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Show 2 Vernal Express Wednesday, August25, 1999 QpinjOIl aild COmmCntaty JACK-STRAWS 1Y TEACHER SAD v I WAS A yPRV APtHV by Jack Wallis SMART Kl D ' m w School's Open Drive Carefully As the school year begins. Governor Leavitt and AAA Utah urge motorists and parents to watch for children as a part of AAA "School's Open Drive Carefully" campaign. The governor has proclaimed September as drive carefully month. The annual traffic safety campaign, sponsored by the AAA is to reduce serious traffic hazards faced by school children by reminding motorists and parents to drive cautiously and to be aware of the increased numbers of children in the traffic traf-fic mix. According to AAA Utah, children are especially vulnerable. Although 5 to 15 year-olds represent just 15 percent of the population, 29 percent of the people killed or injured in traffic crashes in the U.S. are in this age group. In Utah, 12 children were killed and 452 injured in pedestrian traffic crashes in 1997. In the same year, one child was killed and 482 were injured in bicycle traffic crashes. Students often lack experience in dealing with traffic. traf-fic. Motorists can help reduce risks to children by following fol-lowing these AAA suggestions: Slow down around schools and residential areas. Remember the speed limit in a school zone is 20 mph. Watch out for children. They may be running, late, distracted and forget to look for cars. Understand children are unpredictable and inexperienced inex-perienced in traffic. Look for clues children may be in are area safety safe-ty patrols, crossing guards, bikes, school buses, and school zone signs. Drive with extra caution near school bus sites. Obey school bus stops laws. When you see flashing flash-ing red lights on a school bus, always come to a complete com-plete stop. ' Patents are often a traffic hazard as they drop off and pick up their children. Safety tips for parents include: Do not double-park, stop on crosswalks, or block visibility for children and other motorists. Load and unload children on the same side of the street as the school or school bus stop. Have all children exit the vehicle from the curb-side curb-side doors. Carpool to reduce the number of cars at the school or bus stop. Request school officials set up special pick-up and drop-off areas. If there is no special area, arrange a specific place to meet your children on the same side of the street as the school and away from congestion. conges-tion. If your child walks to school, walk the route with them several times before and after school. Use these walks to point out possible traffic hazards, teach and practice safe walking habits, and find the safest walking walk-ing route. 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 editorvemal.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. Derby paint Royalty rights Dear Editor, I am writing about the letter I read concerning the derby. The whole letter seems to be centered around the best paint category. They seem to think that certain people have access to the latest in paint and body equipment. Some people have alleged that my husband's hus-band's paint job was. professionally done. Thanks for the compliment However, I know for a fact that the paint job was done in our backyard. I watched him sit up until two and three o'clock in the morning painting it. It was painted. Those were not decals that were stuck on the car. It was painted with fine tip brushes (the kind you would use on model cars) with a lot of time and effort This car was not painted just two weeks before the derby. It took the whole summer. The letter mentions that there should be judges that judge the best paint. This was done in years past. Some people complained. That is when they decided to do it the way they do now. So are those same people asking that they bring back the judges? In my opinion having the audience vote by applause is the fairest way. Any other way would be a popularity contest not a. best paint contest The letter mentions that no one should be allowed to win best paint for more than two years in a row. Are they also saying, then, no one would be allowed to be in the finals of the derby more than two years in a row? That would put a lot of people out that make it every year. These people work hard to get to the finals as do the people that go for best paint In conclusion, I think that the derby is a fun event and that all of the people are on the same level. My husband does not paint for a living. I also have a suggestion sug-gestion that all cars be put in the fair parade whether you pull them or drive them. That way people can see how much effort is put into the cars, and what paint ideas they have. Don't wait until one car is in the parade then copy the style of that car. Be original. TERRY ESPINOZA Vernal Vernal Express (ISSN 0892-1091) Published every Wednesday lor $19.00 per year in shopping area and $30 per year out of shopping area within state and $33 per year out of state 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 Vtekl Few Public Notice Tara Maylett . Advertising Marie Yoder . .Advertising Jody Smuln Circulation ft Classified Ads Phone: 435-789-3511 FAX: 435-789-8690 Website: www.vemal.com e-mail: edrtorOvemal.com Deadline News Monday 12 noon Display Advertising Monday 5 p m. Classified Advertising Monday 5 p.m. Pub: Notice Monday 3 p.m. Dear Editor, This is an excerpt of a letter to the BLM. We the Royalty Owner of Mineral interests in the Roosevelt Unit, herein petition the Bureau of Land Management to assist us in dissolving said Roosevelt Unit because none of us have received income from the production of wells in the Unit since December of 1998. A new operating lease is being acquired at this time, which we very much oppose. We have never received our fair share from all previous operators and feel this is an opportune time to request your help to see that it is done away with once and for all. We've consulted with several geologists who assert that the Roosevelt Unit is an illegal Unit because it has no singular geologic features that sets that acreage in the unit apart from all other lands within the Altamont-East Altamont-East Bluebell field. A Unit is used for a and anti-clinal structure which has folding features. All parties owning royalty interests in such a structure, by forming a unit, received their fair share of proceed from oil produced from a dome or pool below the surface. But as we all know, the oil found under the Uintah Basin is from sedimentary sed-imentary structures therefore proving unitization with no purpose. To continue this confusing, disorderly, unfair, unjust, . unit serves absolutely no purpose except to bind the royalty owners ad confuse the interests of all involved. For over 49 years it has blocked our legal right to development and has been the most discriminatory issue found in the Uintah Basin. For instance, several sections of land held by said unit cuts through the section sec-tion wherein wells drilled and producing outside of the line drawn forming said unit landowners are not paid their fair share for interest they own in same section. Old wells within several sections are not shut-in and not being produced while new well drilled in same section sec-tion beyond the line spoke of, are producing and all proceeds are going to the lease operators; none to the landowners. What a prime example of theft This we have been tied to for 49 years. Please do all you can to dicontinue the Roosevelt Unit Three main reason to justify our request are: Landowners legal right to develop assets have been withheld. Discriminated against for nearly 50 years. Mineral interests are identical to all other minerals in the Altamont-East Bluebell field. FERN B. OBERHANSLY Royalty and landowner If you have a news tip contact the l Vephmi Wm VERNAL Express SHE DID NOT SHE SAID YOU WAS A VERY VERY) ISMART ALECK J r151 Slice of Life ClhisiirDcjj tithe code By Steven R. Wallis Express Editor As thousands of young people head back to school this week it comes time for families to change the code. The code word is used by family members as a way of verifying if a person is friendly or not In such cases, children are instructed by their parents to never accept rides with people they do not know. But if a friend of the parents is not familiar to their children, they are given a code word. When they go to pickup the child, the child will ask the person claiming to be a friend for the code word. If the person cannot give it, then the child does not accept the ride or associate with the person. per-son. Chief Mike Hamner urges parents to teach children to be leery of persons theyare not familiar with. If they try to force the child into a vehicle or to go with them, the child should make as. much noise as possible so they can attract attention. Parents should also be aware of anything unusual and should report it to law enforcement agencies. "Many times people tell me, 'Oh, I thought that looked strange, but I didn't think to report it' Don't hesitate to report unusual circumstances. Percentage wise, your intuitions that something is wrong are correct" cor-rect" With the increase in traffic on Main Street, it seems there is a rush hour. Chief Hamner advises motorists to slow down and pay attention to children loading and unloading from buses. Also motorists should also watch for students walking or biking along side of roads. The first days of school can be very stressful as students stu-dents attempt to pay for lunch, figure out which bus to take home, decide what to wear on day two and straightening out a class schedule. Many students in the Uintah School District are at schools they have never attended before. Parents can ease the stress by eliminating as many of these unknowns as possible. Pay school lunch early, meet the teacher with the child, become acquainted with the bus driver, set up a study area and schedule so the child settles into good study habits and by all means, change the code. Take sttocCx off household hazardous materials Can you identify the hazardous chemicals around your house? You don't have to look far. They come in the form of weed killers, pesticides, pesti-cides, paints, paint thinners, used motor oils, antifreeze, spot removers and oven cleaners. The list just keeps going on. And they're lurking somewhere in every household: house-hold: under the kitchen sink, stored in the basement, cluttering the garage. Some jobs around the home may require the use