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Show A6 Wednesday, July 16, 2008 Vernal Express j3 q in b 5 in 1 VERNAL xprsss O-P-I-N-I-O-N V t ROADSIDE TRASH ISN'T GOOD; CLEAN UP YOUR ACT byKevm Ashby Express Publisher I may not look like I am big into exercising, but I do enjoy my morning walks. In the morning the air is crisp and even though it's a workout, it is most enjoyable. In the Ashley area there are quail, killdeer, and morning doves that compete for the early morning attention. There are also horses, emu, sheep, dogs, goats and even rabbits that are visible along my walkway that appeases my attention span and keeps my interest in walking at a level that keeps me getting up each morning. With all we have around here that makes life unique and pleasant, I'll admit there is one thing that just eats my good nature and it seems to be getting worse than better. My concern? Why do we have Neanderthals (implying a lack of civilization) civi-lization) around the valley, who, without a flicker of conscience, throw trash out of their window along the roadways? Every day there is a new cup or can or sack found along side the road that I notice and these blow over to the side and join with a plethora of old trash. As I walk I wonder if I picked up the new garbage if the Sheriffs department would run a fingerprint test or a DNA sample to identify the person or persons driving that road without care or respect for those who live there. I'm going to find out if that is possible, to see if we can run our own little CSI show to identify this areas litterers! Trash is trash. It's looks horrible on the side of the road and it really isn't all that hard to take a plastic bag and keep it in the car for such items to be disposed of at home in a real trash container. For those of you who are littering, and your conscience is not kicking in gear and bothering you for such a stupid action, then at least love this area enough and keep your trash inside your car and let the rest of us enjoy a clean roadside whether we are driving or walking. LEI THE AD SAYS "FREE PUPPY, HOUSE BROKE. TRAINED AND L LOVHS TO PLAY WITH KIDS. 1 Web opinion poll Each week the Vernal Express offers an online poll to its readers. To participate in the poll, visit www.vernal.com and click on the opinion link. Polls are not scientific and represent the opinions of voluntary Internet users. New polls are posted every to weeks and printed results re-sults represent voting as of Tuesday morning. If you have an idea for an opinion poll, e-mail it to editorvernal.com. Question for this week The Uintah Community Center was delayed several months and ran over budget. Was the recreation facility worth the wait and financial finan-cial cost? a) Yes (407, ) b) No (60T This poll question will continue for one more week. YES J j Food Contamination Pyramid Uninorwtnl Imported Products 2-3 SERVINGS L mirvia Botulmm Hopntitt 3-4 SERVINGS ,A Govprnmrnl Oviriht USED SPARINGLY It, POUH'V fVH1 ISM CilollO Mud Cow DImau E. Coll Contamination Mercury Poisoning Dtoxin Fxposura 2-3 SERVINGS Nuts Group Antl-RryinlAtorv IdAnloniiM Budget Cutback Propormntt Bush Administration Food Industry Lobby 2-4 SERVINGS 5 Salmonella Group Tomntocs Poppert Cllnntro Spinach Chiws Pnnmit Buttof Etc Flc , Etc. 8-11 SERVINGS BERTHA BUTTERBEAN You could starve here By Dana Coldvich Guest Writer Don't you just hate it when you are hungry and you try to open one of those cardboard packages of something that have the little perforated perfo-rated half-circle spot that says "press here"? You do press here and nothing happens so you press a little harder, but the box stays closed. You increase the pressure, which is a step in the wrong direction, and the box stays closed. "Try again." This time you carefully line up the curve in your thumbnail, to the little "perforation" line. Againyou press here and and tho whole box begins to twist. "Okay, I am smarter than this box of junk, and I am not exactly a hundred pound weakling either. Get a tool. A spoon. Push on the little curved line with the front edge of the spoon." You do, and the box collapses col-lapses completely so that now the curved dotted line is lying flat against the adjacent side of the box and you now have a hyperextended thumbnail and a bruised ego. "Okay, a different tool." You look around for a something some-thing like an industrial box ripper, or a jackhammer, but unless you are a construction worker, you will be stuck with ordinary hand tools. Against your better judgment, judg-ment, but in desperation, you pick up the butcher knife with which you start to saw, on the mangled box corner. The box slips causing further injury to your poor thumb. "Okay, I give. This box is stronger and smarter