based Jimmie Heuga Center, which sought to encourage people with multiple sclerosis to adopt healthy lifestyles and positive attitudes. The group is now called Can Do Multiple Sclerosis.
"Obviously, the world knew him for his accomplishments as a ski racer, but I admire him even more because of how he led his life, especially with the challenges of MS," said Billy Kidd, of Steamboat Springs, who stood on the podium alongside Heuga in the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Kidd won silver, and Heuga won bronze.
Friends used one common word to describe Heuga: "tough."
"He's probably the toughest guy, both on and off skis, both mentally and physically, that I've ever known," said Bob Beattie, of

COPPER MOUNTAIN - A man from North Carolina died while riding the Alpine lift at Copper Mountain Monday afternoon. According to a press release from the Summit County coroner, witnesses said Christopher Harrison, 46, of Durham, N.C., was riding the lift at about 2:30 p.m. Monday when his head fell forward in the chair. When the chair reached the top, the lift operator stopped the lift, and Harrison was found to be in cardiac arrest.
Ski patrol responded and attempted to revive the man. He was transported to St. Anthony's Copper Mountain clinic where he was pronounced dead at 3:18 p.m. According to the coroner, an autopsy has been ordered. Harrison had arrived in Summit County with a group on Saturday.

DENVER - If you own private land on either side of a river, can you prevent people from boating down it? Many other states have already tackled the issue, but in Colorado, the legal waters are murky.
A bill in the Colorado House of Representatives seeks to clarify matters by establishing that licensed river-rafting companies can indeed float rivers through private property and not be charged with civil trespassing.
About two dozen Colorado rafters, many from Summit County, grabbed their boats, paddles and PFD's Monday morning and gathered in the State Capitol in support of the measure, House Bill 1188.
"We've already lost one river in Gunnison County," said Mark Schumacher, owner of Three Rivers Outfitting. "We don't want to lose another."
The legislation would allow rafting companies to continue running stretches of river that have an established history of commercial trips. Under the bill, licensed outfitters wouldn't be tresp

BRECKENRIDGE - The Dillon Ranger District will host a public meeting 6-8 p.m., Wednesday to present the proposed Breckenridge Forest Health and Fuels Project. The meeting will take place in the Breckenridge Town Council Chambers at Breckenridge Town Hall.
The Forest Service is proposing a forest-health and fuel-reduction project near Breckenridge. Through the project, the Forest Service would administer logging activities within the wildland-urban interface in areas that have been severely affected by the mountain pine-beetle epidemic. The Forest Service has identified about 5,700 acres of forest in need of treatment.
The project is designed to reduce fire danger from dead and dying trees that will eventually fall to the forest floor. The Forest Service estimates that about 90 percent of lodgepole pines in the area will die in the next three to five years.
The proposed project area extends from Farmer's Korner on the North, to the Golden Horseshoe on the East, to Hoosier

KEYSTONE - On any given spring weekend, barbecue grills, camping chairs, the occasional beach ball and RVs line "The Beach," the closest row of parking spots to the lifts at Arapahoe Basin ski area.
It's one of the most popular spots for skiers and snowboarders to tailgate and unwind at
A-Basin, and soon the price of reserving prime spaces is going up.
For years, beach spots closest to the lifts could be reserved for a fee. All other spots go to whoever gets there first.
This year, the ski area is giving away even the closest spots for the early season (though if people insisted, they could still reserve spots for the standard $100), but prices will go up for peak demand times.
After Feb. 15, reserving one of the nine closest spots will cost $100 Monday through Thursday, and $150 for the peak times of weekends, holidays and April. Only six spots could be reserved last year for a fee.
The rest of the spaces in the first row are still free.
"It was j

Tiger Run RV Resort, located near Breckenridge, was recently honored with the highest distinction of 5W/5W from Woodall's magazine, a leader in the RV and Travel industry. Each year Woodall's representatives scour both the United States and Canada searching for the continent's premier resorts. Over 8,000 parks are reviewed each year. Less than 3 percent of the privately owned parks, including Tiger Run RV Resort, earned the highest distinction (5W) in facility maintenance and amenities as well as recreation activities available on site.

WeddingWire awards Summit businesses

WeddingWire, the nation's leading wedding technology company, recently recognized three Summit County businesses for exceptional service. Creative Flowers Inc./Petal and Bean has been selected to receive the 2010 Bride's Choice Awards for Flowers and Decor. Beaton Photography has been selected to receive the the award for wedding photography, as has Breckenridge Wedding Photogr

Q: What type of business do you operate - what do you sell, or what service do you provide?
A: Restaurant & Bar. We serve Thai, Indian Nepalese & Tibetan food, all under same roof.

Q: Where are you from, and why did you decide to open your business in Summit County?
A: I am from Nepal. I decided to open a restaurant in Summit County because there are so many similarities to my homeland: everyone is hospitable, friendly and helpful in every sector.

