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Show 2 Vernal Express Wednesday, August 5, 1992 . oiriKAUK COLO. 9 ft ft ff ft ft ft ft 6 6600000 by Jack R. Wallis July weather Vernal leads the state in the percent of normal precipitation pre-cipitation for the month of July. Other locations received re-ceived more precipitation but nowhere did any area come close to the 434 percent of normal precipitation recorded in Vernal for July, according to the National Weather Service. Ogden and Farmington received 2.29 and 2.01 inches inch-es respectively, but Vemal's 1.78 inches of precipitation precipita-tion led the pack in percent of normal. By contrast. Salt Lake City received only 0.29 inches of precipitation precipita-tion during July for 40 percent of normal. All this July rain has certainly made the lawns greener, but the off and on cooler temperatures have made most garden growing slower. Additional moisture in the second driest state in the nation is always well-received. We are now holding our breath to see what August has in store for us. Most of the mountain areas north of Vernal have also al-so had abundant moisture during July. The grass and wildflowers in the forest have been exceptional this year. Even though the snowpack last winter was below be-low average the spring and summer rains have compensated com-pensated for the lack of normal moisture on the south slopes of the Uintas. The additional moisture has kept the mosquito abatement people busy trying to keep up with the additional ad-ditional breeding areas of mosquitoes. Then there is the weed control problem. Weeds grow in any situation, but additional moisture sure speeds up their growth. The rains have also helped bring in additional runoff to Steinaker and Red Fleet reservoirs, keeping them from being drawn down so fast during the hot summer months. But the real test will be the precipitation amounts during August. With the increasing temperatures there will still be a need for all the additional moisture we can get. But one thing is for sure, a little additional moisture sure helps makes the vegetation grow. The green landscape land-scape is much more aesthetic than the usual brown cast in a semi-arid climate. Hopefully, the precipitation will continue to increase. in-crease. Moisture in August will help control forest fires and continue giving that refreshing green color to our forests. PUBLIC FORUM LETTERS TO THE EDITOR What is your opinion? The Express welcomes letters from its readers concerning con-cerning any subject pertinent to the Uintah Basin. There are no restrictions as to contents, if not libelous or vindictive and of reasonable length. Letters must be submitted exclusively to the Express and bear the writer's full name, signature, phone number and address. The name or name of those submitting letters must appear on all published letters. All letters are subject to condensation. Letters express the opinion of the writer and are not necessarily nec-essarily the opinion of the Express Editor. Bear baiting Dear Editor, On August 13, Utah's non-consumptive groups will ask the wildlife board to eliminate the spring bear hunt, leaving only the fall hunting season. These groups will lobby on every emotional aspect of the season, not biological facts, trying desperately desperate-ly to sway opinion in their favor. If non-consumptive groups are successful success-ful in stopping the spring hunt, they will be back next year to stop the fall hunt, then hunters will not be the only on-ly losers. One of the problems hound hunters face with a "fall only season" is finding find-ing a time slot to hunt. Presently, hunting regulations do not permit hound hunting on any unit where a big game season is in progress. Our fall hunting program has become so diverse there would only be a day here and there for hound hunters to run dogs, which may cause hunters to abandon their sport. Al Vallejo, a Colorado outfitter, told Rocky Mountain Game & Fish Publications that he stayed busy with clients on other species from September until the end of November. "When am I supposed to take bear hunters?" he exclaimed, commenting on the recent loss of Colorado's spring bear season. This erosion of their hunting heritage her-itage occurred because of pleas by animal rights activists Utah is to be just another feather in their cap. Non-consumptive Non-consumptive groups would find great comfort in knowing they had caused a bear hunter some inconvenience. However, in a short period of time bear populations would boom causing caus-ing an adverse effect on deer and elk populations. Idaho studies have proven that in areas with high black bear populations, popula-tions, bears are responsible for up to a 40 percent loss in elk calves. With Vernal Express (ISSN 0892-1091) Published every Wednesday for $17.50 per year in shopping area and $28 per year out of shopping area within state and $31 per year out of state within USA by the Vernal Express Publishing Company, 54 North Vernal Avenue, Vernal, Utah 84078. Second class postage paid at Vernal, Utah 84078. