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Show Visit us on the World Wide Web http:www.ecprogress.com Ornery Castile ale By JAMES ireqiiyiestis taffffi L DAVIS Editor, Emery County Progress Photo by James L. Davis The intersection of Main and Center Street in Castle Dale is becoming ever more congested at peak hours of the day. During a recent transportation open house with the Utah Department of Transportation, members of the Castle Dale City Council expressed concern over steadily increasingtrafflc congestion in the city. With a greatly increased number of coal trucks traveling down Main Street city officials have become concerned that there is a need for traffic signals in the city, specifically on the comer of Main Street and Spartan Center Street. At peak traffic times the intersection is often backed up with automobiles attempting to cross or enter Main Street from Center Street. Councilman Brad Giles, Lamont Gordon and Doug Weaver attended the Department of Transportation meeting in Huntington recently and voiced their concerns over traffic. We asked that a study be done," said Councilman Weaver. Although the intersection of Main and Center are a concern, it isnt the only concern for a city now a major corridor for coal-hatraffic. Most of the streets on the south-en- d of Castle Dale which intersect with Main Street are raising concern for city officials and residents alike. Accordtraffic will only ing to Weaver, coal-haincrease in the spring with the closure of Trail Mountain. It is estimated that up to 800 coal trucks could pass through the city on any given day come the Spring. With a large number of students also driving during the lunch hour, Weaver and other council members felt it was imperative that the request for a study by UDOT be requested now, rather than later. ul ul loglhiti INSIDE According to Weaver, with the request submitted to UDOT, the agency will respond by doing a vehicle count of intersections in the city. The concerns of the council are echoed by Sheriff Lamar Guymon. The Sheriffs Office has been cracking down on truck drivers to insure that they obey the sped limits in the city. There are certain times of the day when it would be helpful to have a stop light, especially with the increase in truck traffic," Guymon said. The sheriff also pointed out that pedestrian traffic at the intersection is a hazard. The biggest problem weve got is people not stopping for pedestrians. Not just there, but a lot of places," Guymon said. for a study by Although the time-lin- e UDOT is not know, Weaver said the first step was just in putting forth a request for a study. Its in the states hands now," he said. Santa Visit Saint Nick Visits Zions Bank ' 8 A. Education Funding Task force proposes a plan five-poi- nt Funding of Public Education Task Fbrce Senate President Lyle Hillyard, and House Majority Leader Kevin have declared education Garn, the legislatures top priority. Hillyard and Garn outlined a plan today folforce final task the meeting. lowing In accordance with HB 426, three senators and five representatives have met since May to review and recommend alternative revenue sources for funding public education, as well as provide a long-terplan to increase public education funds. Pointing out the difficulty of this endeavor, Hillyard said, "If establishing a long-tereducation funding plan were t easy, we would have done it a longtime ago. Garn said, As we consider public education issues, including teacher compensaretion, textbooks and supplies, class-siz- e Mountain Life five-poi- nt Students have mountain man adventure learning 9A- - m . BRIEFLY m duction, new school construction. trainingprograms, and many other items, we simply must temper our expectations with reality." Hillyard noted, Utahs education dilemma is unique when you figure about 25 percent of our population are school-ag- e children and approximately 42 percent of state revenues already go to public education. Hillyard added, When you factor in Utahs ranking among the nations 15 heavistates based on personal est income, you realize our education equation ' has no simple solutions. As for tax increase, Hillyard said, We believe an emphasis on economic development and targeted tax cuts will continue Utahs economic prosperity. Any tax increase may have a chilling effect and reverse the success w'eve enjoyed. To raise Utah to the national average per pupil spending, noted Garn, would require one of the three major taxes income, sales or property tax to at least double. Fbr example, doubling the sales tax on a $20,000 vehicle would result In a tax increase from about $1,250 to $2,500. Public education funding policy will not be determined by how close we get to the national average for per pupil expenditures," said Garn. Per pupil funding is not necessarily an indication of a successful and productive school system. Garn did recognize the efforts of Utah teachers and acknowledged they have excelled in doing more with less. Despite Utah ranking last in per pupil spending, Garn pointed out Utah ranks third nationally when considering the percent of personal income paid by Utahns for education. Additionally, from fiscal year 1992 to fiscal year 2001, public education spending increased 85. 