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Buster 8MlP BE J i- - r MESSENGER Don Norton president of Far West Bank explains Far West takeover of Bank of Ephraim to a PHOTO FILE customer Top 10 from A and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have offered rewards totaling $8500 Gunnison chief police The suicide death of former Gunnison police chief Joe L Christensen in Nos ember 1457th returns shocked the county Gunnison Valley in particular and brought a ilistmbing end to a story that hud involved Chnstenscn since 200V In May of last year the Utah Attorney General’s Office filed criminal charges against Chnstenscn alleging that he had used Ins position to access government records regarding a Cedar City woman who had accused of rape his In September the same year Chnstensen was filed from his position w ith Gunnison City though Mayor Scott Ifermansen said the charges against Christensen "had no significant role" in the termination Meanwhile Christensen's wife pleaded no contest in Third District Court to one count of fraud for uncommunications truthfully signing a document stating that she was a health professional in ordet to obtain private medical records on the same Cedar City woman Last Christensen May pleaded counts against him plea call Tiff hey nally planned Oil exploration bar- may begin gain I They were scheduled to return home at the beginning of May But families were disappointed when only a week after the announcement of their return it was reported that members of the 1457th had been recalled due to insurgent uprisings A week after that the homecoming was on again after Army officials decided the battalion’s equipment wasn’t in good enough shape to support continued activity in the Middle Fast Members of the battalion returned in early May as origi- to two of the in a The US Army Sanpete families took on a ride earlier this year when it announced that the 1457th Combat Engineer Battalion would be returning home from Iraq then reversed that announcement then reversed the reversal The 1457th was activated in February 2003 to support the First Armored Infantry Division in Iraq many Last summer the Sanpete County Commission granted a conditional use permit that paved the way for oil exploration in the slaughter A biaire crime involving over 11(H) turkeys surprised tui key producer Jason Sunderland in Tebiuary county Wolverine Gas and Oil a company based in Grand Rapids Mich built an oil well east of Sigurd in Sevier County and started pumping around 600 barrels daily Soon after commissioners issued the permit Sanpete residents began receiving phone calls and visits from various energy On Feb 8 workers at the Sundeiland tui key farm notified him that many tin key chicks had been clubbed to death the previous night Sundeiland estimated the actual loss to be around $5100 but a spokesperson from the Moroni Processing Plant said that in terms of potential income had the turkeys been raised to inability and sold the loss was close to $22000 companies seeking to purchase or lease mineral rights necessary to allow oil exploration It had long been known that Sanpete County is dotted w ith oil deposits but until recently extracting the oil has been Sanpete County sheriff deputies investigated the incident with few results As of this week authorities are still following up on leads and tips Moroni Feed Co the Utah Farm Bureau the Utah Farmer’s Union an anonymous individual New technologies that make drilling affordable could lead to a quasi in the area But officials from energy companies have downplayed expectations ® by fire that A fire Canslowly burning in yon since July 27 erupted into a major blaze over Labor Day weekend creating billows of smoke visible throughout the Central Utah region High winds and hot temperatures contributed to the and although US Forest Service officials maintained that the blae was never out of control they admitted that its speed and intensity took them by surprise The fire missed being declared a wildfire but just barely The fire took an unexpected turn a couple weeks later and blaed to within feet of the western boundary of the National Forest near Sterling The fire burned over 4000 acres of forest that had been designated lor prescribed burns later in the year 0 Since the election Sanpete MessenDean signed a deal wherein she acquired the Gunnison Valley News and the Salina Sun from Jim Olsen who had owned the papers for over a decade Dean subsequently sold the Sun and on Sept the Gunnison Valley News became the Sanpete Messenger Gunnison Valley Edition August ger publisher Suzanne © troversy that has followed rounds out this year’s list of major news stories Sanpete County commissioners seemed favorable to the proposal at first granting a conand indicating willingness to use the county’s bonding authority as a way for Pretty Shield to get the necessary capital to build the school Local residents however opposed the school vocifer- IV Sedation Available Missionary Discounts Insurance and TOLL-FRE- Medicaid ¥? 