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Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black A4 Sanpete Messenger-Gunnison Valley Edition IN OUR OPINION ... TO Historic character is one of Sanpete’s best assets A marquee in Mt. Pleasant announces: “Go back in time, take U.S.89.” Indeed, Sanpete’s historic character is the county’s most distinguishing feature. With a heritage area designation pending in Congress, with heritage travel becoming one of the strongest trends in tourism, with second home ownership becoming a bigger factor in the county’s economy, and with agricultural employment declining, preservation of historic character is to Sanpete County what retention of Hill Air Force Base is to Davis County—a lynchpin in the county’s economy. That’s why we’re concerned when historic homes are bulldozed and when we see “for sale” signs in front of scores of venerable mansions along our Main Streets. In many cases, these once-elaborate homes, built by the founders of our communities and embodying multi-generational family histories, are seriously deteriorating. Preserving graceful but aging structures is a complex problem. But there are things we can do. Some towns, including Ephraim and Mt. Pleasant, have completed surveys to identify historic buildings. All Sanpete municipalities, and the county, need to complete such surveys. Because historic character depends on a concentration of older structures, we suggest that municipalities adopt liberal definitions of what is historic. Let’s preserve as many older buildings as possible. Next, all towns need to pass ordinances providing for cooling off periods before an identified historic building is demolished. The goal would be to give municipalities and interested groups time to negotiate and propose alternatives to destruction. In Sanpete, the county’s TO Building Department issues demolition permits. Coordination would be needed to ensure that the Building Department has the historic surveys, checks them and notifies the municipality, the Utah Heritage Foundation, the Sanpete Heritage Council and other interested organizations when a demolition permit is requested for a historic building. Meanwhile, public education is needed to make sure people know that it is illegal to demolish any major structure without a permit. And ordinances against impromptu demolitions need to be enforced. If the right surveys, ordinances, notification procedures and public education had occurred, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints might not have bulldozed (without a permit, by the way) turn-of-the-century homes on the periphery of property it is acquiring for a new stake center in Ephraim. Utah offers attractive state tax incentives for owners who restore historic structures. But it’s often difficult for people to get bank loans to restore historic homes, especially in Sanpete’s slow real estate market where there may not be enough comparable sales to establish a market value for a historic structure. We believe local banks could profit from setting up historic preservation loan programs. Such programs might especially appeal to out-of-area people interested in restoring a home for retirement or as a second home. As an economically disadvantaged area, Sanpete County must protect, not destroy, our most distinguishing feature—our historic character. We hope our local governments will focus on developing mechanisms to achieve this goal. THE EDITOR... Troubled youth being dumped in Utah It appears Utah is a dumping ground for troubled youth. There are already 1,300 group youth homes, including boarding schools, and 1,200 foster homes in Utah. Why do we have such a staggering number of these socalled youth treatment facilities, and yet another outfit from Montana is attempting to found three more homes—a nonprofit boarding school in Sanpete County, a nonprofit wilderness program in San Juan County and a third nonprofit family program in Wayne County? The question is why are we attracting more of these facilities? Is it because Utah lacks regulations to control the why, where and how of these treatment facilities? Last year’s tragic death of a youth counselor is one too many. We should do all we can to prevent it from happening again. A bill was drafted for the 2004 Legislature, but somehow it was mysteriously misplaced. The bill referred to stricter legislation of all youth homes, boarding schools and foster homes without exception and without giving privileges to nonprofit treatment facilities. We strongly believe this legislation is needed. Regarding the proposed boarding school in Sanpete County, our concern is over the particular area where the school would be placed. It is a recreational area containing a large number of cabins owned by absentee landowners. These landowners pay county taxes yet are unable to vote or even be heard at commission meetings simply because they do not reside in Sanpete County. We live at the base of the mountain where Pretty Shield Foundation wants to build the boarding school. We know what living is like here, especially in the wintertime. The climate differs drastically from that in the valley below. We have very severe winter weather with heavy snow accumulations. Landowners leave their cabins for the winter. A few return with their families on weekends for snowmobiling fun. Others do not return until springtime. The cabins are well stocked with food, water, propane, liquor and even firearms. They could serve as a magnet for runaway teenagers. A runaway could hide in a well-stocked cabin for months and never be found. We believe legislation is needed to protect landowners from developers who are pushing to place youth homes and boarding schools in close proximity to residential areas. The proposal in Sanpete County will cause tremendous devaluation of very expensive properties. James and Therese Nichol Mt. Pleasant Wednesday, January 5, 2005 THE EDITOR... LETTERS TO THE EDITOR RULES: The Sanpete Messenger invites letters to the editor from our readers. Letters must be in good taste, and submitted with the author’s name, hometown and phone number. The telephone number will not be published. Occasionally, we will withhold the author’s name from publication, so long as the author reveals his or her name to the newspaper. Letters are limited to 500 words. We will publish a maximum of one letter per person every four weeks. We ask that writers limit themselves to an issue, or aspect of an issue, that they have not addressed before. We reserve the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and taste. Opinions in the letters to the editor section do not