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Show Page A7 Wlje (Liuu'S-Inbi'fji'nh- Thursday, October 7, 2004 nit Letters from the People Praise for Allen Memorial's emergency room . . . Letter: Hello, I recently spent 4 days camping and Jeeping in your area. I come down 4 times yearly and always enjoy myself. This past Sunday (Sept. 26), I suddenly became very ill requiring a visit to your hospitals ER. I was very impressed with staffs attention and concern for me and my situation. I was treated with kindness, compassion and personalized care. The staff never lost me in the shuffle of a busy day in their ER. The ambulance attendants who transported me to your airport for an Air Med flight to SLC also 3-- deserve praise. My experience in the hands of Moabs health care professionals was exactly 180 degrees from what I received in the hands of the staff at U of U ER. But thats another story. I have some knowledge in this area as I am an R.N. with over 30 years experience currently working in an ICU setting in Ogden, Ut. Being unable to thank each person individually, I hope that this note will some how reach them. Thanks, -- Albert Gabbard Morgan, Ut. Thanks and farewell to Jose Knighton Dear Sam and Adrien, When Back of Beyond Books was sold recently, Moab gained because we did not lose our first long-terbookstore, and I am glad for that. But we also lost. In a few weeks Jose Knighton will be leaving his beloved canyon country for the great northwest - and love. Jose opened BOB and was its first and only manager. His passion for landscape and literature is unsurpassed and he made BOB the sourc or books on the natural history of our area. He also freely shared this passion with anyone who approached him with conversation. Jose gave us Coyotes History of Moab and sent m Let's make Moab 1 . .. the occasional barbed letter to the editor, and therein lies the core of our loss. Many of us will simply say see you later friend, and add Portland, Oregon to our travel itinerary. But as his erstwhile hiking compadre Rory Tyler puts it, Its sad enough when you lose the family dog, but were losing the community coyote! Who will fill or even consider wearing that colorful and seemingly purposeful mismatched wardrobe as well as Jose? Who will writes sonnets for us? Happy trails, buddy. The canyons and bookshelves will echo with your full moon howl. -- Bruce Hucko Moab in the nation by Oct. 13 . . . The Editor: We are asking everyone who has not invested in the Wind Power program with Utah Power to call 800.222.4335 on this day. One unit is $1.95 a month. We have 20 units as an investment for future generations. CSME9 - USAR Carl R. Jochims was bom October 13, 1919. WWII veteran of Phillipine Liberation, track star at Woodrow Wilson High, the list To cross-countr- is too long for his achievements. He was also a retired U.S. Postal letter carrier. Alzheimers is a memory-robbindisease and advances in stages. Please lets make Moab, Utah number one in our nation on October 13. Thanks to Mayor Dave. -- Ethel L. Jochims g Moab y; Stop spreading lies and half truths about other people Dear Sam and Adrien, Im writing to let you know of something that disgusts me. Why is it that politics always bring out the worst in people? I have heard rumors and hearsay on a few of the candidates, some I know are blatent lies, and others that are half truths. Why do people feel it their responsibility to try and ruin peoples lives? This is a small community, one that Ive enjoyed living in. I havent been here all that long, but Ive gotten to know and respect many of the people here. I wish I knew who has started these rumors and inform them of the truth and of the hurt they are causing people. One lie can ruin peoples lives, reputations, and well being. People, stop spreading rumors and stop listening to them. Get to know the candidates and decide for yourself. My mother taught me if you dont have anything nice to say, then dont say anything at all. I think there are a few people here who could learn that! -- Roberta Kingston Moab everyone more representation. Also, I would like the opportunity to vote for the people who impact my taxes. -- Lauren Davis Moab During conversations with people lately, we seem to agree that there seems to be more of a variety of wild animals that call Castle Valley home. Weve always had coyotes and deer around but in recent years we have seen more skunks, raccoons, foxes, bear, turkeys and other assorted creatures. Some of these animals can be destructive and bothersome Moab . . . planned as you slowed your vehicle and passed cyclists carefully. Your wisdom and generosity of spirit in sharing the road is very much appreciated. -- Beth Logan Reader shares reasons to make council all "at large" Dear Editors: After listening to the KZMU debate on changing the status of the County Council, I came away with a couple of thoughts. Changing all seats to at large, in theory, should give . . . Pros and cons of county propositions Continued from page 4 1 streamlining and making it both measures will