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Show WASATCH COUNTY COURIER August 31, 1999 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must have decided to send it and mail it. No personal note inside revealed its sender. No instruction as to how | might go about changing a law | felt was unfair. I have received many comments from - Midway citizens who felt what was said needed to be said. Some said they were glad someone had dared to say it, but that it is not too wise to cross the City Fathers. I hope that isn’t true. not forget the beautiful tax- Let us old trees that | were destroyed outside of the Midway Town Hall his summer without prior notification, public meeting or vote. As ee q citizens, we need to check and balance They must act our elected officials. responsibly and fairly, not capriciously and selfishly. If this could happen. to me, rest assured it could ace to you. Suesiely Leah Williams the same rights. LET'S The proper function of a | Hatchet job in Midway “Jake brake” Correct me town of Midway, Utah was part of the United States of American and we are a Democracy, are we not? On August 17, 1999 my rights as a citizen were blatantly violated by the city of Midway. While I was away from home, a Midway City Public Works employee massacred fifteen (15) ‘of my mature Blue Arctic Willow bushes without any prior ae Or notifica- tion. I live on the corner of Pine Canyon Road and Homestead Drive, a very busy corner. I fully understand safety and visibility issues are at stake here and I want truck overweight. ‘ments and All the other argu- statements presented are nothing but scare tactics for the majority of people unfamiliar with truck operations. I worked as a diesel and heavy equipment mechanic for about 20 years. In addition I have thousands of hours of truck driving experience with loads totaling over 70,000 pounds. Please don’t tell me because a company is a major employer they have the right to. break laws. I have the right not to be subject to unnecessary noise. it isn’t a the corner to be as safe as possible. The matter of inconvenience, my health is poor and | only ask the offending driv- Midway City Ordinance 02.0636 states ers “that no myself and my neighbor. fences, wall or hedge shall exceed four (4) feet in height within thirty (30) feet of any existing or proposed city street right of way”. My Blue . Arctic inches Had | would comply Willows (6) inches. my rights owner measured four feet six (4’6”) at their highest point. been notified or politely asked, I have been more than happy to and trim off the offending six With as blatant disregard for a citizen and (never mind common property courtesy), these beautiful ten (10) year old bushes were hacked down to three (3) feet tall and two (2) feet wide by a Midway City employee. Nowhere in the ordinance is there any mention of width yet said employee felt it was somehow necessary to trim these poor bushes down to almost nothing. Words cannot describe the devastation to my once lovely hedge of Blue Arctic Willows. 1 was never consulted with does this seem or notified. to be I ask you, a Fair and to show a little consideration for Gregory Nisonger Courier biased for beer Editor, I have been going to write expressing my opinion regarding the Courier for the last several weeks. After the last week - edition, I cannot resist writing and stat-. ing my opinion regarding the Courier. In the beginning I was impressed by the reporting and the quality of the Courier. An alternative to the established local press has been badly needed for several years. Many of the problems in Wasatch County are not only a result of poor government but also unwillingness of the because of the local press to expose the issues or to support anyone who opposed the Good ol’ Boy estab- Democratic way to get things done? It - seems more like Vigilante Justice to me. lishment. For a short while I was very involved in the politics of this county, especially in the area regarding develop- A neighbor witnessed this act of what I call Vandalism and I am curious...can a ment. Even though several of us were successful in stopping some of the poorly planned development we soon City employee just come onto your Having said that, I need to express my disappointment in the dete-— rioration of the layout, writing and overall professionalism of the last two issues. has become intolerable. Her condescension of Mormons and the Wallsburg residents who disagree with her, has more than insulted and angered many of us. Her personal opinions and misrepresen- tation of the issue have been supported if not encouraged by the reporter in the last issue of the Courier. In the beginning I did not feel strongly one way or the other about a beer license in Wallsburg, however her continued com- turned me completely against granting a haps the driver should crawl under his the addressed. ments If a truck’s brakes are overheating per- if I’m wrong but the last misuse of resources and mismanagement of public affairs would be exposed and not on the three miles of flat road between the weigh station and U.S. 189. truck and adjust his brakes, install automatic slack adjusters, or stop driving his | checked, actions by county government involving is to slow trucks on long, steep grades, Eaitor,...time it Courier was exciting seemed that finally the trite remarks, flawed reasoning and logic PUOHSEE —. Anne Loertcher the desire for a beer license. Enduring her Get your facts straight about trucks have Reading because After this week’s issue, | have decided that the Courier has become a forum to advance the cause of Brenda Vincent’s We need to feel that we can express our opinions. So many. feel the same but Editor, | don’t dare cross the powers that be. Aren’t those powers supposed to serve — I would like to thank Mr. Ford for his us? One of the items they highlighted sarcastic and condescending letter. I had was about PARKING- many park cars & quite a laugh over his smoke screen for - RV’s on their empty lots and charge fees. truck drivers too inconsiderate or lack‘I’m not against that, it relieves the parking in knowledge to properly drive a ing congestion, but the rest of us should truck. TO. A