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Show Volume XV Issue XIII The Ogden Valley news Page June 15, 2008 Letters to the Editor Graduates Say Thank You! T h e s t u d e n t s a t We b e r H i g h would like to thank all of our generous sponsors and volunteers for making our Weber High Graduation Party such a great success. Thank you! Weber High Graduating Class of 2008 New Signage Marks Trailhead to Wolf Creek Mountain Park It was gratifying to be parked at the Haynes and Robert Fuller, co-plaintiffs; an trailhead to Wolf Creek Mountain Park on to Ogden Valley Pathways. Memorial Day morning, watching my wife, Right did prevail; now it’s up to the three sons and their wives, four grandsons, public to use the trail and park. Travel and Ben Toone up Powder all working Mountain Road diligently in the to the trailhead rain, clearing sign on the left brush and erectside of the road. ing the sign that Then park and now directs hikenjoy natures’ ers and horsebeauty with the back riders to roaring river the beginning crossing under of the gorgeous the road in 2.5 mile trail, one of Utah’s leading to the most majestic 160 acre public mountain setpark beneath Ben Toone, and Cody, Brandon, and Brady Fuller work tings. There Wolf Creek to install new sign at the Wolf Creek Trail trailhead is no longer a Peak in Eden. near the bottom of Powder Mountain Road in Eden. need to use the This was a controversial resurrection day—all this acreage returned locked gate entrance—just start at the sign from a private sale for the public to enjoy located right below the gate. again! Thanks to all—those who donated This is a great hike for all ages and to the five-year fight; to the five Utah abilities—an opportunity for family fun Supreme Court judges for their ruling in that reminds us of nature’s miracles and favor of the community to have the prop- our abundant wildlife. erty returned; to the Lieutenant Governor, Kent D. Fuller, Olene Walker, for meeting with us; to Eden Powder Mountain Town NOT a done deal— It may be quiet, but it’s not over! You may not have heard anything lately about the future of Powderville, but that does not mean that people are not hard at work to affect its outcome. Recently, members of the Powderville community, Eden Planning Commission, and Valley Citizens for Responsible Development (VCRD) met with the Utah Lt. Governor, his staff, and a State Attorney General representative to discuss incorporation options, and what the state could do to assist us in addressing citizen’s concerns. It turns out that the Weber County Commissioners DO have some options to help us in this situation. Commissioner Dearden has been working to negotiate an acceptable compromise with Powder Mountain developers on behalf of the county and its citizens. We appreciate the Weber County Commission’s efforts to bring this difficult episode to a positive conclusion for all parties. We hope that the owners and developers of Powder Mountain will continue to negotiate with the commissioners in good faith until a responsible solution (addressing safety, infrastructure, and environmental impacts) is reached. The reality is, if the negotiations are unsuccessful and the Powder Mountain Town incorporation is approved, we are poised and ready to file a lawsuit against the gross injustice to the disenfranchised citizens of the town. At that time, we will need Valley residents to pitch in and help us to fund this fight. Please check the http://ogden-valley.blogspot.com/ for updates, and to offer ideas. Deja Mitchell, Eden Why the 2ND Amendment Matters and Why it Must Not Be Altered Lonnie D. Crockett, Ph.D. Stalin, when informed after World War II that the Pope disapproved of Russian troops occupying Trieste, turned to his advisors and asked, “The Pope? The Pope? How many divisions does he have?” Dictators are unmoved by moral suasion. Fortunately, our founders saw the wisdom of backing the First and all other Amendments with the Second. The “divisions” of American liberty are the American people. Their arms depots may be found in innumerable closets, gun racks, and gun safes. Such guardians of our liberty perform this service merely by existing. Although they may be an ever diminishing minority within their own country, as gun ownership is demonized and discouraged by the ruling elites, still, they are unaware of the impediment they present to their would-be rulers; their would-be rulers are painfully aware of these “divisions of liberty,” as evidenced by their incessant calls for individual disarmament. The American Revolution was begun by the Colonists learning the King had ordered his soldiers to confiscate their weapons, lead and powder, and stood firmly on the bridge at Concord, with their firearms in hand and, in effect saying, “No,” you are not taking our weapons. The question as to who shall guard the guards was answered by our founders by protecting our liberties with the First and