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Show a Obituaries A10 3 Schools A11 SUtah News A12 lJlj Vi The Daily Herald Thursday, January 25, 1996 County s call not answered By SHEILA SANCHEZ The Daily Herald If we listen carefully, we can hear recorded music in the background indicating that our call has been placed on hold. We've been listing to the recorded music for months now. a Our call for telephone service in Utah County remains on hold. If U.S. West and the Utah Public Service Commission don't choose to listen, it can remain on hold indefinitely. How long will the inequity in our telephone system continue? Utah County, the second largest county in the state as far as population is concerned, receives less service than Salt Lake County or wide-are- SALT LAKE CITY Utah Sen. Charles H. Stewart, wants to make it illegal for proprietors to tattoo anyone under age Stewart, the only plastic surgeon on Capitol Hill, says tattoos can damage a young person's and cause embarrassment and regret later on in life. "How would you like to have a dragon running across your shoulder, down your chest, and down to your breast?" Stewart asked. "Neither does the girl w ho came into my office looking for some kind of removal. There's no way we can remove that." Senate Bill 108 would allow the state to charge tattoo parlor operators who tattoo youngsters with a e felony, punishable by 5 years in prison. to up The bill would also require that Utahns between the ages of 17 and 20 obtain a parent's or guardian's written permission to tattoo any part of their bodies. "I'm seeing a lot of young people who are saying, 'Gee, I wish I would have never done this,' " (r limmeiman Back at the Desk even several counties with many fewer residents. The delay is due to one of the Speed convenient "rules" that apparently has been applied arbitrarily since other counties have already been service withgranted county-wid- e out having to pay charges. Heaven forbid that they should amend the rules or make new rules to meet Utah County's repeated and requests e service. for county-wid- e Do you want to call from Lay-to- n to Draper? Fine, there's an extended area service charge, but toll charge. no Do you want to call from Springville to American Fork? You toll charge. pay a What is wrong with this picture? Nearly a ago, the Public Service Commission conducted two public hearings on one in the issue in Utah County in Provo. Fork and one Spanish Residents attending the hearing were vocal in their desire to call throughout the county without havcharges. ing to pay Business people attending the hearing pointed out that Utah County is one economic unit. A business may operate in Spanish Fork but have clients or employees who live in Lindon or American Fork. Shouldn't they be able to do business across a distance of 20 to 25 miles without longdistance charges? " Currently the calling boundaries are strange. Provo and Orem residents can call throughout the County without charges. However, at 2000 North Street in Orem, you cross an invisible barrier. On the south side of the street, you have extended-are- a calling. On the north side, you are in the longdistance zone. Want to call toll free? Cultivate a friendship with your neighbor across the street. At the time public hearings were conducted here, the Public Service Commission contracted with the University of Utah to make a survey in Utah County. To date, no results of the survey have been made public by the Public Service Commission. Residents still don't know how many telephone customers were contacted during the survey, how many responded or w hat the final results were. Micron has indicated it intends to hire most of the employees locally for its giant plant in Lehi. Undoubtedly the employees will be living throughout Utah County and also in Salt Lake County. Will this change the Public Service Commission's idea about extended area calling? As one of the local promoters said, U.S. West has lobbyists and power. Utah County residents don't have any power. Even some mem-.beof the Committee for Consumer Services, which is supposed to represent us, reportedly are former employees of U.S. West. It's time for the Public Service Commission to come forward with some answers about why the second-largecounty in the state fastest growing in the of one (and the nation) can't have some of the same privileges the No. county has. Utah County has been treated like the country cousin for too long. It's time for a change. long-distan- ce long-standi- toll-fre- long-distan- long-distan- lf long-distan- long-distan- rs st 1 I 1935 Utah Legislature self-estee- m Stewart said. "I'm seeing children nylons." As a plastic surgeon, sure it doesn't happen again. We have an obligation to protect our children." Stewart said since he drafted the bill, he's received numerous telephone calls with "horror stories." He said last week he saw in his Provo private practice a woman with a rose tattooed on her ankle. Stewart said the woman is miserable because she is ashamed about it. "She was in tears. She's very concerned about dating because about it. she's so She's worried because she thinks some of the people she wants won't date her," Stewart said. "It's really affected her