OCR Text |
Show VIEWPOINTS A-15 SAT/SUN/MON/TUES, MAY 10-13, 2008 THE PARK RECORD www.parkrecord.com EDITORIAL "UlUKW. .YOU GOT 5KUHKBP City, county clean-up day should be a family tradition hether you are a mountain biker, a horseback rider or a hiker, whether you travel by SUV or ATV, you can and should pitch in during this month's city and county clean-up days. At this time of year, city and county trails and roadway shoulders reveal more about our culture than any future archeologist ever needs to know; from discarded bottles and plastic shopping bags to CO2 cartridges and diapers. It is at best, embarrassing - at worst, dangerous. Saturday, with help from Recycle Utah, volunteers will make a social event out of picking up litter. Groups will fan out from City Park at 9 a.m. to beautify the city. They will return at noon for lunch and perhaps some show-and-tell of what they found. Then, during the week, citizens will get a little help tidying up their own property thanks to a fleet of free Dumpsters that will be placed in strategic spots around town. There will be no free dumpsters in the county this year, but local communities are encouraged to organize their own neighborhood clean-up projects. Those could be as elaborate as the high school effort - also W mm MM mm m planned for Saturday - to amass 200 volunteers to clean up the shoulders along Interstate 80, .or as simple as a couple of kids and a garbage "bag along the two-lane roads on the East Side. The Summit County Recycling Task'Force is asking residents to "adopt a county road" on Saturday. Drinks, food and cleaning supplies will be available at 8:30 a.m. at the Henefer Town Park, at the Oakley School in Weber Canyon, and at Park City Park near the Miners Hospital. Everyone who uses local trails or likes'to take a weekend drive in the country has a stake in helping to clean up the county. Litter tends to invite more litter and gives passersby the impression that disposing of cans and trash on the roadside is acceptable. A note of caution, though - wear highly visible clothing, reflective if possible, when picking up litter along a highway. And encourage kids especially to wear gloves and look before they grab. In past years, volunteers have collected syringes and other possibly contaminated trash. Take a few minutes today to 'celebrate' clean-up day and then throughout the summer make it a habit to pick up a can or wrapper as part of your travels. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Hundreds rally behind hometown hero . Editor: On April 27, our small nonprofit held a benefit dinner to help kick off the fund-raising efforts for Paralympic athlete Chris Waddell's One-Revolution Foundation (www.one-revolution.com). What started as a small project to involve our children in Chris' dream to climb Kilimanjaro ended up as a huge community dinner for more than 220 of our friends and neighbors. We heard from so many people about how amazing it was that our small group pulled together this event and raised close to $100,000 in just 9 weeks. From our perspective though, the most amazing thing is how the Park City community came together yet again in support of one of our own hometown heroes. Our friends and neighbors rallied behind us to make it a success. Our goal going into this was to teach our children is that they can make a difference in their community. Your overwhelming support and generosity showed our children that if they are willing to take a chance that their community will back them up. On behalf of the Neighborhood Homework Club families and children who worked on the event and Chris Waddell who has become a friend and a mentor to our children, we want to thank the community of Park City, The Jeremy Ranch Country Club and all those who gave donations and their time and energy to make our project such a success. Kristen Robinson Park City Chief catalyst, the Neighborhood Homework Club Regaining faith in local residents Editor: Saturday, as 1 was picking up bags and bags of trash on the Rail Trail at Promontory (which was- causing me to lose some faith in my fellow Parkites), I also managed to lose my car keys somewhere on that trail. This morning I regained my faith in the people of this community when I found my car keys sitting on the-table at-the Promontory parking lot. Many thanks to the kind soul who recovered my keys! This is such a great place to live! (We could still use a little bit of work on that trash problem, however.) Wendy Cole Park City A burning issue ... except for the city continue to trumpet how "green" Park City is and how there is no "greenwash.ing" going on. 7. This isn't The Park Record's April Fool's edition. Just checking my facts. J.A. Smith Park City Thanks, parents, for your kindness Editor: So let me make sure I get this straight. 1. Wood-burning fireplaces cause Editor: measurable unhealthy air in Park City The teachers at Jeremy Ranch by producing paniculate pollution and Elementary School want to thank our threaten the health of Park City resi- wonderful parents for the way they dents. made us feel so loved during Teacher2. Wood-burning fireplaces produce 'Appreciation Week. We were .treated with lunch on Friday, May 2nd and then CO2, a greenhouse gas. 3. Wood-burning fireplaces burn breakfast throughout this week. The wood, which in general, means that trees parents should be recognized for their support for our school and generosity in were cut down. 4. Other communities have banned the gift of their time and talents. wood-burning fireplaces due to their Thank you, environmental damage. 5. Our city councilwoman, Candy Pat Fulmer Erickson, says that she doesn't want to On behalf of the faculty and staffs *.*** :> ban wood-burning fireplaces. Jeremy Ranch Elementary School 6. Park City and The Park Record GUEST EDITORIAL The Park Record Online Poll One of the darker sides of our society BY CATHY KING board of trustees, Summit County Friends of Animals (This is addressed to Lori Hoffer in response to her letter that appeared in The Park Record on May ?