OCR Text |
Show A6 Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Vernal Express 1 xpress REFUGE MORE INTERESTING THAN ANTICIPATED By Kevin Ashby Express Publisher Although being almost native to the Uintah Basin, I have never been a visitor at the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge. And I was pleasantly impressed when I went to the open house last weekend for a first-hand explanation of what is there. I was surrounded by a lot of younger visitors to the open house, but I learned a lot about migra tory birds and the sanctuary that helps them along in their journey. I moved to the Basin just after the refuge was designated by Congress, but it was a deer hunting trip with bows and arrows as a teenager that first got me to the refuge. And, although I was there as a visitor, I came away knowing nothing about what the area offered for migratory birds. Today, there is a lot of work that takes place in preparing the 12,000-acre refuge located next to the Green River near Ouray to provide a place of refuge for migratory birds. I learned about early and late nesters and that some birds have already come, built nests, laid eggs and hatched them before the middle of May. I learned that there have been 248 different species of birds recorded record-ed at the Ouray refuge with many of those species returning year after year for bird enthusiasts to enjoy annually. I found out that one person in a two-hour period of sitting next to the Green River last Saturday, identified 30 different species of birds. When he asked me which birds I had seen already that morning, I didn't impress him with my sighting of a red-winged and yellow-winged blackbird and a killdeer. I was not sure I had even seen a blackbird and he pulled out his list of 30 and then proceeded to have me listen while he identified some of the other birds that were close by. The other part that impressed me with my visit to Ouray was the high tech National Fish Hatchery just down the road where endangered endan-gered fish from the Green and Colorado Rivers are being raised. This hatchery is set up with a series of filters that allows them to reuse the water so only 2,000 gallons of new water is used each day in the system. I also appreciated the explanation given on the two endangered fish they raise there and the importance they are to the ancient river system. There is an interesting plant worth visiting where they introduce intro-duce 15,000 12-inch-long fish each year into the Green River, taking between 1 8 and 24 months to mature the fish. It was great to visit a place in the Uintah Basin where there is something interesting and important taking place. After the tour on Saturday, I found two more reasons that makes living in the Basin just plain great. H I' DIFFICULT DECISIONS IN COURT COVERAGE By Ejes Bowen .- r Express Editor It's most newspapers' policy not to publish anonymous letters to the editor. Normally, we review these anonymous letters, shrug in disappointment disap-pointment that we can't include them and then drop them into the trash can. This week was an exception. We received a letter this week from an anony mous writer criticizing the newspaper for our coverage of the court case against Mark Foley. The only thing we know about the writer is that he or she is an acquaintance ac-quaintance of the Foley family. "It sickens me that every single week his name is splashed up against the pages of our paper," the author writes before making the case to be more mindful of his family and friends. The author reminds us that there are two sides to every story and urges us to get the side of the accused, adding that the court case has completely changed his life. There are indeed two - sometimes three, four or more - sides to a story. And without addressing coverage of the Foley case specifically, we felt it was important to explain how we determine our court coverage. cover-age. Newspaper coverage of criminal proceedings is always a touchy issue. It's a regular occurrence that people come into our office to ask if somehow they can keep their name out of the paper. To each of them, our response is the same: No, we will not exclude you from our coverage. The public has a right to know. The only way to completely guarantee that a defendant's name will not appear in the paper is to have the judge order the case sealed - a power seldom exercised. When someone is accused of high-profile felony-level crimes the responsibility of the press is to inform, regardless of the pain it may bring to the accused, their family and friends. To fail to report important impor-tant information simply because someone is a well-liked or respected member of the community is a disservice. But the decision to publish criminal court proceedings only comes after considerable debate and weighing several factors. On the one side is the public's right to know, an argument that we in the press believe is very heavy. On the other side are the defendant's right to a speedy and fair trial, their right of privacy and other protections. The decision to publish is not always easy and often there is no right or wrong decision. We in the community newspaper business generally stick to the documents of a court case. Just like our readers, the people we write about are our neighbors and friends, even our families in some cases. We avoid camping out in front of the defendants' homes and try to afford them the best privacy we can while still covering the facts of the case. In the overwhelming majority of criminal cases, the charges against the accused stick. Most will work out plea agreements to have their charges and sentences reduced. We feel it is important to let the public know when their neighbors are accused or convicted. And if indeed the person is acquitted of charges, we are committed to publicizing that fact as well. We agree that the publicity that comes with high-profile case takes its toll on the families of the accused. Similarly, those who commit the crimes take their toll on the community. Each time we choose to print criminal charges, it is because we believe be-lieve the public has the right to know. And each court case we publish is reviewed for its gravity on the community. Still, we appreciate letters like the one we received this week. They remind us that our influence extends beyond the printed word. And we are forced again to remember that the people we write about are more than just names on the court docket. BERTHA BUTTERBEAN ' Time to break out the barbecue grill? By Dana Colovich Guest Writer Along about this time of year when the snow is all gone and the lawn mowers come out of the garage, the grand-kids grand-kids come over for a visit, and they think that we should adopt the California lifestyle and have a barbecue. I don't know why they want to have a barbecue. I think it's because they like potato salad. Or maybe it's because the jerky they got in their Christmas stockings is all gone and they want some more. Whatever the reason, it has nothing to do with big juicy hamburgers, because what they are going to get is jerky. "Grandma, lets have a barbecue; we haven't had a