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August 10, 2011
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~i~he ~ews-~xaminer - The only newspaper in the worm that really cares about the Bear Lake Valley
Page 13
eBooks are the wave
of the...present
TammyStephens op one's thinking publicly, and
News-Examiner reporter research socially.
"I don't know if it was my own per-
"We'll never stop sharing our mere- sonal beliefs or if I was taught to
ories. . . or getting lost in a good book .... believe that in order to react a book
But how we do all this will never be you must actually read the real book-
the same." Those words open the -one with pages, covers and binding.
newest electronic device commercial, However, after taking this class I am
but they can also describe the new not so staunch in this anymore,
wave of electronic books- eBooks. Wallentine said.
Carlie Wallentine, daughter of Todd "A part of me still strongly believes
and Conra of Paris, recently complet- that the real book is better, but with
ed a course at BYU called Writing eBooks teachers can access books and
Literary Criticism in which she and bypass the hassle of sharing books
classmates researched, composed, between classes or schools, or simply
edited, designed, and published an not having access to those books at all.
eBook, an online book that can be Reading eBooks opens the door for
downloaded and read on any elec- classrooms to provide thousands of
tronic device including computers, books to each individual room.'
Kindles, Nooks, and iPads. Wallentine stated she was very glad
"The most surprising thing I learned she took this particular class. "Most
wasn't a fact or statistic, but it was a classes end in a final exam or test that
deeper understanding of my educa- the professor grades. Not this class!
tion," Wallentine said. "Dr. Burton The end result was a useful book that
strongly stressed the need for self- I can show future employers. Our
directed learning. He explained that if eBook has 19 different opinions on dif-
all we do is wait to see what the teach- ferent topics. The variety is amazing.
er assigns, or if we study to pass, or There are chapters on English, art,
float along in the middle we will for- movies, assassins, racism, comic books
ever be mediocre in knowledge. If we and much more! I hope people will
go through education holding the understand that English is not dead. I
hand of the teacher then we will never had classmates read classics and they
really own our knowledge. We have to found a new angle to understand the
be responsible and take the initiative book from."
to learn more, new and better." People can download a free copy of
Wallentine added that students are "Writing About Literature in the
generally,assigned a topic to research Digital Age" at http://www.archive.
and then write for the teacher, which org/details/
means the student figures out what Wallentine said she is studying to
the teacher wants to hear and read be a teacher and is not yet sure which
and then they write accordingly." age she prefers. She has done mini-
However, with the eBook, students student teaching courses inbothjunior
did not have a specific audience, so and senior high and has enjoyed all of
they needed to write for everyone, not the ages. "I know that in the future I
just for the teacher grading the paper, can push my students to learn mo~
Their final product, called "Writing than "just enough to pass the class. I
about Literature in the Digital Age" is have a greater appreciation for tech-
a free eBook that pushes boundaries of nology in classrooms after taking this
traditional literary study to explore class. I am a lover of the classics, but
the benefits of digital tools in academ- this class was open to every genre of
ic writing. This collaborative effort is a books from comic books on, and it
case study of how electronic text for- helped us connect to the material
mats and blogging can be effectively because it was something we wanted
used to explore literary works, devel- to read."
Pioneer Country travel
regiofi']SrOmotes valley
Torn Busselbe g transient room taxes, bare feet in the sand and
News-Examiner reporter with half of what an area crystal clear water.
Bear Lake County
is one of the big tour-
ism draws when it
comes to drawing visi-
tors to southeastern
Idaho.
And the Pioneer
Country travel region's
business is promoting
the area, which also
includes adjacent coun-
ties in the Gem State.
"We place newspaper
and radio ads in the Salt
Lake market, as well as
Boise," said Tony
Varilone, vice-chairman
of the travel region's
board.
"We are trying to gen-
erate some business," or
"heads-in-beds," he
said, referring to visitors
spending the night in
area hotels, bed-and-
breakfasts, and the like.
"Salt Lake City is one
of our biggest contribu-
tors (visitor-wise) to
tourism up here," he
said, adding that
"we're starting to have
some people show more
interest m coming to
southeast Idaho" from
the Treasure Valley, as
well.
The travel region is
funded through motel
lodging place receives
given to state coffers, the
other half to the travel
region for promotion.
"Our biggest draw is
Lava Hot Springs, where
the travel region is head-
quartered," Varilone
said.
Pocatello has recently
been added to the
region, but that city's
focus is more on pro-
moting their business
community, he said.
"We place ads in
national magazines,
such as birding maga-
zines, try to .get into air-
line magazines. That
seems to attract atten-
tion," Varilone said.
Brochures publicizing
the area are also in that
promotion mix.
Its brochures and
online material promi-
nently feature the Bear
Lake Valley, and are pre-
sented in a way to entice
travelers to explore the
area. For instance, mate-
rial on the valley says:
"U.S. Highway 89 from
Montpelier travels south
along the west side of
the beautifully turquoise
blue Bear Lake. You
won't be able to resist
stopping to put your
"You can wade out far
from shore in the shal-
low water along, the
beaches. There is so
much to do and see in
this beautiful valley."
Areas covered ranlge
from water sports in the
lake, to accommoda-
tions, Bear Lake National
Wildlife Refuge,
Minetonka Cave, and
Bloomington Lake.
Another section
details Montpelier and
the Oregon and
California Trails.
For more information,
visit the travel region's
website at www.seida-
ho.org.
Ness creates $3.5 million
savings for IDOT
State transportation
departments across the
country are facing some
very difficult times.
