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Show ' OPINION I Uintafi Basin Standard What Price Tag For Protection? The annual police department statistic report has been released, showing another busy year for the Roosevelt Police Department, with an average of about three arrests per day. RPD willagainmaintainitslongstandingdistinction of having one of the highest arrest rates per officer in the state. The annual city budget will be put together soon. Roosevelt will be the highest line item in that budget, making it a simplistic target for funding reduction, which leads to the question, What price tag for protection? Its easy to think the real world is what we see on TV and in the movies, at least in matters concerning love and police work. Not. Every action officers take that affects the freedom ofanother is subject to intense scrutiny and civil lawsuit ifit isnt done according the book. The city, as the employer, carries that liability, henceit isinthe best interestsofthe city to take every reasonable step to see that these situationscanbehandled in asafe manner. That requires manpower and manpower costs money. Or does it? Big lawsuits deal with force issues. When one officer is confronted with a potentially violent situation, and they do happen in Roosevelt, it is very difficult to restrain and control a noncompliant person. The potential to use escalating force is greatly increased, thus the potential for a lawsuit, whether it is justified or not. Thepresenceoftwoormoreofficersatthe initial call creates an atmosphere of greater control and reduces the level offorce required, making the situation safer for the suspect, the officers and, ultimately, thecity. Yes, we could perhaps save a few dollars up front on the pol ice budget, but would the ride to community be worth the risk? me affected by a neromaacular disuse. Im genuinely gratefol for the saringsupport ofcustomers and and convenience stores, iu-)markets, restaurants and other etailers in Rooeevelt. The 18 annual Shamrocks Vgainst Dystrophy campaign raised no re than $10 million nationally. Localhr, these donations will help Aind research atUtah State University and the University of Utah. On behalf of the millions ofAmericana affected in some way by more than 40 diseases covered by MDA-than- k you- - and may St. Patrick bleu you all year longl Sincerely Maureen McGovern National Chairperson MDAShamrocki Against Dystrophy em-jloy- er EDrVRSNOTE: The Uintah Basin Standard welcomes and encourages opinions from readers in the form of letters to the editor. Letters may be utilised MDA-sponsor- to express opinions or comments, to highlight outstanding service ofan individual or organization, or any other worthwhile purpose. Letters may not be used to replace Cards of Thanks, or to list sponsors, participants or contributors to a particular event or purpose. LETl hRS MUST CONTAIN 400 WORDS OR LESS. BE TYPED OR WRITTEN LEGIBLY, SIGNED, AND INCLUDE NAME. ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER OF THE AUTHOR. Utters will be published unless they contain libelous or defamatory statements. We reserve the right to edit letters and to withhold a name by request ifthe nature of the letter is positive. Utters may be submitted to the Standard office at 268 S. 200 E.. Roosevelt, Utah, 84066 by the . : published deadline (normally Thursdays at 5:00 p.m.) All letters become property of the Uintah Basin Standard. : Understanding the loss Dear Editor We travel back and forth through Myton several times a month. There is a black dog that has been hit and killed and it surely must be somebody's pet. We know that when you live on a main road or highway, pets are bound to get hit and killed. We know, we have live cats and one dog all buried in our back yard. Thankyou OrindaGee MDA campaign says thanks Roosevelt Dear Editor, Even the leprechauns are green with envy over Roosevelts response to the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Shamrocks Against Dystrophy campaign. Many thanks to the thousands of people who do- -' nated to MDA andsigned paper shamrocks that will help MDAcontinue to provide families affected by leromuscular diseases in our with valuable services. As one ofthe many w ho has a loved com-nuni- TM Commercial Club wants community to donate to Cougar Dear Editor, As a lot of you know the cougar at Union High was blown up not so long ago. Although this tragedy was of a small nature compared to Littleton, CO. or others it is still put fear into a lot of students around the basin to think this kind ofthing could happen here. The school and students have asked all ofus aa a community to help pay for taxidermy services for a cougar that was donated to the school to replace the one that waa destroyed. Whenl went