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Show THE PARK RECORD SAT/SUN/MON/TUES, AUGUST 5-8,2006 A-15 Viewpoints. EDITORIAL Start a 'green habit - ride the bus here is a significant shift taking place on some of Summit County's busiest thoroughfares -- public transit is picking up momentum. According to Park City Transit statistics, local bus drivers picked up 1.7 million passengers last year and they are on track to raise that ,'figure to 2 million this year. That means there were 1.7 million fewer passengers driving around the city over the course of the year. It also suggests that there were more open parking spots in places like the ski areas. Old Town and Kimball Junction for those who did drive their own cars. Much of the credit for the success of the current transit system is owed to a succession of Park City Councilmembers who were willing to invest in the system even before public transit was in vogue. They initiated the system as a way to shuttle visitors back and forth from their lodging to the ski slopes but found that it also provided a valuable service for employees. Then, despite the fact that ridership dropped dramatically when the ski areas shut down for the shoulder seasons, the city gradually expanded the schedule so that it is now counted on year round. Local business owners largely shoulder the cost of running Park City's bus system and, T hopefully, they sec a tangible return on their investment, both in terms of customers and efficient transportation for their employees. Recently, Summit County joined Park City by helping to support new routes to Kimball Junction and other Snyderville Basin destinations. That service is growing, too, with usage more than doubling in the last year. In addition to the tangible benefits enjoyed by an increasing number of riders, the growth of the transit system also brings a number of less visible, but equally important, beneficial side effects. Fewer cars produce less air pollution and since the city switched its fleet to biodiesel fuel, the enviromcntal gains are even more significant. Americans are just now getting serious about air pollution and global warming, but Park City leaders have been out in front of the movement toward energy conservation and clean fuels for almost 30 years. Now, as citizens, it is our responsibility to get on the bus. literally andfiguratively,and this is a perfect weekend to get started. Park the car, take advantage of the enhanced arts festival shuttles and consider yourself part of the solution to pollution and traffic congestion, rather than part of the problem. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Thanks to sponsors and participants Editor: I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the people who contributed to the success of the Park City Board of REALTORS® Philanthropic Foundation Luxury Home Tour Auction. The Luxury Home Tour Auction is made up of all the items we collect as "in kind"donations. This year we had over 300 auction items! The profits from the auction and the Luxury Home Tour will contribute about 20 percent of the operating budget for the Peace House in Park City. A vast majority of the auction donations were from merchants on Main Street, in the North Of Main Association (NOMA), and from Redstone. We had magnificent art work from most of the galleries, as well as jewelry, gift baskets, clothes, gift certificates, furniture, private concerts, lodging vouchers, theater, symphony, and opera tickets, bob sled tickets, cross country skiing season pass and ski tickets from all three ski resorts. It would not be possible to thank all of the 200 or so sponsors who contributed to the success of the auction in this publication but they will be listed in The Park Record after the Luxury Home Tour on Aug. 12. A special thanks to Tom Terry who volunteered as our auctioneer and to Mary Beth Maziarz who provided our entertainment free of charge. Also, to the women who helped me the entire day of the auction, setting up the tables: Rebecca Lyman, Jean Jensen (Peace House) and her husband Jim, and Alexis Darger to name a few. Thanks to all those who attended the event and especially to those who purchased items. If you missed the auction, plan to attend next year on the last Thursday in July, Sincerely, Ginny Schulman, chair Luxury Home Tour Auction GUEST EDITORIAL Seniors' drug plan update • By SOL BROWDY : Park City ; After six months' personal experience • with Medicare's Drug Plan D, I would '. best sum up its primary operation as ; "Medicare giveth (benefits), then taketh them away." I was one of the first to sign up, effective Jan. 1, 2006. The monthly ! premium for the plan was $30.1 also liked ; the statement that there was no annual • deductible (I neglected to note its modifying phrase "this year.") ! So for the first six months, I loved the ; plan. For the four most expensive drugs • I regularly used, I paid only $28 for a '.' month's supply for each, including Zoloft, ; Singulair, Zocor and Advair, compared ; on average of $130 for each of the brand• named drugs. ! The rude awakening occurred in the ; form of a letter from the AARP • Medicare Rx Plan Explanation of ^Benefits, dated June 15, stating that I had '. spent $385 in co-payments; that my 'AARP Medicare Rx Plan had paid -$1,476, this figure