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Show IN OUR TOWN FYI PANGUITCH Well I hope you were able to get up on the mountain to see the fall changes. Pat and I went up last Monday and it was spectacular, it was the first time that we have made this trek when the trees on the top were strutting their stuff. Usually we wait too long and the wind blows like it did today and the top of the mountain is cleared of leaves. The overlooks at Cedar Breaks were golden as far as I could see. The only reason you don’t want to live in a designated tree city, is all the leaves you have to rake. Don’t get out to quick to rake the leaves; there are a lot of green ones left that haven’t change colors yet. So if you like raking, you probably will get a number of chances to satisfy your craving. At the last school board meeting A/S Janice Hatch, thanked the City of Panguitch for all their help. The City is donating the gym at the old high school to the wrestling team for an additional three years. The rent for this space will go to the repairs on the roof at the high school. City workers helped take down a very large tree that had died, in front of the high school. They also painted the crosswalk at the elementary school. Last year the district paid a private painter $800.00 for the same work. Thank you Panguitch employees; you are good friends to the school system. I would like to response to the unsigned article in last weeks paper about the teachers. It lead us to believe that the teachers elected to take a raise with their steps and lane benefits, instead of cutting 5 days from the school schedule. It is my understanding that steps have to do with years on the job and lanes changes have to do with increased education. The lane changes only come after you have an additional 20 unit of education. 3 units, at SUU cost close to $1,000, so in simple math it cost a teacher about $7,000, to make a lane change. If teachers don’t keep up with their education, the district is penalized by the State in the tune of $4,000 per class. Teachers with master degrees are paid by the State for there additional education. The steps only affect about one-half of the teachers because teachers only receive steps for sixteen years. We all know that with time we only get better and more efficient. The article led us to believe that the teachers rejected giving up five days of teaching without pay. They did not! Parents will be notified as to the five days. Don’t try to put the blame on the teachers, the mess the district is in had nothing to do with the teachers. When is the board going to quit feeding the 800 lb. elephant, at a $130,000 cost? Yvonne Ricketts and Steve Marshall competed at the Sand Hollow tri-athalon. Both were bothered with leg pain but completed the event and both won their age group, way to go! Last week I attended a conference on hunger put on by the State, USDA. It was an excellent conference and I learned a lot about food, and hunger. Every night 800 million people in the world go to bed hungry, in the U.S. one in eight children go to sleep hungry. We all hate government programs; because we think they are stealing our wages to give to someone who is below our income level that is unless we actu- Page 5 The Garfield County Insider October 8, 2009 By: Mack Oetting ally are in need of these programs. How many of us old timers would be around if it wasn’t for Medicare? Medicare has paid for hip replacement, heart by-pass operation, or a life flight when we could not! This same stigmatizing is attached to food stamps. Garfield County again made the news, this time as one of the lowest per capita incomes in the State. With 80,000 unemployed people in the state, the use of food stamps has increased over 51%, however only 40% of those who qualify use them in Utah. I learned that the use of food stamps is good for our state! For every $5.00 of food stamps used, the community gets back $9.40. How? At the grocery store for food, to farmers that grow the crops, to pay for medical bills and rent instead of having to buy food. Each person in the family gets $1.00 per meal, $3.00 per day. Food stamps feed a family for about 2 and a half weeks at the most. This is where the Care and Share comes in, it helps bridge this gap, for many seniors who get small Social Security checks it’s a necessity. Many who are unfamiliar with the Care and Share think that people are taking way too much food. How would you like to feed a family of six, on two cans of corn, or soup? The food that is distributed is only a small amount that is required to feed a large family. With food stamp, food banks and jobs, family that would go hungry are getting by during this hard economic time. In the classes I attended, it was apparent that many of the food banks, were having problems, the people didn’t like the food they were given or they would complain about what foods they were given. The food banks, that were having trouble, boxed the food that they gave out, this required a large force of volunteers, and one manager said that they had 35 people packing food boxes, to