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Show Thursday. April 19, 2007 Page 2 0 R E M TIMES NEWS AND NOTES TO KEEP YOU INFORMED AND INVOLVED I ; n T ifjL ' 1 s i n j j j the , CEDES COMUNIDAD CRISTIANA ASHLEY FRANSCELLDaily Herald Co-pastor Brad Slater and senior pastor LfoncJ Moreno sit in the chairs of the Cedes Comunidad Church on April 1 1 in Orem. Cedes Comunidad Cristiana is a recently established Christum church thut is looking to build a foothold in the Latino community. With services held entirely in Spanish, Cedes Church is a Chiistian evangelical Bible church and is affiliated with the Cedes Comunidad Cristiana in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. Crime, accidents and fire losses down in Orem in 2006 Reva Bowen Serious crimes, traffic accidents, ac-cidents, ami fire losses in Orem were all down in 20)f, according ac-cording to a recently -released annual report from the city's Department of Public Safety. fewer rapes, aggravated assaults, arsons, auto thefts, burglaries and thefts so-called so-called Part One crimes were reported last year than the year before. One murder took place in )rem in 21 X M t h( ugh t here were none the previous year. There was also a noled spike in robberies last year, mainly due to what Orem Department of Public Safety director Mike Lirsen called a "one-man bank robbery wave" that increased the number by five over 2005 statistics reflected by the 3X percent increase in robberies. The person police believe was responsible for the string of Construction Continued from Page 1 ( )ler said the outage affected af-fected 23 customers between 800 North and HOO North on the west side of State Street projert . "I don't have any idea if it has anything to do with that NorthCounty NEWSPAPERS 399 F State St Pleasant Grove Marc Haddock 443 3?68 North County Editor mhaddockheraldevtra com Cathy Allred 443 3262 Lehi. Saratoga Springs, PI Grove callredheraldextra com Barbara Christiansen 443 3264 American Fork, Alpine, Cedar Hills bchnstiansenheraldextra com Mike Rigert 443 3265 Orem, Vineyard mrigertherak1extra com Beky Beaton 443-3267 Sports bbeatonheraldextra com mmmmm Josh Walker 443 3260 Advertising Account Executive jwalkerheraldetra com Volume 134 Oram Tmes Daily Herald f dition USPS 411-700 a weefly newspaper publish! at 399 State St Pleasant Grove Utah H4063 Pamovatr. postaqe paid at Pleasant Grove Utah 8406? and at additional mailing ohVes Postmmtvr: Send address changes to Orem Times PO Bo 65 Orem Utah 84069 006b Published Thursdays by Lee Publications which is a division of Lee tnterprises Inc Mwilbw . Audit Bureau at Circulations VI; - jr v t x , iM's y ' ' ' , " Vl I v ; '' - bank robberies has been apprehended, appre-hended, lirsen added. Still, Part One crimes per ,(KM) residents were down from 39.3 in 2005 to 29.1 in 200f, according to the report. "We don't have a lot of violent crime (in Orem)," said Uirsen. "We have mostly property crimes. By working with the public, we think we've been able to get some of them to pay attention, lock garages and cars, and not leave valuables valu-ables in their vehicles. Over the last five years, we have spent a lot of time and effort getting the message out, and having the officers be proactive in the neighborhoods." One of the main contributing factors to a 10-year, overall decline in the crimes from 53.4 per 1,000 residents in 1997 to the 29.1 in 2(K)6, Larsen believes, is the City Council decision some years ago to implement city-wide street lighting. "I think that's been a (the 800 North construction)," she said. Neither was Geoff Dupaix, UDOT Region Three spokesman, spokes-man, aware of any plans for a power outage Tuesday in connection con-nection with the construction. Oler and Dupaix didn't know of any future planned power outages that might impact businesses busi-nesses at the intersection. Phone: 756-7669 Fax: 756-5274 DAILY HERALD PUBLISHING CO. Jennette Esplin 756 7669 Office Manager Erin Stewart 344 2558 Project Coordinator, DesignerCopy Editor Julia Fullmer 344 2570 DesignerCopy Editor Jeremy Harmon 344 2585 Photographer Issue 67 big factor," he said. "There may not be empirical evidence," Larsen said. "I can't say a particular crime was prevented pre-vented by having street lights, but I can say, 'The street lights are done, and this is where the theft rate is, and this is where it was before.' The lights are not the only factor there has been a public education emphasis empha-sis by the patrol officers but it's a cumulative effect." Orem had a 5 percent decrease de-crease in traffic accidents during dur-ing 2006, with 3,730, compared to 3,932 in 2005. Failure to yield on left turns is the number one cause of accidents in the city, Larsen said, so traffic officers have targeted that for citation along with other infractions that are also high contributors to the accident rate, such as speeding in neighborhoods, and following other vehicles too closely. The most dangerous intersection inter-section in the city for accidents Throughout the course of the project slated to be finished in the fall of 2008, Dupaix said the goal of UDOT and contractors contrac-tors is to minimize the impact to businesses and residents. Contractors are required to provide access to businesses and properties while UDOT has endeavored to keep people notified of construction events Visiting medieval Warwick Castle Editor's note: This column was sent from England. Warwick Castle bills itself as the best medieval castle in the world. 