to the school last Wednesday to let them know of the donation from the Roosevelt Commercial Club they had received onlyone other check at this time, which I found was very sad. The Roosevelt Commercial Club has been a long time supporter ofour schools here in the basin and as such we now would like to help these students. They need $2,000 to get this work done, so lets help them get there. It would beagrent thing to see this done very soon as school will be out in a couple of months. So lets pull together and help our students and their school and our foture students. Its our responsibility asa community to help our students through this. Deborah Butcher Commercial club Dear Editor When the time comes the voters need to do a mqjor house cleaning in Duchesne County starting with County Attorney Herb Gillespie, who runs scared when its time to prosecute an individual, as a result another attorney had to be hired at additional expense to the taxpayers, to the tune of $5,841.16 Also Gillespies office was over budget in the year 2000 by $5,841.84. Then we have Justkeofthe Peace Clair Poulson, who doesnt seem to pay attention to law when making some of his decisions. A victim of hia decision is then informed by Poulson "If you appeal my decision, I think you should know that Judge Payne has never overturned one of my rulings." In my case I should have seen that "red flag, but was naive enough to think Judge Payne would ignore Poulaon and rule by law. Wrong! My stolen property was awarded to the defendants by both Poulson and Payne.Seems as though we have quite a miscarriage ofjustice going on here. Now, you throw in Deputy County Attorney Uresk whosejob, 1 feel, was on the line because he (in writing) gave the defendants permission to take my property. If these judges had ruled in my (the victim's) favor Uresk would likely have been in big trouble with the Utah State Bar, as it was he got onlyawamingfrora the State Bar. In another case of what I feel is a miscarriage ofjustice a family lost the access to their home, a boundary road that had been in use fome 30 years. Because ofthe actions ofUresk plus Payne, the county had to build a new road at great expense to us, the taxpayers, as it is against state law to landlock anyone. We, the voters, taxpayers and victims must come together when the time comes and vote out of oflice people such as Gillespie, Poulaon and Payne and then Uresk will just go away, aa he waa appointed by Gillespie. Its way past time to clean up the court system and county government before any more innocent people are damaged. Beverly Park Comments on anonymous letter read at commission meeting Uintah Basin Standard Inc. CORRESPONDENTS: 8, ALTAMONT - ; BLUEBELL - Shana ROOSEVELT Teresa llarmston LAPOINT HANNA lee I .nert schcr Tracy Roberts Marlene McClure 247-237MONTWF.LL - Nota Nelson 333-454- 4; MYTON --. ; 3; WHITER OCKS. DUCHESNE -TRIl'Pl.L. NQOLA - Mondi Taylor 4 Orirda (ice Subscription Rates: In the Uintah Basin I I I I 1 Yr.$24-2Yr.$- 37 I .1 Out of the Uintah Basin I 1 Yr.$36-2Yr.$- 56 I I I I I Cath or Check county government ly RooseVek and Duchesne, Utah Periodical postage paid (USPS 646-40Published weekly at 268 S 200 E.. Roosevelt, Utah 84066-310- 9 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Uintah Basin Standard at ' 268 S 200 E.. Roosevelt. Utrfi 84066-310- 9 OFFICE HOURS: 800am tolOOpm Monday, 9:00 a.m. to 3.00 p in. Tuesday thru Friday. Fax 722-41Phone DEADLINES: For all News. Legal Notices. Classifieds A Advertising, the Deadline is Thursday at 5 p m. PUBLISHER: Craig Ashby EDITOR: Lezfec E. Whiting ADVERTISING: Michelle Roberts OFFICE MANAGER: Bonnie Parrish PRODUCTION: Writers. Aldon Radicle, Katie Nelson Production. Colette Ashby. Andrea Harper. Adam Womack. Amanda Jenkins, Run Marks and Shauna Gilbert I Clean up courts and onlv. Sony Xo Charges j Dear Editor, I read with interest and great disappointment, the anonymous letter first accepted by the county commissioners, then printed in the paper. The following are a few of my comments. First, the commission violated its own resolution by allowing the anonymous letter to be read into the record because it was not on the agenda; nor was it related to any weekly governmental agenda items such as vouchers and road items. Secondly, I find it interesting that they would allow an anonymous letter read at all. On the followingweek, the commissioners, upon the advice of Mr. Uresk, refused to let me be on the agenda about his very letter. So much for Resolutions, Ordinances, or by the law applying to the government or government employees. It is very interesting to note the anonymous letter's subject matter was Diane Preston and Roland Uresk. Thirdly, the anonymous writer demonstrates lack of knowledge of