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Show Page 2 The Ogden Valley news Volume XX Issue XI September 15, 2012 The Ogden Valley news Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 801-745-2688 Fax: 801-745-0062 Cell: 801-791-4387 E-Mail: slfrancis@digis.net Jeannie Wendell Tel: 801-745-2879 Fax: 801-745-2879 E-Mail: crwendell@digis.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. We invite residents to send their announcements to: The Ogden Valley news PO BOX 130 EDEN UT 84310 If you would like your submitted items returned, please send a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. The Ogden Valley news , while respecting all property received, will take no responsibility for lost or misplaced items. Please remember to keep a copy for yourself. Invitation for Articles The staff of The Ogden Valley news welcomes the submission of articles by our readership. We invite you to submit local historical accounts or biographies, articles pertaining to contemporary issues, and/or other material that may be of interest to our readers. We also invite you to submit to the paper, or notify the staff of local events. Awards that have been earned by the reader, family members, neighbors or friends are also sought. While the staff of The Ogden Valley news invites the submittal of information and articles, we reserve the right to select which material will be considered for publication. 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. Letters to the Editor Ogden Canyon is No Place for Bikers! Are bikers crazy or do they just have a “Death-Wish” and think they might as well take some of the rest of us with them? Here I am, going west down the canyon and I am about to complete a turn in the narrows, no less! And there is a biker in my lane. That was bad enough and I am mumbling under my breath, but to top that off, here comes a Maverick Semi with an extra tank towed behind, headed around the corner. Now we are supposed to allow the biker three feet! Give me a break! Don’t know how I kept from hitting one or the other, but I made it! I didn’t even realize that I wasn’t breathing until I had to take a big gulp of air once I was clear of the near disaster! The canyon is no place for bikers. Until an alternative route is made, I strongly suggest that this insane practice be stopped BEFORE someone gets seriously hurt or killed! Linda H. Brown, Liberty 2016 . . . A Must-See Movie After watching the movie “2016 Obama’s America” this weekend, I now have renewed faith in movie going. Dinesh D’Souza, who made this movie, was very thorough with his research on Obama. The study that he undertook to discover his facts were thoroughly investigated. His narration will keep you glued to the screen. D’Souza is a 51-year-old, born in Mumbai, New York Times bestselling author, and president of Kings College. Not being a regular liberal Hollywood movie, 2016 will not get its proper due, as far as being promoted. Anyone who chooses to go to this movie will walk away better educated about the past 3½ years of the Obama administration than they ever thought possible. When I entered the movie theater, it was packed. At the end of the movie, the audience erupted in applause. This should indicate what kind of entertainment you can expect. It is a must see for liberals and conservatives alike—especially before November 6. Kent Hislop, Huntsville Choose Happiness Every Day . . . Hello friends and friends I just haven’t met yet. I just wanted to say so long. I have headed to Big Sky country—Heron, Montana. I am taking so many great memories from my time here and will miss everyone. My parting advice . . . Keep laughing out loud and hugging; it makes the world a better place. Support your local business owners, stop whining, be kind to each other, love children and pets, and if you can’t say something nice . . . well stop and think of something. Exercise, treat yourself to a massage, surround yourself with great art, drink in moderation (unless it’s Saturday), and enjoy good food, Harley & Bucks rocks! Oh, and choose happiness every day; it could be your last. We never know. There . . . that should keep you going till I get back! May your lives be abundant. Connie Kenny, paden123@msn.com Property Tax Inequity in the Ogden Valley Within the last month, residents of the Ogden Valley started receiving property tax notices from Weber County. Many owners probably aren’t aware that there is a class of landowner that pays only a fraction of the property taxes assessed on the rest of us. Agricultural land, which is classified as “Greenbelt” is assessed based on its production capacity rather than its market value. Without the tax break offered by Greenbelt status, many agricultural operations wouldn’t be able to continue. Greenbelt status was created to protect and preserve open space and agricultural operations. Because of this, there were penalties built into the system to discourage land from being removed from production, especially if the point of removing the land was to subdivide the property into higher density development. One property developer, with the assistance of Weber County, has figured out a way to avoid paying the taxes