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Show Pleasant Grove ReviewLindon New Utah! - Wednesday, July 25, 2001 - Page 2 Opinion id Proceed with caution Pleasant Grove City is poised to take the extraordinary measure of removing one of the city's planning commissioners in a special meeting tonight. Ernest Bramwell has drawn the ire of the mayor and city council basically for being rude, both to members of the city staff working with the planning commission, and with people who have approached the commission to conduct business with the city. Of course, the case is more complicated com-plicated than that, and probably requires a careful hearing by the city's elected representatives. We would, however, urge the council to be circumspect when it makes a final decision in Mr. Bramwell's case, since how this instance is resolved will have ramifications for every volunteer citizens committee member in the community. Cities rely on many of these groups to carry out city business. A planning commission probably has the greatest power of these unelect-ed unelect-ed boards, since it determines if proposed developments meet city requirements, and then sends them to the city council with a recommendation recom-mendation for action. Other citizen committees that keep the city operating include beautificatioTi committees, historical histori-cal preservation committees, library boards, arts councils, recreation recre-ation committees and others, according to the needs of individual cities. Committee members are expected to weigh their decisions carefully and then pass recommendations recommen-dations along to the council. In every case, including the planning commission, final decisions deci-sions remain firmly in the hands of the city council, which ratines decisions, deci-sions, approves expenses, and The baby was adorable We finally got to see our newest grandchild, Hyrum Wright Oliphant, who was born March 1, not long before I broke my ankle which put me out of commission until now. We recently spent two weeks in Wisconsin Wis-consin and went out and back on the Amtrak which was a lot of fun. I was still in the walking cast when we left but was able to begin wearing my regular shoe during the trip. One thing we learned was that announced train schedules vary from actual departure and arrival times, mostly due to work being done on the tracks. It seems that in the summer there are. sections of track which need repair and so the crews go to work. Sometimes oncoming trains have to come to a stop and wait for a while until the railroad rail-road crews can get out of the way. We learned that the Amtrak system pays for the right to use the railroad tracks which are owned by private enterprise. The owners of the track apparently tell the trains when they can go and when they must stop. We had no connections to make but we had to catch a shuttle shut-tle bus to Madison from Chicago. We arrived in Chicago at about 5:30 p.m. and the shuttle did not come until 8:30 p.m. It was after midnight when we got to Madison. Madi-son. When we came home, we had to catch the shuttle in Madison at 7:15 a.m. and our train did not leave Chicago until 3 p.m. There are only a few of the shuttles that go to the train station but there are a lot that go to O'Hare. So we had to take this early bus as the next one that went to the train station would barely arrive in time for the train if there were not any delays. They had quite a fireworks show in Madison on the Saturday Satur-day before July 4th. It is an annual affair and is held in a city park. About 300,000 people attend so you can imagine there was quite a traffic jam when it was over. We did not go to the park but went to a parking lot a few blocks away where we had a great view of the fireworks but Pleasant Grove Review NewUtah! (ISSN No. 1521-6S61) (U.S.P.S. No. 435-780) 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 makes policy. Committee members don't always agree with the actions of the city council. And, of course, the city council is free to go against their recommendations. But it is imperative that committee com-mittee members feel at liberty to act in what they perceive to be the best interests of the city. If every action is subject to council review and reprisal, it has a chilling effect on the actions of the volunteers. It could also prevent some otherwise talented individuals from partici-. pating in the public process for fear of censure. And when actions by the city council or mayor inhibit that kind of honest citizen involvement, involve-ment, the city suffers. In the case of Mr. Bramwell, unless the city can make a good case against his performance on the planning commission, Pleasant Grove council members run the risk of looking like a group of bullies bul-lies who are intolerant of opposing viewpoints on city-appointed boards. The irony here is that just two years ago, the mayor and council saw fit to re-appoint Mr. Bramwell to four more years on the commission. commis-sion. At that time, apparently, his two years of service as a planning commissioner met with city approval. Now Mr. Bramwell's outspokenness out-spokenness has become intolerable to the point that some feel he must be removed from office. Pleasant Grove's leaders must do what they feel is best for the future of the community, but the fact is the treatment Mr. Bramwell receives at the hands of this city council will have lasting repercussions repercus-sions in every city board, and with every city-appointed volunteer, who will be left with one question "Am I next?" were able to get home without hitting any traffic from the park. On the actual Fourth of July, our daughter's neighborhood held a parade and the children decorated their bikes and trikes and wagons