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Show INSIDE this weeks Express WEDNESDAY, December 25, 1985 TOUGHLOVE group organized Christmas traditions old and new Sub for Santa a success Nurses capping ceremony Holiday driving guide J V beats Green River Vernal, Utah 84078 93rd Year No. 103 32 Pages Editorial Single Copy 25 2,3.4 Public Notices 8 9 Classified Ads Expressions 10 11 13 20 Sports 22 27 12 13 17 20 21 22 TV Guide 5 6 L to lendl i tfymdls x 4 x Small businesses trying to get started in the Uintah Basin may be y eligible for low interest loans if a proposal to create a sinking fund for some $300,000 in Community Development Block Grants is approved. The option is being proposed by the Uintah Basin Association of Governments with support from the representatives of three counties. Last year the distribution of Community Block Grant funds was based on applications of Uintah Basin entities backing individual projects. The remaining funds are distributed according to population. The funds would be used to help small businesses get started, instead of supporting pet projects, said Uintah County Commissioner Neal Domgaard, about the proposal. Areas such as Altamont and Myton will not benefit from the revolving loan fund and will likely support their own projects, but other cities and the three counties are considering the idea. , City Manager Kenneth Bassett, also a member of the UBAG board, said that the Vernal City Council has not considered the option, but will do three-count- so - Jan. 15. Last year Vernal City received a grant to upgrade a parking lot north oftheU.S. Post Office. At last Wednesdays Vernal City public hearing for input on projects for community block grant, no one showed, Bassett said. Uintah Countys first hearing, however, had three applications for projects. Gayle Drollinger, director of the Uintah County Preschool Service, Monday requested that the commissioners purchase a van to transport handicapped students to and from the school. The program is expanding into the westside of Uintah County where there are 30 severely handicapped students, Mrs. Drollinger said. To start the program we need of some transportation type assistance. Commissioner Bryce Caldwell questioned the liability of the county if it purchases the van. Mrs. Drollinger said the preschool would furnish the driver, if the county would furnish the van. Ralph Siddoway, director of the Golden Age Center, requested expansion for a stage area and to the pool room to accommodate the heavy use the facility has been experiencing. The allow expansion of a stage area would more room for the centers nutrition to program which offers noon meals the elderly. Sen. Gam, the projects chief congressional advocate, had given the Seep Ridge Project up for dead, after a behind the scenes effort to save it from a congressional onslaught. But the Synfuel projects chief enemy Rep. Silvio Conte, after attacking the Seep Ridge project two days before on the House floor, apparently changed his mind and decided the eastern Utah oil shale project was useful. The two congressmen have a verbal agreement that a portion of the I The center currently owns two additional pool tables, but because there is not room for them, they are not receiving the use they should, Siddoway said. Total cost of the two expansions for the center is $47,000. Doug Gayle, Social Services, requested matching money for a van. Gayle said he supported the sinking fund option. With the number of business failures, it would have to be a viable business before a loan would be made, Commissioner Caldwell said. Vernal City and Uintah County will have a second public hearing before making a final decision on the Community Block Grants. UBAG is administering the award of CDBG funds and a board composed of its staff and elected officials of all county and city agencies will make the final decision on the award of the funds. Seep Ridge snared in demise of synfuels funds Representative Howard Nielson, spoke out firmly from the House floor last week in support of the Seep Ridge Project and the U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation, but his voice fell on deaf ears. A continuing resolution approved by Congress last week sliced $6.3 billion for the SFCs funds for loan and price guarantees and gave the SFC 60 days to close up. Both Rep. Nielson and Sen. Jake are working to tap Garn, some of the $350 million closing cost still remaining of SFC funds. 7 ings of the SFC has been $2 milliog ' Utah Congressmen are still holding to a promise that the remaining' funds for the SFC will be used for closing costs of the SFC will be used for the Seep Ridge Oil Shale Project in southwestern Uintah County. The project is supported by several environmental projects, it is a proven process, there is no problem with spent shale, Rep. Nielson said from the House floor. All we want to do is produce a 1,100 barrel per day plant. Sponsors of the Seep Ridge Project, Geokinetics Inc. and the Gilbert Shale Oil Company have been negotiating with the SFC for the past two years trying to secure $184 million of price and loan guarantees. Cost of styling the project to the hk- - . HOW COLD it got the night before can be metered, not in degrees, but in inches of ice that formed the night before on this giant icicle at about 1500 North and 1500 West. The creator of the icicle used a regular garden hose, and Mother Nature did the rest. the Seep Ridge Project. Right now that is only a hope, said Ruth Webb, Rep. Nielson press secretary. Seep Ridge, located about 70 miles south of Vernal, was scheduled for approval Dec. 11, but a ruling from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeal pulled the curtains. The SFC board last week decided that it could live with the ruling that gives the Ute Tribe jurisdiction to lands where the Seep Ridge Project is located Two arrested for child abuse court, however. Charges include child rape and sodomy of a child The cases were referred to the police department from doctors at Ashley Valley Medical Center and Primary Childrens Hospital Vernal City Police arrested two Vernal men last week involved in two separate child abuse case. Police are withholding the names of those arrested until the cases get into Audit to validate status of state required auto insurance The first 5,000 names will be chosen about mid January and an additional 5,000 each month thereafter, will be audited for verification of no fault automobile in insurance. The audits are based on a new law passed