Sentinel

The Sentinel Newspaper


 

  It's an Election Year, Is Someone Revving up National Controversy in Woodland Hills?
  Mar 1, 2012

   A couple of weeks ago someone called the sheriff's office to report a car with a large political sign and sound amplification equipment on a street in Woodland Hills. The sign had negative implications for national politics. A deputy dispatched to investigate could not find the perp.


  Drivers Beware, It's Icy in Woodland Hills
  Mar 1, 2012

  A sign at the entrance to Woodland Hills announces "4 Wheel Drive or Chains Required". The sign is nominally under the control of the public works department, but Director Ron Herron says he does not control it. According to Deputy Brent Butters of the Utah County Sheriff's Office, the sign should be blank unless conditions are especially dangerous. He believes that if the sign says 4-wheel drive or chains are required, then it is a citable offense to willfully ignore it. Nonetheless, he cannot think of anytime a citation was issued.


  Vehicle Burglar Hits Woodland Hills
  Feb 4, 2012

  A thief pocketed a checkbook and wallet from a vehicle in Woodland Hills last month. Although the city has a low crime rate, this is not the first time that valuables have been removed from cars.


  Woodland Hills and Elk Ridge Woken by Earthquake
  Feb 4, 2012

At 4:30 this morning, residents of towns on the flank of Loafer Mountain felt their homes shake for several seconds due to a magnitude 3.7 earthquake centered several miles away.

The seismic event caused dishware to rattle and small objects "walked" along flat surfaces.

There are longstanding visible signs of earthquake activity along the side of the mountain, and the US Geological Service has a seismic monitoring device near Woodland Hills.

Information from the website of the US Geological Service

Magnitude	3.7
Date-Time	

    Saturday, February 04, 2012 at 11:27:03 UTC
    Saturday, February 04, 2012 at 04:27:03 AM at epicenter
    Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location	40.012oN, 111.513oW
Depth	5.5 km (3.4 miles)
Region	UTAH
Distances	

    12 km (8 miles) E (91o) from Woodland Hills, UT
    14 km (9 miles) E (92o) from Elk Ridge, UT
    14 km (9 miles) ESE (108o) from Salem, UT
    24 km (15 miles) E (80o) from Santaquin, UT
    29 km (18 miles) SSE (154o) from Provo, UT
    89 km (55 miles) SSE (159o) from Salt Lake City, UT

Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 0.4 km (0.2 miles); depth +/- 1.1 km (0.7 miles)
Parameters	NST= 50, Nph= 50, Dmin=10 km, Rmss=0.32 sec, Gp= 76o,
M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=2
Source	

    University of Utah Seismograph Stations

Event ID	uu00009194

  Dissension Affects Emergency Services in Woodland Hills
  Dec 15, 2011

   On November 6 the parents of an infant in Woodland Hills called 911 when they found the child was not breathing. The Woodland Hills emergency medical technicians did not receive the call, but the Salem department did, and responded. Normally, the Woodland Hills EMTs would have have been on-scene first, providing first responder services while waiting for the Salem ambulance. But, for 3 days in November, calls for medical help were not routed to Woodland Hills, because the fire chief and the mayor notified the the county dispatch center to "remove Woodland Hills from the stack."

The unusual action was taken because, according to mayor Steve Lauritzen, the fire chief was not sure that anyone would respond. Lauritzen decided not to notify residents because he felt the unspecified issue could be worked out. "It was only 3 days," he stated in the council meeting on December 14.

Outgoing council member Steve Carter noted that it was the second time in recent months that dissension had interrupted emergency services. As reported in The Sentinel on August 1, the then fire chief Val Wilding and all officers in the department tendered their resignations. Without a chief, the department could not be in the county dispatch center's "call stack", and the Woodland Hills volunteers could not assist other departments, even if they were fighting a fire in the city. This situation persisted for several days in August, although citizens received no information about it.

Sources tell the Sentinel that the arguments between the city and its EMTs and fire department center on attempts to terminate award-winning firefighter and former assistant fire chief Marci Shaver-Adams. That termination is currently the subject of an appeal and arbitration. Other issues that have caused heated comments are comments by the city council about expenditures by the fire department to support fund-raising in nearby cities and a request for the department's Standard Operating Procedures manual.

  Homeless Dogs Slumber in Comfort Thanks to Scouts
  Oct 3, 2011

  Caleb Moore of Orem led his Scout troop in constructing a generous gift for the dogs of the South Valley Animal Shelter. ... More

  Meet the Woodland Hills City Council Candidates
  September 27, 2011

On October 12, the candidates for the 3 city council positions will meet the public in a forum held at the city center on Woodland Hills Drive. The event will run from 7pm to 9pm.



Spanish Fork photos by Barry Dalton








Past Story Archive




The Sentinel's last print edition was March 31, 2010. The "new" Sentinel continues as a web-only local newspaper.



Contact Hilarie Orman (editor@sfsentinel.com) if you are interested in writing for the paper.




Namon Bills' Farewell to the print edition of the Sentinel




J-Mart Printing is still in business. To reach them, call 801-798-6816.



Founder of The Spanish Fork News and The Sentinel, Lane Henderson.