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Show C Y M C K Y A4 Sanpete Messenger-Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition Letters to the editor... We welcome and enjoy letters sent in by our readers. Please be aware of the following policies when submitting Letters to the Editor: 1) You may submit Letters to the Editor by • email: news@sanpetemessenger.com • fax: (435) 835-1493 • mail or in person: 35 S. Main Street, Manti, Utah 84642; 2) Letters are limited to 500 words in length, and to one letter per month per reader; 3) Letters must include the author’s name, hometown and phone number (phone numbers will not be published); 4) Letters must not contain potentially slanderous or libelous language, insults, personal attacks, commercial promotions or personal messages; 5) The Messenger reserves the right to edit Letters to the Editor for any reason deemed appropriate, such as for clarity, taste, grammar and space. Mexico played a role in Ephraim’s heritage Marsha Morales and her fellow members of Snow College’s Hispanic Student Association petitioned the city of Ephraim to include a Mexican flag in its cemetery along with the flags of the U.S., Britain and the Scandinavian nations from which some early Mormon pioneers emigrated. Terry Lund, city councilman and a member of the cemetery board, denied the students’ request. Why? Because Mexicans didn’t help found the city of Ephraim. Or did they? On Feb. 2, 1848, representatives of the sovereign nation of Mexico signed a document that was later called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. What’s the significance of this treaty? (1) It formally ended the Mexican-American War, and (2) it ceded 525,000 square-miles of Mexican territory to the United States—84,889 square-miles of which would later come to be known as the great State of Utah. So, if you think about it, Mexicans may not have had a direct influence in the founding of Ephraim, but by signing over the territory where Ephraim would later be settled, Mexico did make it possible for Ephraim to be born as a legitimately American city. Prior to that, all Utah settlements, most notably those in the Salt Lake Valley, were, technically, unlawful encroachments on Mexican soil by a bunch of disenfranchised, uninvited and illegal American immigrants. Joe Puente Moroni M K Wednesday, June 17, 2009 Cemetery flowers are private property I am one of those Manti residents who also was violated by thieves at the Manti City Cemetery. For the third time, potted plants and flowers have been taken from my son’s grave. They were taken the same time that the Blackham flowers were stolen. It is disheartening that there are people who feel that they need to steal from property that does not belong to them. This is private property. We should not have to put up signs that tell you that you should not steal from the dead. There is a sign at the cemetery that says that you do not take the flowers. You are thieves that have violated our family and our loved ones. Every time you look at the flowers in your yard, remember that you stole them from property that was not yours. Claudia Olsen Manti Getting ready for pageant required extra effort Getting ready for the Mormon Miracle Pageant this year took some extra effort on the part of several behind-thescenes people. We ended up with a much larger cast this year than in previous years. This posed a problem, costume wise. We had an emergency crew put together from our costume designers and our seamstresses along with some volunteers. For two days, I truly watched a miracle in the making. We were able to come up with close to 200 new “Christ in America” costumes and 20 new Lamanite warrior costumes, along with a few other new costumes that are being added to the pageant this year. I appreciate all the help everyone gave in pulling this together—our costume designers, Ivo and Barbara Peterson; and the three women who gave tirelessly to this endeavor, spending about 26 hours in two days sewing for us: Tracie Bradley, Velda Hancock (who drove down from Tooele to donate her time) and Marla Knight (who is here from Wyoming to be in the pageant and volunteered her time to help us out). We had many others who either came in and sewed for us or took a few costumes home to sew: Vergie Kjar, Alison Brown, Dakotah Hancock, Andrea Henrie and Teresa Boylan. I could not have made it this year in the costume-building work without the tireless efforts of these individuals. I truly believe it was this year’s Mormon Miracle. Mimi Hancock Ephraim Pageant protesters are just a type of party pooper As pageant season begins, we welcome visitors, neighbors and friends. Some of those who come are opportunists desiring to criticize, make fun, belittle, bring contention and chase the Spirit away. They come in force and yell over the fence as the pageant begins. So I have been thinking—why do I get hurt or offended? After all, LDS people send missionaries out, too, who seek to teach people. Here is my answer. Imagine you are planning a big party. You begin planning over a year in advance. You spend hours each day for weeks preparing and getting everything just right. You ask friends to help you, and you all work