events and states factual inaccuracies concerning my activities. For over a there have been several citizens attempting to get the minutes of the commissioner's meeting recorded so there would be a complete and accurate record of the meeting. This attempt is because of several lawsuits against the county where information relevant to those suits were discussed in commissioners meetings ioutside of executive session t and were quite conveniently left out of the lf Comment period extended on county water project at request of Ute Tribe By Lezlee E. Whiting The Central Utah Water Conservancy District will allow an additional six weeks of public comments on tiie draft Environmental Statement on the proposed enlargement of Sandwash Reservoir and other water-relate- d projects in Duchesne County at the request of the Ute Indian Tribes governing Business Committee. The public commentperiod, which typically runs for 30 dqys after the draft Environmental Assessment has been released, waa originally set to dose on Much 16. However the deadline was extended until the end of April after Ute Tribe officials said they hadn't had sufficient time for the document to be reviewed by their attorneys and water consultants. At issue is the potential supply of new storage water made possible through section 203(a) ofthe Uinta Basin Replacement Project. The pro- posed action is located on the Lake Fork River within the UpalcoTJnit. dolPlana for lar plug Upalco Unit were canceled in 1998 after the Ute Tribe declined to support the massive water development and storage prqject. Section 203 authorizes the enlargement ofSandwash Reservoir to 24,000 feet. It also includes the stabilization of high mountain lakes in the High Uintas Wilderness and fish and wildlife habitat mitigation and enhancement minutes. Most recently the attempt for magnetic, or other advanced, recording methods waa precipitated when the accuracy of the minutes greatly declined after the firingofthe executive secretary. The issue of accuracy and availability of minutes, at little or no cost to the public, of the commissioners meetings ( both the morning minutes where the real decision is made, and the formal meeting in the afternoon, where the mom-Ln- g decisions are adopted"), along with the minutes ofthe Planning and Zoning and board of Adjustments, should he a concern with every Citizen. The anonymous writer, then states totally inaccurately, that I refuse to pay for any request that I make: but foils to then quotes Include that body of that text The text states: "Every person has the right to inspect a pub lie record free of charge, and the right to take a copy of a public record during normal working hours.... Then the anonymous writer misquotes (11). "A governmental entity may not use the physical form, electronic or otherwise, in which a record is stored to deny, or unreasonable hinder the rights of persons to inspect and receive copies of a record under this 1, 63-2-2- Hmm...not required to make create any record" va. "may not hinder.. .to receive copies of record chapter. under this chapter." You decide which is right under the idea of an "open government. years ago any fees for me were waived by the county commission is an open session ofthe commissioners meeting. I challenge the anonymous writer to go verify it by the record, and prove my point, either the records are incomplete and need to be recorded, or thqy did waived the fees. All my acta have been in open fact fondingpublic meetings, face to face with all parties. Where is the alleged slander?" The writer of the letter entered into the record didnt ( and still doesnt ) have the courage to place their name upon their own slanderous document. Finally, the Resolution I wrote, and approved from a legal standpoint by Mr. Gillespie, would not require any expense by the county in regards to the state. Ye also have the option to do as Wasatch County does-th- ey record, then transcribe thus making the whole meeting available to the public ( as I understand). Roger Holfeltz If constructed, the project would develop new water supplies for municipal and industrial use and supplemental irrigation, replacement stor-ag- e for the high mountain lakes irrigation water, enhance wilderness recreation, fish and wildlife values, and provide in stream flows for fishery habitat. All agencies and individuals who received the draft Environmental Assessment ou Section 203(a), Uinta Basin Replacement Prqject were notified that the public comment period has been extended, said Nancy Hardman, technical editor for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. All comments will be addressed and included in the final Environmental Assessment. The publication date of the final Environmental Assessment will depend