Q: What experience do you have in this field?
A: - All my family's background is involved in the restaurant business.

Q: What sets your business apart from other similar businesses?
A: We have four different countries' cuisine under the same roof so people could enjoy exotic cuisine all in the same place. We are also the only establishment in Summit County serving yak meat - a healthier meat.

Q: What types of customers do you hope to reach in Summit County?
A: People who love free, organic, spices

Local Coverage

Aspen Times Sports Reporter Nate Peterson and Vail Daily Marketing Consultant Mark Bricklin will be on-site covering our local Olympians and reporting on the circus that is the Vancouver Olympics 2010.
Featured content includes:
- Colorado Olympians' bios
- Complete event schedules
- Reader correspondents' blogs
- Olympic Twitter feed
- Your Gold Medal Moment Contest
- And much more!

We're excited about our Local Olympians' sections that have each athlete's bio, photos, articles and links to their website, Twitter and Facebook pages. Note: This section will be finalized with late additions, deletions on Friday, February 12, but check it out today!

Access this exclusive content at www.SummitDaily.com/Quest

AP Coverage
The Associated Press is streaming content to our AP Olympics section.

This section will be updated throughout the day with great articles, videos, photography and more. You'll find complete Olympics coverage here, including a com

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. The same might be said of one of Colorado's ex-pols, Congressman Tom Tancredo.
For those unfamiliar with the wilder shores of politics, the congressman recently created a real brouhaha when he addressed the TEA Party convention in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition to terming President Barack Obama's election "a good thing" due to its salubrious effect on conservative activism, he called for a "civics-literacy" test as a prerequisite for voting.
The results have been predictable, trite and foolish. The congressman was immediately re-labeled a racist by - among others - Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll, who evidently found a prima facie case in simply mentioning the idea. He was seconded by others, who called Tancredo's idea a "return to Jim Crow," and other things equally hyperbolic and ridiculous. It is instead an idea which at least deserves consideration.
Our current

The other day I dropped off some medication at Dr. Fitzgeralds' office, which didn't work for me but hoping it might save someone else some money and not wind up in the dump somewhere. I drove right by the first time because there was a big "For Rent" sign in front. I should have asked the receptionist Stephanie what was going on, but I didn't and kept wondering: Is she moving? What is going on? Well, a letter came in the mail yesterday confirming my worst fears. She is closing her practice out of frustration with the whole system.
What a lot of us don't realize is that a small, one-person medical practice is a small business and she is being squeezed by rising costs, endless paperwork in addition to seeing patients and finds she is working seven days a week and not making enough money to save for her own old age. Among her frustrations are every year she becomes more frustrated with insurance companies, drug companies' usurious practices, an

Re. "The many faces of Jesus," Rich Mayfield, SDN Feb. 5
Mr. Mayfield's description of himself as a "sometimes" Christian disqualifies the integrity of his entire commentary. There simply is no such thing as a "sometimes" Christian. You either accept Christ as your savior and believe the Bible is the word of God or you do not. It is about faith.
Bringing Christ to the lost is the great commission. God will ultimately judge us all for our actions in accordance with his divine command.
I might prefer to be Mr. Dobson than Mr. Mayfield when that moment arrives.

I have never written a letter to the Editor but after reading "It's time to stand with our president" in the Summit Daily News on Feb. 3, I just had to open my computer.
The middle class is about to be put on the chopping block. Discussed new taxes, new fees at all levels of government, and the loss of charitable donation and home mortgage deductions from federal income tax will create a very different final annual income.
Here's the reality of magnitude of the 2011 budget. George Clooney helped raise $66 million for Haitian relief. It would take the same amount raised every day for 158 years to pay for Obama's 2011 budget. Here's the math: $66,000,000 x 365 days a year x 158 years equals $3,806,220,000,000. The average American citizen cannot fathom this amount of money. Reality time has arrived. Common sense has disappeared.
Stopping the moon space program and using that money to study global warming? Didn't he hear the news? Two week

It's long past time to pass health care reform. I, like many Americans, was disgusted to see the current bill take shape the way it did, but it doesn't change the fact that reform is needed immediately. I think that the writer T.R. Reid was right when he wrote that universal health care is a moral issue and it is time for the U.S. to take the first steps in addressing this issue. His book "The Healing of America" should be required reading for all members of Congress. ALL Americans deserve equal health care regardless of income. That is a moral right, a human right and should be an American right. No American should live in fear of not being able to afford good medical care for themselves or their family. It is time for Congress to pass health reform now, This is not a perfect bill it is only a start and there will be opportunities to change parts of the bill that may not work in the future. Right now, we are like a deer in headlights, if no action is taken th

