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Show ' ' " AN The ED IT I O N OF L O C A L L Y P R I D E & * ' aa omtierez 1521 E 3900 SSte 100 Salt Lake City UT 84124-1550 P R O llMlnl..l...ll..l.l.l.,lM,ll.l.l..l.l,fl,M,<l.l,i.l. Fork News O W N E D A N D O P E R A T E D WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2008 VOL. 3 / NO. 35 SPANISH FORK, UTAH SF JUSTICE CENTER Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News HALLS OF JUSTICE: Spanish Fork's Police Department held an open house for the new Justice Center, which includes a police department and court rooms. SFPD host open house at state-of-the-art facili Namon Bills EDITOR police building specifically built for that purpose. "This is huge. It's something On Thursday, Aug. 21, mem- we've never had — a police debers of the community had the partment specifically dedicated opportunity to see sections of the and built for police function," said new Spanish Fork Justice Center Lieutenant Steve Adams. they may never see again — hopeAccording to a document comfully. Spanish Fork Police Depart- piled by Police Chief Dee Rosenment personnel led small groups baum, the idea for the building on a tour of the new facility from came from an ad hoc building 4—6 p.m. Visitors saw all aspects committee organized in 2004 unof the building, from court rooms der the direction of then Mayor and offices to the evidence lab and Dale Barney. In their findings, holding cells. posted March 2005, the commitThis is a historic occasion for tee, composed of Duane HutchSpanish Fork, since this is the first ings, Leonard Ellis, Sterling Leif- son, Rick Evans and Dave Lewis, cited an immediate need for a new police/court building. Ground breaking and construction began in April 2007, with completion earlier this month. Adams said the police department will probably begin conducting operations in the building on Sept. 8,2008. Adams explained that the building was built to serve a population of 65.000 — about twice Spanish Fork's current size. "They really looked to the future," Adams said. Adams explained that the building will have some empty of- fice space for a while, since Spanish Fork currently has 30 sworn officers — proportionate to the city's current population of about 30,000 — and the justice center is built to accommodate 60. A lot of research went into the design and building of the justice center. Rosenbaum and others spoke with police departments in several communities to get recommendations on what to include in the building. "We received lots of advice from those who had built buildings like this," said Adams. Among other things, the state- of-the-art facility includes an exercise room to help officers prepare for their annual fitness test, a secure evidence area for testing and storage of evidence and a sally port designed to transport prisoners directly to the court without ever passing through a public or staff area. The court section of the building is leased and run by the State of Utah. It includes a juvenile court, a district court and a probation department. A formal ribbon cutting for the court will be held Friday, Aug. 29. Due to limited seating capacity, the event will be invitation only. SF man places fifth in nation Jeril Bills STAFF WRITER Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News WIND POWER: Spanish Fork's wind turbines are set at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon. Wind farm set for ribbon cutting Clair Jones STAFF WRITER On Saturday, Sept. 6 official ribbon cutting ceremonies will be held for Spanish Fork's wind farm, one of the first urban-area commercial wind farms. Located near Spanish Fork Canyon, the collection of nine turbines (or windmills) has been in the works since 2004. Now generaJly accepted as a positive addition to the community, the creation and development of the wind farm went through some turbulent times. Four years ago, Winward Engineering's Dean Davis contacted Tracy Livingston, Chief Executive Officer of Wasatch Wind of Heber City, and told him about the powerful winds that he had witnessed while conducting turbine studies in the area. Livingston immediately saw the opportunity See WIND • A10 If you want tips on turning your truck or jeep into a rock-tough mud-splashing, hard-towing, obstacledodging, racing machine, Byron Hair is the man to talk to. This June he placed fifth in Four Wheeler Magazine's Top Truck Challenge in California. The Challenge is a contest for jeeps and four-byfour trucks featuring time trials through seven different courses, each with a unique challenge. Each contestant builds a truck and sends a picture of it to the magazine for consideration. Hair became interested in the event reading the magazine and watching the DVD about it. "I just love what they do," he said. "I love the big jeeps and lots of power and just seeing who can get over the obstacles the fastest." Building the truck was the first task. "I took a '77 Wagoneer that I put Rockwell axles in and did all custom suspension on it. [I also] put a roll cage in, [as well as a] bigger motor, [and a] whole bunch of different stuff to make it bigger and badder and faster," said Hair. The magazine selected his iruck as one of the top 50, and then magazine readers voted him into the top 10, qualifying him to compete in the big event. Hair's reaction to the Courtesy photo ROUGH COMMUTE: Byron Hair competes in Four Wheeler magazine's Top Truck Challenge, above. Hair placed fifth in the nation. news was one of joyful astonishment. "I was kind of surprised ... I didn't think I'd get in, [because] Wagoneers are pretty ugly. Nobody really likes [them]. But I guess [there are] a couple of people out there [who do], and I owe a lot to the guys ... here in Spanish Fork. There [were] a lot of people that voted for me ... I appreciated that." Then it was off to California, where Hair and his brother and co-driver Aaron competed in the mud pit, the tow test (in which each contestant had to tow a 38,000- pound water truck up a dirt hill), the frame twister (featuring several big logs and other things the racers had to cross), the mini-Rubicon (in which contestants had to cross a bunch of large rocks), the obstacle course, and the hill climb. Hair placed fifth overall. Of the results, Hair said, "It was good ... we had a few problems, so I was excited with fifth ...I'll take that." The highlight of the competition for Hair was winning the biggest and final event, the tank trap, in which contestants had to scale a wash with about seven five-to-seven-foot water pits in it. He ran the event in eight minutes and eight seconds. "As far as I know I have one of the fastest times ever going through it, and [I think I'm] the only one who has ever made it through [the course] without using a winch," he saidHair doesn't want this to have been a one-time experience. He said he plans to build a new vehicle and try again in about a year or a year-and-a-half. He wishes to thank Skiba Auto for helping him on the project. |