than I am, and I wasn't hungry anyway." By now you are jumping up and down with your thumb in your mouth, but on top of the box. You think about getting a band-aid, band-aid, but, with an injury to one hand, it could be a little bit tricky to get it open. "All right, I lied I am too hungry, and I'll showyou. I'll eat something else." You find another package of food in the fridge. This one says "cut here." Let's see, do I need a pair of tin snips or a band saw?" "Well, I'll try the scissors. scis-sors. Hmm, they were right here yesterday. They aren't today." You really give up and decide de-cide to eat out. But you realize that you might have to avoid meals that come with those little packages of condiments. They say "tear here" or "lift here." If they will and you do, you will end up with a rash on your shirt anyway. I never know how to open those hermetically-sealed-in-space-age-plastic electronic devices either. I think that any package that requires an imported or exotic tool, say a plumber's helper or a Sawsall to get it open should come with the tool, don't you? By now you realize that you need either a tranquilizer or an antacid tablet. But that seems a little discouraging. The antacid comes in a package pack-age big enough to hold a fish tank, and the tranquilizer has to be pushed through the plastic film before you can get to it. If you get it pushed through in one piece, it will end up under the fridge any way. Well, I could learn from my grandkids. They can open anything. That is probably because they either can't or won't read the opening instructions and therefore don't use them, or they don't mind what they destroy during dur-ing the process. After they open a box of cereal, you have to keep the rest in a sandwich baggie, or throw it away. You may need special tools to repair the kitchen, too. It's the same with cookies, crackers, a gallon of milk, a bottle of ketchup, cheese, lunch meat, yogurt, a carton of cream. They can open them all. Can't you just imagine it? By the time they get the container open, it is no longer a container, but hey, they are not hungry, and they are happy. f AND T&LDI J w 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 grammar and style, length and content. 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. . Put a stop to wetlands plan . Dear Editor, I listen and watch the television each week about how the war is going overseas. They report on how many of our soldiers have been killed or wounded. These soldiers, when asked how they feel about the war, they respond simply by saying to protect our way of life (freedom). The current Business Committee is no different from those dictators who rule over their country and peoples' lives with no regard for others' way of life, only their own (no respect). I wonder why the state and county showed very little support for the farmers and ranchers when it came to the wetland project. The only thing I heard was they were a cooperative agency with the Business Committee. Is this the real reason or is it because be-cause the state, Central Utah Project and feds want the Ute Water Compact passed by the tribal membership? , If this is the case, I will campaign against this compact. Why should we cooperate with the Business Committee who hasbasically destroyed our financial plan and continues to threaten and harass tribal members telling us who we can associate associ-ate with. Finally, why don't you Mr. Cesspooch come out and meet the people in an open forum, and don't hide behind closed doors. Leave your cloak of enmity behind. Remember, you're the one who opened the can of worms. Stewart Pike Myton Tribal leaders must move on Dear Editor, On Thursday, Ronald Groves' recall petition was finally heard in tribal court, after a year of negative political politi-cal influence. The judge ruled that the tribal government waived limited sovereign immunity by allowing the tribal courts to review their decision, ac-cordingto ac-cordingto Ordinance 05-005. The judge gave Ron Groves' uttorney 20 days to answer the recall petition. On Aug. 11, the judge will set a trial date to hear the case. The judge indicated this case needs to be heard before Groves' term is expired, so he wants to hear the case as soon as possible. Ordinance 90-02, which is a recall ordinance states any member recalled shall not be allowed to be a candidate for the position vacant due to their recall. This was passed under Chairman Luke Duncan Dun-can and Curtis Cesspooch's leadership. This law is similar to Ordinance 05-005 indicating indi-cating that the councilmen that were expelled cannot run for four years, so what's the difference in these two ordinances? It would seem they're both constitutional. Is there a double standard