whole personality. She's afraid to go in for job interviews because she can't cover it up, even with the darkest Stewart Plan for 'Utahbahn' crashes on Capitol Hill said he has treated as many as 20 young patients in the past year at his 16. third-degre- Josephine in my office who have irreparable damage to their bodies that I would consider child abuse and I'm going to do what I can to make Provo-base- d practice, all ask- ing to have tattoos removed. The legislator said many people have asked him to amend the bill to include body piercing. "I don't care if they dye their hair green or blue or have bones and barbells through their tongues and noses. They can remove all that stuff." Members of Utah's tattoo industry are protesting the bill as well as devotees of "body adornment." By DONALD W. MEYERS The Daily Herald al roads are not that SALT LAKE CITY Rep. J.W. Hickman's attempt to remove speed limits outside the Wasatch Front crashed and burned Wednesday. The House of Representatives defeated an attempt by the St. George Republican to eliminate numeric speed limits in rural areas, allowing drivers to drive at a comfortable, reasonable and prudent speed. Instead, the House approved a bill to allow the Utah Department of Transportation to set interstate highway speeds at 75 miles per hour, where conditions warrant and with the advice of the Utah Department of Public Safety, UDOT Board of Commissioners and local officials. Hickman initially said he proposed the limit because rur But Stewart said tattoo parlor operators have told him that they don't mind the proposed legislation and that they don't tattoo anyone under 17. "They ran a clean establishment and they're very hesitant to tattoo anyone over 17 without parental permission. The legitimate tattoo parlors are supportive of this and they do it now. "The ones who' re not responsible, the ones who do it in a clandestine manner need to be on notice that if they do it they will be liable for a stiff penalty," Stewart crowded, with cars and motorists need to quickly cross the open spaces of southern Utah. "I knew it was going to be difficult to pass," Hickman said of his bill, "but I wanted to open an opportunity for debate." And Hickman's colleagues seized that opportunity, but unleashed their vitriol on his proposal, arguing that it would turn Utah's rural roads into death traps. Rep. J. Brent Haymond, said he observed that German authorities require motorcyclists to carry their own body bags w hen they ride Auto-bahn- s on the the of because danger high-spee- d driving poses. Also, Haymond said there would be stretches, such' .as (See SPEED, Page A 10) added. kills, even in crosswalks ; .- - i- - . ( By TOM McHOES The Daily Herald For those of you who are ignoring those flashing lights, speed limits and orange-veste- d crossing guards: You're going too fast! That is what crossing guards p 1, v ft -- . f throughout Utah County are saying to drivers who almost run them down and place the children they are protecting in jeopardy. "It's more of an awareness issue than anything," says Marty Sheeran, head of the Provo Police Department's crossing guard division. "The biggest problems we see are speeding and running through the crossing guards' stop signs. It's a statewide problem, really." Many think the problem has worsened over the past few years because of the changing nature of the traffic. "I think the biggest difference is that there is more traffic," says Jane Smith, a crossing guard in Orem. "Because of that, you are going to get more people who don't pay attention." Smith says that in her three years as a crossing guard, she has heard of one accident involving a child at a crosswalk. Two years ago, a girl was hit by a car while riding her bicycle across the street. Luckily, says Smith, the accident was not fatal but is an example of what can happen if too many people drive carelessly A i Daily Herald PhotoMatthew R. Smith North in Orem Tuesday afternoon. Officials sion of crossing guard a dangerous one and Norval Harwood helps a Cascade Elementary School student cross 800 East at 160 say speeding drivers are making the profes- - putting schoolchildren at risk. children." says Lt. Oliver are reasonably stiff and blame for mph. through the school zones. If enough penalty points are "I have had to pull kids out Nielsen, who instructs the city's the speeding problems should not feet of be the the at accrued, at offending drivers will legislators placed Springville of the way many times," says crossing guards Norval Harwood, affectionately Police Department. "They can't or local police. eventually have their licenses The fines for a first offense suspended. Sheeran added. known as "Mr. Bus." Harwood control the traffic." are: the And controlling children has helped children cross Orem Through his 23 years of expein rience as a police officer, Sheeran for accihard is $50 the 7 to for "It's streets mph driving key preventing years. the school zone. says he has come to realize that to keep them from running out dents, says Sheeran. "The cross9 SI 25 for driving of your control. Kids think that ing guards are trained to assess mph. there will always be problems 40 with school-zon- e over for $275 speeders, but the stop sign is going to stop a the vehicles' speed and space, anything fewer the as well as the size of the vehicar." problems,, the less mph. chance that a child will die. "UltiFines for additional offenses: The stop sign won't stop a cle." 9 In terms of driver penalties, $50 for mately, any responsibility for the vehicle and neither will the crossmph. 