OCR Text |
Show ORE M TIMES Thursday May 22, 2008 Page 12 Despite heat, experts don't expect floods Janice Peterson High temperatures over the weekend and through the next few days are helping to melt snow in the mountains, but meteorologists are not expecting expect-ing flooding problems any time soon. Brian Mtlnerney. hvdrolo-gist hvdrolo-gist for the National Weather Service, said water flows are rising steadily throughout Utah County, but a cold front this week will help to stem any flooding. "Mows are going to continue to increase until Wednesday." he said. "And until that point, nothing is going to reach flooding flood-ing levels." Mclnerney said the high temperatures have reduced the snowpack in the mountains, but the cold temrxratures and precipitation in the latter part of the week will hold the snowpack steady, so the rivers and basins will not increase as rapidly. Meteorologist Catherine Kruse with the National Weather Service said there will be a dramatic temperature change through the Memor ial Iay weekend. While Tuesday's Tues-day's high temperatures are expected to be in the mid-IHls. she said the high temperature on Wednesday will be in the low IJOs. Kruse said thunderstorms are expected, and some areas may receive up to one inch of rain before the storm passes. After Memorial Iav, Kruse DRIVERS Top Pay' Benefits! PTIAmen-gas PTIAmen-gas Needs Tanker Drivers Company & Owner Ops CDL-A 3yrs Semi Trk Exp 866-364-4361 Drivers, a steady lifestyle-regional openings open-ings top miles top pay & home time Werner Wer-ner Enterprises' 800-346-2818 ext 151 IOA35H5 Driver General General M) Wanted Rem Wanted Re Wanted HIGH COUNTRY GRANITE 8 MARBLE COUNTERTOPS HELP WANTED INSIDEOUTSIDE SALESPERSON '"Fun job helping people with their New or Remodeling projects Sl8hour Possible.'" ALSO SEEKING LOCAL PERSON P.T to Measure & Template Jobs Paid HrlyGas Provided SomeDesign Cabinet Cabi-net or Construction Experience helpful for both jobs Hrs M-F 9am-5pm APPLY IN PERSON Bring Resume 266 E Mam. Lehi or Fax 768-2690 or Call 768-2690 email, infofe high-country high-country -granite.com riff if i X i Smoke Cigarettes, Cigars, Pipes, Loose Tobacco LOWEST PRICES onm 1698 North State Street PROVO 410 North Freedom Blvd. !" Bring in this ad and receive a ""! i FREE LIGHTER ! I With a Minimum ' 1 5 Purchase I Limit one per customer IU,m tliliNHtlMUlm lit- Sl.J$ V v I it it i) it u K- v. , said the temperatures may warm up for good, though it is too soon to tell now. The weather over the last few months has worked well for snowpack levels, Mclnerney Mclner-ney said. A good combination of precipitation and temperatures tempera-tures in the winter months has been the key to preventing flooding now. Mclnerney said the real winter win-ter weather, with cold temperatures temper-atures and high precipitation, only lasted from mid-December through early February. If that weather had continued into March and April, the county would have had quite a bit of flooding now. Instead, he said, March and April were very dry, with only 50 percent of the normal precipitation. Mclnerney said the weather helped to prevent an overly-large overly-large snowpack melting all at once, and the melting should now be more efficient. There is neither too much nor too little snowpack, and he said the sudden high temperatures now will help the snow to melt at once without losing too much to evaporation. "It was three to five degrees colder than normal in March and April." he said. "And with that cold, we kept the snow that we had and didn't start melting early." The water levels are high and fast, and Provo River Is flowing at about 1800 cubic feet per second above Jor-danelle Jor-danelle Reservoir. Mclnerney said the possibility for flooding exists if at least two inches of POSTAL JOBS S17.08-$28 27hr. now hiring For application and free government job info, call American Assoc of Labor 1-913-599-8042. 24hrs. emp. serv. Work from home S500 - S5000 PTmonth Call immediately imme-diately 801-461-3390 Basinets Bpportmlttes Own a Pier 49 Pizza Store in Saratoga Springs. AlpineHighland. AlpineHigh-land. PG. No Orem. Call Mike 801-592-3335 pierom Water Watts Buy tied 1 Share Lehi Irrigation WATER FOR SALE Call 362-8721 Shop SPAHISH FORK S4 North 100 West AtmiCAII FORK 106 N. West State Ri ) rain falls in a short period of time, but that possibility is a long way off. While the potential for floods can be a danger in Utah County. Mclnerney said a bigger concern should be for residents who fall into the rivers. riv-ers. The water is flowing very quickly for a swimmer who needs to get out of it, and the cold temperatures from melted mountain snow could induce hypothermia in moments. "That's kind of the bigger threat to our population, is falling fall-ing in the river when we have high flows like this," he said. Hodgson said the fast, cold water can incapacitate a person per-son readily, and the debris in the water can be hazardous as well. When a person is floating in water flowing at 1800 cubic feet per second, the person has no control over which direction direc-tion they move, and it is hard to avoid large objects in the water. "It only takes a split second for a life-changing experience near a river like that," he said. Hodgson said there are reports re-ports every year of someone in trouble in a river or canal, and his department