OCR Text |
Show Page 2 The Ogden Valley news Volume XXV Issue IV April 15, 2018 The Ogden Valley news Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 801-745-2688 Fax: 801-745-2688 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. 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 May 1 issue is April 18. Letters to the Editor Valley Sixth Grade Students & Teachers Thank “Serve to Save” Food Providers The sixth grade class and teachers at Valley Elementary would like to express our deepest gratitude for the food that was donated for our “Serve to Save” dinner and auction this year. If you want a great meal, they have some deli- cious food. A huge thank you to Snowbasin, The Oaks, The Greenery, Carlos and Harleys, Eats of Eden, Jackson Fork Inn, Timbermine, Gray Cliff Lodge, and Prairie Schooner. They have been so generous every year—always donating with a smile. They are the best! Thank you again, Valley Elementary Sixth-grade teachers & students Lewis Family Says Thank You My family and I want to express our deepest thanks for the kindness and support shown the Lewis family as we helped my husband, Jim Lewis, battle his Glioblastoma. As many of you know, Jim passed away March 9. Jim worked with his brother John Lewis as a part of the Wolf Creek Resort team, and spent many weeks in Eden helping the resort get off the ground. The last few years he traveled back and forth while managing Wolf Creek Rental properties. He loved his time spent working and playing with many great friends in the Valley. Wolf Creek dedicated this year’s Art Night Apres Ski to Jim, raising money for us through donations and a silent auction. We were beyond humbled and grateful for the gifts given to us through this event. The money raised will be used to pay for the care given in his final month. I want to offer a special thank you to Nicole Householder and Eileen Burke who spearheaded and planned this event. Also, thank you to the artists and businesses that donated art and auction items, and to the entire Wolf Pack for their support and love shown throughout these last eight months. I can see why Jim loved this place—not just beautiful surroundings, but beautiful people too. F i n a l l y, I need to say thank you to the many Utah friends who contributed to the GoFundMe account set up for Jim. There were several donations made by friends of the Valley Lewis Family who I do not even know. John, Melissa and Judy Lewis would explain who you are to me and I was overwhelmed with this show of kindness at such a painful time. I never thought I would be in a place to need this support—we worked all of our lives to be independent—but this battle was immediate and sudden and the generous donations will allow my kids and me to get back up on our feet. Thank you so very much. Jim’s mom, Judy; brother John and sisterin-law Melissa Lewis, who live in Eden, are also so very grateful for all of the love and support given, and continue to receive, from friends and family in the area. They, too, were overwhelmed by the kindness granted them at this heartbreaking time. Our family will be visiting Eden in June for a Celebration of Jim’s life, and I hope to see some familiar faces and meet others who Jim talked so much about, but I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting. Thank You, accurately determined by the FBI, Breitbart, or Mr. Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds also claimed Norway had a higher death rate from guns than the USA; however, a quick fact check on the most recent figures available show Norway had a death rate from guns of 1.75 per 100,000 citizens while the U.S. had a death rate of 10.45 per 100,000. Oh well, as one shibboleth to another, I say enough of fake news. As an old man, I am buoyed by the appearance of young people nationwide marching to see that changes are made to our gun laws. (I wonder what would have happened to the Las Vegas or Parkland shooters if their weapon had been a knife instead of augmented high caliber assault weapons.) Like a majority of the U.S., I support the need for more commonsense gun laws. I own a gun but see nothing wrong with more stringent background checks. I support an assault weapons ban and restrictions against certain individuals being allowed any gun ownership. (I would make an exception, in deference to the 2nd Amendment, which was fully ratified in 1791, because I do believe that anyone should be allowed to own all the flintlock, black powder weapons they can openly carry.) I salute John’s wife and daughters, who realized years ago that change was needed. I love the fact that today’s young people realize change can come at the ballot box. Hopefully, they will not have to fight Russian influence while attempting to cast their ballots. But that’s another story . . . . Janine Lewis, Kaylie & Stefan Gustafson, and Taylor & Brayden Lewis Dana Point, California “Shibboleth” Indeed John Reynolds just made my head explode again. I not only suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, I am apparently a “Shibboleth” – someone who relies on fake news. Mr. Reynolds claims knives kill five times more people than rifles. Breitbart (probably Mr. Reynolds’ source, as it is widely trusted by the alt-right) claims knives kill four times as many people as rifles. Is it possible that Mr. Reynolds is also a shibboleth? Breitbart says those figures came from the FBI’s Crime Statistics. Those statistics do contain an estimation of the number of annual rifle-related deaths but a more careful read reveals that their statistics are based on forms submitted to the FBI from all around the country and in thousands of cases the form identifies the weapon used by the generic term “gun.” The portion of deaths caused by rifles therefore cannot be Hap Stephens, Eden Weber County Citizens Expect Peace from Sheriff’s Office—Not Prejudice In February, I wrote a letter to the The Ogden Valley News stating my concern over the drastic 87% increase in number of citations issued by the Weber County Sheriff’s department between 2016 and 2017. I communicated with almost 20 citizens, relaying their “run-ins” with the Weber County Sheriff’s office. The critical message I received was that our police force has dramatically increased their prejudice and financial oppression against the citizens who they are sworn to provide peace and protection. On March 20, 2018, I met with Chief Deputy Klint Anderson and Precinct Commander Jeff Pledger from the Weber County Sheriff’s Office. During this meeting, I discussed in detail my concerns and the concerns of my neighbors. While not addressing my specific concerns, Chief Deputy Anderson clearly stated the 2017’s increase was in response to 2016 being a poor performance year and that the department needed to become much more vigilant in enforcing the laws, especially regarding traffic. This response did not sit right with me. I filed another GRAMA request and received the following facts directly from the Weber County Sheriff’s Office. Total citations for the entire county per year for the Sheriff’s Office only. 2017 citations issued 8,320 2016 citations issued 4,494 2015 citations issued 3,383 2014 citations issued 3,807 Based off of these facts, 2016 was not a poor performance year, as stated by the Chief Deputy; it was a 30% increase from 2015. When I confronted Mr. Anderson about the citation numbers, he made it clear that if the citizens wanted to meet, his department would be happy to discuss in detail their position in a group setting; however, when I reached out to those who shared their incidents with me, 9 out of 10 made it quite clear that the last thing they wanted was to place a bigger bull’s eye on their backs than what already currently existed with the county sheriffs. This is extremely concerning and disheartening for me. It’s a sad state of affairs when the public is fearful of its own police force. Does 1984 ring a bell for anyone? I also spoke with a few officers around Weber County and another message came through, “If you want to know why the citations are what they are, look to your elected officials—specifically, our County Commissioners.” While trying to understand this issue better, I found that current County Commissioner James Harvey and James Ebert, who is again running for re-election, voted for the 22% property tax increase while Kerry Gibson did not, and this increase has a specific budget allocated to increase the pay of members of the Sheriff’s office, which includes Ebert’s wife, Steffani, who is the administrative assistant to Weber County Sheriff Terry Thompson. Even uglier is the fact that a current candidate for Weber County Sheriff, former Weber County Commissioner Matt Bell—an outspoken supporter of James Ebert—also voted in favor of the tax increase that would significantly increase his pay if elected as the new Weber County Sheriff this November. Does anyone else see big conflicts of interest here? It appears to me that the 22% property tax increase and 87% increase of citations may be directly related to quotas, budgets, and the special interests of some of our elected officials. As Americans, we have an obligation to hold our Police Departments and elected officials accountable for their actions as we are for ours. Poor management and possible corruption within our local government and police force is far more important to me than minor traffic violations that can in no way cause injuries or deaths to the public. I’m asking for any and all citizens of Weber County to get involved and assist in a group effort to examine much deeper the Weber County Sheriff’s Office that we as Weber County citizens expect peace from instead of prejudice. Please contact me at skyline745@gmail. com for more details. Karma is King, B.G. Fuller, Eden |