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Show T I' 0 0 fi 0 UTAH 101 0 PRES'J. ASSOCIATION ?00 S. SUITF 4CP6 W. SALT I.AKC It takes less in keep an old customer yaMsfiti! than to fict a himi customer interested. p CITY. UT 34101-121- (6; 2 tah Basin 500 Kings Peak Preliminary hearing I nrrs continued The preliminary hearing for the man accused of taking the life of Roosevelt Police Chief Cecil Gurr has been continued for a second f Tuesday January 22, 2002 Roosevelt, Utah i Vol. 88. Number 4 www.ubstandard.com time. See page 3 JED CURRY EXCELS DESPITE CHALLENGES Altamont teen gains national recognition for achievements Hard time for meth men In unrelated cases, a Cedarview man and a Tabiona resident were both ordered to serve prison terms for their convictions on charges that they were involved in the manufacture ofmethamphetamine. complish the formidable goal of earning every merit badge the Bqy Scouts Its not often that story originat- have to offer. It takes perseverance and hard work to pull off such a feat. ing in the Uintah Basin Standard generates national interest, but then But his story is even more remarkable again, its not often that you read when you read the details of his life ... old a life with no small number of challike about a teen-age- r JedadiahCuny. Last October the Stan- lenges. You see, Jed combats cystic dard ranafeature story on the Ahamont fibrosis, a genetic disease that drains teen as he was finishing up the re- yourenergy and damages vital organs quirements for his final Boy Scouts of of the body, especially the lungs. He also pricks his finger five times America merit badge. He wasawarded that 123rd merit badge Dec. 28 at a a day to check his blood sugar levels, Court of Honor in Altamont, and the and then injects himself with insulin bells of fame have been ringing for to treat his Type I diabetes. And then theres that little probhim ever since. Very rarefy does a young man ac lem with the asthma that flares up By Therena Morrill Seepage2 nurses hat She began nursing school atthe age of 17, after 40 years in the profession 32 ofthem spent working at the Uintah Basin Medical Center Kay Harm ston has retired. CONSTRUCTION COULD BEGIN IN 2003 See page 9 Sandwash dam gets "notice to proceed" By Lezlee E. Whiting The environmental hurdles have been cleared, paving the way for approval to spend federal money set aside for a (48 million water storage project in Duchesne County. The 203 Project will take Sandwash Reservoir from its current 12,000 acre feet to 24,000 acre feet, and in the process develop new irrigation, culinary and industrial water supplies. Late last year the Duchesne County Water Conservancy District received word that the "notice to proceed had been signed. Federal documents which researched potential environmental s&s on the Lake Fork River drainage system were passed off prior to the sign- Cougars clobber Uintah matXJtes ing. Last October the Central Utah Union uses pin power to earn first win over Uintah wrestlers since 1995-9- 6 season. Seepage ' ' t, 12 S s . '''i, .. t Water Conservancy District awarded the contract for the projects engineering design, to CH2M Hill. The company will also be responsible for preparing bid contracts for actual construction. The design phase of the project is expected to take approximately 18 to 24 months to complete, said Duchesne County Water Conservancy District Manager Randy Crosier. Test pits have already been dug to monitor ground water and determine the soil profile for the pipeline alignments, he detailed. Engineering crews will conduct "geotechnical investigations on the isting dam and dikes to determine what steps will need to be taken to make sure the dam remains stable during the enlargement process and beyond. which was inThe 203 Project cluded in the CUP Completion Act as a stand-alon- e piece of legislation was the only water storage project salvaged for Duchesne County. Sixty-fiv- e percentofthe cost is paid through federal funds, 35 percent will come through a local match from the CUWCD. The biggest share of the estimated $48 million price tag will go for reser- voir construction $17 million, followed by $14 million for fish and wildlife mitigation and outlet modification at Moon Lake. Ten million dollars will be spent for construction of a pipeline that will run from Sandwash to Roosevelt, and $10 milium will be spent to stabilize nine high mountain lakes. RECENT SAT SCORES SHOW MIXED BAG District to implement system to track SAT success & failure By Therena Morrill The Stanford Achievement Test scores are in for the Duchesne County School District, and while overall scores for elementary and middle school students in Roosevelt and Tabiona have improved, scores have plummeted from last year at other elementary schools in the district Junior high student in the district all posted a dramatic improvement in overall test scores, withamedian score of 53, compared to 44 last year. This means that the median score was in the 53rd percentile nation-widHowever, the only senior high school in the district to show an overall improvement was Union, with a dramatic change in scores from 48 for the 2000-0- 1 school year to 58 for the e. current school year. Tabiona, Altamont, and Duchesne High all experienced a decline in test scores. TsbionaHighsoverBll score went from 46 lastyear to 42 this year. SAT scores at Duchesne High dropped from 59 to 50, and Altamont High saw its test scores decline from 56 to 52. The SAT is administered every year The low scores in language and reading continue to concern us. numbers of student scores than the average score is. As has been the case the last few students in years, 3rd and the district scored lowest in language arts, with a score of34 for both grades. Third-grader- s scored highest in math and scored highest in 5th-gra- de fifth-grade- rs in October to students in the 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th grades by mandate of the Utah Legislature. The test is designed to test students levels of retention over summer months in the areas of mathematics, reading, lan- science. Also true to previous trends within the district, high school students received their highest scores in math and science, and lowest scores in reading and language. "The low scores in language and guage, science, social