Community rallies to support student

Josie Luke

The community has rallied to further support Ryan Thompson, who is struggling to maintain his health as he waits for a liver transplant. This support has come from adults in the community as well as from Ryan’s fellow students.

Karen Ison, a family friend, had been planning a benefit for Ryan since late last year, and has joined with Joann Taylor and others to organized a benefit to assist the Thompson family in funding the transplant. Scheduled for Feb. 23, the event will consist of a spaghetti dinner, bake sale and silent auction, and will be held at Huntington Elementary School from 5 to 8 p.m.

Karen revealed that since the event has been organized, the group has been awed at the community’s response. “It just makes your heart warm to see what people will do to help. Every call we’ve made, they’ve said ‘sure’”, she shared.

Entertainment will be provided by the Val Jenkin’s Band, LaRae’s Dance Studio Gym and Jeannie Baggs. Those attending will also be treated to cowboy poetry. Anyone interested in donating to the bake sale or auction are encouraged to call Joann Taylor at 687-9142.

Students from Emery High School have also shown their support for Ryan. A spur of the moment fund drive has been held in J.R. Nelson’s English classes since Tuesday and the student body has pledged to donate the proceeds from this year’s Valentine’s Dance and activities to the fund. Canyon View Junior High has also joined in, committing proceeds from their Valentine’s Dance and bake sale.

Ryan has also received news that the high school has found him a tutor who will help him in all his classes except math, which Kyle Holmes has volunteered to tutor him in, giving him the opportunity to get caught up and rejoin his pre-calculus class. Ryan’s seminary teacher will also visit him on Mondays and provide him with the opportunity to stay on track to graduate from seminary.

Voter turnout larger than expected

While not huge, the turnout for the Western States Presidential Primary in Emery County was larger than many election officials had expected as voters cast a ballot for their candidate of choice on Feb. 5.

As was anticipated, Mitt Romney was the overwhelming winner for the Republican primary and for the Democrats Barack Obama was the winner in the county, but only by a slim margin over Hilary Clinton.

Romney received a total of 1,363 votes in Emery County, followed by John McCain with 118, Mike Huckabee with 49, Ron Paul with 22, Fred Thompson with 8, Rudy Giuliani with 6, Duncan Hunter with 4 and Alan Keyes with 2 votes. Tom Tancredo, whose name appeared on the ballot, received no votes. After Romney’s exit from the campaign, the vast majority of Republican voters in Emery County will have to reconsider their choice for president in the November election.

On the Democratic side, Obama received 188 votes in Emery County, followed by Clinton with 170, John Edwards with 24, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden with 2 and Christopher Dodd and Frank Lynch with 1 vote each. Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich both appeared on the ballot but received no votes.

Election officials were unsure what to expect for voter turnout for this first Western States Primary. Overall just over 31 percent of the registered voters in the county voted on Feb. 5, less than the 48.4 percent that turned out for last November’s general election and dramatically less than the 68.06 percent that turned out for the 2004 presidential general election.

But the 31 percent turnout was still a higher percentage than many in the county had anticipated.

By municipality, Clawson had the highest percentage of voter turnout with 45.86 percent of registered voters casting a ballot, followed by Emery with 42.67 percent.

Miners’ strike avoided as contract is signed

Kathy Ockey

A miners’ strike was avoided with the acceptance of a proposal made by Energy West officials to employees of Deer Creek Mine. Miners voted on the proposal and it was accepted on Feb. 5. A previous proposal was rejected by the miners but negotiations resumed between union and company officials to develop this second proposal.
According to Mike Dalpiaz, International Vice President of the Union, “The contract was ratified by a very clear majority. This contract affects not only the miner’s benefits but also the retired miner’s benefits and is a good contact.”

Work is ongoing and the contract has been signed and implemented. Dalpiaz also said, “The union is proud of the employees and their work. This is the safest and most productive operation in America.”
Officials of Energy West could not be reached for comment.

