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Show T o Submit o Guest Editorial cr Opinion at our office, located at 538 South State in Orem. Deadlines are Monday noon. AO submissions are subject to editing for length, and the Orem-Geneva Times reserves the right to publish or not to publish a submission. Commentary- Wednesday, December 6th 2000 Editorial toanBtil tOne teacOneo1 waDrceoirfi: mmo eeou mm Upn 11 LlL li CLP lili Tuesday, the teachers walked out. At least most of the teachers teach-ers did. There were a handful of school districts with the exception ex-ception of the Granite District, mostly the smaller ones that voted to keep classes going in the face of a one-day work stoppage stop-page called for by Utah Education Educa-tion Association (UEA) president presi-dent Phyllis Sorensen. Sorensen deemed the walkout walk-out necessary to call attention to issues of long-term funding for schools, saying that the m-creases m-creases in funding offered by the legislature may help now, Quick facts At Utah Power, ensuring dependable de-pendable service is their priority. prior-ity. They make every attempt to keep the power on. But there are some things they just can't control con-trol - like severe weather, accidents acci-dents and other unpredictable situations. If the lights go out, their crews respond immediately and do everything possible-including working around the clock - to get them back on quickly and safely. The key causes of power outages out-ages are: Trees or branches knocked down by wind, snow or ice onto Sponsor Christmas for local children The Sub for Santa program in Utah County invites volunteers to sponsor families in need of temporary assistance during the holidays. Sponsors will donate modest gifts for the children, while the Sub for Santa program will provide learning opportunities opportu-nities for the parents. Members of the community may sign up to sponsor children between eighteen months and fourteen years old, providing two items of new clothing, two new toys and one book for each child. A list of suggested toys and games is provided. "Sponsoring a family is a wonderful way to get involved during the holidays and to help people in our own community," remarks Jenn Kilstroni, Sub for Santa coordinator. coordi-nator. Individuals andor organizations organiza-tions interested in sponsoring a family may call Sub for Santa at 356-6300 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays. A recorded message and voice mail will be available during all other hours of the day. Additionally, organizations such as clubs, co-workers, families fami-lies and church groups, are encouraged en-couraged to gather and deliver Angel Tree gifts to families as part of the Utah County Sub for Santa program. Groups are asked to distribute the gifts amongst as many vehicles as possible, in order to deliver the gifts to the largest number of families possible. Deliveries will be distributed during the evenings eve-nings between December 15-23. tem Online Edition: www.oremtimes.com ' E-mail: oremtimesf" networld.com v USPS 411-700 538 South State Street, Orem, Utah 84058 Telephone 225-1340 Fax 225-1341 The Orem-Geneva Times (411-700) is published each Wednesday for $16.00 per year in area, $35.00 per year out of area, and $.50 cents per issue by the Orem-Geneva Times, 538 South State Street, Orem, Utah 84058. Periodical Postage paid at Orem, Utah K4059. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Orem-Geneva Times, PO. Box 65, Orem, UT 84059. News deadline, Monday, 12 noon, advertising Monday, 2:00 p.m. The entire contents of this newspaper is Copyright 2000 The Orem-Geneva Times. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the editor or publisher. Publisher - Brent Sumner - V but will leave schools short of what they need for projected growth in the future. Projection have the state's student population growing by nearly 100,000 in the next 10 years. The teachers' association flyer that was distributed Tuesday, brings up the $1 billion in tax cuts for Utahns and businesses, $1.5 in planned highway infrastructure infra-structure improvements and investment in-vestment in the Olympics as places the legislature has put money that the group apparently feels could go to education instead. in-stead. On its part, the legislature for when the lights go out power lines. Lightning strikes a transformer trans-former or other electrical facilities. facili-ties. Car accidents where utility poles are knocked over or sway enough to knock the lines together to-gether and trip off the circuit. Equipment overload, especially espe-cially on hot days when air conditioning con-ditioning is cranked up, or during dur-ing extremely cold weather when electric heaters are turned on all over the system. Digging too close to lines or cutting a line. In-home circuit overload. Volunteers should call the United Way Volunteer Center for further information. Additional volunteer opportunities opportu-nities are available throughout Utah County. Some of these are listed below. Become a Foster Grandparent. The Foster Grandparent program pro-gram of Utah County is looking for low-income individuals ages 60 and over to volunteer for twenty or more hours a week as Foster Grandparents to children chil-dren and youth in the community. com-munity. Volunteers will donate four hours a day, five days a week. The Foster Grandparent Program provides opportunities for seniors to serve as volunteer mentors, tutors and care givers for children and youth with special spe-cial needs. Volunteers who qualify receive a monthly stipend, a yearly physical examination and may be provided with limited transportation. trans-portation. Foster Grandparent volunteers are able to select their own hours and are assigned as-signed to work with youth who live near their homes. Foster Grandparents are also provided with a meal during shifts. Volunteers Vol-unteers are asked to assist with tutoring in schools, supporting children in hospitals and uplifting uplift-ing at-risk youth at a detention