The
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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 22, 2018
Issue # 1247
Garfield County Commission March 19 Meeting
New Exhibit To Be Unveiled at Escalante Interagency Visitor Center New Outdoor Exhibits and Companion Trip Planning App Part of New Features ESCALANTE - More than one million people who visit the public lands surrounding Escalante, Utah every year will benefit from new outdoor exhibits and a companion trip planning mobile application (app) which will be unveiled at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center March 22. The exhibit and app were designed to help visitors have safer adventures in the area and forge deeper connections with their public lands. The Escalante Interagency Visitor Center will host the unveiling celebration for the new outdoor exhibits and app at the visitor center on Thursday, at 1 p.m. The public and media are invited to attend. “The new outdoor exhibits provide visitors to the Escalante area with much needed 24/7 trip planning support,” said Allysia Angus, Landscape Architect for Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument. “Trip planning is the number one service people request at our visitor center before journeying into the ruggedly beauti-
Courtesy NPS
Escalante Interagency Visitor Center, where new exhibits and companion app are set to be unveiled. ful public lands surrounding Escalante.” The event will include demonstrations of the app, Leave No Trace education activities, the opportunity to meet with community members and experts who contrib-
uted to the exhibits and app, and refreshments provided by the Glen Canyon Natural History Association. A member of the Kaibab Paiute tribe, local sheriffs, area guides, a National Weather Service representative, the
Making a Difference Garfield County School District Educator Nominated for National LifeChanger of the Year Award PANGUITCH - Garfield County School District speech and language pathologist Heather Weiler has been nominated for the 2017-2018 national LifeChanger of the Year award. Sponsored by the National Life Group Foundation, LifeChanger of the Year recognizes and rewards the very best K-12 educators and school district employees across the United States who are making a difference in the lives of students by exemplifying excellence, positive influence and leadership. Weiler was nominated by her friend, Deborah Kim. They met on Kim's first day of college in the fall of 1971 at the University of Vermont. Kim was in nursing school, and Weiler was majoring in
Heather Weiler, speech and language pathologist for Garfield County School District. education. They became sorority sisters and friends, only to lose touch after graduation. The two friends reconnected in Salt Lake City, UT in 1990, when they both headed
west. Weiler was the director of SLP Services at the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics, and Kim was the Trauma program manager. In addition to providing clinical services, Weiler tutored children at the pediatric hospital. She went back to school to complete her educational endorsements at Utah State in Special Education, and she started the Special Education program at South Jordan High School in South Jordan, UT. Weiler oversaw the program, provided SLP services to students, and supervised class aides. She also developed the Peer Tutor program at her school, where teachers go to the classroom to work one-on-one with special needs LifeChanger Award Cont'd on page 4
Marsha Holland Enters Race for Utah House District 73 TROPIC - Just ahead of the 4:30 PM deadline on Thursday, March 15, Marsha Holland declared her candidacy for the Utah House of Representatives seat being vacated by Rep. Mike Noel. “I felt like it was time for a new, more positive perspective in District 73 and decided I was ready, willing, and able to take on this challenge,” said Holland. The incumbent an-
Escalante City request for new CIB support; upload of digital recording of meetings among items considered
nounced he would step down at the end of his current term the day after Marsha decided to make a run for the office. Although Holland has extensive experience in public service, she is a newcomer to state politics having never held an elective office. Adding to her challenges, she is running as an unaffiliated candidate, a rare occurrence in a state that is predominantly Republican.
REGIONAL WEATHER FORECAST FOR SOME BUT NOT ALL REGIONS REPRESENTED IN OUR NEWSPAPER COVERAGE AREA
THURS. MAR. 22 - WED. MAR. 28
Partly cloudy with chance of showers Thursday and Friday. Highs in low 50s; lows in the 30s. Saturday through Wednesday, mainly sunny with a few clouds. Highs in the upper 40s and low 50s; lows in the 20s.
