Ogden Valley News | 2001-05-15 | Page 2

THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 2 Volume IV, Issue III May 15, 2001 The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Cell: 791-4387 E-Mail: [e-mail] Jeannie Wendell Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-Mail: [e-mail] Barbie Sunderland 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 VALLEY NEWS will print local birth, wedding, obituary, anniversary and missionary farewell and homecoming 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 nember of the person submitting the material. The OGDEN 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. 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 VALLEYNEWS has the sole authority to edit and locate any classified advertisement as deemed appropriate. It also reserves the right to refuse any advertising. Letters to the Editor Family Thanks Community Thank you to all our wonderful friends, neighbors, and associates for your many acts of kindness and love following the death of our daughter Melissa. The phone calls, visits, cards, letters, flowers, gifts of food and service was overwhelming. It was a great source of strength for us and is sincerely appreciated. A sincere thank you for being such wonderful people. Mike and Holly Hastings, Eden Jones’ Actions a “Big Deal” The Standard-Examiner’s “Our View” dated April 30, and Mr. Grondahl’s cartoon with Rulon Jones studying the drawing board, reinforced my comment in a Weber County Commission meeting. Commissioners then included only Glen Burton of the present three. The commissioners asked a shocking question after receiving 1200 protest signatures to the County’s land sale of Wolf Creek to Jones, “What if we don’t want the land back?” Commissioners were told, “To sell for $32,000, 160 acres of beautiful mountain land that is shown as parkland on the map hanging in their planning office implies they are either stupid or something was passed under the table. Pretty harsh accusations. However, media events continue to encourage such thinking. Example:  Jones thought he could build a permit and tax exempt hunting lodge.  Holding will not exercise commissioner’s offer—1000 acres of parkland for $200 per acre.  Taxpayers left to build Holding’s 15 million-dollar sliding road.  Commissioners and Jones keep fighting the people in court, defending their little land deal. Quoting the “Our View” editorial, Rulon Jones wasn’t very smart, and acted “ . . . especially self-destructive given that there is a cadre of Weber County residents who have, for years, made it their life’s mission to persecute Jones . . . ” The truth is, commissioners can at any time void Rulon’s land deed or Rulon can let the county put the land up for bid as required by law, and then end at least some of the persecution. In the same article, Jones says it was “no big deal.” Maybe not to him, but what about every other property owner in Weber County who has to pay taxes? Maybe Rulon thinks his parkland purchase was no big deal either, but what about the rights of 180 thousand county residents whose land was sold without their knowledge? Hopefully the Utah State Supreme Court will see it as a “big deal,” and give the people, who have fought so hard, their land back! Kent Fuller, Eden Students and Staff Say Thank You to the Ogden Opera Guild My students and I wish to extend to Ms. Burbank, Ms. Laramee, and the Ogden Opera Guild our warmest thanks for sponsoring us to attend the final dress rehearsal of Madame Butterfly at the Capitol Theater. We took sixty high school and forty middle school students, all of whom enjoyed it very much. As we talked about our experience afterward, I was very interested in the students' comments. They were so enthusiastic! I wish you could have heard them:  "I've never been to the opera before, and I didn't think I'd like it, but it was really cool."  "We had really good seats. I thought we'd be way far back, but we were right up front."  "I liked the music best when they were waiting all night long" (Humming Chorus).  "I couldn't believe Butterfly could sing in that position when she was dying!"  "It was fun to dress up and go someplace really nice."  "I liked how the stage was slanted so you could see every thing."  "The music was so gorgeous.  "I'm a soccer person, but I real ly liked it because it made you think so deep." We had several good discussions in class, including talking about the plot before we went and the characters afterward. The character of Pinkerton caused some of my boys to reevaluate their attitude toward girls. This is a good thing! I was especially pleased at how fast the tickets went. Usually I only get thirty tickets, because I'm sure I can sell that many. This time we had sixty just at our school, and they were all gone in three days! We are developing a core of young people in Morgan who look forward to every chance to go to the opera. I have taken students to the opera for several years, but I want you to know your sponsorship came at an especially opportune time. Only because of your financial help were we permitted to continue to attend. You may have given the chance not only to this year's students, but to future Morgan students. I thank you and my students thank you for making this opportunity possible. Carolyn Henson, Morgan HS Choir Teacher Corrections In the May 1, 2001 issue of the OGDEN VALLEY NEWS, a statement in the historical article on page 22 incorrectly related that the name of the Huntsville School was changed to Valley in 1956. The name change actually occurred during the 1944-’45 school year. INVESTIGATION cont. from page 1 know it’s there,” County Commission attorney David Wilson said. The assessor’s office is currently appraising the building and will add it to the tax rolls for 2001, Kelly said. The county also plans to gain at least a year’s worth of back taxes. Jones says he placed the lodge on the tax roll as an agricultural building, although Kelly and the county attorney’s office say Jones hasn’t paid any taxes for the structure. “I’m not sure what he applied for, but it didn’t end up being that,” Wilson said. Jones believes he is being targeted because he is a high-profile figure. He says that there are numerous cabins above Eden and Liberty that, like his lodge, don’t have proper permits. “We weren’t aware that we would have to do a regular building permit,” Jones said. “These (type lodges) have existed for a long time, and nobody else has been challenged to do anything.” The county, however, insists Jones’ twostory lodge is more like a rustic resort hotel than a meager cabin. Meals are served for hunters and the septic tank takes care of sanitary needs. The building even has electricity. “I don’t know how permanent power goes in there if he doesn’t have a building permit,” Wilson said. “There’s definitely some interesting things going on up there.” Building and health inspectors will also examine the lodge to ensure that it’s safe and that no health codes are violated. Jones, to appease health officials, says he will likely stop serving food at the lodge. In addition to the lodge troubles, Jones’ hunting preserve is under scrutiny. A group of Weber County residents sued the Weber County Commission and Jones after the former football player bought the 160 acres of pristine hunting ground for $32,000 or $200 an acre. The residents who brought the suit contend the land is worth $2,000 an acre and say Jones received a plum deal because he was friendly with the County Commission. The case to overturn the land sale is being appealed to the Utah Supreme Court after a 2nd District judge ruled in favor of Jones and the commission. Similarly, Chuck Eddy, director of the Citizen’s Advocate in Ogden, believes many county officials were aware of Jones’ hunting lodge but overlooked the building despite knowing that there was no building permit or collected taxes. “The problem that I see here is that we’ve got a corrupt county,” Eddy said. “They know this stuff is going on, and they’re not doing anything about it.” Note: This article was printed in the Deseret News on April 22, and is being reprinted by the OVN by permission. The deadline for material for the June 1st issue is May 23rd, 2001.