representing the total ^that counts towards my initial coverage. ^The killer statement read as follows: ;"You still have to spend $3,214 out of -pocket before you would be eligible for ..so-called "catastrophic benefits and ;costs." ^ This gap in coverage between initial •and catastrophic coverage is also known las the doughnut hole and these are the ^most hateful words in a dictionary or ^glossary, for during this period of time •the individual is paying through the nose, j . e . , out of pocket. Once the individual ^becomes eligible for the catastrophic coverage, the manual of information states ~that generally the patient will pay the 'greater of five percent of his drug cost or •a co-pay of $2 to $5 for each of his covered drugs. I soon learned my new costs for a new Advair inhaler when I requested a refill was close to the original cost of over $150. (Evidently no generic form of Advair exists at this time.)When it came to Zocor, I was charged close to its original cost for generic Simvastin. I still have not requested renewals of Zoloft or Singulair, but I expect to be charged their original costs and generic forms be substituted. Before Plan D went into effect, everybody knows that generic drugs cost less than their brand names, but suddenly we are being charged brand costs for their generic substitutions. I have no idea what is behind this move, but knowing the greediness of the powerful pharmaceutical lobby, I would guess that it, plus Medicare hierarchy, have banded together to make this decision. I cannot wait to compare my last year's drug costs with this year's. My neighbor decided to live with what drug coverage he had prior to the introduction of the Medicare D coverage, so I also look forward to his comparative figures. I scanned the Medicare literature primarily for what I wanted to see, i.e. the cost of the new plan and its no-deductible feature. I failed to grasp the consequence of what takes place between the time the original coverage ends until the catastrophic coverage takes effect, namely that we pay the highest costs possible. I hope that when it comes time for me to decide whether to renew plan D or revert to my former drug coverage or an alternate plan, I will be cognizant of my mistakes and ask more questions. When I rechecked the manual, it appears that once my catastrophic coverage goes into effect, generally I would pay the greater of five percent of the drug's cost or a copay of $2 to $5 for each of my covered drugs. GET ME ON THE NEXT FLIGHT TO PARK CITY. NOW THAT I'VE BROUGHT PEACE TO THE MIDDLE EAST LETS SEE IF I CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE CANYONS GOLF COURSE SITUATION! JOHN KILBOURN/PAflK RECORD GUEST EDITORIAL The Park Record Staff Booming anger in Warning By ROB SHAUL I find myself waving vigorously at faces I recognize these days. I wave hard at people I know like we're close friends who've found ourselves in a big, unfriendly crowd. I'm happy to see them, and often they wave back just as vigorously. I live five miles out of Pinedale, Wyo., this town booming with tight sands natural-gas development all around us, and I don't feel as safe as I used to. Last night, for the first time, I caught myself locking my truck doors when I got home from work. Bizarre, right, in a town of less than 1,700 people? I see heavily tattooed guys walking around town and I have a kneejerk reaction: I want them arrested. It's not so much the crime rate, which is up, but the feeling I have of being invaded. At convenience stores, groups of roughlooking men and women tumble out of beat-up cars with out-of-county license plates. They look scary. The young women who work for me at the weekly paper in Pinedale have horror stories about guys approaching them in the bar. Stuff like being offered money for sex and men grabbing at them as they walk by. My office window overlooks the alley alongside the Corral Bar, and again, late last night, guys were screaming cuss words at each other for all to hear. It seems the louder they yell, and the more f-bombs they use, the better they feel. This happens often now. Why are they so rude? What are they trying to prove? Early this morning, when I walked into Faler's for breakfast, I found a bag full of fast-food restaurant trash and several fountain drink cups on the sidewalk right near the door. The people who ate their dinner in front of Faler's didn't care enough about Pinedale to step just inside, and find a garbage can. Even worse, they may have cleaned out the trash from their car, and left it on the sidewalk. It made me mad. I actually gritted my Park Record e-mail addresses Andy Bernhard Nan Chalat-Noaker Valerie Deming Jay Hamburger Patrick Parkinson Dale Thompson Dan Bischoff Adia Waldburger Skyler Bell Scott Sine Grayson West Kat James Lacy Brundy Matt Gordon Chris Gill Inkama Black Joe Lair Office Manager/Front Desk PUBLISHER Editor Staff writers teeth. I see a lot more trash these days. It could have been there before this energy boom descended on us, I know, but I notice it now. So you know who I blame. A lot of gas-field traffic drives by the front door of the newspaper. When I see them speeding, I yell at them to slow down. Speeding on some streets is rampant. I find myself slowing down on purpose just to make a point, which causes impatient drivers