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Show """ Fork News Salt Lake City UT 84124-1550 AN The E D I T I O N O F P R I D E L O C A L L Y P f O W N E D VOL. 4 / NO. 5 || l l |,,l.,l...ll..l.l.l»lM>IIll>l>il<l*ll»l»l A N D O P E R A T E D WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2009 50?! SPANISH FORK, UTAH Congratulations Mr. President Creed Stephenson chosen as Chamber of Commerce President for the Spanish Fork/Salem area. Marilyn Nielson STAFF WRITER Creed Stephenson, of Spanish Fork, has been chosen as the new Chamber of Commerce President for the Spanish Fork/Salem area. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce offices are moving into the city building this week. Stephenson grew up in Spanish Fork and attended Spanish Fork High School. He graduated in Accounting from UVU, and he and his wife, Heather, have three children with one more on the way. He manages the Spanish Fork branch of Title West. The Chamber of Commerce's main purpose is to promote businesses in the area. "Our big campaign is encouraging people to shop and think locally," says Stephenson. "We want to promote healthy businesses in the community and help keep businesses here, and that all happens by getting people to shop here in their own area." One way the Chamber of Commerce accomplishes this goal is simply by educating residents about which businesses are here in Spanish Fork and Salem. "We publish a business directory every year which tells a little bit about the history of the area, lists the Chamber members, and then is basically a Yellow Pagestype directory of which businesses are in the area," Stephenson says. "We are also working on a new website which should be up soon, and that will list some of the same information." Stephenson says that as President, he especially wants to focus on giving value to a membership in the Chamber of Commerce. "Sometimes businesses might see Chamber membership as kind of a useless thing, more of a donation than anything else," Stephenson says, "but we are really working on making it more than that." As Chamber members, businesses attend quarterly meetings and workshops, find sponsorship and advertising opportunities, and are included in business directories like the one described above. Stephenson also has other plans for adding value to Chamber of Commerce membership, such as monthly networking luncheons where members can go to hear from speakers, learn new skills, and connect with oth- er business owners for advice and idea-sharing. The Chamber of Commerce also sponsors several activities and events designed to raise awareness in the community. For example, there is the Easter Egg Hunt in the Spring, the annual Christmas Lights Parade, and the SF Chamber/Rotary Club Golf Tournament, which provides college scholarships to local high school students. "Businesses can get involved with these events by sponsoring them, advertising at them, donating items, and things like that," Stephenson says. "It's a good opportunity for helping the public get to know your business better." MR. PRESIDENT: Creed Stephenson has been chosen as the new Chamber of Commerce President. Stephenson's plans include giving more value to a having a membership in the Chamber. Woodland Dental is making Calling 911 is dental work more comfortable costly for cities Christene Choate Hilarie t STAFF WRITER STAFF WRITER Woodland Dental in Salem is offering the latest technologies in dental health care. David Hansen is the practicing dentist at Woodland Dental graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry in May of 2007. Hansen worked for his father in Spanish Fork for a few months before opening Woodland Dental in August 2007. Hansen loves his job, "My desire to be a dentist came from seeing how much my dad enjoyed going to work," said Hansen, "I love meeting new people. It is great to improve on how people, smile, eat and speak." Some of the new technology used by Woodland Dental are the new digital x-rays. These emit about 1/6 of the radiation of traditional film w-rays and are immediately displayed on a TV screen that can be viewed by the patient. Hansen is also certified to place Lumineers. These porcelain veneers are as thin as a contact lens and do not require the removal of sensitive tooth structure. As such, no use of anesthetic is needed. Invisilign, the latest technology in clear braces is also offered at Woodland Dental as well as an in office whitening that gets your teeth sigV t When you call 911, there are costs to your city, and those costs have been rising steeply. Cities pay a fee to the county for maintaining the equipment and people involved in dispatching your call to the police or other emergency services. That fee was $11 a year ago and $15.50 as of last summer. But that is only a fraction of the real cost. County Commissioner Larry Ellertson said that the annual cost of running the facility is $1.7 million, which is an average of nearly $25 per call. Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News DENTAL WORK: The staff of Woodland Dental, pictured, left to right, are Dr. David Hansen, Anna Halladay, Katie Durfey and JaNae Orton. nificantly whiter within an hour. An intra-oral camera allows patients to see exactly what the doctor sees inside the mouth. It allows for little confusion when describing to the patient where a crown or filling is needed. To ensure the patient is comfortable, Woodland Dental offers blankets, massaging chairs, TV's, fresh baked bread, laughing gas, sedation and a friendly staff. "Part of our mission is to make dental procedures are as comfortable as possible," said Hansen, "Our mission statement reflects our values; provide gentle dental care in a peaceful environment. Provide the highest quality of dentistry in the most sterile environment and take care of patients with dignity and take care of them with integrity." Woodland Dental is gladly accepting new patients and take a variety of insurance plans. They also offer a Woodland Dental Membership Discount Plan, it offers clean- ings, exams and x-rays for a highly discounted rates and a significant amount of all other services. Woodland Dental is open 5 days a week with evening hours every Thursday and extended hours every other Saturday. Woodland Dental is located at 204 East 400 North Suite A, Salem which is across the highway from Chevron/Burger King, next to Neways. You can contact them at their website www.woodlanddentalpractice.com or call at 801-426-0905. "We kept trying to raise the fee to cover the real costs," he said, "but the cities complained. We decided that a special services district would give them more say in managing the dispatch center." According to Ellertson, participating cities agreed that starting in 2009, they would pay the real costs of the service instead of using part of the Sheriff's Office budget to cover operations. Ellertson dispelled some of the mystery surrounding the Special Services District for Emergency Dispatch Services that was formed last year to take over management of Utah County's dispatch services for some cities and unincorporated areas. Last September Ellertson said that the district would be running the service starting at the first of the year, but it is only beginning to ramp up. On Jan. 13 the district _ J held a meeting to swear in the board members, and on Jan. 15 they met in closed session. We don't know who was there, because the minutes have not been released, but we do know that Tom O'Grady, the designated representative for WH, was not there, because he had not received any notice of the meetings. Julie Haskell of Elk Ridge was there. The district board plans to meet on the second Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. in the County Commission offices. The public announcements of the first meetings were posted at the county building. Ellertson explained the logistical difficulties of getting started. The district is not part of county government, and it does not yet have a website or a clerk to post notices in local papers. Future meetings will be announced through the state website, Utah Public Meeting Notices http://www.utah. gov/pmn/index.html. At the current time, the sheriff's department continues to manage the center, under the direction of Lt. Yvette Rice. The district will hire an executive director who will take over during the summer. The board has already started reviewing resumes. We were unable to reach Lt. Rice to get information about the call load, but the cost estimates indicate that the dispatch center handles See 911 • A4 |