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Show Obituaries B2 Opinions B4 Business B7 The Daily Herald Bird Tuesday, January 23, 1996 feeder brings out cat ingenuity I have a bird feeder outside my kitchen window. It's a brand of therapy learned from some obscure magazine. In typical New-Ag- e fashion, the magazine claimed that the simple act of giving food to helpless birds would cure stuff like depression, insomnia, anxiety, fear of commitment and warts. The magazine never said anything about bird feeders making a hell of a mess. Whenever it snows, I put out a little millet and sunflower seed. Traffic picks up at first light as sparrows, juncos and finches storm our window like a Baghdad air raid. Sometimes we get a Mountain Bluebird or a Rufous-Side- d Towhee. Once, even a misdirected woodpecker. Turns out that everything the magazine said about bird feeders was a lie. Birds are about as grateful for your generosity as teenagers. They chatter and boss each other around. If you're late with the chow, they'll set up a racket that 4 j! AW Robert Kirby Devils Advocate even the dead can't sleep through. Bemuse the bird feeder wasn't working for me (I still had warts), I boirgh a cat. Now, the birds ared't the only one waiting for it to show. Booger, named for reasons other than his hunting prowess, has become a better barometer than Mark Eubank. Boog thinks the bird feeder is He's dreaming.--Statistics show that despite his natural grace and ferocity, 99.99 percent of the birds, make it through. Most of the time, Boog : ' sulks back into the house covered with millet husks and bird crap. I tell him that's life. The only bird Boog is known to have caught was a sparrow ' .. who miscalculated the glide path to the feeder one morning and conked himself goofy on the window. Boog cured his headache. Chuck-A-Ram- , a. Although he would have discovered it for himself, I made it a point to introduce Boog to the bird feeder. One morning, as about 20 sparrows were holding a peck convention on the feeder, I held Booger up to the window. The glare prevented the birds from seeing Boog, but not him from seeing them. His reaction was interesting. Seeing that many small and things so close, Boog started to shake and twitch. Then a low turbine sound started somewhere .in his chest. I didn't realize it at the time, but this was the sound of his Cat o' Pult (TM) winding up. Boog shot out of my arms and hammered his head so hard on the 'glass that for a split second he looked like a fuzzy decal. This lack of glass awareness may explain why neither birds nor cats have foreheads. Or maybe it's thi? other way around. Lack,, of forehead aside, Boog soon learned that birds could be gotten outside but not inside. He quickly developed two basic attacks. Plan A is Boog's personal favorite but method of bird acquisition. He hunkers below the feeder until there's a bird on it. then makes a leap. Because the feeder is too high, most of the time Boog hangs from the edge like Richard Simmons trying to do a pull up. Eventually, he grows tired and sloughs off with a resounding thud. Plan A is a real bird laugh-gette- r. Plan B is more successful in that it puts Boog within range sooner. This requires Boog to climb atop the barbecue and bat at the birds as they swoop in for brejikfast. On a good day, Boog can, actually leap from the barbecue, to the feeder, though rarely in time to acquire a bird. The other morning. I found Boot eat'ng a bird inside my pickup. The sight of bird innards on my new Navajo blanket seat covers so enraged me that Boog now suffers from anxiety, depression, insomnia and fear of commitment. If he had a forehead, lie could try reading a magazine for a cure. When not in jail, Robert Kirby lives Jh Springville. kil-lab- le anti-birdcr- least-successf- ul By PAUL C. RICHARDS The Daily Herald I headlined as "Provo's Greatest Air Tragedy." a dubious distinction that in some ways still stands 57 years later. Killed instantly in the Jan. 22, n 1939, biplane crash were Provo aviator Charles T. Corbell, 29; his wife Dora Coates Corbell, 26; and student pilot Leonard J. Thatcher, 27. Thatcher was survived by It was i t I I , well-know- Louise Kindred Thatcher, his wife of three years, and daughter Kaye. The Corbells' three children, Joan, 6; Charles Junior, 4; and Edward, 2, were orphaned. "The 'big airplane way up in the sky' that Joan, Junior and Eddie Corbell have so many times 'waved to Daddy' took both Daddy and Mamma far, far away Sunday afternoon. So far away that they will never come back," reported the Provo Evening Herald. "It is doubtful if they will ever 'come back' even in memory, for they (the children) are such little tots," the article continued. The older children in fact did Eddie remember, but was not to discover his true parentage until he was 18. Tragedies bring out the best and worst in people. Some of the crowd that gathered ripped souvenir pieces of fabric from the silver plane, including the "Charles T. Corbell" sign on the side of