Second Amendments. The concept of an armed citizenry has always set wouldbe tyrants’ teeth on edge and disturbed their statist sleep. Gun restrictions are often done in the name of “Democracy,” a political system rejected by our founders as a perennial fraud, not workable with any population larger than an Indian tribe. Democracy is no more than three wolves and a sheep sitting down by a fire, to vote on what they should eat for supper. In our Republic, the rights of the sheep are protected from the wolves. Is not the private ownership of firearms a worthy cause to stand up and defend? If one believes that the people are to serve the state, that the rights of the people are created or granted by the state, or that the security of the state itself is of paramount importance, then the right to keep and bear arms is a dangerous vehicle for subversion that must be eliminated; and eliminated, it has routinely been in totalitarian countries. Could an authoritarian or totalitarian state arise or endure if its subjects enjoyed the individual right to keep and bear arms? The founders of the American republic thought not. If one believes the opposite—that neither the people nor their rights were meant to serve the state, but that the people were endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that the state was created to secure those rights—then the Second Amendment assumes awesome importance, not only recognizing one among many particular rights of the people, but also providing an independent means of preserving and enforcing those rights. During the ratification period of the U.S. Constitution, the view prevailed that the armed citizenry would prevent tyranny. As more and more states adopted the amendments and as the great debate began to dwindle, even the opponents of a standing-army provision conceded that an armed citizenry, constituted as a well-regulated militia, would prevent oppression from that quarter (See Stephen P. Halbrook, That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution Of A Constitutional Right, p 83). The rights of the people are threatened by an excessive government as surely by its absence. In the Constitution’s ingenious mechanism of checks and balances, the Second Amendment provides an extragovernmental check on governmental power. The right of the people to keep and bear arms is the ultimate guarantor of all their other constitutionally recognized and guaranteed rights. Adolph Hitler once stated: “The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjected people to carry arms; history shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjected people to carry arms have prepared their own fall (From Edict of March 18, 1938).” There are three primary motivations for recognizing the right to keep and bear arms. First, the natural right of self defense which has always been recognized; but this right to defend oneself against robbers, muggers, rapists, home invaders and other malefactors would be meaningless without the corresponding right to possess effective means of defense. Second, the common defense required a militia composed of every free man as a guard against foreign invasion. Third, and most interestingly, the universal right to have arms serve as a check on the power of the government, and thus a guar- 2nd AMENDMENT cont. on page 10 Swimming Lessons For more information, call Kathy Allen at 745-2709. Summer Concert Series at Wolf Mountain June 28: The Great Basin Street Band - $20 per car load July 12: The Utah Symphony - $40 per car load July 26: The Soul Survivors - $20 per car load August 9: Jon Schmidt - $20 per car load August 23: Eric Heatherly - $20 per car load September : The Joe Muscolino Band - $20 per car load Special Thanks to our Sponsors! Call eo Rod ent e r P ainm t r e Ent wn To e m Ho els t r r a B ch nigh 7 pm 801-781-4131 for more information or visit www.wolfmountaineden.com ea Friday Events Home Town Barrels JUNE 27 and 28 2008 8:00 P.M. MORGAN, UTAH FAIRGROUNDS Presented by Morgan Lion’s Club Ages 8 to 14 Les Vierra, PE (801) 391-7481 www.river-logic.com ~ Perc Testing ~ System Design ~ Trouble Shooting ~ Groundwater Monitoring Announcing New Packed Bed Media System Designs - Slower/faster perc rates allowed - Half the setback to surface water - Half the suitable soil depth requirement - Significant drain field reduction - Drip irrigaition Unde r 12 Saturday Events Home Town Barrels Ages 15 and up 7:00 And 7:00 Grand Entry Broken Heart Rodeo Grand Entry 7:45 7:45 Rodeo Rodeo 8:00-10 pm 8:00-10 pm Home Town Barrels For sign ups call Bryan or Jill Judd 829-3304 on June 20th After 6:00 P.M. Friday Night ages 8-14 Saturday ages 15 and up Entry Fee $15.00 Cash prizes for top three places each night 15 entries per night RMPRA Register June 19th 1 PM - 7 PM 719-486-0599 Riverside Park………..Friday and Saturday 6:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Sponsored by Morgan County Search and Rescue |