that the present Business Committee is following? Mr. Chairman, enough is enough! What grounds do you have for excluding John Jurrius from the reservation and what evidence do you have to ruin his reputation? Tribal membership, don't you think it's about time this council quit spending money on audits and attorneys? Mr. Chairman it's about time to produce your evidence! evi-dence! Or let's get back to the financial plan, John Jurrius, and the people's referendum vote and get on with our future! Kinsey Jenks Ft. Duchesne Hit-Run-Score better than ever Dear editor, I want to tell Uintah County all its residence thank you. I 6tarted the Hit-Run-Score with my husband and a few close friends over nine years ago. I moved away from Vernal four years ago and left the tournament to a group of girls that have done an amazing amaz-ing job. I was fortunate to play in the tournament for the first time since I moved this year and had a blast. I started to cry when I saw all the campers and people. It has grown way more than I ever imagined. I am grateful that my friends have found a way to provide some assistance to the community. This was one thing I was striving to do, but unable to pull off completely. I know that it takes a lot of work and each year you wonder won-der why you are doing it, but keep up the good work. You are truly touching people's lives in more ways than one. I could not have asked a better group of gals to run the tournament. You all deserve a pat on the back, a hug and a kiss. Thanks again, Vernal, and all the teams who participated. Keep up the good work. Melinda Goodwin St. George Sentence doesn't make sense Dear editor, I just read your story about Phil Timothy. I'm not here to push any more grief onto Phil and his family - all of us make mistakes. I am, however, trying very hard to understand exactly how the system arrived at this punishment. Possibly, there are felonies and then there are felonies - I know that my son was convicted of three felonies, and now is serving 26 months. I am in daily contact with at least nine other families in the Vernal area, who are in the same circumstance. I know what I can do to get this cleared up - I'll get in touch with 0. J. He of all people, is in a position to explain the jokestice system to me. Gary "Red" Hatch Vernal Shale oil panacea or plague Recently I was with a friend while she was fillingup her mid-sized sedan at a local gas station - $65! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. How often do you fill up, I asked? About once a week, she responded. While I felt sympathetic for her I also felt a sense of satisfaction. A satisfaction knowing t hat my recent deei-sion deei-sion to live free from the grasp of petroleum was the right one. My high horse happens to be a bicycle and I'll stay on it for just a few more seconds before addressing the topic of an insane energy initiative. Oil has us where it wants us, meaning no matter how much they charge for a barrel bar-rel we'll be forced to answer with more and more of our pay checks going into the oil companies pockets. By declaring your independence inde-pendence from oil you'll find new freedom and joy - there I'll step off now. The rapid climb in the price of a barrel of oil from $55 to $135 has just about everyone wondering what is next. How will our country handle or meet its growing energy needs? Like the dubious dubi-ous doctor selling snake oil lots of people are promising to help. And If one looks only at the sugar coated promises coming from the corporations corpora-tions like Shell, Chevron, and OSEC (Oil Shale Exploration Explora-tion Company) they may be tricked into believing that a band-aid is sufficient to remedy a severed limb. The sheer optimistic view point of these corporations and their press-releases demand a thorough investigation into their claims. After all if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. The companies, driven by greed, would have us believe that the 1.5 trillion barrels of oil locked away in the shale can be extracted with minimal effort and very little effect on the environment. environ-ment. They would also have us believe that by allowing them unfettered access there will be immediate relief from high pump prices. This simply isn't the case. The extraction of petroleum from shale threatens to devastate dev-astate wilderness areas, contaminate con-taminate our groundwater, and ultimately does nothing to help curb the countries C02 emissions. Our President is asking Congress to eliminate the "old and outdated restrictions" restric-tions" and allow completely unrestricted access to the nations public lands. If this happens, God help us, Tor there is nothing old and outdated about prudence, Jason Dilworth Vernal |