OCR Text |
Show A6 Wednesday, August 15, 2007 Vernal Express o mo odd V1MT o r IN I ON Op There are better things to do BrLaErsi Express Associate Edotor Ever since I moved away from the Wasatch Front, I've heard teenagers say there is nothing to do in small towns. A couple of nights ago I finally had reason to believe it's true. While driving down U.S. highway 40 last week, I saw a group of teenage boys gathered in a parking lot with their trucks and cars. I've never paid much attention to what they are doing. I just figured they were there loitering. The sight is not unfamiliar. Living in Price for the past several years, my friends called the lot where they gathered "the loser lot." I've asked around and no one seems to have such a term for Vernal's lot. But I finally paid a little attention to what the group was doing last week: about a dozen teenagers were standing around the front of a truck with the hood up, looking at the engine. Then one would step back, crack a whip and go back to looking at the truck ' Now if that's the best thing to do in Vernal, we need to find better things for our teenagers to do. On the other hand, if that's the worst they do, then we're not in too bad of shape. It could be worse, it could be better. What bothers me most is that this is what happens night after night. They've gathered almost without fail every night since I moved here. Can looking at the same engines and cracking the same whips with the same group at the same parking lot really be that interesting? And if it's the best they can come up with, someone needs to show these kids around. Even though the thought crossed my mind that there is nothing to do here, I know I was wrong. I've only been here three months and I know there are movies to see, restaurants res-taurants to go to. I can go camping, fishing, boating, hiking and much more within a few minutes. I couldn't do that growing up just outside Salt Lake City. My friends growing up complained that there was noting to do. And that was with eight malls, two amusement parks, dozens of theaters, and a whole lot more within 45 minutes of where we lived. But we came up with things to do. When I moved away I found there wasn't enough time to do everything I wanted and quite often, especially in the summer and on weekends, I wore myself out as-1 took off with friends trying to see and do everything we could. Even when I entered the adult world and started my career, I heard coworkers and friends complain about how little there was to do in a small town. How wrong they were Finding things to do isn't determined by how much or how little there is. In both urban and rural settingsthee are both those who sit at home bored and those who just stand around in parking lots with nothing better to do are simply not looking hard enough. Work Together or BeTorm Apart 6 1 ThOTe'teveivthu 8aQaikJn&etlrtEu fivin testing each other apart,:partfoilafly when you should Be on thesame side to begin with. Over the past month, various factions within the Ute Indian Tribe have used the editorial page of the Standard to stake their claim to what's best for their people. They have railed against financial advisor John Junius or against the current Business Committee. They have claimed the tribe's economic eco-nomic future is bright or dismal. They have voiced their support for recalls of elected officials or blasted efforts to remove those officials from office. The only thing that is apparent in all this bickering is that all tribal members mem-bers want the same thing: That which is best for the future of the Ute people. But what no one seems to be able to agree on is the means of securing that future. To some, the tribe's current course holds an unending promise of prosperity. pros-perity. There are new leaders who have pledged their willingness to be open and accountable. They want to sit down and listen and put an end to the repetition of unfounded accusations. They also want to better understand the lucrative oil and gas business the tribe is engaged in. To others, the members of the current Business Committee appear to be trying to undo the work of past leaders. They claim the new leadership is motivated by their own greed and wants to force Junius off the reservation, something they believe will be catastrophic for the tribe. There is no simple solution to this apparent impasse, but the opportunities exist to move beyond old hurts and petty jealousies. If tribal members have questions and concerns about what their elected leaders are doing, attend their open meetings which are typically held weekly. Watch them at work, listen to how they make decisions as they discuss the issues facing the tribe. Walk into their offices and find out what is going on for yourself. If there is a question, go to a person directly involved in the situation and ask them if what you are hearing is true. That is the best way to stop gossip mongers from spreading false and destructive rumors that cripple careers, ruin reputations, and could ultimately destroy a tribe. In Biblical times, King Solomon, preparing to find out who truly was the mother of a newborn babe, decided to cut the child in half The real mother, showing how much she loved the child shouted to give the baby to the other woman to prevent the infant from being injured. Solomon knew immediately that the woman who cried out was indeed the child's mother. Like the true mother in Solomon's tale, the safety of Ute Tribe's future