Show Serving Utah’s Great Pahvant Valley £ficy5Qc USPS Becomes law Apr 15 people could get some benefits out of it We need to get the people cognizant of it and get them started applying” In addition to those unwitting downwind participants to the tests some uranium miners may also be compensated under provisions of the bill The Act was sponsored by Sen Orrin Hatch and Rep Wayne Owens It resulted from a lengthy legal effort by “Downwinders” and others to make the federal government accountable if not liable for damage caused by atom bomb tests conducted at the height of the Cold War Published as part of the Act is a finding that "fallout emitted during the Government’s nuclear tests in Nevada exposed individuals who lived in the downwind affected areas in Nevada Utah and Arizona to radiation that is presumed tohave generated an excess of cancers among these The United States should individuals Fillmore is 191 years old Monday Jan 7 1991 is the 191 st 3th presibirthday of Millard Fillmore dent of the United States Millard County and the city of Fillmore arc named after him Dedicated followers of Fillmore pauseeach year at this time to honor him in what they call “a Millard moment of silent meditation” The public is invited to the annual birthday celebration at the city library Wednesday Jan 8 According to librarian Gwen Hunter "something special" is planned for that day between 6 pm and 8 pm Entertainment wi'l be provided by sixth grade singers and a Whatit contest from the Slatehouse Museum Refreshments will be served Antiques will be on display through Monday Jan 14 Three years ago a portrait of Fillmore was donated to the Fillmore library by Dr A Blaine Huntsman The portrait is on display at the entrance to the library Huntsmanbought thchisloric photograph taken by photography pioneer Matthew Brady from the Library of Congress Bom in Summcrhill New York and trained as a lawyer Fillmore was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1832 He served from and again from In 1848 he was nominated by the Whig Party to run for the vice presidency with Zachery Taylor Fillmore became president in 1850 when Taylor died in office Fillmore served only two and a half years recognize and assume responsibility for the harm done to these individuals and the Congress recognizes that the lives and health of uranium miners and of innocent individuals who lived downwind from the Nevada tests were involuntarily subjected to increased risk of injury and disease to serve the national secunty interest of the United States" The Act contains an official apology “The Congress apologizes on behalf of the Nation to the individuals described in subsection (a) and their families for the hardships they have endured” Adding some weight to the apology is authorization for a S100 million appropriation to stock a "Radiation Exposure Compensation T rust Fund” tom ake partial restitution to “individuals described in subsection (a)" Qualifying Downwinders may ceive $50000 in compensation under provisions of the bill Uranium miners if they qualify may receive $100000 The bill strictly defines who is eligible to file aclaim and be compensated Those filing claims related to childhood leukemia or other "specified diseases” for themselves or on behalf of someone must have been exposed before the age of 21 present in the affected area for at least one year betweenJan 21 1951 and Oct 31 1958 or present in the affected area between June 30 1962 and July 31 1962 submit written medical documentation that leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia) or other disease was contracted between two and 30 years of exposure to fallout and file a claim with the Attorney General The affected area defined in the bill Iron includes Millard Washington -- 11947 and Dec betweenJan 31 1971 submit medical documents to prove they developed lung cancer or a nonmalignant respiratory disease after a certain period of exposure The length of exposure defined in the bill is different for smokers and Claimants may be individuals who meet the eligibility criteria themselves or their survivors Eligible survivors are strictly defined in the bill The U S Attorney General reviews applications The bill also contains provisions to pay attorneys who help radiation victims or their heirs apply for benefits 0 percent of the federal payments Rep James Hansen said he wants to change that provision when Congress reconvenes in early January "The money is there for the Down winders” Hansen said “not to enrich attorneys” He said he wants to permit attorney fees only in cases where initial compensation claims were denied Complete text of the Downwinders’ bill can be seen anywhere copies of the US Code is routinely kept which cludes some local attorney offices the county law library in Fi'lmorc BYU Univ of Utah and elsewhere The US Attorney General's office in Salt Lake City has copies of the bill and claim forms A copy of the bill is on hand at the Chronicle Progress office in Delta New powerline opposed Millard Fillmore His most significant achievement as president was a trade agreement with Japan He also supported the compromise of 850 an attempt to ease growing tensions between the North and South Fillmore himself opposed slavery but analysts today say h is support for the 1850 compromise ended his chances of He left office on March 4 1853 after his party the Whig's failed to renominate him He retired from public life in 1856 after an unsuccessful candidacy for the Party Fillmore died in 1874 Democrat Harry M Reid Nevada's senior senator is opposed to efforts to build a high voltage powerline from Utah to Southern California The line is proposed to stretch from the Intermountain Power Project north of Delta south toward Las Vegas in one scenario or west to Ely in another Deseret Generation & Transmission is counting on using the line to