and scooters and participated in the parade. A city police car and fire truck led the parade and gave a little excitement excite-ment to the festivities with horns and sirens. The parade started at a school and went about four or five blocks in a circular direction and ended up at a city park near the school. At this point the parade disbanded and everyone enjoyed barbecued beef sandwiches or hot dogs, baked beans, salads and brownies. Games were played and children could win prizes. It was a lot of fun. We did a lot of fun things when we were there, including a visit to an Amish community where we had fun shopping. I would have liked to have brought back many things which I had to forego as I did not have a way of getting them on the train. There were soccer games, visits to the beach, yard sales, rides in the country, a Christmas store I could not ignore, shopping, shop-ping, and the county fair where the kids entered their 4-H accomplishments and got ribbons. rib-bons. We visited an aunt in Illinois Illi-nois and enjoyed lots of rides in the country. I especially enjoyed spoiling the new baby as he is adorable. The only worry we had while were gone was whether the mos-quitos mos-quitos would eat us alive or if there would be any portion of us left to make the trip home. It is beautiful back there in that dairy country, and, yes, the cheese was divine, but be glad you live here where mosquitos are not the state bird. A member of NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION What's it going to be, a boy or a girl? We had our ultrasound last week. The first thing the technician techni-cian asks us is if we wanted to know what the baby was. We had brought all the kids with us. I don't think anyone would bring little kids to look at a fuzzy screen unless they wanted to know what it was. Plus for the past two months, we've been dying to know whether we would have another girl or if it would be a boy. But of course we politely and nonchalantly said, "Yes, we would, thank you." The funny thing about ultrasounds ultra-sounds is, they always wait until the end to look at the important parts. But you have to act interested inter-ested anyway as they say, "Here's the head," and then, "Here's the spine" and then, "Here's the stomach." stom-ach." Why can't they just start with the most important question: "Is it a boy or a girl?" We are definitely a family who likes to find out as soon as we can what we're having. I can't believe there are some people who don't want to know. I've heard some couples say, "We want it to be a surprise!" OK, but isn't it still a surprise even if the baby is still inside of you? I just don't know how people can stand the suspense sus-pense the whole nine months. The ultrasound is like a little excitement excite-ment halfway through the pregnancy. preg-nancy. Instead of calling the baby "it," you can start saying he or Lessons from the garage door Derek broke the garage door ... about 10 years ago. We're getting a new one today. It all started when Derek and his friends mistook the garage door, and the garage door opener, for a carnival ride. The house, and its garage door, was less than a year old at the time. The ride "operator" would push the button that activated the opener, open-er, and the "patrons," or "shills" as they are known in the carnival world, would hold on to the door and let it hoist them into the air. As a ride, it was pretty elementary. But it was free and these were 9-year-old boys who can be entertained enter-tained with very little. The problem was the riders would hold on to the center supports sup-ports of the garage door where the door is the weakest. I don't know how many rides they got before the door broke bending in half and tearing the metal on two of the garage door panels. Needless to say, the riders were gone by the time the adults arrived at home and discovered that the garage door would neither open nor close it was stuck half way. At the time, purchasing a new garage door would have put a major strain on the family budget, so we looked for a temporary solution, solu-tion, and found it with some long metal braces sold by a local garage Tragic ruling Editor: Found frozen to death, the young man sleeps in his jammies. Thus starts the ending qf a story. The boy slept in the heated cab of his dad's truck as his father feels the boy is safe as he leaves for a moment to check the nearby area. Perhaps he will be fortunate to have a good hunt and share a story with his beloved boy. On his return the boy is missing and the investigation begins. It is now the middle of summer. The investigation and subsequent ruling is made. A short jail sentence sen-tence and probation. I am not sure why this ruling. I am sorry the judge found it necessary to rule this way. The man found it difficult to live with the hurt of his loss and the end of his life indicates the enormous grief and guilt within his heart. To kill oneself is not a simple act. Every day we make decisions. Some good, some bad. Some that cause an ultimate act. Perhaps with a different judgment he Telephone Numbers Circulation 375-5103 News & Advertising 756-7669 Publisher Brett Bezzant Managing Editor .Marc Haddock City Editor Karli Poyfair Subscription price S26 ': per year Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah POSTMASTER: send address change to 59 West Main. American Fork. Utah 84003 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. sPrts Monday. 10 a.m. Community Calendar . Monday. 10 a.m. 0bl,uanes Tuesday. 