Show A4 Sanpete Wednesday September 29 2004 Valley Edition Messenger-Gunniso- 0 Hansen plea leaves many unanswered questions ormer Ephraim city clerk Wendy plea to two felonies raises more questions than it answers Technically Hansen pleaded guilty to depositing one check that a third party had made to Ephraim city for payment of a bill into her personal bank account According to Sanpete County attorney Ross Blackham the check was for $25(X) Likewise she pleaded guilty to depositing another check made to the Sanpete County landfill for about $35(X) into her personal bank account In contrast to the Kimble Blackburn case at Snow College where the state auditor released a report on investigation findings even before the Sevier County attorney filed charges the Hansen investigation has been shrouded in secrecy Little information has been released to the press or public about what Hansen did and how and why she did it But based on everything the Messenger has been able to learn the two counts amounting to $6(XX) are the tip of the iceberg Court documents show questionable checks the Hansen deposited into her personal account between The listed checks total SI 6 (XX) Mayor Morris Caspcrson says the evidence indicates lansen took at least $60 (XX) from the city and $40 (XX) from the landfill The fact that the plea agreement calls for lansen to immediately pay $30 (XX) in restitution suggests that even she acknowledges taking far more than the $6 (XX) covered in the two felony counts In other words I Jansen’s actions acid up not to an unfortunate indescretion but to a theft So w hy is she being permitted to plead to felonies charges that cover amounts less than $5 (XX)? Why did Ephraim City the landfill and e Blackham agree to drop 42 felony counts? I lansen may be a mother a former Sunday School teacher and a in the person community But do those factors qualify her for far less punishment than other Utah public f I Jansen’s officials have received for crimes of the same magnitude? For instance Blackburn pleaded guilty of taking about $157(XX) but prosecutors put the actual amount at about $300 (XX) True that’s almost three times the amount to which Hansen helped herself in the three years that have been investigated so far But Blackburn got up to 15 years in prison Yet the prosecution is recommending that Hansen get off with no jail time — and the city council is chiming in with a resolution of thanks? In fact the prosecution is recommending that if Hansen pays $30 (XX) immediately pays additional restitution that may be required during sentencing in January and completes felonies probation the should be reduced to misdemeanors Why? Those are just a few of the' questions Why didn’t investigators go back further than three years? Casperson and others have said they suspect the thefts may have begun far before 1999 Who at the Bank of Ephraim accepted deposits of checks made out to government entities known to be Hansen’s employers for deposit in her personal account? Has that person (or persons) been investigated for collusion? Was anyone working for Ephraim city or the landfill elected or appointed aware that Hansen was depositing payments to her personal account? How was Hansen able to cover up her thefts? We’ve been told records are in a shambles or are missing entirely If records including several years of city council minutes are missing where are they? Government integrity at all levels is critical to keeping the kind of corruption and tyranny that exists in other countries out of America That's why when elected officials or government employees steal from government it’s a much more serious crime than other thefts Given that fact the Messenger will not drop this story until the questions in this editorial are answered Forest ‘let it bum’ policy has real problems cover up the burnt stumps in years Second the wildfire that Mike Smith Staff writer f FAIRVIEW— The city will ixoon make up lor current deficits lin the budget the city council concluded at its meeting last week Mayor Don Worley said the biggest source of income would soon take a electricity sharp rise due to the onset of cold weather Income from electricity 'amounts to $700000 to date Show n on a linear graph the city is $1 7000 below target but on a curved graph with the increase due to the weather Fairs iew w ill be on budget city's Worley reported Fairview taken $60000 from fines and forfeitures ' A deficit of $470(X) was disussed with operating expenses sewage and water combined but the business and property taxes x3ue at the end of this year were had not included in the figure A motion w as tabled to place top signs to slow traffic on the Mountains ille Road leading out of Fairs iew on 200 East and 400 East The proposal met w ith no rom (lie council La von Stewart who is organi?ing the installation of the signs said “Every day I u itness oOeclion Mis cars driving about 50 mph up the street within the city limit we must install these signs! Speed limits do not deter the drivers” The city's beautification awards were announced by the beautification committee headed by Stewart Mr and Mrs Edward Bench Mr and Mrs Jay Barker Mr and Mrs Kelly Holden and Mr and Mrs Wayne Howell were the winners Each of these winners received a vote of thanks from the city for their efforts to make Fairview a better place to live and $25 credit toward their electric bill Council member Peggy met with county reprerecently to discuss county funding for the library and bookmobile The county assured the city that no current services will be lost but the county is looking for $500000 in county