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Show c Free Press - Wednesday, January cammemt Proposed change is a good one A group of dedicated private citizens, working for no other the satisfaction of doing what than compensation needs to be done, has put together a proposal to change county government that deserves the consideration of every Utah County voter. The county's current commission form of government was mandated by Utah's constitution in the 1890's and stayed that way by law until a dozen years ago, when the constitution was rewritten to give counties some say in the way their government was run . That change came after it was seen that the three commission form of government was adequate for small counties but for larger counties, there is a better way. And Utah County is not the only one in the state interested in seeing some changes made. Salt Lake County residents are being asked to change that county government as well this year. Late last year, Utah Couniy's three commissioners admitted that there may be a need for some changes, and even went so far as to appoint a group of citizens to make an extensive review of the way county business was done. - - That group has never met. In the meantime, the Citizens Interested in Utah Government have gotten to business - meeting up to twice a week drafting the proposed county charter they will present to the county commission today. The charter calls for a revolution in the way county business is handled, with a seven member part-tim- e county council to serve as the legislative branch of the government and an appointed county administrative officer to serve as the executive county authority. It mandates regional representation - with five regionally elected council members. There will be no more reliance on any "Gentleman's Agreement" which will never be honored by the more populated center of the county. It turns county government service into just that with a total of $30,000 paid to the council each year, as opposed to the highly paid three commissioner form, which encourages professional politicians rather than concerned citizens to conduct the public's business. Yet, with an appointed administrator, it also allows for professionalism in public office. The charter provides for a smooth transition from one government form to another, so voters can decide whether they want to make tht change when they go to the polls in November, and if they approve the change, in January the county will go forward under the so-call- 45-pa- ge ' 'l Z 'new'couricii;: 'Tr. The proposal has been carefully thought out, and solves the problems of the current commission form of county government. It provides for the checks and balances that are missing from the commission by its y nature. But it will require the interest of local voters to get the proposal placed on the ballot. The current county commissioners are not open to proposals that will in g effect eliminate their jobs. The petition calling for an election on the proposed charter will require the signature of 15,000 registered voters - and those signatures must be collected in time to find persons interested in running for council seats that will be filled if the proposal passes, and that will not exist if it fails. If north Utah County wants representation in county government, local voters should sign the petition and support the proposed charter. It's a move that will put the voice of the people back in high-payin- county government. letters to the editor Support March of Dimes , Editor: and damaged 10,000 to 12,000 more. The old adage about an ounce of With the advent of the Rh vaccine, prevention is nowhere more the number of babies born with this dramatically demonstrated than in blood disease has been cut by s. the work of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. Rh prevention is one of the most Ever since its conquest of polio in of all medical the 1950s, the March of Dimes has procedures, with an estimated ratio had one goal - prevention of birth of "treatment cost" to "prevention defects. Since there are more than cost" of 26 to one. 3,000 different birth defects, this -- PKU is a severe inherited time there will be no single solution, disorder of body chemistry. If it is no magic vaccine. It is a formidable in time, special diets can task, but already there have been diagnosed mental retardation. prevent individual triumphs, a growing Otherwise, at least half of these roster of battles won. children would have to be placed in Here are just three: institutions for an average life span -- Rubella (German Measles) can of 20 years. severely damage babies of mothers A simple test, developed by a who have the infection during March of Dimes grantee, now can pregnancy. In the last and worst detect PKU at birth. Every dollar rubella epidemic in the spent in screening saves $2.80 in the more than 20,000 babies were born cost of