feed 100 customers, per day. These managers were very judgmental, treating their customers as second class citizens. When I suggested that they give the customers opportunity to choose from the food that was available, that this eliminates wasted food. These managers were not willing to even try to change. I decided that when people in charge become judgmental they have no business being in this kind of service. I found out talking to some of the heads of the food bank, that Panguitch’s Care and Share is the star ship of the fleet of the food banks. It is one of the best run food pantries in the State. In the 3 years Kelly has been the Manager, the number of families fed has gone from 67 to 161/ month. A lot of this is due to increase of work force at Rubies Inn, with people coming from Tropic, Henrieville and Cannonville as well as the state of the economy. The Share and Care has a new computer program that helps track Share and Care patrons and families. The program is designed to eliminate nonqualified people from getting food they are not eligible for. Kelly needed to hire two people plus herself to computerize all of the applications for food service. This required additional staff and training to implement the program. This program is great, the only way you get food is to have a Social Security number, and if you have a fake ID it will pick it up. She now has over 300 names in the computer with their Social Security numbers. Kelly is a Vista worker for Five County and it doesn’t cost Garfield County anything for all the many hours she puts in for those in need. President Thomas Monson stated at Conference, those who give and those who receive are both blessed. Thank you Kelly for all the work and effort you do for those in need in this community. The motivational speaker at the conference was Mark Eaton the former center for the Jazz. The only thing that could have been better that he would have spoken at the first of the conference. Many left the conference early. Mark Eaton is a great example of someone who through proper guidance was able to change his whole life. At 7’4” Mark was a freak when he was in high school; his coach never played him in a basketball game. He hated basketball and anyone who ask him if played basketball. He trained to be an auto mechanic in Arizona and was working in a tire shop in California when a coach from Ceritos College came in. Mark did not want to have anything to do with the coach, but when he kept coming back (15 times) he was finally talked into giving the coach 30 minutes to show him how to play basketball. Well he came and played at Ceritos College and was considered the second best college center prospect in the Country. He went to UCLA were he would get the most exposure to TV. Mark again sat on the bench. He called his old coach and complained that the coach didn’t like him and he had picked the wrong school. His old coach told him that he was the problem. He needed to work harder, so he was the first one at the gym, and the last one to leave. His practice included shooting 150 shots from the left, 150 from the right and 150 free throws. He worked out with a lot of Professional players; Kareem, Magic Johnson and many others. They were too fast for him, Wilt Chamberlin told him to do what he was good at. Wilt marked a square under the basket and told him this space belonged to only very tall basketball players, and not to let anyone in, it changed how he played the game. After college, Mark called Frank Layton, the coach of the Jazz, who signed him to a $40,000 contract. Coach Layton took a last place team, (a team who was going to move to Minnesota), made up of players who no other team wanted, taught them team basketball. They made the playoffs. Mark Eaton shared the four steps to becoming a good team player. 1. It starts with you, know your job. Find something you are good at and work to make yourself better. 2. Do what you’re ask to do. 3. Make people look good. 4. The most important, Protect others. Do not blame others because of your actions, because it will only point out your weakness and you will eventually run out of people to blame. Your bosses will wake up and realize what the problem is. It will only come back to haunt you. If you ever get a chance to hear Mark Eaton speak take it, he is dynamic. Boy is he tall. Keep the good stuff coming. Mack O Utahns for Ethical Government Signature Drive To Begin Lt. Governor gives go-ahead after reviewing constitutional concerns that the initiative was clearUtah’s Lt. Governor. Greg the 2010 ballot.” Bell today gave Utahns for Had Bell waited one ly unconstitutional to block Ethical Government [UEG] more day to make his deci- sending out the signature the go-ahead to begin col- sion, he would have been in packets, Smith said, “but lecting signatures to place Washington, D.C. for sever- there isn’t any language in its ballot initiative on the al days, which Burningham the initiative that creates November 2010 general said could have been a criti- such a constitutional probelection ballot. cal delay. The all-volunteer lem.”
