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Show IIiiIiiImIihII.iIiI.IiiIii.IIiMmM.II imililililiiillil 3digit 841 UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION (1) 1521 E 3900 S STE 100 SALT LAKE CITY UT 84124-1550 :R0ZEN FISHING told weather doesn't stop ;ids on free fishing day. BO Ttiu Fn 612 613 Weather by 713' 7846 lSSr Partlycloudy Abumtatt DC II TV ivr withilra sunshine. KE.ALIl thunder- Highs in the storm, upper 71 COQ A f nJkmsui OCC HI the mid -its. ) J J 1 V- 4' W-j- - aT : , 11 5th Year No. 24 Vernal. Utah 84078 H ' www.vernal.com . Wednesday Jims 11r 2003 59 CENTS I I Your Hometown Newspaper v V t- & tjs.ii.ir m -nif ,4nnMt,-. ,js ..ii.....y -d. iJA.titJ TREE TRIMMERS CLEAR TREES FROM ELECTRICAL LINES Royce Vernon, owner of Trees Incorporated of Price clears branches near power lines in Vernal. Rocky Mountain Power has a three-year three-year rotation for tree trimming along power lines. Representatives of Rocky Mountain Power remind residents that while the Vcut" trimming is not always the most aesthetic, it is often the most healthy to trim trees away from power lines. UBTA-UBET schedules annual meeting, elections UBTA-UBET Communications Communica-tions will hold its 55th annual meeting on June 19 to inform its members of the cooperative's performance during the past year and elect board members in four districts. The event will once again be held at Roosevelt Junior High School and will begin at 4:30 p.m. with a complimentary barbecue. The business meeting will follow at 6:30 p.m. with a report from UBTA-UBET General Manager and CEO Bruce H. Todd. There will also be board elections elec-tions for seats representing the Duchesne, Flattop, Fruitland, kyrocketing prices By Lacey McMurry Uintah Basin News Service Rapidly rising fuel and shipping ship-ping costs, recent earthquakes, and explosions in dozens of Chinese Chi-nese fireworks factories means it's going to cost some cities more than ever to light up the night sky this summer. But most Uintah Basin residents won't notice much difference in the quality of their summer fireworks display. Local officials and event organizers who pre-ordered pre-ordered their city's fireworks months in advance said they weren't impacted by any cost increases and their shows will go on just like before. In Duchesne City though, Mayor' Clint Park said this season's display dis-play will have a little less dazzle than people are used to. "Prices for fireworks were up by 20 percent when I ordered and that means we're going to have a smaller show this year," Park said. "It won't be the same." Most summers, Duchesne City officials sponsor two fireworks Exit Rbalty Professionals 1285WestHwy 40 Vernal, Utah 84078 (435) 789-EXIT (3948) and Lapoint districts. Duchesne District incumbent Greg Garff is up against Kim Mullins. Flattop Flat-top District incumbent William "Bill" Fausett is being challenged by Phillip Harmston. Fruitland District incumbent Kent R. Peatross is running unopposed. Lapoint District incumbent Jerry W. Goodrich will face Rossa Simmons. Sim-mons. All cooperative customers are invited to attend the meeting; however, only Class A members may vote. Class B members may, at any time prior to the meeting, meet-ing, choose to become a Class A member, which will allow them won shows - one for Independence Day, the other for Pioneer Day. This summer though, Park said the city is only putting on the July 4 show, in small part because of rising costs but mostly because two big shows each summer are a lot to handle. Industry-wide, fireworks prices have risen anywhere from 15 percent to 25 percent since winter. Some cities across the nation are still scrambling to find fireworks for Independence Day. Labor Day, Christmas and New Year's fireworks displays are even more doubtful, according accord-ing to the National Fireworks Association. "Recent problems in China, which include a shortage of shipping lines and ports, are now causing a severe shortage of fireworks," the association said in a press release. "This will affect both consumer fireworks stores and stands, as well as the annual July 4th display in many cities and towns across America. Most companies are reporting 11 l u '( ,1, M' 1 i . '. :i to participate in the voting process. pro-cess. Any Class A member who is unable to attend the meeting, may vote by appearing at the cooperative's office not more than 15 days and not less than two business days prior to the meeting to cast their vote. Absentee ballots may be completed com-pleted between June 4 and June 17. UBTA-UBET was formed more than 55 years ago when eight local ranchers decided to start a telephone company in the Uintah Basin because it was too remote and not profitable for firewo dramatic increases in both product prod-uct and shipping costs. There is no indication when or if this situation will get better." The looming fireworks crisis is news to most local event planners. Kristi Sorenson, an Altamont woman who co-chairs Longhorn Days, said organizers order fireworks for Longhorn Days an entire year in advance. Sorenson said she did notice last year when ordering for this summer's sum-mer's celebration that prices had increased slightly. But despite the talk of a national shortage, Sorenson said the fireworks company com-pany she uses every year didn't make mention of any so-called fireworks crisis to her. Phil Jackson, the Vernal City man who, as a member of the Elk's Lodge, heads up Vernal's fireworks displays, said he also was unaware of the potential for any