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Show -a nT u0Tc-oia 2ttihi&Hcrol& EDITION OF THE YOUR TOWN, YOUR NEIGHBORS, YOUR NEWSPAPER THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23. 2004 74TH YEAR NUM 38 50 CENTS JV I I . . . ytm, f . W ? v. iiii i I Ti "i i .r. ' v. T TI1IHIIIIMI1IMI M w -"-- .-- photo by Kimball Tayloi7www.yourlifeimages.com Mountain View High School Homecoming Royalty: Second Attendants Richard Stubbs and Crissy Merrell, First Attendants Jason Dunn and Allssa Brlggs, Queen Heidi Houle (above) and King Evan Astole. photo by Landon OhonTimes Newspaper Orem High School Homecoming Royalty: Second Attendants Ashely Boulter and Blake Steele, First attendants atten-dants Haley Warner and Derrick Wakamatsu, Queen Christina Keller (above) and King AJ Pope. $40 Million 800 North road widening is delayed six months CLYDE E. WEEKS, JR. Times Correspondent The year was 1953. Mayor J.W. Gillman was Mayor of Orem, and the population of the city was less than 10,000 people. Orem was experiencing expanding commercial and residential growth, and just four years earlier, Orem City and the Utah State Road Commission had cooperated in widening Orem's State Street from 900 North to 900 South. But State Street was not the only street that was experiencing infreased vehicle traffic. New developments were also being extended east on 800 North Street, and traffic on that two-lane road was creating problems, even then. Nineteen fifty-three was the year in. which the Orem Chamber of Commerce wrote a letter to D.H. Whittenburg, chairman chair-man of the Utah State Road Commission, asking for the Commission to undertake an urgently-needed road improvement project on 800 North Street. That action, taken over a-half-century ago, was the first of many overtures made by the Orem Chamber of Commerce and Orem City officials, over the years, to have 800 North Street developed sufficiently tp meet the needs of this community. Meanwhile, both commercial and residential resi-dential developments continued on 800 North Street, wh the Memo Gardens subdivision being bjuilt at 100 East just west of the Mountain View subdivision and east of the'Drage subdivision. The Cascade Golf Center and the Osmond Studio were built at 1200 East, and a bank and a super market were built at 900 East, along with numerous other developments. The completion of the Orem segment of Interstate Highway 15 over 40 years ago, provided for an uninterrupted flow of traffic down Provo Canyon to 800 North, west to the freeway, and north to Salt Lake City. That traffic is still on the increase, and in this new millennium, it has become matter of growing concern to both elected officials and the Utah Department of Transportation. That growing concern has been driven by four factors: 1. Traffic in Orem is expected to increase up to 79 percent by the year 2030. 2. Orem's population is forecasted to increase by 33.1 percent by the year 2030, according to the Mountainland Association of Governments. 3. Most of that population and employment growth will occur in the eastern portion of Orem, causing greater demand on the east-west corridors, including 800 North. 4. Currently, it takes five to six minutes min-utes to travel 800 North from 400 West to 1100 East. Without extensive road improvements, it could take as long as 19 minutes to drive that stretch of 800 North. In April 2002 the Utah Department of Transportation held a public meeting in Orem, outlining a proposed project to improve the roadway from the Geneva Road to US 189, at the mouth of Provo Canyon. Because of funding constraints, the project was divided into two projects, where the available funding would make the most impact. Phase 1 of the project involved relocating relocat-ing the 1200 West intersection at 800 North and moving it 450 feet to the east. The second section, or Phase Two, would widen 800 North from 400 West to 1100 East. The configuration and proximity of 1200 West to the 1-14 on and off ramps was deemed to be confusing, causing con-Continued con-Continued on page All i1 I ' ift ft u , tTn.ii .o-ma -IILIII ' J... "fv SN, ' 1 if Validating the need for the planned $40 million 800 North Street Improvement project, Is this late afternoon traffic, seen crowding 800 North this week at the State Street Intersection. The relocation of 45 residences and 17 businesses on 800 North Street will be required In order to complete the project. VerHoef Wins Gold Jenni VerHoef returned from the Jr. Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa with four-gold, four-gold, two-silver and one-bronze one-bronze medals. Amidst more than 500 clogging competitors, the most rewarding gold medal was the overall female soloist for a cappella. Having received the silver medal for a cappella cap-pella in her age division of 22 yrs., VerHoef was invited back tor a dance-off with all the individual finalists and landed the gold. "The were challenging after waiting so long to dance but my passion and love for this sport always motivate moti-vate me to do my best," she remarked. VerHoef s consistent high stand- ) 111 ( Jennl VerHoef wins gold at Jr. Olympics Pride & Passion Clogging Company. In August, prior to the Jr. Olympics, her team performed at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO as Nationally Recognized Clogging Champions during Kid's Fest. Presenting four shows daily, they educated attendees on the background back-ground of traditional clogging clog-ging to the contemporary percussive approached used today while energizing the audiences audi-ences with their rhythm and dancing. VerHoef com-m com-m e n t e d , "Such opportunities oppor-tunities to perform onstage on-stage build a child's confidence confi-dence and self-esteem and does so much to improve their social and commu-n commu-n i c a t i v e skills." Locally, ing at the national qualify- the elementary team as well ing competitions earlier m as some , of her senior the year secured her invita- t dancers will be featured on tion to the Jr. Games. Her Spotlight, hosted bv Dana third individual medal was a bronze for free style. The other three gold and one silver sil-ver medal were Pride & Passion team performances for a cappella, standing-line and small team. VerHoef is owner and director of Utah Valley's Robinson,; on community cable channel 17 from Saturday, September 18th through the 22nd. The Pride & Passion Parent's Association is also sponsoring sponsor-ing an Event & Workshop to Continued on page All Vocal Point to give Oct. 6 Benefit Concert for SCERA Youth Theatre Vocal Point, Brigham Young University's premiere a cappella ensemble, will give two concerts on Wednesday, Oct. 6 to benefit the SCERA Youth Theatre. The ensemble of nine talented tal-ented vocalists, under the direction of James Stevens, embrace rock, pop, country, jazz, rhythm and blues and spiritual styles with music that has placed them among the top a cappella organizations organiza-tions in the country. They recently were one of only six groups to qualify for national competition. Vocal Point will offer two Oct. 6th shows, at 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm, in SCERA Showhouse II, 745 S. State St., Orem. Tickets for $8 adults and $6 for children (age 3-11), students (wID) ana seniors (age 65) are available at the SCERA box office from 10-6 week days, by calling (801) 225-2569 or 225 ARTS or at the box office 45 minutes prior to the show. Tve been to several of their concerts, and Vocal Point has a great, fun sound," says Robert Barham, production manager for the youth theatre. the-atre. "It amazes me how much their voices sound like recorded record-ed instruments. We're thrilled they agreed to come and do this benefit concert, as all the proceeds will go to make possible pos-sible the youth theatre's classes class-es and performances - which includes professional instructors, instruc-tors, costumes, sets, class materials and everything it takes to give the kids ages 5 to 18 a first-class theatre experi- m WHS II I- i f ence. A member of the BYLPs School of Music since 1994, Vocal Point combines harmony harmo-ny with humor and remarkable remark-able vocal percussion. Many of their numbers originally were intended for complex instrumentation, instru-mentation, but members of Vocal Point have adapted them for voice only. Their concerts are geared to entertain audiences of every age. In 2002, for example, exam-ple, they performed at nearly every major venue for the WLiter Olympic Games. The vocal musicians have performed per-formed for the San Francisco Giants at 3Con Stadium, the Park City Arts Festival, the Boise River Festival and the NBAs Utah Jazz halftime show. Vocal Point pulls from the best of talent at the university, and those chosen as members undergo a rigorous selection process based on their musical abil ities, creativity and stage experience. Once accepted, the work begins to blend voices and talents. They rehearse two hours daily and arrange most bf the music themselves. They, have released four albums to demonstrate a reach that goes far beyond traditional four-part possibilities, possibili-ties, and they have developed a wide fan base. Typical praise came from Jackie Leavitt, wife of EPA chair and former Utah governor gover-nor ; Michael Leavitt. She wrote, "Vocal Point is an impressive, high-energy group that made our event soar. You Continued on page All ALPINE IM 1 3 CREDIT UNION VITATIQt fO LlESIDEIIfS OF mm G You can now enjoy membership with ALPINE CREDIT UNION OREM AMERICAN FORK LEW . Aft rtrrry Call i'or details mf Jf 4 tJ ' Mt-lll(M'!lljp t.IKi I'A'iilWliUiy K.-q..'::. f 1 COPY 1 |