provide access for key power sales to California markets DG&T forestalled bankruptcy this fall restructuring its $1 billion debt on construction of it’s power plant near Vemal by tying future sales of power to Southern California through the proposed line going to wind up with about 12 people who are ready to go to work" The advocates represent a good cross he said section of the community "We’re very happy with the people that we were able to get involved in the program They’re the kind that you’d ask for but they volunteered” relaThe initial contact tionship between a crime victim and an advocate is programmed under strict guidelines geared to protect the privacy of the victim Peterson and said The first training course consisted of about nine hours in four sessions The new advocates were trained in the emotional trauma understanding crime victims face and how to help them cope with it understanding police the vestigation and court procedure advocates role ics in the program and Fire destroys Garrison home A family of 10 was left homeless Friday morning Dee 28 after a fire destroyed a house and adjacent mobile home in Garrison No injuries resulted from the blaze that leveled the structures of James and Pamela Wheeler and their eight children ages 5 to 17 The fire was reported at about 5 am Millard County Sheriffs Sgt Charles Stewart said exact cause is still under investigation but it may be related to the electrical wiring He said there was no damage estimate available The fire was reported when the chil THE eth- dren awoke and went to a neighbor Firefighters from Ely and Baker Nev and Great Basin National Park sponded and the fire was brought under control at 6:30 a m High winds in the area contributed to the loss Stewart said The Wheeler's lost most of their personal possessions and are staying with relatives in the area The Millard County Sheriff s office reported that donations of clothing and other items were delivered to the family Friday afternoon The program is already being used "One of our advocates was assigned to a case before they even finished the course" Peterson said “first responders” including law enforcement officers medical personnel social workers clergy and school officials are being made aware of the program Law enforcement officers have been very helpful Peterson said "For stance they videotaped all four of our sessions so that in the future instead of conducting new sessions we can basically hand somebody the video tapes and hold a question and answer session with them afterward and handle their training that way” officers also Law enforcement taught parts of the course “They felt this is something that is long overdue” Peterson said "One of the law enforcement people said to these people ‘You’re making history’” The analogy is not overblown he said “We’re the first county to be using this approach that we're aware of" contact between The advocate and victim is unique Peterson said Salt Lake County has had a victims advocate program for a long time “but to my knowledge it’s been more of a clearinghouse approach rather than assigning an advocate to actually work with a client throughout a case” he said Victims rights committees in the Fourth Judicial District (Millard Juab Wasatch and Utah counties) and the Fifth Judicial District (Beaver Iron and Washington counties) are studying the pilot program LEONARDO TRIO 3 1991 Reid said he “will do everything I can” to stop the project He is expected to focus on a bill sponsored by Rep See POWERLINE Pg 3 a All District 5th Grade All 8th District Grade All District th Grade Farm Bureau likes plan Officials of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation say they arc generally pleased with the Bureau of Land Management's wilderness review process and now call on Utah's congressional delegation to move swi ftly to resolve the question of how many acres of BLM wilderness will actually be designated in Utah According to L'FB President Ken Ashby Delta Farm Bureau can find no fault in the processes used by the BLM that just in making a recommendation over 9 million acres of wilderness be designated on that agency’s lands in the state “All sectors of the public have been allowed to make input into tins decision and all special interests have been heard” Ashby said "Farm Bureau believes that all Utahns have been well served by the BLM’s review process and now the real debate will begin over how many of these acres really Utah can afford to lock up under the criteria of the 964 W Act" he said Ashby said charges by some organizations that the process was flawed serve only to underline the selfishness of these groups “That statement reflects only their opinion and does not properly credit the many hundreds of hours of evaluation study and testimony by all parties that have been put into the BLM’s decision” Ashby said “Simply put this is the process and to say after the fact that the process is flawed is just a lot of sour grapes “That kind of attitude just removes these people from credible participation in the process in our view” he said The BLM classification of 19 million acres now goes before executive and congressional scrutiny Two proposals have been put forth by Utah congressmen: a 14 million acre proposal by First District Congressman Jim Hansen which Ashby says may gain support among rural Utahns sportsmen advocates including and multiple-us- See BUREAU Pg 3 Delta Hospital First crime victim advocates trained by Ken Rand The first group of volunteer crime victim advocates have been trained and have begun serving crime victims in Millard County The new program provides volunteer advocates who are trained to help citizens cope with trauma associated with being a crime victim including courtcomroom procedure investigations pensation emotional and medical care Unlike similar programs the advocates basis