Newman Lake Scope Sets Up Shop

Thu., Nov. 30, 2000

By Trinity Hartman trinityh@spokesman.com

The rural community surrounding Newman Lake doesn’t have much crime.

A map in the SCOPE Newman Lake office shows a few colored dots marking vehicle break-ins and general mischief.

But after a year of tracking crimes from minor to major, most of the map is blank.

Which is a good thing, of course.

SCOPE stands for Sheriff’s Community Oriented Policing Effort. The Newman Lake group tries to prevent crime by reporting suspicious people or activities to the Sheriff’s office.

The group recently began renting a space at the corner of Trent Avenue and Starr Road, in the Moose Crossing building.

“The whole object of getting the office down here was to increase our visibility,” said SCOPE Newman Lake president Jan Bundsen.

A sandwich board outside the door to the office will be a great way to keep residents and summer visitors up on what’s happening, said Bundsen.

They plan to laminate copies of the boating regulations available at the office for those headed to the lake. They’ll also start a boat patrol on the lake, which will report back to the Sheriff’s Office if SCOPE members see someone breaking the law.

“The fist thing people want to do when they come to a lake is party. They throw a lot of good sense to the wind,” said vice president Bill Fautch.

SCOPE Newman Lake SCOPE group started in 1998 and has grown to approximately 40 members. Since the beginning, the group has been looking for a permanent office, which could serve as a meeting place and a spot for residents to drop in or call to talk about concerns.

What better place than Moab Junction?

The group helped convert a storage space at Moose Crossing into a cozy office. They filled it with donated furniture and decorated it with historic pictures of the lake and scenic paintings done by Fautch.

The community’s support of the SCOPE office has been very encouraging, say Fautch and Bundsen.

“I think that would be a great nod `yes’ for us in this area,” said Fautch.

They’re hoping Newman Lake residents stop by at the open house Friday and Saturday. Sheriff Mark Sterk plans to visit around noon on Friday.

This sidebar appeared with the story: NEWMAN LAKE SCOPE Open House

Newman Lake SCOPE will host an open house at its new office, 25011 E. Trent, Suite D, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Anyone interested in joining Newman Lake SCOPE should call 226-4357.

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