behind me to seethe in frustration. I'm just as mad at them. Every business owner I know looks hollow-eyed and haggard. The town is just crazy-busy, which means that the demands of customers overwhelm everyone's available help. Customers get mad, and employees and business owners get mad right back. We're all on edge. Everyone seems angry. Before the drilling projects were approved, the companies were happy to talk to us - the "locals." Now, Halliburton won't answer when I call and ask questions about their hotel opening later this month, and I'm no longer allowed to talk to Geoff Sell, Shell's local man in charge. Ultra won't return my calls either. Only Questar and EnCana still seem concerned about their impact on the town and the people who live here. You probably think that I'm not being fair. It's true that many good people are moving to Pinedaie now. We're all making money - finally. It's inevitable that the town has to change. My head may reason with my heart, but my heart says Pinedale is losing its smalltown feel. The boom is taking it away. I know, it's not like all the locals are angels. There are plenty of homegrown jerks: I've been called one many times. But I can't help it. What I see, and how I feel about it, hurts. Rob Shaul is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News in Paonia, Colo. He is the publisher of the Pinedale Roundup in Wyoming. ab@parkrecord.com editor@parkrecord.com ads@parkrecord.com citynews@parkrecord.com countynews@parkrecord.com education@parkrecord.com arts@parkrecord.com sports@parkrecord.com business@parkrecord.com photo@parkrecord.com photo @ pa rk reco rd.com kat@parkrecord.com circulation@parkrecord.com production @ parkrecord.com realestate@parkrecord.com classifieds@parkrecord.com scoreboard@parkrecord.com holly@parkrecord.com Contributing writers Editor's assistant Classified advertising Office manager Circulation manager Accounting manager Advertising director Advertising sales Editorial production Photographers Production director Production PRESS ROOM General Manager Pressmen Pre-press Controller Office Staff Mail Room Distribution Cartoonist Andy Bemhard Nan Chalat-Noaker Jay Hamburger Pat Parkinson Joe Lair Adia Waldburger Dale Thompson Skyler Bell Dan Bischoff Tom Clyde Teri Orr Jay Meehan Joan Jacobson Silvia Leavitt Linda Jager Lisa Nyren Courtney Herzinger Inkama Black Kristi Ruppert Holly VanDenAmeele Lacy Brundy Kate Fischer Valerie Deming Wendy Halliday Teresa Chavez Chris Gill Annie Macdonald Lori Gull Steve Aldous Kerri Stollerman Kim Gregory Stephanie Noe Kat James Scott Sine Grayson West Matt Gordon Scott Schlenker Jason Plawecki Kim Vance Jon Smedley Becky Larsen Laura Avdey Ann Marie Kloogh Bill Olsen Ron Edge Jimmy Elkins Don Ferney Mike Hall Valerie Waite Sandy Trost Ethel Bradford Marilyn Case Tom Clot hey Wyatt Stephens Antonio Contreras John Kilbourn Contents of the The Park Rtxoni are copyright © 2005, Diversified Suburban Newspapers. All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the managing editor or publisher. The Park RcconJ (USPS 378-730) (ISSN 0745-9483) is published twice weekly by Diversified Suburban Newspapers, 1670 Bonanza Dr., Park City, Utah. Periodicals Postage paid at Park Gty. Utah. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Park Record, Box 3688, Park Gty. Utah 84060. Entered as second class mailer. May 25,1977 at the post office in Park City, Utah 84060. under the Act of March 3. 1897. Subscription rates are: 1 year, $37, 6 mos., S25 (inside Summit County); t year, $70,6 mos. $45 (outside Summit County). Subscriptions arc transferrable; S5 cancellation lee. Phone (435) 649-9014 or fax (435) 649^942. Published every Wednesday and Saturday. Home delivery subscriptions in Summit County include delivery of the Sunday edition of The Salt Lake Tribune. There are no other service options available. 77ie Park Record welcomes letters to the editor on any subject We ask that the letters adhere to the following guktelines:They must Include the address and telephone number of author. No letter will be published under an assumed name. They must not contain libelous material. Writers are limited to one letter every 26 days. Letters must not be longer than 300 words (guest editorials, 550 words) and should if possible, be typed. We reserve Ihe right to edit letters il they are too long or il they contain statements we consider unnecessarily offensive or obscene. In addition, thank you letters are limited to six individuals, businesses and event sponsors. Visit The Park Record Web site at wmv.parkreocsxiccsji PHOTOS BY SCOTT SINE f O f I r l 6 r S C O l Q Asked at the Egyptian Theatre and Silver Mountain Spa How do you feel about Mel Gibson's current plight? Robert CDonnell Kendall Simmons "I think he needs to step back "Why does Hollywood and media get so upset at Mel with his Hollywood power until for some drunken slurs? Arab leaders for decades have he learns to control himself." said they want to destroy Jews. What is worse? Deirdra Laverty "I don't give a -- what he said. He did it when he was drunk. I'm a Jew and we forgive everyone." Chelsea Laswell "It's not fair of him to make such accusations just because of who he is. Mel, you did what you did -- pay the price." Ronnie Meneses "'Passion of the Christ* is over, Mel, get over it." |