OCR Text |
Show f,R III ptifSfiRI 100 U i am Wh't-SS ASSUlMftl UN 1Y1 V VHi) S I SIX. Ul H414 Single Copy 500 Vernal, Utah 84078 113th Year No. 15 April 13, 2005 SPORTS WEATHER BY Hi 48 46 47 3 Utes play tough V I v against Judge. See B8 6433 7339 6436 r k , !3 .if See All' t k"iawaiaMaawafflWil iiiiirii ill By Virginia Harrington and Steven R. Wallis Express Writers Snow pack in the higher elevations eleva-tions is greater this year than it was in 1983 when major flooding occurred along Ashley Creek. The potential for flooding this year is high. Uintah County has been preparing pre-paring for flood conditions with weekly meetings held at 8 a.m. every Tuesday. These meetings are open to the public and will continue until the danger is passed or flooding has finished. The county has already filled hundreds of sand bags in preparation prep-aration for flooding and has stockpiled sand in several places plac-es throughout the area. Sand for storage will be hauled to Lapoint today in case of flooding flood-ing on Deep Creek. Angular rocks have been placed at strategic stra-tegic spots along Ashley Creek and the creek bed is in the process pro-cess of being cleaned up using prisoner labor from the Uintah County Jail. Commissioner Jim Abegglen said wherever possible pos-sible the debris is being burned at the cleanup sites. If flooding occurs, the priority will be to preserve infrastructure infrastruc-ture first, starting with bridges, roads and sewer lines. Homes and other buildings will take second place and fields will be last. State water engineer Bob Leake said Ashley Creek has a history of overflowing its banks. A map from 1879 indicates that the creek was actually a fan shaDed delta with mnltinlA channels. One of these chan-" nels runs directlv across 150(1 N. The creek was straightened and the channels were removed when this was thought to be a wise flood control strategy, but this has turned out not to be the case. Leake and Daren Rasmussen of the Utah Division of Water Rights explained that straightening straight-ening the creek has turned it into a monster when the waters Native American civil rights in By Virginia Harrington Express Writer "The Constitution does not apply to Indians," said Assistant U.S. Attorney John Mangum in Federal Court last week. Mangum was addressing Judge Ted Stewart in the Federal District Court for the District of Utah in Salt Lake City last week when he made this statement. Luke Duncan, a member of the Ute Tribe and a former representative on . the Tribal Luke Duncan, a former member of the Ute Tribal Council, was told by an attorney with the U.S. Dept. of Justice, that the Constitution of the United States does not apply to him because he is Native American. Duncan has held the same job for more than two decades to support his family while at the same time working to improve economic eco-nomic conditions for all Ute people. See Rights on A10 . k Bret Reynolds, pilot, and Jordan Merrell, photographer, prepare to take off of expected flood waters. are high. Rasmussen said river will always do what L - wantjJ;o,.jdo, entuy-and,.. rvAs'Ctefek is no exception. It wiu to recover its channels during flooding events. Straightening the creek also made the water run with greater great-er velocity. Once the water overflows the banks, it slows down. Large amounts of water being forced through a narrow channel with high banks will move so quickly that six inches inch-es of water will wash away an adult and 18 inches will float away a car. Rasmussen said that anyone who builds a struc Council, also known as the Ute Business Committee, was in the courtroom when this statement was made. "I'm shocked that he would even say that, knowing that we are American citizens and even more shocked that the tribal attorneys and the Tribal Council didn't react," said Duncan. "They didn't even have a facial reaction." "For the U.S. Attorney to say Indians don't have constitutional constitu-tional rights dishonors every Indian veteran," Duncan said. He has a number of Native fed for p)ta&Di) i. - . . r, v Vjffr r.v"-" ... ture on a flood plain has a 66 percent cluic& of being flood-t flood-t ed put within a 100 year period as the river tries to recover its channels. Rasmussen also said that the Corp of Engineers is removing remov-ing berms and returning rivers riv-ers and'creeks to their natural state as funding allows. He said the Corp has been sorry ever since banks were built up and beds were channeled. He also said that the history of a river helps officials guess what it will do during a flooding situation. situ-ation. Those predictions can help protect lives and property. American friends who fought and died in Viet Nam defending defend-ing democracy. Some of these friends died from the effects of Agent Orange after returning home. Native Americans are currently serving this country in Iraq. Ron Wopsock, also a former member of the Tribal Council, is a six year veteran of the Army National Guard. He has been contacted by Native American veterans groups from around the country. They have asked him to carry out a petition to have John Mangum 1 r - 4 in a ultralight aircraft to video Ashley Creek as part of a documentation Gary Roberts, local emergency emer-gency 'ianagemeaf Official and . fire marshal, will be in charge ' of coordinating volunteers and getting emergency information to the right ; agency. Roberts can be reached through Central Dispatch at 789-4222. He specifically spe-cifically requests that 911 not be used unless the situation is life threatening. Using the emergency number ties up the dispatchers and prevents them from taking other calls. Roberts can also be reached through the County Commissioners' office at 781-5380, or on his cell phone at 828-5088. A recorded jeopardy removed from his position. Duncan and Wopsock have searched for a court that would hear their case since Oct. 13, 2003. It started with a simple request for an audit. Duncan and Wopsock were concerned that too many of the Tribe's financial matters were being conducted in secrecy and all they wanted was an accounting account-ing of how and where the