Green River Mayor Resigns

James L. Davis

Green River Mayor Ed Bentley submitted his letter of resignation during a special meeting of the city council on Jan. 18, citing health problems as the reason for his decision to resign as mayor of the city.

The mayor and city council had met Friday night to hammer out an agreement on mayoral appointments, which had become a thorny issue between the mayor and city council.

Those appointments had led to a difference of opinion between the mayor and city council that ended in a stalemate as the city council denied all of the mayor’s appointments for the new year during the Jan. 8 city council meeting.

Following the swearing in of newly elected officials during the Jan. 8 meeting Mayor Ed Bentley presented his appointments for the year, which included appointed responsibilities of the city council as well as his desire to appoint Karen Smith city recorder instead of Conae Black.

The city council made a motion to deny his appointments and it was approved unanimously. With his appointments denied all of the responsibilities usually given to city council members rested with the mayor but the city council has the power to approve or deny any spending for the city. The disagreement over appointments could have essentially left the city at a standstill, with the mayor having authority over all actions of the city and the council having authority over spending.

During the Jan. 18 work meeting the city council accepted the mayor’s resignation, which will go into effect Jan. 31. Councilmember Dan Harrison, the senior Green River council member, will act as mayor pro tem until a new mayor is appointed to serve out Mayor Bentley’s remaining two years in office. The city will solicit nominations for the mayoral appointment for two weeks and following that time the city council will vote on who to appoint to serve out the mayor’s term. Mayor Bentley could not be reached for comment regarding his decision to resign.

Off to the Races

The Hinkins continue a 30 year passion for horse racing that began with a simple search for a couple of good horses to use for hunting

James L. Davis

They never really set out to get into the horse racing business, but after 30 years they sure have enjoyed the ride.

For Ross and David Hinkins of Orangeville, their love of horses has turned into a business where their quarter horses are competing in races from California to New Mexico, Colorado and beyond. But in 1978 they were just looking for a couple of hunting horses.

In their search for a couple of horses Ross and his father, Delile Hinkins found and ended up purchasing two horses that had the pedigrees to race. Suddenly owners of race horses they didn’t have time to try and train them, so they hired a renowned trainer and took their new horses to him to be trained.

“About a month later he called and said you need to come and pick up these horses, they have leg problems,” said David. “So I asked what kind of leg problems and he said they don’t move them fast enough.”

But when they went to pick up their new race horses with slow moving legs they were given the opportunity to purchase another horse that didn’t have the same kind of problem. This horse was named Havens Question and the horse could move his legs just fine, in fact he moved his legs so fine that throughout 1978 he fought it out with two other horses in races where they continually finished in the top three spots. And that was all it took to hook the Hinkins brothers on horse racing.

“There’s nothing like beginners luck,” Ross said.

“He’s the one that started the whole problem,” David said.

And after 30 years beginners luck has nothing to do with their success. Today their horses all have RGR in front of their names for Rainbow Glass Ranch and the number of horses winning with those three letters in front of their names is continuing to grow. Right now they are the fourth leading owners at Los Alamitos Race Course in California for races won and last year they were the 11th leading owners in the world for wins.
The Hinkins have race horses being trained in New Mexico, at Los Alamitos Race Course, in Oklahoma and in Texas. They also train their horses locally at the Castle Dale Indoor Arena and at the Ferron Race Track and they have stallions standing at Emery Animal Health in Castle Dale.

Locally Shawn Iorg, Leonard Prowse, Dan Cologie and Shane Larsen work with Hinkins’ horses. In New Mexico Wes Giles trains and in California their trainer is Adan Farias. Their jockey is Rodrigo Aceves.
While David likes to be able to get to races as often as he can, the demands of the businesses he runs with Ross and their brother Todd Hinkins, means that often he watches the horses race on TV.

What started out as a search for hunting horses and turned into a hobby has now become a business as they look to match horse pedigrees to make a better and better horse. In their breeding program David said they breed the horses for soundness, to be able to have a horse that can race but can also be used after its racing years are behind it.

“We try to match pedigrees to get the ultimate performer. But one thing I’ve learned after 30 years is speed plus speed equals speed,” David said.

Even after 30 years of racing horses the brothers and business partners haven’t lost any of their enthusiasm for the sport. As they go look back over the years they correct each other’s memories of dates when they had a horse in this race or that race and of events that still make them chuckle.

“I didn’t think it would be near as much fun as it is. Our kids know where every race track in the Western United States is. We saw it as a weekend outing. We don’t have an interest in motor boating. It’s the only hobby we’ve stuck with for 30 years, that and farming,” David said.

While they have stuck with the excitement of horse racing over the years, their brother Todd never got hooked on horse racing like David and Ross did.

“Todd liked to watch his kids run track. Kids track doesn’t pay, horses pay. When you’ve got a kid and they can’t run you can’t get rid of them. If you have a horse that can’t run you can get rid of the horse,” David said with a grin.

Ferron considers legal options on treatment facility

Josie Luke

Parties interested in the decision by Ferron City on whether to grant a business license to Charlotte Williams for a residential treatment facility again met at the planning and zoning meeting held Jan. 15.

Discussion began with committee Chairman Dennis Worwood reading a letter expressing the legal opinion of the city’s attorney, Richard Chamberlain, on the subject. In it, Chamberlain concluded, “It is my opinion that the city does not have any zone that permits the type of use being sought by the applicant. It would be appropriate to deny the application based on this fact. The Planning Commission or the City Council could, but does not have to, consider an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to permit the use or activity sought by the applicant.”