VOTEs ing agenda. and the Courier article. have beer license. | believe she has lost more inconveniences’ of in Wallsburg is the lack of gaso- line. We all drive automobiles, run lawn mowers, many have ATVs and snowmobiles. If Brenda has enough resources to | marshal a major lawsuit against the town of Wallsburg why doesn’t she focus on getting at least one fuel tank to sell gasoline. If a poll was conducted by secret ballot regarding this issue, I think it would be found that the town board did in fact represent the majority of residents and that there is very limited support for a beer license. If this business does not --succeed, so be it, but it will not be because the Market does not have a beer license. It will because of the spectacle Brenda has made not only of herself but also the community of Wallsburg. I do not believe the profit she can make on. beer will ever compensate for the harm she has done to the business. In summary after reading the bee article and seeing the large photos about - Brenda and Beer in the Courier, one has © to question the credibility of the Courier as well as the motivation behind the reporter. The Courier seems to have’ taken on the flavor of the sensationalism of the tabloids and the fluff of the Lady’s Home Journal. If in fact you can- not. find more news worthy items in customers because of her statements Wasatch County then please see to it then she will ever gain by getting a beer | that another issue is not sent in. my license. mail. | I fe lived a Wallsburg for more than 20 years and not having a beer license is not the only unique difference between Sincerely, Lana B. Riddle | Wallsburg and the rest of the county. I moved here as many others have because of those differences. 1 am truly weary of all the people who move here because of the uniqueness of Wallsburg — and then immediately start trying to change things to be compatible with their lifestyle choices. We all knew there were many inconveniences associated with living in Wallsburg, not having a _ beer license is just one of them. — When I moved here I knew I would have to drive the canyon every working day of my life and I knew that at times it would be difficult if not occasionally hazardous. | knew that when company dropped in I would not be able to run to the local supermarket to get specialty items to feed them. | learned that if | wanted to have certain food stuffs I had to plan ahead. | learned that certain - foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables would be especially difficult to manage _ since it was not practical for the Market to carry these in any variety. It is hard to believe that most families do not have at least one family member who travels either to. Provo or Heber every day. Surely even beer drinkers are capable of some planning or forethought. I cannot believe they are nearly as compulsive or desperate for a Cool One as Brenda makes them all out to be. I stop by a convenience store in Provo or Orem every day on my way home from work. I like to get a pop to drink on my way up the be blind to 12 packs of time of day. canyon. One would have to not notice all of the six and beer that are purchased that If the folks buying all those six and 12 packs are responsible beer drinkers as Brenda says they are and are not drinking beer all the way home, surely they should have a few beers left - | Letters to the Editor Policy We invite the submission of reader opinion letters for publication in The _ Wasatch County Courier. We will do our > best to print all letters we receive. We promise not to pick and choose which | ones to publish based on our own agenda. However, a few rules aree probably in order. 1. We reserve the right not to print letters we deem to be inflammatory, factually inaccurate or with Hpaeper ted accusations. ~ 2. We apologize in advance if we are unable to print your letter because of | space considerations. But, please, don’t stop writing. We will try our best to print your next letter. 3. We will print letters as they are submitted, with spelling and grammatical errors. This is not because we want to embarrass or ridicule writers with their errors. It is because we do not want to unintentionally change the meaning of your letter. Some letters are written in character with intentional errors to emphasize a a point. We will be glad to proof and correct any letters that have a written request to do so after the signature. Of course, we won’t print that request in The Courier. You are also invited to come to our office and write your letter at one of our computers. Please call 654-2661 in advance to schedule our machines. a time on one of 4. We give priority to letters submitted | on 3 1/2 floppy disks in text only format. Please keep your letters under 500 words. We do reserve the right to edit long letters for brevity. All letters must include a signature and a phone number. Please bring a photo — ID with your submitted letter. The Courier will confirm-the identity of the writer. We will not print your letter without conformation. The Wasatch County Courier is not responsible for, nor do letters to the editor express the views of The Wasatch County Courier. The Wasatch County Courier cannot and does not vouch for the accuracy or validity of any Letters to the Editor. ee Someone to inform of the biggest living es or her point, but no individual signed it. not need One ee highlighted parts of it to emphasize his law and does paying citizens of its intentions? to tide them over until the next day. he After my letter to the editor a week ago, I received this form [Midway City Resolution requiring special business licenses] in the mail. Someone had: learned the county was not run by sound principles; rules or according to laws. Any special interest group or individual with enough time or money could and in most cases eventually beat down opposition raised against their self-serv- nn cine manasa Editor, property uninvited and without notice destroy mature landscaping? When does the concept of Trespassing come into play? What about Civil Rights? Does _ the City feel it is somehow above the ye Midway City Fathers. cat a ce J 2 Ieee UO MIU bil LJ WL LhioA bl Hal LS a KG |