funds were being spent. When they asked for the audit, they were removed from the Business Committee and an ordinance was passed that disallows them from seeking re-election for four years. The two men turned to legal counsel for assistance with this turn of events. That started their long journey through the courts as they fought for their rights to freedom free-dom of speech under the First Amendment and for their right to due process under the Fifth Amendment. Their first stop was the Ute Tribal Court in front of Judge Daniel Sam. Judge Sam ruled that he had no jurisdiction to enforce their civil rights which had been violated by the Tribal Council. Duncan and Wopsock took their case to the Dept of Interior's Administrative Court in Arlington, Va., where it now sits and waits. There is no time frame in this court and it can be dragged out for years. Their appeal has been pending pend-ing for nearly a year, since last May. If their appeal is ever heard by the Dept of Interior, Duncan and Wopsock can- 12 oxo o 1T in message with emergency infor mation and contact phone num ; bers is available at 789-1911. Leake advised that sandbags are pot to be placed along the creek beds. Bags should be used to protect structures from rising waters that have already slowed their flow along the flood plain. Bags placed along river and creek beds will lead to undercutting undercut-ting of the banks and additional flooding. Abegglen said that all fences must be removed from creeks and rivers. Any fence that is not removed will gather branches and debris and cause a logjam, creating additional problems. If fences are found, they will be removed by county workers. If the fences are not removed by people, the water will remove them as more and more damage is done. Some safety precautions include avoid walking in flood water as it may be contaminated and could cause disease. Stay away from water when power lines are down anywhere near the area. Avoid camping and See Flooding on ATI $2.8 million for property By Steven R. Wallis Express Editor Uintah County needs $2.8 million mil-lion to finish purchasing nearly 120 acres of property surrounding surround-ing the Vernal Municipal Airport. Monday commissioners approved an application for a grant and loan for the Permanent Community Impact Board to purchase the property. The $300,000 grant and $2.5 million loan are contingent on a letter of intent from the FAA to finance the purchase of the property. "They have said they will write the letter," Commissioner Jim Abegglen said. Last September the commission commis-sion passed a temporary building build-ing and zoning moratorium on the property around the airport The moratorium suspended for six months all zoning and building activity including erection, construction, reconstruction recon-struction or alternation of any building or structure or subdivision subdi-vision approval on property on fl 0 MM M Still last in per pupil spending USA Today reported last week that Utah still lags behind the rest of the nation in per pupil spending. Utah spends only $4,860 per pupil compared to the national average of $8,019 per pupil. Utah spends over $800 less per pupil than Arizona, which came in second to last in the survey. Other states at the bottom of the list are Mississippi, Idaho and Nevada. Dr. Larry Klein, director of human resources for Uintah School District, said the amount spent per pupil is directly related relat-ed to the number of employees in a district. As an example, Klein said that Maeser and Davis Elementary Schools have a principal and a secretary as the only personnel in the school office. Some schools of comparable compa-rable size in Wyoming have a principal, a vice principal, a counselor and two or three secretaries. sec-retaries. In addition to the number of employees, the type of employee also affects amount spent per pupil. Uintah School District relies on classified employees employ-ees for some positions that are filled with certified employees in other states. Some of these positions are physical education educa-tion teachers, art teachers and music teachers. Klein said students stu-dents in the Uintah". District have those same opportunities but with non-certified teachers. No matter how talented the classified clas-sified employee may be, the pay is still less for teachers who do not hold a certificate. When asked., if this affects the quality of the education received by local students, Klein said it only makes sense that certified teachers in general gener-al would provide a better education educa-tion for students ittthe specified areas. However, Klein made it very clear that all teachers in the core subjects are certified so the quality of education in those areas is equivalent to other states. Klein said Utah ranks lowest low-est in the nation as far as the number of administrative employees and Uintah is in the middle of the state. Klein also said that only three administrative adminis-trative positions are paid out of school funds. Those positions are superintendent, business administrator and director of human resources. All other positions are paid out of federal fed-eral funding, such as Title I or See Student spending on A10 approved near airport the western boundary of the existing airport property, 2500 South, 300 feet to the east of 500 East and 500 South. "We cannot leave these people in limbo," Abegglen said. "The property will allow for the future expansion of the airport." air-port." The $2.5 million loan will be paid off by the FAA when the funds become available. "They FAA have indicated that the property purchase is a priority," Abegglen said. The $300,000 grant will pay the interest on the $2.5 million loan. Uintah County has already purchased pur-chased several of the properties around the airport "The letter of intent from the FAA will make it so Uintah County is not left with the bill," Abegglen said. The county will use the funding from the FAA, when it becomes available, to pay off the CIB loan. Most of the property will be buffer zones required by the FAA for airport clearances. The property could be leased for grazing. |