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Show Pleasant Grove ReviewLindon New Utah! - Wednesday, August 23, 2C00 Opinion Page 2 Rumors should be laid to rest . There are many benefits to living m small towns, but the existence of active rumor mills isn't one of them. You know what they are those stories about people or events, often nlled with half-truths and third-hand formation and creatively embellished embell-ished with every retelling, that seem to take on a life of their own when they are circulated widely enough. We call the ones that are still active for many years urban legends. Hardly a week goes by without some tale or nthpr hfiinp- brought to the newspaper office, often accompa nied rjy demands that we do something" some-thing" about a perceived injustice or bring some miscreant to public shame. The trmiWo io lrt-nrr Dvnoripnrp Tins iaught us that such stories are seldom sel-dom what they seem, and 99 percent tf them never make it into print because the facts are usually quite . ilifferent when held un to the stan dards of truth and fairness that we ry to live up to at this newspaper. It is, of course, a mark of respect Jhat these ever come to us in the first place. People know we care about our communities, and we've never been afraid to take on difficult issues when Jve believe they are in the best interests inter-ests of our readers. However, most mmors serve only the very narrow heeds of those who start them Jnost commonly, to deflect attention from their own problems or, at the least, to make themselves feel better by denigrating someone else. This very human tendency becomes exaggerated in closely-knit communities like ours, where the risk of damage to those whose reputations are attacked in the rumors is also greater because people know each other. A person can actually be inno cent but completely ruined by a false report if it gets circulated widely enough. It is always a dangerous thing to assume such stories are true, especially espe-cially the farther removed you are from the source. Passing rumors along with no independent knowledge of the facts is nothing more than gossiping, gos-siping, which no self-respecting person per-son would be a part of. The rumor mills in north Utah County seem particularly busy right now in the wake of the police getting involved in the Alpine dance a couple of weekends ago and with several difficult dif-ficult and costly decisions being made by city councils faced with some hard choices. Accusations of cover-ups, scapegoating and collusion with the "enemy," whoever that is perceived to be, are running rampant. We wish our readers to know that we are aware of many of these stories. sto-ries. As is our obligation to our public, pub-lic, we have investigated those where we had access to individuals with whom we have a relationship of mutual trust and who are also in a position to know the facts, and we're satisfied that there is little or no merit to most of the rumors you have heard but don't find repeated in our pages. In some cases, while we still suspect sus-pect there may be some truth buried in an account, unless we can find irrefutable evidence from reputable sources to help us sift it out, we're not going to touch it. To do anything else would merely serve to perpetuate these tales and cause further injury to the presumed innocent. It simply isn't our business to help assassinate anyone's character in the court of public opinion. It really could be worse It's just been one of those weeks. If I didn't know better, I'd swear somebody some-body was out to get me. This is one of the busiest periods of the year for me at work as we prepare to launch a new cycle of prep sports. Besides having to clean out all of last year's files and set up the new ones both paper and computer I have to coax rosters and schedules out of coaches and others who have lots of more important things to do. In addition, we regularly cover 24 teams in the fall, the most of any season. sea-son. Trying to find them even to do previews, especially when school is not in session and no one seems to know when they practice, is a challenge all in itself. Add the fact that things are hopping hop-ping on the local government scene right now, and that I returned from my trip to find I was losing two more correspondents than the three I already knew were leaving this month, and you could say I've been a little stressed. For the benefit of those who are looking look-ing for signs of trouble at the paper, these folks are leaving to return to school, because a spouse has been transferred, trans-ferred, or because they have built a home somewhere else. It's just unhappy coincidence that these events have all converged in time. Besides that, like the rest of you I'm trying to get children in school. We've been duly relieved of the fee money, but it's a good thing I bought the new underwear before we left on vacation. That may be all they have left by the time I get around to buying them some clothes. School supplies went