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Show i m m c cd nn aa n -AUTCrDlGIT 64124 " 'gKOCi UTAH FflESS ASSOCIATION 1521 E 3900 ! S 24-1 501 Single Copy 50t Vernal, Utah 84078 114th Year No. 51 j , December 13, 2006 cou J I J J I ( c:,Ki f f www voma rnm 1213 I 1214 "" sv-J it V;r i ' 3822 4226 Mixofsunand Mof etoud ftn jdouds. Hmih Imn.Highsinthelow WEATHEf BY - HOW JONES HOLE GOT ITS NAME SEE A8 Young leaders learn flVfyJ; about service ATfrli Caa D1 in MALTY, INC, See All Jbt ui ?Jfe&ita.-J. :4W Family takes a moment to reflex during rates at least $1.87 per month Effective Jan. 1, sewer rates will increase $1.87 per month for single family dwellings and $2.49 per month for commercial businesses. The reason for the increase is to prepare for the future regarding the sewage treatment plant. Three entities currently use the plant, which is now about six years old: Maeser Water, Ashley Valley Water, and Vernal City. Every year money is taken out of a reserve fund to make repairs due to depreciation. depre-ciation. Rather than deplete this fund, which is set aside for emergencies, the sewer management man-agement board recommended a rate increase that will bring in an additional $113,000 a Black ice causes Drv Fork accident Two teenage girls were on their way to school Friday morning when their vehicle hit black ice in the Dry Fork area. The driver, 18-year-old Alisha Perry, lost control of the vehicle and went off the road. Perry was wearing a seat belt, but her 16-year-old sister was not. According to LouJean Perry, the girls' grandmother, the sister had difficulty fasten Uintah County Treasurer Donna Richins years. V lySI H'iK o (fi a Angel of Hope Candelight Ceremony. to increase year. This will cover the cost of depreciation as well as issues dealing with population growth in the valley. Cal Dee Reynolds, chairman chair-man of the sewer management board, said that as things get older they start to wear out. He also said they are only using half of the system right now, but it is possible in the near future that they will need to open up the other half due to growth. "This the rate increase will put us in the position to fix things as needed in the future," he said. The total of each sewer bill will be rounded to the nearest nickel up. ing her seat belt. Both girls had to be extricated from the vehicle. The sister was taken to Ashley Valley Medical Center and later flown to the University of Utah hospital. The grandmother said the 16-year-old fractured three vertebrae verte-brae in her back, and rods had to be put in to stabilize them. She is supposed to be coming home this weekend. will retire from her office after 26 See Page A5. Lowe's possibly coming to Vernal Whether or not Lowe's comes to Vernal is partly dependent on three annexation proposals propos-als already in process. The Meier annexation passed last Wednesday at the Vernal City Council meeting. Another, the Merrill annexation, is in a 30-day protest period, and the other, the Hacking nnnexation, just entered the protest period. The Hacking annexation, which includes land where a trailer park now exists, will force 24 families to relocate. Together, the annexations will add land to a portion already in the city making a somewhat triangular piece of property, just north of the Pepsi building. A document submitted submit-ted to the city listed Lowe's as part of this development. If the annexations are approved, developers will submit a site plan for the city to consider. Until then, a time line for the project cannot be determined. Annexations usually take about two months, but longer if there are protests. Notices are printed in the paper and affected entities are notified Treasurer to retire after 26 years By Elizabeth Goode Express Writer After 26 years in the County Treasurer's Office, Donna Richens will celebrate her retirement the end of December. Initially a Deputy Treasurer, hired and trained by Frances Southam, Donna and two other candidates ran on the Republican ballot in 1986. Richens was the successful elected County Treasurer and has now held the office, uncontested, uncon-tested, for 20 years. Commissioners Mike McKee and Dave Haslem said, "Donna Richens is a tremendous public pub-lic servant. She has served the county and community extremely well, and is very well accepted in the community and the state. She has served in different offices of the Utah State Treasury Association, including that of president. She has been on three different differ-ent committees in the Utah Association of Counties. Donna is a joy and pleasure to work