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Show 2 Vernal Express Wednesday, October 28, 1998 OpinlOI! aild COmmentarV JACK-STRAWS Halloween safety YOU GOIN7 1 YOU GUNNA GET TRICK OR TREAT! N3 LOTS OF CANDY by Jack Wallis Halloween can be an enchanting time for children, but it can also be one of the most dangerous nights of the year, according to the Utah Safety Council. Falls, auto-pedestrian accidents and burns cause most of the injuries on Halloween. Parents should clothe their children in safe costumes and also review important safety rules with them before they go trick-or-treating, advises the Safety Council. Halloween safety tips include: Costumes: Design costumes so children can walk, see and be seen easily. Masks, wigs and beards can restrict breathing and vision, so use face makeup instead. Make knives, swords and other accessories out of cardboard or soft material. Never let your children carry sharp objects. Instructions for children: Children and parents should plan a trick-or-treat-ing route before leaving, and have a set time to return home. Children under 12 should go with an older child, and older children should trick-or-treat in groups. Instruct children to save their treats until after parents have inspected them. Avoid riding bicycles. Walk on sidewalks, not the streets. Treats: Parents should inspect all treats before letting children eat them. Discard any unwrapped or loosely wrapped items. Give children a good meal before they go out. They will be less likely to eat their treats before you inspect them if they do this. For those receiving trick-or-treaters: Keep dogs and other animals away from the door and out of the yard, so they do not frighten children. Keep an outside light on to welcome trick-or-treaters. Rules of motorists: Slow down, especially in residential areas. Watch for children darting out from between parked cars. Watch for children dressed in dark clothing. Watch carefully when backing out of driveways. Have children get out of the car on the curbside away from traffic. Shorter daylight hours mean children will be on the streets at dusk and at night when visibility is at its lowest. The hours of 4 to 8 p.m. account for almost half of all children pedestrian fatalities, according to AAA officials. Using reflective tape or glow-in-the dark paint or material on costumes gives them increased visibility and heightens safety. Have a safe Halloween experience. How important is your vote? Make you vote count on Nov. 3, is encouraged by the American Association of Retired Persons in Utah. Oliver Cromwell won control of England by a single vote in 1645. One vote brought Texas into the Union in 1845. One vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency presiden-cy in 1876, and in the 1994 election, elec-tion, several Congressional races were decided by less than 1,000 votes and in one election by less than 100 votes. "It's important people understand under-stand that their vote counts. But, participating in the election process means more than just casting cast-ing a ballot, it also means understanding under-standing the candidates' position on the issues," said AARP Utah State Vote Coordinator Karl Swan. The state of Utah and AARP are working to help residents learn more about the issues through a series of candidate forums, a "Utah Voter Information Pamphlet" and a "Utah Voters Guide" The Utah Voter pamphlet has been inserted in almost every newspaper in the state and copies are still available at the Vernal Express office. This issue of the Express contains con-tains a sample ballot of the candidates candi-dates for federal, state, county and school district board members. Non-partisan judges are listed to be retained. Also six state propositions proposi-tions and two Vernal City propositions proposi-tions as well as the county polling locations are listed on page 7. With all the available information informa-tion it is time to get ready to vote for the candidates and issues of your choice. Every vote is important. impor-tant. So, make yours count and vote on Nov. 3. PUBLIC FORUM LETTERS TO THE EDITOR What is your opinion? The Express welcomes letters from its readers concerning any subject pertinent to the Uintah Basin. There are no restrictions as to contents, con-tents, if not libelous or vindictive and of reasonable length (two typewritten double spaced pages). Letters must be submitted exclusively to the Express and bear the writer's full name, signature, phone number and address. Letters for the sole purpose of expressing thanks to individuals or groups will not be printed in the forum. Letters may be mailed, faxed at 789-8690 or through e-mail at editorvernal.com. The name or names 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 the opinion of the Express Editor. Vote Nov. 3 Dear Editor, We, the people of Uintah County, must exercise our right to vote in this coming election. Failing to vote goes beyond failing to exercise this right. It will actually actual-ly give the edge to certain issues and candidates. This is because supporters of these will vote and we may not agree. For example: I feel Beverly Evans has done a good job in representing us. If we do not vote, and there is a large turn out of voters in Park City to vote for her opponent, and we will have a Park City resident representing repre-senting us. Most people are aware that anyone on the other side of Heber has a hard time acknowledging here is life out here. We do not want a Park City resident resi-dent representing us who probably has no clue as to our needs. A second example is Proposition 5. By not voting, vot-ing, we can easily have people back East deciding what is best for us. A third example: We have two outstanding outstand-ing candidates running for Commissioner A in Cloyd Harrison and Commissioner B in Lloyd Swain. Supporters of their opponents are sure to vote. This will definitely give the opponents the edge. If we want Mr. Harrison and Mr. Swain elected, we must vote for wmi VERNAL Expi (ISSN 0892-1091) Published every Wednesday for $1 9 .00 per year in shopping area and no per year out of shopping area within state and S33 per year out of Flute within USA by the Vernal Express Publishing Company, 54 North Vernal Avenue. Vernal, Utah 84078. Periodicals postage paid at Vernal, Utah 84078. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to VERNAL EXPRESS, P.O. Box 1000, Vernal Utah 84078. Jack R. Wallis Publisher Steven R. Wallis Editor and co-publisher Carol Jewart .'..Lifestyle Writer Vicki Feldt Public Notices Marcia Henry. Advertising Jody Smuin Circulation & Classified Ads Phone 789-351 1 - FAX 789-8690 Member of Utah Press Association and National Newspaper Association New Deadline News Monday 12 noon Display Advertising Monday 5 p.m. Classified Advertising Monday 5 p m. them. We do have a say in what goes on in our community if we take the time to vote. By voting we may actually be voting for what we don't want, because a low voter turnout will nearly always favor the fsSues and candidates candi-dates the majority actually opposes. Please take the time to study the issues and candidates candi-dates and vote on Nov. 3. RUTH STEPHENSON Vernal In the name of freedom Dear Editor, As you may know, Charlton Heston recently accepted accept-ed election as president of the National Rifle Association. His comment was, "The right of citizens to keep and bear arms is as basic to the entire concept of freedom in the United States as the right to breathe." The polls are predicting a record low voter turnout this year and those people who would take our guns are planning the biggest voter turnout campaigns in their history. Anti-gun voters will be coming to the polls in droves on Nov. 3. Unless gun owners do the same, we will lose our guns and our rights. It's that simple. It is critical criti-cal that you vote in the Nov. 3 election. "If you want to feel the warm breath of freedom on your neck. .if you want to touch the pulse of liberty that beat in our Founding Fathers. .you may do so through the majesty of the Second Amendment." Charlton Heston. Either gun owners and freedom-loving Americans will elect candidates who will fight for their gun rights or the anti-gunners will be making the rules. DOROTHY C. LUCK Vernal Prop. 5 letters Dear Editor, I have been following letters to the editors of major DID YOU KNOW THAT CANDY WILL ROT YOUR TEETH RIGHT OUT OF TOUR HEAD P YUP! H ' I newspapers throughout the state for the last few weeks on Proposition 5. The last one in the Salt Lake Tribune by a retired army officer that is a hunter states what is obvious to many people by now, and that is that Proposition 5 is lead by a group of hunting extremists. The fear that "outsiders" will get initiatives on the ballot bal-lot in Utah as they have in other states, has not spoken at all to what those initiatives were and that they were in fact, supported by the state in which they were voted on by both hunters and non-hunters. Not one of those proportions dealt with conventional hunting and consequently conse-quently had the support of a wide range of wildlife enthusiasts. I concur with Lynn Fritchamn, a hunter opposed to Prop. 5, "that there never has been, and never will be, any citizens' initiative to seek to ban hunting for the simple reason that most Americans, support ethical hunting an such an initiative wouldn't stand a prayer of passage." Proposition 5 fails to identify the real issues wildlife are facing and will be facing in the future. A pretty ad on TV fails to recognize the loss of habitat occurring on a daily basis in Utah. The loss of this habitat is the most critical issue facing the future of Utah Wildlife. If Prop. 5 passes, there will be no opportunity in the future to address the protection of habitat through the ballot process. All people concerned about our wildlife issues need to work together, not spend money and energy on something that is undermining our very rights as citizens citi-zens in the state of Utah. If Prop. 5 passes, there will be no guarantee in the future that the politics at the state level, will continue to support the status quo. What will happen is that future options will be removed from the ballot process, but not the political one, weakening the existing structure of professional wildlife management. This is not a hunting vs. non-hunting issue. It is a blatant, carefully orchestrated attempt by a minority of hunting extremists extrem-ists to split the very people and issues that need to be worked out by an educated public. Most of the citizens of Utah don't have the slightest idea of what Prop. 5 is about, its history or the ramifications ramifi-cations of its passing. Pease read the literature that was included in the voting booklet in the Vernal Express, the letter to the editor of the Salt Lake Tribune on Oct. 26., the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News editorials. Make sure you understand what Prop. 5 is really about before you vote. Do not allow the passage of a proposition that will destroy the primary principal of democracy Vote No on Proposition 5. DARLENE KOERNER Vernal City streets Dear Editor, In last week's article about Vernal City's proposed sales tax increase you quoted me as saying: "What will the money be used for after all the roads are repaved?" What I actually said was "What will