on sale early this year, so I'd taken care of that in July which is also fortunate, because they wouldn't have had any of those either this week without divine intervention. There was also a nail in a tire, a storm to wet my car seats with windows were rolled down, and a few of the other little inconveniences that enter every life from time to time. Then, I came home Monday to find that someone had taken a 34-inch dowel and beaten all of the apples off of the tree in my front yard except a few they couldn't reach at the very top. To say I was angry wouldn't be accurate, but upset isn't a strong enough word. In the first place, I planted this tree myself 11 years ago. It started bearing fruit the third year, but I've yet to get a single bite of an apple off of it. The reasons are varied. Apples have a natural cycle in which a year of heavy bearing is generally followed by a light one. Some years a late frost took most of the harvest; others, my children andor some in the neighborhood neighbor-hood relieved the tree of its fruit when it looked ripe, but still wasn't. We've lost a lot to worms too, when I didn't keep up with the spraying, which I know is necessary but which I absolutely detest. This year, after the mild winter and the light crop last year I felt we'd have good fruit set, and we did so good that we had to thin the tree twice. I followed the spray schedule as strictly as the extension. people recommended, and the fruit was looking really good. . That is, until it all went away. I know we had at least a bushel of apples on the tree, but it isn't the economic eco-nomic loss, which isn't all that great, that upsets me. It's the waste of my time and money tending the tree, but especially of all the fruit. It was too green to be used for anything but missiles, mis-siles, and since it was all taken, I'm guessing that must have been the intention. It was also atrocious vandalism, as beating down the fruit also took small branches and damaged much of the bark of a living thing. Besides that, it's outrageous that anyone would feel comfortable trespassing on someone else's property to commit such an act. Children come and pick flowers in my yard and help themselves to our easy-to-reach cherries and berries all the time. I don't make much of an issue of this because we're happy to share, though I always prefer for them to ask first for their own sake. I would have gladly shared the apples too, if they'd been ready to pick and someone had requested it. Maybe it's partly my own fault, for tolerating behavior I wouldn't permit in my own children if I could catch them at it. I thought of some ways I could respond to this action and my colleagues col-leagues suggested a few more, but in the end, I decided to let it he. Nothing that's done now will bring the apples back, and those who did it aren't likely like-ly to feel sorry or get disciplined by their parents if we did know who they are, or they probably wouldn't have done it in the first place. In the meantime, a glance at the daily paper or nightly news is enough to remind me that as distressing as these events are, it could be worse. Now, if I can just get some pages out and have a chance to sleep, I'll wake up with a whole new perspective. Interchange will bring benefits to Well it's finally official, the freeway interchange is coming to Pleasant Grove. Construction should start the end of November and the project is expected to be completed by September Septem-ber 2002. I think this will be good for Pleasant Pleas-ant Grove, eventually. It's been hard on some of the people in the Sam White Lane neighborhood as they face the realization that new roads and new businesses will be constructed in their mostly rural area. And while it would be nice to keep some open space in the city, this interchange inter-change is needed, not only to handle the growth of the area, but also to provide pro-vide the needed revenue to keep the city functioning and growing. Some people don't want all the new commercial growth that they see coming. com-ing. At one planning commission meeting meet-ing held recently, planning commission commis-sion chair Vic Orvis pointed out that a city can't be composed of all rooftops. If there aren't any businesses to support sup-port the city with their sales tax revenues, rev-enues, the property taxes for the residents resi-dents would keep rising and rising. L i -- - The city council and the planning commission are working hard to ensure that the businesses and commercial com-mercial development that come to Pleasant Grove and the kinds of ones that will benefit the city and the general gen-eral area the most. Personally, I would like to see more grocery stores, restaurants, and some other shopping areas. Something like the Riverwoods development in Orem would be great. There you have clothing cloth-ing stores, restaurants, movie theaters and office space all close together in a beautiful setting. City officials have long touted the many benefits of the freeway interchange