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Show - ' T ,,,, . AN EDITION OF THE )(ltUt&lV-- V YOUR TOWN, YOUR NEIGHBORS, YOUR NEWSPAPER THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2004 50 CENTS VOL. 26 NO. 10 v , JL U 1 L 111 III 75 SB mo, .91 KK NTB(. iKCOW ;TfOZ 41 2 MFM EL TCRls CD,' t 403? t "X- ! t V UDOT looks to solve congesfi of underpass on Tammy McPherson Utah Valley Staff When Pleasant Grove resident Stan Smith sees bumper-to-bumper traffic along State Street, he takes the back roads. Smith and other residents resi-dents avoid where U.S. 89, also known as State Street, narrows from five to two lanes from about 100 East in Pleasant Grove to about 200 South for a 67-year-old railroad bridge. An underpass, under-pass, only wide enough for a two-lane road, creates a major obstacle for traffic on! what is the main route in.' the north county area when' Interstate 15 is shut down. "If you have a wreck orr the freeway, you bottleneck it all the way to 500 East,: Smith said. With 20,000 trips a day through the area, the Utah Department of Transporta tion is looking for solutions to the congestion. UDOT started an environmental envi-ronmental study last month . i See UDOT on Page 3 PGHS courtesy photo Pleasant Grove High School students have begun performances of the musical "Pirates of Penzance." The musical continues in the school auditorium until March 10. 'Pirates of Penzance' opens at PGHS City responds to Summum Group Swashbuckling pirates, frolicking young maidens, bumbling policemen, and a limber-lipped, befuddled Major General all take center stage at Pleasant Pleas-ant Grove High School this week for a hilarious production of Gilbert and Sullivan's famous operetta, "The Pirates of Penzance." The show opened last night and runs through March 10. "We have had an overwhelmingly positive experience with this musical," said PGHS drama teacher, Stewart Shelley. "It has been delightful to see the different characters evolve. The students have worked very hard to make each character distinct, fun and lovable. When it comes down to the duel between the pirates and the policemen, it is difficult to cheer for one side or the other because you want both to win." Pirates is the second full-scale musical the high school has produced in the past two years. Last spring, after focusing for years on straight dramas and small-cast musicals like "Nunsense," PGHS took the plunge and produced an enormously popular version of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." "We're trying to build on that Dates: March 4 -6, March 9-1 0 Time: 7:30 p.m. Place: . Pleasant Grove High School auditorium Cost: $7 for adults; $6 for studentssenior citizens; $4 for children under 12 and $25 for a family pass momentum," said PGHS senior, Erica Glenn, who plays the part of Mabel in See PIRATES on Page 3 By Robert Cunningham The Ten Commandments have been on trial since the much-publicized removal of the monument from the Alabama Supreme Court Building. In Pleasant Grove, the battle began when civil rights attorney Brian Barnard and the Society of Separationists threw down the gauntlet in June of 2003. Since then, a religious group called Summum has joined the fray, hoping that the monument will be removed. Or that their monument, mon-ument, a pyramid that displays dis-plays their religion's Seven Aphorisms, will be allowed to stand with the Commandments. Currently, Barnard's and the Separationists' lawsuit to remove the Commandments Command-ments from its public display dis-play is in federal court. City Attorney Tina Peterson Peter-son said the city has motioned for dismissal and is waiting to hear from the judge. Peterson has contacted the Summum group by letter let-ter explaining that the park is part of the city's pioneer heritage. They would consider consid-er erecting the Summum pyramid in the park, if the group can demonstrate its relevance to the city's histo ry or the group's ' contribu tions of community service. The Summum group has not replied. Letter from atheist changes city meeting agenda By Robert Cunningham In January, the City of Pleasant Grove, along with several other Utah communities, received a letter let-ter from the Utah Atheists asking that the opening prayer be omitted omit-ted from public meetings. The letter let-ter threatens legal action if the city does not comply. At the beginning of February, Pleasant Grove replaced the open ing prayer on the meeting agendas agen-das with "opening remarks." The city will continue to pray. The two-page letter, which was sent to at least 10 other Utah County communities, accused the councils of violating the separation separa-tion of church and state and asked for an equal opportunity for "opening remarks" from other religions reli-gions and organizations. The letter asked that city councils coun-cils respond by mail by Jan. 20. But no return address or contact person was listed in the letter. Most municipalities are choosing choos-ing to ignore the letter. Some cities, such as Orem and Springville, have instituted policies poli-cies regarding prayer in meetings that should satisfy the letter's request, randomly assigning the prayer to attendees and limiting their comments to positive remarks. Some cities have also limited time at the pulpit to one minute. Pleasant Grove is assessing its own situation and investigating options for adopting a similar city prayer policy. City attorney Tina Peterson explained that atheists or mem bers of any other organization are; more than welcome to open the! meetings, but no one has! approached the city with a desire! to open the meeting. The letter calls attention to 1993 Utah Supreme Court deci sion tnat allows cities to open- their meetings with prayer or remarks as long as that opportu nity is accessible to all. Gun safe Project ChildSafe provides gun locks for residents to promote gun safety By Tammy McPherson Utah Valley staff With an armed robbery, a homicide, and three gun-related suicides all occurring in Pleasant Grove within the past month, gun safety is a concern for those who provide public protection. To increase gun safety, the Pleasant Grove-Lindon Department of Public Safety is handing out 5,000 cable gun locks, provided pro-vided by Project ChildSafe. On Tuesday, the cities of Lindon and Pleasant Grove declared March as ChildSafe Month to help get the word out that the locks are available, avail-able, free of charge, to any resident of the two cities. "Right now guns are really high in the minds of this community," said Capt. Cody Cullimore of the Pleasant Grove-Lindon police. Project ChildSafe, a program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, was scheduled to bring gun locks to the area in April but after Cullimore spoke with the program about the number of gun-related instances that have happened recently, they sent a truckload of locks about a month early, he said. Project ChildSafe is funded by a $50 million mil-lion grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. Jus-tice. Since Sept., more than six million safety safe-ty kits have been given out in 35 states. The purpose of Project ChildSafe is to educate about safe storage and handling of fire arms, with an emphasis on preventing children chil-dren from accessing a loaded firearm in a See SAFE on Page 8 If " !- 'i ' ' s .' -v A y s v - - -- . - Chief Tom Paul holds a semi-automatic pistol secured with one of 5,000 the department is giving away to residents who request them. Photo by Ray Meese cable locks '03 CHEVY CAVALIERS 7 to CHcc-t pro icw ts m mia HuSRY fOK Bijl CHOKl! OR JUST PER '. . MONTH troaoountoM f .. C, i - imS I 'it ;l IMi "i "Wll ("'!" r-r-i CM CERTIFIES) USED YSHICLS MALEXSHiP TWO YEARS RUHHIhG! UTAH'S ONLY TOP J 5 WESTERN REGION CERTIFIED DEALER! i -.t ' , -, SIMILAR TO MODELS SHOWN. SUBJEO 10 PRIOR SALE. "USED VEHICLE PAYMENTS ARE FOR 72 MONTH TERM WITH PRICE. PAYMENT PLUS TAX. LICENSE AND FEES DUE AT PURCHASE. 0.A.C PRICES IN EFFECT THRU MARCH 9, 2004. 03 CHEVY MALIBUS. OLDS ALER0S P0NTIAC GRAND AMS OR JUST tlx- rn TJ' |