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Show UINTAH BASIN STANDARD. December 31. 1996- - Page 3 More money on its way to counties & tribe through Revitalization Fund By Lute E. Whiting The Ule Indian Tribe and Duchesne and Uintah Counties will share in $381,242 generated through state imposed severance taxes on oil and natural gas wells on Ute Tribal trust lands. The money is returned to the three entities through the Uintah Basin Revitalization Act Last year lawmakers approved an agreement that would return a portion of the severance tax from tribal trust lands to the Uir Basin. During its first year in existence the Uintah Basin Revitalization Fund brought the counties and the tribe $400,001 divide among them. According to the terms of the agreement, the tribe receives 75 percent of the money and the two counties each split the remaining 25 percent. Last year the tribe used their $300,000 share of the $400,000 to renovate the Whiterocks and Fort Duchesne gymnasiums, and the tribes senior citizen . center. Duchesne County spent $50,000 to purchase land for expansion of the USU Branch Campus in Roosevelt, and Uintah County used their $50000 to make improvements to the Naples ballpark, the ice skating rink in Venial and the park pavilion in LapoinL According to Brad Simpson of the Utah State Tax Commission, the $381,242 available to the Revitalization Fund at the start of the 1996-9- 7 Fiscal year are actually severance taxes paid on 1995 production. The severance tax is paid by the oil producers on an annual basis for the prior c sal pi this for the $285040 ,'receiv Those new in funds, projects year include the construction of new outdoor basketball courts in Myton, Fort Duchesne, and Whiterocks; new picnic areas in Myton and and Randlett; numerous improvements to the Whiterocks Community Center. Duchesne County will spend $10,000 of the $47,651 they receive this year to complete the land purchase for the USU Branch Campus. The remaining balance will help fund a building 1 uses. About $12,850 in Revitalization Funds will be used to equipment and purchase in the construction of two buildings at Vernal's ice skating facility at die Western Park. Uintah County for the will use $20,000 construction and improvements to the Centennial Legacy Park in Vernal. The park is looted on the grounds rtf the state and county building on Vernal's Main Street The project includes development or two picnic areas, installation of memorial plaques along walkways, and the installation of a time capsule in celebration of the Utah Statehood Centennial. Mike Lcaviu made a brief stop in THANKS FOR YOUR HELP-Go- v. Roosevelt on Monday, Dec. 23, to attend a Duchesne County Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon where he presented Polly Karrcn with a plaque in appreciation at her efforts as chairvonuin of the county's stale centennial celebration. SELENIUM Pennzoil Refinery for sale, not. The news was good last April, at least for a few days. An investment company, headed by John Harmer, of Bountiful, was preparing to obtain a bond to assist them in purchasing the refinery which was shut down in March 1995. Hamers group had plans to put the refinery The same back into operations. company had recently purchased a refinery in Evanston, Wyoming and was enjoying successful operations. About a week after the news broke about a passible sale, Pennzoil officials said they had no intention of selling the refinery. Last but not least, the top ten list ends the same way it began, with water-relate- d iaauea. Ute Distribution Corporation has taken the Ute Indian Tribe'to court in hopes of obtaining what they maintain are their legal share of water rights held by the tribe. The case is pending in federal court in Salt Lake City. The other water issue sharing the number ten spot for 1996 is the possible lease or sale of the states water shares in the Colorado River. Discussions about leasing Utahs water to California or Nevada made headlines, but is still in the very early discussion phases. weeks paid administrative leave in the Utah Professional Practices principal by the Duchesne County Continued from page School Board.- Advisory Commission. - The board also conducted an Mitchell mve up the certificate in lieu of undergoing a revocation investigation into "alleged by the former hearing over legations of improprieties conduct, principal. The ndings of the unprofessional istigatioi warranted no according to the minutes of the State School Boards Certification criminal charges. Mitchell had been with the Committee. The professional practices school district for 14 years and at commission is an arm of the State had served as principal School Board. The commission is Duchesne High, and charged to "promote and maintain at Union. He served as principal a high degree of professional at the junior high school for about ethics, facilitate peer reviews of three years. He moved from the teachers and administrators, area shortly after he wae conduct hearings when allegations terminated. In October the school board of unprofessional conduct are made and make decisions and named Neda Elementary School al MAY I SEE YOUR PASSPORT?