inter-change and the new development of the area and I hope that it won't take long for the residents to see the benefits. bene-fits. I'm talking about perhaps a new or remodeled library. The library is already too small for the needs of 0 city ifri j to grow, something nVp 011 to be done. gdefint The city recreation cent..' a.y nuw old thatbinu c;i new one would KD one could be remodeW? modern. Visitors to T? may marvel at the K ' but they mav 71- still a tunc; recreation center Other new additions toa my wish list would also r, : center, which would , a ind nlavo tu. aef, rr w- cecity w theater eroun a , o v nn.. grout). adult theater vJ I J I I I T hi - 1 , to have a huildl perform and practice materials. The 'ever and works by local artists ' . So let's hope the constructio-interchange constructio-interchange goes as pla 7 excited to watch it all h hope we will soon be able promised benefits. We don't need whole summer 's rain at once For 30 some odd days we had no rain. Temperatures were in the 90's and even up to 100 degrees or over at least four times. We have season tickets for Desert Star Playhouse in Murray. This summer sum-mer the theater is being remodeled and so we have attended the productions produc-tions in Murray City Park where there is a very nice amphitheater. Our tickets were for Friday, Aug. 18, at 8 p.m. Being a good Viking fan, I had felt a little bad about the first high school football game of the season being played at PGHS stadium the same night that we had tickets for the show in Murray. But the tickets were already paid for so we trundled off to Murray City Park for the show. Realizing the possibility of rain, we took our jackets, umbrellas and a couple of blankets. It started to rain soon after we got to our seats but the show had not started yet and we had our umbrellas to protect us, as did many others in the audience. The '. tain -stopped before the show began, " and after the stage crew'' swept 'most "of "the puddles' 'from the stage, the show began. As usual it was a riot and we were laughing and really enjoying the performance. During intermission we talked with some of the other Pleasant Grove folks who were sitting right in front of us. We also commented that after that first initial rain, the rest of the evening, so far, had gone well, weather-wise, and we anticipated more of the same. I could even see a star or two in the sky where the clouds had parted. Not long after the second act began, the lightning started. It was bright, dancing across the sky with no letup. There were no pauses in -:in celeb: , Sen jlw 11 w :r lsre," unit lees will .'25 fr Day. ;3iFr' ,teer P1 '.ited in nonal ateering ;,ant ( .',ct at om between lightning bolts. It seemed the lightning and thunder were getting get-ting closer and I commented to 'my husband that we were sitting on aluminum alu-minum benches. The cast occasionally threw in a comment about the lightning and all of us sitting out there in the open. To be honest, I was getting quite nervous. ner-vous. I knew our chances of getting hit by lightning were slim but the lightning was everywhere around us and it was close. As I tried to concentrate on the program, the entire cast suddenly came on stage. One of the players, Scott Holman, said that the Murray City Park people were concerned and had (asked them ;to-cut the program short so everyolte" could leave. He then' said, "You are sitting on alu-' minum benches out there!" I felt" they had made the right decision even though I hated to miss the end. As I put the umbrella over my head, I began to get nervous again. The top of the umbrella has a metal pointed thing on it. I thought it might be a good lightning rod for some of those close lightning bolts, so I walked sans the umbrella while we were somewhat under the trees, another thing to stay away from in lightning storms. Finally, out in the open again, up went the umbrella and I prayed it would not be a lightning attraction. We made it safely back to the car. The sky was still alive withk. up iiKe aaytime. Because the freeway wa r: vvu u.., j.u u.ui. HIM! ltnm.... ly that already, we decided to -, far as Draper on 700 East. Thl' a pretty good plan, it seemed i; traffic was not too heavy i , roads were wide and lighted. ' It was about the time were-; northern Sandy that it hapr The cloudburst, I mean. The came down so hard that the v" shield wipers did no good whafev" We were creating waves j i went through low spots. Beinga;; ural worrier, I was afraid tk I would get into a flooded area a::: washed off the road. I suggest: t either stop m a parking lot or;: our son's house in Sandy. My husband is a brave m-. very seldom worries, so he just: his foot on the gas and by tic we got to Draper the rain had l: stopped. The road was dry goiir the Point; I finally began to i& Back'on'Pleasarit Grove stre.i could see quite a few puddles:: didn't look too bad. It was good home safe and sound and it w raining at all. It was not until the next m:: that I heard about the her: weather