Worwood pointed to two issues that needed to be addressed in order for the facility to be licensed by the city. The first was the issue of zoning and the second was community concerns about the facility.

Committee member, Jerry Stotler suggested that if a change to the zoning ordinance were to be considered that it need not be done in a “rush”; it should be done carefully, with the long-term effects and unintended consequences that may result in mind.

The committee also attempted to address William’s concerns resulting from the unusual way in which the licensing had been handled by the city. Ronny Blommer, the city councilman over the committee said, “It never should have gotten to this point in my opinion. I believe that it should have been stopped a long time ago. It’s unfair to you guys, that it did get to this point. It should have been looked at a lot more stringently before to know there was going to be no possible way to approve this thing without the proper ordinances in place.”

Worwood also commented, “Hindsight is always 20-20, it’s difficult to have foresight, and all you can do is try to get as much factual information as you can and make the best decision you can at the time.”

Public comment on this issue had proved up to this point to be spirited. Rod Moore expressed in this meeting that comments from one side had provoked fear and comments from the other side provoked guilt. The public comment in this meeting proved to be markedly calmer.

Both sides were again given an opportunity to clearly express their opinion and afterward, it was decided that a work meeting should be set for Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. by the committee to bring in further information. It was encouraged that Williams invite her licensing supervisor, so that the committee and community members might get a fuller understanding, and that she bring information from owners of similar facilities. One of the concerned citizens, Rod Moore, was also invited to provide information he had gathered about possible influences on property values and other issues.

Crandall monuments moving forward

Josie Luke

After months working with the Governor’s mine safety commission to develop suggestions for future mine safety, Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon is now looking forward to accomplishing much this year with the newly seated City Council, including working toward the completion of two monuments commemorating the nine Crandall Canyon miners.

“We’re moving forward with the monuments,” reports the Mayor “It’s a hope that they can be completed by August for the anniversary.” One of the monuments will be located near the Huntington City cemetary, and the other will be directly at the mine site.

The monument at the cemetery will be a wall with the likenesses of the nine miners carved on it and the one at the mine site will consist of six stones for the miners who died and three benches for the three rescuers who died.
Gordon feels that the families will be pleased with the designs they chose. “When you’ve lost a loved one and somebody gives you a painting or a sculpture of that person that you feel like you can reach out and touch-- it looks that real-- that is what they lost. It can be very close to their hearts.”

There have been several groups who have donated to fund the monuments. According to the Mayor, an anonymous donor has pledged to donate a “large sum of money”, and a representative of Mr. Murray and IPA recently contacted her and said that they would soon be coming to make a donation. Gordon also revealed that the families of the miners “each wanted to donate a certain amount.” She felt this was because “they feel that people have been so very generous, this is their way of giving back.”

Gordon recently met with the families in Price along with Scott Matheson and others to discuss the suggestions the committee appointed by the governor would be making to the legislature. Family members were able to ask questions and comment on what the committee had decided. She said that “although at this time they cannot put this behind them totally, I felt a definite sense that the energy was lighter” in the meeting.

Scott Matheson was appointed by the governor to head the committee. Gordon feels he made a perfect choice. “Governor Huntsman knew what he was doing when he put Scott Matheson as the chairperson of this. He has done a wonderful job. He has made it very comfortable for me to speak up. I am the only woman on the panel and none of them have ever made me feel less than, they’ve always treated me as an equal,” she said.

The mayor is pleased at the work that committee was able to do. She said, “There are horrendous things that happen, but always there is something positive, of good, that can come out of this terrible sorrow, and if something good comes out of this safety commission that the governor put together, then I think every bit of our volunteer time has been worth it.”

County prepares for primary elections

Emery County is preparing for the Western States Presidential Primary Election on Feb. 5, where citizens will have the chance to take part in a process that has long been exercised in many areas of the country but is new to Utah.
Utah will now be among 24 states holding primary elections on Feb. 5 and whether voters will show up for the primary election is still an unknown factor. Regardless, for members of the Emery County Clerk/Auditors Office, and for the army of workers necessary to make an election possible, the work will be done whether voters show up or not.

“We have the same amount of work, even if no one turns out to vote,” said Brenda Dugmore, Emery County Clerk/Auditor.

The rules for the primary election differ, depending on whether you are a registered democrat, republican or unaffiliated voter. If you plan to vote for one of the democratic candidates, you may vote if you are a registered democrat or if you are an unaffiliated voter, but you cannot vote for a democratic candidate if you are a registered republican. For the Republican Party, you must be a republican to vote in its primary. If you are an unaffiliated voter who wants to vote in the republican primary you must affiliate with the Republican Party to vote in the primary. The deadline for changing party affiliation is Jan. 29 and can be accomplished at the Clerk/Auditor’s Office in the Emery County building.

Appearing on the Republican Ballot for the Feb. 5 election will be: Rudi Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson.

Appearing on the Democratic Ballot for the Feb. 5 election will be:

Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Christopher J. Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Frank Lynch, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson.

Emery County polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Feb. 5 and the following polling locations will be open: Emery Town Hall, Ferron City Hall, Clawson Town Hall, Orangeville City Hall, Castle Dale City Hall, Huntington City Hall, Cleveland Town Hall, Elmo Library and Green River City Hall.

After the Feb 5 primary the next milestone for the November elections is from March 7-17, which is the filing period for local candidates for office. This year one Emery County Commission seat will be voted on and there are three school board positions open.

June 24 will be the regular primary for those seeking public office.