Newsletter January 21, 2008

Welcome to Ideal Living Updates – January 21, 2008
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WHAT’S NEW?

• Local citizens are rallying to attend two important public meetings this week:

This Tuesday, January 22, at 1:00 p.m., the County Commissions will hear Jim Kennon and Dick Cumiskey of Sevier Citizens for Clean Air and Water present a proposal on how to resolve the coal-fired power plant issue. Immediately following the presentation by SCCAW, the Sigurd Town Council submitting a resolution to formally oppose the building of the power plant in their town. The meeting will be held at the County Administration Building 250 N. Main in Richfield in the County Commissioners’ chambers. The meeting will be held at the County Administration Building 250 N. Main in Richfield in the County Commissioners’ chambers, in the northwest corner of the building’s main floor.

The next day, Wednesday, January 23, at 5:30 p.m., the Sevier County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. The agenda is not yet available, but it is believed that sometime during the evening they will have their final vote on the controversial power plant issue. This meeting will also be held at the County Administration Building in the same room. This vote is said to have been the focus of an allegedly illegal meeting which was said to have been attended by county officials.

• The Utah Attorney General’s office states that it is continuing to have complaints pour in “by the dozen” over a secret meeting said to have been organized, conducted and attended by county officials during the first week of January, 2008, regarding a controversial proposed coal-fired power plant project in Sigurd. The matter will go before a committee, which functions as an informal grand jury, and may recommend that the Attorney General begin a formal investigation on the matter. Utah law requires that any meetings where government officials discuss the public’s business must be publicized beforehand through the issue of public notices about the meetings, provided the meetings primary intent is not to discuss pending litigation, real estate purchases, or the discipline or hiring of county employees. It is believed that government officials who voted against the proposed coal-fired power plant in Sigurd were pressured to join in a unanimous vote to support the controversial proposal.

Citizens who wish to complain are asked to direct their complaints to Ms. LaPriel Dye, of the UAG’s Civil Review Committee, at her email address of ldye@utah.gov . Ms. Dye may also be contacted via postal mail at: Utah State Capitol Office, Office of the Attorney General, Utah State Complex, 350 North State St., Suite 230, Salt Lake City, UT, 84114-2320. Due to the large numbers of complaints they are receiving, callers to the Attorney General’s office at their main number of 1-800-244-4636 are being asked to write complaints down completely and fully and submit them to their office as soon as possible, either via the above email or mailing address.

The Utah Bar Association ( www.utahbar.org ) asks that complaints be directed to Kim Van Orden, at 801-297-7048 or opc@utahbar.org . Formal complaints require a signature, and so the Bar requests they be mailed to the Office of Professional Conduct at the Utah Bar Association, Attn: OPC, 645 South 200 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84111. Those complaining to the Utah Association of Counties may find contact information at www.uacnet.org, and are not requiring any particular requirements at this time.

• The TDS/Tire Distribution System store — as well as the adjacent antique store — are said to be being purchased for the construction of a large chain drug store, as previously reported here.

• The Richfield Albertsons continues to see changes made. Wells Fargo closed all of their satellite branches, which has been removed from inside Albertsons. A few weeks ago, Albertsons closed their video rental business and replaced it with a RedBox kiosk outside their store.

• CentraCom Interactive is upgrading their broadband Internet service from 5 megabits per second up to 8 Mbps, at no extra charge. This makes CentraCom’s service the fastest Internet access service available in our area. Contact them through the form at http://www.centracom.com/idealliving . Note that this form does not reflect these changes. However, they will contact you, explain their current offerings and ask what services, if any, you would like to subscribe to. CentraCom, formerly known as Central Utah Telephone, upgraded their cable TV service in Monroe many months ago, yet are unsure if local residents are interested in also getting their broadband Internet service. If you live in Monroe and would be interested in low-cost, blazing fast broadband Internet service, be sure to let them know at (800) 427-8449. And be sure to tell them Ideal Living sent you!!

