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Show Inside: Its winter, and kids are going to get sick.2 Device could help emergency personnel find you faster.3 Layton artist overcomes obstacies.4 i 13 Eagle Scouts honored at the same time 15 Standard-Examin- er Tuesday, December REPORTERS 1 , 1 998 Local News Editor: 77&4951 SPOTLIGHT: HEALTH h'OTEBGOX GlW Stories Stay active, stay young LIMITS meant as tribute, not Snowbirds to pay about $2.20 more intrusion Snowbirds" who flee the city each winter are going to pay about $2.20 more this year for the trip. The Clearfield City Council Tuesday approved a resolution increasing disconnection and service fees from $25 to $27.20 for those who temporarily leave the city, generally snowbirds.' Members of the council last month requested those a police reporter, which to I have an Im formeans the gory and exciting. , Ive even been accused of being an ambulance chaser. Given, my beat is rarely uplifting, but I do try to make a difference in my stones. Reporting on fatalities is especially difficult because you are dealing with friends and family who are experiencing the strong emotion of loss. Take the loss of thiee young women in a traffic accident in Sunset two weeks ago. Now some believe that reporting on such events is intrusive to a familys right to mourn. I agree it can be. But what Ive discovered is that there are families who value their privacy and there are families who want to share with the community who this person was they loved. You never know until you ask. Prodding a family that does not want to be bothered is fruitless and unprofessional, but as a reporter I am obligated to at least approach them once and let them know that I want to hear what they have to say. Robin Lusby, Shanel Martinez and Hayley Hatch, as well as their surviving friend Krystal Kohler, all left a lasting impression on hundreds of area kids and students at Northndge High School. The news of the Nov. 16 accident left many of them devastated. In such stories I want to do more than just list bare facts. I want to tell a little about who these girls were: what they liked to do, how was then- - outlook on life. Those details, more than anything, speak to the weight of the loss. The day after the accident I went to Northndge High School to talk with students who knew the girls but was told by the school distnct that it was against school policy, Northndge High assistant principal Mike Evans did his best to supply us with yearbook photos and to tell us what he knew about the girls, but it was still his job to follow policy. I respected that. Evans suggested I contact the school distnct office in Farming-to- n to see if there was any way to talk with students. I was told no. In fact, I was lectured by Davis County School District community relations director Sandra Wilkins for intruding on their pnvacy and the privacy of the girls families with my predatory reporter way s. Afterward I felt hke a vulture. It took me a good day to finally talk with family members and fnends, After the story ran Robin Lus-by- 'i mother called, thanking me for running the story on her daughter and friends. She said it was thoughtful and not what she expected from a member of the media. Other fnends and family members also gave me their gratitude. If the families of the girls had not wanted to share with me details, I would have respected that and not bothered them again. But what angers me in such cases is when others act on their behalf to insulate them from the predatory media, thinking they know what is good for them. In that way, the story of these girls would have slipped into POOR COPY CLEARFIELD disconnection and fees for water, sewer and garbage be reviewed to ensure the city was covering its cost. The city previously charged $12.50 per disconnection and $12.50 for The cost will now be $13 60 for disconnection and $13 60 for City Manager Jack Bippes said there are about 25 snowbirds in the city. Toys for Tots receives bicycles IN THE SWIM; Velma Kunz swims a lap during her morning water exercise class at Layton Surf N Swim. Water exercises can be an important part of a seniors health program. Seniors turn to water exercises, weight training and more for seniors. The classes exercise every part of the body including vocal cords. Some seniors are referred by their doctors. Many come for the fun and social contacts. There have been tunes when senior citizens have undergone open heart operations, knee or hip replacements. Their recoveries have been remarkable due to theu physical condition before the operation, Skeen said. Gentle, postoperative exercising is an added plus. A notable achievement occurred one day when one senior citizen came into the water in a wheelchair and could walk back and forth in the pool free from pain and the chair. By JEAN TONT1 Standard Examiner correspondent senior citizens in Davis County, is more to life today than bingo and ceramic classes. New programs have been introduced over the last 20 years that give them more physical health with different opportunities. For example, co-e- d water exercise classes are part of the activities offered to seniors through the Davis County Council of Aging. The Autumn Glow Senior Center in Kays-vil- le sponsors this program in Layton. Shirley Skeen, a water exercise coach, said, This program started 17 years ago as a Layton senior citizen program. The routines were developed by a physical therapist For A person in water weighs only 10 percent of his or her weight, Skeen said. A person must be 59 12 years or older to join the class. Couples sometimes come gethcr (one spouse must be at least 59 12 years old). The