Snow Patrol

James L. Davis

As one snow storm after another dumped on the cities and towns of Emery County, those responsible for keeping city streets clear have adjusted their sleeping schedule to one not kept by the ticking of the clock but by the drop of the snowflake.

“We don’t even listen to the weather report anymore. We just get up at 5 in the morning and look out the window,” said Ryan Winn, of Ferron City Maintenance.

And for the past few weeks those early morning peeks out the window were greeted with fresh snowfall, meaning that the plows would be running again. For the maintenance crews of small towns and cities, snow removal must be juggled with other maintenance and city duties, from performing winter maintenance on equipment to preparing grave sites.

“It’s really put us behind,” said Sid Swasey of Ferron City Maintenance. Ferron benefits from assistance from Emery County Roads and the Department of Transportation on snow removal of some of the streets that intersect the city, but the amount of snowfall this year and the snow drifts that have completely engulfed some roads at time still keep the maintenance crews busy. The ironic thing, according to Winn, is this winter was a normal one once upon a time.

“Years ago this would have been an average winter,” he said.

“We’ve been a little spoiled as far as snow removal the past few years,” Swasey agreed.

In Orangeville City, maintenance employees Kim Heiniger and Jay Fausett agree.

“This is a normal year, we’re just not used to normal,” Heiniger said.

Usually the two Orangeville maintenance workers will try and get up and start plowing the streets and sidewalks between 3 and 5 in the morning and Heiniger has given Fausett a crash course on operating the city’s snow plow so he can help keep the streets clear. Fausett started training by working in the parking lot of the cemetery and from there Heiniger showed him what to expect on the city streets.

“I took him out and showed him what you might experience,” Heiniger said.

“And we experienced it,” Fausett said, recalling a car pulling out in front of them and the snow plow sliding sideways as they avoided a collision.

So as the sun peaked out during the past few days in Emery County and the temperature climbed high enough to actually start melting some of the ice, city workers from Emery to Elmo crossed their fingers and perhaps hoped for just a moment that the next snow storm might pass them by.

“At least long enough for us to catch up,” Swasey said.

Ferron residents speak out on zoning proposal

Josie Luke

Ferron citizens were given a chance Feb. 5 to comment on the proposal by the Planning and Zoning Commission to amend the zoning of Molen Road from 425 East to 845 East so that the existing lots would conform to the requirements of the zone.

Originally, the area was a residential zone but was changed to a residential-agricultural zone. This change was in response to concerns from citizens over a “sunset clause” which required that animals rights were lost on property where animals had not been kept for over a year.

In response to petitions from citizens, the area was re-zoned as residential- agricultural. According to committee member Dennis Worwood, the city has since discovered that “the existing lots do not meet the criteria for that zone” because of a required minimum of 125 feet of frontage for each one- acre lot. “So by re-zoning it, it created a bunch of nonconforming lots. In fact there are not very many lots that I am aware of on Molen Road that actually meet the requirements of that agricultural zone,” he said.

The city has also removed the “sunset clause” on animal rights, so as Worwood explained, “the condition that originally prompted the people to seek the zone change no longer exists.”

He further explained the problem that the change of zone has caused. “If you go to sell the home or to build on an existing lot there, some of the lending agencies, or some of the people that are doing the title work have thrown up a red flag because you’ve got a nonconforming lot.” Because of this, the commission is now proposing either to return the area to a residential zone, or amend the zoning ordinance to meet existing conditions.

The commission explained that the zones were very similar, but that a difference between the two was that commercial kennels were not allowed in residential zones.

Citizens expressed the concern that the change was in fact being considered in order for people to be able to build in the area, who would not be able to if the change was not made.

Some citizens were concerned about property values in the area. Several people expressed worry that property taxes would increase because property they had been using for agricultural purposes could be considered more valuable because of the resulting decrease in the amount of frontage required to build.

Another concern expressed was the effect the change would have on green belt property. In response to these concerns, the commission determined that further information needed to be gathered before making a recommendation to city council. The next planning and zoning meeting will be held Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.