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Show 1 BUILDING COMMUNITY IN OREM ANT R D IMES EDITION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2007 50 CENTS a ureml HE IB SCHOOLS: THS students lead conferences TOWN HALL: liVSC club rallies to ban porn SPORTS: Mi win Pioneer League Championship BUSINESS NATIONAL EXPRESS HEATS UP THE WOK Orem residents urged to get cozy with The Big Read Michael Rigert ' NORTH COUNTY STAFF Think of it as a mass book club selection for October for the entire community. In a nutshell, that's The Big Read, a city-wide effort orchestrated by the Orem Public Library during which thousands of adults, students, and children will read and discuss a single novel. The title the Orem Public Library has selected for its first Big Read is Willa Cather's "My An-tonia," An-tonia," a passionate story of an immigrant girl and a pioneer boy who come of age together on the American prairie. "The story of Antonia Shimerda a spirited immigrant girl from Bohemia comes to us through the eyes of her childhood friend Jim Bruden. The novel teams romance, violence, tenderness, and cruelty all bustling side by side in a narrative both arresting and compassionate," compas-sionate," according to a program flyer. Orem joins yearly 200 communities across that nation this year participating in The Big Read, a program launched by the National Endowment En-dowment for the Arts in 2006. It's aimed at curbing the national decline in reading documented in recent surveys and polls revealing that one in four Americans didn't read a book last year and that less than half the American adult population now reads literature. "The Big Read ... is designed to restore reading to the center of American culture," said Lori Stevens, Ste-vens, a division manager at the Orem Public Library. Li-brary. "It's bringing together partners across the country to read for pleasure and enlightenment." Free copies of the book are available at the : library and downloadable audio and text cop-' ies are available from Net Library on the Orem library's Web site, lib.orem.org, or by calling 229-7175. Those who have read it, are urged to pass the copy on to a friend or neighbor. ' The Big Read in Orem kicks off Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Orem City Council chambers with a presentation by Sunil Iyengar, director of the Office of Research and Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts. He will discuss his department's 2006 study "The Arts and Civic Engagement." A nationally honored poet, Iyengar will also read selections of his poetry and criticism. Nearly every day after the kick off, the library will feature guest professor lectures, group discussions, teen chats, and puppet shows and storytelling for children and adults. For a full calendar of The Big Read events and activities at the Orem Public Library, go See BIG READ, Page 3 Tlmpanogos High get its T Reva Bowen NORTH COUNTY STAFF Timpanogos High School students stu-dents have figuratively been trail-blazers trail-blazers in seeking and earning official city permission to place a temporary letter "T" on the hillside hill-side above the school. Now, as the school prepares to put up the letter let-ter for the first time for its homecoming home-coming celebration next week, students will be literal trailblazers banding together to create a trail to the display site. Assistant principal Mike Browning said the school is hoping hop-ing to recruit at least 50 students to help build the trail, beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday morning. Orem recreation director Karl Hirst is scheduled to join in the project. "We'll see what (the total number) num-ber) ends up," Browning said. "Seven o'clock is pretty early." Aaron Barth, senior class advisor, advi-sor, said 30 students had commit ted to participate on the first day of in-school recruiting efforts, and he expects more to sign up "as the word spreads". The display site is located on city -owned property in the foothills foot-hills above the school in the area See TIMPANOGOS. Page 3 INDIE PRODUCTIONS P l ft) "i 2 -v " 'MiWt' , J , J 4 , Jit S " Vs. - 1 1 f " -J J r , ' Y" - , .,fJ' O photo courtesy Focu Feature Claire Danes left and Hugh Dancy Estar in Lajos Koltai's "Evening " an independent Focus Features release which is appearing at the newly renamed Festival Cinemas at the University Mall. Orem turning into Utah Valley indie film mecca? Michael Rigert NORTH COUNTY STAFF Up until very recently, those interested in-terested in taking in an independent indepen-dent film have had to make the drive to one of Salt Lake City's art-house theaters. But suddenly, Utah Valley movie aficionados have not one but two Orem venues to see some of the best