has already responded re-sponded to a fisherman swept away by water in Hobble Creek. The trouble can come from someone falling into the river, or just not taking the correct precautions, like tubing without a lifejacket. "That could be a grave error if you happen to get knocked off the tube," Hodgson said. The possibility of a fatal accident ac-cident is high at the start of the summer season, and especially on Memorial Day weekend when people want to be out with their families. Hodgson said the best way to avoid any trouble is to be aware of surroundings sur-roundings and watch any children, chil-dren, and to avoid unnecessary risks near water. GOING ON VACATION?. DONATE YOUR PAPER CAll TO fXNATE YtXJK NEWSPAPER ' TONtriPAPESSINHXCATION 375-5103---'; 2)aiht4Hcmttt ' www.heraldextra.com Take i J : !5 I r I i 1 K P3 V'"" i. 1 '' l Own Mon-Fri 9-S V1 . Ill AND BY APPOINTMENT Judge retiring after 25 years on bench Jeremy Duda If you find yourself in Orem's 4th District Court next year, you may be missing a familiar face. After 25 years on the bench, Judge John C. Backlund has announced that he will retire at the end of the year. Backlund. Back-lund. who has been the only judge at Orem's courthouse for nearly 10 years, said he plans to go into business with relatives, stay active by running run-ning and fly fishing, and serve an LDS mission with his wife. "I'm not going to have any lack of activities," Backlund said. For judges who were appointed ap-pointed before the age of 55, 25 years is the maximum amount of time that can be accrued toward retirement, so Backlund, who turns 62 in November, No-vember, said it is a good time for him to retire. Backlund grew up in Torrance. Tor-rance. Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, and attended Brigham Young University after af-ter serving an LDS mission in Sweden. After getting his law degree at the University of Utah in 1974, he and his wife moved back to Utah County. Backlund worked in private practice and as a city attorney for Pleasant Grove, Alpine and Lindon before becoming a judge. He was appointed in 1983 to the 8th Circuit Court, which was later merged with the 4th District Court. In 25 years on the bench. Backlund said he has seen some unfortunate trends take root. He lamented the extent to which Utah County's substance-abuse problem has grown since he was appointed to the bench. While DUI cases involving alcohol have decreased in the past quarter century, he said, DUI cases involving prescription and illegal il-legal drugs have increased to take up the slack. Backlund said he has also seen increasing increas-ing abuse of the prescription painkiller Oxycontin lead to a rise in heroin use. "The nature of our cases has changed somewhat from 1983. unfortunately. I think most judges would acknowledge acknowl-edge that the substance-abuse problem is much more serious than it was then," he said. "And then there's a larger component of our cases that HomeChoice Weekly House hunting made easy! Xmss m SOLATUBE ' ; ' Sc Much More Tnan Just a 3Kytig?Tt. your tax rebate and invest your money in the best asset you have - Your Home. Bright Concepts LLC 7127 S. 400 W. 2Midvale 801-566-1264 Toll Free 877-873-7652 m . www. Dngnterrooms. com CRAIG DILGER Daily Herald Judge John Backlund presides over a hearing at Orem's 4th District Court on, May 1.5, 2008. deal with domestic violence." But Backlund has also seen some positive things. He touted the series of domestic-violence domestic-violence meetings his court holds every Thursday. People convicted of domestic violence offenses check in even' 60 days so the court, the Division of Child and Family Services and the private probation company Argus can gauge the progress of people who are taking part in a counseling program for domestic violence vio-lence offenders. Backlund said the rate of repeat offenders in the program has dropped. "That's been one of the most successful things that we've done here in Orem," Backlund said. "We're having people wholeheartedly get involved in counseling." He also praised the people who have improved their lives in substance-abuse treatment programs and as a result have been able to turn their lives around and, in some cases, get D E IM Locally Hand Made GENUINE LEATHER GUN BELTS & HOLSTERS Pack Saddles Panniers wan lents . Stoves Sleeping Hag Clovers 1274 West 300 South Lindon, litah 801.922.4234 4 . ,..- ... ' " v ', - their children back. "It's an enjoyable thing to do to try to help people resolve re-solve the problems that come their way in life, and it's so rewarding to see, especially in criminal matters, that they can overcome their challenges and make some positive changes," Backlund said. A judicial nominating committee com-mittee for the 4th District will take applications for a new judge and submit five names to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who will choose a nominee to send to the state Senate for confirmation. Attorneys who are interested in filling Backlund's seat on the bench can apply to the Administrative Administra-tive Office of the Courts. Applications Ap-plications must be received by June 13. Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or jdudaheraldextra.com. titers T A. L Dr. NickGroneman DMD 801-756-5136 186 South 1100 East I American Fork, UT 84003 or FREE Teeth Whitening V fib4 frofce J I |