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Show Fork c on More LOCAL news than any other source! For home delivery call 756-7669 or see our web site at www.newutah.com Vol. 21, No. 31 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 50 cents a single copy jwiiiiininiiiiimm. xr inn V! C J ( r 111 I WMBHpwitm r it it i Citizens invited to learn of plans American Fork is one step closer to visualizing what city offices could be in proposed plans to expand city facilities, including city hall and a public safety building. Representatives from MHTN Architects have been meeting with city officials and members of the staff of the ' Fourth Circuit Court, which rents space in the Public Safety Building. "The team has been working with the program director and city personnel, those from the courts and others who will have need of the facilities," said Jack Wixom of MHTN. "They have been looking at their needs and possibilities." Architects anticipate bringing bring-ing six ideas back to the city for evaluation. They will meet with the City Council in a work session Thursday, Aug. 5 at 4 p.m. and present their ideas to the public, Wednesday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. That public meeting is the first of a planned series to inform the citizenry. "Our desire in this entire process is to make sure that ' the public has a full say in it and that they are satisfied," said Wixom . " "Right now we are going to ! roll up our sleeves and sift " 1 through the information." Mayor calls meeting for downtown sign law American Fork's downtown merchants have been invited to a ' meeting with Mayor Ted Barratt tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 5. They -will address concerns the business busi-ness people have with the city's - sign ordinance. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 31 N. Church Street. Although it has been on the books for several years, the law has been enforced more strictly in recent months, including having city officials ask business busi-ness owners to remove samples of their merchandise from the city sidewalk. Horse Sense American Fork man sees different world from the bock of a horse By Cawara Cm&stuuoj City Editor : ' Nestled in north American Fork is a 25-acre oasis hidden away from housing development and commercial establishments. And Mark Hutchings and his fcpihr love living there with their nonet other animals. 1 They also enjoy sharing that love with others not just fiam-" fiam-" ily and friends, but with those who rent their horses or facilities, facili-ties, v .: Their home is called Rockies Horse Ranch and they oCar trail , rides, wagon rides, boarding, parties and programs, assistance assis-tance with sales, retreats and eMxri, and ltscj and training ' lbcthhoruandxilar. JV ' l' 1 1wiiW,sK4 1 I ' - i -ri " ' i $ V'' IT 4: U4I "pern? I! W, Y , lsWpi Volunteers Jordan Devey (left), Ashlee Fraughton and Steven Peterson put the finishing touches on the snack stand at JC Park, in preparation for the World Series, which begins today. American Fork welcomes Little League World Series By Barbara Christiansen Crrv Editor Call it JC Park, J.C. Park, or Jaycee Park whatever the name, residents are happy the American Fork ball park has reached completion com-pletion in time for the Little League World Series beginning begin-ning today. Teams are coming for the Western Boys Baseball Association World Series from Idaho Falls, Price, Vernal, Salt Lake City, Logan, and Orem. Around 400 parents and their 11-and 11-and 12-year-old boys arrived Tuesday and will stay through the championship on Saturday. The series is If it sounds like a busy life, that's because it is, especially when you consider that Mark also has a day job at Franklin , Covey. His wife Becky does some of the riding lessons during the days. The reason they do it is simple. sim-ple. "We love the horses," said Mark. He looks back to his growing up years and remembers remem-bers many good times he had, both on horseback and off. That helped give him a love of the outdoors and nature. He was raised near Utah Lake and enjoyed the open space near him. When he takes a trail ride, he sees places which remind him of those good days, and expresses his hope that the kids of today and tomorrow will . always have similar places to play. ; FawSy members take people on those trail rides often, and have many different directions and types of rides, all starting from their ranch near Tri City Photo by Barbara Christiansen hosted by the American Fork National League. In addition to the games, the boys will participate in other activities. Former major league players, including includ-ing Dane Iorg and Don Gust, will speak. Volunteers, city personnel, person-nel, and contractors have worked feverishly to put the finishing touches on the park, just in time for this week's play. But the work began long ago. League representatives sought help from the city to prepare the field and sur- See PARK on page 12 Golf Course. Guests may select the amount of time they spend, and the terrain based on their interests and abilities. "People think they need to go to the mountains to ride in beautiful country" said Mark. "We have lots of pretty scenery right here. I