on the number of comments and how longit takes to respond to them, and negotiations of contracts with the water users, De-Water Conservancy District. Fifty comments were submitted to The Central Utah Water Conservancy District prior to the March 16 deadline. "Comments are supposed to address the document as written and tell us whether they feel we have addressed all the issues and whether the facta were presented correctly," saidHaidman. In general, comments have been very positive so far, especially in regards to the high mountain lakes stabilization proposal. The Central Utah Water Conservancy District and the U.S. Department of Interior are the joint lead agencies in preparingthe Draft Environmental Assessment. The actual work would be overseen fay the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. The Draft Environmental Assess ment is available for public review and comment from the Central Utah Water Conservancy District by con- 7187,, FAX 0, or nancycuwcd.com Thintiing Out Loud It was one of those little subtle reminders. My husband sighed and shook hia head, then he said, "If you wanted fries why didnt you order fries. Whoops! I had forgotten (again) that guys dont like to share. Now there would be no chance of sipping on his Coke either! Girls, on the other hand are naturals. I don't know where it comes from. But I have a sneakingsuspicion that God intended us to be this way, after all girls grow up to be mothers - eventually we become womb mates and from the second that baby is boro it's hanging on to us like a marsupial. Now guys on the other hand are more into territory. Slipping a couple offries may have seemed innocent, but I was haphazardly meandering onto dangerous his! I should have known turf better! I do! But, my female brain thought, "multiples of fried potatoes. Salt, fat, ummm, a bounty of goodness abundance for one and all." While his brain reacted, My fries! My fries! Get your chubby little paw out of my fries!" He showed remarkable restraint with the sighing and head shaking. Some ofmy fondest memories are the result of sharing clothes. My young friends and I scrounging through closets. Her clothes, her sisters clothes, her mother'sclothes-vintag- e clothes folded inside a cedar chest. Then dressed like Mardi Gras on holiday wed head over to my house continuing our closet rampage. At the conclusion of these try-o-n sessions then would be some swapping. Id wear Suzannes popcorn shirt for the weekend and she'd wear my plaid bell bottoms. We communicated in giggles. Wed swap Up gloss and fingernail polish and hand each other dollar bills for candy bars. Our friendd ships were bartered in generosity. Even today my daughters and I trade clothes, give each other Tupperware and magazines and books. Not so in the male world. Men like to keep their stufT separate from everyone elae's stufT, which they guard aa preciousfy as their time and energy. They are the protectors ofthe species. While they dont mark their territory the way some male creatures do (thank heaven) or kill their young (though they threaten once and awhile) they do growl a bit when you tread too close. For example: "The neighbors borrowed your wheelbarrow." good-nature- "Giiinirrr. "I told the Elder's Quorum you were off Saturday so you could help move the Smiths. Gimnir." "You have 17 baseball caps, can' I just wear one?" Gnntnr." On the flip side, my fellah is get eroua to a fault whan it comes t buying me anything in this world want. Whether we canafford it or no "You want one, you should bu one." Honey, thats a Jaguar. Weve had the same conversation overjeweliy counters, appliance islet clothing departments end fiimitur stores. Get it." "Have you looked at our budge lately?" I'mjust glad we compliment esc other, one yin one yang - one givin the other protecting. It's the way ou human species has survived all thee years. Ill just have to remember t order my own fries next time. Free Anemometer Make energy from wind at your home or business Do you have a nice breeze at your home or business? Would you like to make your own energy with a wind turbine? The Utah Office of Energy Services (OES) can loan you a free anemometer to measure the wind. There may be enough to justify a windmill to make your own electricity. Someday you may be able to sell excess power buck to thy utility com "Its not the strong gusts of wind that can make energy for your home or business. Its the steady breezes that some regions get that might make a wind generator profitable, qys Jen Allred, CommercialIndua-tria- l Program Specialist. An anemometer is an easy way to measure whether or not you have the right self. ofwndtomakeelectridtyyour. Ten anemometers are available for loan through the UR. Department of Energys Wind Power- - |