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to VERNAL EXPRESS, P.O. Box 1000, Vernal Utah 84078. Jaclt R. Wallis Publisher Steven R. Wallis Editor Melanie Morrison Staff Writer Eric F. Pye Sports Writer Janet D. Wallis Advertising Marcia Henry. Advertising Judy McCarley Circulation & Classified Ads Maria Olson tegal Notices Phone 789-3511 FAX 789-8690 Member of Utah Press Association and National Newspaper Association Area correspondents Tridell Loma McKee, 247-2350 Lapoint Marlene McClure, 247-2552 Whiterocks Virginia Ferguson, 353-4584 Manila Clara Robinron, 784-3436 Deadline News ...Monday 5 p.m. Display Advertising Tuesday 11 a.m. Classified Advertising Tuesday 11 a.m. this type of management agenda, even the watchable wildlife program these groups are pushing would be in jeopardy. Elk and deer provide many hours of viewing for the public, whereas bears with their nocturnal habits provide almost none. In the near future, we might also realize that the secretive nature of the black bear is a learned trade. An example ex-ample of this is the recent aggressive behavior by bears toward the public. When bears venture into campgrounds camp-grounds grubbing for garbage you can quickly assume that they have lost their fear of man, which isn't a comforting thought. The month of November does provide pro-vide some hunting opportunity. Statistics show that late year hunts provide basically a male only harvest, har-vest, as many females have already gone to den for winter. If females are never hunted, we are back to square one as these large animals might forget for-get who is predator and who is prey. I say we continue to define the predator-prey relationship by supporting sup-porting the spring bear hunt. DENNIS INGRAM Roosevelt Two arrested for child abuse Two Vernal residents were arrested arrest-ed Friday for child abuse. Arrested by Vernal City DeL Rick Hawkins were Larry and Nancy Roach. Under a new state law, child abuse is a felony. A four-year-old child was treated at Ashley Valley Medical Center for bruises and a broken arm. The suspects are out on bail. FROM VERNAvL (H cJ 2 o o O O P 90 BACK. TO VERNAL Public meetings need protection by Steven Wallis Express Editor Burglaries, Continued from page 1 legedly had electronic equipment valued around $300 in their possession. posses-sion. Earlier a victim reported that his room had been broken into and the equipment stolen. The victim reported re-ported the incident to Vernal City Police on Saturday, July 25. The suspects sus-pects were contacted and the arrests were made July 29. Upon further investigation by the police, it was found that Mrs. Espinoza, also known as, Mrs. Graham had an outstanding felony warrant for violation of probation from Portland, Ore. The suspect was booked into the Uintah County Jail on the Oregon warrant and is waiting extradition proceedings. Anyone who regularly deals with public bodies knows that Utah's Open Meetings Act is in shambles. There has not been a single prosecution prose-cution for violation of the Act since it became law in 1972. That does not mean the Act has not been violated vio-lated numerous times, it just lacks sanctions or penalties for violators. If there were not penalties for driving driv-ing over 55 mph, how many would not exceed that limit? How many exceed 55 mph even with the penalties? penal-ties? There needs to be a change in the Act. Already 24 states have open meeting laws that carry penalties. Currently there is a proposal to change Utah's open meeting laws, SB55. The bill is a step in the right direction, but falls short of many of the expectations of the law. There needs to be a clarification of the reasons rea-sons a public body can go into executive exec-utive session. The way it is presently present-ly proposed, a school board could go into a secret session because of threatened legal action to approve items such as busing boundary changes. During the past two decades since many states enacted open meetings laws, also called "sunshine law," the original intent of keeping the pub- Uweraf Destines FdMTOJ Issue: Do you believe there is too much fuss being made about the Dream Team, U. S. men's Olympic basketball team? Yes No There is no doubt that a team of basketball players will never beat the best of the NBA. The Dream Team hype is merely to turn a buck. The team is so far ahead that one falls asleep half way through the second quarter. It has got to be closer than 20 points or it is not worth watching. There is not the same drama on the basketball court in Barcelona as there is in an NBA playoff. Why are a bunch of professional players worth more air time than the Olympic volleyball team that is in the fight of a lifetime and is making sacrifices to keep a competitive edge? The U.S. Dream Team places a goal in front of everyone competing in the Olympics this is the level of play everyone is trying to achieve. The team is the best of the best. The greatest single unit of basketball players ever. They are spectacular to watch whether they are ahead by 40 or just starting out of the blocks. This is the opportunity for the entire world to see what the U.S. has taken for granted for so long. The NBA superstars together on one team make an interesting game and stellular display of athletic talent The more games they play the better. If you would like to voice your opinion about this question, you can do so by calling the Vernal Express Current Issues line: 1-900-88ISSUE or 1-900-884-7783. Cost of each call is 50 cents. You can also send in your opinion by checking your response re-sponse to the question below and sending it to the Vernal Express, Box 1000 Vernal, Utah 84078. Results of the telephone call-ins and mailed in responses will be published in next week's Vernal Express Current Issues is co-sponsored by ATP Inc. Vernal, Utah, 789-5705. - Results of last week's call-in question about support of capital punishment in crimes as serious as those of William Andrews: 74 percent said they support capital capi-tal punishment in such cases; 27 percent said they do not support capital punishment. punish-ment. I 1 This week's question: Do you believe there is too much fuss being made I about the Dream Team, U. S. men's Olympic basketball team? 1 yes, I 2 no, 3 There is too much fuss being made about the Olympics in gen-1 CL I The opinions and issues in the Current Issues Column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Vernal