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Show 2 Thursday, February 23, 2006 S P R I N G V I L LE HERALD DO MMENTS i-... Support Public Education, we have SCHOOL CHOICE already Editor: .' Please don't let your lawmakers law-makers use your tax dollars for what they believe is School Choice in education! The Lobbying Group and the lawmakers want you to believe that the Voucher System Sys-tem is for School Choice for education. I just recently heard an ad on the radio for School Choice and was quite dumb founded. It was a young girl who apparently is having trouble in school with her classes and making friends. The mother makes a remark stating that if there was choice in education then her daughter would not be in the situation she is now. HOG WASH! We already have School Choice! The Utah PUBLIC Education Educa-tion already allows for School Choice. The lawmakers lawmak-ers are not making that clear to you. Instead, they want to use OUR tax dollars to spend on a VERY SMALL minority to send them to PRIVATE SCHOOLS! Did you know that Utah PUBLIC schools allow for students to transfer to other schools if they are, basically, not satisfied with what they have? Is that not School Springville Police Springville Police had 182 calls last week including 18 for animal related problems. Robert Charles Anderson, 595 S. 400 East, Springville, was arrested for two outstanding out-standing warrants, two counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and failure to register as a sex offender. Timothy Truett Barnes, 535 S. 469 East, Springville, was arrested for a .warrant. ' Steven Jay Clayton, 527 S. 1390 West, Provo, was ar- ; rested for DUI. Vance Wayne Dhooge, 280 E. 300 North 8, Springville, was arrested for a warrant. " David A. Hoggard, 169 E. ' 200 North, Spanish Fork, was arrested for open con Nowisthe time ; It's time to get prepared for ' Easter, Memorial Day, vacation, vaca-tion, confirmation, graduation, gradua-tion, Christmas, or a wedding, wed-ding, but for a disaster or pmprtrpnrv Oh nnl O J ' We have no time for that! We have no money for that! We're too busy or too poor or too much forgotten by our elected officials. It's not important. im-portant. It doesn't matter because be-cause nothing bad will happen hap-pen to us anyway. Why worry? wor-ry? Besides, President Bush, Governor Bush, Governor Blanco, Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff and . so many others tell us that government will be there to help us. Our local off icials tell us how prepared they are if the big one comes. What can we do anyway? Springville Herald . 269 E. 400 South ; Springville, UT 84663 An edition of The Daily Herald, a Pulitzer, Inc. Newspaper Subscriptions & Delivery Service ....375-5 103 News & Advertising 489-5651 Fax 489-7021 E-mail artcityavpro.com USPS 513-060 Published Thursdays by Lee Enterprises. Inc., 269 E. 400 S.. Springville, Utah 84663 Periodicals postage paid at Springville, Utah 84663 Postmaster: Send address changes to 269 East 400 South. Springville. UT 84663 Member: Audit Bureau of Circulations News ,, We welcome news tips. Call 489-5651 to report a news tip or if you have a comment or a questions. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the authors name ( printed and signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, punctuation, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. . Choice? If you don't like the electives offered at one school, then you can go to . another school. Is that not v School Choice? If you feel unsafe, un-safe, unwanted, whatever, you can go to another school? Is that not School Choice? The Utah PUBLIC Education Educa-tion System also allows for students to do district transfers. trans-fers. So, you like the sports program at another district, you can change. Is that not School Choice? Here is some research I have found regarding the Voucher System: Teachers, parents and the general public have long opposed op-posed private school tuition vouchers especially when funds for vouchers compete with funds for overall improvements im-provements in America's public schools. Vouchers Religious School Funding Americans must be free to contribute only to the religious groups of their choosing. Voucher programs violate this principle. princi-ple. These programs subvert the constitutional principle of separation of church and state arid threaten to undermine under-mine the current system. tainer of alcohol and DUI. James V. Leavitt, 95 S. 100 East 20, Springville, was arrested ar-rested for two warrants. Two female juveniles were cited for shoplifting. William James Roach, 1011 E. 900 South, Spanish Fork, was arrested ar-rested for voyeurism, criminal crimi-nal trespass and failure to stop for police. A 17-year-old male was referred re-ferred to Juvenile Court for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old. Charles David Sinclair, 376 Bayside Dr.? Saratoga Springs, was preferred to court for assault. - Corrie G. Thompson, 360 W. 400 North 48, Springville, was arrested for a warrant. Kelly Vest Wilk- What's all the fuss about? One congressman worried at one time "that in case of an atomic attack, no one would have a clear idea of how to respond." He decried the "inexcusable "in-excusable delay" in the failure fail-ure to set up an adequate program pro-gram to cope with a surprise attack. He claimed there was a "lack of adequate national planning for civil defense in case of national emergency". This congressman was John F. Kennedy speaking and writing in 1949-50. Nothing has changed, but the color code and the events of the last few years. Are there more hurricanes and wildfires, more flooding and tornadoes, or are we just more sensitive to their existence? exis-tence? Not since Korea and the decade or so after that has the United States mainland been in the crosshairs of evil ' FACTORY AUTHORIZED DEALER & SERVICE CENTER We offer service and lune-ups on most chainsaws or small engine yard tools! Get yours done today! "OUR StEBS 0R0W' C (ARPENTEBEEDte; 1030 South