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Show Vernal Express A12 Wednesday, March 10, 2004 iDD) IbMs aire rooQ Early in February, Ben Freestone had a surprise visitor to his backyard, back-yard, a robin. Birds, including robins, are common visitors to his yard but this one was unusual, it had a dart from a blowgun sticking through its chest. Feeling sorry for the bird. Freestone first thought about trying to catch it. But, even though the robin couldn't fly, it was still able to run and easily avoided capture. Not knowing what else to do, he put out food in his backyard where the robin could reach it. "It was too quick a runner to be caught, the bird survived a week in the vicinity of Freestone's backyard," back-yard," said Heidi Hansen, a bird rehabilitator. "It visited for several hours daily to pick at the seed placed on snow for it. Then Freestone mentioned the bird to someone who knew to call me." The robin didn't stand a chance, when determined bird catchers stalked it. The captured robin was then examined and found to be in surprisingly sur-prisingly good shape. Even with a blow dart through it's forge for food. . ' , .. X ' - , I They're just auto parts. Does it make a difference what brand they are? Does it matter who installs them? (i V hi . Genuine Motorcraft Batteries GET THE BATTERY ENGINEERED SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUR VEHICLE. Tested Tough9 PLUS Tested Tough MAX Up to 100-month warranty MSRP with exchange. Taxes and installation extra. See participating Dealership for limited-warranty details. tiaiirgjetis An X-ray was taken to determine exactly where the dart had penetrated. penetrat-ed. "The dart entered the body ven-trally ven-trally below the right wing, passed through the chest cavity, exited ventrally below the left shoulder, then passed through the wing just below the shoulder," Hansen said. After surveying the damage, the dart was carefully clipped off and the needle removed. With a little additional care, the bird was pronounced pro-nounced fit to release back into the wild. The robin was returned to his favorite backyard where Freestone had the honor of freeing it. To the amazed delight of the small group at the release site, the robin flew to the rooftop, checked out a couple of trees and sang before perching and preening his feathers. This little robin had a lot of personality. Freestone said the robin continues to visit daily for his breakfast. While this story had a happy ending, end-ing, most stories of injured birds do not. "I just don't understand people shooting the bird," Hansen said. "It is such a waste of life. Song birds body, this robin could still run and MM GENUINE PARTS & SERVICE HEART 0HHE WESTSKKES See your participating Dealer today! V. This X-ray shows the path the body. are protected by laws and I don't think a blowgun is legal anyway." Conservation Officer Terry Smith agrees. "Blowguns, BB guns, wrist rockets, slingshots, and even most handguns are not legal methods to take game animals. She is also correct cor-rect that song birds are protected by state and federal laws under the migratory species acts." Almost all of the roughly 700 animals ani-mals found in Utah are protected. Smith explained. "It is an extremely extreme-ly short list of animals that are not protected by state and federal laws. The only legal way to take wildlife is by following the hunting and fishing proclamations and those cover less than a hundred animals." "Poaching a non-game animal like this robin is a symptom of a much larger problem," Smith said. "Young kids, especially boys, are fascinated by guns and death. They want things like a BB gun, wrist rocket or a blowgun and often their parents give in to the request. Then, left unsupervised, the kids get tired of shooting at stationary targets and start stalking wildlife or their younger brothers and sisters. Every year, kids get injured when these weapons are used irresponsibly. irresponsi-bly. There have even been a few deaths from BB guns. But you still hear 'it's just a BB gun.'" "Unfortunately, some people reading this are probably thinking: 'So what? - It's only a robin,"' I "7 SkJ ,V That's why our Dealerships use genuine parts, engineered specifically for your vehicle and installed by the factory-trained technicians who know it best. graces OR LESS LET OUR FACTORY-TRAINED TECHNICIANS PERFORM A THOROUGH INSPECTION OF YOUR VEHICLE, AND MORE. Genuine Motorcraftoil and filter change Rotate and inspect four tires Inspect brake system Test battery Check air and cabin air filters Check belts and hoses V Top off all fluids Up to five quarts of genuine Motorcraft oil. Taxes, disposal fees and diesel vehicles extra. See participating Dealership for details through 31404. Keyless Entry Keypad No Keys? No Worries! Lock and unlock your vehicle without keys Backlit for night use Engineered specifically for your vehicle No wires, no drilling required IT Includes limited warranty. Dealer installation recommended. Available for most Ford, Lincoln or Mercury vehicles. Installation and taxes extra. See participating Dealership for details and warranty information through 31404. blow dart took through the robin's Smith said. "The concern is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. At first, the kids poach the non-game animals like songbirds. But as the kids get older, they get .22's and shotguns. Then they start poaching quail, grouse, turkey and eventually move on to deer, elk and other game species." Smith advises parents to supervise super-vise their children when using these weapons and offer guidance in making good decisions for safety and legal issues. According to state law, blowguns, wrist rockets and firearms aren't "toys," they are classified as "dangerous weapons." If that isn't reason enough to control con-trol the use of these weapons and to provide supervision for kids, Smith recalled another "unsupervised" event. "A year or so back, a shooting at the Steinaker Service Canal was investigated. Turns out, a boy was shooting at barn swallows with a .22. The swallows were nesting under a bridge that spans the canal. He tried to knock down some of the nests with the butt of his .22 by holding onto the barrel and waving it around. The trigger caught on something and the gun fired, hitting the boy in the chest. 