Express nor its staff. OUR TOWN lie's business open has been eroded away. Now public bodies seek a closed session whenever a controversial item is brought up. Last June the Logan Municipal Council met illegally behind closed doors when it went into executive session with light and power department director Vaun Bethers. The council scheduled the executive session to discuss personnel mat- version of the open meetings laws. Other points which should be considered con-sidered are: Minutes or recordings of public meetings and closed meetings should be available to the public within a short period after the meeting meet-ing (10 days). In the case of closed meetings, the minutes or recordings should be available if the closure of the meeting was illegal. The litigation reason for closing clos-ing a meeting should not include the pending or threatened lawsuits. The sanctions or penalty could include the attendance to educational education-al programs about the Utah Open Meetings Law. Of course agencies that represent governing agencies are opposed to ters, but part of that discussion dealt changing the Utah Open Meetings with privatizing the urban forestry Act. The Utah Open Meetings Law; program and moving it out of the js doing well and should be left light and power department. Utah's aione say representatives of thei Open Meetings Act allows closed Utah League of Cities and Towns. sessions to the public and media to discuss personnel matters only if they deal with the character, professional profes-sional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual. Dissatisfied with the proposal being be-ing made by SB55 spin-offs, the Utah Press Association is heading the writing of an alternative piece of legislation which will attempt to make the Open Meetings Act do what was intended to make the action ac-tion of public groups more accessible accessi-ble to the public. The Utah Attorney General's Office is also considering a new law. Sanctions, or penalty provisions, are one of the view points the Attorney General's Office would like to consider in a new, revised "If amendments were to be made . say, sanctions allowing for punishment punish-ment of public officials who violate the law, thei'. reporters who write inaccurate in-accurate stories should be prosecuted prosecut-ed too," say opponents to the changes. Any day of the year I would trade the penalties in Utah libel, slander and invasion of privacy law for those in Utah's Open Meetings Law. One thing those speaking for the League of Cities and Towns don't realize is these laws were not written writ-ten for reporters. They were written so the public can go to a public meeting and find out what is going on without roadblocks from actions taken behind closed doors. THE VOICE OF BUSINESS NUMBER 200.001 by Dr. Richard L. Lesker, President US. Chamber of Commerce i WASHINGTON Mem- ,bership in the U.S. Chamber Cham-ber of Commerce recently broke the 200,000 barrier, a watershed breakthrough in our 80 year lifespan. It is appropriate that our 200,001st member is a small business. Some 92 percent of our members have fewer than 100 employees; seven out of 10 have fewer nan 20. As we expand our list of member benefits, such as our interactive interac-tive video management consulting, more and more small firms find U.S. membership member-ship an invaluable asset Yet, another reason for our strong surge in membership is anxiety about the political and economic situation. The coming election promises to have profound implications for the business climate in this country. In times like these, a unifed business voice is more critical than ever. Political experts say they have never seen voters this agitated and unpredictable. unpredict-able. Not only is Congress bracing for a massive influx of new faces, but it is entirely possible the fust task of the new legislature will be to select a president from among three contenders, none of whom has a majority in the Electoral College. There are various explanations for the unprecedented situation. One is a general sense that our government is no longer functioning as it should; that the fiscal morass in particular requires radical radi-cal surgery. Many citizens believe our country has lost its impetus for progress, andthatourfutureisindoubt Also, with the successful conclusion of 45 years of Cold War, we crave leaderhip that will define a new vision of the future for our country. Against that backdrop, business people sense potential chaos in Washington Wash-ington that poses areal and present threat to their well being. The most pressing problem in Washington today and one the new government will feel obliged to deal with is the massive budget deficit But a $400 billion deficit will not yield to inspired rhetoric or noble inten? tion. Congress must choose between spending cuts or tax increases, or some combination of the two, in order to bridge the gap. Our new representatives will hear powerful voices urging them to take the low but politically easy road raising taxes on busineses. To be sure, imposing a massive tax hike on business will not reduce the deficit Rather, it would bring on an economic catastrophe. It is imperative that business have a viable voice conveying con-veying that reality to the new government govern-ment Which is a key reason why thousands thou-sands of new members are flocking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Avast and growing membership of business people speaking with one voice will enable en-able our new government to forge a consensus solution without sabatoging our economy in the process. Two hundred hun-dred thousand members give us considerable consid-erable clout; three hundred thousand would be better. i . |