Vol. 4 Iss. 6
June, 2024
ournals J THE
C IT Y
Bountiful/West Bountiful
YOUR C O M M U N I T Y N E WS PA P E R
BOUNTIFUL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RECOGNIZED FOR ‘BEING KIND’ By Becky Ginos | becky.g@davisjournal.com
BOUNTIFUL—Children at Bountiful Elementary School got a surprise visit from First Lady Abby Cox recently when she came to present the students with a Certified School of Kindness award, the first school in the Davis School District to receive one. “A parent of a first grader who is part of the One Kind Act A Day organization came to us and wanted to have the kids participate in it,” said Principal Kristen McDonough. “We thought the whole school should be involved in the effort.” The first week in March the PTA put up huge donuts for each class in the lunchroom, she said. “The kids would get sprinkles from the teachers for any kind act they saw. It became kind of a competition.” The next week kids took home a chart to record their kind acts or if they saw someone else’s, said McDonough. “We also took donations for the pantry.” The third week was focused on an essay or poster and the organization judged those, she said. “It was sweet to read their stories of what kindness meant to them. The fourth week the HOPE squad had activities.” McDonough said the school’s goal was 10,000 kind acts. “We got 11,431 kind acts so we exceeded our goal. We also gathered 286 pounds of donations for the pantry.” At the assembly last week, the winning kids (essays and posters) got to read their essays and show their posters, she said. “The man running the organization got a certification of kindness and Abby
Kids at Bountiful Elementary listen intently to First Lady Abby Cox at an assembly where the school was recognized by the One Kind Act A Day organization. Photo courtesy of the Davis School District
Cox (and others) signed a plaque and presented it to us. The Vice President of the Utah State PTA celebrated that with us too.” The kids became more conscientious, said McDonough. “They started holding doors, giving compliments and helping teachers without being asked.”
At the end of February the staff all got coins that said One Kind Act A Day, she said. “We practiced on each other to model it for the kids and see what it looks like and what it feels like to be kind.” McDonough will be moving to Valley View Elementary next year. “I want
to work on it there too,” she said. It’s fun to be part of something bigger, said McDonough. “We hope to plant the seeds of being kind when they’re young so they can carry that into their adult life and see the benefits from that. It causes a ripple effect when you start it.”l
WEST BOUNTIFUL PASSES NEW OVERNIGHT CAMPING ORDINANCE By Simon Mortensen | s.mortensen@davisjournal.com
T
aking preventative measures against a rising problem, West Bountiful's City Council passed a law to prohibit public property camping during their meeting on May 7. Titled Ordinance #486-24, the law states that “no person may camp in or upon any public property, nor any property owned by other governmental entities that have posted notice prohibiting camping.” A violation of the ordinance could be charged with a misdemeanor, according to West Bountiful’s Chief of Police Brandon Erekson. “We’ve seen an increase [in urban camping] around this entire south end of people coming in trying to camp at businesses or within parks,” Erekson said. “We decided that we would try to adopt an ordinance to help, kind of, in the event that we needed any sort of enforcement.” During the meeting, Erekson brought up an encounter police had with an obstinate camper in a school bus that had been converted into a shelter. Erickson says that law enforcement’s focus on issues related to overnight camping is to direct people to shelters and facilities that can help them. While these instances are uncommon in West Bountiful, he says that some individuals did try to camp at the city's park on 1600 North as well as trailheads. According to Erekson, the individual in the school bus was “moving around to different neighborhoods.” The timing of this ordinance coincides with Supreme Court discussions over the constitutionality of anti-camping ordinances. Critics of these laws cite the eighth amendment in their arguments – noting that issuing civil citations to people who camp but have nowhere else to go constitutes as cruel and unusual punishment. West Bountiful's City Council says that it will amend the ordinance to align with potential Supreme Court decisions if
Bountiful High senior catcher Athena Tongaonevai watches one of her two home runs in a 10-7 loss to Springville May 22 that ended the Redhawks season in the late rounds of the 5A state tournament. Photo courtesy Haven Rock Photography
DAVIS, BOUNTIFUL SOFTBALL CLOSE OUT HISTORIC SEASONS By Catherine Garrett | c.garrett@mycityjournals.com
D West Bountiful City recently passed Ordinance #486-24 – prohibiting overnight camping on public property within the city. Photo by Simon Mortensen
needed. Along with decisions regarding overnight camping, West Bountiful has recently passed updated parking laws. On April 2, the City Council replaced their previous codes with Ordinance #482-24. Erekson says that the update helps prevent vehicle owners from parking their vehicles on the side of the road for an excessive amount of time. “Just like any law, [these ordinances] provide us an avenue for enforcement action if we need to take it.” Erekson said. “Our approach has always been educate first before we would result to issuing a citation.” City ordinances prohibit vehicles from parking for more than 48 hours on a street except for in winter – when street parking is prohibited during the hours of 12 a.m. - 7 a.m. from Nov.
15 to April 1. Erekson said that the ordinances provide some extended time during the holiday season. West Bountiful’s police department was recently awarded a Professional Standards Accreditation plaque from the Utah Chiefs of Police Association. Delivered to Erekson by the association’s executive director Val Shupe, the accolade notes that the department has met all standards on a list of 174 items. During the presentation, Erekson said that West Bountiful was able to meet the standards within one year – a task that Shupe says takes many departments over three years to complete. l
avis
Fifth-seeded Davis defeated No. 4 Pleasant Grove 9-5 May 21 in the first round of bracket play at the 6A state tournament. The Darts jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings and held on for the win. Sophomore Jewel Korth drove in five runs with a 2-for-3 plate performance, which included a home run and two runs scored. Seniors Rayleigh Starnes and Lauryn Hall also had an RBI while sophomore Serena Roth was the winning pitcher on the mound. “We have had a historical year for Davis softball, being region champions and now we are in the final six teams of the state,” said head coach Todd Street. Against top-ranked Riverton May 21, Davis lost 14-4, giving up runs in each inning. Roth and Hall each drove in a run in the loss. Continuing in bracket play, the Darts again faced Pleasant Grove May 22 but this time lost 15-5. Davis was down 8-0 before they got on the board and 14-1 going into the later innings in the loss that ended their season. Senior Sydney Marrelli drove in two runs while Hall and senior Jada Chilton Continued page 7