of products containing contain-ing hazardous components. Nevertheless, proper use and disposal dis-posal of these products can help fight air, water, and soil pollution and prevent health problems. Know which products are hazardous. haz-ardous. Check labels before buying. And buy only what you need. Read and follow all directions on product labels. Use the least hazardous product. Avoid aerosols. Learn about alternatives alter-natives to household items containing contain-ing hazardous substances. In some cases, natural products you have around the house may be as effective effec-tive as products with hazardous components. For instance, vinegar, lemon juice or natural oils can be used for cleaning and polishing. Check with your local library or bookstore for guidebooks on non-hazardous non-hazardous household practices. Store products safely. Always keep them in original containers, clearly marked and stored safely away from children and pets. This goes for homemade mixtures, too. If you store homemade mixtures, make sure they're properly labeled in containers that will not be mistaken mis-taken for food or beverages. Dispose of products safely. Always follow directions. When appropriate, recycle. Give unused paint to someone who can use it. Recycle motor oil at service stations or collection centers participating in used oil programs. If at any time you have questions about potentially potential-ly hazardous ingredients in products, prod-ucts, call the manufacturer or your local poison control center. For more information on hazardous haz-ardous materials or the Used Oil Recycling Program in the Basin, call TriCounty Health Department. 781-5475 (Vernal office); 722-5085 (Roosevelt office); or 738-2202 (Duchesne office.) After all, it's your health we're talking about. Older AinmeirDcamis Acti ffiuiinidoinig by Joan Janes, Director Uintah County AAA With reports of a $1 trillion surplus and enough money for tax cuts, you would think adequate money would be available to fund critical services for needy adults in this country. Yet for years, a little known but vitally important program call the Older Americans Act has not received needed funds. And this year, the program is facing cuts. Something is desperately wrong with our priorities on the national level. Why in this era of surpluses are we cutting, vital human service programs? It's because of a little known secret in Washington half the budget surplus sur-plus could not exist without deep cuts to domestic spending. The projected surplus is based on spending caps that were passed in 1997 when long term economic eco-nomic forecasts were not so rosy. The cumulative impact of the cuts over the next decade becomes even more burdensome, reaching 50 percent. What will this mean for the Older Americans Act? This year alone, the Older Americans Act faces cuts of up to 12 percent or more. What does this mean in human terms? In Uintah County it means that 1,000 meals a month would not be served to seniors and transportation services would be reduced to two days per week. The Older Americans Act is a lifeline to older persons in need. Older adults receive services such as meals-on wheels, homemaker services and transportation that help them to remain living independently inde-pendently in their own homes and communities. The typical recipient of services under this program is over 75, living along whose annual income is less than $10,000. The older people are most often the last to ask for services, they are proud and struggle as long as they can. The older population is growing dramatically dramatical-ly particularly the over 85 group, which will double dou-ble over the next 10 years. Now is not the time to cut funding for these services. It seems obvious that this program is worthy of federal funding. We are puzzled as to why lawmakers cannot seem to find a small amount for the Older Americans Act, at a time when they have proposed $76 billion in corporate corpo-rate tax breaks and reduced taxes for the wealthy. The entire program, which serves seniors in every community commu-nity in the county costs about $1 billion nationwide a year. This is only 1 .2 percent of the proposed corporate corpo-rate tax breaks. An additional $200 million is needed this year to begin meeting the growing number of requests from older adults and their families, many of whom are struggling to balance their jobs, children and caring for a parent. Let's stop making essential domestic programs the target of budget axes in Washington, especially when our elderly population is increasing and family care givers need assistance. We should not be transferring funds from the deserving elderly to the already wealthy. The president presi-dent and Congress will meet in September to decide what their priorities will be. The decision should guarantee guar-antee that we increase funding for critically needed services, such as those provided by the Older Americans Act If anyone would like addresses of our Senators and Representatives in Washington, please contact me at the Golden Age Center and I will be available to provide pro-vide the information where to write or call to let our elected officials know what our message is. The telephone number at the Golden Age Center is 789-2169. |