11 a.m. she. I knew a couple in Lindon that had four girls and were expecting their fifth baby. They didn't want to find out what it was until the baby was born. I would go crazy wondering if it was finally a boy or if it was another girl. It turned out to be a girl. Our son Dallin has been really concerned with what this baby is. He's six and he was worried he was going to get a third sister. He's wanted a little brother for a long time. At Kristen's ultrasound he started crying right there in the room when the technician said it was a girl. Last week at the doctor's office he kept blurting out "Is it a boy? Is it a boy?" But of course we had to look at every single other part of the baby's body before we could find out what the baby was. We've also known some people before who found out what the baby was at the ultrasound, and then wouldn't tell anyone. Isn't that rude? And then there's our bishop from our old ward in Lindon. Lin-don. His wife didn't want to know what the baby was, but he did. So he found out and she didn't. He door company. We borrowed a truck and brought the braces home. I installed them, which meant I bolted them to the door. This was not a demanding task, but it stretched my mechanical abilities to their limited limits. This done, the garage door was good as new almost. There were still the crack in the metal, and the door was noisy. But the cheap fix worked for a time. For quite a long time, in fact. But it would not hold forever. Like many other things, metal, once bent, never regains its strength. And every time the door opened or closed, it put stress on the panels that had been damaged. The supports helped, but not enough. Soon the weakness of the original origi-nal broken panels began to affect other door panels as well, and they started bending because of the stress. One day we drove home to find that the door would not open, again. The temporary solution was Reader's Forum would be here to mentor someone who could learn from his error. As it is, he can be of service to no one. He is with his son and I am sad. I am also sorry for the judge who also made an error of judgment. judg-ment. Should Your Honor find himself with this problem I do hope your eyes look deeper into the person's heart. PJ Mathon I don't want it Editor: Ever since the Herald Accent paper has been in production, I have received it gratuitously. Ever since the Accent paper has been in production I have tried to have it stopped. At least four times I have called the office and requested that it not be delivered to my home. (Delivered is not the proper word because I have seen them thrown out of cars doing 30 miles an hour). They land in the bushes, gutters, lawns, flower beds and under cars. I have driven around town and seen them still lying in the gut By Mail P.O. Box 7, American Fork, UT 84003 In Person 59 W. Main, American Fork ill's then went and told even. w ' Saidnottot bhe must have haH i control. T kn nZ t ad M of. PlusthhS have told her what it Wl'tit ever got in an argument V thing and he wanted to mad. 'V'har . My sister, who is haWnSaUi: in November had her ultl ? few weeks ago and found! .b uur always been for her t m nnrl mo fn hmm u - J i. l. , "Y "V 10 sna,rf the baby do r Between my old baby clothes " my other sister's clothes w I quite a stash. eshav That's another good rean i! find out what the baby is earl you can get all the right clofeff ready Have you ever gone baby shower for someone lU doesn t know what tW i. vH yet? All the clothes are veJ jwiv,,, ui gieen or white K' much more fun to get little bW Si. Well, think our ultras lady finally got tired or heari ' "8 my son ask what the baby Wa! ':pJ because midway through lookf at the feet, she said "All riEhF Let's go see what this babvis , didn't take her very l0g tell Dallm what he wanted i hear. YM "It's a boy," she said. irily Irani iron of L nJevei --i- Sta! another support. It was obvious, however the problem was terminal. Gv moo the years of opening and closing that one bent panel spread to aj me door panels. When the drooped and bent last week, bem Son ing one of the supports in thr :1 process, we knew that metals hAr fatigue had finished the worjlcta Derek started 10 years ago, and "fflp was time to replace the door. wCifc Derek moved out of the hotur two years ago, but last week IPl finally broke the garage door jr., , good. :'"orj I've tried to find some object let -son in all this. There are many, 'I'1 suppose. ' For example: Your kids move away, but their handimL' remains forever. :-,N Or, that little crack may lool:' jf 756-like 756-like a small problem now, but oil,,, the years it will eventually 'C3tme away until the entire door breali. no matter how many temporal; braces you add to solve the pro.ji lem. MCe Or about how dumb 9-year-oy0 boys can be. ' ,m v, t fv, j-'Of Jcne iuu nit; iuv-u. i But all I can think of is how nicj it will be to Dull into the tonieht and not worry about t darn garage door falling onto 'limm cars, or on top of me. After years, tnai win ue a ters days after they have m dm delivered, many ui w- r- , . have talked to about this li 'delivered." Many of the peop-'V I do. They don't even op package, just chuck it w garbage. . When I get unwanieu tions on the phone i w ano nave my ntu TfthevrepK" iW call I have the government w f me to have action taken. J 'j But whattodo about unl garbage thrown out ot j peoples' property? Doesn have any ordinance abou , ifnnt wbv not? ApPl U without some teeth in sow . P of an ordinance uus .B ,1 ' ..till VU v ever. r I don't know how mjfb w are wasted in the P""11 "dplivprv" of unwanted Jtffi material. It surely musi sianuai. wui LjsjjM eoine up because oftne - - of paper. But look at a - they want to give iui - r. I feel the same : v . , politicians hanging tnei,4;; SlUll on me ., request it, I don't warn-- We welcome letters to the editor. All letters mf ' Lne fi author's name (printed AND signed) and a feP-pi)r.C;' ber. 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