•) I have just received a copy of your letter to Summit County Friends of the Animals, Furburbia and the editor of the Park Record. I would like to start by thanking you and Ori for supporting FOA and No More Homeless Pets in Utah over the years; you have both done a lot for the animals and are very sincere in your conviction to help our endeavors. Although I do not condone LiP Lulu's story in the Park Record, I would like to give a little perspective from the author. Most of our employees work for very Little money; it is a labor of love because they truly care for the animals. Unfortunately, Lulu's story is about so much more than a family who developed allergies. It is about thousands of animals who end up in real shelters (not Furburbia) every day. The author of this story spends his time pulling animals not just in Summit and Wasatch county shelters. We (FOA) pull dogs and cats from West Valley, South Salt Lake and other area shelters who are usually in a situation where many animals are being put down due to overcrowding. He looks at hundreds of faces that will probably not live to see another day because they are doomed to be euthanized. It does not make Lulu's story acceptable, but I do believe most people would be a little tainted if they had to see this on a daily basis. With the exception of Summit and Wasatch counties, thanks to FOA and other organizations like NMHP, most shelters put down animals that have been brought in by their owners first. They legally have to keep strays longer to give their people a chance to find them. Wonderful, sweet animals with 2 days to find the- perfect new home: It rarely happens. Ninety percent of our animals are shelter animals, strays and animals whose people have simply tired of them. There is. nothing more heartbreaking than walking a shelter, looking into the eyes of animals who have been marked for death that day and reading the reason on their cages as to why they ended up there. Most of them are merely victims of a -throwaway society, nothing more. They weren't bad, didn't bite or urinate on the carpet. Their people simply did not want them anymore. We willalways help out and take in animals in special situations: someone has passed away or is terminally ill, in a financial crisis or yes, has developed allergies. This is not uncommon. It helps when people first try on their own to find good homes for the innocent dog or cats they took the responsibility to care for. We have a very'strict adoption policy to make sure people know and accept the responsibility they are taking on before they sign the adoption papers. I apologize you were offended by Lulu's story. It was not meant to "shame" anyone. It was an emotional slip from a person who daily witnesses one of the darker sides of our society, a person who truly cares about his commitment to the animals. I appreciate your bringing this to our attention. We will be more careful from now on. Cast your vote at www.parkrecord.com Annoyed by Ads? Do you think aerial advertising should be banned in Summit County? Total votes = 29 • Yes, because it's noisy, annoying and a big waste of resources. 19 votes or 65.5 percent • No. If a company is willing to spend the money to advertise that way, it should be able to. 7 votes or 24 percent • Not if they re just advertising for the Jazz and The Bees. Sports brings pride to our community and brings us together. 2 votes or 7 percent • Sports teams are one thing, but it's too hard to prevent it from turning in to all types of advertising. 1 vote or 3.5 percent LETTERS POLICY The Park Record welcomes letters to the editor difi any subject. We ask that the letters adhere to the following guidelines: They must include the address and telephone number of the author. No letter wul be published under an assumed name. Letters must not contain HbeJous material Letters should be no longer than 300 words (550 words for guest editorials) and should, if possible, be typed. We reserve the right to edit letters if they are too long of if they contain stateme'nts that are unnecessarily offensive or obscene.Writers are limited to one letter every 28 days. Letters thanking event sponsors can list nj? more than six individuals and/or businesses. .A Send your letter to: edltor@parkrecord.com 4 The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER Andy Bernhard Editor Nan Chalat-Noaker Staff writers Jay Hamburger . Pat Parkinson Joe Lair Adia Waldburger Anna Bloom Greg Marshall Jason Strykowski Contributing writers Tom Clyde Teri Orr ; j j ' ! ', ; ; ; .! Joan Jacobson Silvia Leavitt Steve Phillips Editor's assistant Kristina Eastham Copy editor David Hampshire Special sections editor Amanda Stofko ADVERTISING Classified advertising Bridget Morgan Christin Hicks Kandilee Snyder Lacy Brundy Kristi Ruppert Valerie Deming Wendy Halliday Kimberiy Gallagher Lori Gull Steve Aldous Jennifer Musial Arwa Jundi Erin Donnelly Advertising Assistant Nikki Norton Office manager Circulation manager Accounting manager Advertising director Advertising sales Editorial production Photographers Scott Sine Kristin Murphy Production director Matt Gordon Production Scott Schlenker Becky Larsen Ann Marie Kloogh Tawnya Cazier Joshua Greenberg Sara Ely Pat Hamaker PRESS ROOM General Manager Head Pressman Pressman Pre-press Controller Office Staff Bill Olsen Don Femey Jimmy Elkins Mike Hall Valerie Waite Sandy Trost Ethel Bradford Mail Room Marilyn Case Distribution Ray Scoggins Matt Conrad PHOTOS BY KRISTIN MURPHY I n © r S C O l Q Asked at Starbucks, 1700 Park Ave. At what age were you when your mom stopped doing your laundry Sue Souders Probably when I went to college at 18. Morgan Jacquine At age 2. My mpm's encouraging my independence. (Morgan's mother, Mary, helped with this answer.) Rugile Wathen At age 16, 'cause I'm a control freak. Kyra Ryan It was one of the first chores I was paid for, so I was pretty young, maybe around ageS. Hhink I got 50 cents a load. A. Flint Decker After I boomeranged back honfe for the»third time - so after ; college, in my 20s. .;. |