Salt Lake City
In a trackside appearance Saturday afternoon, Mayor Rocky Anderson will announce how he plans to stop Union Pacific trains from returning to the west-side residential neighborhoods near Parkview and Riley elementary schools. With Union Pacific officials promising to bring 10 daily trains down tracks along 900 South by this winter, the mayor has vowed to fight the railroad in court.
West-side activist Edie Trimmer is helping to organize a community rally to go along with Anderson's speech. "We need to remember that all of Salt Lake City loses when any one of its neighborhoods is made unlivable," she wrote in an e-mail plea to other residents. "Are we dedicated to standing up for our neighborhoods? Do we recognize that we can only have the kind of city we want if we demand that industry and transportation corridors respect neighborhoods?"
Anderson will join residents near the railroad tracks at the intersection of 900 South and Navajo Street (1350 West) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. "We're going to announce our plans to make sure those trains don't come through again," said Joshua Ewing, spokesman for the mayor. For information, call the mayor's office at 535-7704.
Sandy
"Ritalin . . . Is it safe? Is it necessary?" will be the focus of a free community workshop sponsored by the National Wellness Foundation on Sept. 6 at 8 p.m. in the Sandy Public Library.
Russell Harward will be the featured speaker in a session to "empower and inform" regarding attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity disorder, Ritalin and available alternatives to drugs.
For information or to reserve a seat, call 571-2287.
South Jordan
At least three homes that sustained flood damage from the most recent deluge will be fixed with the city's help.
A faulty city-owned retention pond in the subdivision Country Crossings was to blame for flooding in that area Tuesday.
Still waiting for estimates from homeowners, City Manager Ricky Horst said the city could end up paying $10,000 to $25,000 in claims.
"We're going to look at all claims," he said. "We'll stand up to the plate."
Residents in that area, located west of the Bangerter Highway between 11400 South and 11800 South, were angry because they believed the city failed to fix the problem after flooding earlier this summer. The city first had to go through a required bidding process, Horst said, adding the $350,000 job has been awarded and work should begin within weeks, if not, days.
A second pond, owned by the subdivision developer will probably need fixing, he added. That pond apparently caused the city-owned pond, originally built by the developer, to back up.
West Valley City
Ah, the smell of a new police car.
The city has identified 19 cars that have high miles or shaky maintenance records, which qualify them for replacement. One result, a fortunate car dealer.
The city will spend $513,000 on 15 Ford Crown Victorias and four more cars to be used by the police department's special-operations unit.
The City Council recently approved the expenditure.