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Show Wednesday September Single Copy 504 Vernal, Utah 84078 114th Year No. 34 SeeC5 m :. m mm m m m . a&. m . m Lvl UTE PRIDE 1- Tji I 96 I 97 I WEATHER M7fi A sense of higstory IRAQ EXPERIENCE jft ' . 4& 1 I W -J I ' J f ir " . i I Partly cloudy. Highs Slight chance ol a I A W it y T iU!w II I in the mid 80s and I thunderstorm. I J.Ik F Htf w5sa . II" 1 ' Win S' L ! J Back of van is caved-in after accident Six-year-old injured in accident A six-year-old boy was injured last week when the van he was riding in was rear-ended by an oil field truck. The van was stopped on 1500 West in Davis behind another vehicle that was stopped for a school bus Wednesday at about 6:55 a.m. A north-bound utility truck - ,' Yl j nil! j8 s- -felt ."C-,"' '"' - Iff ri - Photography contest entry by Mindy Winter captures a monarach butterfly making its way to a flower. See other entries on A6. Homeless situation sends county looking for shelter By Steven R. Wallis Express Editor Along with the sustained growth Uintah County is experiencing, expe-riencing, there is a growing problem with homeless people. Uintah County grants writer Heather Hoyt sees the homeless problem in the county as "critical" "criti-cal" and it cannot be dealt with in the same way as it has in the past. "In the past we have simply sim-ply put the homeless in a hotel room," Hoyt said during dur-ing Tuesday's Chamber of Commerce meeting. "Now that there are no vacancies in hotels we can no longer do that." The county's homeless are not your typical bum on the street. They are individuals or families fami-lies which have been displaced due to employment, divorce or are priced out of the housing market. Hoyt said a Vernal apartment complex has been purchased by an out-of-state investor, who will have to increase rent $250 a month to bring the facility up to state standards. "Some residents could be forced to live out of their cars because they cannot afford to pay $650 a month for rent," Hoyt said. that injured six-year-old. for Bill Jr's Rathole Drilling ran into the back of the van and pushed it into the back of the vehicle in front of it. All three vehicles ran off the road. The vehicle behind the bus was able to miss hitting it because it had enough room between it and the back of the bus. All drivers and passengers " ";' "7H""'"' ' v" ''" x r o A' '-Si ' Uintah County Commissioners Commission-ers are investigating ways to establish an emergency homeless home-less shelter to address the problem. It was suggested that the old food pantry on west Highway 40 be converted for the shelter, but Uintah County isn't ready to make a decision on the issue. The long-term answer to the program is the construction of more affordable housing. On a video produced by Uintah County and VTV, Hoyt informed legislators during dur-ing their recent visit to Vernal about the shortage of affordable housing. A project that is taking aim at affordable housing is the 22-unit 22-unit Unity Place Apartments which will be located on a currently cur-rently vacant lot in Vernal, near the southeast intersection intersec-tion of 500 East and 500 South. Rehabilitation will begin later this year on the 48-unit Stoneridge Apartments in Roosevelt, located at 158 East 800 South. Rents at each property will be significantly lower than market rate. In Vernal, where the area median income (AMI) is $32,328, apartments will be available to households earning less than 50 percent of AMI. In Roosevelt, where AMI is $34,453, households house-holds earning less than 38 percent per-cent of AMI will be eligible. were wearing seat belts, reported report-ed Trooper Craig Young, Utah Highway Patrol. The driver of the oil field truck was cited for driving too fast for conditions. The six year old was transported to Ashley Valley Medical Center and later to a Salt Lake Hospital. He suffered suf-fered a broken leg. Little Hole The 356-acre trust land parcel located near Little Hole on the Green River will be offered for sale to the highest bidder at a public auction. The property is approximately approximate-ly four miles downriver from Flaming Gorge Dam across the river from the Little Hole Day Use Area. The decision to sell at auction auc-tion stems from a June 2005 application to the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration to lease the property for a fishing lodge. Public notification of the application to lease resulted in two additional proposals for the parcel one from the Utah Department of Wildlife The homeless problem is extending to a shortage at the Ashley Valley Food Pantry. Users of the facility are having to choose whether they want a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving or for Christmas. Rolene Rasmussen, Uintah County assessor's office, is heading up a donation drive to have turkeys tur-keys available at the food pantry pan-try for both holidays. She has raised $600 since last Thursday and needs to raise about $5,000. On the video presented to legislators, leg-islators, Commissioner Mike McKee outlined another impact brought on by growth, such as roads. Oil producers claim that better roads can decrease the cost in equipment and time for development of natural resources. resourc-es. To help with the impacts to the county, it was proposed to legislators that the state should share some of its severance tax. "It was indicated to us during the legislative visit that lawmakers law-makers don't want to mess with the severance tax, but they are willing to make other concessions," conces-sions," McKee said. In 2005 Uintah County produced pro-duced over $1.3 billion in natural natu-ral gas, states the video. "With that much money going out of the county, some should be coming back," said Brian Gorum, during the Chamber meeting. Duchesne deputy speaks out about By Janine Shannon Express Writer Duchesne County Deputy Attorney Roland Uresk faces two misdemeanor charges for allegedly failing to report child sex abuse. Uresk, a candidate