1 percent while student enrollment Is projected to increase by 3.5 percent. Even with the Increase from around $897.8 million in fiscal year 1992 to nearly $1.7 billion In fiscal year 2001, critics continue to question the states com- mitment to funding education. Following nine task force pice tings and hours of input from education and community representatives, task force members forwarded the followingrccommendations: - Continue the Capital Outlay Inundation Program with a $10 million increase. The Capital Outlay Fbundation Program, established to provide school districts revenues for buildingconstruction and renovation, w ill Increase from $28.4 million to $38.4 million. More districts will directly benefit from on increase hi school building construction subsidies. Generator trips at Hunter plant A generator at Utah Powers Hunter Plant near Castle Dale failed Nov. 24 and will remain off line for an undetermined amount of time, according to a company spokesman. The plants unit one generator tripped at approximately 12:40 p.m. on Nov. 24, under a full load after operators at the Hunter Plant noticed excessive vibrations, according to Dave Eskelsen, Utah Power spokesman. There was no explosion or Injuries in the incident. Roads of the San Rafael County maps the roads of the San Rafael in effort to show history of use JAMES L DAVIS Editor, Emery County Progress By Public land in Emery County has been a topic widely debated over for years, into law, yet each time it comes close it has met with failure. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, a strong and vocal opponent to the bill, have thus far been successful in shooting it down each time it starts to from the living rooms of county residents to the chamber rooms of the Senate, and still the San Rafael remains a place where no one can seem to find a middle ground. i For Emery County commissioners preserving the natural Jt beauty of the San Rafael while still maintaining access to it for everyone to enjoy has been a long and frustrating (3 struggle. Fbr years the commissioners have tried in vain to get the San Rafael Conservation Legacy Bill passed Margaret Swasey prepares to GPS a road in "The incident is not expected to im- fly- - Opinions on the San Rafael run deep in the county, even proponents of its continued use often disagree. Various groups who want to maintain access to the San Rafael often find themselves at odds over how to protect it. Concerns over it being closed off and declared a wilderness area, which is what most environ mental groups desire, have risen steadily over the years. )& County commissioners, who have led the fight to maintain access to the San Rafael, are left pondering the fact that other bills from other states, some reading almost identical to the San Rafael bill, have sailed the San Rafael. Continued on 3A Commissioner speaks on land issues By PATSY STODDARD Staff, Emery County Progress Emery County Commissioner Randy Johnson w as Invited to speak at the annual Council of State Governments on Nov. 17th in San Diego. Johnson is well known for his exper- tise on public lands Issues and legislation. Johnson has worked diligently to Introduce the San Rafael Conservation . , Legacy Bill. Johnson spoke of the Emery County ibhlic Lands Council, why it was formed and how. He told the meeting attendt'es about the Son Rafael Bill, how it was wTitten and how it is doing in the U S, Congress. One of Johnson's main points w as the need for collaboration between all entities Involved In the issue. The San Rafael Bill is still In limlo, if the U.S. Congress passes an appropriations puckage just to continue operating, our bill would need to be attached to that." explained Johnson. "Congressman McGinnis of Colorado recently passed a bill which was very similar to ours and it passed straight through. It was less restrictive and less protective than ours. Ibur similar bills have also passed in various states. These bills puss virtually uncontested because SUWA isnt interested in them. This whole situation is lronie."commenled We Johnson. attended the Utah Association of Counties Meetings on Nov. 15 and ICth, and they were very gistd this year, we continued on to San Diego to the Council of State Governments meetings, Rep. Brad Johnson, State Senate President Mansell from Salt Lake, Mike Dmitrieh and Glen Way were there to name a few. 1 was invited by the Council to sonk so they paid all of my expenses for this trip. IVople in our county have sometimes thought when we go to Washington D.C. or somewhere else on county business that we are on vocation which is not the case and I have often invited them to come along to see how busy Eskelsen said. The unit one generator, with an output of 430 megawatts, is jointly owned with the Utah Municipal iower Association. Council holds karaoke contest at high school The Castle Dale Youth City Council recently sponsored a karaoke night at Emery High School. The night of singing and dance was arranged in conjunction with the Youth Safety Council. More than 150 people gathered foi the night. Dory Ibucook wxm first place in the karaoke contest, taking home $ 100. Shop Emery winners Winners In the Shop Emery County campaign for the week of Nov. 24 arc: Dan Harding $15 Gift Certificate to DeJaVu Restaurant Victoria Jacobsen - $25 Gift Certificate toJAD Automotive Darrol Jensen Karl's Bargains t - Pizza Certificate from BKs Stop n Shop Fbr the week of Pec. 1: Denise Christmas - $25 Gif. Certificate to lYiperWorks Brent Ungerman - $25 Gift Certificate to Thrlf T- HhkI Tbwn Julie 1 iurst - $25 Gift Certificate to -- Conlinuod on PAGE 3A. Continued on PAGE 2A. V page pact the company's ability to serve the electric requirements of customers, Eskelsen said. Utah Power is still assessing the damage to the generator and no estimate of repair time has been made. The cause of the incident has yet to be determined, according to Eskelsen. Disassembly and examination of the generator is continuing and the initial assessment showed damage to the generator, but the extent of the damage is still under investigation, |