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Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black A4 Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition IN OUR OPINION ... Break bureaucratic death-grip on Narrows Periodically, when we review the history of an issue, our mouths drop open in shock as a picture of obsfucation and injustice comes into focus. That was the Messenger’s reaction last week at a press conference held at the site of the proposed Narrows dam and reservoir in Fairview Canyon. At the press conference, called by the Sanpete Water Conservancy District (SWCD) and county commission, we received a 70-year chronology of plans, applications, promises and contracts to build the Narrows dam and reservoir in Fairview Canyon. Yet when our newspaper’s representative and others at the conference gazed out at the location where the reservoir is supposed to be, we saw a basin filled with grass and brush. The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) proposed the Narrows Project, originally called the Gooseberry Project, in 1933 to meet water needs in Sanpete County and in our next-door neighbor Carbon County. How can it be that components of the project benefitting Carbon County have been operational for 60 years while components benefitting Sanpete County are on hold pending a third envionmental impact study? How is it possible that Carbon County is getting not only all of the water it was supposed to receive through the project—but also all of the water Sanpete County was supposed to receive? Why is a 3,000-ft. tunnel through the mountains, built 40 years ago, carrying only a fraction of the water it is capable of transporting? As a PR representative for the SWCD put it, the more one looks into the Narrows Project history, the more one realizes that there are no acceptable answers. Quite simply, the Narrows Project has fallen into what the representative called the “death grip” of bureaucracy. We don’t have space to go into all of the arguments for and against the project. But we believe the whole discussion boils down to a few simple points. Sanpete County is one of the more arid counties in Utah. Engineers say that in an average year, the county is 15,000 acre-feet short of the water needed to adequately supply agriculture, industry and homes. Northern Sanpete County is one of the few areas of Utah with no water storage facility to draw from when water demand exceeds supply. The county has repeatedly established its right to water originating on the eastern slope of the Wasatch Plateau—but inside our borders. But the only way we can obtain or use our water is to build the Narrows Project, which would capture, store and deliver the water to our populated areas. Enviromental groups claim Sanpete could get as much water through conservation as by building the Narrows Dam. Baloney. Sanpete is already one of the most waterconserving counties in Utah. We are one of the few counties where most towns have separate culinary and irrigation systems so that lower quality water not suitable for drinking can be used to water lawns and gardens. There’s no way still more conservation, even if possible, could send 5,400 acre-feet of additional water flowing down north Sanpete streams and canals each year. But the Narrows Project can. In fact, the Narrows Project is a huge water conservation asset because it will capture and store water that is currently overfilling Scofield Reservoir in Carbon County and, consequently, being spilled downstream, ultimately running into the Gulf of Mexico. The project includes a host of features to help fish and wildlife flourish and to reduce water pollution. It will do far more good than harm to the environment of the region. Sanpete has one of the lowest per capita income levels in the state. The Narrows Project will raise farm income, bring in recreation business and support growth that, like it or not, is spilling into our county from the Wasatch Front. We commend county leaders for calling the press conference last week to blow the whistle on the feds and say, “Enough is enough.” Now, Sanpete residents must act. That means you—the person reading this editorial. Read the articles on pages 1-2. Then write to the officials listed in the box on page 2. Send a copy of your letters to the elected representatives listed in the box. Then send the Messenger a copy, too, so we can post it on our website. We Sanpeters have the power to break the bureaucratic death grip that has delayed the Narrows Project for 70 years. Let’s make 2006 the year we break ground for a dam in the same brush-filled basin where last week’s press conference was held. Wednesday, July 13, 2005 LETTERS TO EDITOR POLICIES This policy is posted on the Messenger website. Click “Opinion”, then click “Letters to the Editor.” 1) Letters must be in good taste. 2) Generally, the Messenger runs letters from Sanpete County residents and out-of-county subscribers only. At the discretion of the editor, the Messenger may, on rare occasion, run a letter from an out-ofcounty writer if it directly relates to Sanpete County. 