Show t l r (I) UT i Serving Utah's Great Pahvant Valley & """""7 OJJ Singlr USPS LeeAnne Massa has spent several hows 'evMng nqic ia as Vol 89 No and proposed 16 ifnls "5 ( opy October 28 1999 bill Legislator and liquor store contractor promote bill Delta Massa Three marijuana plants were discovered by Millard County Shenff Deputies dunng a search Monday Oct 18 The plants were found on a farm wagon near Deseret Deputy Shenff Jeff Whatcott is conducting an investigation Dating violence may be problem for many teens By Kaihy Walker Parents may discuss topics of drug use and sex with their teens without addressing the dynamics of abusive relationships during the dating years Teenagers often inexperienced ith dating do not have the knowledge of what is appropriate behavior Dating violence affects one out of eight teen couples and can occur at any time in the relationship "When we discussed subjects of concern with the high school principals in Delta and Fillmore both said dating violence was a problem and should be dressed" said Janet Lindquist Sheriff Office Volunteer Coordinator "Deputy Garth White along with Mary Gull from the Utah Attorney General's Office and myself presented a program discussing the issue at each high school We scheduled a similar session in the evening for parents but no one showed in Delta or Fillmore think there is a lot of denial w ith teens and parents may not be aware of the situation" As with domestic violence dating violence knows no religious racial or cultural barriers Violent behavior stems from the need for power and control The abuse is not just physical it can be emotional verbal and sexual as well It can include yelling threatening intimidation and extreme possessiveness Even one act of abuse is unacceptable and should be taken seriously Lindquist said "During our presentation we acted out several scenarios facing one ation the girl becomes excessively jealous and tries to control her bo friend any way she can When she sees he is serious about terminating the relationship she threatens to kill herself" Lindquist said "In the negative version the boy friend apologizes and decides to stay in the relationship while she continues to control him In the positiv e scene the bov friend tells her she is out of control He leaves the relationship but offers to support her by going to the school counselor w ith her" Teens faced ith the peer pressure of belonging to a group and being involved in a dating relationship are often w illing to tolerate unacceptable behav ior They may see jealousy and iolence as signs of affection and caring Many young women are insecure and stay in the relationship out of fear they w ill never find another bov friend They are confused between love and commitment versusjealousy and possessiveness They may also not know how to negotiate differences ersus intimidation and control Victims of dating iolence get caught in the same cv cle of iolence that occurs in domestic violence The cy cle begins w ith teens grow ing tension including In verbal situ- and emo- tional harassment that leads to violence followed by a honeymoon period During this period the abuser apologizes and promises never to be abusive again Victims must be educated and learn dating rights Dating rights include the right to be treated ith respect Teens must leam no one deserv es to be abused and they are not responsible for their partners' behav ior Staving in the relationship will not stop the abuse and over time the abuse gets worse It is easy to stand outside a violent lationship and tell the victim to just get out However adults and peers must get into the right frame of mind w hen dealing ith dating violence Lindquist said Don't ask blaming questions or pressure teens to make quick decisions or forbid them to see each other Instead listen believe and validate their experience Assist them in getting out of the relationship either w ith professional help or getting legal or other protection if necessary Sometimes regardless of w hat is done a violent incident will occur Teens should hav e a safe plan to help evaluate the situation and get help On a first date they should go with another couple or in a group and stay in public places Someone should know where they are going and when they plan to return Victims of dating violence should avoid contact w ith the offender and know where to go and w hat to do to escape Educating teens about dating violence might not only deter them from being volved in a violent relationship during their teenage years but may also prevent them from becoming victims of domestic violence during their adulthood liquor tore is in a operator situation It ec Vine She con- tracts w ith ihc stale to operate a package store to sell alcoholic bev erace he payment schedbased on a set scale ule barely covers expenses and the only way to increase her income is to sell more with llah law which This conflicts liquor prohibits the promotion or encouragement of the sale of alcoholic beverages "It is clearly illegal to try to sell more alcohol However small retail liquor outlets receive a flat payment each month based on the cases sold per month" Massa said "lhat payment has to cover rent utilities wages taxes arid other operating expenses What's left is not even minimum wage" Operators are required to sign a non negotiable contract based on a payment schedule that has not been reevaluated since 1991 About 33 other small liquor outlets in rural llah are facing the same problems as Massa Representative Mike Stylcr said last week the state contracts may be illegal since they encourage package agency operators to sell more to earn more Sty ler is working to correct the problem last year he sponsored two bills one to immediately increase store operators compensation levels