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Show 2 Vernal Exprett Wednesday, July 3, 1991 A Mi m ms fas By Jack Wallis Outlaw Trail Festival mom Tomorrow is the opening night of the Outlaw Trail Festival "Riders of the Wind." this is the 5th year of the local outdoor musical production. This year the new script is centered around the colorful color-ful activities of Browns Park resident Ann Bassett who was better known as the "Queen of the Rustlers" in the late 1800's. Ann was a lady, she was pretty, educated and liked beautiful clothes. She was also hardened by her teachers who were ranchers, miners, traders, Indians and outlaws. Hardened cowboys helped shape her opinions and skills of the range. She also learned to hate the big cattle companies when they tried to take over the range in Browns Park. This year the Outlaw Trail production will be performed in a special amphitheater constructed as the permanerit home for the event in Western Park. The new facility has tailor-made lighting, sound and scenery engineered by Clint Wheeler. The new amphitheater has seating for 670 and is accessible ac-cessible from a large new parking lot on the east. A section of the old road shop building has been remodeled remod-eled into dressing rooms for the amphitheater. An outstanding feature of the play this year will be the guest performance of Robert Peterson on the opening open-ing night Peterson has been the narrator in the annual Pageant held during the Festival of the American West at Utah State University in August Directing "Riders of the Wind" is Blaine Pierce with music and lyrics by Wayne and Julie Millett and choreography by Taunia Wheeler. The script was written by Sheilia Wheeler. The musical is sponsored by the Uintah Arts Council with Alta Winward as executive producer. The cast comprises of many local persons who have donated their time and talents to support the show. With a 13-night performance and several months of rehearsals re-hearsals it has taken dedicated people to make the production pro-duction a success year after year. Especially, this year we wish the production success and congratulate all those who have worked in any way to make this year's show something special., We are proud of our local artists and wish them well: PUBLIC FORUM Letters to the Editor What is your opinion? The Express welcomes letters from its readers concerning any subject pertinent to the Uintah Basin. There are no restrictions as to contents, if not libelous or vindictive. Letters will not be accepted over two (2) typed written double spaced pages". Letters must be submitted exclusively to the Express and bear the writer's full name, signature, phono number and address. The name or names of those submitting letters must appear on all published letters. All letters are subject to condensation. Letters to the Editor express the opinion of the writer and are not necessarily the opinion of the Vernal Express or its staff. Accidents Dear Editor, While I was visiting at the home of Floyd and Rita Needles of Maeser on Friday evening, July 28, Mr. Needles brought in the semi-truck semi-truck and compact car involved in the fatal accident at Jensen. It is incredible that there were survivors. Today as I drove to Dinosaur Monument and approached the corner cor-ner where the accident occurred, the amount of dirt needed to cover the gas and oil spilled from the fuel tanks of the semi was a grim reminder. re-minder. It could have been an inferno infer-no if the gas station "had been involved. in-volved. - As I left the monument and drove back to Jensen, I paid special attention atten-tion to the road and the signs posted on the approach to the corner. There are the appropriate signs for the stop ahead and highway numbers. But I was concerned to see that the large Camp Dina and neon cafe sign partially obscure the stop sign since it is at least ten feet to the right of the road. The stretch of road to Dinosaur Monument is used by the majority of tourists driving through Vernal, and yet it is a rough substandard farm road. Most of the dividing lines are too faint to recognize. I would strongly suggest the county immediately repaint all the dividing lines and put a solid white line on the road shoulder. The two commercial com-mercial signs mentioned above should be removed, and the stop sign should be placed close to the road. A solid white line should cross the lane to the dividing line and the words "Stop Ahead" should be painted on the road approach. The safest measure would be a flashing red traffic light. How many visitors must die at this intersection before somebody pays attention? KATHLEEN CARROLL PALMER Vernal Express (ISSN 0892-1091) Published every Wednesday for $17.50 per year in shopping area and $28 per year out of shopping area within state and $31 per year out of state within USA by the Vernal Express Publishing Company, 54 North Vernal Avenue, Vernal, Utah 84078. Second class postage paid at Vernal, Utah 84078. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to VERNAL EXPRESS, P.O. Box 1000, Vernal Utah 84078. Jack R. Wallis Publisher Steven R.Walis Editor Melanie Morrison .. Stall Writer EricF.Pye Sports Writer Becca Donaldson .Assignment Writer Janet D. Wallis .Advertising Marda Henry .Advertising Judy McCarley Circulation & Classified Ads Sonja Norton Obituaries & Legal Notices Phone 789-351 1 FAX 789-8690 Member of Utah Press Association and National Newspaper Association Area correspondents Naples .Ada Openshaw, 789-3145 TrideH Loma McKee, 247-2350 Lapolnt Marlene McClure, 247-2552 Whiterocks Virginia Ferguson, 353-4584 Ballard Marly Rasmusssen, 722-4772 Deadlines f) News Monday 5 p.m. Display Advertising .Tuesday 11 a.m. Classified Advertising .Tuesday 11 a.m. Plea for help Dear Editor, My sister, Laurel Murray Bjornberg, is in the end stages of liver disease. Laurel is in desperate need of a liver transplant. Her liver is functioning at 10-15 percent of its capacity, and slowly getting worse. Without this liver transplant, Laurel has less than one year to live. The transplant team at LDS Hospital say -she is an excellent candidate for this type of surgery. The survival rate for liver recipients is high, and we're hoping Laurel can undergo transplant surgery. The approximate cost for a liver transplant trans-plant and medications afterward is $250,000. We must raise $125,000 before Laurel can even be placed on the waiting list The Bjornberg family has medical insurance but it does not cover transplants. Laurel is 35 years old and a mother moth-er of four young children. We moved to the Uintah Basin in 1975. We would like to keep Laurel with us and her family needs her. If you would like to help and donate, do-nate, you can call Betty Betts 789-3639 789-3639 or Cindy Betts at 722-4936 (Myton). The Deseret Foundation at LDS Hospital is a charitable foundation. You may send your tax-deductible contribution to them at: Deseret Foundation co Laurel Bjornberg Fund, 8th Ave. C Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84143. They will send you a receipt for your contribution. Whatever you're able to do will be extremely appreciated. BETTY BETTS Cleaning highway trash Dear Editor: I would like to express my thanks to all the volunteers who cleaned up our stretch of Hwy 40 from Naples to Jensen. That is a back breaking job and they deserve our gratitude. To those who haul their trash to Jensen dump without covering it and then dump it anywhere but in the pit provided, will bring aoout the closure of our dump. I think fines are in order and should be executed exe-cuted for a cleaner community. Let's all help. Let's also protect our deer along that stretch by putting up deer crossing cross-ing signs. LES WHITE County to buy units for recycling The Vernal Chamber of Commerce Recycling Committee won county approval for three dropoff units. The three units will cost $2,850 to build. Groups or organizations will man the units. A similar program is functioning in Rangely, Colo. Jim Gardiner, Recycling Committee, said the county's recycling recy-cling program has grown every month. The county has sponsored several temporary dropoff sites for the past year. The unit approved by the county last week includes three 55 gallon barrels and a paper container. Utter Dear Editor, When was the first time you cut yourself on a piece of broken glass? Mine was as a one year old while playing in the street I can still remember re-member getting stitches at the doctors doc-tors office. We live in a beautiful community where rip many ways the quality of living is unsurpassed. Many people visit as tourists and the citizens make a good effort to keep the town attractive and safe. As we all know, much of the economy depends on outside business and tourism. City ordinance requires homeowners home-owners and businesses to keep the area next to their property free of litter. For the most part this is done. However, there seems to be a problem prob-lem in large parking areas, public areas and along streets that are largely nonresidential. Besides being be-ing unsightly, broken glass and litter lit-ter are a hazard to bare feet during the summer months. A few weeks ago I picked up a broken bottle along the sidewalk where a barefoot preschooler was playing. Probably one percent or so of the population leave bottles lying in public areas or intentionally break them. The other 99 percent could help lessen the problem by taking a few minutes to pick up glass or small amounts of trash. As an alternative solution, some states require a deposit on bottles and aluminum cans to discourage littering. The state already imposes a fine for Uttering, perhaps a higher penalty should be assessed if the litter lit-ter is a hazard. ANDY PERRY Four win Lagoon passes Monday the Vernal Express awarded eight all-day passes to four subscribers to the newspaper. Two passes will be awarded to David Felton, Bob Mathews, Ben Lawson and Brent Gilley, this week's winners. Eight passes will be awarded by the Vernal Express to new subscribers sub-scribers or renewals every week during the month of July. K Ain't Wfearino- ati3e!t L,Ke 1 Am 4 y Fourth of July activities in a nut shell .. 5:30 a.m., 10k Run for the Arts, registrations are being accepted at Dez Murray's. Meet at the Uintah Tabernacle on 500 West. 8 a.m., flag raising ceremony and a patriotic program featuring Representative Dan Price from Vernal as the speaker. Ceremony will be at the Western Park. 8:45 a.m., brunch on the Western Park patio. 10 a.m., parade to welcome home and honor military personnel. Parade will begin at the Sunburst Roller Rink and travel east on Main Street to 300 East. 11 a.m., Tribute to Woman of the Year, LeOra Jacobe by the Lady Lions in the Western Park Convention Center 1 p.m., USU story telling at the Western Park, 7:30 p.m., Opening of the Western Park amphitheater -with speakers Robert i Peterson and David Hotz. 9 p.m., Outlaw Trail musical "Riders of the Wind", opening night in amphitheater. Dusk, community fireworks display in the Vernal city park presented by the Vernal Elks Lodge. Following fireworks display, the UHS cheerleaders will host a youth dance in the ' Searle Pavilion. 