science and thinking skills. reading continue to concern us, said The national norm score is 50, and Duchesne County School District Suall scores are measured against the perintendent John Aland. "On the national norm score. The scores re- elementary school level, were focusported are not the "average score, ing on reading programs. but rather the middle" score, which Aland said all teachers in the disis the score squarely in the middle trict are having training on alter they are ranked from highest to The Six Traits ofWriting, "in order to lowest better help students master reading and language skills. In the According to Duchesne County Assist ant Administrator Larry six different areas of writing have Abplanalp, the State Board ofEduca-tio- n been labeled and students will be decided to use the median score taught each ofthose traits. Its anticiyears ago because it is scientifically pated that a heavier concentration on more accurate when reporting large language arts will better prepare students for the writing assessment portion ofthe newly mandated UPASS, a series of tests high school students must pass to receive a high school year comparison diploma. Abplanalp said another aspect of how the district is trying to realize improved SAT scores involves tracking individual groups ofstudents from year to year through a tracking system " The called Data-Wissystem helps administrators identify consistent weaknesses from school to sdwoL District officials hope to implement the data-bas- e program as soon as they are trained to use it in the next few weeks. For now, administrators say they continue to be concerned with the consistent low scores in languages 1 reading, and would like to pin-powhy there is so much "bouncing of cores from year to year in the other test areas. All agree the scores still aren't as high as parents, teachers, and administrators would like. i . t : People have written from across to thank Jed for giving them courage to set their goals high in spite of their challenges. 16-ye- ar Hanging up her a every now and again. He refuses But Jed is no to-- let anything deter him from the goals he has set for himself. Even though he must take at least 15 to 20 pills several times each day, and spends at least an hour a dqy hooked up to a machine that breaks up the mucous in his lungs, he still finds time to swim, run track, play on the Altamont High baseball team, perform in school drama productions, work with his grandpa after school, and earn all 123 merit badges. Now he's being held up as a source of inspiration all over the country as word of his incredible determination and invincible spirit has spread through the channels of the media. Jed was hesitant to give his first interview to the Standard, and asked that his illnesses be mentioned only briefly. The story did run and recognized his ability to overcome his physical limitations in the pursuit of accomplishing his goals. According to Jed, Salt Lake Tribune reporter David Noyce saw the story in the Standard arid drove to Altamont to interview him for a similar story that ran in the Tribune on Dec. 26. The story catapulted the modest teen into hero status, and he cry-bab- A RARE ACCOMPLISHMENT There was a special guest at a recent Court of Honor in Altamont Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Da- y Saints presented Jedadiah Curry ith his 23" and final Boy Scout merit badge, ironically that last merit badge, for R adio, was the first one he started more than five years ago. Jeds merit badges completely cover his sash and even the shin sleeves of his Scout uniform! Jed is the son of Doug and Penny tuny. 1 SEE JED CURRY on page 3 FIFTH FROM THE BOTTOM Tax returns show county lags in household income The Utah State Tax Commission Just a few miles down the highway has released their 2000 volume of from Roosevelt, in Fort Duchesne, the Utah Statistics of Income, and it shows adjusted gross income for 2000 took a Duchesne County has a lot of ground to drastic dive down to $29,571 per make up in comparison to most ofthe household. That figure holds fairly other counties in the state in regard to constant with tire neighboring Uintah household income levels. (See related charts on this page.) Duchesne County was listed as 25 out of the 29 Utah counties, with an average household adjusted gross income (AGI) of $28,504. The remaining four counties with household incomes lower than Duchesne County were San Juan, Wayne, Garfield, and Piute counties. The county with the highest income per household (based on information calculated from tax returns) was Summit County, where the average adjusted gross household income was $79,680. There were 5,539 state tax returns filed by Duchesne County residents in 2000. From those returns, the average household adjusted gross incomes were determined for most communities within Duchesne County. According to statistics, Roosevelt residents are better offon the average than people from other communities in the county. The mean (average) household income for Roosevelt families was $40,968 for the year 2000. v v'" .isK 4 a s " Countycommunity of Lapoint which posted an average gross income of $32,346 per household, and Whiterocks, where on average, a family would have an income of $27, 1 42. The Duchesne County community with thelowest adjusted gross income was I lanna, where tire average house hold had an income of $ 1 3,687, based the information in the 2XX) tax records. Wit hin a few miles from there, in the community of Tabiona, residents earn an average adjusted gross income of $27,1 13. For L'intah County, the average adjusted gross income for the year 2XX) was $31,.r37. lintah County was listed as 15"' out ofthe 29 Utah counties, with the highest average household adjusted income off 47,850 being found in Vernal. on Average Gross Income by County ' Duchesne County School District SAT scores five e. ii. COPY , .. ' - ALMOST COMPLETE Work crews are completing the installation of five and foot steel pipe on die Pleasant Valley canal. Five canals m Duchesne County have been rehabilitated thanks to funding made possible through a federal salinity control project. J&R Construction and CH2M Hill were the lead contractors on 'the project that and replaced open, dirt canals with mortar-line- d pipe water delivery system. tape-wrapp- |