• Ken Stevens, Elsinore, emailed Ideal Living to write: “Thank you for your article about Dr. Gillespie’s findings. The whole coal fired power plant deal is the biggest bunch of crap to be proposed upon the people of our county and area!! Coal fired anything is dinosaur technology. This thing would only be a band-aid for the real problem of energy. We must not let this thing come to harm us, for surely it will.” Dr. Gillespie, a south Utah resident, formerly with the World Health Organization, challenged the notion that coal ash from coal-fired power plants is “inert” and thus “harmless,” saying that it contains “Crystalline silica” which makes cuts in air sacs in the lungs which diminishes lung capacity. He also said ash contains “lime dust, that can combine with the moisture in your lungs to form calcium hydroxide, a moderately strong base with a pH between 10 and 12, on the order of Drano, the drain cleaner – definitely not health food.” Ideal Living welcomes your comments as well. Please email them to ideallivingmedia@gmail.com .

• Huls Italian Plasters has a new phone number: 435-896-3680. The business produces stunningly beautiful, authentic venetian stone plasters & drywall finishes. Must be seen to be believed. Their website is available here: http://tinyurl.com/3bahax .

• Some local residents are excited about new some new Internet services which offer opportunities for (potentially) lucrative side-employment. First, iStock.com offers a convenient way to make some extra cash by selling “stock” photography online. Apparently, photos from scenic Utah are in high demand on the popular site, where the photos — which are often used in advertising — are available at low cost ($1-10, depending on image size). Photographers receive generous commissions from iStock, where popular photos can sell by the hundreds.

And CreateSpace.com, a new service from Amazon.com, offers a new way for local authors to publish books at no cost to themselves. Authors submit their manuscripts to their site, which are made available immediately on Amazon.com, offering financial returns which exceed what many traditional publishers offer. Remuneration for CreateSpace-produced books, which can be updated at any time, can be increased by authors’ promoting their books on their own web sites through Amazon’s affiliate program. Finally, the books themselves are inexpensive to purchase. Now is your chance to find (perhaps a little) fame and fortune by taking advantage of these helpful new services.

• While some Richfield residents and business owners applaud the good work done so far, some have expressed concerns to us regarding Richfield’s new zoning enforcement officer. Some fear that properties could eventually be seized over relatively small infractions, such as lawns that need mowing. Many have compared the matter with controversy in Orem when an elderly resident was apparently unable to pay her water bill, and when the lawn had some brown spots, Orem police forcibly arrested and imprisoned the woman: http://tinyurl.com/2ufxlf . The main concern voiced by Richfield city residents is that they were not informed as to what the laws are that they will be held accountable for.

A Sevier County minister reportedly contacted Richfield’s zoning officer to express concern for his elderly congregation and asked him to please contact their church if someone was unable to keep up their property. Reportedly, the officer refused, and stated that if residents or businesses did not respond immediately to any notice given, the city would do the work, and place a lien on their property to pay for the services. The zoning officer explained the process in a recent city council meeting, telling councilors that these liens could be sold to others in a process where homes could eventually be lost. The Richfield mayor and councillors applauded the zoning officer for his efforts.

• Sevier Citizens for Clean Air and Water have reportedly gained some additional legal muscle. Further details are currently unavailable at this time.

• Remember that early voting for the U.S. Presidential election primaries will be available locally from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1.

• As you know, we at Ideal Living Media helped introduce quality local television programming for Sevier County on cable channel 10 almost two years ago. Today, we have become a daily part of the lives of our 15,000 viewers in Sevier and Sanpete counties. If your customers watch television, we would be happy to help your business. Our commercials only cost $100 per month for a 30-second spot, which are shown many times each day along-side our all-local programming. Producing your commercial is free. To sign up, or to ask your questions, contact Ideal Living Media at ideallivingmedia@gmail.com or at (435) 633-4195. Thank you!

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