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Show SECTION D Daily 3 Herald SATURDAY, MARCH4, 2006 METRO EDITOR| Joe Pyrah - 344-2586 - jpyrah@heraldextra.com Tricky traffic intersection being reviewed Heidi Toth would direct the city staff on whatto do. hazardfor other vehicles. “The reasonis the serious accidents that have occurred The Provo Municipal Council is looking to improve the safety ofa tricky intersection. The problem as council mem- berssee it at Center Street and 900 West is people traveling east on Center Street who, undeterred bythe doubleyellow lines, try to makeleft turns ontostreets there,” said Council Chairman George Stewart. Theproposed solution? Extending the concrete barrier that already separates the traffic all the way to 900 West before 900 West, posing a safety and possiblyevenfarther. The council unofficially voted unanimously to discuss the issue with Mayor LewisBillings who City Engineer Nick Jones said whenhe gets that direction, he will go to the Utah Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over CenterStreet, and askit to evaluatethe situation and discuss potential options. “That intersection’s been an awkwardoneforall these years. andit’s difficult to come up with areal good solution,”he said. The topic cameup, Stewart said, becausehe’stalked to peoplein the neighborhood who have expressed concern with the safety hazards presented by the currentsetup, and he's seen the problems himself. “It had been on myradar,” he said; the work session was the first opportunityto get the council togetherto discuss it, so he tookit. “I thought it was ratherthan just one-on-one because I wantedto get other people's input.” to the businessesin that area. If a hit-and-miss process that includes a numberofsolutions to see what works,but Jones said if cutting off the Jeft turn to eastboundtraffic turns out the barrier goes past 900 West for anotherblock or two, businesses might complain. tobe thesafest, the city may do that if UDOTagreesandif the resources are available. There used to be a barrier there,he said, but it was re- movedto provide better access “It would be inconvenient not to be ableto turnleft at 9th, but I appropriate to bring up there’ er importance,” Stewart said. Findinga solution may be think the safetyissueis of great- Fundit andit will come,” Councilman Steve Turleyjoked at the meeting. TEACHINGTACTICS KINDY 500 RACES INTO LEARNING New ground: Utah Vi‘iley Children’s MuseumDirector Aaron Campbell announces during a press conference Friday that the Children’s Museumwill be completedandopento the publicin Orem Ground brokenfor children’s museum Heidi Toth MayorJerry Washburnsprung a pop quiz on abouta dozenlocal children Fridayafternoon. what was the most resource in Orem?” he Photos by JEREMY HARMON/Daily Heraid Stan tall: Nadene Cope teaches kindergarteners about the Statue of Liberty at Salem Elementary School during the school’s fifth-annual Kindy 500 activity Friday. During the event, children move about the schoolin cardboard cars pretendingto drive across the country. Several knewthe right answer .— fruit. Washburn continued. “What’s Orem's most important resource now? “Children,” called out several mothers Washburn.Lt. Gov. Gary Her- Kindergarten teachers incorporate play, patriotic symbols into learning bert, parents, children and a few legislators were on handfor the groundbreaking of the Utah Valley Children’s Museum, a process , thatstarted three years ago when the women’sdivision of the Provo/ Orem Chamber of Commerce started discussing the idea, Herbert admitted that whenhe first heard elementary hallwaystovisit of it, he wonderedif it would come someofthe nation’s most patriotic symbols — butnot without a few fender bendersalong the way. Camera-bearing family members and elementary studentslined the hallwaysas 83 kindergartners revved their engines and raced — or rather wobbled — within their cardboard carsto kick off the fifth-annual Kindy 500 Friday morning. “Theylive for this day,” Rita Tischner, coordinator and a SalemkinderFoe teacher,said.“It’s just so much to fruition. “I see that what we're doing here is a vision of many people coming together,” he.said at the groundbreaking. Terri Smith, who wasthe president of the women’s division when the idea arose, was recognized for her work and presented with a $360,000 check representing theinkind donations from Midtown Village, the large mixed-use developmentgoingupjust east of the new museum at340 S. Orem Blvd. The developers have been instrumental in getting the museum built. Phase oneof the museumwill cost $1.7 million and will bring in exhibits related to the construction, real estate and development industries. thing they'll always remember.” As drivers weavedin andout from the Lincoln Memorial to a PowerPoint tour of the White House, the students. clutched the mementostheycollected from each room. Thestudents’ excitement and reactions varied as muchasthe colors and bane Ashton ¥ HERAL alem kindergartners,driving in anything from ice cream truckstofire engines, zigzagged throughtheir "But while the group of newly licensed drivers, strapped into Barbie's corvette, semi trucks andracecars, | | maythink Friday was all play, Tisch- ner and Johna Lew,the other kindergarten teacher, had ulterior motives, | shapes of their cars. The White House tour was Kennidee Davis’ favorite stop. Ryan Wildingliked “running aroundin a car” the most. And others,like Reese Limb, couldn't pick a favorite stop. Tischner and Lew are required to teach aboutthe patriotic symbols. Raceto the finish: Kevin Aguilera, 6; and otherkindergarteners get in their cardboardcars during thefifth-annualKindy 500. “It is so much morehands on,” Lew They devised the event around rein-. forcingsomeofthe year's curriculum said about taking learningoutside of — patriotic symbols. the classroom for the day.“It's some- 5 f | h TrixieWalker PJ Wilson smiles whilehissister, Amy,reads NORTH COUNTY STAFF Clutching a blue bunny and don- him a book. PJ ninga red cape similar to Super- has two brain tumors, and man’s, 7-year-old PJ Wilson flashes a big smile while his oldersister, he has had six Amy,reads a Dr. Seuss book to brain surgeries. TRIXIE WALKER North County r f i s Erk f pahae fhe fitine peor about him: Afterthat, A ay oe the scars that crown. ‘his In October, PJ Wilson of Ameri’ oan Fork started having headetal myfather was dying, we thought it was tension,” said his mother, Mary Wilson. “Then lz ’ ibs ; ea WWW.HERALDEXTRA.COM’ —..CALL 375-5103 TO SUBSCRIBE ‘ Tischner matchesthe alphabet,all 26 letters, to a significant American.symbol, and teaches them TREoUETOMthe year. This eventis a culmination everythingthe children have jarred sofar, she said. “I havea real passion forpatriotism,” she said, adding eventslike this helpinstill in students “that sense of ‘I'm proud to be an American.’ ” { See RACES, D3 gh the headaches increased tothree { gg whenit came along,” his mother aday,sowetook himto Primary Children’s Hospital.” Brain scans revealed twotu- said. “Herealized thatthis too will pass.” Wilson's marriage of 20-years mors. Considering what was hap- pening in his brain, doctors were amazed PJ was as active ashe was, _—his mother said. “The doctors explained how they ended two years ago, and she moved to Utah with herchildren. Then her son Kyle,15, was hit by a van andtaken by medical helicopterto the hospital. Daughter Tori, would put in an IV, and PJ asked if —_10,fell out of a window and was they hadto,” Wilson said. “When' said yes, he said ‘That’slife’ held out his arm.” PJhad six brain surgeries during the-two weeks. “The last two years of our lives _ have been one major tragedy after another, so he was prepared for it taken to the hospital by polars “When an ambulance by, the neighbors know it etoeu Wilson said. “Wehavea sick sense of humor. We're making him a Tshirt that says ‘I have brain cancer, : ‘ , | i See SMILES, D3 4 rer] |
