| OCR Text |
Show comments Free Press - Wednesday, April 23, 1997 - Page 2 Read the label, count the diglycerides Editorial Upon arising the other morning, I was desperately in need of some tasty consumable item to clear my palate of the typical muck. My good wife suggested a frozen confection which she had purchased on sale. That suggestion hit the proverbial spot, and I was soon thawing to the pleasure of the treat. While I was thus engrossed, I happened to glance at the food label printed on the cellophane wrapper, in an effort to monitor my various and sundry intake. After checking the quantity of sugar and calories, I noted with amusement that the frozen confection du jour contained no fat. Since when did frozen confections ever contain fat grams? Further examination of the label also provided me with the information that my call contained diglycmorning wake-u- p Warm weather means time to urge caution The drowning death of William Nathan Willams last Thursday evening in the Mill Pond between Lehi and American Fork serves as a tragic reminder that spring, and the associated dangers that come with wanner weather, are here. This isn't the first time the Mill Pond has claimed a young life. The pond dates back to 1856 when it was built to supply water to power a flour mill built in the area. But in addition to industrial uses, the pond has attracted young swimmers who have found the water in the spring-fe-d pond to be very cold. The first recorded deaths occurred in December of 1865 when a young American Fork man broke through the ice after wandering onto the surface of the pond as he and his brother made their way home from Lehi to American Fork. But most of the recorded accidents have been related to people swimming, boating or wading in this small but deep body of water. The Mill Pond is just one of many water hazards which will face us in the coming months. e Thanks to an winter snow pack, we can expect American e Fork River to have flows this spring and summer. Thanks to current weather conditions we will probably avoid any flooding this year. But the water will be fast and danger above-averag- above-averag- al ous to the many who come to American Fork Canyon for camping or picnicking, or to visit Timpanogos Cave. g water provides an almost hypnotic attraction for youngsters. Be careful. Soon our irrigation ditches and other summer waterways like the Murdock Canal will be filled. Irrigation ditches appear shallow, but they have proven to be deadly in recent years for adults as well as for toddlers. Despite our best efforts, our communities are filled with attractive nuisances which can turn deadly with the slightest lapse of judgment. Each year these nuisances translate into injury and, sometimes, death for youngsters. Parents should urge caution around these nuisances, and they should be aware that safety means Fast-movin- erides. I must ask all of you veteran chocolate dippers out there if you have ever included diglycerides in your annual Christmas goodies. Some of my aunts spent several weeks before Christmas making a bounty of I don't ever remember any of them running next door to borrow a cup of diglycerides during their efforts. The diglyceride issue made me reflect on the recent announcement by two major tobacco companies that they would be contributing a bazillion dollars to some sort of fund that could be used for lawsuits brought about by people (or the survivors of people) who smoked and became ill. It's not that I don't have empathy for such victims especially since tobacco company officials have been known to lie through their teeth about their knowledge of the effects of nicotine and the amounts of nicotine they placed in their products but I think that somewhere along the line, those who smoke must have had some idea that it was bad for them. Look at it this way: if your "addiction" is knitting or doing crossword puzzles, for treats and diligence. A word of praise should be added for the police officers, sheriffs deputies and others who unhesitatingly plunged into the very cold water of the Mill Pond to find William Williams last Thursday afternoon once the alarm had been given. Their efforts turned out to be in vain, but no one could have mistaken the urgency and concern with which they undertook the task of recovering the young man and rushing him to the Emergency Room. ing for pleasure, not business. The following tidbits come from Rulon McDaniel of Alpine, who wasn't around in the late 1800's when the toll booth was in place in the canyon, but who, as something of a local historian, is a repository for the memories of many. A toll booth also controlled access to Provo Canyon, and the family of McDaniel's wife has a painting of that toll booth. Anyway, in those early days American Fork Canyon had many uses. Mineral Basin Was a beehive of mining activity. A narrow gauge railroad ran up the canyon, largely using the road bed that cars now use. Getting a railroad engine and cars to this little rail was no mean feat, since there was no rail service from a spur line to the mouth of the canyon and certainly no semi trailers existed to move around items like railroad engines. But our forebears were resourceful people. They brought the engine from Murray, where there was a narrow gauge rail line, using three lengths of rail track. The engine would be moved to the end of the line, the track in the rear would be picked up and moved to the front of the line where it would be laid again and the engine would move forward again. n In this manner