independent and foreign for-eign films. . After successfully staging a Utah Family Film Festival in June at the dollar theater behind Uni versity Mall in Orem, business partners Brady Whittingham and Tyler Measom purchased the four-screen movie house Sept. 1. With last weekend's grand opening, the renamed Festival Cinemas at the University Mall will show second-run Hollywood films along with family-oriented independent movies on two of its screens at the admission price of $1, Whittingham said. Despite having the Sundance Film Festival close to home, many See FILMS, Page 3 Commun tyBnefinq OREM 'LAWN LADY' PLEADS NOT GUILTY With superstar attorney Gloria Allred in tow, Betty Perry pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an arrest in which she was injured and briefly jailed after a police officer tried to ticket her for not watering her lawn. The Orem grandmother made international in-ternational headlines in Jury after her arrest, an incident that brought waves of criticism crashing dpwn on the Orem Police Department. On Tuesday, she was in 4th District Court in Orem for her arraignment on charges of interfering with legal arrest and violation of a zoning zon-ing ordinance. Allred, a Los Angeles-based attorney who achieved fame as a victims rights advocate, sat quietly in the back of the courtroom as Provo attorney Paige Benjamin entered Perry's plea. But after the hearing Allred rose her voice, castigating the police department for its treatment of the 70-year-old great-grandmother. great-grandmother. Judge John Backlund scheduled a pretrial conference for Oct. 11. OREM MARINE ARRESTED ON DESERTION CHARGES, WAITS IN COUNTY JAIL - An Orem Marine is behind bars on a charge of military desertion, an act his aunt said was prompted by medical concerns. ASHLEY FRANSCELLDaily Herald Betty Perry, 70, and Gloria Allred, her victim's rights advocate, speak to the press during a press conference after Perry's arraignment Tuesday at the courthouse in Orem. Orem police on Monday night arrested arrest-ed 20-year-old Austin Lee Sommers at the home of his aunt and uncle, where he has lived for most of the past year and a half. According to Orem police spokesman Lt. Doug Edwards, Som mers told officers he deserted because he didn't feel the U.S. Marine Corps was looking after his medical needs. Officers arrested Sommers on a nationwide na-tionwide warrant after the Marine Corps told Orem police that he had deserted. Sommers was taken into custody without with-out incident after officers found him at the home of Daniel and Desirae Sommers, Som-mers, his aunt and uncle. The warrant was issued in late July. Sommers is being held without bond at the Utah County Jail, where he will remain until he is transferred to military custody. A Marine Corps representative declined to comment on the situation. According to Desirae Sommers, her nephew decided not to report for duty after completing his training at the Marine Ma-rine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego because he did not feel the military was providing adequate treatment for a number of ailments he had suffered from since enlisting in January. Sommers had always been a fairly healthy person, his aunt said, but began be-gan getting sick almost as soon as he enlisted. Since joining the Marine Corps he has been inflicted with pneumonia, pinkeye and cellulitis, she said. OREM MAN SHOOTS ATTACKING PIT BULL - If John Erickson hadn't had his gun with him when a neighbor's pit bull attacked him, there's no telling how bad things might have been. Erickson, 22, was walking up to his house on 400 South near 700 West in Orem on Wednesday when a neighbor's neigh-bor's pit bull bit him from behind. As he rode his scooter to his house around 8:30 p.m., Erickson saw the dog sitting calmly while a neighborhood girl petted it. Then he parked and took three or four steps toward his house when the dog bit him. "All of a sudden the dog grabbed my leg from behind," he said. He swung his scooter helmet at the dog, which backed off for a moment. But when the dog charged forward, Erickson, who has a concealed weapons permit, drew his 9 mm pistol and fired at the dog's head. Erickson said he worries wor-ries about what would have happened if he hadn't been armed. Even more, he said he worries about what would've happened if the dog had attacked his wife, Lynn Ann, who came home just two minutes before him, or the many children who walk down that street on their way to and from Orem Elementary School. At Erickson's request, no charges were filed against the dog's owner, said Orem police spokesman Lt. Doug Edwards. Vicious animal citations and letting dogs run free are misdemeanor offenses. 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