58,000 affected Power outage fixed quickly By CARLOS MAYORGA and CHARLIE POMERLEAU Standard-Examiner staff OGDEN — A widespread blackout affected about 58,000 Weber County households and businesses Wednesday afternoon. The blackout that began shortly before 2 p.m. lasted less than an hour, according to a Rocky Mountain Power spokesman. The loss of electricity had its largest effect on businesses, most of which don't have backup generators to provide power. "We hate blackouts," said Kim Geilman, assistant manager of Seagull Books and Tapes at 1102 Washington Blvd. "We have to do all the sales by calculator, and the cordless phones don't work. Now we have to use all those ancient skills that we thought we wouldn't need any more." At the Stop 'N Shop next door, customers were still being checked out through the computer checkstands and a few lights shined over the sales floor, testimony to the backup generator humming out back. "The generator gives us just enough power to run the checkstands and those lights," said store manager Larry Garner. "If we didn't Countywide outage Standard-Examiner have that, we'd have to close the doors altogether." Garner said the store could run on minimal power until sundown, but the longer the blackout lasted the more it would cost the store. "Some things will hdld, some things won't," he said. "If we're down for 10 or 15 minutes, everything will be OK. If we're down 10 or 15 hours, then you're talking about a big loss because we'll have to toss a bunch of stuff out." Initial reports indicated a transmission system prob lem at the El Monte substation east of Harrison Boulevard off 12th Street, but officials say it could be some time before an exact cause is determined. "When an outage happens, we try radio-controlled activation to see if we can restore power," said David Eskelsen, spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power. "In this case, we were able to restore it pretty rapidly. In terms of what happened and why, we need to go through computer logs. It's a time- consuming process and it could take months." Traffic lights were out along Washington Boulevard and Wall Avenue, but drivers seemed to take the loss in stride despite the heavy midday traffic. Police reported no accidents during the blackout as intersections were treated as four-way stops by drivers. The disturbance at El Monte trickled to 14 other substations in the area. Most of Weber County, from as far south as River- dale north to North Ogdfrn, east to Eden and as far wafct as Marriott-Slaterville, was affected, Eskelsen said. Wandering geese needed a fence And the Lights Went Out... September 18, 2009 I, for one, agree with Marion Long, the neighbor who complained about wandering geese (Aug. 22, "Country vs. rural"). It's not to shut off the country lifestyle, but to make people responsible for their animals. What happened to the saying, "Good fences make good neighbors?" Marion has been one of the best neighbors anyone could ask for. He is willing to help anyone at any given time. He keeps to himself and works with everyone. How would everyone feel if their patios and driveways were being defecated on daily? It was not Marion's intention to have any animal hurt or disposed of, but simply controlled. The man has lived in the country most of his life; he takes care of his property better than most and to discredit him is unfair. I grew up and spent most of my life in the country and again, "Good fences make for good neighbors." Zone Kofoed Ogden Support on the Geese Problem September 12, 2009 93