in 1985 and will go into effect Jan. 1, 1986. Since 1973, Utah law has required insurance on any vehicle with a valid Utah registration and license plate Until 1985 no system of verification was used and the system was operated on an honor system. In 1985 an audit program was established because it was felt that there were too many vehicles that were not insured and in violation of both the law and the honor system, said Rep. Kaye Browning, sponsor of the bill. Many people simply do not read the certification on the renewal registration and hence do not come to grips with what they have agreed to in signing the original or renewal registration application. The provision for the audit provides that one can be exempt from the actions of the audit and from the requirements of the statutes by simply returning the valid license plates to the Division of Motor Vehicles The division will warehouse the plates for the remaining period of the valid registration and return them to the registrant at any time during the valid registration period, when the registrant wishes to operate the vehicle and comply with the requirement for insurance Motorcycles do will not be audited, since the specific coverage audited is for coverage, sometimes referred to as PIP or personal injury protection Compliance with the Utah Continued on page 2 Development of disabled to expand to westside By Traci Menke Express News Writer of During the past few years the needs of developmentally disabled preschool children on the westside of the county have not been completely met and a plan is in the works to correct the problem. Supportors of the preschool services offered in Vernal for children with developmental disabilities are banding together to get a preschool started on the westside. Professional personnel have identified approximately 30 youngsters on the westside as having significant developmental disabilities. The children range in age from birth to five years of age. Approximately 75 percent of these children are Ute Indians living on the reservation areas of Ft. Duchesne, Randlett, children and Whiterocks. will also be served in this program. At the present time there are no facilities in the westside area to meet the needs of these special children. The closest facility is the Uintah County Preschool in Vernal Most families have to travel a least 30 miles one way to bring their children to the school. Non-India- n In many cases, the trip can be a financial hardship for the family particularly if the child needs more than one day of therapy per week. Most of the children are required to come in SIDNEY AND Carol Scholes and their children, Crystal and Dennis, check out toys used in programs at Uintah County Preschool. Dennis is currently on a waiting list to be accepted into the program. k t for treatment for at least two days a week while others require five days treatment. The Head Start program in the Ft Duchesne area meets the needs of the many of the children, but they are not equipped for young infants or severely disabled children. Most of the children that have been identified as developmentally disabled are either too young for the Head Start Program or are to severely involved. Head Start is designed to meet the needs of preschoolers over age three and children with only limited disabilities. In the past, a registered nurse from the Indian Health Services (IHS) went individually to each cf the homes to counsel with parents and meet the medical needs of the young children. However, since the latest nurse left IHS there are no plans at this time to replace her For some time Gayle Drollinger, director of the Uintah County Preschool; Kitty Cesspooch, Head Start child services coordinator; and Forrest Cuch, director of the education division of the Ute Tribe, have worked to get a preschool started on the westside. Approximately one w'eek ago, the Ute Tribe Business Committee agreed to support the concept of the preschool even though they are not in a position to offer total financial support. Supporters of the preschool have estimated that it will take at least to get the program underway. The cost of the preschool will included funding for the facility, staff and transportation to and from the $200,000 school Mrs. Drollinger has been asked to write a grant to obtain funding for the school. Mrs. Drollinger and other supporters of the school also plan to go before the State Legislature for assistance. The program would be set up by the staff at the Uintah County Preschool. Services include physical and speech therapy, parent and developmental training. All staff would be professionals and would require the same training as present staff members. The westside school would also be culturally adopted to meet the needs of the children. A number of parents and relatives of developmentally disabled children have agreed to support the program. Ina Lou Chapoose, education coordinator of Head Start, said she thinks the program would be an asset to that portion of the county. She said many of the families in the Ft. Duchesne area do not have vehicles and are unable to travel to Vernal for services. The residents v . be more apt to bring their children for treatment if help was v available in their immediate J com-murut- None of Mrs. Chapooses own have children developmental disabilities but several of her nieces and nephews have exhibited problems Kitty Cesspooch says the program is desperately needed and is concerned that in many cases treatment is not begun early enough. She said children are born with all types of disabilities and a program closer to the Ft. Duchesne area would be helpful. Another westside family is also hopeful that a preschool can be build in their area. The Sidney Scholes family have a 16 month old son, Dennis, who is in need of services offered by the preschool. Dennis has been afflicted with microscephaly since birth. Doctors are not sure why Dennis contract the problem, but as a result he has a very small head that grows at a below average rate. Between the age of five to 10 months, Dennis head did not normal the impeding grow, developmental process. At the present time, Dennis is on a waiting list for the full services at the Uintah County Preschool. However, Dennis is able to attend the preschool on a limited basis. His mother, Carol, said she is concerned that Dennis will not develop to his full capacities without the therapy programs offered by the preschool. Doctors say they are not sure what capabities Dennis has, but Continued on poge 2 |