OCR Text |
Show ' L'' Vt fv. s L.' t To , "Vi. & . v ? V Reeorb v HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER FOR SAN JUAN COUNTY, UTAH Volume 87,NumbenO SINCE 1915 50 cents ..ijnMiiiwwwiiwr' .rl November 26, 2003 ir Students safe after wild ride on school bus While teenagers are often criticized for being uncoopera- After students arrived at the school, a lockdown was placed on the elementary school until the school bus driver was found two hours later. All of the students fled from the bus, except the bus drivers handicapped daughter. She refused to leave, despite the plead- tive, two Monticello teenagers are being praised as heroes for refusing to follow directions. The two obstinate teenagers may have been the difference between danger and safety for a group of students in a November 24 school bus incident in Monticello. School and law enforcement officials said Ronny Gobble and Kyrie Walker are heroes for their actions when a dozen students were taken on a wild ride by an erratic school bus driver. Gobble and Walker refused to leave the bus without the ten younger students and eventually helped the students escape the bus when the driver stopped in front of the Monticello Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints. The day started innocently enough when the students, who live in the Eastland area, were picked up on the regular school bus route. They quickly noticed that the driver was acting erratic, going around corners at a high speed and missing several stops to pick up waiting students. The school bus ride quickly became dangerous as the bus went over country backroads at speeds up to 80 miles per hour. Utah Highway Patrol trooper Glenn Begay reports that the bus driver swerved to hit a passing pickup as it turned on to U.S. 491 at the Hunts Club. Several of the children received minor injuries at that time. The driver of the truck was unhurt. The children report that the accident with the pickup truck was the most The thinking of Kyrie Walker and Ronnie Gobble (r) is credited with helping defuse a dangerous situation on November 24 after an erratic bus driver took Eastland students on a wild ride. Walker and Gobble refused to get off the bus without ten younger students and helped evacuate the students from the bus. Staff photo level-heade- d frightening part of the entire incident. After the accident, Gobble and Walker shuffled the ten elementary school students to the back of the bus as it continued toward Monticello at high speeds. The only high school students on the bus, they told the driver that he would lose his job if he didnt slow down. The driver reportedly said he would drop off the older students at the high school and take the younger kids to a special place. However, the high school kids said they would not get off the bus without the younger students. The bus came into Monticello, made a right turn at high speed (I) on U.S. 191, and appeared to be heading north out of town. At that time, Gobble reportedly brandished a steel bar and threatened the driver, so the driver turned and headed to the elementary school. The driver stopped the bus in front of the Monticello LDS Temple, and ran to the gates of the temple grounds. Gobble and Walker hurried the ten students off the bus and made a quick dash to the elementary school. The young children were traumatized by the incident and elementary school teachers quickly offered assistance to the students, called their parents, and notified law enforcement authorities. ings of Walker, who didnt leave the bus until the driver was returning to the bus. The driver took his daughter home before fleeing in a private vehicle. His vehicle ran off the road near Lopez Arch, approximately 26 miles north of Monticello on U.S. Highway 191. He was picked up by a passing family friend and taken to San Juan Hospital. After being released, the bus driver, Rodney Munson, age 44 of Monticello, was booked into San Juan County Jail and charged with felony aggravated assault, failure to stop and leaving the scene of an accident. Trooper Begay reports that Munson said he had no recollection of the incident when he was arrested. Begay said Munson reported he was under extreme stress and may have just snapped. The high school students tried to downplay their heroics, saying they had done nothing out of the ordinary. However, officials report that the youth acted beyond their years and that their clear thinking may have saved the lives of the younger students. Several of the young students were taken to the San Juan Hospital, where they suffered a variety of small injuries, including whiplash and bruises. It was the parents worst nightmare. Eagle Scouts help restore remote cem- See page 9 etery Coaches look back at season football - See pages 10, 13 San Juan County offices, except the Treasurer's office, will close on Thanksgiving Day and Friday, November 28 The Treasurer's office will open Friday from 8am to 4 p m for those wishing to pay their 2003 property taxes The Monticello and Blandmg City offices will close on Thanks- giving Day, November 27 and November 28 Friday, In be colMonticello, garbage lected as scheduled on Friday will The San Juan Record will close Thanksgiving Day and open from 10 am to 2 p m on Friday 9 boy Jamece & Logan J Steven Draper November 1 1 dr Monticello Blanding Pr 06 Monticello had a trace of snow November 17 and 22. Public meeting set to address Monticello mill tailings ground water plan ore milling, were transported to downstream areas by water in Montezuma Creek, which flows through the millsite property. contaminant concentrations in the ground water over time through the influx of clean waposed plan that presents the ter and ground water movepreferred remedial alternative In addition, radioactive and ment. Ground water samples for Operable Unit III of the Monticello Mill Tailings Site nonradioactive contaminants will be collected and analyzed to leached from the e near Monticello, Utah. tailings track the natural reduction of contaminate concentrations. Ininto the underlying ground waDOE will host a public meeting to discuss the alternatives ter and have migrated beneath stitutional controls protect public health and the environment presented in the Proposed Plan adjacent properties. DOE believes that monitored by preventing installation or use at 7 p.m. on December 9, 2003, at the San Juan County Court- natural attentuation with insti- of wells in the contaminated house, 117 South Main Street, tutional controls provides the ground water. The public is encouraged to rebest balance of tradeoffs among in Monticello. Operable Unit III encom- the cleanup alternatives being view and comment on the alterpasses contaminated surface considered with respect to the natives being considered for water and ground water at an comprehensive Environmental Operable Unit III. Written pubhydraulically downgradient of Response, Compensation, and lic comments will be accepted until January 15, 2004. Oral the former Monticello millsite. Liability Act (CERCLA) evaluand written comments will be ation criteria. Natural attenuMill tailings, the sandy of uranium and vanadium ation is the decrease in accepted at the public meeting. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has developed a pro- on-sit- by-produ- cts I All comments and DOEs re- sponse to each comment will be part of the responsiveness summary in the Record of Decision. The preferred alternative can change in response to public comments or new information. Members of the Federal Facilities Agreement for the Monticello Mill Tailings Site will cooperatively make the final decision. It is anticipated that the decision will be signed by April 2004. A copy of the proposal, and other documents related to the Monticello Mill Tailings Site is available for review at the Monticello Repository Office, 7031 South Highway 191, Monticello, UT 84535(435) 587-209- 8. (SrnijpShrfkrm November 23 snow report 3.1" of water in 1 1" of snow. 2.3" is multi-yeaverage. 0.0" in 1990, '91. 96 and 2000 low. is multi-yea- r 1 in 4.9" 992 is multi-yehigh. Current snow is 1 35 of normal ar ar |