3) Letters must include the author’s name, hometown and phone number. The phone number will not be published, and is used only if the editor must contact the author. 4) Occasionally, we will withhold printing the author’s name, but only when there is sufficient reason (for instance, if the letter reveals embarrassing or confidential information that is critical to making a point). However, the author must provide all information outlined in #3 to the newspaper. 5) Letters are limited to 500 words. The Messenger retains the right to edit letters in excess of 500 words, although our general practice is to refer the letter back to the author for revision. 6) Letters from the same author are limited to one per month. 7) The Messenger will make efforts to contact and gain a reply from private individuals or organizations criticized in a letter-to-the-editor prior to publishing the letter, when such criticism is deemed to be potentially libelous. 8) We reserve the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and taste. TO THE EDITOR... Blocking growth hurts everyone It would be nice to go back. In the good old days, when someone new came into an area, the people all rallied around them and helped them cut logs and build a barn and set up a home. My, how things have changed. Today it is block them out with impact fees, animal smell and zoning laws set to block growth of any kind. Make people keep a whole acre of land (Spring City) for one home and prevent them from Staff writer MONA—Knights are wearing shining armor, peasants are attending to lords and ladies, and people from all over the country are celebrating the harvest of lavender at the Young Living Family Farm. During the week of its third annual Lavender Festival, held July 9-16 from 10 a.m.-8 p.m., the farm will be harvesting morethan 160 acres of lavender. The farm consists of more than 1600 acres of various herbs. The Young Living Family Farm invites the public to come and share in the excitement of the harvest with a medieval celebration. Events include jousting, swordplay, a javelin toss, and an old-fashioned medieval comedy roast by the event announcers. Guests are invited to walk through the medieval town, talk with townspeople (volunteers in period dress), participate in archery practice, and ride a variety of medieval themed rides, especially popular for the younger crowds. Across the pond is an old western main street, complete with a shootout and plenty of staged mayhem. When guests get hungry there are a number of places within the farm to get food, but the restaurant in the visitor’s center, Whispering Springs Restaurant, is what customers call the “finest restaurant in Mona.” The restaurant uses Young Family Oils as seasonings in many of its foods, replacing sugar and dried herbs. Shane Memmott, chef at the Whispering Springs restaurant said, “Cooking with essential oils adds a ‘fresh from the garden’ flavor to every recipe. When you use dried herbs, they have a stale taste that is never as good as fresh cut herbs. Essential oils always have the same full flavor as fresh cut herbs and because they are so concentrated, you do not have to use as much. Cooking with essential oils gives you your very own yearround herb garden.” Aside from entertaining guests at the festival, the mission of the farm is “to bring back the ancient knowledge of the elements that were given to man at the time of the creation for the healing, sustaining and protection of mankind.” The Young Living Family Farm website makes reference to ancient records that indicate natural elements were mankind’s first medicine. They claim essential oils were used by Christ and biblical prophets such as Abraham and Moses as well as kings, priests, emperors and pharaohs from different cultures and times, to pro- ish to share the earth. We must share the earth! We must! Our posterity needs space. Where? Over there in that other man’s community? Think a little bit about what you do when you block and fight growth. Truly with love for my community and all you people, I love Manti and all central Utah and want the very best for all its people. Alice Leatham Manti Palisade Pals hold yearly weekend event The Palisade Pals held their camp for disabled children at the Palisade State Park this last weekend and for the first time I saw a clown cry real tears. But these were tears of joy. One of our young participants took a big card around last Friday and had everyone sign it saying how much they love “Willy” (Lamar Williams of Manti). It was orchestrated by the kids themselves with no coaching from parents or guardians and was a spontaneous showing of respect and admiration. You deserve it Willy, congratulations! This summer marks the 23rd year of the Palisade Pals and I would like to say thanks to all the hard working volunteers that have helped to make it such a great success. A special thanks to Diane Denton and her family for their continuing and tireless support. Their efforts have thrilled many children over the years. One