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Show The OGDEN VALLEY NEws August 15, 2004 PRSRT STD POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 11 EDEN UT »| POSTAL PATRON EDEN-LIBERTY-84310 Rescuers Retrieve Third Drown Victim Within Two Weeks By Shanna Francis Ogden Valley News Photo courtesy of Jeannie Wendell /Ogden Valley News Summer weather patterns have provided some interesting cloud formations. was taken from the Needles Lodge area at Snowbasin. This picture Utah Humanities Council Announces Public Meeting to be Held in Huntsville The Utah Humanities Council (UHC) will host a public meeting Thursday, August 19, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Ogden Valley Branch of the Weber County tT oA OH Library in Huntsville. The HUMANITIES meeting will be held in conCOUNCIL junction with UHC’s annual board retreat, an event that gives the Council’s staff and volunteer board the chance to meet and discuss the organiza- tion’s programs and mission, as well as to welcome new board and staff members. Utah Humanities Council staff and board members hope the public meeting in Huntsville will help them learn how UHC might better serve the people of the Ogden Valley area. Ogden Valley has been the site of a number of successful Utah Humanities Council programs, including Key Ingredients: America By Food, a traveling exhibition HUMANITIES cont. on page 10 Questar Celebrates 75 Years of Delivering Natural Gas—service extended to Eden, Huntsville, and Liberty in 1996; to Snowbasin On Aug. 17, 1929 — 75 years ago next Tuesday, about 15,000 people showed up for a street party on Salt Lake City’s east bench. It was raining, but that didn’t seem to matter. The cause for the celebration? For the previous eight months residents had been reading about the exploits of pipeline-construction crews in the mountains east of town as they battled the elements in a race against the calendar. Now it was time to see what all the fuss was about. In a scene that anticipated the torch-lighting ceremony at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games a few miles and decades away, the in 2001 crowd watched in awe as officials ignited a huge flare at the end of a 75-foot pipe. “With a hissing roar that temporarily deafened the crowds surrounding the site, the gas surged into the air and, catching the flame, boomed forth its challenge to the efficiency of the human mind which had imprisoned and shackled it to the needs of mankind,” gushed one newspaper reporter. Today we know “the gas” as natural gas. And it’s just about as common—and taken for granted—in Utah homes as running QUESTAR Volunteer crews from Weber County’s Search and Rescue recovered a drowning victim from Causey Reservoir on August 5. It was the third time within two weeks that divers responded to an emergency in Ogden Valley. Twenty-five year old Zachery Jones of Tooele was swimming with a church group after returning from a hike in the South Fork area. Members from the group were cooling off in the water on the south end of the reservoir around 2:00 p.m. They were swimming about 30 feet from shore. Witnesses say that the victim called out once before disappearing under the murky water. Rescuers recovered the body at about 4:00 p.m. from water that was about 15 to 20 feet deep. Jones’ wife, who was also recreating with the group, described her husband as a novice swimmer. On July 27, a 28-year old Ogden man drowned in Pineview Reservoir near Anderson Cove while swimming with a large group of friends who had gathered for a birthday party at the camp site. Wilford Webb was trying to swim to a buoy that was floating about 75 yards from shore. The body was recovered about 25 feet from shore in water that was also about 15 feet deep. Weber County Sergeant Ryon Hadley stated that even seasoned swimmers should use extreme caution when swimming in open water, and consider using life vests or other floatation devices. At a minimum, floatation devices should be readily accessible. Comparing the percentage of swimmers at both Causey and Pineview, Causey seems to have a higher incidence of drownings, which may be attributed to the colder water temperatures at the reservoir. On June 9, a third victim, 46 year old Mark Sessions, may have drown as a result of an accident when the vehicle he was driving sped off the edge of State Road 39, broke Photo courtesy of Dreinie Hattingh. On August 4, a vehicle careened off the edge of State Road 39 while traveling at a high rate of speed, plummeting 100 feet before coming to rest 64 feet under water. through a small dirt embankment, and careened into Pineview Reservoir amidst witnesses who were boating in the vicinity near the dam on the west end. According to Lieutenant Thompson with the Weber County Sheriffs office, the dark blue 1989 Econo F350 was accelerating when it left the embankment and dropped about 100 feet into the water. The vehicle hit nose first then flipped upside down before sinking about ten feet from shore. A Weber County Sheriff’s Marine Patrol member arrived within seconds, but was unable to attempt a rescue due to the depth of the water in the area. The body was later recovered 64 feet underwater. Utah Division of Water Resources Solicits Public Comment on Weber River Basin Water Plan By Shanna Francis Ogden Valley News The State of Utah Natural Resources Division of Water Resources recently completed a draft copy of the Weber River Basin portion of the Utah State Water Plan and is soliciting comments from the public regarding the plan. A public hearing was held August 4 at the Weber County Library where copies of the draft plan were distributed and information on the plan was presented by Division of Water Resources staff. The document is intended to guide and direct water related planning and management within the Weber River Basin. In addition, it summarizes key data relevant to water planning and, where possible, identifies water use trends and projections for future water use. The document also explores vari- ous means of meeting future water demands and identifies important issues that need to be considered in water-related decisions. According to state representatives, by previewing the plan, the general public will discover many useful facts and information helpful in understanding the basin’s water resources. Residents within the Weber River Basin— including residents of Weber County—are being asked to view and comment on the document before the final draft is completed by the state within the next few months. A copy of the draft plan can be accessed by visiting www.water.utah.gov or www.water.utah.gov/waterplan/ The website also provides a convenient mode for readers to submit comments relevant to the draft plan. For more information, you may also contact Todd Stonely at the Utah Division of Water Resources. online i off i in n the Hot Days of Summer cont. on page 10 UDOT Report—State Road 158 in Huntsville to experience closures through September State Road 39 at the intersection of State Road 158 (Pineview Dam), intersection improvement project An intersection safety improvement project that began August 4 _ continues. Adjustments are being made to the vertical curve to improve motorist sight distance. S.R. 39 will be closed just east of Pineview Dam (S.R. 158) from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. nightly through early in each direction will 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 are advised to reduce in the work zone due September. One lane be maintained between p.m. daily. Motorists speeds and use caution to gravel surfaces. 2700 N., I-15 in Farr West to Washington Blvd. in North Ogden, roadway reconUDOT REPORT cont. on page 3 Letters to the Editor. Page 2 Calendar of Events.. Page 14 Announcements.... Page 6 Classifieds ......... Page 15 Historical Article.... Page 9 Photo courtesy of Dreinie Hattingh. Eden children earn their money the old-fashioned way, selling lemonade to thirsty residents who pass by. |