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Show 75¢ Girl Scouts A9,10 Gunnison Valley Edition www.sanpetemessenger.com VOL. 86 • NUMBER 36 SANPETE WEA THER EATHER FORECAST High/Low % precip. Wednesday Cloudy, 78/43 ............. 5% Thursday T-Storms, 76/44 ....... 15% Friday T-Storms, 76/44 ....... 15% Saturday T-Storms, 77/49 ....... 20% Last Week’s Weather (Courtesy Ted Olson, Snow College) Date Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Max. 80 82 78 87 88 83 82 Min. Prec. 46 43 45 trace 43 46 44 43 AT A GLANCE Final court meetings scheduled County commissioners plan to wrap up a series of town meetings by next week to inform residents about a proposal to build a new courts building, which voters will decide in November. They have scheduled the meetings as follows: Gunnison—Sept. 19, 7 p.m. Ephraim—Sept. 19, 8 p.m. Centerfield—Sept. 20, 7 p.m. Moroni—Sept. 20, 8 p.m. Sterling—Sept. 21 7 p.m. Mt. Pleasant—Sept. 25, 6:30 p.m. Taste of Home Cooking School The Taste of Home Cooking School will be Tuesday, Sept. 25 at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield. The doors open at 6 p.m., with the pre-show starting at 6:30. Call (435) 893-2223 for tickets or information. Red Rock Rondo set for Thursday at Casino Theatre “Red Rock Rondo,” a series of songs based on the people of Zion Canyon, will be performed Thursday at 7 p.m. at Gunnison’s Casino Star Theatre. A suggested donation for the Casino Star program is $8 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Advance tickets are available at Rasmussen’s Ace Hardware in Gunnison and at the Sanpete Messenger office in Manti. Campground fees increased By Richard Hales The U.S. Forest Service is proposing new fees and fee increases at several local Forest Service campgrounds and recreational areas. According to the Forest Service, the proposed new fee sites and fee increases are necessary due to higher costs generated by increased use in the proposed areas, increased costs of materials and labor, and aging facilities. The proposed increases would affect the following areas: Lake Hill Campground and Manti Community Campground would increase from $8 to $10 per site per night, Lake Canyon Recreation Area from $3 per vehicle to $5 per vehicle per night, South Hughes Campground group site from $50 to $60 per night, Gooseberry Campground from $6 to $10 per site per night and the group site from $40 to $50 per night, and Gooseberry Reservoir Campground from $5 to $10 per night. MANTI, UTAH • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007 Two Sanpete schools fail on AYP test Economically disadvantaged subgroup at Gunnison Elementary doesn’t pass By Sara Hansen Staff writer Ephraim Middle School and Gunnison Valley Elementary School were among 254 Utah schools that failed to make “Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) last year,” according to a report released Monday from the Utah State Office of Education. All other schools in Sanpete County met the standard. AYP, mandated under the U.S. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, uses various test scores to evaluate whether schools are continuously improving education performance. For evaluation purposes, students are grouped according to their economic circumstances and ethnicity. Scores are assigned to each subgroup based on test performance of the children in the group. If any subgroup scores below a defined target, the school fails. The target increases every two years. By 2014, every student in every subgroup must achieve a “passing” or “proficient” score on standardized math and language arts tests in order for the school to meet AYP. Although EMS and GVES are the first South Sanpete schools to fail AYP, South Sanpete Superintendent Donald Hill defended them. “Even though EMS and GVES did not make AYP this year, they are fine schools with great students and excellent staffs… These two schools, along with the other schools in the South Sanpete School District, will continue to work and strive for academic excellence in all areas with all students,” Hill said. EMS Principal Kirk Anderson said the faculty and students at his school are resilient. Yes, they are sad about the results, he said, but they will only be driven that much harder to do better this coming year. The school will focus on improving test scores of all students even though it was only the students-with-disabilities subgroup that did not meet the AYP target. Kent Larsen, who was principal at EMS last year, said the test is not a fair assessment of students who have disabilities because the test treats these students as if they were no different from other students and makes no accommodation for their disabilities. At GVES, it was the economically disadvantaged subgroup that did not meet the AYP target. The school has called a special staff meeting to discuss how next year’s test scores can be improved. Teachers have been encouraged to bring their ideas to the meeting. According to information from the Utah State Office of Education, EMS and GVES face no consequences, other than an official warning, since it is the first year that either school failed AYP. However, if either schools fails again next year, parents must be notified, a twoyear improvement plan must be developed, and if a parent wishes, the school must provide transportation for the student to a different school. If either school fails a third consecutive year, tutoring must be made available to all of the students. After five years of consecutive failure, plans for an alternative government (See “AYP” on A8) Sanpete deputy arrested, drug charges pending By John Hales Staff writer MANTI—Sanpete County Attorney Ross Blackham is awaiting police and investigation reports from the Utah County Sheriff’s Department before filing charges against a Sanpete County sheriff’s deputy arrested last week. As of Monday afternoon, Sept. 17, Blackham said he had not yet received reports from officers who investigated and, last Wednesday, arrested Deputy John Earl Stevens, Gunnison, on drug charges. “I have talked to them on the telephone, and they said they were putting it together and would get it to me as soon as possible,” Blackham said. Until he was able to review the case, Blackham did not want to say too much. But from what he did say and from an arrest and probable-cause affidavit made available by the Utah 4th District Court in Provo, basic facts are known. According to those sources, Stevens had been working with the Sanpete County Sheriff’s Department since January 2004. At the time of his arrest, he was assigned to the