he owes on his property. In 2011 Timothy Charlwood, the developer of The Sanctuary, paid a total of $101.88 for approximately 500 acres of property he owns in East Huntsville. Charlwood has owned the property since at least 2005 and has never paid based on the full appraised value of the land. The Sanctuary doesn’t qualify as Greenbelt because it is not an agricultural operation, the land hasn’t been used as an agricultural operation for more than a decade, and it is very publically for sale as residential lots. When one valley resident asked the Assessor’s Office how the property maintained Greenbelt status, he was told that Charlwood “free ranged horses” on the property. Apparently, the individual making that statement was able to say it with a straight face. Last spring the Weber County Commission, at the encouragement of the Planning Office, granted Charlwood a permit for a commercial heliport on the property. Even though County Officials are aware that Charlwood is a property developer, they continue to give him a sweetheart deal on his property taxes. If Charlwood was paying the same rate as the rest of us, his five million dollar development would be assessed $64,805. Even if he was only paying on a value of one million he would owe $12,961. I wonder how many other developers are getting similar deals. I encourage Valley residents to go to the Weber County Assessor’s page at www. co.weber.ut.us/psearch and check out the taxes that property developers around you are paying. If the developer maintains the property in agricultural use they can continue to receive their exemption. One the property is removed from production they need to start paying full rate as well as back taxes for a number of years. Please encourage the Assessor’s Office to collect the taxes owned by developers that they have no problem extracting from the rest of us. You can sign a petition regarding Charlwood’s property at <http://signon.org/sign/fair-property-tax-bill?source=c.em.mt&r_by=538480> Don Kelly, Huntsville Giving Women Control Over Their Health Care in Utah As of August 1, women and their doctors, not insurance companies, are in charge of health care decisions. Women deserve to have control over their health care, and no one—including the government—should be able to dictate those decisions to women. The Affordable Care Act makes preventive care like screenings for cancer, contraception, and diabetes screenings available to American women free of charge. Because of the Affordable Care Act, women in private plans and Medicare already have received potentially life-saving services, such as mammograms, cholesterol screenings, and flu shots at no extra cost. Now, more than 465,617 women in Utah will gain access to eight additional screenings and tests for adolescent and adult women at no extra charge. These include: • Well-woman visits. • Gestational diabetes screenings that help protect the mother and her child from one of the most serious pregnancy-related diseases. • Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling. • FDA-approved contraceptive products, which have additional proven health benefits • • • • like a reduced risk of cancer and protecting against osteoporosis. Breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling. HPV DNA testing, for women 30 or older. Sexually transmitted infections counseling. HIV screening and counseling. While women are more likely to need preventive health care services, they often have less ability to pay. On average, they have lower incomes than men and a greater share of their income is consumed by out-ofpocket health costs. Insurance company cost sharing (including copayments, co-insurance, and deductibles) reduces the likelihood that preventive services will be used. By removing cost sharing requirements it allows women to decide which preventive services they’ll use and when. In fact, one study found that the rate of women getting mammograms went up as much as 9 percent when cost sharing was removed. In addition to saving lives by catching cancer early, mammograms can also protect families from skyrocketing medical bills that result from treating the advanced stages of the disease. Just as any mother or grandmother—I now know that my daughter and granddaughter will have better health care coverage throughout their lives and for years to come. I am excited to be a part of these changes which foster secure, affordable coverage for millions of American women and families. By eliminating cost sharing requirements for prevention, the Affordable Care Act puts women in control of their health care decisions and brings a new day for women’s health. Marguerite Salazar, Regional Director U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Region VIII 999 18th Street, Suite 400 Denver, CO 80202 Marguerite Salazar was appointed by President Barack Obama as Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Region VIII on May 1, 2010. As Regional Director she plays a vital role in the Departments effort to effectively implement the Health Care Law, also known as the Affordable Care Act. 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 October 1 issue is September 15. 43 September 14 & 15 |