hope we are always able to have such beauty around us." Not far from their home, riders rid-ers often catch glimpses of deer, racoons, squirrels and other varieties of wildlife. There are views of the golf course, mountains, moun-tains, and the lake, and a chance to ride along the river, even fording ford-ing it in the spring. As he rides, Mark takes care to clear branches which could get in the way of horseback riders rid-ers and bike riders. "I like to keep things nice," he said. "We have a chance to keep these branches out of the way, while bike riders cant stop to do it This way, everybody can be safe." -. v E on ps IS Computers in cop cars fulfill Chief Fox's dream By Ann Shields American Fork police are entering the 21s century with the addition of modern technology technolo-gy to help them better serve citizens cit-izens in the area. About four years ago Police Chief Terry Fox, then an assistant assis-tant chief, dreamed a dream a dream of obtaining lap top computers for patrol cars and detectives. He envisioned being able to get reports directly from officers in the field to the main office without the officers coming in, of having officers remain visible in the community while still doing their reports, of having a data base where officers could immediately access needed information on traffic and other offenders. But like any dream, it took time, work and a lot of people working together, including police, city officials and others to be come about. The dream is beginning to be fulfilled with the installing of 25 laptop computers in patrol cars, and 16 desktop computers in the office. Although only in use for about two weeks, officers have already built up a data base of nearly 900 names. "We figure well have close to 35,000 entries in the first year," Fox said. These are names put in the data base through traffic stops and other police contact. Detective Darren Falslev, systems sys-tems administrator, said information infor-mation can be cross referenced by individual, property, vehicle, address, etc. Officers are AF's Neighborhood Councils Committee gets second chance By Barbara Christiansen City Editor American Fork's Neighborhood Councils Committee may be getting a new breath of life. The committee was started a year and a half ago, after Mayor Ted Barratt and Council members Juel Belmont and Don Hampton took office. Each had campaigned for their positions posi-tions indicating they would institute the committee as a means of assisting with communications com-munications within the city. Members held several organizational orga-nizational meetings and adopted adopt-ed some bylaws, but didn't get much further as the chairper Matk Kisfcisc wmu d Rocking Heist Ranch, wHti ore of trw felons d to Arcn Fcric toccSon. -f a ' Photo by Ann Shields American Fork Police Detective Darren Falslev, demonstrates new laptop computer installed in police vehicles. assigned a case number while at the scene instead of having to come into the office and manually manu-ally receive one. He recalled that the first time he the tried laptop out, he made a traffic stop and the computer showed him the individual had an arrest warrant out on him. The new system is a great time saver for detectives, Falslev said. They can type in their notes at the scene, recording record-ing details right there while they are fresh on their mind. Or they can be on the street running radar, for instance, while typing out their reports. son tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The city has now appointed several people to an interim committee, to explore possibilities possibili-ties and make recommendations recommenda-tions to the City Council. Chad Hendry will chair the exploratory committee, with Judy Price, Evan Brady, Troy Wagstaff, Greg Ruch, Trena Zaugg, and Dave Richards as members, with Melanie Marsh as the city representative. The previous Neighborhood Councils Committee included three council members, in addition addi-tion to the community representatives. repre-sentatives. Interim committee members fy at , ' Z 1 For officers on patrol, it means within seconds of making mak-ing a traffic stop, they can determine deter-mine if a vehicle is stolen, who the registered owner is, if they have insurance, etc. In the past, it has taken four to five minutes or longer depending on how busy the radio dispatcher is to receive the same information. If there is an arrest warrant out on the driver, the computer flashes the information. It also lets the officer know if the suspect sus-pect is on probation, or on revocation revo-cation as well as other items. See COMPUTERS on page 12 have free rein, according to Hampton. This is kind of a zero base approach," he said. "We will have you take a look at the ordinance and make any changes. Meet for a couple of months, then come back with recommendations." Hendry agreed. "W7e can redefine and redesign the boundaries," he told New Utah! "We are supposed sup-posed to come up with recommendations recom-mendations that we as a committee com-mittee think will best work." "I am very confident that this group will come up with a good plan that will benefit See COUNCIL on page 12 Photo by Bcrtxara Christiansen torem usd tor trcd rkiM and POOR COPY |