institutionalization. with major birth defects. Af least 10,000 died. Now, thanks The March of Dimes is saving ' to rubella immunization made babies unborn and nevffiorn possible in part by Nobel Prize-winnichildren on whose shoulders rest the virus studies supported by future of our country and our world. the March of Dimes, there are no True to the old prevention adage, more rubella epidemics. they are also saving money. The savings in human life and s In these times, suffering are immeasurable, but we volunteers are needed more than can measure the savings in dollars ever. In its 48th campaign, we hope and cents. Considering the cost of you will join the March of Dimes in treating and caring for rubella-damage- d its fight to prevent birth defects, children, vaccination America's number one child health saves $23 for every dollar spent. problem. -- Rh disease once claimed the -- Jean Hatch lives of 5,000 to 6,000 babies a year, -- Mary Pinkham two-third- cost-effecti- mid-sixtie- s, 15, 1986 - Page 2 Renewed ties are pleasant aftermath One of the more aftermaths of Christmas is the sharing of letters, thank you letters, coming and going. And, January seems to be the month of introspection and a time for tying up all those little ends that have been eluding your time and energies. My mailbox has brought cheering news of old friends, and uplifting heart-warmin- g you better believe it 11111 news from grandchildren. A note from Esther Jones revealed that she and Lafayette are enjoying their home in the 35th Ward in Salt Lake City, but miss the senior citizens and their special friends in Lehi. They were in town visiting Mary Herring's family and attending Minnie Hodapp's funeral. They even found time to enjoy the senior citizen's dinner last Thur- sday. It was nice hearing from Esther. We'll see that she doesn't miss By BETTY FOWLER another edition of the Free Press, i She also wanted to read more I'm sorry Esther, but those ladies about the deaths of William Jones, have got to come forth and tell us Hilda Whitener, and Clive Beal. A about their marriages. We knew hometown paper can be comforting about Helen's marriage, but haven't at times. Esther also wanted to know details about the weddings of Tammy Taylor, Helen Jones and Vilate Coates. also wrote that he would be over to share Sunday dinner with me. I also received a note from the girl preliminaries are being held at Woodscross High School at 7:30 p.m., and the finals are at the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City on Saturday evening. We hope to make it to the Pageant, and wish Diane all the success in the world. She certainly has the qualifications to be Mrs. Utah! She is a beautiful wife, mother, neighbor and friend. What more could they want? We also received a note from Robert Johnson in Lakewood, Colo. He has renewed his subscription to the Free Press after all these years and still likes to read the news from his old home town. Robert, we are thinking of you and praying for your recovery. We here in Lehi will always be your friends. A letter from my daughter's mom-in-laand my traveling comthat she had wonreveals panion, derful news and that, because of the latest treatments, has a great prognosis for a long and healthy life. That letter made my day. A note from my grandson revealed that he is back at the Y after a great holiday, and he thanked me for the socks. He told me that all his other socks had holes in them, and he drew a picture to illustrate the fact. He been informed of the others. (Helen seems to be very happy ) . We also heard from Diane Downs who is a contestant in the Mrs. Utah Pageant on Jan. 22, 23, and 24. The friend of my grandson. She told me. that she would like to visit again soon. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Another package was tucked just inside my front door and I, all tired and frustrated after a day at work, found the package as I entered the house. I untied the ribbons to find two small Victorian story books and a sweet note from a friend. She had seen the books while on my; vacation, and remembering house and my hobby, bought them for me. I keep them on my kitchen table, just as a reminder of the goodness of the world. Then, the piece de resistance, a note from my granddaughter in St. George: "Dear Grandma, Thanks for the swetter it fits my gorgues body fine. 1000 boys chase me wen I wear it. But ther lips will never find me. Tomboy that I am pirsoot for themis vane. The day shall coume wen a hamsome boy will sweep my feet from beneeth me. Undoubtedlee I well be wering the. butiful swetter you gave me. I love you, from Betsy the Buttiful." Sounds to me like Betsy and her grandma have a lot in common. seven-year-o- It's all in the way you say it, I say the editor's But we always say said, I said. "But why?" asked the critic. "Can't you put a little more color in your style? Don't you think the readers get bored reading 'said, said, said' all the time?" Actually, no, I declared. And when you start using those other words, you get into trouble, I affirmed. But the critic was relentless. "I don't see how," he stated. "Aren't there plenty of synonyms to add variety to your writing?" he interrogated. He could have inquired, actually, or implored. But he didn't. Patiently I explained that using the synonyms made more problems By MARC than they solved. So much so, that HADDOCK the repetition of said becomes preferable, I alleged. "Well," the critic averred, "I always wondered why newspapers were so repetitious. Now I know." (Critics always think they know went with him. everything anyway.) "Don't go," I implored. . .