these (local contractors) con-tractors) do in the years after Vernal City repairs all of its roads at once?" Vernal City is currently providing a lot of steady work for the local contractors with its current street budget of over $760,000. Most of the local contractors could not qualify to bid on a five million dollar road contract even if they had the time and equipment to do that much work in a single year. All of the money from the sales tax increase will go toward the five million dollar bond until it is completely complete-ly paid off. This could take more than 10 years. During this time period, Vernal City will only be spending a fraction of the $760,000 current road budget for minor road maintenance. Our local contractors will suffer from the lack of steady work from Vernal City. Some will have to do more out-of-town jobs and reduce the number of employees. Others may go out of business. This definitely defi-nitely is not an economic development proposal. The main source of revenue for Vernal City is the sales tax. The City could spend more of its current sales tax collections on road projects if it wanted to. Instead, it chooses to make donations to charities and special interest groups, offer scholarships and fund countv recreation. Road maintenance is one of the main functions of government. Why is it possible to do all of this feel good luxury spending, when the only way to provide real governmental services is to ask for a tax increase? Several local sales tax increases have been adopted in the past few years. The increase in the tax rate on meals at restaurants and fast food places will be 30 percent higher with the proposed increase than if none of the increases had been done. You need to look at all of the Big Macs the government govern-ment is convincing you to pay for not just the current cur-rent one. When are the taxpayers going to say enough is enough? Let your elected officials know that you do not support sup-port tax increases by voting "No" to Propositions "A" and "B" on Tuesday. BRENT HANSEN Vernal Prop. 5 bias Dear Editor, A little balance to the total bias in last week's Vernal Express against Prop. 5. It is correct that cougar and bear keep a healthy balance of our herds of deer and elk. But predator populations have increased to an unhealthy level for the habitat balance needed. The issue is not about turning hunting into a money making machine. Comments like this are misguided and misinformed. misin-formed. As Rep. Chris Cannon stated in last week's Express, "The two-thirds majority would take the emotion emo-tion out and leave the management of wildlife to professionals." pro-fessionals." How can Prop 5 make anyone a second class citizen? This is a two-thirds vote of the people, not the politicians. A two-thirds vote is not more than is required of the U.S. Senate, which keeps a balance See Letters on page 4 Voice of Business Watch what they do by Thomas J. Donohue, President & CEO U.S. Chamber of Commerce WASHINGTON-There are certain things virtually all political candidates will tell you they support. They all say they support a strong national defense. (Who is going to say, "1 am for a weak defense?") They all say we've got to do more for the children of America. (After all, who is going to say we should do less?) And most politicians will tell you they support business busi-ness and want to help small businesses and entrepreneurs entrepre-neurs succeed. Speaking on behalf of business, I have a suggestion for you evaluate candidates and officeholders and head to the polls this November: Don't just listen to what they say watch what they do and how they vote. Remember, virtually all of them will tell you they sup port free enterprise, believe in entrepreneurship, and want to help businesses create jobs and prosperity. What we as citizens must do is separate the rhetoric from reality. The U.S. Chamber has devised an objective and nonpartisan non-partisan approach to help you do just that. For each session of Congress, we select a number of key business busi-ness issues and give each and every U.S. Representative and Senator a score based on those votes. For 1997, the most recent compilation, we included 10 key votes in our rating process, including maintaining China's normal trade status, supporting tax relief, and holding steady on the minimum wage. If a member of Congress receives a yearly score of 70 percent or better, he or she receives our Spirit of Enterprise Award. If the member's cumulative score is 70 percent or better, he or she is eligible for a Friend of Business political endorsement. For challenger candidates, can-didates, we have a rigorous screening process by which we decide whether he or she is truly pro-busi ness and deserving of an endorsement. By the time the 1998 mid-term elections roll around, the U.S. Chamber will have endorsed more than 300 U.S. House and Senate candidates. This is the most we've ever endorsed, and we are happy to say it's because we've had steady increases in the number of probusiness members of Congress. We hope that next year we'll hand our even more Spirit of Enterprise awards, and that we'll have more endorsements to give. But we can only do it with your help, In order to keep a business environment that fosters economic growth and prosperity, we need a pro-business Congress. And we'll only have a truly pro-business Congress if pro-business Americans show up at the polls. So tell your families, friends, customers, and employees why they need to vote. And make sure that on election day, you cast your vote in favor of business, busi-ness, and in favor of continual prosperity and opportunity opportu-nity for every American. |