with; she knows her business, and is probably one of the best treasurers in the state of Utah. We have strong confidence in Wendi Long, newly elected County Treasurer, but we will miss Donna." In 2001 Donna Richens was awarded the Outstanding County Official of the year for Utah Association of Counties and the County Treasurer of the Year by the same association. in v. 1 f and given 30 days to respond in writing. So far, the city has not received any protests concerning con-cerning the Merrill annexation, annexa-tion, but entities have until Dec. 15. People affected by the Hacking annexation, which was approved for consideration by council members last week, have until from Jan. 5 to protest. pro-test. If implemented, the Hacking annexation will displace over 20 families. However, Councilmember Sonja Norton said the actual sale of the property prop-erty may not be finalized for possibly another half of a year, basically giving tenants a six-month six-month notice. These tenants would also receive 90 days free rent after the deal closes. Councilmember JoAnn Cowan, who also serves on a homeless coalition, said she found it hard to approve such a request "knowing that there's nothing no housing in town that's available." Cowan voted nay, and Norton recused herself because of a conflict of interest. "I have always had exceptionally exception-ally good people working with me," said Richens. "I especially want to express my thanks to Fi ances Southam, who gave me the opportunity to train for the work with her until she retired. She was so special and considerate, consid-erate, and has remained a good friend all these years. "I also want to express a great appreciation for the support of the citizens as they have maintained faith in me in this office," Donna continued. "I could not have done it without the treasury staff, the other elected officials, and all of the wonderful county employees. employ-ees. Through the years, there have been many super county employees getting the work done 'in the trenches.' They are all my county family. I have watched them since they started start-ed out, as they matured and now have grown children." Richens commented that through the office of the Treasurer, she has made many friends and acquaintances throughout the state. "I could go anywhere in the state, and if I needed help, I could find someone in every county to call for aid. Serving on various committees, com-mittees, I have had the opportunity oppor-tunity to know and appreciate the legislators, the governor, and lieutenant governor over a span of time." Richens is grateful for everyone every-one who has been so supportive support-ive and kind to her and her family as different things hap Vernal man found guilty of kidnapping By Janine Shannon Express Writer A jury found Terrell Lynn Ziegler, 28, guilty last Wednesday of child kidnapping, kidnap-ping, a first degree felony; theft, a second degree felony; failure to stop or respond at the command com-mand of a police officer, a third degree felony; driving under the influence, a third degree felony; and interfering with a legal arrest, a class B misdemeanor. misde-meanor. The charges stem from incidents that occurred the first of the year. "We're obviously pleased with the outcome," said Uintah County Deputy Attorney Greg Lamb. "Justice was definitely served." According to court records, law enforcement received notice on Jan. 1 that a maroon Dodge pickup with a 17-month-old baby inside had been stolen. sto-len. Amber Harrison reported that she went to her father's apartment to pick something up, and left her infant daughter daugh-ter in the vehicle when she got out because the baby was sleeping. sleep-ing. Harrison was at the door to her father's residence when she heard the door to her truck shut and turned around to see a male in the driver's seat. Harrison yelled at him to get out of the vehicle, but she said he just smiled at her and began to back up. She banged on the hood of the truck with her hand and yelled, "My baby is inside." Harrison said he just smiled again and drove away. Law enforcement spotted the vehicle at 100 N. Vernal Ave. and Main. Corporal Derek Urban tried to initiate a stop, but the driver of the pickup headed west on Highway 40. A high speed chase ensued that involved Utah Highway Patrol, Uintah County Sheriffs Department, and Vernal Police Department. Urban reported that the vehicle was traveling 75 mph to 100 mph. Several stop spikes were deployed, and about 45 miles down the highway the chase finally ended at Uinta Canyon Road in Duchesne County. The child was secured