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Show "V To move in about April 1 Prison inmates, volunteers build new home for Magna single mother, her six children Chamber speaker sees continued bright future for local, state job markets Employment should continue to boom throughout decade improvement in the local job market during the past few years. by GARY R. BLODGETT EDITOR Utahs job market Since 1995, when the mining especially has along the Wasatch Front been booming throughout the 90s, and the forecast for the next few years is just as bright. At least thats the prediction of the Utah Department of Employment Security. Sherrill Chapman, employment relations representative, told the Magna Chamber of Commerce last week that anything can cause a change, but right now the job future in Utah looks good. She said most of her information is obtained from the Utah Labor Market Report and other data and research reports. She said more than 47,000 new jobs have been created in Utah since 1995, keeping pace with the states massive population growth. The jobless rate in Utah has been the lowest it has been in 40 years, about 3.6 percent at the present time. Salt Lake County and much of the Wasatch Front has been below 3.0 percent during the same period, she noted. In fact, the mining industry has been the only major category to show a decline in employment about 200 jobs this due primarily to advanced technology, she said. Construction, manufacturing, trades, services, utilities, finance, government, etc., have shown an job-relat- This is the home the inmates built for a Magna single mother and her six children. The excited family will move into their new home within the next few weeks. by GARY R. BLODGETT EDITOR A few months ago, a single mother was struggling to keep clothes and shoes on her six small children. In about two weeks, she and the kids will be moving into a new, modern home in Magna a home built by inmates at the Utah State Prison. As Paul Harvey would say: Now, the rest of the story. Mrs. King and her six children were living in a small, dirty home, trying to get by on the meager earnings the mother could bring home. Salt Lake Health officials say the house should have been condemned. n The children wore and their shoes had holes ii) them. Thats the way they went to school. They had no choice, nothing better. This is where Social Services stepped in, and they began checking out the circumstances. Their shanty home was declared unfixable. A new home was the only answer. But where would the financing come from? It costs a fortune to build a new home. Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville was notified. Could their students in the building trades department take on such a task? It was a bad time of the year (with many students out of school), and the offer was reluctantly turnCity-Coun- hand-me-dow- ed down. But not for long. Jay Miller, an instructor at the college, also teaches a building trades program at the Utah State Prison. His classroom of inmates had done some carpentry but never constructed a new home from the foundation to the roof. But they said they could do it, and wanted the opportunity to prove their talents. So a group of a half dozen or so inconmates began the project structing the home on a pad in the area of the prison grounds. Others wanted to join the project, and the inmate roll for building the house rose to more than a dozen. The lot on which the new house is located is 120 feet deep, but only 25 feet wide. Planning and zoning variances had to be made, said Miller. And they were. Everyone cooperated all county and state agencies to enable the house to be located at this site. Utility companies pitched in to have natural gas, electricity, water, etc., hooked up. and But more work is needed It took an awful lot of plan- volunteers are being sought. Landscaping and installation of a ning and coordination sprinkler system are being comwith a gigantic effort by the pleted as soon as the weather prisoners, Salt Lake Com- breaks. Some work to the inside of the home including an additional munity College, and others." bedroom and bath downstairs are Dick Welch needed. Dick Welch, of Salt Lake County S.L. Co. Housing Authority - Included was a young inmate with only one leg. Crutches (as he was called) asked to help. He was given the chance, and the next time I saw him he was hobbling along with the use of one crutch while he held up his end of a large sheet of plywood with the other arm, said Miller. Crutches proved to be one of and most efthe hardest working ficient workers on the inmate Housing Authority, who coordinated the building project, said it took about six months to build the specialized home. It took an awful lot of planning and coordination with a gigantic effort by the prisoners, Salt Lake Community College, and others to complete the job, said Welch. Steve Mansfield, division chairman of the building trades department at Salt Lake Community College, praised all those who labored so long, and devoted their time and talents to this project. crew. He said one (unnamed) general The inmates gave it their all. contractor has been working on the After several months the new house for more than two months. project permi-nento t moved to its was ready be Many businesses, groups, and inlocation at 2940 South 9000 West dividuals have contributed money in Magna. and labor. This is where more volunteer help came in. One light fixture store owner called to say he wanted to furnish at no the home with light fixtures cost, said Miller. I went to his store and picked out whatever was appropriate. Even the inmates paid from their meager 40 cents per hour prison earnings to raise the $45 for the building trades course offered at the prison. Just to do something worthwhile for someone else in need. ft i 1 in- dustry dropped about 200 jobs, Construction hs added 5,700 new jobs; Manufacturing, 7,900; Trades, 14,900; Services, 12,900; Transpor- tation, Communications and Utilities, 2,300; Real Estate, Mortgages and Finance, 1,100; and federal government, 2,800 new jobs. With a projected growth rate of 4.7 percent in Utah this year, there will be an expected 43,000 new jobs. At the same time, unemployment is expected to rise to 3.7 percent. Salt Lake County especially the Magna and West Valley City have shown marked imregion provement in the job market, she added. In addition to more people on the employment rolls, most of the employed are working for salaries much above the national minimum. Its becoming more and more difficult for employers to fill jobs under $6 per hour. Theres no doubt about it, Utah is fast becoming like California and other heavily populated states, said Chapman. We are constantly revising and improving our employment programs to meet the needs of both the and employees employers. She noted that improved testing and technology is playing a major role in the success of employment services. Cyprus High students clear school during bomb threat by GARY R. BLODGETT EDITOR More than 1,200 students and faculty were cleared from Cyprus High School early Friday morning when an anonymous caller reported Youve got a bomb in the school. Students, teachers, and staff were evacuated to Brockbank Junior High School and housed in the schools auditorium and cafeteria for about an hour while Salt Lake County Sheriff Department deputies swept the building and perimeter searching for a bomb device. Howard Sagers, assistant principal, said the caller sounded like an adult male. We immediately sounded the fire alarm to clear the school, said Sagers. Then we instructed the students to go directly to Brockbank Junior High and wait for instructions to return to class. Sheriff deputies and Granite School District security personnel took a little more than an hour to search the building and grounds. Within 90 minutes, the students were back in class. He said search dogs were not called in because they were at another school in Jordan School District on a similar bomb threat. Our students were very cooperative and took the threat serious, said Sagers. There were no problems at all with the students. ' Saturday after 7:30 p.m. Elem. site of comet watch Magna hello to the worlds newest comet outside and say Step Hyakutake. Discovered only a few weeks ago, the comet will make its but reports to the Hansen nearest path to earth on Monday, March 25 Planetarium have the comet already visible to the unaided eye from outlying areas and from the upper benches along the Wasatch Front. Residents in northwest Salt Lake Valley may attend one of a series of Comet Watch Parties on Saturday, March 23, at Magna Elementary School, 8600 W. 3100 South. The comet will be visible after 7:30 p.m. With clear skies, the comet should be visible all night through the end of the month, appearing as a fuzzy patch of light, possibly with a long tail. It will pass through the constellation Bootes, past the Big and Little Dippers, where it will be near the North Star at the end of the month. ) |