the fuselage. As news of the crash scavspread, Depression-plague- d engers began removing furniture from the Corbell home. On the positive side, prominent businessman Frank J. Earl and his wife, LaVieve, a Provo High School English teacher, later adopted the Corbell children to keep them together after hearing the three were to be split up into separate families for adoption. The Earls already had two children of their own. Back then, it was customary to conceal the true identity of orphaned children. Apparently in keeping with the custom, Joan was renamed Karen, Charles Junior Decame Kicnaru tine tans natural son was named Charles), ,and httfe Eddie became Jantes, whp grew up calling Frank and'- LaVieVe "Dad" and "Mom" in spite of easings by - Richard that he was adopted. m Then in December 1954, Richard was killed ,in a hunting accident, and as mourners gathered in the Earl home,: James was intnj-- ' duced to his "real father's sister." Irene Prostgaardof Payson. The truth was out. It was a shock.' V mnnmWSijmiSimmi jV,wiWfmim m inii imi ., ,.,-- ., ymr-mt- -- r , Photo courtesy of Leone Burch Jenst photo by the late This Mike Jense shows all that was left of Charlie Corbell's Waco biplane after a tragic 1939 Pro- vo crash in which three people died. The cause ' of the plane crash was never fully understood because Corbell was an excellent pilot. celebrating the Logo Used By Pefmeswn d toe Utah Stalehood Centennial Commssion The distraught teen-agdrove to the Spanish Fork cemetery that night, where he kicked snow off one tombstone after another trying to locate the graves of his real parents. Cold and fatigued, he finally gave up but returned during daylight to find the sites. Today Jim Earl, a painting con-- , tractor who lives in Orem, continues his quest to learn more of his parents and the mysterious crash that took. theic lives. Fortunately for him, there are still people ound who knew the Corbells and Leonard Thatcher personally. Followinii is some of the infor mation Earl has found. Charlie Corbell (or Carbell, as he is remembered by .worked as a master mechanic for the Provo Rapid Transit Co., operated a bulldozer for the Civilian Conservation Corps and was unofficial supervisor of Provo's fledg ling airport where he gave flight er old-timer- s) sCWvMM , Daily Herald PhotoMatthew Jense, left, Ralph Woodhouse and Jim Earl examine documents pertaining to the 1939 Corbell plane crash. Jense's father and Woodhouse knew Tom instruction to several dozen students, including Thatcher. In those days, the airport was grass strip in the just a 2,750-foFirst Ward pasture in south Provo where the bustling East Bay Busi ot that the Bookmobile has been making 25 stops throughout the county, but only six are in the unincorporated areas. "We have a responsibiliUtah County commissioners voted Monday to continue funding the Bookmobile program at ty to provide for the unincorporated areas, but not for the municipalities. With our budget the current rate for one more year. we have to look at it," he said. crunch, Continuation of the program had been in Commissioner Jerry Graver pointed out that in the view of county's question, particularly the county doesn't operate the Bookmobile. "We crunch. budget Commissioner David J. Gardner said the sign a contract and the state operates it," he said. State Library Board has been awarding transi- - This cost of the program this year is $129,406. "The contract was supposed to have been Uonal grants for the program, anticipating that and will be eliminated Aederal funding replaced signed Dec. 15,but we delayed it. The federal money that suprjorted it is gone." Gardner said. with block grants. Several proposals were advanced, including Commissioners said they will allocate $79,000 in 1996. to be combined with $32,000 issuance of library cards to patrons of the Bookmobile that would be honored at city libraries. in money from the state. Next year commis, sioners anticipate being forced to cut the BookVineyard Nayor Rulon Gammon said that the county con Id provide the 14.000 residents mobile allocation in half. Gardner said. Last month commissioners sent letters to all who live in the unincorporated areas with the county's mayors informing them of the poslibrary cards and could do it more cheaply. ' "We can't provide more money, so the at' in sible cut funds. The subject was discussed Counthe at of recent a Library Boafd, would have to administer with County length meeting less money,' Gardner explained. cil of Governments. ; Provo Mfiyor George Stewart said the coun- Gardner told mayors attending that meeting ' ness Park is now. Tom Jense, whose father, the late Mike Jense, took pictures of Corbell's wrecked plane, says the runway ran almost parallel to what is today 350 East, from about 900 to 1420 South. ty could negotiate with the cities to accept county library cards. He noted that the county is subsidizing people in the unincorporated areas. Mapleton Mayor Richard Maxfield said he was concerned about the small towns