Tax revenues are
shrinking as the hous-
ing market and the
economy remain
weak. Although most
people are aware of this
financial reality; howev-
er, the general public
still expects states DOTs
to deliver the same level
of service. They want
potholes repaired and
new roads and bridges
added to give them less
congested commutes.
To meet these high
expectations, agencies
like the Idaho
Department of
Transportation are turn-
ing to innovative strate-
gies that are already
paying big dividends in
the state.
Brian Ness, Director
of the Idaho Department
of Transportation, says
when taking office in
January 2010, he initiat-
ed a plan to improve
customer service, effi-
ciency and accountabili-
ty and save $3.5 million
in personnel costs.
"We have to make
sure that we are spend-
ing our tax dollars as
wisely and efficiently as
we can," says Ness.
"We also need to make
certain that our work-
force is as effective as it
can possibly be because
we don't want to give
any legislator a reason
to vote no (for transpor-
tation funding) by point-
ing to something our
state department is
doing."
The realignment
reduced the layers of
management between
Ness and the depart-
ment's front line super-
visors from nine to five
and gave decision-mak-
ing back to where the
work is being done. It
also eliminated 62
supervisory positions
where one manager
supervised one employ-
ee.
"We'll increase our
efficiency by having a
less bureaucratic organi-
zational structure," Ness
said. "Then, as we elimi-
nate those layers of
supervision, we're going
to reassign people to the
front lines, allowing
them to help us improve
customer service."
Ness says the Idaho
Transportation Depart-
ment ended the state's
fiscal year with a total
of $5.7 million in per-
sonnel and insurance
savings that will be
invested into highway
construction, mainte-
nance and equipment.
County ordinance defines
Pit Bulls as vicious animals
Valerie Hayes
News-Examiner staff writer
In recent editions of The News-
Examiner the Montpelier City dog
ordinance was examined and it was
determined that the ordinance defin-
ing the breed "pit bull" as a vicious
animal was revised four years ago.
The vicious animal ordinance no lon-
ger states that pit bulls are considered
vicious animals.
The Bear Lake County "animal con-
trol ordinance, however, does consid-
er pit bulls as vicious animals and has
not been revised. Bear Lake County
Animal Control Ordinance No. 2006-1
may be destroyed after five days of
impoundment.
There are seven other sections of
the county animal control ordinance
which is for the control of dogs within
the unincorporated areas of Bear Lake
County. Their purpose is to promote
and protect the health, safety, comfort
and general welfare of the public and
to protect domestic livestock proper-
ties in the county as well as peace and
quiet of neighborhoodS.
For example, it is unlawful for an
owner of a dog to allow the animal to
run at large. In other words, the dog
should be restricted to the owner's
property unless it is in the presence
Section 6 - Vicious Dogs, Item B states, and control of the owner(s).
"A vicious dog is defined herein as It is also unlawful for the owner of
any dog which demonstrates a pro-" a dog to allow it to disturb the peace
pensity to bite or attack thereby caus- and quiet of the neighborhood by
ing reasonable tear or apprelaension, barking or howling Or habitually bark-
The breedof dog commonly kr~own as ing at or chasing moving vehicles on
pi~ bull including: a bloodiine ot ' County roads and rightof ~ay~,: :-~Y~
one-eighth or more is defined herein Also, any person harborir~' keep-
as a vicious dog." ing, or owning more than five clogs f()r
It goes on in Item C to state, "Any a period exceeding eight weeks must
person harboring, keeping, or owning
a vlcmus" " dog shall register the. dog,,
with the Bear Lake County Sheriff.
But Item D states, "Any person har-
boring, keeping, or owning a vicious
dog which has not bitten any person
may continue to keep the dog upon
posting with the Bear Lake 'County
Sheriff a liability insurance policy
specifying not less than three hundred
thousand ($300,000.00) liability for
damages caused by the vicious dog
and further endorsing the county as
party to be notified in the event of
cancellation."
Most other aspects of the ordinance
are similar to the Montpelier City
ordinance which states that it is
unlawful to keep a dog that habitually
bites people who come onto one s
premises. It also states that any animal
imposing an immediate threat to any
citizen of the county or other animals
apply for a kennel permit from Bear
Lake County. All adjacent landowners
within 300 feet of the applicant's prop-
erty have to be notified and the County
Commis-sioners conduct a hearing
and make a determination as to
whether or not a permit will be grant-
ed.
As with any regulations, any viola-
tion of these ordinances by the owner
of an animal in question will be con-
sidered a misdemeanor. If convicted,
the owner can be fined not less than
$25 nor more than $300 for each day
they are in violation and imprisoned
for not more than six months. The vio-
lator has to pay for any and all costs
associated with the keeping or harbor-
ing of animals by the county or its
agencies or the reasonable cost associ-
ated with the enforcement of
Ordinance 2006-1.
Visitor's bureau receives grant
Idaho Travel Council Grants total-
ing $2,977,778 were made to 24 applicants for the
2011-12 grant year.
In addition to awarding grants within their
respective region, Idaho Travel Council (ITC) mem-
bers are able to award grants to multi-region or
statewide applicants.
Four multi-region applicants were among those
awarded grant monies.
The Bear Lake Valley Convention and Visitors
Bureau was awarded $39,468.00.
Pioneer Country Travel Council (Southeast Idaho,
of which Montpelier, and the Bear Lake CVB are
members) was awarded $170,636.
Totaling over $210,104 for the region.
