Thursday, April 28, 2011

South Ogden Drug Dealer Changes Plea to Guilty

Looks like our local drug dealer has changed his "not guilty" plea to "guilty." In exchange for admission to transportation of 65 Kilos of cocaine his firearm charges have been dropped and he will get a reduced sentence.

Looks like he could possibly get 10 years to life, but we will need to wait until September for that.

See more here: http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/RI_Drug_Bust_569816C.shtml

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Suspected Drug Dealer from South Ogden Pleads Not Guilty

For those keeping up on this story, you can see KSL has some new info on their website.  Adilson Antonio Reyes, who is accused of transporting nearly $6.6 Million worth of Cocaine has plead not guilty to drug trafficking.

 

It will be interesting to see how they prove this one.  See more from KSL.com http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=15297915

 

 

Friday, April 22, 2011

South Ogden Robbery/Shooting Suspect Booked via @BenWinslow

Just received word that Michael Ames, the suspect who broke into my neighbors home and the suspect in the key bank robber, has been booked into the Weber County Jail.

Here is the mug shot: http://twitpic.com/4o3yaa

This is Ben Winslow's tweet:

Michael Ames booked on robbery, burglary, assault, kidnapping and evading. Here's his mugshot: @fox13now #Utah

Good to hear, Thanks Ben.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Noall Knighton Weber County GOP Vice-Chair

This Saturday is the Weber County GOP Convention.  Being a Delegate I have received the call to attend. I have mixed feels about attending since it is Easter Weekend and I have a lot of family events planned. However I am excited for someone who is running for Vice-Chair.

Noall Knighton is running and I know he would be perfect for the job.  I have served under his leadership in the Leg District and I have been very impressed with his dedication to the party and leadership skills.

Here is his resume:

Party Experience:
State Delegate
County Delegate
Member of the Central Committee of WC Republican
Party
Chair of Leg 10
Vice Chair of Leg 10

Precinct ChairCo-Chair for state party golf tournament
Held fund raisers for local candidates

Hosted a campaign  kick-off  fund raiser for Rep. Wallis to unset a 6 term democrat

Volunteered at the WCR Party Booth at the County Fair

Walked neighborhoods to support GOP candidates

Community Experience
President of Breakfast Exchange Club
President of Utah Opticians Association
President of Ogden Golf and Country Club
Party contact to Weber 9/12 group

Professional Experience
President of Knighton Optical
Development Director at Ogden/Weber Applied Tech College
Business Broker at United Business Brokers
Fledgling career as a billboard model 
Personal
 Married to Julie Knighton ( Thanks to her high tolorance and low expectation, that has lasted over 30 years)
Two sons, Eric and Alex
Mother is Ellen, who we are blessed to have live in our home
Hobbies include golf, photography, and reading
Favorite book read of all time:  Atlas Shrugged (The Movie is great!)
Photographer for the Ogden Raptors
Host family for Ogden Raptors

Politics
 I believe the US Constitution outlines the role of the federal government.  I have a strong belief that we should follow those principals.

I am a strong supporter of the free enterprise system and support efforts to eliminate government from competition with the private sector.
Favorite quote:  The government that governs best is the government that governs least

Political decisions are best when made closest to the people.

You can contact him at noall@comcast.net or (801) 726-9944

I hope to see you support Noall this weekend. Even it is just to vote and then go to an Easter Egg hunt.

Comments welcome

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Where did Arbor Day come from?

Once again, this Friday is the South Ogden Arbor Day.  This is an exciting day with real unifying affects for a city and those who participate.  To help my readers understand the importance of the day and why we should all participate I thought I would give you all some info about Arbor Day and where it came from.

In 1855, a man named Julius Sterling Morton moved to Nebraska City, Nebraska with his new bride Caroline.  Quickly his new family began to miss the lush forests of the east coast, and along with other settlers, began planting trees.  By 1858 he had planted an apple orchard and many other trees and shrubs on his 150 acre property.  He quickly realized the Nebraska soil was very suitable for tree planting and began pushing for more. As more and more settlers moved to the area, there was more need for trees for homes, shade and fuel.  Mortan began publishing articles in his newspaper calling for all settlers to plant trees on their property.

Mr. Mortan had worked in the Grover Cleveland administration as the 3rd Secretary of Agriculture and was well respected as an agriculturalists.   He spent much of his time teaching farmers the most modern techniques in farming and forestry.  By 1872 he was now a member of the Nebraska Board of Agriculture and began pushing for a special day to plant trees in the state.  Mortan offered $100 ($1800 in 2010) to the county which could plant the most trees and $25 ($450 in 2010) and a complete farm library to the person who could do the same.  With this reward available, the first Arbor Day on April 10th 1972 was a huge success.   Nearly 1 Million trees were planted in the state.  Other states and countries began to follow the example making Arbor Day a world wide event.

Since the first Arbor Day, the event has expanded to 36 countries and has promoted environmental awareness and unity.  Upon Mr. Mortan's death in 1902, President Cleveland dedicated his home as Arbor Lodge.  The national marker has one of Mr. Mortan's quotes, "Other holidays repose upon the past - Arbor Day proposes for the future."

We look forward to seeing you all this year at the South Ogden Arbor Day events. Remember you can help plant trees on Friday at 10 am at the Club Heights Park or 4 pm at the Glasmann Park. Also you can take the Arbor Day Quiz and have a chance to win a $25 Costco Gift Card. See Here: http://goo.gl/C0Adm

Comments welcome.