is in the hands of those who speak up in a unified voice for what is in the people's best interests. There needs to be an end to the name calling and the rumors. Tribal business must be conducted in the open. If this doesn't happen, the chasm between the parties will only widen and ultimately no one will be served. EUTHANASIA AT ANIMAL SHELTER UNWARRANTED Dear Editor: Once again, the Uintah Animal Shelter responded to two puppies testing positive for parvo by killing them and six puppies with whom the positive puppies had come into contact. The "good news", according to Animal Special Services District Executive Director Christina Baley, is that no adult dogs were killed this time, as they were last January when Baley ordered the shelter staff to kill 27 puppies and dogs because be-cause one or two pups tested positive for parvo. Upon learning of July's parvo-positive puppies, local animal rescuers offered to have the pups treated at a veterinary clinic or isolated on the rescuers' own property and treated. Baley declined the offer, passing the buck to the State Veterinarian whom she said nixed the idea. However, the State Vet has not objected to the shelter having sought treatment for parvo-positive puppies for the past seven years, nor has he objected to other shelters seeking treatment for parvo puppies at private homes or clinics. A local resident donates several thousand dollars a year to pay for animal-care costs that are not covered in the shelter's budget. For the seven years during which the shelter was operated by Vernal Ver-nal city under the direction of Debra Perrigo, a portion of the donated money was used to treat every parvo-positive dog and puppy at the shelter. 1 ,J Estimates are that more than 80 percent of the treated canines recovered and were adopted. For the seven years before the special service district was formed, the shelter had one of the lowest dog euthanasia eutha-nasia rates in Utah. Working with up to 37 rescue groups throughout Utah and in neighboring states, Perrigo euthanized only about 10 percent of the dogs who entered en-tered the shelter. The other 90 percent found homes. That trend is quickly being be-ing reversed under Baley's and the SSD board's reign. After the July parvo incident, Baley refused to release any dogs to adoptive families or rescue groups for two weeks. During that same time, the Shelter continued to receive impounded dogs. Given that The architect steps down space at the Shelter is limited, lim-ited, logic dictates that the "lock down", as Baley calls it, resulted in potentially adopt-able adopt-able dogs being euthanized to accommodate incoming impounds. Rescue workers familiar with the practices of shelters in large and small communities communi-ties throughout Utah say that they know of no other shelter that implements a "lock down" simply becausea couple of puppies test positive for parvo. That makes sense: hundreds ofWeb sites emphasize empha-size that it is extremely rare for a dog over 12 months of age to contract or spread the disease. Given that irrefuted, scientific information, why did Baley refused to adopt out full-grown dogs during her "lock down"? If you care about living in a community with a publicly funded shelter that seeks to save, rather than end, companion com-panion animals' lives through progressive programs and policies, please let the board members and Baley know. The board members are Uintah County Commissioner Commis-sioner Dave Haslem; Vernal City Council Member Dennis Glines; Naples City Council Member Dan Olson; and former Utah Highway Patrol Pa-trol Officer Annette Hatch. Please remember the policies these officials are allowing Baley to implement when they stand for reelection or reappointment. Most importantly, if you have a companion animal whose plumbing works, please "fix" it! Sandy Hansen Vernal Public Forum - Letters to the Editor What is your opinion? The Vernal Express welcomes letters from its readers concerning any subject pertinent to the Uintah Basin. There are no restrictions on contents, if in good taste and not libelous or vindictive. Letters may be edited for length. All letters must be submitted exclusively to the Vernal Express and bear the full name, signature, phone number and address of the writer or writers. Letters for the sole purpose of expressing thanks to individuals or groups will not be printed in this forum. Submissions may be mailed to 54 N. Vernal Ave., Vernal, UT 84078; faxed to 435-789-8690 or sent by e-mail to editorvernal.com The name or names of the persons submitting letters must appear on all published letters. Letters express the opinion of the writer or writers and are not necessarily the opinion of the Vernal Express. teRBEAN f' f to Soccer moms have it figured ByHmwCouwoi ri St, A fcHJLSC Guest Columnist With mouse in hand and tongue in cheek, I am now going to give you a bit of insight in-sight into the world as Bertha sees it watch out, you are going for a ride, in fact there might be some kind of theme park in the making here. I am about to tell you how that much-courted political entity, soccer moms, arrived on the political scene. I know all about this because I was a soccer mom and am now a soccer grandmom. Believe me, I have come up through all of the ranks of soccerdom and have earned the right to speak out on the subject. I have sat and stood through wind and rain, sleet and snow, and numbing cold. I have driven for miles to watch my kids stand on