'It was only a .22.'" Utah Highway Patrol Troopers honored for by Senior Trooper Jack Peterson On Feb. 25, Section Five (Uintah, Duchesne and Daggett counties) of the Utah Highway Patrol held its annual awards presentation. The awards themselves have changed to reflect the changes in the mission of the Highway Patrol. The mission of the Utah Highway Patrol is, "To provide professional police and traffic services, and to protect the constitutional rights of ail people in Utah." In the past, awards were given specifically for the amount of work that troopers did. For the past couple cou-ple of years that has changed to reflect the way that troopers accomplish accom-plish the tasks that are presented to them. While there are still number implications on some awards, the awards themselves are given to troopers who have shown greater interest in community safety and service. The awards went to the following troopers: Trooper Jay Przybyla, for taking ir-i'i ji M M - Naples Police Girl Scouts to Naples Police Department is participating par-ticipating in a partnership with the Girl Scouts of Utah in promoting youth safety. They especially want the public to know that everyone who cares about the safety of our youth is welcome to attend an open house where safety tips will be presented pre-sented to young people. The open house will be held at the Naples Police Department March 12 from 5 to 7 pm. On March 12, the Girls Scouts of Utah will celebrate the miracle of Elizabeth Smart's return to her family, fam-ily, the strengths she has as a teenage girl, and the Girl Scout's 92nd birthday, by organizing a statewide safety awareness campaign cam-paign - Partners in Safety. Across the state, organizations committed to children's safety like Girl Scouts of Utah, r.a.d. KIDS, Radio Disney AM 910, and Kindervision are joining with law enforcement and local governments to welcome community members of all ages as they, too, commit to safety. March 1 2, 2004, kicks off an on-going focus on safety rather than just a one-day event. Ed and Lois Smart are the honorary chairs of this campaign. According to Ed Smart, "For us, it's not about starting a separate foundation or organization. We believe that by joining forces together utilizing all resources available to our youth, we have a much greater opportunity to spread the message. It truly takes a partnership part-nership among all." Girl Scouts are committed to safety and this campaign brings the message home to all Utah communities. commu-nities. "We could have sponsored our own Girl Scout program highlighting high-lighting safety but this campaign does much more than that. By partnering with law enforcement enforce-ment in every Utah city, we provide a link between public safety, law enforcement, children and adults in their own backyard," said Elaine Gause, Girl Scouts of Utah CEO. The latest study by Girl Scouts of the USA's national research team, Feeling Safe: What Girls Say, examines the feelings and perceptions percep-tions about safety of girls 8-17, both Girl Scouts and non-Girl Scouts. The research shows that the most Driving Under the Influence drivers off the road. Trooper Luke Stradinger, for making the most drug Interdiction arrests. Trooper Craig Young, for Occupant Restraint Enforcement and Education. Trooper Jay Przybyla, for recovering recov-ering the most stolen vehicles. Senior Trooper Jack Peterson, for quality service as the public information infor-mation officer. The Lieutenant's Award is given each year to the trooper that goes above and beyond the normal duties in serving citizens. This year, it was presented to Trooper Craig Young. Young has shown dedication to the community in enforcement and service. The standard of his efforts has been of the highest quality. The efforts that he made were in spite of difficult personal times. Young and his wife had a new "preemie" baby after a difficult pregnancy. After the baby boy was bom, it had to remain in the hospital hospi-tal for many months. Despite the problems involved with caring for MDGSMERnnEIB Dir. Travis R. All a mi NOW OPEN FULL TIME Local doctor returns home with newest -. iiumv wuu iivwvm ill n chiropractic healthcare, 1 266 West 100 North Suite 5 partners with promote safety threats to feeling of safety diminish the quality of a girl's life - girls who don't feel safe have trouble paying attention in school, experience experi-ence trouble making decisions, and often don't form healthy relationships. relation-ships. "If we can help prevent a family from experiencing the emotional wreck our family endured, this is well worth every moment of our time and energy," said Smart "It's not about the words we use in the message, it's the message itself -repeatedly. Our children need to hear it at home, school, from their leaders, coaches, mentors, law enforcement - from every corner, every day." During February, when more than 5,00 Utah Girl Scouts were taking cookie orders, they also spread the message of safety. 400,000 fliers were printed inviting the general public to support Partners in Safety. Parents, grandparents, teachers, mentors, coaches, troop leaders, church leaders - anyone and evrey-one evrey-one dedicated to safety - are being asked to visit a participating public safetylaw enforcement agency on March 1 2 for their community open house from 5 - 7 p.m. Girl Scouts of Utah updates the list of agencies committed to this partnership on the GSU website daily, www.gsu-tah.org. www.gsu-tah.org. Currently, there are more than 25 open house locations; however, law enforcement participation is growing grow-ing rapidly as more hear about this campaign. There will be various activities at each site. Each participating agency will have a large pledge poster so everyone in the community can sign and pledge safety on behalf of those they love. Safety information, resource materials, and special programs pro-grams are being organized by each agency. Girl Scouts of Utah hopes that Partners In Safety will be beneficial for Utah's children, as well as a blueprint for community partnerships partner-ships across the country. Events like this raise awareness of safety and bring hope to all of us who care about kids. service young children and visiting his wife and child in Salt Lake City, Craig was always on duty when expected and did an exemplary job of serving the community. He also represents the other troopers of our section as the Utah Highway Patrol Association representative. repre-sentative. Additionally, because of his expertise with computers, he has assisted the section personnel with the implementation and maintenance mainte-nance of the in-car computers. That is the type of service that is valuable valu-able to the people of the Uintah Basin. The lieutenant considered many of the accomplishments of the troopers this past year. He can tell you many different stories about the efforts that troopers have made to benefit their community. Through the great efforts of the troopers, the amount of crashes in this area have been reduced for the past two years. This is truly a benefit to the community. com-munity. Lt. Stan Bench expressed appreciation to all the troopers for the exceptional work they do every day. h,. ' ' ur L. |