Cats
Norah - 6-year-old domestic long-hair, black-and-white female
Yoni - 6-year-old domestic long-hair, black-and-white female
Jupiter - 9-month-old domestic short-hair, gray female
Buster - 6-year-old domestic short-hair, orange tabby, male
Maddie - 2-year-old domestic long-hair, gray tortie, female
Dottie - 7-month-old domestic long-hair, orange tabby, female
Flyer - 9-month-old domestic short-hair, black female
Kosha - 1-year-old domestic long-hair, black-and- white female
Bubbie - 17-year-old domestic short-hair, black female
Harriet - 3 1/2-year-old domestic long-hair, Maine Coon, female
Sapa Inca - 12-year-old domestic short-hair, black female
Poudy - 7-year-old Siamese female

Dogs
Samson - 3-year-old Rottweiler mix, male
Bo - 1 1/2-year-old pit bull, male
Lulu - 2 1/2-year-old, husky mix, female
Sheila - 2 1/2-year-old, husky mix, female
Monty - 2 1/2-year-old

Good morning and welcome to Summit Up, the world's only daily column that is prepping for Valentine's Day like Cupid on steroids. We've ordered over 5,000 metric tons of chocolate, 7,000 bouquets of roses, 17 cases of red wine, 14 boxcars full of naughty underwear and enough fine-smellin' bath salts to treat Lake Huron.
Actually, we're just kidding. We just realized V-Day is just around the corner, and, as usual, we're flailing for ideas about how to please our honey while also serving the corporate overlords and the consumer-advertising-greeting card complex that created this holiday. Really, when it comes to the one you love, isn't every day Valentine's Day? It's like when your kids reluctantly fork over a paper plate with macaroni glued on as a Mother's or Father's Day gift and ask when "Kids' Day" is and you say that most hated of all parental phrases: "Every day is kids' day."
Come to

Escherichia. coli or E. coli is a bacteria that is found in your lower intestines. There are many species of E. coli and that are relatively harmless but there are several that can cause disease. One particular strain is called O157:H7 and this strain has a poison which it acquired from a Shigella bacteria. It can cause bloody diarrhea and sudden kidney failures. Somewhere, somehow these two bacteria got together and Shigella passed on a gene for it's toxin and a new dangerous E. coli was born, multiplied rapidly, and is now found all throughout the food chain. Animals such as cattle, swine, deer chickens, sheep, goats, may harbor this bacteria without any ill effect, shedding them in their feces. Bacteria present on the cow's udders or on equipment may get into raw milk. Another potential transmitter of E. coli O157:H7 is flies. They hop around on feces and then on your food. The number of organisms required to cause disease is very small.
E. coli O157:H7 has resulted in an estimated

Check out the articles with the most pageviews from last week. Drum roll ...

10. Flint pleads not guilty in child porn case
Public defender's office takes over for former CEO.
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9. Southern Comfort and a $700 hat theft
A man drinking liquor at a retail store in Keystone allegedly ran off with $860 worth of merchandise - only to get caught when he returned the following week.
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8. Officers honored for saving man's life on Dillon Dam Road
Dillon Dam security specialist and police officer given award for good work.
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7. International Snow Sculpture winners announced
Photos included.
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6. Summit County designer's talents go global
Summit Daily designer Juli Watson creates the look for Head's 2010-2011 women's skis.
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5. Silverthorne man, other, spend night in snow cave in Vail Valley
Men stuck in 'deep, rotten snow' north of Vail Valley.
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4. Yep, it's dry: Snowpack at 71% of average
Higher rese

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet announced that Colorado will receive $30 million from the U.S. Forest Service to address the impacts of the bark beetle and spruce beetle epidemics and to protect people and property. The funds will be focused in Medicine Bow & Routt, Arapaho & Roosevelt, and White River national forests - which together contain almost 3 million acres of dead lodgepole pine trees. Of that $30 million, $2 million will go to help address spruce beetle and other forest health issues on the Western Slope and in Southern Colorado.
The funding was made available at the urging of Senators Udall and Bennet, who last year wrote U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, asking him to make emergency resources available to help Western states address immediate needs related to the bark beetle epidemic. Secretary Vilsack, who oversees the Forest Service, agreed on Dec. 8 to make $40 million available for bark beetle-caused public safet

Ace skier Jimmie Heuga, a former Olympic bronze medalist and NCAA champion who helped put the U.S. ski team on the map in the 1960s, died Monday in Louisville. He was 66.

Heuga finished third in the slalom in the 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, behind silver medalist Billy Kidd. They were the first Americans to win Olympic alpine skiing medals.

"There wasn't any pressure on us," Heuga told The Denver Post in 2006. "There were no expectations. We had no track record. But, yeah, I accomplished one of my dreams. I won an Olympic medal."

Heuga graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1968, as U.S. skiing was ascending worldwide.

Born in Squaw Valley, Calif., he also won an NCAA slalom championship at Colorado under coach Bob Beattie in 1963.

Heuga had long been confined to a wheelchair, taking on the crippling effects of multiple sclerosis. In 1984, he founded the Jimmie Heuga Center for M.S. in Edwards, to help fellow victims. The non-profit organization is now called C