problems. "I made the same order just like I always do," Jackson said. "There wasn't any shortage or price increase mentioned at all." t singe Doir.t L.r i i iMutiful Exctutlvr homf In Marw lotalion! Ovfr J, 100 iq.fl. with 4 bedrooms, I biithv lormAl living room, family room and wonrirrlul homrmakm kitchen. AwMomt Masltf Suite with letted tub and walk In timet. This home K just ilke new, only better; fenced yard, sprlnklei system, 2 car oarage & lots of concrete for RV parking. Call SiiMit for your showing today 828 6086 J .. v . . Z,. - ' a larger company to serve the area. Nearly six decades later UBTA-UBET has grown into a company of over 30,000 customers cus-tomers that provides expanded services such as high-speed Internet, advanced wireless phone and data services, satellite satel-lite television, business phone systems, and computer support and networking. For more information regarding regard-ing this year's annual meeting or the voting process, call 622-5007 or visit www.ubta-ubet.com. SEE UBTA ELECTION on A2 The National Fireworks Association As-sociation said many fireworks companies - like the one J ackson orders from - had sufficient inventory in-ventory already in stock to negate any problems caused by a lack of shipping from China. Other small companies are eating the price increases themselves to be able to honor contracts with customers. And while the majority of cities across the nation are still going to be able to enjoy a fireworks display this summer, industry executives are saying that next summer's shows are less certain. For small-town officials like Myton City Mayor Kathleen Cooper, that unpredictability is unsettling. Fireworks are a large part of what draws community com-munity members to participate in annual city celebrations like Myton Daze. "We just hope we can continue to have a wonderful show every year," Cooper said. SEE FIREWORKSorTA2 rks Basin . .',11 - .1 JLI -T: p,-'", ".l. wt f vi I 11 m L. . 1 1 1 ' I s i i? 1 t- f - Nice uptown location. Four bedrooms, two baths, living room, kitchen with new appliances and pergo flooring. New windows, new siding new metal root, lull sprinkler system, storage shod and nice patio! Close to shopping, schools and church. Listed under $200,000. Cull Susan torlny M 828-6QBS Vernal set to approve $11.6 million ByLesBowen Express Editoe Vernal City Council is expected expect-ed to approve an $11.6 million budget next week. "We've been very conservative on revenues," said Vernal City Administrator Ken Bassett in an interview Monday. He said sales tax - the largest portion of the city's revenue - has been increasing with business growth in the city. However, he said the city used last year's figures for its projections and the total budget amount remains close to the $12 million budget for fiscal year 2007-08 , Bassett notes that approximately approxi-mately 50 percent of the city's sales tax revenue comes from non-residents. As a result, the city is able to increase its level of service to residents with little impact to most taxpayers. And with the shifting of animal ani-mal control and firefighting to special service districts, the city has been able to shift those funds within its budget. In keeping with a more conservative con-servative revenue projection, department budgets reflect few increases. For instance, the police department is not asking for new officers. Bassett said the city plans to add a few personnel in the streets and parks departments. One reason for that is an expanding flower project on the city streets in summer months. m- ummnnniai!- 3 s. i RELAY RAISES FUNDS, AWARENESS Jeannie Annerl of Vernal surveys the luminaries placed around the track at the Uintah Basin Relay for Life Friday evening. A seven year cancer survivor, Annerl and other survivors joined community members at Uintah High School to remember those who had succumbed to cancer and raise awareness and funding for cancer research. More on B1. budge With the installation of new light poles, the city added 120 new baskets and 250 new pots to the flower display. "That's a wonderful project," said Bassett. Though the displays carry a cost, he has seen tremendous tremen-dous community support and the flowers have created a new icon for city. In the past, Vernal has been associated only with dinosaurs. dino-saurs. Bassett said more people are associating Vernal with a flower-lined Main Street. The the city does not expect to increase utility rates this year. "Water and sewer rates will not go up," said Bassett. However, the city will branch out in to a few new areas. "This year we're going to emphasize storm water management," manage-ment," said the city administrator. administra-tor. Within the next two months, Basset explained -the city will apply for $3.1 million in funding fund-ing from the Utah Permanent Community Impact Board to subsidize the first three in a long line of storm water management projects. Bassett noted that the city has not looked at managing storm water in the past, but with the results of an engineering study on drainage across the Ashley Valley, fhe city is partnering with Naples and Uintah County to ncidrm&m th jit l&r. ; Vernal officials also expect to put away more than $2.3 million SEE VERNAL BUDGET on A2 3 -t - - I f 4 . it Location, Location, location! 3 bedroom, 1 bath, nlu living room and kltchon with laundrymud room off tht garaga tntranct. Cm boat, (ncad yard, largo covtrtd oano and itorago shed. Singla car garago with (halving and vinyl tiding. Call Sutan today at 828-606 |