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Show rt III rm:i! H c ; Igf W0SsS5IflWO, 84101 Artist paints Ashley Memories See page A4 1 ! Hockey See page A12 Raltef cloudy Cloudy most of Mostly cloudy Single Copy 50$ WSRHML Wednesday, March 5, 2003 Vernal, Utah 84078 111th Year No. 10 20 Pages Mengltolboirlhiood sclhioolls By Virginia Harrington Express Writer The Uintah School District Board is seeking input from local citizens as the members begin a discussioninvestigation into the possibility of reverting to a neigh- borhood schools format rather than the configuration currently in place. f The board will hold its next meeting March 20 at 7 p.m. in tii0 District offices. However, the .Vernal MiddUNSchool Auditorium has been reserved to accommodate the large crowd that is anticipated. Board members hope to hear the opinions f parents and concerned citizens prior to or during that of Education 1 5' busi-'.jie- ss ing. Anyone with an interest in the neighborhood schools issue may Contact board members Tod Tesar, Dennis Stevens, Mike McKee, Jafhes Allen, M D- - or Rodney Anderson, MUfo express their ' ?' ? opinions. The current separation of schools involves kindergarten through second grade at Davis and Maeser Elementary Schools, third and fourth grades at Naples ahd Ashley Elementary Schools, fifth grade at Discovery and sixth ana seventh grades at Vernal Middle School. This configuration has been irt place for nearly a decade.- - v The initial reasons for going to the separation of schools were to reduce the number of teachers needed in the district and to even hif fZ3h t $ r jr aganini out class sizes. The initial opposition to the change included a desire to keep siblings in the same schools as long as possible for the convenience of the parents and to reduce the cost of busing students. With the current budget cuts hitting hard at education, the cost of running 43 buses over 201 daily routes and 3,500 miles per day must be considered. Floyd Collett, head of transportation for the district, said there would be a reduction in the number of routes needed with a return to neighborhood schools. Since buses cost $85,000 and five are replaced each year, any reduc- tion in busing could be a considerable savings to the state budget, which pays much of the cost of busing students to and from school. On the other hand, the cost of teacher salaries would increase as more teachers would have to be hired if neighborhood schools are reinstated. Those costs are not covered by the state budget. With neighborhood schools, some class sizes would go up while others would decrease and there is some concern thk test scores would go down. Fewer children would spend anywherd from 30 to 90 minutes bn the bus each morning and each afternoon. 'John Busch( Former member of the Board of Education, said he was originally against the change to separate school and he still favors a return to neighborhood schools if it can be done without raising taxes. I! o 1 H i i H ! r li I J 1 L? j 1 I f K I liii f t f t 1 1 111 M I U o IF j o 0' , v ',v if " fi h TitMeafdtti reflect the family values of the community in that they keep siblings together longer and give parents a greater opportunity to become d involved in their childrens in PTA. However, he noted that a return to neighborhood schools is not without problems. One major problem would be what to do with the families in the educa-tTorfan- , Residents can assist by not allow- ing water to stand for long periods in fields, wading pools, old tires, wheel barrows and other containers. The principal transmission of the virus is from mosquitoes that become infected when they feed on a bird carrying the virus in its blood. After 10 to 14 days, the virus can be transmitted to another bird, person or other animal that the mosquito bites. During blood feeding the mosquito injects the virus, contained in its saliva, into the bird, animal or person where the virus replicates and may cause illness. West Nile virus was first recognized in the United States in 1999 as center of Vernal now that Central Elementary is closed. Would those children be bused to the nearest be Would Central school? a new be Would school feopened? needed Busph sjijd .the, present .school board is doing an excellent job. He added that he hopes the community members will speak up and voice psira their opinions to give board members a basis on which to make then decision on a return to neighborhood schools. Whatever we can do to give our children the best education they can get, jfhats what Im forX(, whatever it takes we should do and if Its neighborhood schools then lets go to neighborhood schools. to imiipiuti Two public meetings have been scheduled to discuss any public concerns with the future of the Vemal h County Airport. There are three options for the airport being discussed, leave the airport where it is, build another airport at Sunshine Bench, southeast of Vemal or build a regional airport at McCoy Flat, west of Vemal. The problems encountered by leaving the airport at its present location are that in order to expand , the city and county need to acquire additional property. In some cases the property needed might not involve willing sellers and governments are not anxious to condemn private property. There are over 30 property owners whose property borders the airport. The Uintah County Commissioners recently went on record in support of the Sunshine Bench location and gave the to start the application with the BLM for the property. The city and county are considering purchasing the Sunshine Bench property from the BLM for the airport. Airport manager Thom Wardell explained to the commissioners that two runways wouldn't be needed at Sunshine Bench because of favorable wind conditions. There is some concern, by the U. S. Park Service, about the noise the airport might make for visitors to Dinosaur National Monument. Wardell said that these concerns could be mitigated. The third option, at McCoy Flat, is the most expensive because it would require extensive leveling and is located about 7 miles west of Vemal. Requests for participation from Duchesne and County Roosevelt City on the regional airport were turned down, so Uintah County Commissioners decided to go ahead with the Sunshine