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Show ... J B10 Wednesday, December 17, 2008 Vernal Express Roosevelt picked to host rural business conference By Lelee E. Whiting Uintah Basin News Service Uintah Basin business owners will be the beneficiaries of downsizing; down-sizing; it's actually good news - Sen. Bob Bennett's popular rural business conference will be held m Roosevelt on April 15. The event, which was been held annually for the past seven years in various locations, is trimming its traditional two-day agenda to just over half a day and has selected eight small cities to host the 2009 mini-conferences, themed, "Growing From Within." ( Dresser, Queen k 1 Commercial f Washer Super Capacity . Matching Dryer $349 Side-BySide with Water & Ice in Door ALTA Queen Pillow Top Mattress Set 11 1, "Quality Home Furnishings With ttty Bitty Prices." 130 WITH MASSAGE . ,. N 1 I .v I - 1 ; 1 : i . v i '-, . ! 'J - - ' -J " v- ' . ' ... w r- - 8 i 'I f fv' li The conference brings together to-gether business and industry leaders, government officials, and small business owners and entrepreneurs, providing a forum fo-rum to share ideas, solutions to problems, and network. Bennett and the Utah Rural Development Council recognized the conference - which would typically draw around 500 - had grown too large to be held in the smaller communities it was intended to reach, said Irene Hansen, director of the Duchesne County Area Chamber of Commerce. Com-merce. "The information that is MATCHING j Mlcrofiber, Phone jack, Cup holders Mirror, Chest, Night Stand; Bed. Mattress not included .if. Rea. $2699 JV ' 0 0 r 5- LOOKING PERFECT SLEEPER Queen Pillow Top Reg 999 a V' V I J VS J J East Lagoon, Roosevelt Open 9am 6pm Mon. Sat. 722 shared is so valuable and so timely ... the networking and support that comes through this conference is so good, that they said we are better off holdingthis in more locations and keeping it smaller," Hansen said. Another advantage to holding smaller conferences throughout the state is that presentations and information can be geared specifically to the needs of a particular business community. "For our area I imagine that it will be oil and gas and construction," construc-tion," Hansen said. The April 15 conference in Roosevelt will include breakout a LOVE SEAT mm K 1 Starting r "1 Wrap hp fate lrr ' V ' All Hard Wood . Reg. $699 1 FOR GREAT MATTRESS? ' a- t tt-, V """Jj jw pn q sessions in the morning, and a keynote speaker. The conference will conclude after the keynote address given at the luncheon. Topics and presenters are still being determined, but it is certain cer-tain that Bennett will address conference goers, Hansen said. " He is an outstanding speaker, he tells it like it is and when you leave there you leave with information," infor-mation," she said of the Utah Republican. "With his abilities and ties and influence ... he can get a keynote speaker that people really want to come and listen to." An expo will be held along with p1 Utah's Lowest Prices1 Ji on i a S L MflCD J 1 9 i ' ii IF """" Atr S W JBSf" jr mr wm Us NEW SHIPMENT j JUSTARI With Drawers & Storage Mattress not included -J ' - '- ' s; --4 i 1 x ; C PERFECT SLEEPER PERFECT SLEEPER (X Queen Visco Foam Queen Euro Top Queen 'I the conference to give business owners the chance to network and interact. Hansen has been working with the senator's staffers over the past few months to promote Roosevelt as a rural city willing to host one of the conferences. She said now that the city has been given the green light, the chamber is putting all its energy into the upcoming conference. "Our intent right now is to hold it at the Crossroads Center, " Hansen said. "If we find it is getting get-ting too big, we may hold it at USU, but right now it looks like we will be able to handle it." i -JST Si . i : 1 dBRhax ..'..is f -.--... . " ' ! - ,1:1-1 t - j k " ".1. 1 r - vJ 1 as low as 1 IM? I . .1 il 1 f mini u n TWO-SIDED L 1 I 1 Latex Foam Pillow Top Set Reg 2499 rfrce Months Same As Cash O.A.C. - 2239 Other communities hosting Bennett conferences in 2009 include in-clude Richfield, Blanding, Moab, Heber City, Brigham City, Delta, and Ephraim. "Instead of gathering 500 people together, we will split it to get 60 to 80 people and end up reaching 1,000 peopleea'ch year," said Larry Shepherd, Bennett's deputy state director. "While we recognize the amount of work involved we also see it as a great benefit." "I think we will be quite successful suc-cessful in getting people here," Hansen said. The chamber will provide additional details concerning breakout sessions, presenters, time and costs as they become available. If you have a question or would like more information you can contact Hansen at the chamber at 722-4598 or visit www.ruralutah.com. Drilling could be harder to stop with new ruling By Dika Cappielq Associated Press WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is trying to make it tougher for Congress to block mining and oil and gas drilling on public lands. The Bureau of Land Management, Manage-ment, which manages 258 million acres of federal property, stripped from its regulations Thursday a provision that gives two Congressional Congres-sional committees the power to compel the Interior Secretary to temporarily place public land off limits to mining and oil and gas development. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizo-na, and top candidate for Interior Secretary under President-elect Barack Obama, attempted to employ the little-used provision for the first time in more than 20 years earlier this year in an effort to halt uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. The House Natural Resources Committee passed a measure to block the mining 20-2, but the Interior Department has yet to issue an emergency withdrawal, saying there were not enough Republicans present for a quorum. quo-rum. ., , ' ""In a written statement Thursday, Thurs-day, Grij alva said the last-minute change was part of a strategy by the Bush administration to avoid complying with the resolution. "I will continue to fight this rule change and all midnight regulations to roll back protections protec-tions for our environment which are coming down the pike before the new administration is sworn in," he said. While the law still allows the House Natural Resources Committee Com-mittee or Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to use the provision, the lack of a regulation would likely make it more susceptible to legal challenges. chal-lenges. Previous attempts to use the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act have been challenged on constitutional grounds, since the committees' resolutions don't require the , approval of the full House or Senate, or Congress. Alaska Rep. Don Young, the top Republican on the House panel, applauded the administration's administra-tion's action saying it was needed to ensure that the country's energy en-ergy potential was tapped. The uranium mined near the Grand Canyon would supply nuclear power plants. "We cannot afford to have more of our nation's vital minerals min-erals and energy supplies to be locked up by ill-advised actions of a si ngle Congressional committee," commit-tee," said Young, who called the regulations removed Thursday invalid and unconstitutional. The rule still allows the Interior Inte-rior Secretary to issue emergency withdrawals when mining and other development poses a threat to natural resources. Only four other times in history his-tory has the House committee attempted to use the law. The last time was in 1983. Express 60 East 100 North Vernal, Utah - 435-789-351 1 wwWjVernal.com |