Monday, April 18, 2011

South Ogden Arbor Day - This Friday - $25 Costco Giveaway

This Friday is South Ogden's Arbor Day.   The Urban Forestry Commission has prepared a few things to celebrate.  All are invited! Here are the events coming up:

Quiz: First, there will be an informal survey/quiz to test the Arbor Day knowledge of the local residents. Two lucky participants will have a chance to win a $25 Costco Gift Card to buy things for their garden.  No need to get all the correct answers, just take the quiz and email when you are done.  Email can be found in the quiz.

You can find the quiz link here: http://goo.gl/C0Adm

Tree Planting:  There are two tree plantings scheduled for that day.  First they will be planting trees at 10 am at the Club Heights Park.  Second trees will be planted at Glasmann Park at 4 pm.  All residents of South Ogden are invited to come and help plant the trees.  There will be some local scout troops there as well.

Through out this week I hope to post some facts and info about Arbor Day.  They may help you get a better score on the quiz.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

More Photos from the SPJ9

A good friend of mine and member of the SPJ9 was at our panel discussion last Saturday.  See Here

He sent me along these photos.  If you get a chance, check out his photography business and some of his amazing photos:  www.lightingbryan.com.  Thank Bryan for the photos.

Courtesy of Lighting Bryan Photography

Courtesy of Lighting Bryan Photography

Courtesy of Lighting Bryan Photography

South Ogden Photos Needed

South Ogden City Council is preparing for the 75th Anniversary of the city.  In commemoration of 75 years the city is publishing a book about South Ogden and it's history.  What they missing is photos!  Do you or someone you know have photos?  They are looking for the 40s, 50s and 60s especially.

Contact Councilmember Russ Porter at rporter@southogdencity.com or 801-479-7216

See the Standard Examiner's blurb on the topic as well:

http://www.standard.net/topics/books/2011/04/11/south-ogden-chooses-publisher-annniversary-book

Monday, April 11, 2011

Is South Ogden budget crisis over.

The Standard Examiner's Gentry Reinhart, South Ogden City Reporter, filed an article regarding the on going South Ogden budget crisis this weekend. (See Here) Finally this one had some good news attached to it. Due to the hard work of the council, department heads and City Manager Matt Dixon, South Ogden now currently has a projected surplus of $5,000.

According to the article, Matt Dixon said:

"Again I want to emphasize that this is preliminary and we're still going to be working on this as we go," City Manager Matt Dixon said. "Right now based on the numbers we put in, we have a balanced budget with a very small $5,000 surplus."

This is great news, the budget is finally balanced.  However according to Mr. Reinhart, Dixon and the council are already asking for people to submit budget requests for capital and one-time money projects.  No, we are not bringing back the all expenses paid Christmas dinner to the Timbermine just yet. However we are asking for people's wish list. This is like opening the flood gates during a tsunami.

With only a projected surplus of $5,000, if revenues actually materialize, I think we are jumping the gun in asking for projects.  Not to mention this was the same team that budget for a 2% sales tax increase in the middle of a recession because CNN said it was over. (See Here)  I wouldn't start looking at projects yet, you can hold surplus for awhile longer until we know we are out of the clear.  

Comments welcome.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Is Blogging Journalism?

This weekend I had the opportunity to speak on a panel of bloggers and journalists to debate the topic "Is blogging journalism". The discussion was at the Society of Professional Journalists Region 9 Conference on the University of Utah Campus.  It was a heated discussion moderated by Ben Winslow from Fox 13 News and featured: Eric Ethington from Prideinutah.com and myself vs. Jim Fisher, associate professor of journalism at the University of Utah and Don Meyers, reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune.

Right out of the gate, the journalists went on the offense to call out bloggers for not being real journalists.  The reasons, according to Don, were simple:  We do not have ethics nor standards.  But when Eric and I explained the ethics and standards we had imposed on ourselves, the journalists began to twist their own words to explain because we do not have editors we are not real journalists.   When we offered to have editors edit our work, they began to twist their words again.  Finally they said some bloggers could be journalists; however when the crowd jumped on this new revelation the quickly returned to the fact we didn't have ethics and we are lacking a publisher.

In the end it appeared because we had not journalists because we have not paid our dues as starving reporters with mean editors throwing ashtrays at our head.  The audience was clearly on our side and it was fun to be involved in such a healthy debate.  But the journalists will need to realize that blogging and traditional reporting will continue to merge until a hybrid model exists.  The old ways of becoming a journalists are changing and blogs have helped make that happen.  In my opinion, true blogging can be and is journalism.

I am reminded of this famous quote from an internal Western Union memo from 1876:
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." 
Traditional Journalists need to remember these words as blogging continues to advance. Western Union could have been the phone company but refused to adapt or move with the future.

In reality about half of what I do is journalism.  A lot of it is distribution of information and editorial writing.  But many times this blog has broken news or reported information for the people of South Ogden.  Either way I enjoy what I do and have appreciated all of your support.

Thanks to Ben Winslow for the invite, I had lots of fun.

See more from the USU blog and SPJ 9 blog (photos).

Comments welcome.

Photo from the UtahSPJ.com Website
Left to Right - Eric Ethington, Me, Don Meyers, Jim Fisher