again, I wish to say thanks to everyone involved with the Palisade Pals and our day camps for disabled children. We couldn’t do it without your support. Bill Peterson, President Palisade Pals, Inc. NEWS Appeals court sends Hancock, TLC back to Sixth District By John Hales Assignment editor SALT LAKE CITY—Two former members of the True and Living Church of Saints of the Last Days (TLC) will get a third crack at suing the church and some of its leaders, following an appellate court decision handed down last week. On Friday, July 8 the Utah Court of Appeals reversed 6th District Judge David L. Mower’s dismissal of the case of Kaziah Hancock and Cindy Stewart v. TLC, et al, and ordered the case back to the 6th District for further proceedings. In a unanimous decision, appellate court justices William Knights, peasants mark lavender harvest By Ben Fox splitting it with their children, because dividing it might crowd you or make things change. You might need to share the roads and water with more people. How does that sound? I don’t think I want to be a part of that kind of thinking or behavior. That’s why I say the hard things I have said to people. Take a step back and look at what you do to society as a whole. Satan tells people there is not enough and makes them too self- mote youthfulness, beauty and the protection from disease and plagues. They also site that science continues to validate the many powerful uses of essential oils. Gary Young founded Young Living Family Farms in 1993. Starting the farm was just another step along the road of what he calls “a quest for knowledge” in selfhealing. Young was in an accident that left him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. He was unwilling to accept his fate and began to search for natural ways to heal his body, which he has done, and credits to the use of natural oils and herbs and their healing properties. Young soon formulated his own herbal food supplements and various products with essential oils, and he says, “It set me on the path that I follow today.” Young will be jousting on Friday, July 15 at 2 p.m. A. Thorne, Jr., Judith M. Billings, and Pamela T. Greenwood stated that Mower, as the trial court judge, abused his discretion when he dismissed the case. “It’s the right decision,” said Clark R. Nielsen, Salt Lake City, an attorney who assisted in the appeal. The decision means that for the third time in seven years— after having already won their lawsuit once in 2002, but then having it retried and dismissed 2003—Hancock and Stewart will get to try to win monetary damages from the TLC and several of its leaders, whom they say defrauded them. Hancock and Stewart sued the TLC and at least eight of its leaders in 1998, alleging those leaders had made promises to them in return for significant sums of money, but that those promises were never kept. In Hancock’s case, she says church leaders promised in 1996 to give her property and support in return for time and money she donated to the church. She says she was dismissed from the church in 1997 without receiving the promised benefits. Also in return for her contribution, she says, church leaders promised her a face-to-face meeting with Jesus Christ. That promise, too, went unfulfilled. Stewart says she contributed her entire retirement savings to church leaders, who promised to repay the full amount plus the costs and penalties for early withdrawal. Stewart never saw a dime from the church and was excommunicated in 1997. After a jury awarded nearly $300,000 to the women in 2002, Judge Mower ordered a new trial when he found that there wasn’t enough information to properly apportion the damages between the defendants. But in August 2003, after the plaintiffs had filed their second complaint, Mower agreed to a defense motion that dismissed certain claims the jury in the original trial had upheld. The plaintiffs’ attempted to file an amended complaint, but Mower blocked the move for three reasons: that the motion was untimely, that all necessary parties had not been included as defendants in the lawsuit, and that the complaint would require the court to judge religious doctrines, which is not permitted by law. The plaintiffs appealed Mower ’s decision, and last week the appeals court ruled that Mower was wrong on all three counts. “We determine that the trial court exceeded its permitted range of discretion when it denied Plaintiffs’ motion …” the appellate decision states, and then goes on to explain why each of the three reasons Mower gave for dismissing the case was invalid. The Appeals Court decision ensures that the plaintiffs’ amended complaint will at least be considered by the court, but falls short of what Hancock’s and Stewart’s lawyers originally wanted. Attorney Nielsen says the initial appeal requested that the jury’s verdict from the first trial be reinstated. The appellate judges refused to consider that issue, however, since the verdict was never completed by a judge’s order. The case should arrive back in the 6th District in approximately two weeks, Nielsen said. |