Central Utah Narcotics Task Force’s K-9 unit. KAREN PRISBREY / MESSENGER PHOTO John Earl Stevens On Sept. 5, Stevens admitted using cocaine and methamphetamine to Sanpete County Sheriff Kevin Holman. Stevens underwent a urine drug-analysis, which tested positive for both substances. Holman placed Stevens on administrative leave and initiated an investigation. Since that investigation involved one of his own deputies, Holman “decided he should call an outside investigator to avoid the appearance of any impropriety,” Blackham said. “He consulted with me on Monday, Sept. 10, and called [the Utah County Sheriff’s Office] (See “Arrested” on A2) Consortium recommends philosophies needed to fight substance abuse By Karen Prisbrey Staff writer Editor’s Note—This is the first of a two-part series describing one of the major components of the philosophy of the Gunnison Valley Substance Abuse Committee, an organization formed this summer to fight the problem of substance abuse locally. The committee subscribes to the “40-Developmental Assets of Building Blocks for Young People.” Part one deals with external assets, part two will deal with internal assets. GUNNISON—Representatives from throughout the Gunnison Valley have joined to take action against the pervasive influence of alcohol and substance abuse in local communities. The group, known as the Gunnison Valley Substance Abuse Committee, has become active since its organization over the summer. “There are only a handful of families in the valley that haven’t been touched in some way by this menace,” said Chairman Blake Donaldson. “Why do some kids beat the odds in difficult situations, while others get trapped?” That very question is answered, in part, by research conducted by Search Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Minneapolis that specializes on children and youth. That research has revealed that the difference between troubled teens and those leading healthy, productive lives is strongly affected by the presence of “developmental assets.” The usual definition of assets is “property or resources,” but developmental assets are building blocks for human development in a young person’s life that increase in value over time. They are resources upon which a child can draw again and again. 40 assets Forty developmental assets have been identified by Search Institute that help young people grow up healthy, caring and responsible. These assets are divided into two sections, external (See “Consortium” on A2) Trench work is being done to accommodate the venting pipes from the basement of Lila Lee Apparel. The impact to main street businesses is now shifting from environmental to economics. Gas leak damage extends from environmental to economics By Karen Prisbrey Staff writer GUNNISON—Business and city leaders in Gunnison are hopeful that last month’s gas leak on Main Street will be an opportunity, rather than a detriment, for the city’s business district. On Aug. 10, gasoline fumes permeated the sidewalks and buildings along Main Street in Gunnison, forcing the closure of all businesses between Center Street and 100 South. Sanpete County Hazmat Officer Nathan Miner, along with a team of experts from Wasatch Environmental (a environmental consulting firm in Salt Lake City) determined that more than 20,000 gallons of gas had leaked out of bulk storage tanks at the Top Stop Convenience Store and seeped through the ground into the basements of several local businesses. The closure of businesses even for one day had a financial impact on Main Street, and the resulting construction, venting, and cleanup process further compromised the economic stability of those businesses. (See “Main Street” on A2) Mayfield, Manti primary winners prepare for general election By John Hales Staff writer The Town of Mayfield and Manti City have finalized their respective lists of candidates for the upcoming municipal elections. On Tuesday, Sept. 11, Manti held a primary election that narrowed a field of eight candidates down to six, two for each open seat on the city council seat. That same evening, Mayfield’s Democrats met to select candidates for mayor and three city council positions. The town’s Republicans nominated their candidates a night later, Sept. 12. Manti primaries In Manti, Kenneth Glenn and Chip Davis were eliminated from the race, leaving Loren Thompson, Alan Justesen, Galen Christiansen, Jason Vernon, Robin Benton and Benton Peterson to contend for the three four-year council seats up for election in November. Of 1,749 registered voters, 378 turned out to the polls. That equates to about 21.6 percent. That percentage compared unfavorably with past primaryelection voter turnout, said city deputy recorder JoAnn Otten. Her explanation for the low numbers was, “A lot people said they didn’t know about it. If they didn’t, then they weren’t paying attention. It was in the paper,” she said. “I’m hearing that from election judges, and from phone calls we got before the election. People didn’t know where to vote, and wondered what they were voting for.” Mayfield conventions Mayfield is one of two municipalities that still hold partisan elections (Ephraim City is the other, and will hold its conventions tomorrow). Democrats and Republicans met to nominate candidates for two four-year term town-council positions, one twoyear council position and the remaining two years of the mayoral term. As in Manti’s primary elections, Mayfield’s Republican convention was not well attended, according to town Republican Chair Margaret Amy. When asked how many people were at the convention, Amy said, “I don’t even want to say. It wasn’t a very good turnout.” The indication of that, she said, was that “everyone there was nominated [for] something.” That means about four people were there. Those nominees are John Christensen, mayor; Kenny Jensen, four-year council; Wayne Connelly, four-year council; and Alan Gardner, two-year council. While Amy said she was almost embarrassed by her party’s showing, quite the opposite was true for Democratic Chair Alan Peterson, who described attendance at his convention as “phenomenal.” “Historically, Mayfield has been able to hold their Democratic conventions in a rented phone booth—we could count on one person. But we went up 800 percent. We had eight or nine people there.” Of those, four were selected to vie against Republicans in November: Alan Peterson, mayor; Johnny Anderson, fouryear council; Richard Bjerregaard, four-year council; Terry Madsen, two-year council. Municipal general elections will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 6. |