801-486- make sure the proposed is financially viable ordinance Anonymous Meetings in Sanpete Mon: 7 Casino Pleasant pm MATR Treatment Center 265 N State Tues: 7 pm Snow College Greenwood Student Center upstairs Fri: 7 pm Manti 450 S 600 W meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend All For more information on NA or call £loWOllt 3 I Day! I of Operation: (houf 248(hou 25 (CLOSED) (hoo 51 6 SouthfcSafttakfi wwwfir® workicom Star Theatre FOR ALL AGES Fri Sat Canals General Dentistry Children's Dentistry Extractions and Wisdom Dentures CLOSED 687 Sdmm SUNDAYS s Ephraim Starts Friday 9:00 645 Sat Matinee 430 Finding NeverlandIPG Starts Friday 6:15 8:45 Sat Matinee 345 The Work The and Glory pg nmi Sanpete News Company Inc publishing the GUNNISON VALLEY Messenger pm 7 9 pm pm and Children Deadlines casinostartheatreorg - Post Office & 528-STA- Contact Information UPS Copyright Sanpete News Company lnc©2004 All rights served Reproduction or transmittal of all matter herein is prohibited without prior written permission of the publisher Published each Wednesday for 75c each $2400 inside Sanpete County $2700 outside Sanpete County by Sanpete News Company Inc 35 S Main Manti Utah 84642 Phone 435 - 835 - 4241 fax publisher at: suzannesanpetemessengercom sports to: sportssanpetemessengercom school items to: school sanpetemessengercom to: news news sanpetemessengercom ads to: ads sanpetemessengercom Deadline: Thursday 5 pm Manti: 35 S Main Hours: 9 am to 6 pm Periodicals Postage Paid at Manti Utah 84642 and at additional mailing offices POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Sanpete Messenger 35 S Main Manti Utah 84642 Editor & Publisher Associate Publisher Senior Reporter Manti Ftn Green Gunnison Centerlield Axtell Moroni Mayfield Spring City Staff Writers Sports Writers Photographers 3 Bargain Night! seats S30Q All edition Member Utah Press H Association and under: S3DQ Jan 1834 S State Orem t TO CHANGE Suzanne Dean Lloyd Call Hales John Hales Jacque Marsh Lindsay Kogianes Kelly Hancock Sean Staff Gunnison 279 AMs7$S Seniors II Teeth $350 $350 MOVIES SUBJECT Assignment Reporter Office Manager Administrative Assistant Webmaster 7 Root $550 SENIORS: 6 PM) AND TUE NIGHTS rMMii Mt ordinance 124 W BurtoriAvtfT2360 & MATINEES school E MEDICAID ACCEPTED W4 Narcotics -1 and other expenses Recently commissioners have put the brakes on the bonding process in order to City the says Buster’s sweet spirit will be missed “I think it will hit the children hardest when they go back Birch a representative of Pretty Shield promised that the school would bring jobs to the area comply with public approved sented it to the family Buster had nearly finished his “Twelve Days of Christmas” drawings at school The teacher bound them for the family Most of the class many teachers EMTs nurses and neighbors attended the funeral About 10 boys in Buster’s Cub Scout pack attended in uniform A trust fund has been established at Gunnison Valley Bank to help the family with the funeral thing was wrong “He said he was okay and he seemed okay" she ously even though Gordon hearing requirements The council rescinded the vole with a promise to rehear the issue Another vote was taken in March and council again have been prevented Wilson has gone over everything that happened in the last several weeks “We took him to the hospital the week of Thanksgiving with a bad asthma attack” she says After that she asked him frequently if he was sick or if any- ADULTS: A proposal by Pretty of Montana Shield Foundation school to build an alternative and the connear Mt Pleasant 106 acres to acre sparking a debate that divided the city for nearly a year The vote to adopt the ordinance was made after a public hearing that some residents said not class wrote a memory of Buster for the family The students were scheduled to make gingerbread houses on the Monday following the death They made a gingerbread house in Buster’s memory and pre- The grandma asks what if she hadn't been sick and the kids had been at her house as planned An older sister wonders whether i' she hadn’t yelled or got mad at Lu brother the incident could CHILDREN Pretty Shield WAREHOUSE Service was phenomenal” says Agren Buster’s Paul Childs arranged for the photography studio that took class pictures to enlarge and frame Buster’s photo for display at the Every student in the viewing teacher ary meeting Last January the Spring City Council approved a zoning ordinance that reduced minimum lot sie in the city from did the city’s planning and zoning committee has submitted a zoning ordinance that holds the minimum lot sie to 06 acres to the city council The issue is on the agenda for the council's Janu- school expands September Sanpete News Co took another step towai d becoming a eountywide news operation ©Spring approval prompted a movement to put a referendum on the issue on the November ballot Nearly 70 percent of voters voted “yes” nullifying the ordinance as passed by the city council citicns’ ditional use permit for the Messenger In In vote a The had been imm Emergency low the example of the parents” An outpouring of love and support has come from family friends the school and the community ‘The school’s response his play A child's lack of judgment apparently did the rest “What if it is all you think about” says Wilson “What if I had checked on him sooner?” J (Continued to didn’t but we had a good talk” Buster’s closet door was close to Tying a sheet to the doorknob stringing it over the door and tying it to himself may have simply been a part of V— Sir S' school” Wilson says The family is in counseling with LDS Social Services “It was husjust easier for me and my band to go and show the kids that learnWe are about talk can you ing we have to get back in a normal routine because kids do fol- (Continued from Al) his favorite movie stories “He played the Mummy or Star Wars Spiderman or Batman” says his mom “He loved to play Lilo and Stitch and act out the scenes” Not long ago he jumped off the roof while playing like he was Spiderman “I thought he would break a leg” says Wilson “He iiwi mrva YOUR RANK SHOULD WHAT Wednesday December 29 2004 Valley Edition Messenger-Gunniso- Columnists Jana Wahlquist Judy Chantry C R Truitt Darlene Agren Elva Jensen Audrey Boore Margaret Amy Holly Nicholes Erika Johnson Kathy Eggleston Doug Johnson Jeff Ericksen Craig Cox and Coaches Sean Hales Vem Buchanan Peter Goss Russ Beck Roger Baker Corrie Lynn Player Contributing Writers Karen Buchanan Anita Lyons I |