“Being an unaffiliated candidate, I can expect no support or funding from any party. But I prefer it this way for several reasons,” said Holland. She added, “I believe Utah politics, and politics in general, have strayed too far from listening to and addressing the concerns of our residents and has become a power play between the two major parties. I don’t want to be beholden to any other interests than those of the people of District 73
Scenic Byway 12 coordinator, agency rangers and other local residents are the faces and voices of both the exhibit and app and will be recognized for their contributions at the unNew Exhibit Cont'd on page 2
GARFIELD COUNTY Escalante Mayor, Melanie Torgersen, and Recorder Stephanie Steed, appeared before the Commission to report that the Senior Center/Multipurpose construction was currently overbudget. They were requesting county support to return to the Community Impact Board (CIB), first for an additional grant if possible, or else a larger loan. First, however, Torgersen will approach the engineering firm, Jones and DeMille, to request an adjustment of their engineering costs. “This is my first rodeo,” said Torgersen referring to the scale of this project. “I want to make sure this gets done right, and the way we want it.” She said Jones and DeMille will know that “we aren’t trimming the size of the building” to make any adjustment. Commissioner Jerry Taylor (also former Escalante mayor), cautioned Torgersen to make clear, when she goes before CIB, what the city can afford regarding loan pay-
ments per year. Commissioner Tebbs said “projects we’ve done have often come in higher than we wanted. We’ve also gone to the construction company to see about lowering costs.” He added, “You’ll need a contingency fund.” Commissioner Leland Pollock said, “We’ll go with you. The County can do something. CIB has been favorable to us” [over the years]. Mayor Torgersen thanked the Commission and said, “We’ll be reporting as we go.” On an earlier agenda item, representatives from Boulder requested the Commission to upload the audio recordings of its meetings to their website. Peg Smith spoke on behalf of Kristina Karlsson, who had initially submitted the request. Karlsson had written that Boulder residents are interested in what goes on at the Commission meetings, but most people can’t take a full day out of their schedules Garfield Commission Cont'd on page 3
From Weaving Rugs to Raising Chickens Celebrating Cultural Heritage
BICKNELL - On March 14, the third Cultural Heritage dinner was held in Wayne County. The free event featured Larry Johnson demonstrating ash splint weaving techniques, exhibit tables featuring both antique and recently produced rugs and baskets, and weaving activities for participants of all ages. During the month of March, the 4-H youth program is shifting their focus to hatching, raising, and consuming chickens. Their incubator is humming and they’re hoping to have adorable chicks to cuddle (not eat) at the community dinner planned for Wednesday March 28 at 6PM at the Wayne County Community Center in Bicknell. This free event is open to families and individuals of all ages. If you’re planning to come, please call the USU Extension/4-H Office at 435-836-1312 or Annette
Lamb at 435-4253415 to let us know how many will be attending. Raising poultry has a long local tradition. Turkey were raised and hunted by early Native Americans in Utah. When the pioneers arrived in the late 19th century, they brought their European heritage of raising chickens and producing eggs. According to Anne Snow’s Rainbow Views: A History of Wayne County, both chicken and turkey raising was an important industry in the county from the 1930s into the middle part of
Courtesy Annette Lamb
Larry Johnson demonstrated ash splint weaving at one of the recent community dinners put on by the Entrada Institute.
Rugs & Chickens
the 19th
Cont'd on page 2
BLM To Host Scoping Meetings for New Monument Plans The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will host four public scoping meetings as part of the ongoing land use planning for Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM).
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Meetings: Kanab: Wednesday, March 28, 4:30-8 pm Kanab Middle School, 690 S Cowboy Way, Kanab Escalante: Thursday, March 29, 4:30-8 pm Canyon Country Lodge, 760 East Highway 12, Escalante
Bears Ears National Monument Meetings:
Blanding: Monday, March 26, 4:30-8 pm San Juan High School, 311 N 100 East, Blanding Bluff: Tuesday, March 27, 4:30-8 pm Bluff Community Center 3rd East and Mulberry Bluff Rd, Bluff
Marsha Holland
—Bureau of Land Management
Cont'd on page 4
Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. — Stephen Hawking
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