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Show TheEmeryCountyReview.com Track & Field Junior high school students run, jump and fly during annual track meet B1 REVIEW Emery County The Volume 2, Issue 18. Local News, Local Voice, Locally Owned Republicans gather for convention Josie Luke The Emery County Republican Party Convention was held April 25 at Huntington Elementary, where county delegates had the opportunity to nominate incumbent Drew Sitterud as their candidate for Emery County Commission and to listen to a number David Hinkins, Republican candidate for State Senate, speaks during the county Republican Party Convention. of Republican candidates running for office, including David Hinkins, who is running for State Senate against the Democratic candidate, Brad King. Commissioner Sitterud began his remarks by thank- ing those present for the “privilege and honor” of serving them as a commissioner. He also addressed the recent news that property taxes in the area would be going up, relating that the commission had voted to pass the lowest percentage possible, saying, “We couldn’t have done that unless the Republicans were in control.” Sitterud also explained that the county had benefited because of his position on the Community Impact Board, and warned that if he were to lose his position on the commission, the CIB seat would not come back to an Emery County Commissioner for many years, reporting, “Once I leave, it goes back to San Juan, where commissioners seem to stay forever.” He also pointed to the success he, along with several others had in pushing the Forest Service to grant permission for the memorial to be built near the Crandall Canyon mine disaster site. Although it normally can take years for such permission to be granted, he reported, “We will get that permit in June.” Hinkins began by explaining that originally each county in Utah had 75 Cents Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Failing road patched back together Josie Luke Recent road problems on State Highway 10 and the resulting attempts to fix the road have at times caused headaches for local drivers. With temperatures warming, the metal plates used to make the road passable were removed last week, and a patch was put in and the road leveled out so that speeds could return to normal. According to Dave Babcock, road operations manager for the Price district of the Utah Department of Transportation, the problems resulted from “a severe winter and a worn out road.” The issues began on Feb. 27, when the first pothole appeared at mile post 58.2 because of a road base failure in the sub-grade due to frost and moisture from the wet winter. Workers tried hand patching the hole, but it kept growing, eventually becoming what Babcock referred to as “kind of like a bowl of Jell-O.” On Feb. 28, after an automobile accident occurred, workers dug out the hole and tried to patch it with Continued on Page A3. Photo by Charlotte Williams Utah Department of Transportation maintenance crews work to repair a section of SR-10 that had collapsed after a severe winter. Fighting Cancer “I teach my students that attitude is everything. It would be really easy to lie down on the couch and say I’m not moving until this is over, but I can’t do that.” -Jan Hanson Continued on Page A3. Local businesses benefitting from new program The Governor’s Office of Economic Development recently announced the acceptance of Rural Fast Track Program incentive applications and is in the process of funding several existing rural Utah companies. For the first time in Utah history, very small Utah companies have a program to assist their growth. The program, which was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Huntsman, will offer help to rural Utah companies that are at least two years old and in a growth mode. The expectation of the program is consistent with Governor Huntsman’s plan for broad based, statewide economic development. “Utah’s small businesses have always been a vital part of the Utah economy. When a company adds one or two or even a dozen new employees to their payroll in a small rural community, that growth can have a major impact for good,” said Governor Jon Huntsman. “The companies we have recently assisted demonstrate that rural Utah produces significant world class products and services.” The Rural Fast Track Program is designed specifically for businesses in communities with a county population less than 30,000 people and with an average county household income of less than $60,000. RFT provides an efficient way for existing, small companies to receive incentives for creating high paying jobs in the rural areas of the state to further promote economic development. Under this program, 20 percent of the Industrial Assistance Fund may be used as an incentive for companies to expand in rural Utah. According to Mike McCandless, Emery County Economic Development director, the program is not available to retail businesses and was intended to focus on manufacturing and service related industries. He said that business owners need to realize that the program is intended to lead to new jobs or expanded wages of existing jobs. Allen Childs, presi- Continued on Page A4. Photos by Liza Roberts Jan Hanson and her grandchildren, Quin and Braydon Roberts, held a ‘head shaving party’ when Jan’s chemotherapy started making her hair fall out. Before the ‘party’ was over, Jan’s son-in-law, Mike Roberts (bottom right), joined in on the head shaving party as a way of supporting Jan. Facing ADVERSITY and Finding a Reason to Smile James L. Davis T heir shaved heads tell part of the story. Their eyes tell the rest of the story. The pictures of Jan Hanson and her grandsons Quin and Braydon Roberts with their heads shaved, huddled close together and smiling softly for the camera whisper of the love the boys feel and the support they wanted to give their grandmother as she battles breast cancer. The sparkle in all of their eyes shouts that it is a battle they plan on winning. Smiling in the face of adversity is a matter of attitude and a life lesson Jan has long believed in. It is something she has tried to teach not only her children and grandchildren, but her students at Cottonwood Elementary in Orangeville, where she has taught for the past 30 years. “I’ve got a lot of kids that look at me and you have to teach them how to face adversity,” Jan said, sitting in the living room of her home in Orangeville, with her daughter Liza and grandsons beside her. But on Jan. 18 when a mammogram picked up a lump the size of a marble in her chest, adversity glared back at Jan with full force. Jan and her husband Jae were told she would need a mastectomy to rid herself of the cancer and Continued on Page A10. |