Copies of the initiative “We appreciate that organization must gather Lieutenant Governor Bell signatures equal to 10 per- had been submitted to the wanted to do a careful re- cent of the people who lieutenant governor’s office view of constitutional con- voted for governor in Utah on Aug. 12. If it gets on the cerns that he had with the ‘s last general election, and ballot and is approved by initiative” said Kim Burn- they must also be equal to voters, the initiative would ingham, chair of Utahns for 10 percent of the voters provide for a number of Ethical Government. Bell in 26 of Utah ‘s 29 state ethics reforms, including could have released the vot- Senate districts.
Bell told establishing an independent er signature packets Mon- UEG executive committee citizens commission that day but said he first wanted members that he wanted to would review complaints to meet with UEG attorneys be careful in determining of ethical violations by legto discuss his concerns. In that the initiative was not islators and make recoman open meeting late Mon- “patently unconstitutional” mendations to the House or Senate if the 5-member day afternoon, UEG’s at- and added that “obviously commission found a breach torneys responded to Bell ‘s people are waiting for me of the code of conduct. The questions and those of Bell to make up my mind.” Atinitiative would also ban ac‘s attorney, Thom Roberts, tendees, including press ceptance of lobbyists’ gifts Assistant Attorney General. representatives, said that by legislators and place This morning, Bell alerted Bell referred to the UEG limits on contributions to UEG representatives that attorneys’ analysis as “very legislators by individuals it was appropriate to re- helpful.” and political action comlease the signature packets. In addressing Bell ‘s con- mittees. UEG volunteers “We’re glad that his con- cerns, UEG attorney Alan must submit their signature cerns could be addressed Smith said, “There is noth- packets to the county clerks quickly,” said Rob Ence, ing in the Utah Constitution by April 15 for verification UEG Executive Committee that prohibits” creation of of the signatures. member and State Direc- the independent ethics comPeople wishing to help tor of AARP Utah, “Now mission by either the Legis- collect signatures or to we can immediately be- lature or by citizen voters make a financial contribugin gathering signatures of using the initiative process. tion should contact vik@ Utahns eager to see this on Bell would have had to find utahethics.org. Sexting: How Teens Can Stay Safe Sexting is sending sexually explicit text or photographs via mobile devices. Sometimes teens share the photographs voluntarily, but at other times teens may be coerced into taking or sending the photographs. Once the photos are sent, some kids use them to bully, harass, intimidate, or embarrass victims online or via mobile devices. Sexting between minors is a felony and can have serious legal consequences. You could be charged with a crime. If convicted you could be labeled as a sex offender for the rest of your life. Think before you “sext.” Follow these important tips to keep safe: • Never send or post sexually provocative pictures. Once the picture is out there, it will never go away. Don’t risk your future college or employment hopes and your reputation with family, friends, teachers, and neighbors who could see the photos. • Remember that healthy relationships should be based on mutual respect, not just sexual attraction. Sometimes, boyfriends and girlfriends share intimate photos with each other. Since one photo can reach thousands via websites and mobile devices, make sure you never share these photos with friends and classmates. • Refuse to be pressured into sending explicit pictures. If someone threatens you or tries to force you to send a picture, talk to an adult you trust. • Never open or forward explicit pictures from people you don’t know. An online friend that you’ve never met or don’t know in person is really a stranger. • Use caution with devices like computer webcams. Always turn them off or close the lens to prevent prying eyes from seeing too much. • If someone keeps sending you explicit pictures, tell a parent or trusted adult. You need to understand that the adult may have to involve law enforcement or school administrators to help resolve the matter and keep you from getting into a more serious situation. • Talk to your friends about sexting. If someone you know is sharing explicit pictures, encourage them to stop before they get into trouble. If necessary, tell a parent or other trusted adult. Good friends try to keep each other safe. |