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Show Wednesday, September 17, 2008 B3 Vernal Express iajinWIUMWII 1 1 H3teffltaWBHM US Senate committee passes elder abuse, exploitation bill (J ;. .. - - J - -H .1 w-nw M.i,MiLHWyiMM.u.' "-"- 'WlMW"iMWl.iJ.i.m lW,wwiUI I.I WIH1 .. " 'Vfev.,, j . - -, ;r sr , - ; t - .. . y it 'J It ! f . t . If 'if - -- i is f - ... 1 I 1 -i , L r r, , ; i Uintah High School seniors Caitlin Wood, left, and Malynne Chamberlain are among the school's roughly 200 concurrent-enrollment students. The two students are enrolled in a college history course taught by Ken Kisner. USU concurrent-enrollment plans information meeting & A meeting will be held at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 23 at the Uintah High School Media Center Cen-ter for parents and students interested in-terested in obtaining information about concurrent enrollment through Utah State University. The program allows students stu-dents to receive college credit that meets the Utah State Office Of-fice of Education high school core and elective graduation requirements and college credit simultaneously. The purpose of concurrent enrollment is to provide pro-vide a challenging college-level experience for students in their last two years of high school. More than 27,000 students in Utah earned more than 180,000 credit hours last year. Tremendous growth has been experienced within the program, and this can be attributed to the program's benefits: Concurrent enrollment students stu-dents do not have to pay tuition and fees for the course, a cost savings sav-ings of around $800 per course. An enriching academic experience, experi-ence, which offers an increased Greehbelt Act can decrease taxation County assessors are in the final stages of sending out property prop-erty tax notices for 2008 and land owners who understand and qualify for taxation under an agricultural exemption can owe significantly less than if land is taxed on its market value. The Utah Farmland Assessment Assess-ment Act, sometimes known as the "Greenbelt Act," was passed by the state Legislature in 1969 to safeguard agriculture amid development. Under the act, qualifying agricultural land is assessed as-sessed and taxed at significantly lower rates reflective of productivity. produc-tivity. The savings is intended to encourage and protect open spaces. , r JLiJ Women's apparel & accessories WILL OPeN SePT. 29TH 55 N. 400 W. (riGHT BeHIND Berry's caFe & across fiqm big foot fly shop) access to higher learning. Students may complete their Utah State University - University Uni-versity Studies requirements while satisfying their high school requirements. Available courses include college algebra, history, art, psychology, calculus, English, Eng-lish, biology and chemistry An associate of science degree may be earned, which qualifies students for the New Century scholarship. For eligible students, the scholarship provides tuition assistance as-sistance for up to 60 credit hours at a level of either 75 percent of the student's tuition at any of Utah's public institutions offering offer-ing a bachelor's degree program, or 75 percent of the average state tuition if a student attends Brigha'm Young University or Westminster College. The program is intended primarily pri-marily for students completing their last two years of high school. School Districts and high school administration have the right to determine eligibility criteria to participate. Generally juniors Utah State University Extension Exten-sion agriculture agent for Cache County Clark Israelsen said that understanding the assessment process can save farmers and ranchers much-needed money to keep their operations alive. "This method of assessment is vital, especially to agricultural operations close to urban areas, " Israelsen said. "If agricultural property were taxed at market value, farming would be economically eco-nomically prohibitive for most producers because property taxes would increase several fold." For private farmland to qualify for FAA, Israelsen said SEE GREENBELT on B4 Love, Worn & Bad and seniors with aaTi) GPA are eligible. If you have questions andor would like more information, please attend the meeting, call Utah State University Uintah Basin Regional Campus in either Roosevelt or Vernal at 435-722-2294 or visit uintahbasin.usu. edu. UINTAH GRANDS, VERTICAL PIANOS, DIGITAL PIANOS, AND PLAYER PIANOS! OVER 100 AVAILABLE The Largest Collection of Pianos Ever Seen in the Uintah Basin! Spinets, Consoles, Studios, Grands, Digitals, & Player Pianos! Parking ."Lot 759 West EIighway 40 IlOQSEVEI.T MANY BRANDS REPRESENTED! NEW USED RENTAL RETURNS REPOS Including Baldwin, Hamilton, Yamaha, Pearl Rivpr RitmnlW Knwni nnH m.inv tnnre V V 4 1 VI k JL Jl 4 V 11V1 M. 7 7 J Look for BaldwiM q Wlfe" AMERICA'S FAVORITE PIANO A bill aimed at protecting the nation's elderly from abuse and exploitation cleared the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Thursday and will now be considered by the full Senate. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who introduced the Elder Justice Act with Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., was pleased with the committee's decision and expressed ex-pressed hope about the legislation's legisla-tion's prospects for full Senate approval. The House companion bill to S. 1070 - H.R. 1783 - was approved by the House Judiciary Committee in June. "With more than 500,000 Americans age 60 and over being victims of domestic abuse, the time is long overdue for legislation legisla-tion that will protect our nation's seniors from those who would prey upon them physically, financially finan-cially and psychologically," Hatch said in a press release following the committee's unanimous vote. " Our right to live free from abuse, neglect and financial exploitation should not deer ease with increasing increas-ing age. This bill will help tackle this insidious problem that has often gone unreported and is one of the most serious problems facing fac-ing elderly Americans and their families." The Elder Justice Act, which has 30 cosponsors and enjoys wide bipartisan support, would assist the federal government in collecting data on the number of seniors being abused and ensure the necessary resources are available to prevent, detect, treat and, when appropriate, prosecute mistreatment of senior BASIN'S 7! fr 7 LJL V ! Ml V 4 444V444 J Two Days Only! Wednesday, September 17th 2 A.M To 8 P.M. Thursday, September 18th 10A.MTo7P.M. citizens. Some of the bill's provisions include measures to: Establish the Elder Justice Coordinating Council and an advisory board to coordinate efforts by the federal, state and local governments related to elder abuse. Implement penalties and prosecution for failure to report abuse and other crimes in long-term long-term care facilities. Ensure adequate public-private infrastructure and resources to better prevent and tackle the problem, treat the victims and prosecute offenders. Direct the federal government govern-ment to collect relevant data on elder abuse to get a better understanding of the scope of the problem. Vernal xpress LARGEST . , Jrrrvi viw pi innn at 'win H sKvVV I jj 4 . ' ' I mm 1 ..smM immmm wmm n I 1 'vi-ivw.T.rrsMusirTS anns.rnm Provide Adult Protective Services grants in the amount of $100 million annually for four years. Hatch said he is astounded how little the government is willing to dedicate to ending elder abuse. He noted the government spends $6.7 billion annually on child abuse and $520 million on domestic abuse. By comparison, only $153 million is spent on elder abuse, despite the fact that more than 76 million baby boomers boom-ers will reach retirement age over the next three decades. "We can no longer ignore the reality that elder abuse is prevalent preva-lent within our society - and we must do something to address it," Hatch said. "This bill will go a long way to doing precisely that." 54 North Vernal Avenue Vernal, Utah 435-789-3511 www.vernal.com o 9 rl ; , I 1 1 f C1 1 its WH3T we've BeeN WaiTING FOR NO I AV AILAHI.E ON ALL MODELS t MM j |