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Show Ud ll dhe Se WEES Ae y SPEEA ve SOS es hg SES e Reg eee SRE WF, bell LMU LM LR umpy Road| Messin’ With ‘The Wrong To Reform A mother fights junior high to give her son the medication he needs TIM WESTBY ‘COURIER STAFF Change of government faces another legal a“ DEREK JENSEN— MANAGING EDITOR more they stay the same. After facing an uphill battle that included_a complicated legal review by the Attorney General’s office, the November. frustration Perhaps with reflecting their the molasses-like process of reform in county govern- ment, residents responded in kind — voting with in order to function properly. 5 Se srqHuneeneneneae is _ Until February, the school administration refused to give her son his “Martino’s who Commission, and in would be a seven - member council not unlike the plan recently adopted in neighboring Salt Lake County. But over half a year since the polls closed, nothing has changed. The latest roadblock to reform came in the form of County Attorney Derek Pullan’s official answer to the com- was 14-year-old son, Gentry,— diagnosed with attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder or ADHD in the second grade—often becomes an unruly handful. “*T could tell you the moment a towering majority to overhaul the system. Out would be the three member County he gets off the bus if he had his medicaCOURTESY tion. They wouldn’t give him his medication and he would get into cae of course,” says Martino. Gentry Martino sits in the detention OF Lois MARTINO room 1 at Wasatch Mountain Junior High School. office to make it happen. “He didn't | cause any problems once he was on uneasy peace in F ebruary when. the school agreed to give Gentry the pill, but it took his parents hiring a lawyer, spending $1,500 in legal fees, extensively researching state laws and pay- his medication,” says a bitter Martino. blames the school’s vice principal, Mr. Weisher, for the problems. Weisher did not immediately return Courier Martino, the referred the telephone calls late last week. District Superintendent Danny Talbot was also ing a few visits to the superintendent’s but it was quickly dismissed. Martino The situation finally came to an At one point, according administration matter to to even the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, unavailable for comment. RITALIN continued on A5 _plaint over voter redistricting filed by Duke and Arlen : A Safe Haven For The Abused — Nine of the 11 allegations in the complaint were admitted by the County Attorney in the official “answer” recently obtained by the New justice center gives child abuse victims a place to tell their story. Courier. The admissions signify the county does not contest the CAMERON WOOLLEY COURIER STAFF com- t’s not easy to relive a moment that should never have ee in the first place. But that process may get easier for local child-abuse victims because it will soon be shorter. Sra E! REFORM continued on A& The May 29 grand opening of the Children’s Justice Center at 765 S. Main in Heber will mark the begin- ning of a new system for abuse victims in Summit and Wasatch counties. The Justice Center gives victims a place to tell their stories once — and only once. hogs victims used to recount the abuse about 10 different times, said Derek Pullan, Wasatch » County _ Attorney, and ’S advisory board. a teacher. Then First to to the Division of Child and Family Services. Then to the police, the medical health professional, the 1p aces TARRNES ; prosecutor and others. And with no Wasatch- The process not only forced climes to live the abuse over and over again, it may have discouraged others from speaking up. 2 The new center, however, brings the help to the victims. “They tell their story about. the. abuse, and the magic of the center is that their interview is. recorded, E | Noonan said. The résulting iden is then given to entities ering) in the victim’ S behalf. = “We don’ — | to: revieninize that child as we’re working on all of the adult processes. that attend the situa-’ tion,” she said. ~ The video is even legitimate for iUSTGE continued on re Se She ay Summit county location centralizing _ child-abuse eter - plaintiffs Jerry Kohler. | : cases, victims traveled to offices, PHOTO BY DAN STEPHENS said Noonan, advisory Mary board The Children’s Justice Center opening May 29- NEW COURIER WEBSITE COMING SOON! MARRIOTT LIBRARY, ARCHIVES 295South 1500 East Salt Lake City, UT, 84112 cen ea ra other cities and to various © Ae taie LALIT ae irst, a popular Teacher of the Year was fired without explanation earlier this year. Now, a parent at Wasatch Mountain Junior High School says she spent much of the school year trying to force the administration to give her son the second Ritalin pill he needs at lunchtime county’s change of government initia- “|. snoontime pill and without it, Lois tive finally landed on the ballot last Tat Re | COVER Sik Spans Hy SPREAD star 02 ‘he more things change in Wasatch County politics, the “Vom, : Permit No. 32005. |