center. Support children with life-limiting life-limiting conditions. IMC Pediatric Pe-diatric Palliative Care is in need of volunteers who are able to spend time with children and youth with life-limiting condi - fauma rotes Editor - Pat Knoell has increased education funding in a big way in the last few years and has been trying to make those funding increases without major tax increases. Education now counts for nearly half the state's budget Both sides have valid points and the issue is one that divides the state of Utah almost as evenly as the country is divided between presidential hopefuls George W. Bush and Al Gore. Polls have shown numbers nearly even for those who support sup-port this walkout and those who don't. While there is a definite need for more school funding and for Animals contact the lines. People are interested to know how Utah Power handles outages. out-ages. Their crews first work to clear downed power lines and ensure power is restored where it is needed most. 1. Crews restore power to the greatest number of people as quickly as possible through transmission lines that keep hundreds of substations full of energy. They also check out power plants to be sure they function properly. 2. Substations come next because be-cause they convert the high-voltage power from the transmission tions. Each volunteer will be trained and paired with a family fam-ily who needs additional support because of the child's condition. Volunteers may also provide care giver respite, spend time with the siblings of the child under Pediatric Palliative Care or uplift the parents. Furthermore, Further-more, volunteers can read with the child, listen to him or her, involve the child in art projects and various other edifying activities. ac-tivities. Give your time as a youth mentor. Community Action's mentor program, One to One, is looking for volunteers to help uplift youth in Utah County Volunteers help by listening to the young person, raising awareness of new possibilities in life, preparing them for college and encouraging their creative interests. One to One encourages encour-ages both individual time between be-tween the mentor and youth, and also sponsors Power Groups which meet on alternating weeks for service projects, leadership skills development and various outdoor activities. For further information regarding re-garding these and other volunteer volun-teer opportunities available in Utah County, contact the United Way Volunteer Center weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 374-8108. Otherwise, contact us via e-mail (volunteer unitedwayuc.org) or by searching the database on the United Way of Utah County Web site (www.uniledwayuc.org). mm i -j-i- . j Si Member long-term commitment to that funding, it does seam that two entities en-tities for whom communication is essential (teachers and legislators) legisla-tors) should be able to work this out without closing the doors of the majority of the schools in the state for a day. The effects of this walkout are far reaching. The heads of single parent homes and homes where both parents work had to scramble to figure out what to do when their children were suddenly sud-denly at home all day on a day when they weren't expecting that circumstance. What to do with children too young to look after lines into the power people safely use at home. 3. Next come the distribution lines and tap lines. Distribution liens travel from the substations to neighborhoods and serve between be-tween 1,000 and 3,000 customers. custom-ers. Tap lines then feed into pockets of 20 to 300 homes. 4. Crews then work to restore power to individual customers. This task is usually the most time-consuming and often most difficult. Sometimes storm damage occurs oc-curs at the electric meter base or circuits inside the home. Elec-, Elec-, tricians must fix that kind of problem before their crews can restore power. Winter storms and high winds occasionally cause weather-related power outages. There are several precautions you can take to prepare for and respond to outages, should they occur: 'Assemble an outage supply kit before winter weather hits. Include: flashlight, battery-powered clock radio, extra batteries, bottled water, and blanket. Ensure people using life-sustaining medical equipment who live with you have back-up power in case of an outage. Call and report the outage to Utah Power at 1-877-548-3768. Stay away from downed power lines. Even if the line is not sparking, it could still be dangerous. Turn on your porch light switch. After crews complete repairs, re-pairs, they patrol the affected area to see if lights are back on. Council okays use of funds By unanimously approving a consent item on its agenda November No-vember 28, the Orem City Council Coun-cil authorized the use of up to $826,000 in reserve funds from the Water Reclamation Fund (Fund 52) to fully fund the construction con-struction of a new 120' diameter clarifier and DAF unit at the wastewater treatment plant. The clarifier is used to remove solids from the waste stream and to route the solids and the water wa-ter into different processes. The DAF unit thickens the solids before sending them to the belt presses. Total cost of the project is $1.85 million for construction and $31,000 for equipment. The city budget had $1,255,000 toward to-ward the project, leaving the shortfall to be covered by the money from reserve funds. The council's action enables the city to move ahead with the wastewater treatment project. Alternatives would have been to delay the project for six to eight months and fund the whole amount in the next fiscal year, or to divide the project into phases and contract for part of the work. themselves during the day was a real dilemma. There is also the matter of the example set for the school children chil-dren themselves. How do you explain ex-plain to a five or six year old child that it is okay for a teacher to stay homo from schopl because they aren't getting what they want, but it isn't okay for the child to try similar methods to get what he or she wants. Surely there must be a better way to call attention to the needs of long-term funding than to close schools for a day. Many teachers are using the time off to distribute door hang Protect your Carbon Monoxide is often called the "Silent Killer" because it gives its victims little or no warning of its presence. Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that kills approximately 40 Utahns each year. When'exposed to, CO inhibits blood's capacity to carry oxygen throughout the body. Symptoms of CO poisoning are similar to the flu, including headaches, fatigue, nausea and dizziness. In high amounts CO can be fatal in as little as 5 minutes. min-utes. Carbon Monoxide is produced when fuel burns incompletely. Common sources include faulty furnaces and chimneys, car exhaust ex-haust and fuel-burning heaters. Carbon Monoxide poisoning can be easily prevented by installing at least one quality CO detector near the sleeping area on each "!L' n m mil After receiving several complaints that items were being taken from vehicles towed by Park Rite Towing, the Department of Public Safety staged a successful sting opporation. Detectives parked a vehicle in a stall at 1080 N. State at the Village Park Apartments. The vehicle did not have the required parking permit. The vehicle was equipped with a miniature video camera to record what takes place inside the vehicle. It also contained three stereo speakers and $25.00 in cash. The vehicle was allegedly booted by Park Rite for two days then towed to their yard on Wednesday, Nov. 22. at about midnight. When the detective called at 9 a.m. on Monday Nov. 27, to get his car back was that he was allegedly told he would be unable to get it until later in the day or possibly even Tuesday. This would have resulted in extra storage charges. When the detective picked up the vehicle, he did not find $25.00 and two speakers were allegedly missing. The subsequent investigation indicated indi-cated that inventory paperwork had allegedly been altered to cover the theft of the two speakers and the cash. The speakers were allegedly found installed in a vehicle belonging to a 17 year old male employee of the tow company. The money was allegedly taken by the tow truck driver. When the vehicle was recovered by Detectives, Detec-tives, in addition to the missing money and speakers they found that the camera had been disassembled along with the video recorder and the tape erased. Charges of Auto Burglary are pending against a 32-year old employee of the company and charges of auto burglary and possession of stolen property prop-erty are pending against the juvenile. Additional charges are anticipated pending the completion of the investigation and lab results of evidence collected from the vehicle. A thief broke a window on a parked car Thursday night in the area of 100 N. 600 E. and stole a purse. A lock was cut on a storage shed in the area of 1400 W. 400 South and a welder and two tool boxes were stolen. Complainant was unsure when the theft actually occu rred. On Saturday afternoon, officers arrested a 23 year old Orem man who was accused of becoming enraged over a driving incident and forcing the other car to stop in the roadway. The suspect allegedly threw a bottle at the other car, damaging the hood of the car and went to assault the driver, but when he saw it was a female driving, he satisfied himself by assaulting the juvenile passenger of the car. The suspect also is alleged to have kicked the door on the other car, causing about $500 damage. The driver of the other car was an 18 year old woman. The suspect was booked into the Orem holding facility on charges of assault, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. He was also driving on suspension and had a traffic warrant out of Lindon. Two passengers in the suspects car were charged with disorderly conduct and released with a misdemeanor citation after allegedly standing stand-ing around the victims car to prevent her from leaving. A home was entered in the area of400 E. 1600 South Saturday night and a number of jewelry items were stolen, as well as some Christmas gift the victim had purchased earlier that day. A 1996 Mitsubishi 3000GT was damaged sometime overnight Wednesday Wednes-day while it was parked awaiting repairs at a repair shop in the area of Center Street and Geneva Road. From the damage to the steering column, it appears someone u nsuccessfully tried to steal the car. When they weren't able to do that, stereo equipment and CD's werestolen. A faulty sprinkler head in the Orem City Library triggered a lire alarms Thursday at 4:21 p.m. No fire was detected but there was a lot of water put out by the sprinkler before fire division personnel were able to stop it. There is no dollar estimate on damages. A cell phone was stolen Thursday afternoon from a car parked in the area of 1500 W. 1000 S. ers stating their side of the issue. Others are talking to their local legislators as they prepare to head to the mid-January session Sorensen has stated that she would "kill any teacher she found in the malls or on the ski slopes" on Tuesday, because "thi3 is a day for getting the message out to the public and the legislature." The message does need to get out, and teachers put in many hours during the school year, making it very hard for them to take time that would normally be off to spread the word. But still ... closing down schools does seam a bit drastic family level of your home. In addition to CO detectors, the Utah Safety Council offers the following safety tips. Have your furnace and heating heat-ing system inspected and serviced ser-viced annually. Never run an automob'le in the garage or any other type of enclosed space. Have your chimney an I flue cleaned professionally. Make sure that the burner flames on your furnace and stove burn blue, not yellow-orange. Never use your gas range or oven for heating. Never use grills or hibachis inside your home. Never operate gas burning heaters or appliances in a closed room. Bern r POOR ( |