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Show 7-1-F Wednesday, October 4, 2006 Single Copy 50C Vernal, Utah 84078 114th Year No. 38 TAKING A STAND domestic violence See B1 SSD completes roads. .W0OK REALTY, INC See All is defeat Morgan: a first see Alt CR UT PRESORT -3 C UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION 1521 E 3900 S SLC, UT 84124 z U v,,, tl- V If iaaju womal PAm . . '-.J 1 zL I, ' - . 104 105 WEATHER PROJECTS ) &k l&l .1 7 A ' I ASTCN Ji4 Vf III 3U 7150 I f. I I I Slight chance of a isniatari th,vw. I v f -r . .. . . ,r- Eteiniwl cited for atas They say a picture is worth a thousand words. For legal reasons, the Express can not publish a recently obtained photograph depicting the living conditions of dogs at a Vernal-area Vernal-area kennel. Readers will have to rely on their imaginations to picture what the photograph portrays. Picture two little Chihuahuas confined to a kennel. ken-nel. Picture the perimeter of that kennel covered in dog feces, piled so high in some places that it appears to scrape the dogs' bellies. Picture the little Chihuahuas lying down. You've just pictured a space that is larger than any area in the dogs' kennel that is not covered cov-ered in canine excrement; the dogs can not lie down without resting in their own waste. Now picture dozens of other small-breed dogs living in virtually vir-tually identical circumstances. circumstanc-es. You've just pictured the scene that a concerned Uintah County resident feared she would encounter last May if she had been permitted (which she wasn't) to investigate a kennel operated by Sue Hernandez and Shirley Harrison on 500 East south of Vernal. And, you've just pictured the scene that was captured on film Sept. 27, eight days after Deputy Sheriff Brian Fletcher and interim Animal Control Officer Heidi Cordero cited Hernandez for 16, and Harrison for 13, counts of misdemeanor mis-demeanor cruelty to animals. In early May, a concerned citizen cit-izen ("C.C.") went to the kennel to purchase a puppy. "The dog I'd had for 15 years died earlier in the year and I felt ready to bring a new dog into my home, so I responded to an ad selling small-breed puppies," C.C. said. When C.C. got to the kennel, her suspicions were immediately aroused. The four puppies that she was shown were displayed on a table that had been turned upside down, with chicken wire wrapped around the table's legs, acting as an enclosure for the puppies. "There were three happy lit yioi'Jah Coyrty Ho bond G O Ground work for the construction of a Recreation Center will like begin this month. This is the arichetect's drawing draw-ing of what the facility will look like when complete. owneir! tle pups in the enclosure, with one little Chihuahua curled up in back. When my daughter succeeded in coaxing the little guy out of the corner, we saw that his behind was covered in poop," C.C. said. "I could hear lots of dogs and puppies barking in the back yard, but the kennel operators would not let us go back there to look at those puppies," she added. C.C. and her daughter left the kennel without a puppy. "I just didn't have a good feeling about the place or their dogs," C.C. said. The next day, C.C.'s daughter daugh-ter surprised her at work with the timid little Chihuahua who'd been curled up in the back of the makeshift display kennel. "We took him home and I warned my daughter that he was probably going to die. He looked awful and was not in good shape," C.C. recalled. Despite her dire prediction, C.C.'s puppy survived. "We cleaned him up, then took him to the veterinarian for vaccinations, vaccina-tions, de-worming and a health check. The puppy had a broken tail. He's had emotional issues that make him difficult to train, but he is much loved and well cared for," C.C. said. The day that C.C. first visited visit-ed the kennel, she called Uintah Animal Control Officer Rick Bell, asking him to investigate the facilities. "Rick thanked me for calling, saying that he had been dealing with one of the operators for eight years, during which time he'd tried to get her into compliance with the county's animal welfare ordinances; that he was familiar famil-iar with her operations; and that he'd 'take care of the situation,'" situa-tion,'" C.C. said. For the next several days, C.C. called the animal shelter shel-ter expecting to learn that the kennel's charges had been taken there for safety. When they weren't, she again called Bell, who told her that the dogs could not be removed from the kennel because he had no place o&m? id TsjV - a, . viv IT Photo by Jeremy Gudac of the nose to put them: the animal shelter was full. "I told him that I knew there were animal rescue groups that would take care of the dogs, but he wouldn't budge," C.C. recalled. She continued to try to monitor the puppies' fate, but said Bell failed to return any of her calls. "I gave up and called (Uintah County Commission Chairman) Mike McKee. He promised me that he would keep on top of the situation, making sure that the dogs were well cared for, with clean water, good food and sani-" tary conditions." Rather than remove the dogs, Bell set up a program to clean up the kennel. "I made weekly visits to the property. The owners own-ers and I were working on getting get-ting the dogs vaccinated and fixing fix-ing up their pens," he said. Bell acknowledged that the kennel was dirty, but did not feel as if the conditions were so bad as to endanger the dogs' health or safety. No veterinarian veterinar-ian was called in to confirm or refute Bell's assessment. He estimates that there were 25 dogs on the premises when he first visited in May and said he and the owners were working work-ing on reducing the number of dogs present. In July, Bell was sidelined ir i t.rVl.. t -:. . . Ik ... I;!? Winning dog of a Golden Retriever won in this week's by an injury and had to take a medical leave of absence. "When I got hurt and couldn't visit any more, things at the kennel began to backslide," he claimed. 