that do not have libraries, and said some of the people who patronize the Bookmobile have no way of gettins to ibranes in other towns. It was suggested that the county could issue as many as 4,000 rural library cards at $10 for users to have access to the municipal libraries of their choice, and for the first year make allowances for the cities that don't have libraries. Gammon said the county residents pay little for library cards and a reasonable charge could be made for each city. Gardner added the county has determined how much each Bookmobile stop costs, so the smaller cities could determine how many stops they want the Bookmobile to make in the community and budget that much for the program next year. The cities operate on fiscal year budgets, so the money would have to be earmarked before July 1. 1996. House OKs bill giving ballots to hospitalized voters SALT LAKE CITY . The Utah House of Representatives approved a bill Monday making it easier to get an absentee" ballot in an emergency. The house voted 45-2- 5 to approve a bill sponsored' by Rep. Lake City, creGene Davis, for circumstances ating emergency ballot. an absentee obtaining Davis' bill creates a provision for providing absentee ballots to people who have been hospitalized within three days of the General Election. The voter, or a designee, may obtain the ballot from the county clerk's office during that time period. The old law only allowed the issuance of absentee ballots if the voter was disabled, outside the : country or serving as an election judge at another precinct. The ballots were issued five days before the election, at the earliest. i 1006 Utah A LegisIature lt "This recognizes that hospitalized voters are eligible for absentee ballots;" Davis said. The bill also expands the criteria for an absentee ballot to include physical, emotional or mental impairment; incarceration in a jail or prison; jury service; and refusal to vote in a particular location for religious reasons. Rep. Byron L. Harward, said the conditions about men tal impairment did Hot jibe with the electors' oath that they are in full possession of their mental faculties. "What is the definition of mental capacity for a voter?" Harward asked. Davis said voters are mentally competent if they know what they are doing and who they are voting for. The language about mental impairment in the bill is in accordance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, which includes mental retardation in that definition. Rep. Don E. Bush, had reservations about handing out ballots to convicts. "I think of several hundred prisoners at Point of the Mountain being capable of swinging the election in that city," Bush said, referring to the Utah State Prison. "This would be an absentee ballot. They would cast votes in the cities where they lived before, and not swing the election in Draper," Davis said. Courts have also found that inmates do not sacrifice their voting rights when they are incarcerated, Davis pointed out. Rep. Jeff Alexander, questioned the expense of maintaining a list of permanent absentee ballot voters. Davis' bill requires the list be maintained and the county clerks send out annual questionnaires to keep it current. Davis said the county clerks wanted those provisions. The Utah County delegates voting "no" were Reps. Alexander; Doyle M. Mortimer and John L. Valentine, both Bill Wright. Smilh. T. Bookmobile program gets full funding By JOSEPHINE ZIMMERMAN The Daily Herald R. Corbell and his wife Dora Coates CorbelL Earl was the Corbells' son. He was 2 at the time crfl r I? the accident. Charles i By DONALD W. MEYERS The Daily Herald , ill and Rep. Payson and Spanish Foikj already had actively promoted flvj ing activities in Utah County, an2j Provo, the county seat, also wantejl (See CRASH, Page B2) UVSC finds success with fund raising By MARK EDDINGTON The Daily Herald Although Utah Valley State College's $24 million capital campaign is focused on the future, its most ambig tious effort to date is succeeding beyond expectations right now. With almost 18 months camto go in the three-yea- r the has raised paign, college $15.4 million in deferred gifts and $4.5 million, in fund-raisin- current contributions. The goal of the UVSC Foundation, the sponsoring entity in the campaign, is to raise $14.3 in deferred gifts, contributions from wills and charitable remainder trusts and $9.7 million in current donations. "We never dreamed that we would accomplish our planned gift goals for the campaign this quickly." said Cory Duckworth, UVSC institutional advancement vice president and campaign director. "It's gone so well, particularly on the planned gifts side, because of the work that has been done prior to this time." Planned giving objectives were established by the college's Professional Advisors Committee, which is comprised of financial service professionals under the direction of David Young of Paragon Capital Management. Much of the success in accomplishing the goal can be (See FUNDS, Page H2) |