they brought a Farley steam engine to run the cars up American Fork Canyon to Mineral Basin, where it would be loaded with ore and sent back down the canyon. McDaniel says that original engine proved to be too small to make the steep n canyon run, so another engine, a Porter, was brought in to do the job using the same painstaking method. Since the part of the canyon we now use as road was used as a railroad in the early days, a separate road on the opposite side of access to the river was built for the canyon, and this is where the toll booth was located. Miners would use the road to get to and from the mines. Sheep herders used the road to get their animals into the rich grazing "' 13-to- 17-to- non-railro- Column By MARC HADDOCK Editor: r i-- " x , When Lehi's mayor and city council added a Tuesday afternoon "work session" to their schedule of regular meetings, they may not have done it specifically to exclude the public; nevertheless, that has been the unavoidable result. When the Free Press ran a couple of articles critical of this, I do not believe they were written out of spite or anger or some weird personal vendetta, but out of a natural reaction to this exclusive rschfHul4 d&feot tTiink 'eithetf part?' had ulterior motives.,,, ,., . .,,,.,-rlthe mayor and city council's yQgwever, ' reaction to such criticism was both disturbing and alarming. That the articles offended them is irrelevant, because in a democracy, public service and public criticism And if inherently and necessarily Lehi's public servants can't take a little public criticism (whether it is valid or not), then let them go back to their little private lives and leave public matters to those who can. lands of the forest. While McDaniel doesn't remember the toll charged to people, he said to one cent toll charged there was a one-ha' per head of sheep to use the road.' The toll monies were used to build and maintain the road. It was the fairest way to" charge for road services, since the cost of maintenance was paid directly by those who used the road. For local sheep herders, however, the toll for sheep was costly. A cent doesn't get you much today, but it was worth a lot more in the late 1800's, and the toll on a large herd of sheep could be pretty expensive. To avoid the toll, Alpine sheep herders would come into the canyons the back way, over the mountains in Alpine. The climb was hikers can a little steeper as modern-da- y attest but like I said, these were resourceful people And what was a little climbing Editor: when there was money to be saved. Hopefully, my comments will be viewed So when that toll booth is built in the in a positive light by our Lehi City leaders. few next months at the mouth of American My intention is not to offend, but to express Fork Canyon, history will be repeating itself, frustration with a city government whose in a way. don't seem to reflect the desires of tactics The bad news is that it will cost us to visit the community it represents. I'm hopeful this wonderful natural resource which many that incidents like the clandestine way the of us have taken for granted for many years. new City Judge was appointed (not to say The good news is that the toll monies will the wrong choice was necessarily made, but be used to maintain American Fork Canyon, that the process was dubious at best) and its campgrounds, picnic sites and trails, and that the funds for this maintenance will the retaliatory measures recently taken against the Lehi Free Press were just temcome from the people who are using the lapses of quality leadership. I'm sure porary canyon. being a city leader is a stressful and conOh, we will probably hate it. We may suming responsibility, and it's unrealistic to count out the canyon for a family picnic or please all of the people all ofthe time. That's two because of the toll. Some may even look why governments deal in majority rule. for ways around the toll booth. Polls indicate that a majority of people But it probably makes a lot more sense to in Lehi favor a rural atmosphere. living the at kind the of gate. That's simply pay up However, it seems that our City planners resourcefulness that will preserve American and Council members have an agenda that Fork Canyon for future generations. has little to do with what the majority of lf ' dead animals. It seems that people with pets have no objection to spending big bucks to send the little critters on their final journey to that great pet shop in the sky. Many go out with satin-line- d caskets, with up to a $1500 price tag, which should get the "new way to waste money" award for 1997. These funerals for animals are carried on much like our own. I'd love to hear the eulogy for a dead hamster. All animals are eligible for a pet funeral. Turtles and ducks, as well as dogs and cats. One man even held services for a pony. Prayer cards are available to console the bereaved. Yes, one can offer up a prayer for some animal that may have lived in the fast lane. Prayers are especially appropriate for cats, most of whom live like tramps without any moral values whatsoever. I am not sure if flowers are appropriate for pets, considering that many pets ate them when they were alive. For those who feel the traditional funeral service is a little too much, they may have tKeir pets cremated and the ashes can be poured into a tiny urn that The Daly Planet d ! The Free Press raised valid concerns, and the lesson to learn is that even if the city council didn't mean to exclude the public from their Tuesday afternoon