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Show Page The Ogden Valley news Volume XIV Issue XXII September 1, 007 The Ogden Valley news Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 745- 688 Fax: 745-006 Cell: 791-4387 E-Mail: slfrancis@att.net Jeannie Wendell Tel: 745- 879 Fax: 745- 879 E-Mail: crwendell@att.net crwendell@msn.com Opinions expressed by advertisers, columnists or letters to the editor are not necessarily the opinions of the owners and staff of The Ogden Valley news. guidelines for Letters to the Editor Letters should be 300 words or less. Letters must be signed and the address of the writer submitted. The Ogden Valley news reserves the right to edit or decline printing of any submissions. Announcements Sought As a community service, The Ogden V alley n ews will print local birth, wedding, obituary, anniversary and missionary farewell & homecoming and Eagle Scout announcements free of charge. 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All material, to be considered, must be submitted with the full name, address and telephone number of the person submitting the material. The OgdenValley news’liability on account of errors in, or omissions of, advertising shall in no event exceed the amount of charges for the advertising omitted or the space occupied by the error. The Ogden Valley news does not endorse, promote or encourage the purchase or sale of any product or service advertised in this newspaper. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. The Ogden Valley news hereby disclaims all liability for any damage suffered as the result of any advertisement in this newspaper. The Ogden Valley news is not responsible for any claims or representations made in advertisements in this newspaper. The Ogden Valley news has the sole authority to edit and locate any classified advertisement as deemed appropriate. It also reserves the right to refuse any advertising. Note: The contents of The Ogden Valley News are copyrighted. To protect this publication and its contributors from unlawful copying, written permission is required before any individual or company engages in the reproduction or distribution of its contents, by any means, without first obtaining written permission from the owners of this publication. The deadline for the OVN September 15 issue is September 1. Letters to the Editor It’s Time to Widen the “The Narrows” Who’s Pulling the Strings? I have been reading the letters to the editor about the problem of big trucks in Ogden Canyon. Yes, something must be done. I’ve been driving a school bus for Weber School District for 25 years. I go up and down the canyon four times a day. It isn’t all the trucks that cause a problem. Mostly it’s the ones pulling pups and the ones pulling low boys with track hoes loaded on them. There were at least two track hoes that rolled off their trailers last season alone! How many times is this going to happen before one lands on someone or even on my school bus? We have been lucky; no My wife and I have lived in Eden, Utah for over 30 years. We like it and it is the lifestyle we want. When we moved here, it was a quiet farming community. The taxes were fair and the services provided by Weber County were good. Lots of other people have discovered what a nice place it is and have purchased property and built homes. This is growth, and was bound to happen. The people who moved here are good people and make good neighbors. When the Olympics came along, that also brought with it more growth. People who owned property found that they could sell a one acre piece of land for a lot of money, and you can’t blame them for that. The people who bought the land would invest four to six hundred thousand dollars in their new homes. They had their dream homes. In my view of things, along comes Cheryl Madson and her team of Weber County Assessors. She looks at the new house and knows what the people paid for it and appraises it at its fair market value. While she is standing there, she also sees our homes that have been here for years and decides that they should be taxed at the same rate as the new home that was just built. That is what is wrong with the system they are using. We paid a lot less for our homes and we, at least the vast majority of us, do not want to sell our houses. I think we need a change in the law similar to California’s or Michigan’s whereby our homes are taxed on what we paid for them plus a SMALL two percent increase each year for the cost of living. When, and if we decide to sell our homes, then the county should change the property tax rate on what the new owner will pay for the house not on what the assessors think it should be. It should be clear to our politicians after attending last Wednesday’s (August 15) meeting that what they are doing to the people in Ogden Valley is drastically wrong and not fair! I have talked with Commissioners Dearden and Bischoff about the matter and it is the same old story. “We sympathize with you.” “Wish we could help, but the law is the law.” Maybe they could try and change the law. I tried to talk with Commissioner Zogmaister but she has not, at the time of this writing, found time to return my call. Talking with our legislator Alan Christiansen was very enlightening. He told me that the real estate lobbyists have so much money and power that if he does anything to reduce our property taxes, he one has been killed by these accidents yet. I don’t think the answer is for truck drivers to use Trapper’s Loop. That can be equally dangerous because of its steep grades. The answer is to widen “the narrows” and slow these trucks down! I’ve had to ride the wall more than once to keep from getting whacked by these big trucks. Any school bus driver who drives the canyon can tell you horror stories about their encounters there. Please do something before more people are killed in this canyon. Danny Wright, Liberty Charitable Kindness I was changing planes in Atlanta today and the terminal was just crazy with cancelled and delayed flights. Waiting for my plane to Mobile, I sat watching a football game in a terminal area that was absolutely packed and sweltering hot. Most of the people there were stressed because of missed connections and/or oversold situations. A young man, a passenger, stood up at the head of the rows of people and in a loud voice called out to the concourse, “Is anyone here traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma? I’m looking for someone who is willing to give up their seat.” Everyone turned to see this bold young man. Many thoughts ran through my head, and I’m sure that was the case for the other stressed passengers too. Then he said in a clear earnest voice, “I’m on a seven day pass home from Afghanistan, and I just want to see my family—and my kids.” Like a shot one lady stood up, waved her ticket, and said, “I will.” The whole concourse burst into simultaneous applause as people watched this now-tearful young man cross the room to give that complete stranger a long hug. Most people, including me, were too choked up to even comment to each other. So we just kept clapping. (I think that’s why clapping was invented. One can still clap when all other forms of expression have broken down for one reason or another.) It was a stunning example of the spirit of love that still lives in our society today, despite the noise and chaos of the modern world. It just takes one act of charitable kindness like this to bring it to the surface for a moment. Jeff Holt, Huntsville Consideration and Safety Just as Important as the Law Driving home from Chevron on the highway, I came upon two cyclists riding side by side. Surely, I thought, one would drop behind the other. As I drew closer, I noticed one had a rear-view mirror. Surely, he would notify his partner and one would fall behind. As I drew closer, they still did not fall into a single line. I had to slow down. We were approaching a blind corner. Surely, they would be considerate and fall into line. No, they stayed side by side. With little time left to make a safe pass, I decided to do so. As I passed, I waved my hands at them motioning to move over. One motioned back with disdain. Having been a cyclist in my earlier life, I felt I could speak with experience. Having a clear view that no one was approaching from behind for some time, I stopped to express my frustration. The younger one rolled up to the car and with arrogance asked what he could help me with. The heated discussion ensued. I explained that I had been a cyclist earlier in my life and understood their love of riding but wanted to know what in the world they were doing. He laughed at my statement that I had been a cyclist blurting out, “Yep, I can see that!” That didn’t go over so well. Just more proof of his self-centered, inconsiderate lack of regard for me and, I’m sure, for others as well. Kid, yep, I’m fat and old, but that doesn’t erase the past. Then, I asked him why in the world they didn’t fall in line. He just laughed and angrily told me that a new law stated they CONSIDERATION cont. on page 8 PULLING STRINGS cont. on page 8 |
