The
Insider
Coronavirus Updates:
New GMH Visitor Policy and SWUPHD Provides Current Information
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Serving Wayne & Garfield Counties, Utah
LOA • FREmONT • LYmAN • BICkNELL • TEASDALE • TORREY • GROvER • FRUITA • CAINEvILLE • HANkSvILLE PANGUITCH • PANGUITCH LAkE • HATCH • ANTImONY • BRYCE • TROPIC • HENRIEvILLE • CANNONvILLE • ESCALANTE • BOULDER
Thursday, March 19, 2020
2020 Fruit Harvest at Capitol Reef CAPITOL REEF N.P. In a few months it will be fruit harvest season! Cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, apples, and pears are typically available for harvest each summer at Capitol Reef National Park. Predictions for the 2020 fruit season show that the bloom may begin in early April and last for two to three weeks. Bing Cherries are expected to be available in limited quantities beginning in early June. Apricots are expected to become available mid- June. Apples and pears may begin in late July to early August, and the main peach harvest is expected to occur in mid-August. “Moderate temperatures and precipitation indicate a robust fruit harvest this year, with bloom starting in early April. Hotter than average mid-summer temperatures are predicted for this year which may result in an earlier harvest for 2020.” says Horticulturist Fritz Maslan. Current fruit harvest information and pricing is recorded on the Capitol Reef fruit hotline as fruit ripens and specific harvest start dates are determined. The fruit hotline may be reached by calling (435) Fruit Harvest Cont'd on page 2
AmeriCorps Team Joins Entrada Institute for Community Dinner Focusing on our Cultural Heritage of Grain, Bread, and Baking
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AmeriCorps team member demonstrates how to make sourdough starter. WAYNE COUNTY From making sour dough starter to creating bread-in-abag, Wayne County community dinner participants enjoyed an evening of friendship and fun while learning about
Op-Ed
Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant
our cultural heritage of grain, bread, and baking. Along with our USU Extension/4-H partner, an AmeriCorps team sponsored by the Entrada Institute helped with the dinner activities such
as the baking soda versus baking powder challenge. Bekkah Petree prepared a delicious dinner of pork chops, rice, Community Dinner Cont'd on page 2
2020 Season Begins at Bryce Canyon National Park
individual citizen must in some way collect and spread the information.” This included individual citizens, civic groups and most importantly, the press. Sunshine Week occurs each year in mid-March, coinciding with James Madison's birthday and National Freedom of Information Day on the 16th, to enlighten the public about their right to government information and strengthen their communities. During Sunshine Week, media organizations, civic groups, and other participants engage public discussion on
BRYCE - With 2,594,904 recreational visits in 2019, Bryce Canyon National Park has enjoyed another year of global popularity. The park has remained above 2 million annual recreational visits since 2016, and is currently the 12th most-visited national park in the country. As Spring Break begins an early increase to visitation, park facilities will begin to reopen, hours will extend, and shuttle service will resume to best serve our 2020 visitors. The park Visitor Center and Bookstore is currently open every day from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Hours will be extended to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 15th and then to
Sunshine Week
2020 Season
by Brian allfrey, executive Director, utah Press association
SALT LAKE CITY - The phrase “sunlight is the best disinfectant” was introduced to the American lexicon by Justice Louis Brandeis, a United States Supreme Court Justice in the early 20th century. Justice Brandeis was a pioneering thinker who advocated for more financial and government transparency to combat corruption. He argued that simply making the actions of government officials more visible to the public was a powerful way of stamping out unethical behavior. Brandeis said government action, no matter how dedicated, would never be enough to keep the public sufficiently informed: “the
Issue # 1351
Cont'd on page 10
Garfield County Commission March 9
GARFIELD COUNTY Several ordinance changes are in the works, according to Planning and Zoning business discussed at the March 9 Garfield County Commission meeting. Public hearings on proposed Business License amendments are scheduled for Monday, March 23, as well as amendments to Glamping, Short-Term Rentals, Conditional Uses, and a proposed new zone called Resort Recreation (RR). Before Planning business, however, Chairperson Leland Pollock called for Commission Board Reports: Commissioner David Tebbs has been attending Prevention Coalition meetings in the area. Parenting sessions have been added to their agenda. He attended Tourism Day in SLC and said one of the related bills includes additional auditors housed in Southern Utah, currently active in Tropic right now, he said. Commissioner Jerry Taylor attended National Association of Counties (NACO) in D.C. the prior week, as did Pollock. Taylor serves on several NACO workforce/ economic development committees. While in D.C. he met with Congressional leaders and staff and reported 18 staff members have already signed up for this summer’s Congressional Staff Briefing in Utah.
He reported that Heather Dutton has been hired as Escalante area’s Prevention Coalition director. Finally, he met with some of the county’s mayors and discussed road projects. Commissioner Pollock said that Southwest Public Health Director Dr. Blodgett had briefed the Commission on the coronavirus. “We are very prepared here,” was the consensus. He said “the biggest concern is what we can’t control, which is tourism. Commissioner Tebbs noted cancellations so far at Ruby’s Inn of about 2000 rooms and 50 buses. This obviously affects our budget in Transient Room Tax revenue, said Pollock. Other things, such as the number of state inmates the county houses, also are not within the county’s control. Pollock reported on legislative bills he’d been tracking, including the TRT bill that “will change things around” and jail funding, which provides Garfield County with 22 jobs. He’s hoping the latest jail bill sets a formula that will provide a little more year to year certainty. He offered his phone number to “anyone who has questions about legislation”: 435-616-2718. The Commissioners apGarfield Commission Cont'd on page 4
Rockfowl and Other Wonders Birding in Ghana
Cont'd on page 7
What Central Utah Residents Need to Know about Coronavirus Gunnison Valley Hospital provides community update and health tips GUNNISON - Gunnison Valley Hospital wants central Utahans to be informed about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and steps they can take to stay healthy. While
the immediate risks from the virus to the general public are low, the potential public threat is high, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), so
REGIONAL WEATHER FORECAST FOR SOME BUT NOT ALL REGIONS REPRESENTED IN OUR NEWSPAPER COVERAGE AREA
THURS. MARCH 19 - WED. MARCH 25
Snow showers and rain chances continue this week. Highs in the 40s; lows in the 20s and teens. 40% snow showers on Thurs and Fri; 40% rain showers on Sun and Mon. Lower chances every day for the rest of the week. Winds variable from 8 to 14 mph.
Kathy Munthe
Yellow-headed Rockfowl or Picathartes.
extreme caution is being taken as public health organizations respond to the disease. “We know there is a lot of concern and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19,” said Brenda Bartholomew, Chief Coronavirus Cont'd on page 2
GHANA - We’d walked along a forest trail in the late afternoon then climbed steeply to a ridge top capped by huge boulders. We sat and waited. Half an hour later, a sleek, white 15” bird, not a feather out of place, moved stealthily up the hill to the rocks where it nested and would spend the
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you —Maya Angelou
night; it was soon joined by a second. These were Yellowheaded Rockfowl, or Picathartes, one of birding’s most coveted species. A few days later, we drove down a long dirt road to the White Volta River. We walked out onto the coarse sand, spread here and there
with colorful fabrics as it was washing day for the local village, and found a pristine Egyptian Plover, feeding actively along the water’s edge. Seeing those two species met two of my goals on
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BOXHOLDER
Feathers
Cont'd on page 3 PRE-SORT STANDARD PAID RICHFIELD, UTAH PERMIT No. 122