Bench location. The development of the airport will likely take place in the next 20 years. It will also include plans for the existing airport property if the airport is moved to a different City-Uinta- Express Editor said. buses that drop off and pick up students every school day. Mure Steven R. Wallis one-thir- QOj i"V Children at Discovery Fifth Grade Center line up to board one of eight the parents and shifted the busing costs to the state. , , Parents'" are Busch, they are forced to pick and choose their involvement between several different schools. Busch said neighborhood schools 'V? i i II r. He said he was opposed to the initial change because it shifted the burden from the school district to "Y ry 3 by summer The West Nile virus is coming to Uintah County as early as next Dr. warned Stephen spring, of the Uintah director Romney, Abatement Mosquito County District. Last fall, the virus was reported as close as eastern Colorado, Dr. Romney recently reported to the Uintah County Commissioners. In 2002, in the entire United States, there were 4,006 human cases of which 261 were fatal. For most people who get the virus it will be like having the flu for a few days, Romney said. "Only 20 percent of infected humans develop any symptoms. About 1 in 150 infected humank West Nile develop severe illness Encephalitis, which can be fatal. About 14,500 horses were infectd ed in 2002 and about of those were fatal. There is a horse vaccine available. Romney urges horse owners to see their veterinarian. There are also 110 species of birds that are affected by the virus and 200 different animal species have been affected. We need everyones help to slow the spread of the virus, Romney sl : ! West Nile virus to be here By Express online: www.vernal.com t to be revnewed season end on upbeat. See page B6 Mosquitoes will be the carriers of disease to hit the Uintah Basin this summer. the cause of severe and fatal human illness in metropolitan New York City. West Nile virus is commonly found in Africa, West and Central Asia, and the Middle East. It is not known how the virus was first introduced into the United States, but since the initial appearance it has spread rapidly and by 2001 was found throughout the eastern half of the county. By October of 2002, 43 states had reported cases of West Nile virus. There is no specific treatment for West Nile virus. Your veterinarian may be able to provide supportive therapy that can save your horses life. However, in addition to good mosquito control, there is now a vaccine that may aid in the prevention of disease caused by West Nile vims. You can also help by reporting dead or dying birds to your state health department. Avoid touching dead birds or any dead animal, with your bare hands. People can reduce their exposure to the vims by wearing long sleeved shirts, using mosquito repellent and staying inside when mosquitoes are prevalent. Sons deato explained Since the death of Tyrrell Robert Seagar, last month, his father Dr. Tyrrell Seagar of Vernal has had many inquiries as to how his son died at age 67. During the Vemal Area Chamber of Commerce Tuesday meeting, Dr. Seagar explained that it was due to a silent killer that causes around 60,000 potentially preventable deaths a year. ' It's called deep vein thrombosis a dangerous blood when (DVT), clot forms deep in the leg muscles. The clot sometimes floats into the lungs, causing sudden death. Dr. Seagar said that as a medical doctor in the 1930s, he would release patients from the hospital earlier than what was viewed as acceptable, because they could contract DVT. Many times it has been reported OOR COPY! t that patients died in the elevator or somewhere, shortly after a long stay in the hospital, Dr. Seagar said. In the past, it has been customary to keep a mother in the hospital up to seven days after delivery. Now they want to be released the same day, to prevent complications. A Salt Lake Tribune article reports that such clots made headlines a few years ago when seeming y healthy people collapsed after long airplane flights. Take an overseas flight today and youll probably see a video advising walking around or at least wiggling your legs frequently to keep clots at bay. The information videos may be a little skewed because most occur when people are hospitalized. Simple steps can prevent blood clots in hospitalized patients, new research suggest too many physi I cians either dont know how to check for the nsk or they forget. Now a group of doctors and federal health officials are trying to raise public awareness of DVT, so more physicians will check for it and so people at risk can take steps to protect themselves. Samuel Goldhaver of Harvard Medical School is conducting the largest study ever done on those who contract DVT and why, using a registry of 5,000 DVT patients from 180 hospitals. More than half of the people who developed DVT while hospitalized for other reasons never care that got the doctors should have administered. This is not a new condition, and is one of the reasons I supported early ambulation," Dr. Seagar said. The first meeting on the future of the airport will be Thursday, March 20, at 7 p.m. at the Naples City Office. The next meeting will be Friday, March 21, at the Vemal City Office. These meetings will be held to provide information to the public and to receive input from the public for those who will make the decision regarding the future status of the airport. Written comments may be made at one of the meetings or mailed to VemalUintah County Airport, 825 S. 500 East, Vemal, Utah 84078. go-ahe- Daffodils raise funds for cancer research Daffodils are coming to Vemal. The Vemal area Rotary Club is once again sponsoring the Annual Daffodil Days Fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The blossoms will arrive March 10 to March 15. Bundles of 10 yellow flowers will be available for a $6 donation. Seventy-fiv- e percent of the funds raised will go to the American Cancer Society and 25 percent will to the Rotary Club for a scholarship fund to local students. Monies received for the flowers will be used for cancer research, treatment and education programs for Utah and the U.S. Call Cindy Perry, or Cali Allen, to place your order. 781-040- 781-016- 8, 4, |