social contact is just as important as the physical activity itself. Another exercise is the weight training offered at the Autumn Glow Senior Center m Kaysville. It has been discovered that this type of physical exercise helps the bones. It is also of benefit in the treatment of osteoporosis. Line dancing is also a popular form of exercise for seniors. See SENIORS2 Contributions to annual MS Walk make this woman a winner By RICH SASKAL Standard Examiner stall Hutchison lost career to sclerosis. But shes put her professional ability to work for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. As a result, shes been named the societys 1998 Ogden volunteer of the year. Hutchison was a conference planner for a NASA contractor when the disease hit her almost Meta VOLUNTEER here with her two children, Jade Pearl and Rick, was recently named the National Multiple Sclerosis Societys 1998 Ogden volunteer of the year. five years ago. 1 OF Meta Hutchison of Clearfield, shown THE YEAR; Standard-Ejuamfr- For more Information about MS. or how to volunteer with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, call the Utah chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis 1 8 or Society at (800) 527-81 3. Call the national (801 ) 493-0or hot line at (800) FIGHT-MS- , visit the Internet site at www nmss org 1 1 of MS. She was living in the Washington, D C., area when the first symptom appeared. On Christmas Day I woke up in 1993 and my eyes were crossed outward, she said. That was the first sign of MS, a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system. Hutchison has a form of the disease. There are times when she can get around without a cane, and other times when she cant get out of bed. It comes and it goes. It is so unpredictable, she said. The disease hit Hutchison hardest in 1996, when she was so weak she was placed in a nursing home for three months. When they rolled me into the nursing home they were relapsing-remittin- g saying, Oh my god, look how young she is,' and that really scared me," she said. But she was able to come back, and now has her own apartment in Clearfield, where she is raising her two children, Rick, 12, and Jade Pearl, 4. God has given me the tools to rock and roll with this disease,, said the upbeat Hutchison. He gives you a Police to conduct traffic surveys The police department will be conducting traffic surveys over the next few months to determine if traffic patterns are in line with posted speed limits. We just want to move people through the city as safely as possible, said Police Chief Brian Wallace. Consistency in speed limits throughout the city will be addressed in the study The city may approach Layton about lowering the speed on 2700 South where it enters Syracuse from the posted 40 miles per hour to 35 mph. Construction of the new elementary school in the area has sparked some concern. Mayor Robert Thurgood asked that a survey be done on 700 South and areas by new subdivisions. Syracuse couid be getting bigger soon y The city could be getting bigger soon. A petition to annex about 36 acres near the southeast comer Syracuse city limits has been filed and accepted by the of the SAM DEAN For information Syracuse low-impa- ct MS Society honors volunteer of year The organizational skills she developed in that job now benefit the local MS society, especially when it comes time to organize Ogden's annual MS Walk. She has done so much for our Ogden walk, said Kit Fowler, the volunteer coordinator of the MS society's Utah chapter. In 1998 the Ogden MS Walk raised more than $12,000. Not only was Hutchison successful in her role as of the walk, she was a lot of fun to work with, Fowler said. She is a hoot. She has the most bubbly, always the most upbeat personality," she said. She can laugh at herself and make everybody feel comfortable being around her." Hutchison was raised in North Ogden and returned to the area because of the support of her family and fnends. Make the best of every day that you can," is the way Hutchison sums up her philosophy, one that has gotten her through the ups and downs Toys for Tots" will receive 28 bicycles from the Clearfield Police Department. The city council at the request of Police Chief Morton Sparks donated the unclaimed property to the Toys for Tots program sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corp. Each year at this time the city approves a resolution authonzing all custodial and unclaimed property at the police department to be turned over to the childrens charity program for Christmas. senous tool kit to deal with it. Volunteer work for the MS society is one the tools Hutchison uses to take control of her life. Sometimes others dont understand - which only fuels her desire to increase awareness city council. The council will consider the request if a written protest isn't filed with the Davis County Boundary Commission by Dec. 25. A copy of the petition is available for review at the city offices dunng regular business hours. of MS. Coming Thursday People have stopped me in the street when I pull into a y handicapped spot and said, Are you really handicapped? she said. I say I'm handi-capable- ." Hutchison and other volunteer honorees will receive them awards Saturday at the annual MS Family Holiday Party at Salt Lake Community College. You can reach reporter Rich 9 Saskal at or naskal a tfaruiard net. 625-422- Hubbub on the bookshelf Students at Sam Morgan Elementary present Hubbub on the Bookshelf play about a hungry bookworm family that eats old forgotten books about Paul Revere, Cat In the Hat, King Tut, Shakespeaie Cindeiella and others Read about it in the next Davis Standard . |