barbecue for a long time." They are right. I mentally go through the requirements ... let's see, I think I have some hamburger I can sacrifice... "Go and ask Grandpa if we have any charcoal." ...Now, where was I? Oh, yes, I have buns and pickles, imagine that... " Grandpa said to come and tell you that we have had a gas grill for three years now, and you are the one who bought it." "Oh, yeah." I guess we will have to have a barbecue then. (If you think I was being be-ing clever in trying to get out of some extra work, you are wrong. Actually, I forgot.) . That we are having a barbecue doesn't mean that I am goingto get out of cooking this once. We will still need food. And having a gas barbecue barbe-cue means that I can't throw the potato salad together and make some cookies while we are trying to get the charcoal going. I have to be quicker. That gas grill registers "high " in no time. I have to give Father But-terbean But-terbean credit though. He doesn't burn the hamburgers all the time, and sometimes it's not his fault the patties pat-ties burn because they fall through the grill. So when he is worried about that happening, hap-pening, he puts aluminum foil on the grill so the meat won't fall through and so "we won't get that smoky taste which comes from smoke and it's undisclosed amount of carcinogens." I hear you you are saying, say-ing, "Bertha, if you barbecue steaks instead of hamburger, they won't fall through the grill. Well, with the price of steak what it is, that is a bigger sacrifice than I am prepared to make. I think they usually use cheaper cuts to make jerky. Furthermore, our dog who seems to have total disregard for facial hair, has been known to sidle up alongside Father Butterbean who is trying to keep his eyebrows on, and snatch a steak right off the grill. So in an effort to maintain a little situational control, I choose hamburger. The result then is hamburgers ham-burgers grilled on aluminum foil that taste like I fried them up in a pan in the kitchen on the range. But if we did it that way, we wouldn't get to carry all of those tools out to the patio for Grandpa. We also wouldn't get our hair singed, and thereby miss all of that excitement. And the kids wouldn't get to play with squirt bottles which are the safety equipment equip-ment of choice. Come to think of it, I guess I know why barbecues are so much fun. If you are a ten-year-old boy, a barbecue has all of the elements of a great time fire, water and dirt. What could be more heroic than putting out aroaringfire with a squirt bottle and then saving the day by plastering mud on grandpa's blistered finger? It's the stuff movies are made of. My grandson may have found his life's work. He will probably grow up to be a fireman. It's not in the genes for him to grow up to be a chef. s YOU PICKED A FINE TIME TO LEAVE ME, LUCCILLE. $f fO Scirecwtf Public Forum - Letters to the Editor What is your opinion? The Vernal Express welcomes letters from its readers concerning any subject pertinent to the Uintah Basin. There are no restrictions on contents, if in good taste and not libelous or vindictive. Letters may be edited for grammar and style, length and content. All letters must be submitted exclusively to the Vernal Express and bear the full name, signature, phone number and address of the writer or writers. Letters for the sole purpose of expressing thanks to individuals or groups will not be printed in this forum. Submissions may be mailed to 54 N. Vernal Ave., Vernal, UT 84078; faxed to 435-789-8690 or sent by e-mail to editorvernal.com The name or names of the persons submitting letters must appear on all published letters. Letters express the opinion of the writer or writers and are not necessarily the opinion of the Vernal Express. Success builds on supporting community Dear editor, Thank you for the lovely article Mary Bernard wrote about my dear wife, Carmen Harrison. She was hoping that more could have been said about the people who helped her become successful success-ful as a teacher. Her many students can be thankful to those who helped Carmen. First were her parents who provided love and emotional stability as a foundation for her character as the first born in the family. Their first home was in the rain forest of Veracruz, Ve-racruz, Mexico, and consisted of board plank walls, a roof thatched with banana palms and a dirt floor. Mother, Esperanza, with no elementary education was self-taught in reading writing and arithmetic while studyingbefore Carmen from a Spanish Bible. Father, Ani-ceto, Ani-ceto, also a Totonac Indian, had to bake and peddle bread on the streets until he could learn enough Spanish to work as a laborer, living encouragement encour-agement for his children to obtain university degrees, he completed his own elementary elemen-tary education at age 61. Within three weeks of her arriving in Utah, Carmen was enrolled by Bobbie Mott for classes at Utah State University, Univer-sity, even though she had no knowledge of English and no junior nor senior high school education. Warren Mott provided pro-vided Carmen with part-time employment at his theater so that she could remain in this country and pay for her education while, at the same time, learning English and going to school. This was a difficult and grueling time in her life. It was her faculty advisor, Vince Lafferty, who succeeded suc-ceeded in persuading Utah State University to let Carmen Car-men continue taking classes for her first degree in social work, even though she had no secondary education but was highly determined to succeed. Fellow university students, such as Laris Hunt ing, faithfully transported her year after year at their expense to and from classes in Roosevelt. Principals Roger Beck-stead Beck-stead and Dixie Alien were especially supportive of her, as well as parents who entrusted their children to Carmen's care. Carmen is also appreciative of her many teacher friends and Principal Jaime Leyba who have helped with her professional growth. There were many more who indirectly contributed in a spirit of love to the lives of many young people through Carmen's influence. This is the more important story Carmen desired to share. Garth Harrison Vernal Web opinion poll Each week the Vernal Express offers an online poll to its readers. To participate in the poll, visit www.vernal.com and click on the opinion link. Polls are not scientific and represent the opinions of voluntary Internet users. New polls are posted weekly and printed results represent rep-resent voting as of Tuesday morning. If you have an idea for an opinion opin-ion poll, e-mail it to editorvernal.com. Results for this week Uintah County residents have increased by more than 10 percent since the 2000 census. Do you think city and county officials have an effective plan for continued growth? a) Yes. b) No. No votes were received because of an error on the Web site that prevented readers from voting. The opinion poll from this week will continue through next week. "II I i letter of support urging you to keep going . . . Irom the Inst JapaneM loldler In jungle still lighting World War 11." u -'U ft 9&k |