both feet and sit on their hands. I have iced bruised -shins and cut chins. And further, at the risk of offending all of my grandkids and their moms (and dads) who are serious about this soccer stuff, I am going to tell you that soccer is the sport of moms for about two reasons. First, anyone can play soccer. soc-cer. Even my kids could play it. If a kid can run and stand on one foot long enough to kick a ball, the kid can play soccer. I will give it to the soccer dads that it takes a bit more than that to make them good at it, but the average aver-age soccer watcher doesn't know the difference. So the youngsters can shine by running run-ning around and occasionally kickingtheballwhenitcomes their way. Now don't get me wrong, running is very good for kids and may be a third reason for choosing soccer. But take baseball, for instance in-stance in baseball you only run when you actually hit the ball. To play baseball, you need a few more skills that hitting and others, like catching, throwing, and most important, keeping track of your equipment. To play baseball you need a closet full of equipment: mitt, bat, cap, one to two batting gloves, cleats, pants, belt, shirt, two kinds of socks, maybe some sliding pants, maybe sunflower sun-flower seeds. You know who has to store and keep track of all that equipment don't you? Baseball moms. So there you have reason number two: moms prefer soccer because with soccer life is simpler. You need your jersey, your socks, and maybe some shin guards. However, if your shin guards get lost, you can stuff a folded Vernal Express into your socks and no one will know the difference. differ-ence. The kid can keep all of that in the magazine rack. Whenspring comes around (you know, that season where it snows for most all kinds of games) and the kids bring home the sign-up sheets, moms with half a brain and the ability to understand politics, poli-tics, will pitch (pun intended) the baseball sign-ups and fill out the soccer sheets instead. Susie is going to play soccer and voting moms know the reason why. So.thereyouhaveit one of the biggest voting blocks in the country, a force to be reckoned with soccer moms! And why are they the political movers and shakers of the world? All because most of the moms I know follow their convictions and instincts which say, "Let's keep this as painless and easy as possible." Well, okay, that, and "base-ball "base-ball mom" doesn't have much of a ring to it, does it? Vernal Police concerned about traffic trends tTUSHHb The latest Utah Department Depart-ment of Transportation surveys, performed in February, Febru-ary, show what Vernal Police Chief Gary Jensen calls an alarming trend in the city's traffic numbers. The 24-hour east and west, U.S. Highway 40 counts suggest sug-gest 26,800 vehicles per day. "It certainly won't surprise sur-prise anyone that the vast majority of the average daily traffic numbers are during the peak hours of travel," said Jensen. With the increased number num-ber of vehicles oh roadways comes the associated increase in frustration as drivers attempt at-tempt to navigate packed streets. Highway 40 carries the greatest load oftraffic,yet the secondary roads carry a greater than normal burden as well. Jensen said his depart-' ment recognizes driver frustration frus-tration as they see driving risk patterns change. "Unfortunately, at times the more aggressive driving driv-ing patterns result in more frequent traffic accidents and injuries.," explained the chief A greater burden is placed on the police department depart-ment to respond with educational educa-tional efforts, and increased vigilance in enforcement. The chief said he has seen several types of traffic violations viola-tions on the rise. "Largely these concerns are built on citizen complaints, com-plaints, traffic accident and enforcement data, " explained Jensen. Areas of concern are: Speeding. Noise enforcement issues, is-sues, specifically after-market exhaust kits on diesel trucks and loud motorcycle noise. Unlawful use of center median turn lane as a staging lane or merging lane Aggressive or inconsiderate inconsid-erate driving. The police chief asked drivers to observe and obey all speed limits. "The police department is actively enforcing noise ordinance issues. If you have a vehicle that has an after-market after-market exhaust kit, or if the exhaust system has been tampered with, it would be prudent to seek the advice of a qualified mechanic, or seek out a police officer to better understand the parameters of Utah State Law and Vernal city noise ordinance," said Jensen. He continued, "Many drivers may not be aware it is unlawful to use the center median turn lane for anything other than inter-" mediate staging for turning across traffic. Many drivers have been using this lane as a way of "getting half way across traffic" or blatantly using the center lane as a merging lane into traffic. Both of these practices are illegal il-legal and violators are subject to citation. "It has never been the practice of Vernal Police Department to issue citation cita-tion quotas or enforcement standards; however, it is the responsibility of the department depart-ment to educate and enforce all traffic laws. Enforcement is a responsibility that we take seriously. The hopeful end result to our enforcement pledge is saferroads in which to travel." The chief reminded drivers driv-ers to buckleup, put down cell phones and drive courteously and cautiously. "I- |