for state Senate, said he feels he did not do anything wrong because the information he received was through a third party. "If I was wrong, then I will take responsibility for my actions," he said. Uresk is under investigation by the Utah Attorney General's Office because he is a public official. According to Uresk, it all started in September 2005 with an unofficial phone conversation conversa-tion where an acquaintance mentioned that he had been told by a person who had been told by another person that Brad Gale might be sexually abusing his son. Uresk said he felt uncomfortable reporting such a serious crime with no facts and with information coming com-ing through several layers of people he did not know. He told the caller to contact Division of Child and Family Services property to go to highest bidder J Resources, and one from a private pri-vate individual. Additionally, there was substantial interest in the property following the closing period for the acceptance accep-tance of the competing offers. After extensive examination examina-tion of the proposals, and an appraisal-based analysis of the property, the Trust Lands Administration determined that it will deny all three pending pend-ing applications. It has instead decided that the best alternative alterna-tive for the trust beneficiary Utah's public schools is to offer the property for sale at a public auction. The date for the auction is not yet set, but it will be at least 90 days following the completion comple-tion of all preliminary processing. process-ing. The details of the auction will be announced and widely advertised as soon as they are available. The sale will be subject to Max (a female) owl was caught in a barbed wire fence four weeks ago, and was cut off the fence with a knife. She sustained a dollar-sized hole to the patagium (the thin skin along the leading edge of (DCFS) directly or to have the person who had more information informa-tion call him. Uresk received another phone call in May 2006 from the same caller, who again mentioned men-tioned rumors about Gale. This angered Uresk, that the person who had first-hand knowledge would not report it to the proper prop-er authorities. With no outlet to substantiate the rumors, Uresk again told the caller to contact DCFS. Gale, owner of religious bookstores book-stores in Vernal and Roosevelt, was arrested in July after a man from Orem did report to DCFS. Gale was subsequently charged with 33 felony counts of abuse including rape of a child, sodomy on a child, and exploitation of a minor. He also faces charges in Utah County. Even though the rumors turned out to be true, Uresk still feels the most responsible course of action was to urge those who had actual knowledge knowl-edge of the crime to contact DCFS. Uresk said he doubted the credibility of the report because no one was willing to contact him with first-hand information. "Even though the phone call was personal and unofficial, these conditions: Public access to the river will continue utilizing a public pub-lic easement that has been in place since 1961. The new owner will be required to comply with Daggett County zoning and other ordinances. The land in question is not state public land, but trust land. The Trust Lands Administration is required by the state constitution and by state statute to manage trust assets in the financial interests of its 12 beneficiaries. The School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration is an independent state agency that manages 3.4 million acres of Utah trust lands for the financial benefit of Utah's public pub-lic schools and 11 other public institutions. Although it is said that this development has the potential 7 There goes Max the wing between the shoulder and wrist) as well as a nasty wound to the wrist from the fence barbs). She was released last night in Boneta, Utah, her home. attorney charges if I had acted on mere rumor that may have been false, I may have opened the door to allow the county to have been named in a slander lawsuit, with allegations alle-gations that I was acting in an official capacity," he said. "The county might have incurred tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses, which would have to be paid by tax dollars." Uresk currently serves as the civil attorney for Duchesne County, but he worked in the juvenile court system for nearly 25 years and has been an advocate for the Children's Justice Center Program since its inception. "Personally, I could not be more hurt or insulted by the accusations that have been leveled lev-eled against me," he said. "I do not condone child abuse in any form. I consider sexual abuse of children to be the most heinous crime committed by man." Uresk will continue to campaign cam-paign despite these allegations and is determined to win the race. "I encourage anyone who has knowledge of child abuse to come forward and report it to DCFS," he said. "I advocated it then, and I still advocate it now. for increased economic benefit ben-efit to Daggett County related to tourism on the Green River, and the county should, and most likely will, see additional taxes from commercial sales, there is a growing amount of concern among residents and river users as to the effects this development will have on the pristine environment the Green River corridor currently possesses with no development on its shorelines. The road access to this site, will most likely be via the current cur-rent county road which travels through the Diamond Mountain limited entry elk and deer habitat, habi-tat, thereby causing increased travel on this road. There will also be surface disturbance in the area related to the construction con-struction of this site including includ-ing increased traffic, equipment, equip-ment, dust and noise emissions throughout construction. Photo by Linda West She was released in honor of our friend Lorna Condon, age 93, who adores owls and is an amazingly strong, beautiful, positive example of living, just like her owl. |