-.j . There was ho opportunity to ex""Please stay and let's discuss it plain Why the offending "said" more," I entreated. appeared 12 times in a 28 paragraph "And don't go away angry," I story, while none of the fancier beseeched. words the critic preferred didn't But all to no avail. The critic was appear at all. out the door, and my chance to recite Had I had the chance, I would d the reasons for the said have told him how said is such a nice and neat word - with no extra meanings to confound the content of a newspaper quote or the reader. Ask is the same way - there are no question marks about the use of ask. But newspaper writers are in a column bind. On the one hand, we have to attribute what we write to the person who said it. After all, everyone knows that newspaper people don't know much. So if we don't tell them who really said what we are saying, in all likelihood they won't believe it. We rely on authorities, people close to the problems, and just plain people to give us information so we can put it in the newspaper. But then we have to let everyone know who really said it. Then if he's right, the proper person can take the credit. If he's wrong, he can always say he was That's the misquoted. way newspapers work. Attribution is crucial to a good story. ,v.At the same time, we newspaper types have to be impartial. Said helps us do that. It's common for beginning writers to just leave that little note out - and appear to be the authority for all the information on the pages of the newspaper. n oft-use- It's also common for beginning writers to spend a lot of time searching for all those synonyms to said, just keep their writing interesting. One word just won't do it. Once we start letting our sources declare, affirm, allege, assert, avow, claim and all that other stuff, rather than just having them say we're something, making judgement calls about the source's state of mind. And that should be the reader's realm, not our. We just let our sources ask, rather than have them demand, question, beg, plead or inquire, for the same reason. Novelists can get away with that. But newspaper writers can't. At least, not very often. So we use the said. It neatly attributes each quote in the same quiet, unobtrusive manner with which each period ends a sentence. It ain't great literature, but it's not poor journalism either. We'll go on letting people have their say - and we'll tell everyone who said it. Then we'll let the reader decide if the sentence was declared or recited. Because it's better than the alternatives. At least, that's what I say. ever-prese- . -- Skating excursion was rough sailing Admittedly it was a mistake. I hadn't been in 15 years. Except once and that had worked out all right. My daughter had discovered an d nearby. She and I tried it out and it was a fine experience. We had fun. We came home after a nice hour and congratulated ourselves on our skating. It was after that I made my fatal error. I invited my brother down to We'd had fun as go children and teenagers long ago in Idaho Falls. I wanted to share my find. He came for the holidays, skates in hand. I did pretty well at first. Except that my ankles hurt and my skates were a little worn down. They leaned to the center and I found I had to concentrate continually on maintaining an upright stance or the blades laid right over on the ice. It was freezing and the feeling was leaving my toes, but I was happy, returning to my youth in a way. I glided around, skirting the cow pies frozen into the pond, ignoring the sound of cracking ice when I went over the thin parts that showed bubbles beneath the ice. I hummed the Skater's Waltz to myself and imagined I was Peggy Fleming or Dorothy Hamil. I tried a few fancy maneuvers (like stopping) and even played "Crack The Whip" with my daughter. (That was the only time she fell ! ) I was impressed with myself, having a good time. But Darrell wanted more action than cutting figure eights in the ice. He wanted to play. I remembered him from my past. He's competitive and he's an ace at everything, from flying bombers to playing chess. tidbits ' He even agreed to consider us if we got past halfway. safe was "It". The catch was my daughter and that made her cry. So I picked