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Show II C2 Church Life C3 Television C4 AutoTalk C6 Lifestyles Cl Thursday, September 2, 1999 nmtitti stim ft t C New movie guide should aid parents Weve actually been working on new features and ideas for such a long time that it's hard for us to hold them all back. Originally, we had planned to introduce one a month, but we have developed so many that we need to talk about at least one each week. This week, however, we have two to discuss. The Reel Story Those of you who get the Davis County Clipper may have already noticed that last two movie review's by Fawna Jones included a new ratings box at the end. We have for some time been searching for a way to make our movie reviews more informative than simply letting readers know about plots and overall ratings. What we wanted was some way to let parents know how suitable movies are for their children to watch. The standard movie industry ratings are far n a Davis schools take aim at uauK BY ADAM C OLSON Clipper Staff Writer year. On Feb. 4, 1998, over a year before the Columbine High tragedy, a student walked into the Syracuse Junior High cafeteria, took out a gun and took hundreds of students hostage. The student had 73 rounds of ammunition. Syracuse Chief of Police Brian Wallace, talked the gunman just a junior high school student into releasing most of the hostages and leaving the building with just two or But two state senators said that Davis County schools are actually a model for the rest of the state m school safety programs, especially gun programs. Davis County schools are leaders m leading out with very effective programs in identifying problems. said Lane Beattie, County. President of the Senate We look at programs like Davis County as a model and try to implement David Steele, County, who is elk O gun safety communication between children and adults about guns through skits and presentations to children. After the Syracuse incident, we looked at gun safety" said Turner. The talk is how to talk to kids about guns so that they will talk to adults about weapons. Police say that finding a gun somewhere is more common than youd think. "The Jock is to get parents to understand how to store guns safely. Since potential situations averted (by weapons at school). too. Turner said, but you cant do it all at once. So we thought we'd start with the l m so elementary schools to start forming habit' i-- there Turner said information on the Talk and Lock program is available from the FI local police departments and on the district s web site at www.djvis kl2 ut us Ihe hotn. safety checklist is also available in Spanish Another ot the policies that has been modeled b the Davis County Vhrail District is then "Salt Schools" police -We have . been workine on sale three. s e h o o developed skits I issues since too broad and subjective for many parents to make good decisions based on them alone. And we werent sure how to tell parents it was OK or not OK to send their children to a tain movie because our perception might not match those of others in the community. So we have opted to give parents a quick capsule of what they might find in todays movies so that they can make better, more informed idecisions themselves. Each movie review now ends with a quick capsuliza-tio- n of key items parents may find interesting. d box Entitled, The Reel Stoiyf this shows the overall rating of the movie (1--5 stars), plus how much sexual content, nudity violence and objectionable language it contains. Finally, it bsts the standard industry rating. It is our hope that this will make it a little easier for the public to make decisions about movies theyd like to watch, especially with their children in mind. AU of us may have attended a movie and felt that what was rated PG should have been PG-1- 3 or that a PG-1- 3 should have been rated R. The reverse can also be true. Take last weeks review of Bowfinger for example. Given that the films star is Eddie Murphy, one would naturally conclude that thisPG-13-rate- d movie might really be an R rated movie in disguise. But The Reel Story lets us know that the objectionable content in several categories is relatively mild yet leaves the decision about the suitability of the movie to each individual. We hope this new feature will help you make better informed choices about movies that play in Davis County. Limited space in Clipper Today often prohibits us from running our movie reviews, but well work on ways we can make this feature available to our North Davis readers, as well. 9 said Janur easy-to-rea- Profiles One thing that we learn in our contact with people who make the news in Davis County is that heroes are everywhere. Every day there are people who are quietly making a difference, who make amazing contributions to society but who dont always get the recognition they deserve. Thats why well be introducing a new feature in September called Profiles. These will be capsulized reviews about the lives, day-to-d- . O li s Schools policv m the state" The policv hk requires drug-tre- e ones ai ,il weapon-fre- e school sites, facilities and Outside, on the way to a car that the student demanded. SWAT team members were able to wrestle the student to the ground. Though shots were fired, no one was hurt. Since then, more tragedies at other schools throughout the country have occurred. With the state legislature holding off on gun issues until January, many Davis County parents (and students) are concerned about safety as they prepare to start the new school Talk and Lock? We learned some lessons from the Syracuse incident, said David Turner, director of the Safe Homes, Safe Schools, Safe Community Executive Committee. There were 12 kids in that school that day that have admitted they knew about the gun. And they didnt tell anybody So we developed Talk and Lock. The Talk and Lock program focuses on reducing accessibility to guns by educating parents on gun storage while increasing Note: These questions deal with the subject of firearms safety. Primarily this checklist was designed for guns in the home. This checklist however can also be used for transporting firearms. The questions have been phrased so that answers should be YES. This checklist should be used for every firearm in the home. personalities and interests of people who are positive influences in our community. These Profiles arent meant to be long dissertations, but will feature a few quick paragraphs about each individual, along with a photo and a list of each persons interests and attributes. We intend on including one Profile in each issue of Clipper Today as a way of introducing community leaders, but also those who don't always get attention. In each city throughout Davis County, there are those who labor in vital public posts but who dont make the headlines. Wed like to include them in our weekly reports so you can find out who the people are who work behind the scenes to make the county and each city operate.