work with victims on a The program is administered by Victim Assistance Joyce Beckstrand Coordinator in the Deputy County AtIt was torney’s office in Fillmore funded by a state grant Four of the original 19 volunteers have completed the training course we scheduled it at a “Unfortunately busy time of the year” County Attorney Warren Peterson said “I expect we’re 24 January Millard County students faired well in SAT tests taken this fall according report from the Millard School District The 1990 state legislature passed bills dealing with testing and accountability at Utah sJ'onls The bills mandated that the same achievement tests be given to all fifth eighth and llh grade students m the state Millard School District tested students in late September and early October “The results of this test were quite positive for the district at the same time the district pointing out some areas for improvement and concentration" report said Statewide Utah students were above the national norm of 50 percent in all fell where they areas except LanguageEnglish slightly below norm Millard results show that 5th grade students scored well above the norm in all but Languarge where the score was 48 percentile The 8th grade continued the pattern of a lower score in Language with 41 percentile while the llh grade had its lowest score in Language but above the national norm at 51 percentile A breakdown of the Millard District student scores compared to Utah erages shows the following: to Kane Garfield Sevier PcaPiute counties in Utah p u southern Nevada and parts of Ar on The term “specified diseases” s ai strictly defined in the bill and at length Uranium miners are also eligible file claims if they work eel in mines in C olorado New Mexico Arizona Utah and Wyoming 81 No Local SAT scores in Downwinders bill text released by Ken Rand Congress has released text of Public Law the “Radiation Exposure Compensation Act” or “Downwinders’ Bill" as it is commonly called The Act was signed by President Bush Oct 15 1990 It becomes law April 15 1991 The Act is meant to compensate victims injured by exposure to radioactive fallout from atom bomb testing at the Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas during the 1950s and early 1960s Millard County is the northernmost area defined in the Act as “affected areas” “The old timers here used to get their Geiger counters excited every little while after an explosion” Dr Melvin Lyman Delta said “They had a lot of fallout here” Lyman said there may be hundreds of local residents who may qualify for benefits but may not know it “Some have died or moved away but surviving Vol gets new doctor Left to right: Frank Baker Gary Stay Mike Patient lounge dedicated at Employees of the Fillmore Hospital and members of the county commission were proud to officially dedicate the new patients lounge after a year of planning The hospital’s administration joined forces with the county commission to provide the new addition "We have long term care patients and we simply had no place for them to gather" said Hospital Administrator Gary Stay "When you are taking care of older people there are certain needs such as group activities that must be addressed The hospital had an existing outdoor porch area which was not used We met as a staff and decided to box in the porch area This was an inexpensive way to meet a community need" said Stay A construction crew from Utah Valley Regional Medical Center built the new addition The decorating and furnishing of the room is to be provided by the hospital Pink Lady Volunteers The room was dedicated during the annual Thanksgiving dinner provided for the patients and their families by the hospital staff on November 21 Frank Styler FCMC Baker and Mike Styler participated in the official ribbon cutting to honor the occasion A large screen television was donated for the nw room by Leo and Shirley Robins of Scipio “Both of Leo’s parents had been at our hospital at one time or another and he was so impressed with the care his parents received that he wanted to give something back" said Assistant Elva Rich Administrative man “He told me "you cannot buy with money the care my mother received because she didn’t receive care she received love” The Volunteers saved their money through two years of fund raisers to purchase items for the new area The gift amounted to about $4000 which is to be used for furnishings such as a sink for washing hair window blinds and elevated chairs “The nice thing about a small town and a small hospital is that the employees arc taking care of people they know so it really makes it special for the employees The care the patients Richman receive here is excellent" said Delta Community Medical Center will get a new family practice physician next summer Dr Alan Smith is now chief resident at Hospital family practice program in Ogden When he finishes his residency there he will move to Delta He will start work here Aug He is a graduate of the University of Utah Smith and his wife Jackie have three children Both have family in Beaver Correction The Chronicle Progress ported in error last week that Russell Stewart was operating a loading boom when he was killed Thursday Dec 20 as the boom came in contact with an overhead powcrlinc The information was a misunof communication derstanding with a Union Pacific official To clarify Darrel Willdenone of Stewart's supervisors said he was told by investigators that Stewart was standing on the back ofhis truck directing another crane operator where to place a piece of guard rail on Stewart's truck Stewart was touching the rail when the boom it was suspended from made contact with the overhead wires electrocuting Stewart Willden said it appeared neither men noticed the wires Monday January 7 7:30 Delta High Auditorium '! Co PM Tickets $300 each or $1000 family West Millard Cultural Council |