1 know this because I heard exactly that at least five times when we visited vis-ited last week: "Welcome to Warwick Castle, the best medieval castle in the world." And it could be. Few medieval castles have endured to this day and age with little change, but Warwick maintains an authentic air of ancientness that is very intriguing. intrigu-ing. Located just south of Birmingham and overlooking the River Avon, the castle is one of the top tourist attrac tions in the English Midlands. The day we were there, which happened to be during the Easter holiday which includes the week before and the week after Easter the place was packed. There is no question about the castle's antiquity. an-tiquity. Construction on the structure began in 1068, as William the Conqueror built a variety of castles to secure his hold on the country he had won two years earlier at the Battle of Hastings. Part of those earliest walls can still be seen. The castle was occupied over the next 900-plus years, and that's what makes the castle such an interesting experience. These arent ruins. For hundreds of years, the earls of Warwick made this castle their home, preserving the ramparts, castle walls and living quarters into the present time. In 1978, the castle was sold to the Tussaud's group, the same people who operate Madame Ma-dame Tussaud's Wax Museum, the Eye of London and other attractions and the tourists tour-ists moved in. Since that time efforts have been made to give visitors a feel for what castle life was like over the centuries. Entrance into the castle and its events costs about $30 at the current exchange rates, which don't favor the weak American dollar. The day's events include a chance to tour the castle, which has been restored to various time periods in various parts of the castle Visitors of all ages can try their hand at ar- that I've ever in 2006 was 800 West University Univer-sity Parkway, with 49. A close second was 800 North State, with 47. "The accident rate goes up and down from year to year," Larsen said. "But Orem's rate has been staying fairly consistent consis-tent and even dropping in this case even though vehicle ve-hicle trips are up by the thousands. thou-sands. We are not seeing the increases other cities are." Fire losses were down in the city, with no loss of life in 2006, and property losses decreasing decreas-ing from $1.2 million in 2005 to $863,339 in 2006. Orem's Fire Division commander is Scott Gurney. The department's Neighborhood Neighbor-hood Preservation Unit has been operating for about six years, Larsen said, and has made a significant impact. Four officers now staff the unit, and not only work with residents on clean-up issues and zoning violations, but also through newsletters and Web site updates, he said "The nature of road construction con-struction is that there will be impacts," Dupaix said. "We have to keep the long-term perspective per-spective that in the end, it will be a much better proposition." Johnson agreed the pains the Extra Mart Chevron is suffering suffer-ing now will be worth it in the Marc Haddock THE EDITOR'S COLUMN certainly the deal with illegal apartments and other factors that affect the quality of life in neighborhoods. neighbor-hoods. "We don't want our older neighborhoods to deteriorate," said Larsen. "As the county population grows and expands out, we don't want to become 'the inner city'. We still want to be a desirable place to live." One of the best things the department has done in the last five years, Larsen said, is to utilize the volunteer police program. pro-gram. More than 30 volunteers donate their time to perform tasks such as helping stranded motorists, making vacation checks, doing clerical work, and issuing parking tickets. The service provided is equivalent equiva-lent to three or four full-time officers, he estimated. "The volunteers do this for absolutely no reason other than to support the community," communi-ty," Larsen said. "They simply want to be involved." end. " ... It's something that needs to be done," she said. " ... In the long run, it's going to help our business." Project updates on UDOT's 800 North reconstruction project can be found online at www.udot.utah.gov orem800north. chery. Children get the opportunity to train with a medieval "army" to participate par-ticipate in the War of the Roses. The day we were there, a group of local enthusiasts gathered to recreate an authentic medieval siege much like a Civil War re-enactment, but with much older weapons and wearing wear-ing authentic armor. The castle features the world's largest working trebuchet a medieval medi-eval catapult which is launched twice a day after a 20-30 minute explanation explana-tion about how the mechanism works to the crowd gathered on the sloping hill to watch. There is also a demonstration of birds of prey, a kind of falconry