by 14 percent The other would then tie monthly ments in their contracts to cost of living increases The Legislature's business Economic vclopmeni Committee support the pay hike and asked Sty ler The issue w ill be to combine the two bills brought back to the November monthly interim meeting "Each year the Liquor Lund brings aboul $28 million into the state's general fund We need a one time cost of about $ 301M h to compensate liquor store operators 14 After that a cost of living percent crease of percent comparable to that received each year by state employees lor itni the state ioct! ervt'n lC Kcr mmissir I a- - 1 6 envi vo':l is :! c Dcparvx-be I ontrol - "c humps bKty for aioi-uvl I: im'rois tones Je'envMc aHj!u' outie's !ics prijv vCiwlets an J roponsirc lor eve trol o er liquor polnes lie N!N porsoreJ weil on their wav hev ncel J tumrg whivb is bcng Jonc as the bd s passage an J sve iKeviale the prof' em tor state er it " out- ere ear !aie expect some a ay to paskage ugciK ies" My er viij s lo or is not to pcJv''e "My work under the law to control UK sale ot ach anei MillarJ I ounty a'cotiol in cir operating cOs's increase and to meet those costs an increase in compensation Massa said ri ric'cessarx LeeAnne Massa would require about " sty ler said Mthough agency operators are not state employees they do contract with the state and deserve to be compensated " tah operates a liquor monopoly on distribution and vile of all alcoholic he beer conhcv erages except light beer tains not more than 32 percent alcohol content by weight he state began operating the monopoly shortly after the peal ol the fe'eral prohibition amendment in 1933 The sys:em has been modified somew hat in recent ears he state's basic policy is they should alcoholic operate beverage control as a public business Although one main purpose of the sy stem is to control the distribution of alcohol to discourage abuse it produces a substantial amount of revenue the °s s V Rep Mike Styler Avoid becoming victim of identity fraud Identity fraud is on the rise Often the first notice consumers get that someone has fraudulently assumed their identity is either a call from a collection agency demanding payment on an overdue credit account they never opened or when their own monthly billing statements do not arrive in the mail They find out the dress on their account has been changed by an identity thief Most victims never learn how the identity thieves accessed their personal identifying information It may be impossible for a consumer to prevent access to all his or her personal information which is so readily available to thieves from a variety of sources Consumers may not be able to prevent fraud entirely but the Utah Department of Commerce said preventative steps to close some avenues of identity fraud is possible Always question the information gathering nd handlmg practices of merchants financial institutions creditors government agencies employers and others Ask if they really need the information for a valid purpose Never provide personal bank account or credit card information to telephone solicitors Instead it v advisable to demand they mail the information Keep items with personal information OR COPY in a safe place keep a list of credit cards account numbers expiration dales and customer service phone numbers in a secure place Notify creditors immediately if cards are lost or stolen Tear up and destroy all ATM and bank receipts old insurance forms bank checks expired credit cards and any other information that includes personal information This includes credit card solicitations Thieves often search through garbage to find these forms and use it to in your name apply for credit Minimize the number of credit cards and items with personal printed information carried Cancel all inactive accounts Even those that are not used appear on credit reports and can be used by thieves Do not leave envelopes containing checks in your home mailbox unless it is secured Due to the increased risk of theft it is best to mail bills and other sensitive items at the post office rather than from home When creating a password or PINs do not use the last four digits of Social Security numbers birth date middle name mother's maiden name address or anything else that could be easily discovered Ask to have an alternative number where social security numbers arc used for identification by schools employers or other institutions Resist writing social security numbers on checks and destroy or delete social security numbers from any documents before throwing them away Do not give or write down name and address in conjunction with a credit card sale Write Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service at PO Box 9008 Farmingdalc N Y 734 to have name and address deleted from marketers' lists also write Telephone Preference Services at PO Box 901 5 Farmingdalc NY 735 Obtain a copy of credit reports on a regular basis to monitor for changed dresses and fraudulent account information Check billing statements monthly for fraudulent charges and report immediately If statements do not arrive on time it may be a fraudulent change of address was sent to the creditor or post office Call the creditor first and then post office to see if a change of address has been filed Brightly colored gimmicks from banks are easily converted to fraudulent accounts Always tear up credit card applications before throwing ihctn away Credit card solicitations are lists of credit generated from reports provided by credit bureaus each of the three big creuil bureaus to lists remove name from Many yards in Millard County reflect the owners delight in decorating for the season Tips from the Sheriffs Office Halloween Safety arc tinysMKMxxisuxmm ikWmECTMcicmKs caw a wwucht am |