wide grant money to fix up libraries and other buildings The county is also setting up a book loaning program between city libraries If a particular book is not available at one library it Johnson sentatives can be sent to the library from another library in a matter of dav s Saiivte Counts has agreed to participate in the Six County Mitigation Resolution disaster project If any of the participat The forest t fire became Yellowstone a tragedy all over again Third although the column mentions logging as a method of it is obvious forest management that the Forest Service considered burning the forest a better method What a waste of millions of dollars worth of good useable lumber I burn wood to keep warm in the winter How many British thermal units (Btu) were allowed to go up in smoke? How many rav- - thousands of homes could have been heated in the winter? Fourth replacing conifers with aspen which are trash trees doesn’t do much for the lumber industry All you can use aspen for is to bum and the fuel doesn’t last long in the fireplace either Finally nothing was said in the column about how much animal life was lost in the fire What about the next generation of young trees that were burned? Wildfire is not discriminatory in what it kills Rex Anderson Manti Response by Forest Service to bum policy ber production and roughly another third of the forest is economically unsuitable Prescribed fire and wildland fire use are valuable tools to restore forest health in those areas Mr Gary Lyon noticed six truckstrailers with propane tanks used to power the SNOTEL collection sites used to forecast our annual water supand tanks for Bureau of Recply lamation cloud seeding All Forest Service efforts in Canyon had been focused on monitoring the fire up until Saturday Sept 18 when our efforts turned to suppression actions along the western boundary of the fire firefighters used pulaskis and shovels to dig a fireline to Rattlesnake Peak Two letters to the editor in last week’s Messenger deserves a response Mr Rex Anderson asked why we let the forest bum rather than sell the timber providing and lumber The employment editorial on the same page described some of the difficulties surrounding national forest timber sales and appeals Not every area on the forest lends itself to commercial timber harvest In many areas like Canyon the value of the timber is not enough to pay for the significant road reconstruction or long associated with a timber sales Almost half of the forest is not ecologically suitable for tim They then burned out the area between their fireline and the wildland fire thereby removing the fire’s fuel stopping its westward spread and ensuring the safety of the homeowners down the canyon I appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight for these gentleman and also want to take this opportunity to thank the Messenger staff for the excellent covWildland erage of the Fire Use especially last week’s informative editorial Nancy Ross Acting District Ranger Sanpete District National Forest ti Nominations are now being accepted for Snow College Distinguished Alumni If you would like to nominate someone please submit a letter stating their name and information about them that substantiates your recommendation Send your letter to: Snow College Foundation Box 1040 Ephraim UT 84627 (435) 283-705- 2 phone fax (435) 283-705- 5 Fairview City planning for budget deficits as electricity costs are expected to rise By aged Yellowstone was managed by the same policy that allowed Canyon to become a The Sept 22 “In Our Opin- ion” column regarding the fire contained a number of errors and problems First the turnaround in natural fire use is more than a couple of years old The policy was developed as it currently stands in August 2000 but actually the use of natural fires in the ecosystem goes back to 1973 all the forests Interestingly that have been allowed to burn since then are still burned-ou- t forests now — although new growth is coming — which should paulabrewersnowedu ing counties fall short of resources or need help they can call on members of the group to assist them One point of concern was the possibility of five coun- ties needing assistance and Sanpete being the sole entity to bail out the other counties A number of issues were discussed as the council worked on the wording of the rental agreement for the dance hall and the rodeo grounds For example dances and other large gatherings have created noise and small incidents around the rental areas so the city has imposed a requirement for a security guard Under the current wordage any renter must have a uniformed security guard present Forevents such as family reunions this may be unnecessary Under the current wording if renters are hav ing a family reunion they are required to pay an additional $20 fee for use of the barbecue pits and pavilions in the public park But because it is a public park anyone can use and pavilions free of charge The fee is meant to be a reservation fee but the agreement doesn’t make that clear The council will meet Oct 12th with the 9 19 11 Main Gunnison &!& FOR WOMEN Stressed? the exercise program that’s fun social and motivating! Out of Shape? Programmed Accomodating Circuit Exercise TYy Lack of Energy? pits their new proposals am to 5 pm PACE WORKS FOR EVERYONE Total body strength and aerobic exercise Bums more calories than other circuits Increases lean body weight decreases fat Improves flexibility and daily functions Accommodates everyone's abilities Fun social safe and motivating Flexibility Cardio and Strength Training in just 30 minutes! |