on the little kids and tagged all three of them. They caught some of the bigger kids for me. I tried for Darrell but he was so fast that just by turning he could make me crash. I really tried to stand my ground but found myself ducking when I was supposed to be chasing him. It got to where everybody was "It" and only Darrell was running the lines. We let him go by a few dozen times and were getting aggravated. We tried to make a plan. "You stand over on the edge and when he tries to go through you, we'll get him," said the other kids. (They had already noticed who was the weak link in the chain.) I did that. But as hard as I tried to stand my ground, when Darrell the hockey player came roaring toward me, I would flinch and close my eyes until it was over. When I opened my eyes he was out of range. "Let's do this. We know he'll try and cut through where Sharon is, so let's all back up the lines and crisscross so he won't get through," said the others. Great, now all I had to do was stand there and look like I wasn't prepared for him. I could do that. I got ready, clenching my fists and trying to keeps my ankles straight. He came zooming up. He grinned wickedly. He headed straight for me. I decided my team needed my best effort so I grit my teeth and lunged for him. He laughed, he was so surprised, and dodged me with a easy effort. The game began. I only one I could ice-pon- ' vN. Copyright Vl 1986 Sharon Morrey By SHARON MORREY While I was doing my Peggy Fleming impression, he was playing hockey for the City League. While I was trying to learn to stop without grinding up the ice with the teeth of my skates he was doing backflips without a miss. He can skate upwards, backwards, sideways and fast. And he can be mean. He likes to win. I should have known better. But Darrell said, "Let's play Pom Pom and in a moment of utter recklessness we agreed, me and Krisli and a few other naive skaters on the pond. "How do you play?" the lambs asked the Lion. "Someone stands in the center of the pond and we all skate from one end through to the other. The person in the middle is 'It' and tries to tag some of the rest. Eventually there's just one or two left skating through. The rest are all 'It,' " Darrell told us. "It'll be fun." Sounded fair enough. There was only one Darrell and about nine of the rest of us. Pull-Away- ," , I went hurtling off toward the bank, landing on my knees and nose and elbows, skidding the last 15 feet on all fours. Bruised and cold, I got up. were quiet. My team-mate- s We tried again and again, until finally a little kid on our team tagged him when he felt sorry enough for us to let her. I had had enough. "Okay, you're the winner!" I cried. "And I'm tired." "Don't you want to play 'Steal the Flag?'" he said. No, I didn't but the others wanted to and without me the sides wouldn't be even. I apologized to my aching bones and lumbered back out to the middle of the ice. All I had to do this time was guard the moonboot left next to me from the other team (with Darrell on it). That was really fun for a while until I hit the ice with my backside and tried to block a theft attempt with my head. Two of the others fell on their faces, one was sure she had broken her wrist, another one had tears frozen on her cheeks. We were all limping, exhausted and shaking. And the moonboot was Darrell's. We retreated to the car, dragging off our skates, rubbing our frozen feet and fingers. I knew I'd feel this experience in several areas for a while. , "This was just great!" Darrell exclaimed. "Everytime I come to visit, we ought to do this ! " I guess that's not such a bad idea. At least my knees, nose, elbows and shoulders match my favorite dress ; purple, black and blue. . Cdji 3rrc Sxtss - budget-consciou- ld ISSN No. USPS Police respond to various calls Police Chief, Bill Gibbs, reports that numerous calls have been Investigated by officers this past week. theft of tools from a pickup was investigated, as well as a case of criminal mischief. A A citizen reported that his dog was shot, and a runaway involving a runaway was investigated. ' Another, case involved the breaking of windows in a car. The incident occurred on January 8. Another reort involved the theft of a firearm from a gun rack in the back of a pickup also on Jan. 8. There were two cases of shoplifting, both occurring at Kohlers Market. The first incident was reported on Jan. 10, and the other involving stolen cigarettes was investigated on Jan. 13. The case of a dog biting a citizen was reported Jan. 11, and a missing juvenile was reported on Jan. 13. 07MM469 No .JOWOO Published weekly except (or Thanksgiving and Christmas by Newtek, Inc. West Mats LeM. Utah MM! Ttttpfeww Sum ben Circulation. Advertising Nm Publisher Edton Brett R. Beiunt ' . Marc Haddock Betty Fowler Subscription price III" per year Second clan postage paid at Lehi Post Office rmmmm- tun nmw w .0: Bm T. AMfftM Fwfc, Ua MM turn |