FREE
Community News and Information for Northern Utah County
TheCrossroadsJournal.com April 11- April 24, 2015
Vol 15 No 07
Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Fairfield, Cedar Fort, Lehi, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Highland, and Alpine
Lehi Round Up Page 2 Understanding the Autism Spectrum Page 6
Saratoga Police Blotter Page 4 Local ScoutsFire Prevention Page 7
The Prison Relocation Process Drags On According to Mayor Pengra of Eagle Mountain he was recently made aware of a document which was posted on the Prison Relocation Commission (PRC) website on Friday March 27th. The document is titled, “Utah State Prison Siting Program Site Screening Assessment Report – Round 2.” It identifies, scores and ranks the sites under consideration for the prison as a result of the “second round” of solicitations by the PRC. Unfortunately, this document is somewhat confusing because it has included some sites that were re-scored from Round 1, while omitting others, states the Mayor on his blog http://mayorsvoice.com. According to his latest post there is confusion in the reports. A report was prepared for the governor and legislature and dated February 27th. That document identifies the potential sites as follows: I-80 / 7200 West, SR 112/ Depot Boundary, Lake Mountains West (Eagle Mountain site), Cedar Valley South (Fairfield site), SR 138 Industrial Park. Mayor Pengra states he is concerned because, “Scoring is flawed and I am going to contest the manner in which the sites have been scored. Two, is because a more
in-depth analysis will need to be completed to more accurately identify some of the more technical characteristics of each site.” He goes on to say, “By simply reducing the number of potential points from one category and redistributing those potential points to another category, the results may become drastically skewed. A site that may have been rated highly in one category and lower in another can move up or down the overall ranking when potential points are redistributed. We see the effect of this in the comparison of the 1-80/7200 West, and the Cedar Valley South Site’s original scores against their new scores. The Cedar Valley South site has a 25% increase in total score (from 61 points to 76 points), while the 1-80/7200 South site total score decreases by 2% (76 points to 75 points). The redistributed potential points essentially rearrange the weighting of the categories.”
The mayor concludes with, “At the end of the day, I know that if the prison relocates to the Cedar Valley South site, it will have a significant and detrimental impact on Eagle Mountain’s traffic. We already struggle with meeting the traffic needs of our rapidly growing population. While my role dictates that I care for the needs of the residents of Eagle Mountain, our neighbors in Fairfield are no less important. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with Fairfield and oppose this very frustrating process for their wellbeing, as well as our own. I am disappointed with the way HB 454 was passed during the legislative session. I do not believe it is appropriate to incorporate an increased taxing authority into a prison bill. Taxing authority and the prison move are two separate policy considerations and should be
addressed individually. Neither should such heavy decisions be introduced without discussion and then passed in the waning hours of the session. We, as elected representatives, have been given a very special stewardship and this action is a betrayal of the conservative principles which I know so many of us espouse. To speak for myself, HB 454 was a betrayal at least of my principles. I am disappointed. I hope and pray that my disappointment would not extend to a scoring process which abandons truly objective analysis in order to accomplish a specific result.” For the mayor’s full evaluation and details about the prison location process you can go to http://mayorsvoice.com or watch for updates on The Eagle Mountain, Utah - City Hall on Facebook.