9 for is $250 there not much crossing guards problem is on the shoulders of the mph. ing guard, authorities say. 40 for over but fines the the Sheeran driver," he says. $525 control to can have do, anything says got "They 20-2- 9 1 30-3- 20-2- 30-3- Council allows removal of hazardous branches By MARK EDDINGTON The Daily Herald Provo City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to empower the Energy Department to remove and trim trees on private property that pose a hazard to nearby power lines. Harry Schindehette. department director, argued that city authorization was needed for power crews to employ preventive measures aimed at reducing the number of power outages. He pointed to the microburst storm of May 1994 as evidence of what can happen when trees adjacent to power lines go untrimmed. Prior to the storm, which packed winds in excess of 100 mph, the city had cut its budget. "The vast majority of problems (in that storm) was from trees around power lines that had not been trimmed," said Schindehette. Trimming and removing potentially troublesome trees and shrubs on public property has been no problem for the Energy Department. But Schindehette said some private landowners will not let city workers address leafy hazards on their property. The ordinance passed by the council gives the department the authority to do that. Disputes between the city and landowners will be heard by the Department of Energy Board, By BRANDY VOGEL The Daily Herald Parents must respect school board boundary decisions, the Senate Education Committee decided Wednesday by halting a bill which would have allowed students to attend the school closest to their home. which will act as an appeals board. Before removing or pruning trees on private land, Schindehette assured the council that workers in his department will talk with property owners when possible and written notice provide a three-da- y of the city's intent. Once notified, property owners will have 72 hours to express any concerns they might have to the department. The only exception to the three-da- y rule is for emergencies, when trees limbs or shrubs pose a hazard that requires immediate action to avoid the interruption of power delivery. To lessen potential problems between landowners and the city over tree removal, the Energy Department is offering to replace uprooted trees. Schindehette said the department will plant the new trees on private property away from power lines. ill not make it to the floor of the Senate. Mossi White, Provo School Board representative, recognized concern shown by parents about busing students to school when closer facilities exist. A committee of 57 people spent w 2,200 hours studying boundary issues, White told the Senate committee. 1 1SSS Utah AfpLegis!ature by Sen. Charles H. in response to overwhelming public disagreement during The last year. Senate Bill 55 would have appeased many disgruntled Provo School District parents who want their children to go to neighborhood schools instead of being bused to a school farther from home. The hill also would have required parental approval before a boundary decision could be enforced by a school board. Initiated Stewart. The bill, which would have nixed the Provo School Board's recent boundary decisions, now More than 1,100 people turned out for a meeting lasting hours to discuss boundary decisions. Unfortunately, when students were assigned to the school closest to their home, three unequal schools were created. One school was highly impacted, another was slightly less impacted and the third would have had the least impacted students in the Provo School District. For this reason, the board condoned what the parents wanted. "Education would go down- ward instead of upward," White said. But it's the socioeconomic classification that Stewart was fighting with his bill. "Are we going to have busing for diversity?" Stewart said. "The state needs to make criteria for making boundary changes." The Senate committee members disagreed, siding with White in saying socioeconomic engineering w as not the issue at hand. Committee members believed the issue focused on whether or not school districts have the right to change and make boundary decisions. v1 ; "The district has to have some ability to make a decision," said Sen. John P. Holmgren. The Salt Lake City School Dis- trict also spoke in opposition to the Bill. "I have faith in the school districts," said Sen. Scott N. Howell. "School boards are one of the best ancient forms of public participation. Why vote for a boundary change? This should be a board decision." , ';' Others acknow ledged that the school districts have worked hard to involve parents. The boundary decisions are made with the best interests of the children in mind. "We want to create drug-fre- e, schools," White said. "We want all our schools'to have the same kind of high violence-fre- e |