-Ire- ne Hansen, director of the Duchesne County Area Chamber of Commerce, sipns Gov. Mike Leavitts centennial passport. The passports were available to anyone this year in commemoration of the states centennial. No doubt that during the year the governor made it to each of the stale's 29 counties to have his passport stamped. Mitchell was placed on Zoning Commission, to the county commission for their review, and Public Hearing. On December 11, the county commission held a public hearing for any comments on this draft plan. As a result of this public hearing the commission decided to place a notice in the paper to ask tor any further public inpuL Anyone interested in making comment on this plan can obtain a copy at the county clerks office in Duchesne City or the Chamber of Commerce m Roosevelt. All comments must be made before January 17, when the final will be adopted. County Commissioners list steps taken to formulate and fine tune general plan Submitted by the Duchetne County Commiuion The 1995-9- 6 Duchesne County Planning Project and the subsequent Duchesne County General Plan, are efforts by the county and its citizens to address the present and future needs of Duchesne County. This plan addresses specific issues identified by county residents as county priorities and outlines a series of strategies designed to accomplish county gods and objectives. Utah Sate Statute provides for the development of county-levplans under Title which Components may be addressed with these plans include: el land use, transportation, environmental issues, public services and facilities, rehabilitation and redevelopment, economic concerns, recommendations for plan implementation, and "any other elements that the county considers appropriate." In this plan, Duchesne County has focused on iss identified county pubhc work sessions. These issues are addressed in the plan through 1 11 CORRECTION! -- A chart which listed the SAT scores for the 11th grade in the Duchesne County School District which was published in last week's edition of the Standard omitted Union Highs SAT scores, and incorrectly listed Tabionai 11th grade SAT scores as Roosevelt Junior High's 8th grade scores. This is the corrected chart Duchesne CounPif Commission Please note that the following agenda is tentative due to Press schedules at the Uintah Basin Standard. Because of publication deadlines, some agenda Herns may not appear. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1996 The agenda for the meeting Is as totows: 9:00 a.m. PrayerReading of the Minutes 10:30 a.m. Auditor - Vouchers - Tax Adjustments - A resolution to transfer unencumbered or unexpended appropriation balances or part thereof from one department in the general fund to another department within the general fund for the 1996 budget year. 1 1 :30 a.m. Commission Correlation 12:00 pm Adjourn early due to the Holiday And any other matters that may come before the Board of County CommlssionerB. The Board of County Commissioners of Duchesne County, Utah, will meet to regular public session every Tuesday 9 DO a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ' in tb s Oimmission Board Room. "County Policy "Actions and Steps." The Duchesne County General Planning Project was started in May of 1994. In the beginning the county had a public meeting at the Roosevelt Junior High School. At this meeting the outline for this project was discussed. Several groups and organizations, with government entities were invited to attend the meeting, and asked to become part of the Citizen Advisory Committee. Each month the Citizens Advisory Committee met at a location in the county. They were notified by individual letters which were sent out by the Planning ft Community Development Department, with the assistance of the consulting firm. Bear West. The initial muling list consisted of over 200 letters. At these meetings a specific topic was discussed each month. The purpose of the Duchesne County General Plan and the 1995-9- 6 Planning Project is two-folFirst, the posses a mat establishes the single document - for other "guidelin planning efforts within the county. It is anticipated that future county planning efforts will expand on the values and objectives11 identified in the countys general plan. With respect to this purpose, county priorities and the issues facing the county will most likely change over time. For the document to function as a valuable decisionmaking tool, it should be reviewed and amended as necessary to address county issues and interests as they develop. Second, the planning process itself has been a valuable learning experience for the citizens of Duchesne County. A diverse group of county residents and interests actively participated in all stages of plan development including: issue identification, issue prioritization, d. objective identification implementation and strategy this process, development. Through county citizens have, "planned for Duchesne County's future. The countys general plan is the result of their combined expertise and experience. This experience will be invaluable as the county adopts and begins to implement (his phut. As part of this planning project, a separate document, The Duchesne County Profile, is being prepared. This document contains information, data, and maps covering county demographics, economics, land use, history, public facilities aid services, and public land management policies. If consistently updated, this document will remain a valuable resource for Duchesne County officials, county residents, and persons interested in the status of Duchesne County. After all of these meetings were conducted the consulting firm of Bear West, put together all the infonnation in a draft form. The d SSfiSSSt5S 3 1 Dr. Graham A. Cdriiiz, and epidemiologist at Bust. m's Brighamand Womens Hospital, called the study "promising but preliminary." "If this possible magic bullet acts through mechanisms suggested by the authors, it is not dear why it should be specific to only some cancers," Colditz wrote in a JAMA editorial. And because 75 percent of the 1,312 subject were men, additional research is needed. Colditz wrote. Selenium, .bund in seafood, liver and vegetables grown in aulenium-ric- h soil, is known to preserve the elasticity of body tissues