have on easier to work among the coun- county government. Among the major issues is whether approval of either or both propositions will require the county to hold a special election in June of 2004, and if so, cil. whether the special election ballot will only include sitting council members and those who are elected in November or will be open to all prospective candidates in the county. Meanwhile, voters must decide whether the proposed changes are good for county gov- ernment. Proponents of the measures say reducing the number of council members will stream- line government and make it easier for the county to get the job done. Everybody thinks its easier to have a quorum when youve got seven members, Dixie Barksdale said Wednesday. That isnt so. And its easier to work together with fewer council members. Barksdale supports both propositions, and said voters should understand that neither ballot measure will have an overall impact on Grand Countys form of government. It doesnt change the form of government or anything else about how the county is run, she said. Its just simple pot-luc- The annual Gourd Festival is scheduled for Saturday, October 23 at the community lot and promises to be bigger and better than ever. Cris Coffey is excited to be hosting the event for the fourth year in a row and says she has several events scheduled for the day including a potluck lunch to be held in the firehouse. Catherine Howells is also planning the second annual tractor parade that will begin at high noon. The tractors will meet at the church parking lot and parade to the town lot. There was a good turnout of a variety of tractors last year but Catherine is looking for some new tractors that werent involved last year. She is also working on getting a band to lead the parade. She can be contacted at to receive more information or offer support. Thanks for consideration shown to bicyclists Dear Editor, Thank you to the many motorists in Moab, the La Sal Loop Road, Castle Valley, and Highway 128 displaying patience with cyclists raising money for cancer research and survivorship this past weekend. Arriving at your destination probably took a few minutes longer than . . . After the annual hiatus of several months during the summer, the monthly community potluck dinners began serving again last month. On the second Tuesday of each month beginning at 6 p.m., members of the community gather at the church to share their favorite dish and enjoy visiting with their neighbors. k This month on October 12, the next will dinner be held and this month the community information forum will begin again and will immediately follow dinner. The speaker will be Candace Cady of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and she will be speaking on the Castle Valley drinking water classification. She will explain what it means and what our responsibilities are to protect the classification. Everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy good food and also become better informed about the community. on the council should be on equal footing, she said. But Mayberry sees problems with cutting the size of the Former county council member Susanne Mayberry council. Fewer council members means fewer people to serve on supports changing all council representatives to members. Mayberry, who held seat in the previous an council, said eliminating districts will change little about the way council members do committees, lobby the state leg- at-lar- islature, and help write grants for county projects, she said. Districts would also have to be redrawn, and that might lead to political shenanigans, she at-lar- ge their jobs. said. Its my belief that everybody on the council serves the entire county anyway. I didnt see anyone who thought only of those who lived in one small area of town, Mayberry said Tuesday. Its important in a place of this size that everybody get to vote for every representative. Eliminating districts would reduce the power of special interests, Mayberry said. Special interest groups have a stronger ability to put forth a candidate in a limited voter area and get them elected, she said. When candidates run countywide, that possibility is definitely mini- The way districts are redrawn could definitely affect the outcome of who is elected to the council, she said. I see real problems with that. Finally, Mayberry questioned whether a smaller council would save the county money - one popular argument for the change - or whether council members would increase their salaries. Proponents have pointed out that eliminating two council members will save the county about $12,000 in annual salaries. I wonder if it is changed to five a person board if indeed some members would decide the salaries should be raised, mized. she said. She also said it is unfair that some council candidates must mount a countywide campaign while others can spend far less money running in a smaller district. I believe everybody whos Current council member A1 McLeod opposes both propositions. Making all representamembers would