Month: August 2017

There are only a few spots remaining in the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Citizens Academy starting up in September. The free program runs for 8 weeks and is for residents who want to learn more about the Sheriff’s Office and law enforcement.

Tis’ the season for road construction and delays. The Utah Department of Transportation has started work on an 11-mile segment of Highway 40 east of Duchesne City. According to UDOT, the work extends from approximately 300 East in Duchesne to the bridge over Antelope Creek.

While details are still sparse, the Utah State Historical Preservation Office has offered an explanation for the process undertaken on ancient burial sites like the one uncovered in Uintah County on Tuesday. The site was discovered on Tuesday as a worker was grading an area on private land that is part of the Woods Road construction project. 

Preliminary results are in for the Roosevelt City Primary Election held on August 15th. While they are not final until approved during the next Roosevelt City Council meeting, the tentative results were 193 votes for Wendy Nicholson, 238 votes for Dave Baird, 178 votes for Troy Rohrer, 247 votes for Steve Timothy, and 280 votes for Dustin White. The top four are eligible for November’s ballot, two per city council candidate opening. There were 601 ballots cast.

More beds will be filled at the Uintah County Jail in the coming weeks meaning more income to the county for the facility’s operation. The Uintah County Commission approved a contract during Monday’s Commission meeting with Salt Lake County to take on inmates from the Wasatch Front. According to Uintah County Sheriff Vance Norton, Uintah County will initially take on 24 of Salt Lake County’s inmates at a time with the hope to get up to 48 inmates within several months. The Sheriff’s Office is now advertising to hire 3 new people as a direct result of the increase in inmates with the tentative plan to hire 3 more after the first of the year. While Salt Lake County may only need the contract for about a year, the state has made a deal to guarantee contracts to Uintah County when Salt Lake County no longer has the need. “The state prison will help fill that void of prisoners so we can hire people now and retain them,” shares Sheriff Norton. The increase in inmates brings additional revenue to the County and assists in the goal of putting more local citizens to work in solid careers. 

Many people have a soft spot for animals in need but one local radio personality is showing just how serious the cause is to her. KLCY morning host Amy Richards has set a goal of raising $5,000 dollars for both local animal shelters and the Ashley Valley Community Cats organization and needs more donations to reach her goal by the deadline of August 25th. The donations go towards animals like Cash, a kitten who had a rough start at life, having been shot that required surgery to remove the bullet fragments from his sinuses and skull. “Please find it in your budget to help,” shares Amy. “Funds have gone down but the medical needs have gone up [locally].” To add some extra motivation for those unsure about donating, Amy has made a unique promise. If the $5,000 dollar goal is hit by August 25th, Amy will be joining the Naples Police Department during a K9 training in which the K9s will practice their take down on Amy while she is wearing one of the bite suits. The video will be posted to Facebook. Anyone willing to help local neglected, injured, and abused animals are asked to donate at www.gofundme.com/amyspetcorner. 

A man from White Rocks suffered fatal injuries in an accident that took place on Tuesday afternoonon Highway 40 in western Colorado. 36-year-old Jason Christenson lost control of the 2002 Chevy pickup he was driving and crashed into paving equipment that was parked on the shoulder of the road. The asphalt paving roller was unoccupied at the time of the crash and Christenson was reported to be traveling at a high rate of speed. Christenson was the only occupant in the vehicle and was not wearing a seatbelt. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash remains under investigation by the Colorado State Patrol. Tragically, a second fatal accident occurred in western Colorado Wednesday morning after a 27-year-old Colorado man lost control of his vehicle. This man was also not wearing his seatbelt and high speed and impaired driving have been stated as possible contributing factors in the crash. 

What would you do if you started getting an unusual amount of texts and calls from well meaning family and friends asking if everything was okay? How would you react when it comes out that you’ve been mistaken for a recently arrested criminal who lead police on a dangerous high speed chase with young kids in the car, ran out of gas and then fled on foot before being taken down and arrested? Oh and don’t forget there was meth found in the vehicle. 38-year-old Vernal resident Jason Carr can tell you first hand after a news story ran Monday out of Sweetwater County describing the criminal activity of 33-year-old Jason Carr of Marsing, Idaho. While the two men share the same name, any known similarities stop there. Local Jason Carr has lived in Vernal his whole life and says his life is simply not that wild. “I’ve been getting crazy amounts of phone calls and texts,” shares Carr, who also notes that his parents have been receiving gifts of cookies and warm wishes. While the situation as a whole has been viewed as humorous, Jason would also like to clear the air and let the community know, “It wasn’t me!” The clarification is a matter of practicality as Carr is preparing to start a business and would rather avoid any negative impact this could have. The lesson to the rest of us is clear: do some digging before assuming the worst! 

A road construction project in Uintah County has become the site of an archeological dig after a construction worker uncovered something unexpected on Tuesday. While doing earthwork on the Woods Road project, a grader uncovered a possible historical burial site. The Uintah County Sheriff’s Office responded and secured the area where the site is located. Construction was immediately shut down and the state was called prompting a team from the Utah State Historical Preservation Office to travel out Wednesday. A complete archeological excavation of the site is being performed this week after which all items will be transported back to Salt Lake for analysis