State, Provo 373-3740 Hours: Mon. - Sat. 8 am to 5 pm i L The full 1st District Court of Appeal has confirmed a three-judge panel's ruling -that a Florida voucher program pro-gram is unconstitutional. Parents, we have an incredible in-credible PUBLIC school system. sys-tem. My concern is that parents par-ents are not getting involved. Parents will drop their student stu-dent off in the morning and pick them up at the end of the day. That is probably all the interaction regarding school that the student gets form the parent. : YOU, as a parent, are the MOST IMPORTANT teacher in your child's life. ' Help your child with homework, sit down and read with your child, show up at a program at the school. Get mvolved ; with PTA or some other organization or-ganization that promotes education. ed-ucation. That is what it is all about. It has been proven that children chil-dren do better in school when their parents are involved. in-volved. So stop blaming it on the PUBLIC school system and start doing something about it. The voucher system is NOT the answer - you are! Dianne Singleton An MOM involved Springville report erson, 300 E. Cemetery Lane, Mona, was arrested for a warrant. Sarah Elise Williams, 543 S. 1700 East, Springville, was cited for unlawful use of a credit card. Kevin C. Zillig, 218 S. State, Genola, was rrested for two warrants. There were three burglaries burglar-ies resulting in the loss of a nailgun and Ipod; shoes and camp cooler; and golf clubs from a storage sheaf Other thefts included a meat smoker from a porch; purse from cart in Aliens; cell phone; CD player from a boat; cordless drill from a truck; and two girls were caught taking Ipods from the high school and were referred re-ferred to Juvenile Court. to get prepared! doers who could affect a significant sig-nificant part of the country with one blow. Now, since 911, we should be grateful everyday something bad has not happened here like what occurred in Spain, Indonesia, or London. Survey after survey shows that, as a country, large percentages per-centages of the population and businesses are not prepared pre-pared for a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, a manmade disaster such as a toxic cloud from a train derailment or overturned truck. . We still have children who are killed regularly in house fires because of ! lack of smoke detectors, detectors that don't work, or have families fam-ilies that have never bothered to show kids how to evacuate a home, apartment or mobile trailer when smoke or fire is present. Probably every car and truck in America has a spare tire for an emergency, but how many of us ever check it for air? Simple and so important, yet even this simple level of preparedness is too much for most of us. As I travel around the country talking to business owners and leaders, first responded, re-sponded, firefighters, police , 24 Years Trade & pawn Title Loans on ATVs, Cars, Motorcycles Jeweiry Diamonds Rolex Gold 8 Siivw New Wholesale Jeweliy Computers Name Brand Tools 444 W. Center Provo 374-8076 HOURS 9am-6pm M-F Sat 9am-3pm Time to reform state tax code Editor: It is time for a fundamental reform of our state's tax code. As governor, I am looking out for the best interest inter-est of Utah citizens, businesses business-es and education by seeking a lower income tax rate with a flatter, fairer distribution of tax burden. In Utah, we have a unique situation where every penny paid in income taxes goes mto the Uniform School Fund to pay for education. That revenue base is declining, declin-ing, because of a loophole-filled loophole-filled tax code. At the same time, we have become the Nation's 5th fastest growing state with unprecedented educational needs. We advocate true reform: A tax code that is simpler; one that provides for the needs of the state consistently consistent-ly and from a broader base; and one that is competitive with the states around us and compassionate to those bearing bear-ing the burden. There's no reason we can't make meaningful mean-ingful tax reform a reality. I am supporting House Bill 354, now moving through the Utah State Legislature. This bill will lower the income rate from 7 percent to 5 percent per-cent and remove sales tax on food. The essence of , this reform means long-term, dependable depend-able revenue free of the economic eco-nomic volatility that our current cur-rent system is beholden to. This instability impacts our children's education, our families' strength and our communities' livelihood. The foal is to stabilize the tax ase and make Utah more economically competitive. The critics look for winners win-ners and losers, but the problem prob-lem isn't that simple. To say that there are winners or losers by changing the system sys-tem means that the current program is perfect. It is not. It is broken and must be fixed. The income tax reform we are seeking is not cosmetic. We're not talking about tax officers, police and fire chiefs, mayors and city managers, man-agers, I hear the same objections objec-tions to preparedness. We are not worried about the likelihood of something bad occurring. Even those people who are experts in disaster management manage-ment more often than not tell me that 70 of the experts have not prepared their own families for a disaster. What's wrong here? We spend hours and dollars preparing for holidays and family gatherings that we know will happen because they are fun and that is what life is all about. Well, this is a call to action. Get prepared because if you don't and the consequences are bad enough as the people in Katri-na Katri-na and Wilma found out, the results could make a lot of future fu-ture happy times unlikely and impossible to celebrate. Talk with family members, discuss what could happen and then create your own safety map, the things-you need to have, the things you need to know, and the things you need to do. Remember your family's safety is your responsibility, not that of government. Plan! Prepare! Protect! Norris L. Beren is the author au-thor of "When