10:45 p.m., Ghost story hour sponsored by USU in the Western Park amphitheater. Annual Oil Production 1976 - 1990 Million tltta so 10 "'kfift rrTlffrW 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 86 88 87 88 89 90 Annual Gas Production 1976 - 1990 111111 Cwl Ftt V V 360 300 260 200 160 100 60 0 78 77 78 79 60 81 62 83 84 88 88 -87 88 89 90 ' VO'UItt .nclwOM 'CCI0 -MCltOn QM Utih Olvlilon of Oil, Oil nd Mining , , 1 restaurant tax begins in Uintah County "Restaurant and fast-food meals will cost 1 more in Salt Lake, Uintah, and Washington counties beginning July 1, when a new 1 restaurant sales tax goes into effect," ef-fect," according to Howard Stephenson, President of the Utah Taxpayers Association. The 1 will be levied in addition to current sales taxes on all prepared food in the three counties. "The new tax will cost a family of four about $22 per year in additional addition-al sales taxes, based on five lunches and one family night out per week," Stephenson said. The proceeds of this tax will be used by the counties to finance tourist facilities such as the Salt Palace. July 1 also marks the beginning of a petition1 drive led by the Utah Restaurant Association to overturn the new tax. "Many counties may be waiting to see the outcome of this drive before imposing the new tax, but Grand, Sanpete, Utah and Weber counties have already indicated indi-cated that they will assess the tax at some point in the future,' Stephenson added. Counties may only implement the tax on the first day of a calendar quarter after they have given the Tax Commission 30 days notice. "According to the State Tax Commission only Salt Lake, Uintah, and Washington counties have complied com-plied with this rule and therefore, they are the only counties authorized autho-rized to collect the tax," Stephenson concluded. If taxpayers outside these three counties find they have been charged the new tax in error, they are urged to contact the Utah Taxpayers Association at (801) 972-8814. Kids Canal project gains county support A proposal to build a park on the east side of the Kids Canal received support from the Uintah County Commission Tuesday. Commissioners voted to accept 30 feet deeds of property from land owners along the canal. Commissioner Max Adams said every ev-ery property owner except one from 500 North to Main Street along 1500 West had accepted the proposed pro-posed park. The proposal is being recommended recom-mended by the Uintah Riparian Coalition as a way to maintain the use of the canal by young people and insure safety. Cost of the project pro-ject is being generated from private individuals. The park would be fenced with a bicycle trail, small pavilion and picnic area. The biggest cost will be fencing and moving the irrigation ditches, said Commissioner Adams. Because most of the property is in the county, commissioner approved a motion to accept the property. The project has the support of Central Canal Company officials, commissioners commis-sioners said. The maintenance cost of the project pro-ject could be assumed by a Recreation District, which is "well on its way," Commissioner Adams said. THE VOICE OF BUSINESS FRUSTRATIONS WITH JAPAN by Dr. Richard LLesher, President US. Chamber of Commerce WASHINGTON It is no great secret that Japan eneaees in Dredatorv trade ? practices aggressively 11 exporting to foreign mar-rtJkets mar-rtJkets while actively dis couraging imports into its own market. Japan has the lowest ratio of manufactured manu-factured imports to Gross Domestic Productof any industrial nation under 3 percent. It actively restricts imports of many agricultural products, especially rice. Further, a disproportionate share of Japan's imports from abroad are from foreignTbased Japanese firms. The result re-sult is a huge trade surplus which, though ithas declined somewhat in recent years, continues to foster international friction. The question is what, if anything, should be done about it Yearsofintense negotiations between the U.S. and Japan have produced scant improvement Indeed, veterans of this seemingly endless end-less ordeal contend the two sides are talking past each other. The U.S . speaks about free trade; the Japanese reply with offers to make specific concessions af-fecting af-fecting particular products. The notion of simply permitting foreigners to enjoy full access to their domestic market, like the U.S. does, apparently does not register regis-ter in Tokyo. But despite our frustration, we need to remember that our trade relationship with Japan is not nearly as one-sided as it sometimes seems. The tide of high-quality, low-cost manufactured exports from Japan has enhanced the quality of life for Americans, helped reduce our inflation and stimulated our own industry to become more efficient and productive. Also, much of the excess ex-cess capital earned by Japanese exports comes back to the U.S., helping stimulate stimu-late productivity and keep interest rates down. We hear much comment about how the Japanese seize upon U.S. innovations innova-tions and exploit them to their own advantage. For example, though VCR technology was conceived in the United States, no U.S . firms today make VCRs. But we also have exploited Japanese innovations to improve our steel and auto manufacturing plants. In any event, the Japanese suffer far more from their predatory trade practices prac-tices then we do. Denied full access to foreign goods and services, Japanese consumers pay much more and have fewer options than.American consumers. consum-ers. Though Japan is one of the world's richest nations, its people live scarcely better than many citizens of the Third World. The Japanese gradually are beginning begin-ning to realize they are only cheating themselves with their short-sighted approach to trade. We only can hope this awakening will lead to more enlightened en-lightened trade policies before growing resentment among Japan's trading partners part-ners provokes an outbreak of protec tionism. , |