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Show Page 2 The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume II, Issue V February 2000 Letters to the Editor THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 745-2688 Fax: 745-0062 E-Mail: shannafrancis@worldnet.att.net Jeannie Wendell Tel: 745-2879 Fax: 745-2879 Barbie Sunderland Opinions expressed by advertisers, columnists or letters to the editor are not necessarily the opinions of the owners and staff of T HE O GDEN 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 VALLEY NEWS will print local birth, wedding, obituary, anniversary and missionary farewell and homecoming 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, self-addressed envelope. T HE O GDEN V ALLEY N EWS , while respecting all property recieved, 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, births, weddings, anniversaries, mission homecomings and farewells, and death announcements. Eagle Scout and other 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. O GDEN VALLEY 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. Commissioners Call for Apology The Ogden Valley News recently re-ran and article from the 12/22/99 Standard Examiner, written by Joe Pyrah, entitled “Commissioners Often Absent From Meetings.” After the Standard-Examiner article was published, Shanna Francis (editor/publisher of the Ogden Valley News) called to interview me about another issue in the Valley. In that same conversation, she asked for my comments regarding the StandardExaminer article. I told her the article contained inaccurate information and comparisons, and gave her the correct facts. Soon after our conversation, that same inaccurate article from the Standard-Examiner was reprinted in the Ogden Valley News—with the same inaccurate facts, but without my corrections or comments. I am confused as to why someone would deliberately reprint an article that they knew to be full of inaccuracies? I think it is fair to ask Ms. Francis to be accountable for that decision, and for her to apologize to the County Commissioners for the violation of public trust she has generated. Glen H. Burton Weber County Commissioner Editor’s Note: Due to the late date at which the above referenced information was received from Commissioner Burton, the staff of the OGDEN VALLEY NEWS was unable to verify provided information and reformat the layout for placement in the January issue of the paper. The staff apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused. Organ Donation Is A Life For the past six years I have been dealing with kidney disease. Doctors, hospitals, dialysis and medications became my normal routine instead of the outdoor, physical life I was used to. I learned what it was like to face an uncertain future. A kidney transplant was a second chance at life for me. I then entered a part of life I had known little or nothing about but learned, very quickly, the importance of organ donations. Presently there are about 44,000 people in the United States waiting for a kidney, with as few as 5,000 people a year becoming donors. Organ donation is a very important issue and should be discussed as a family with all the children involved. Imagine being thrown into a situation where a loved one has died, and you have the chance of changing several lives forever. These opportunities are rare, and offer a person the opportunity to make a lifealtering decision. Some people go through life never experiencing the opportunity to do something lifesaving for another. I encourage others to enter this world when faced with an opportunity to donate. For more information about organ donation and how you can discuss this with your family, contact The Intermountain Organ Recovery System at 1-800-833-6667. Jan Retallick Liberty Reader Opposes Measure to Bring Fluoridation Issue to a Vote Fluoride is currently being pushed onto the voting ballot with the help of Republican Senator Robert Montgomery of North Ogden and the Weber-Morgan Board of Health. I believe this voting is unconscionable and an affront to voters everywhere, regardless of whether they choose to use fluoride or not! Civil Rights, particularly the 14th Amendment and its interpretation by the high courts, guarantees all citizens the right to choose or refuse medical care. This applies to your very life and it certainly applies to your teeth. Apparently our lawmakers need to be reminded of incidentals like the Constitution and Civil Rights. Fluoride is entirely inappropriate as a voting topic and it is shocking to realize that our leaders will push this unconstitutional measure forward unless we stop them. Fluoride usage is a “person by person” decision, and majority voting on a civil rights topic isradical, oppressive and unconstitutional. Other options, more ethical and legal, are being ignored! Most people voting do not even know that fluoride cannot be removed by standard water filters, and is chemically considered more toxic than lead and only slightly less toxic than arsenic! Fluoride is nearly impossible to remove or avoid once it is added to water. The dire health consequences that follow fluoride’s addition to water have been all but swept under the rug. Thousands of scientists in the U.S., and thousands more worldwide are vehemently opposed to fluoride for safety and health reasons. These respected mainstream scientists are not being given television and news coverage, and the public is being given a fraction of the story to form opinions to vote upon, enforcing this misinformation upon their neighbors (albeit with righteous intent), and violating others’ civil rights in the process. Rachael Sweeten Ogden Corrections The following names were inadvertently left off of the list, printed in January’s publication of the OGDEN VALLEY NEWS, of students from the Valley who made the honor rolls at Weber High School: Clint L. Child of Huntsville, 10th grade, high honor roll Pete Rasmussen of Eden, 11th grade, highest honor roll An article entitled Local Teachers Honored was printed on the front page of January’s publication of the OGDEN VALLEY NEWS incorrectly recognized Shanna Francis as the author. |