Disaster Strikes Home." He may be reached at norrisgetpre-pared.org norrisgetpre-pared.org ARTISTIC BATH & KITCHEN REFINISHING INC. 1-888-707-9297 www.artisticbathrefinishings.com Refinish Any TUb for $2 75 Refinish TOb & Tile for $550 Over 20 Yean oft. xperieme Editorial They know the rewards of volunteering! I just read an article sent from Volunteers of America, and it made me think about all of the dedicated volunteers in our community. That organization, with 110 years of service, is challenging every American to volunteer 110 hours each year to help in their communities. Just think what that would mean if everyone met that challenge! . . ' I am aware of many citizens in Springville and Maple-ton Maple-ton who go the extra mile and get out of their homes and spend time volunteering to make this a better place to live. I am only going to name three of these good souls as an example. I know so many more. I could never name them a11- , , One of the good women I know who is always volunteering volun-teering is Mary Norris. Most people do not know Mary. If you have anything to do with the Springville Museum of Art, you will know that she is one of the ladies who man the front desk every week. . But Mary does not stop there. She volunteers at the hospital hos-pital and at the Slate Canyon Youth Center and so many other places that I am not even aware of. And in her spare time she is always making things and arranging projects for humanitarian aid. Thank you Mary for the good you do! My thoughts were on two more of the busy volunteers in our community as I attended the Springville Area Chamber of Commerce Installation Banquet Saturday. They were both honored-for all the work and service they have given to Springville City. Teddy Anderson has been working for the city for many years and wearing many hats when she worked. But the thing about Teddy is that when she left the city office of-fice she managed, she was out volunteering in the arts programs she was in charge of. She has been tireless in building programs in the city. Thank you Teddy! The third person is Alan Curtis. I would guess that most people in the city know Alan. He has been involved in the sports programs for many, many years-coaching, arranging ar-ranging classes and teams, preparing fields-you name it. Alan can be seen evervwhere and not just during his work time. After hours, at cleaning up refuse left behind at a concert at the Arts Park, or mowing the grass along the 400 South approach to the city. He is literally everywhere seeing that things get done. This man never stops. Thank you Alan! Springville is a better place because ot the three people I have mentioned. As with Mary, Teddy and Alan, some people are more visible in their service, some are not so visible. It matters not. The important thing is that they are getting the things done that need to be done and doing them willingly. They know the rewards of volunteering. That is why they do it. rebates and winning a popularity popu-larity contest in November. I am not proposing a giveaway. give-away. There are plans out there that would simply drop the rate without addressing the deductions and other critical crit-ical components of our antiquated anti-quated tax code. This is not true reform. This will not lend itself to long-term problem solving, but will only give rise to the possibility of a future tax increase in-crease to make up for what U.S. Senator to speak at UVSC Friday Utah Valley State College's Col-lege's Center for the Study of Ethics and the Office of the President will co-host a lecture by United State's Senator Bob Bennett February Febru-ary 24 at 9:30 a.m. in the Ra-gan Ra-gan Theater. Bennett will present a lecture lec-ture titled, "Personal and Political Integrity." Audience Audi-ence members can expect an open question and answer an-swer session following his remarks. Senator Bennett, currently current-ly serving in the U.S. Senate for his third term, is the Chief Deputy Majority Whip and member of the Senate Republican leadership leader-ship team. He also functions as chair for the Subcommittee on Agriculture as part of his position on the Senate Appropriations Ap-propriations Committee. Additional responsibilities for Senator Bennett include vice chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and senior member of the Sen- Mapleton Police report Mapleton Police had 33 calls last week with 10 for animal problems. There were three vehicle accidents with no injuries. Ryan Brickson, 565 N. 600 East, Spanish Fork, was arrested ar-rested for an outstanding warrant. Kieth Austin, 142 E. , 100 South, Springville, was cited for dogs runnning at large. Police found a bike at 210 W. 1600 North and are holding hold-ing it at the station. all hours, he is somewhere- was lost. We are at a time of opportunity oppor-tunity where we can truly make a difference in the overall well-being of our state's economic future. The tax code is ready for an historic change and we are prepared to make the changes, and the hard deci-; sions that will better serve our long-term interest as a state. :' Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. Bob Bennett ate Banking Committee.! Originally from Salt Lake City, Bennett came from a politically active family-Senator family-Senator Bennett's father was four-term U.S. Senator Wallace F. Bennett. "Senator Bennett is a strong supporter and friend of the UVSC community," said Elaine Englehardt, special spe-cial assistant to the president. presi-dent. , "I hope that students, fac-. ulty, community members and others will take the opportunity op-portunity to listen to his remarks, re-marks, ask questions and meet him personally." The Springville Herald Customer Service 375-51 03 489-5651 Fax 489-7021 239 E. 400 S. Springville, Utah 84663 Publisher Kirk Parkinson -kparkinsonheraldextro.com Manager Craig (onover aonoverheraldextra.com Editor Pert Conover artdtyavpro.com Marao Harris typesetter Sherri Harris Office Manager Janed Duffin Send Newsrtems to us at artcilyavpro.com |