- In addition, we also will be featuring people who are making a mark in business, in working with children, in improving their neighborhoods and in many other areas of endeavor. In our preliminary planning for this new feature, we have identified more than 100 deserving individuals. We are confident we wifi find many more as we delve into this series. In the coming months, if you have suggestions about a person you know who deserves mento tion, please drop us a note or send us an newsroomclippertoday.com. That's the easiest way to get in touch with us about items youd like to see in the paper. And please don't forget to send us your comments for publication at eztalkclippertodaycom. Our lines address are always of communication at either open. As usual. Ive listed both addresses below for your convenience. ' the brat s.ib the firearm unloaded? Is the firearm locked or secured Is in a rack or case? Is the rack or case in an area away from children? dents three scenarios about gun safety that emphasize the importance of telling adults. skits will be Turner said the student-acte- d performed in every elementary school in the district this year. We'll see how m goes in junior highs. Did you check the firearm before storing it? Is the firearm clean and lubricated to the manufacturer's specifications? When handling the firearm, do you keep your finger off the trigger? When you handle a firearm is the action opened immediately to check for ammunition? Has the handler of the firearm completed a firearms safety course or its equivalent? Are all of your firearms in good working order? Do you always keep the muzzle buses. All school aetiv ities are consul ones ered drug- - and weapon-fre- e regardless of the location The policv clearly identifies what the district consul ers a violation. provides adimnistratora with an inv estigation process and suggests the chs ciplinary action to be pursued "1 think weve been recognized m hav me some leadership roles." said Steve I till dilator of Sate Schools. "But that's not to sav that we havent been out to look at what other districts are doing Do we have everything in place that wed like? No. Were working on maintainmc consistency. Its hard to make sure cun school has consistent training with iuu teachers and staff aiming in from outside the district. "The good news is that we have eras! programs. The bad news is that its a v ei big district." pointed in a safe direction? Is the whole family familiar with the firearms in the home? If the firearm has been regularly used, has it been inspected by a quali fied gunsmith in the last two years7 Is the ammunition stored in a separate place away from the firearm? Is the ammunition locked or secured? Is the ammunition in a box which identifies it accurately? Find more information on Talk Lock at www.davis.kl2.ut.us and - newsroomdlppertoday.coni For submitting new s releases and nications with the news staff. eztalkdippertoday.com for all other commu- For submitting your opinion for publication on the torial page. edi- GounlvUnsS: Five key improvements on horizon It is my personal belief that government is at its best when two things exist: when it is closest to the people and when it is least noticeable by the people. That is when it draws the least attention to its operation. For the past few years at least, county government has been fortunate in maintaining that kind of an image. The services to the public are generally provided by very caring and considerate employees. Yes, there are occasional glitches but when you consider the number of public y interactions which occur in the all the of operation county departments giving services, the percent of dissatisfied customers is very low The relationship of the three county commissioners and the eight other elected officials is tremendous. All work very hard to maintain their areas of responsibility in a professional and efficient manner. Taxes are always a great concern to the public, and all of us in the county family" day-to-da- are aware of that. We have operated for many years in a there are some capital type projects still needing to be done. fiscally conservative climate. No. 2. It will not be many While state mandated of property occurs years until we need to add an additional wing to the jail. (affecting taxes) and while other taxing entities have The filling of existing jail found it necessary to increase beds to a new jail constructed taxes, the county has not just eight years ago has been done so and plans to continat double the projected rate ue with a at the time it was dedicated. No. 3 Library services services in taxes so need to be met very soon ble. with additional buildings It should be quickly noted and expansion of existing that the county does have ones some major capital needs No. 4. An increase m aniGAYLE A. STEVENSON mal control services will soon staring at us in the next few Commission years. Perhaps I could name County require us to address that need for more space. just a few of those. No 1. Despite some very noticeable No. 5. Many infrastructures floral, road and miscellaneous projects continue to be improvements to the courthouse, the place where we do most of the countys business. submitted annually toi consideration to the budget Sound fiscal management will be necessary m the next few yeura it we aie to achieve the foregoing without an mcreuse at taxes. Let me quick y note that the proved conference center (if it is to be built at all and we should have that question revived m the next 45 days) is not financed w ith gen eral property taxes but with dedicated and restrictive funds ie transient rrann restaurant tax. car rental tax Many additional topics could be iikii tioned but time and space will not permit my doing so. My years of public same avnvinces me. as 1 hope it does you. that Davis County has always been and still is a great place to live, work and play" The people make it that way, of coutse. hopefully, despite the continuous growth and demands on services that growth we will charge into the next centuiv fully committed to maintaining all that va consider so important eie-ate- |