Moab Under Fire By Matthew Gary Milam
Like many other places in Utah, Moab is not only a favorite destination of Utahns, but it’s also world famous. But unlike the winter destinations, such as Park City and the other major ski resorts, Moab has been lined up in the scopes of environmentalists for some time. Recently, a public meeting was held in Grand County to discuss the Public Lands Initiative that is proposing the closure of nearly 100 trails throughout this beloved, red-rock, southern Utah recreational area. Perhaps it has something to do with the world-famous aspect of it that has made it such a target for outside environmentalist groups. After all, a world stage is hard to pass up to make your message known. The environmentalists are not necessarily large in number, but they have a loud voice and are most likely well-connected nationally. Opponents of the closures, recreationists—“Jeepers”—and families who have made a tradition of spending family vacations in Moab are not happy about the situation. “Jeepers,” such as Taras Lojik and his family, have long enjoyed Moab and are saddened at what is being proposed by environmentalists dead set on stopping all motorized off-road vehicles from access to Moab and it’s series of trails— specifically, 100 miles of them, at present. The current claim of these environmentalists is that the destruction of land is harmful to the point of even effecting global warming. And never mind that much of the population does not concur with the legitimacy of global warming, some say it is a concern born of computer models alone and not actual evidence. Nevertheless, as Taras Lojik pointed out, “Most jeepers and other off-roaders that I have seen have put in a lot of work cleaning up the trails and the area.” Taras and his family have been coming down to Moab every year for the Jeep Safari which takes place every year around early April. “Most of the people who come down for Jeep Safari are very responsible and take care of the area,” say Lojik. Lojik also says that this year the group pushing the trail closures tried to schedule an early meeting, but that this might just backfire on them, because as it turns out, the meeting will occur right during the heart of the Jeep Safari. It has been reported that 40% of Moab’s economy is from off-roaders who come to enjoy the recreational and beauty of Moab. It would
Photo by Shaunte Wadley
appear that the threat of trail closure is a direct threat to the livelihood of Moab because of the potential loss of many jobs. Perhaps that is the goal of these environmental groups. They would seem to be connected to the other environmental groups who have brought about close governmental regulation of oil and gas in Utah. The question is, do these environmental groups really help anything? Are they really trying to protect the land? And how far up the ladder do their connections go? Speaking of that, here’s an interesting question. How much does Park City come under attack over environmental issues? If Moab held a yearly, world-famous film festival that attracted all of Hollywood, would the environmentalists back off? Maybe Moab’s lack of Hollywood left-wing visitors is what puts it in harm’s way for an environmentalist free-for-all. After all, there’s nothing like a Hollywood actor with a cause. Lojik says, “These groups have been working on closing down recreational enjoyment of Moab for the past ten years. It’s a slow process, and it’s not just Moab they are gunning for.” Lojik himself volunteers to do trail and area cleanups in Moab, during the course of which he has noticed that many of the protesters seem to be coming from outside the state. This would seem to indicate a lack of true interest in protecting the natural beauty of Moab, and more of an interest in bringing environmentalist causes onto a national stage and into the spotlight. When this happens, those who have never been to Moab and know nothing about it can be easily swayed to believe that a problem really exists when there may actually be no problem. This is not to excuse actual vandalizing and destruction, such as that occurring with Utah monuments not far from Moab. No responsible person really wants to destroy the natural beauty of Utah. But there is a point at which those opponents of Moab’s recreational trails must be defended against. People engaged in wholesome, harmless, fun should take priority over senseless environmental causes. Especially when those who come to protest come from mostly outside Utah to influence more governmental regulation over Utah natural resources. I personally love the beauty of Utah and this country, but people and freedom are what really matter.
Around the world - ISIS terrorist organization by the United Nations. By: Alec Medina
If you’ve been watching the news lately you’ve probably heard about ISIS. ISIS, also known as The Islamic State, is a group of radical Islamists operating mostly out of Syria and different areas in the Middle East. For the past 8 months, ISIS’s influence has spread to over a dozen countries and recruited many foreigners to fight for their cause. There has been a lot of controversy over President Obama’s request for authorization to fight ISIS. Reports say that there have been over 180 Americans that have traveled to Syria to fight alongside ISIS forces. The youngest, so far, is 15 years old. The FBI has issued several warnings to teens and adults alike to be aware of the propaganda that is out there, especially online. Most reports have been linked to social media and other online sources. ISIS has been branded a
ISIS has been performing, what is known as “ethnic cleansing,” on a historic level. Over 60 countries have waged direct and indirect war on ISIS. There is a lot of tension in the United States about whether or not American forces should be directly involved in fighting ISIS. America is leading many airstrikes against ISIS killing over 6,000 ISIS fighters, but that is not stopping the consistent flow of thousands of militants being recruited every month. Since America is limited to airstrikes, many people have risen up and taken the fight to ISIS, such as the Kurdish Peshmerga and Iranian backed Shi’ite militants. By the look of recent events the battle against ISIS is not slowing down. Many countries are fighting ISIS at home as well, as in Syria, now more than ever.