meeting, they did just that. The city council and the mayor should have recognized that the public interest could not have been served by such a schedule, and they should never have put their collective personal convenience before the public interest in the first ,,,, place. VThoy should also grow up. I am shocked, saddned and disappointed that the men and wome iff charge of our city's affairs would so grossly overreact to a little petty criticism that they would vengefully and maliciously violate our Constitution and its First Amendment. To withdraw their legal advertising from the Lehi Free Press was a direct punishment for the paper exercising its sacred right. It is ironic and disillusioning that the very candidates who criticized former city leadership for not being "open" to Lehi's cit cam-- , paigns based on "trust and openness"! (remember?), could have so shamefully compromised the three most important , aspects of public office public input, pub-- ! lie awareness and public trust. Now my challenge to the mayor and city council: instead of inventing some bizarre retaliation on me because I, too, am guilty of publicly criticizing you, prove me wrong. Prove that your business really is public,; business. Move that elusive "work session" to a time when we your constituents might " actually be able to attend your meetings, And them SPECIFICALLY at ; a time when Russ Daly, our Lehi Free Press reporter, might attend. If you didn't insist on fighting his being informed, he'd be better equipped to report the objective truth. Until the next election, may God grant you the maturity to actually live up to the obligations you took upon yourselves as our public servants. Craig L. Steiner izenry, and indeed ran successful Where is concern with keeping Lehi's rural charm? Now we have a lay away pet parlor One of the secrets of business is to find a need and fill it. In the case of a Brooklyn undertaker, he is filling it with ; told me that inmates of the Utah state prison are suing the state because their athletic shoes are not the; name brand. It's a good thing the Attorney General'a office decided not to pursue the case By RUSS DALY against the prison for the inmate who died after being strapped in a restraining chair! for 16 hours. Now they can concentrate orr ! the really important issues. example, you may feel guilty that you I heard of a woman who was out for her; be can but other duties, might neglect you constitutional when she war pretty confident that you won't suffer any morning attacked by two dogs. Fortunately (?) for real permanent impairment for your indulthe woman, the dogs were owned by a well-- ; gence. advertises Our increasingly litigious society, known Utah attorney that will aggressively; firm his that though, has offered us a way to mitigate seek recompense in such situations. our unhealthy gratifications. On the other hand, we can really This announcement by these tobacco away. Did you hear about the stu--; of companies will likely bring people out was 'disqualified from the Science-Fai- r who dent the woodwork who suddenly (?) realize the several flies died in his pro-- 1 because error of their ways. Perhaps these people flies get so many; will be spurred on by the success of others ject? Since when did rights. to who have been successful in the courts I can understand the animal activists! have their suffering eased by a cash award. Remember the woman who sued who protest the ridiculous testing of prod- ; such as sprayMcDonald's because of the hot coffee she ucts on harmless animals ing chemical aerosols in a dog's face to-spilled on herself? prove that human should not point the can Close your eyes and think of the word but if we can't sacri- - ! toward one's eyes "coffee." How many of you pictured iced cofhere and there, I'm ; common fice a housefly fee in your visualization? Isn't coffee, as we not sure we can even continue to exist on are most used to knowing it, inherently ! the planet. hot? does concern me, ; case last This really Not that I don't believe there are legitimate reasons for seeking recompense for because I do not intend to change my plan ! on any and all flies that intend to the women who thought breast of attack house damages this summer. visit ; my implants were harmless, for example If the powers that be can change the but I think that anyone who purchases cofcourse of the Science Fair, perhaps the! fee, especially on a regular basis, has some Insects' Civil Liberties Union will interbe hot. idea that it will on the flies' behalf, and me and my fly--! cede Perhaps the cup manufacturer might be will be summoned to court. ; liable if the beverage leaked out or the lid swatter ahead IH take my chances, flies go food fast can see I the and giant and sue me. I'll popped off, get even when I collect! being responsible if someone had laced the from the frozen confection people who; drink with some foreign substance, but laced my treats with diglycerides. coffee is hot was because the super suing Council's action shocking, disappointing The Editor's law. A Letters to the editor af Canyon toll not a first When the Forest Service puts up a toll booth at the mouth of American Fork Canyon in a few months, apparently it won't be for the first time. At $3 a pop, well be paying more to visit the canyon, however. And the tolls will come from folks who are visit- seded in ludicrousness only to the concept of actually hearing the case in a court of Dick Boland 1997 Creators Syndicate, Inc. can be worn as a necklace or bracelet. Let us