tives disenfranchise McLeods own constituents - county residents who live in Thompson, Elgin, at-lar- ge 1 but they are still fun to watch. People in our neighborhood get a glimpse of an elusive fox every now and then and people can catch a couple of raccoons raiding the cat food most nights. We have always had a lot of deer in the valley and the ones that travel around our place dont seem to be bothered by our presence at all. We go about our chores around the house and they hardly notice our activity. The same was true this week when Hank Freeman was driving past the LDS Church and noticed three deer seemingly meditating on the front lawn. He also noticed the sign that says visitors welcome and how the deer took the invitation on the sign literally. He stopped the car, got out and recorded the incident with his digital camera and shares the image with us. -- 'rryrar. ss 'tv 'ViFK iV Li f e t isup t rj i f y hk; z, ft n. 'i ? im HW1 .!& aa WS: s f. S t r-- JSJM Wr wwv-, - :ct 1 rw i : s (Mg a. 14." V t Kth mVfTT'ri: f s ' nfs- & , uw 4 dX'A nwMai? tim : k.- - i sp "ink' Si! rr yV.KfS&5--- SKS SC&WWiKi 259-190- 8 Mxi . . . and Castle Valley, he said. All the county seats except mine right now include part of the city, he said. Its important to have those outlying areas clearly represented. Sometimes they have very specific needs that I think will be ignored if they do not have a specific council person looking out for them. McLeod said the confusion over how either change would be implemented is a source of major concern. Its going to be up to the sitting council to determine how to implement these things. That really leaves it up in the air as to how it will be put into effect. McLeod also opposes reducnumber of council memthe ing bers. It ruins diversity on the council, he said. The main rea- son the government was changed to begin with was to get more diversity. And its worked well. To save money by taking away diversity is not, in my opinion, a good option. If you cut the number of council members, it could have the effect of putting control of the county government into the hands of only three people. Its another way of consolidating power into a few hands, he said. Its another way of negating citizen input, and I think it will take us backward to where things were before we changed the form of government. Vs iA at. ' v p' 14 - . v Hank Freeman drove past the LDS Church in Castle Valley this week and noticed three deer resting and meditating on the front lawn taking advantage of the sign welcoming visitors. ' 'V RMices PufoDoc Public Notices Protect Your Right to Know UPCOMING PUBLIC MEETINGS FOR THE FLAMING GORGE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT The Notice of Availability (NOA), opening the period of public comment of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the operation of Flaming Gorge Dam was published on Friday, September 1 0th. The NOA can be found at http: www.gpoaccess.gov frindex.htmi, and its publication began a public review period which will continue until November 15, 2004. Public hearings will be held during the month of October in Utah and Wyoming. The public hearings 60-da- y schedule as follows, set Rock Drive, Springs WY; October 20, 2004, Dutch John Conference Hall, South Blvd, Dutch John UT; Written comments from those unable to tect and assist covery of the populations and designated critical habitat of four due date, are given equal consideration. The document is also at available endangered fishes, www.usbr.govuc. in re- with all hearings beginning at 6 p.m.: October 12, 2004, Ramada Inn, 182 S. Storage Main St., Moab, UT; October 13, 2004, Marriott Hotel, 75 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City UT; October 19, 2004, Holiday Inn, 1 675 Sun coop- eration of eight state and Federal agencies. Oral comments at the hearing will be limited to five minutes. October 2 1,2004, Western Park Convention Center, 300 E. 200 S., Vernal UT. The draft document describes the environmental impacts of modifying the operation of Flaming Gorge Dam to assist in the recovery of four endangered fish, and their critical habitat, downstream from the dam. The purpose of the proposed federal action is to operate Flaming Gorge Dam to pro- while maintaining all authorized purposes of the Flaming Gorge Unit of the Colorado River is pared with the Project (CRSP), particularly those related to the development of water resources in accordance with the Colorado River Compact. The DEIS was pre attend or those wishing to supplement their oral presentations at the hearing should be addressed to Peter Crookston, Bureau of Reclamation, Provo Area Office, 302 East, 1860 South, Provo, Utah 84606. His telephone number is (801 ) 379-115- and his 2, address email is fgeisuc.usbr.gov. and oral comments, received by the Written Se- lect Environmental Programs and select the Flaming Gorge Dam Environmental Impact Statement. If requesting copies of the DEIS, please contact Mr. Crookston. Published in The Times-lndependen- t, Moab, Utah Oct. 7, 2004. |