0 Vernal City Police officers assisted by other law enforcement officers investigate in-vestigate accident which claimed the life of a woman. - . Elderly Vernal woman dies in accident An elderly Vernal woman died Tuesday night in a collision col-lision that occurred on Main Street south of the Vernal Post Office. The woman was riding a scooter from a service station south of 850 West Main when a white pickup truck traveling west on Main Street struck her. to ..facilities By Steven R. Wallis Express Editor Monday Uintah County Commissioners approved the issuance of revenue boards for the construction of a recreation center and a building for the TriCounty Health Department. The Uintah County Building authority agreed to bond for $5 million for the construction construc-tion of the recreation center. The Uintah Recreation District received a $7 million zero interest inter-est loan from the Community Impact Board to help build the facility, but loans paid with mineral lease money have to be paid off in 15 years. Payment over 15 years is more than the Recreation District Board wants to pay so they have asked the county for some assistance, said Eric Johnson, County bond council. coun-cil. Under the agreement, Uintah County would own the Recreation Center and would lease it back to the Recreation District until the bond is paid off. "Essentially it is pass through money," Johnson said. The TriCounty Health Department has received a $1.9 million grant and a $1.9 million mil-lion loan, from the CIB to build a facility on property located fcaJjput.5QJ5Quth 500 East. The County Building Authority, compose of the commissioners, agree to bond for $1.9 million to pay off the loan. The facility, however, will belong to Uintah t -a f v photo contest. See page A8. On September 19, C.C. learned that a Tridell woman had purchased a puppy from the same kennel, and that See Kennel on A10 She was thrown several yards and died at the scene. At press time Tuesday, the identification of the woman had not been released, but was lived a short distance from where the accident occurred. Police suspect that driver of the truck could have been intoxicated. County once the bond has been paid off and Uintah County will lease it the Health Department indefinitely, said Commissioner Dave Haslem. The Uintah Recreation Board is anxious to begin construction of its Recreation Center, but has set a construction limit of $15 million, said Dan Rogerson, Uintah Recreation District director. The board is hoping to sign an agreement for the construction con-struction of the facility by Oct. 11. Earth work on the facility could begin by Oct. 10. Layton Construction is the district's construction management general gen-eral contraction. They will be bidding all the subcontracts on the project which have a 5 percent per-cent preference to local contractors, contrac-tors, Rogerson said. Layton Construction has built recreation centers in Taylorsivlle and Park City. To meet the $15 million limit, the size of the two gyms had to be reduced and the tennis court will be delayed until phase 2. "We help the high school refine the tennis court at the school, so there are six good courts the community can use," Rogerson said. Even with the reduced size of the gyms, two baseball game can go on at the same time or three volleyball games. The facility should be complete in 15 months, or January of 2008. The facility will include swimming pools, gyms, a track, support and office areas. Two on ballot for Treasurer By Elizabeth Goope Express Writer On the ballot bal-lot for Uintah County Treasurer are two candidates: candi-dates: Ernie B. Paxon, Constitution Party, and Wendi Long, Republican Party. Separate interviews were conducted conduct-ed this week. The Office of Uintah County Treasurer has two functions, func-tions, Long explained Wendi Long Ernie B. Paxon o One is to collect col-lect tax monies and apportion them. Tax dollars are carefully dispersed to all of the different differ-ent taxing entities calculated on the tax rate (mill levy) set for each entity. Not only current cur-rent taxes are collected, but also delinquent payments and advance payments, so the office collects taxes all year long. The Treasurer's Office works very closely with the taxpayers, title companies, mortgage companies compa-nies and tax service companies to ensure proper posting of the taxes. The second function of the Office, said Long, is to receipt , in all money that comes to the various departments within the county, and bank the money on a daily basis. Ernie B. Paxon retired to the Uintah Basin in 1995. Since 1998, he has been teaching physics at the Roosevelt and Vernal Utah State University (USU) campuses. campus-es. Before moving to Vernal, Paxton was with ZA Associates, a consulting engineering company. com-pany. A mechanical engineer, he was one of four engineers who organized the company and formed the board of directors in Albuquerque, N.M.; he was treasurer trea-surer for the corporation. Later hiring included three other people, including a secretary. Mechanical and optic engineers were the consultants for the client, Phillips Lab, Kirkland Airforce Base. Paxton explained, "We are all familiar with the term laser today, but it began as an acronym acro-nym for 'Light Amplification by Stimulated Electro-magnetic Radiation.' Phillips, an airborne air-borne laser laboratory, was an airplane that had lasers on it to shoot down other missiles and aircraft." Wendi Long has worked in the Uintah County Treasurers Office as Deputy Treasurer for ten years. "I feel very experienced experi-enced in how the office functions, func-tions, the office procedures, and in running the office. Donna Richens has been treasurer for 20 years. She is retiring, so I feel that it is natural for me to step up to the plate." Long has prepared for several years to take on the position. "I commend Donna for her years of service to Uintah County, and I hope that I can do the same. She has been wonderful to work for, and she will be greatly missed. She is very highly respected in the community." "The Uintah County Treasurer's Office works very much as a team with other county offices, and I feel that I would be a good team leader," Long said. Paxton stated, "The county doesn't have a document that is like a constitution. It is all determined by the Utah State legislature. I know there are five volumes of codes from the state level about what a county coun-ty can and cannot do. I would learn what is permissible and what isn't A county doesn't See Treasurer on AK) 3 1 |