hope that newspapers don't start running pet obituaries listing the accomplishments of the deceased. There are too many people living a dog's life without reading about one with the morning coffee. However, the animal funeral parlor is featuring calling hours, so I suppose there will have to be some notification for friends and family of the lower life form on display. I can see where a lot of friendships might go down the drain because of a poor showing at a funeral for a dead snake. If you have a choice between staying home and watching your favorite television show or going down to the creature funeral parlor and offering your condolences to someone grieving for a dead python, what are you going to do? I suggest you stay home and send a sympathy card to the grief stricken owner. Or card. better yet, send a The undertaker involved says his service is similar to what he calls "the human industry." He will pick up the get-we- ll deceased at the veterinarians, but he doesn't plan on fully embalming whatever it is he's picking up. He says nothing about scraping the deceased critter off one of our highways, where many of them meet their demise. I suppose he is with putty knives and spatulas for this kind of task. I don't know how they are going to handle fish. Without any embalming taking place, the service will have to move along fairly quickly. In lieu of flowers one may want to send an arrangement of dill. On a recent visit to a pet cemetery, I noticed a lot of squirrels running around. Of course, they may have been visiting, I had no way of telling. If successful in his endeavor, the undertaker might want to consider franchising. Personally, I will stick to the old the doggy bag. fashioned method d, residents desire. Lehi is quickly losing its agriculturalrural flavor; to be replaced by sprawling urban development. Much of the outlying land around Lehi is being annexed and developed at an alarming rate. There doesn't seem to be much concern with maintaining what was once Lehi's rural charm. One only needs notice the preponderance of neon and bright colors that now adorn Lehi's main gateway. The beauty and historic nature of the Lehi Roller Mills have all but been obliterated by new architecture, as have other reminders of our pioneer and western heritage. I'm certain that new business would be glad to adhere to building codes more in keeping with Lehi's rustic ambiance. Many businesses have done so in other cities. As noteworthy are the number, quality and location of high density subdivisions being approved. As many concerned citizens have implored before, let our City leaders look to examples that exist throughout our own state and nation and learn from them. Urban sprawl has corroded many an agricultural area. I'm not anti development. But, I am concerned that Lehi is developing at a rate far ahead of the City's capacity to survive. It seems that the intent of our leaders is to allow the development of as many high density subdivisions as possible. It's ironic that ranchette sized and larger properties are becoming a thing of the past in a community whose heritage is richly western. I understand the need for some high density housing. Why not separate it from the farmland and rural areas? Those families whose hobbies and livelihoods involve their animals, arenas and agricultural pursuits are fast being run out of town. New high density subdivisions are squeezing them out. Foresight and good planning could alleviate the problem. Even those people looking for more affordable lots are being hoodwinked. Most people could enjoy neighborhoods with green tr ails, parks and lots varying in shape and size. They would probably agree that affordable and low quality don't have to go hand in hand. But, it seems as though quality and green space just aren't prof-i table enough for already wealthy develop- ers whose plans are being approved. It's unfortunate that in order to score a neigh- borhood park, lots must be shrunk from I small to smaller. If the plan of our City leaders is to . encourage as much development as possi- - J ble, at least make sure that a commensurate level of quality control exists and that the development occurs at a rate and in a man-- 1 ner that the City can both handle and be proud of. The needs of different factions can be adequately met. Keep low and high density areas separate. Clustering high density neighborhoods would allow those with j incompatible lifestyles to have some inde- pendence. It would also reduce urban blight. Let our leaders govern with an eye to the future while not compromising the past. Let Lehi stand out as a city proud of its her- itage. Progress is as much about integrity and values as it is about money. I'm hopeful that our Mayor and City Council will have the integrity and courage to carefully weigh the consequences of their actions and will make decisions that will protect Lehi's future for years to come. Even if it means disappointing a developer or two, Angela N. Richardson Correction A telephone number was incorrectly listed in Carl Mellor's letter to the editor last week about his new Bed and Breakfast. The number should have been The Free Press apologizes for the error. 768-866- Policy on letters to the editor welcome letters to the editor. All letters should be typewritten and double spaced. Letters must also be signed, and must include the writer's, name and telephone number. Please send letters to Editor, Newtah News Group, P.O. Box 7, American Fork, Utah, 84003 or through email at Newtahaol.com. We . |