show without a falcon, but featuring a bald eagle from Canada, and gardens designed de-signed by Victorian landscape gardener Robert Marnock. One of my favorite parts of the castle was the recreation of life in the last 19th century, centu-ry, when the Earl of Warwick would entertain guests from the upper crust of British society, including the Royal Family. Not only have the rooms been preserved with authentic furnishings, but mannequins wearing wear-ing authentic dress and hair styles are placed throughout to put the visitor in the middle of an evening party. Other portions of the castle are restored to the 16th and 17th centuries. Like many British tourist attractions, Warwick War-wick Castle is a low energy experience. There are no rides, few lines and little need to hurry from once place to another. There is plenty of time to do everything. And it works. Many of the children we saw at the castle sported some type of toy armor, either a helmet or a breast plate or both, purchased at the various vari-ous gift shops. Most wielded a sword, some had simple wooden bows and rubber-tipped arrows. But everything was designed to be harmless. harm-less. My favorite "weapon" was a sword that doubled as a giant -bubble maker. There were giant bubbles floating everywhere as the day wore on. It was far cry from the Middle Ages, but it is best medieval castle in the world seen, bar none. Northgate Continued from Page 1 Orem's previous public works building. "The way we purchased all the properties is by buying buy-ing each of the organizations new facilities and trading them for the property," Washburn said. The relocation and demolition demoli-tion of those structures has paved the way for what Washburn and his partners envision as one of the premier pre-mier multi-use developments in the Beehive State including includ-ing retail shops, offices, and condominiums in a self-contained self-contained community called Northgate Village. Most of the residential units will be located on upper floors above boutiques and business offices of-fices in a configuration reminiscent remi-niscent of New York City or Europe. The development's Tuscan-theme architecture and condominiums starting at $260,000 connote a relaxed, sophisticated environment where residents ideally can live and work in the same setting. "When you do get home, you go over here (across the street) to a minimart or a restaurant," res-taurant," Washburn said. Tuscan Village, a 22-acre, 400-unit condominium community com-munity within Northgate Village, is already under construction, con-struction, 50 units of which, are at or near completion. Several dozen are already occupied by owners, he said. Bank of Utah is constructing construct-ing a new branch in the development, de-velopment, an applicant has submitted plans for a 60,000 combined retail and office building, and developers are talking to a handful of motel companies. When completed in an estimated es-timated 3 to 5 years, the $250 to $280 million Northgate Village Vil-lage will be the home to 500 to 700 residents and occupy nearly 300,000 square feet of retail space. "Between all the partners, we've spent close to 150 hours a week since 1999 (on the development)," Washburn Wash-burn said. "We have put in more time than you can believe be-lieve to make this happen." Though only 900 acres of undeveloped property remain in the city, Orem city planner Bob Moore said technically tech-nically Northgate Village is a redevelopment since it's replacing re-placing other structures and facilities on the property. With similar multi-use developments going up at Midtown Village on State Street, the Wells Fargo Center Cen-ter in downtown Provo and now Northgate Village, some wonder what the sudden popularity of the urban village vil-lage layout is all about. Moore said the concept has likely been reborn due to the effects of urban sprawl, limited space and higher real estate values along the Wasatch Wa-satch Front. "The longevity of people wanting to do it remains to be seen," he said. More than anything else, Washburn said, the driving force behind multi-use developments devel-opments in Utah is the need for housing along the Wasatch Wa-satch Front and because "cities "cit-ies don't want to give away a dime in sales tax." "It's stronger from the city side to collect sales tax than anything else," he said. What sets Northgate Village Vil-lage apart from comparable projects in the area are its size and location, Washburn said. At 65 acres, Northgate offers many more building possibilities to potential buyers buy-ers than a similarly setup 5 acre development. Quick access to Interstate 15 and being located on one of Orem's main transportation transporta-tion arteries is also an alluring allur-ing feature. Another key factor is strong community support for the project both from neighbors and city officials. Washburn said city council members concerns were resolved when they learned Northgate Village would add to rather than detract from the value of surrounding neighborhoods. "It's really an upgrade to the area," he said. "A first-class first-class project." The latest in BYU Sports online wwww.tMraldextra.com pO? |