by pened in their lives. She and her husband, Charlie, had four children, daughter Donnel Whiting, sons C. Ron and Hank, and daughter Monica Hill. In the early years of her position as Treasurer, their son Hank lost a brave battle with cancer. "I have so many people I have good memories with, and they will always be a part of my life," she said. The warm feelings seem to be mutual. Wendi Long, who was hired by Richens in 1996, was elected in 2006 to serve as the Uintah County Treasurer, beginning Jan. 1. "As Deputy Treasurer, I have worked with Donna for ten years. I have always appreciated her leadership leader-ship skills as a supervisor, but I also admire her personal life, the love she has for family and friends and the respect she has gained in the community. I appreciate her leadership and friendship as I look forward to following in her footsteps, striving striv-ing to do as good a job as Donna Richens." Diane Rowley, Deputy Treasurer, has worked in the county treasurer's office for 16 years since Richens hired her in 1991. Diane said, "She is just totally wonderful - we will really real-ly miss her. She is always so caring about everyone around her the treasury staff, the public, pub-lic, other county employees, and officials. She is always here and has an open door policy, literally. Any concerns or joys can be talked over with Donna assisting officers. The driver, identified as Terrell Lynn Ziegler, was repeatedly told to get on the ground. When he was finally arrested, a syringe with suspected methamphetamine was recovered from his person. Ziegler admitted to using methamphetamine meth-amphetamine right before the incident. In a later interview, Ziegler also admitted that he knew the child was in the vehicle vehi-cle when he took it. Uintah County prosecutors subsequently filed charges on Jan. 6. A letter in the court file written by a family member stated that Ziegler's "paranoia was out of control." The letter let-ter explains that Ziegler had a breakdown after the death of his aunt last year and that he heard voices and smelled things that weren't there. He told family fam-ily members that evil things and demons were talking to him, and he admitted that he did not know what was real and what was not. Before the Jan. 1 incidents, Ziegler had started to wander the streets for hours at a time, and afterwards he did not know where he had been or what he had done. During the high speed chase, Ziegler said he thought machine guns were firing at him. A competency hearing was held in April, but the judge determined that Ziegler was mentally competent based on two psychological reports. The charges for illegal possession or use of a controlled substance, a second degree felony, and use or possession of drug paraphernalia, parapher-nalia, a class A misdemeanor, were dismissed last month. The jury reached a verdict on the third day of the trial at about 2 p.m., finding Ziegler guilty of the five charges and dismissing a class B misdemeanor for driving driv-ing on revocationsuspension of license. Lamb said the prosecution, prosecu-tion, including Uintah County Deputy Attorney Mark Thomas, put a lot of hours into the case, but that much of the credit goes to Harrison and law enforcement enforce-ment for acting quickly and safely. The case is set for sentencing Feb. 6. in complete confidence. She goes above and beyond the call of duty for everyone." One of the joys of retirement for the Richens' will be the ability to spend time attending attend-ing the various kinds of activities activi-ties in which 14 grandchildren are involved. The seven boys and seven girls range in age from 3 to 26; four are married and two of those will present her with great-grandchildren in December and February. Most of the family live in the area, with some in Roosevelt and Neola; one grandson is in Berlin. Charlie Richens retired from Chevron pipeline eight years ago. Donna was born and raised in Maeser, and except for eight years in Wyoming and a year in Corpus Christi, they have lived in Maeser. The couple plan to take their joint retirement retire-ment a day at a time and enjoy life. Camping, traveling, yard work and classes at UBATC will provide goals and relaxation relax-ation to supplement the many events of the grandchildren, which include everything from team penning to football and basketball games. Mike Wilkins, Uintah County Clerk-Auditor, speaks highly of the woman who has been the elected Treasurer for 20 years, his entire tenure in the county. "Donna Richens is a permanent perma-nent fixture in Uintah County; , See Treasurer on A3 1 |