reflect the opinions of the newspaper or its staff. A holiday run-in with the law The following relates my experience with three of “Sanpete’s Finest” on New Years Eve, 2005, at approximately 2 a.m.: After attending a singles dinner-dance in Spring City and helping cleaning the LDS chapel in which it was held, I was driving to my home in Manti. It was snowing and the roads were slick. However, after Ephraim the roads cleared, and I reached down to disengage my four-wheel-drive. During that process I possibly swerved. Within approximately one minute, two extremely bright halogen headlights were following me. The “hot pursuit” (at 50 MPH) continued to Manti Main Street in Manti. At approximately 200 North Main Street in Manti the red and blue lights were illuminated. I immediately pulled over and rolled my window down. The officer came up to my car and I asked, “Are your automobiles not equipped with a dimmer switch?” He replied, “Yes, we know they are very bright.” Within five minutes, three other officers were there with lights flashing; ready to meet this dangerous situation. (Possibly, ticket quotas were lagging for the evening and everyone wanted a piece of the action.) At this time, a Sheriff ’s Deputy took control of the investigation. I requested a breathalyzer test, which was administered and measured zero. A field sobriety test was administered by sticking a pencil in front of my face approximately 5 to 10 inches and instructing me to follow the point, which to the best of my knowledge I passed. The part of the test I had trouble with was following the ballerina style pirouettes on the slick and icy sidewalk. Of course the officer was wearing standard issue soft, flat soled shoes, and I was wearing western style boots. I was informed that I was “under the influence,” to which I demanded a blood test. The investigation team complied. I was handcuffed, and after arriving at the Mt. Pleasant hospital I pointed out that my previously injured right wrist was bruised and bleeding from the tight handcuffs. A doctor looked at my wrist and had five x-rays taken. After which a cast was applied to my wrist. The investigation continued with a urinalysis (UA) that tested negative for any mind altering substances. Blood was drawn, but test results will not be available for two to three weeks. One of the hospital staff made the statement that based breathalyzer and UA, the blood test will be negative also. I was then shackled with one arm, and booked into the county jail in Manti. After coming up with $1,320 cash for bail, I was a free citizen at noon the next day. Another $230 impound fee will get my vehicle back. I have engaged two very enthusiastic defense attorneys to assist me in my defense. When a trial date is set I will publish it in this newspaper, so that any interested citizen can see first hand the actions and mentality level of our protective agencies. The above is all a matter of record. Douglas Lund Manti Would your life be different without Coach Braithwaite? In It’s a Wonderful Life Jimmy Stewart’s character George Bailey has a chance to see what other people’s lives would be like if he had not lived. How many live long enough to sec that his life made a difference? As friends, associates, students, or athletes of Wilbur Braithwaite, each of us have memories of experiences with him. Coach has taught, challenged, and counseled so many over the years. It has been our privilege to observe his gifted abilities that he shared so freely. Now it is our chance to let coach know how much he has influenced our lives, and how appreciative we are to have known him. Please send a note of thanks, share an experience, or express any feelings you might have that can be complied and given to Coach as a token of appreciation. Let him know how big of a role he played in your life. Large or small written sentiments to show Coach Wilbur Braithwaite that he really has had a wonderful life and that you’re better because of him. Written copies can be sent to either of the addresses below: Steve Allred 1456 Bluebell Dr. Bountiful, UT 84010 or Russell Nielson 814 Green Vista Ct. SLC, UT 84107 Electronic copies may be posted on the following web site https://homc. comcast.net/devenjritchie/ My true American heroes are: • My wife, who spent a year of lonely nights worrying about what would come next, too afraid to turn on the TV for what she may hear on the news. • My son and his wife for dealing with the premature birth of their son, his fight for life, and the fear of not knowing how it will turn out, and for trying to explain why Grandpa has not been there for weeks to their four-year-old daughter. • My oldest daughter and husband for persevering through the birth of their own child, my son-in-law’s broken leg and being out of work for months, wondering how will they get by, and for trying to explain to their four-year-old son why his Grandpa is still in the airplane. • My youngest daughter, who has experienced a junior prom, a softball season and a season as head cheerleader, with still no Dad to share it with. She asks Dad about future plans only by email and waits for the answer sometimes for days. • My mother and father, who devoted themselves to my family. • My mother-in-law and father-in-law, who understand the sacrifices, for their great commitment to their grandkids and daughter. • My brothers and sisters and my wife’s brothers and sisters for all of the love and caring they show. • My neighbors and friends for all you have given my family. • My four grandkids, who have no idea what war is, yet they are proudest of Grandpa. I thank my friends for being there with my family, and my family for caring for each other over the last year. They all do this alone and yet their commitment to why I am gone has never wavered. This is just a touch of what I believe makes up my heroes. SFC Anthony Shaw Iraq PUBLIC NOTICE Messenger reporter can now be trusted Be it known that Messenger associate editor Sean Hales, who observed Sean Hales reaches his 30th birthday Tuesday, can no (mature) age of 30. longer be accused of being immature. Citizens can sigh with relief now that Hales, once part of the rowdy element of Sanpete society, has resigned himself to wearing slacks, hanging up his ball cap and shaving once in a while. Sweetheart Robbie Davis beams, “All he used to talk about was golf, golf, golf, or fish, fish, fish. Now he goes to work and is a diligent, responsible, productive member of society.” No public hearing will be held on these observed changes, but written comments may be emailed to: sean@sanpetemessenger.com. 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