at the Viking footbi the night before. It must have i as bad, if not worse, than it s Murray and Sandy. I think what: pened was that the bad store Pleasant Grove first and over the Point and hit County. We needed the rain, that i sure, but a whole summer's thunder and lightning did not - to come with it! Reader's Forum City should protect individual Editor, In its August 15, 2000 meeting the Pleasant Grove City Council demonstrated demon-strated the meaning of arbitrary and capricious decisions. The rule of law is the greatest and ofttimes the only protector pro-tector of the unalienable rights of individuals indi-viduals and families from tyrannical, oppressive rulings by public officials. When the rulers disregard the rule of law, where is the protection? At the Tuesday night joint session of the Pleasant Grove Planning Commission Com-mission and the city council, Mr. Dennis Den-nis Cook, a home builder, appealed to the council for approval of a subdivision subdivi-sion so he could build one single-family home adjacent to an existing house. Mr. Cook purchased a parcel of land that included a small older home. This parcel, under Pleasant Grove's flag lot ordinance, could legally be divided into four lots. Mr. Cook had already completed one division and built two homes, one for his son and family and one for sale, and he was now ready to divide the other part and build the final home. Mr. Cook's request to subdivide the larger lot met every requirement in the subdivision ordinance and had been recommended for approval by the planning commission. Although he was within the law in every detail, that was not enough for the city council. coun-cil. Four neighbors made the usual public clamor complaints, increased traffic, odd-shaped lots (odd shapes are not against the law or many cul-de cul-de -sac homeowners would be in trouble), trou-ble), and one more home in a residential residen-tial neighborhood full of homes would devalue the adjacent properties. Taking the position that Cook did not have legally sufficient reasons for building a home on that lot and citing some possible financial damage to neighbors (ignoring the actual financial finan-cial disaster for the Cooks), the council denied the request. The council based its decision on the general definition of "general welfare." Although Cook is completely within the law and the council and staff acknowledged that fact, they voted to DENY Cook's application. appli-cation. Couple this action with previous events in the same meeting and many saw a tragedy of marvelous propor- fcln- The city Save a published notice effectively re-zoning more than 1,000 acres of land to RR or one-half acre 6Sti9.t6S In spite of the glaring abst single piece of factual evidence; soning showing "just causey-equally causey-equally bizarre neglect to any of our findings of traffic-density traffic-density and significant manage" man-age" the planning commissar council voted unanimousl) ib-its ib-its own proposal and chaf ing of 1,000 acres of private The laws were meant folks like the Cooks an) ou-. ambitious leaders. The YW . City Code, the Utah State tion and laws, and the U Constitution can no longer our town. $ Watching in open aJ member of the counal.J law and voted their desultory desul-tory emotions, struck an . cal mood of fear withiB council chamber. With caj barren stares from coUJ the marvels unfolded &, bined experience on w-g put an agonizing a larm ... ant Grove citizen. It is 61 ' , to feel the oppressive ) , government; likely horizon. Jan -xratic Annual jiturday, at the .'enter, Pi 'here wu baked jeat pn more. i evei rtunity .ocratic ;nal, sta may reg not cui irefresl lie for s ring you :r chair: rtunity J by the ake auc :ie of 1 Je Don lor U.S. cai :te, Kan Lt. Go ards, mey Ge: .t more -LouH iPoi Far isgivi: aed. grow - eve: 'daym The r of t :urant Jgh Oct 'tis is c ions ' Si Pleasant Grove Review KewUtah! (ISSN No. 1521-6861) (U.S.P-S. No. 435-780) A member of Published weekly by Jewtahjews NO. UTAH CO suuim m0 NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 Telephone Numbers Advertising & Circulation 756-7669 News 756-5273 Publisher Brett Bezzant Managing Editor Marc Haddock City Editor Karli Poyfair Subscription price $24 per year Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah POSTMASTER: send address change to 59 West Main, American Fork, Utah 84O03 Deadlines Classified Advertising . . Tuesday, noon Display Advertising Monday, 5 p.m. News Monday, 2 p.m. Missionaries Monday, 2 p.m. Weddings Monday, 2 p.m. Letters to the Editor . . .Monday, 10 a.m. Sports Monday, 10 a.m. Community Calendar . .Monday, 10 a.m. Obituaries Tuesday, 11 a.m. m . ...ur'c narfl1 we wKirome letters to the editor. All letters must include the auu - ((jrCS signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to eon punctuation, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic HOW TO REACH US By Mail P.O. Box 7, American Fork, UT 84003 In Person 59 W. 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