and is important for proper function of the immune system. Numerous studies in the 1970s could presuggested that vent cancer in animals, but trials in humans have been less conclusive. Selenium is sold in health-foostores. The new study, led by University of Arizona epidemiologist Larry Clark, found that the mineral may prevent cancer by inhibiting tumor growth and inducing "suicide" in malignant cells. has September. When the leave voluntarily surrendered his expired Sept. 30 he wae from his job as certification in an agreement with terminated 14-ye- ar full-tim- Former Roosevelt Junior High School principal J.D. Mitchell headlines occupied much of the news in 1996, coming in at number eight. Three men were arrested last summer and charged with the murder of a Fort Duchesne old phoned in abomb man. A threat which closed Union High school for a day, and inspired a copycat bomb threat at Cedar (best Care Center forcing the evacuation of elderly residents. After the Uintah Basin district consistently posted one of the highest increases in juvenile crime, in 1996 state lawmakers provided e funds to hire a juvenile court judge for the 8th District. Vernal attorney Lynn Steele took the bench Oct 1 as the resident juvenile court judge for Duchesne, Uintah and Daggett Counties. Prior to that time three juvenile court judges from the Wasatch Front handled court casea on a rotating basis, which created an enormous backlog. Grade current Former principal gives up his certification long-awaite- d their Voluntary Surrender cooperation and etridei toward progress. The number seven story for the year is the completion of the d Whiterocks Road project, a cooperative venture among the tribe, Uintah County, and BIA. This year the tribe also announced plans for the revitalization of the Bottle Hollow complex. Unfortunately, as in years past, crime-relate- from moving headquarters and relocating to the former Bureau of Reclamation building sometime this spring or summer. Uintah County will put most of their money towards recreational ng year. TOP TEN STORIES Continued from page renovation project for new county offices. Duchesne County will be draft form was then given to the ft Zoning commission for their review. The Planning Commission had a Public Hearing giving the public a chance to review the draft and voice any concerns they may have had. As a result of the Public Hearing a few minor changes were made to the draft, along with changes recommended by the Planning ft Planning Oil recovery project to be conducted in Bluebell field Scientists estimate that Utahs abandonment" The lest demonstration well allows scientists and engineers to Bluebell oil field may yet contain 500 million barrels or oil The problem is, how to get that oil out of the ground. The Utah Geological Survey, in partnership with Quines experiment Energy or Bountiful and other petroleum industry companies, the of Utah, Brigham University Young University, and with additional funding from the U.S. Department of Energy is exploring new methods to get at that oiL A demonstration project is now in Quines Energy's underway 'Michele Ute" well near Roosevelt. "The Uintah Basins Bluebell field to quite old and many of the wells are becoming uneconomic," explains State Geologist Lee Allison. "Yet only about 5 percent or less of the oil in the field has been recovered, so we are hoping to extend the economic life at the wells and prevent premature ! with : different technologies under very controlled circumstances, analyze the data and determine what works and what doesn't. "Successfully extending the life of old wells will reduce the need for drilling in other regions or the need to impart so much foreign oil by tankers, thus reducing environmental impacts elsewhere, says Allison. "Another reason the state is a partner in this and similar efforts to increase oil production is because of .the benefits to the local economy and the resulting royalties for Utah." Daily reports concerning the project may be found on the UGS home page on the world wide Web at http:utstdpwww.state.uUis-ugVbluebell.ht- Take precautions to prevent chimney fires have your chimney professionally Imagine a cleaned and inspected at least a year, you uea your fireplace or wood stove as a for your freight train ia coming down the primary source of heat should consider a chimney. You are experiencing a noma, you cleaning and inspection at the chimney fire! Each year thousand! cf homes beginning and end or each heating aooKxi. To select a chimney sweep experience this due to improper maintenance of their chimney. dart just base your decision on These fine can be prevented by coat Ask if they are certified by making sure your flue ie lined and the National Chimney Sweep in good repair, by having it Guild or a trade school. Are they active hi a state or local guild? inspected ana cleaned regularly by How did they learn their craft? and a professional by learning Ask for references. how to build fires that reduce the A professional chimney sweep build-u- p of creosote. will do more than brush out your The cause of moot chimney chimney. They inspect your firea is creosote which is a bychimney for damage to liners, product resulting from the cracks due to settling, improper incomplete combustion of wood. It installation of prefabricated accumulates on the aides of your chimneys and much more. You can cut down on the buildchimney and stovepipe as a liquid and later condenses into a solid. up of creosote by using your As it builds up it not only blocks fireplace or wood stove properly. the flue, but can ignite into a Burn it hot; the hotter the fire, the more complete the combustion. roaring lira. 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