together to make this a special event. You invite your family, friends, those you love and others you would like to get to know. They are all welcome. You have put lots of time and money into all you plans. People come. They are excited to see you. They want to be a part of your party. Some of those who come won’t come in. They stay at the street, greet your company and tell them, “She has mice.” “She has flies.” “She doesn’t wash her hands.” “If you go in there, you’ll get sick.” “It looks good, but she is hiding all the bad parts, believe me.” When some of your guests come anyway, they yell, shout and try to interrupt those inside. They call you fools, deceived, stupid. The next day across the fence, they smile and say, “Don’t be offended. I just know better than you what is best for everyone you know.” I think that is why I am tempted to be just a little bit hurt. I might wonder why they think this is how friends treat one another. So my example is just a party, but the pageant is very similar. We have worked, planned, practiced, invested, and prayed. The pageant is more than just a get-together. It is a sharing of those things I hold sacred and true, sharing those things that guide my life and bring me happiness. They could be graceful, plan their own event, invite their target audience; but instead they choose to leech off of others’ work. I can’t imagine they have much success with their approach. When I see them tearing others down, I sure don’t feel tempted to be like them or join them. I do pray for them, but mostly pray for the sweet spirit that accompanies the message of the pageant to continue to touch lives and hearts. I know that it touches mine. I am not ashamed of my membership in the LDS Church. I am not ashamed of early Church leaders or polygamy, or modern prophets. Becky Olsen Manti 35 S. Main Street Manti, UT 84642 PHONE: (435) 835-4241 FAX: (435) 835-1493 EMAIL: news@sanpetemessenger.com Lloyd Call Associate Publisher lloyd@ sanpetemessenger.com John Hales Managing Editor john@ sanpetemessenger.com Suzanne Dean Publisher suzanne@ sanpetemessenger.com Christian Probasco Associate Editor eric@ sanpetemessenger.com News Four more cases of H1N1 flu confirmed in Sanpete County By John Hales Managing Editor RICHFIELD—The number of confirmed H1N1 flu cases in Sanpete County has risen to five. The Central Utah Public Health Department (CUPHD) reported the local spread of the disease last Friday, at the end of a week that saw significant developments in news of the disease on both the state and world levels. CUPHD did not give more detailed information as to the people or places infected with H1N1, citing privacy concerns. “Because of the rural nature of our communities, it’s very easy to identify individuals,” said Lisa Taylor, public information officer for CUPHD, on Tuesday. “ We w a n t t o p r o t e c t t h e identity of people because of HIPAA [the acronym for the federal law that protects medical privacy], so we’ve just chosen to identify the county.” Taylor confirmed the C Y M K same day that the number of cases in Sanpete had remained at five since last week’s report. Also last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the pandemic threat level for the disease to level six, the highest level. However, stated CUPHD information, “This change does not change our response at the state or local level and is an indication of global spread, not an indication of severity.” CUPHD also reiterated changes the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) had made to its H1N1 testing guidelines the same week. UDOH suggested that only those people who are hospitalized for influenza be tested for the specific H1N1 virus. Though health data suggested that 95 percent of flu in the state currently was due to H1N1, “It is important for us to be able to track those who are experiencing severe illness,” said UDOH Executive Director Dr. David Sundwall. However, UDOH stated, doctors should assume H1N1 is the cause of illness in patients testing positive for influenza A. The UDOH reported last week that 90 people statewide had required hospitalization for H1N1, and two had died. Since that report, three more individuals in Utah have died from the disease. Local health department officials reminded people of symptoms, which could include fever, body aches, runny nose, sore throat, cough, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. To prevent the spread of the disease, they recommended staying home if one is ill unless medical care is required; washing hands frequently; avoiding touching one’s eyes, nose and mouth; covering one’s mouth with cloth, such as a shirt sleeve, when coughing or sneezing; and avoiding close contact with people who are sick or coughing. ! /+*Ǝ+"Ǝ 2%*#/ ,0%+*/ (1/Ǝ ň ēƎ *(%)%0! Ǝ !,+/%0/ ēƎ 3+Ǝ3%0$ . 3 (/Ǝ,!.Ǝ0!.) ēƎ *!Ĩ0%)!Ǝ 1),Ǝ"! 01.! %.2%!3ďƎĴûúüĵûùþĨúúýø 0čƎ (! / *0ďƎĴûúüĵûýùĨùûüþ ĀĨ +*0$Ǝ ,! % ( ùčùüşƎ 3%0$Ǝ+*!Ĩ0%)!Ǝ 1), ňň 0!Ǝ ô! 0%2!ƎýĮøüĮ÷Ā +.0$Ǝ ,$. %)ďƎĴûúüĵùÿúĨüþù÷ ,$. %)ďƎĴûúüĵùÿúĨûýùø 333č" .3!/0 *'č +) .*/*.6. %&104*5 .0/5) 5&3. "%%*5*0/"- 6/-*.*5&% %&104*54 0' 03 .03& "7"*-"#-& "650 3&/&8"#-& $% 8*5) " .0/5) 5&3. 0/& #6.1 1&3 .0/5) 5&3. 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