Month: February 2018

Job offers followed a competition earlier this month at the Vernal UBTech campus after students from Roosevelt and Vernal showed off their automotive and carpentry skills. According to a UBTech press release, several business owners attended the contest and by the end of the day several students had received job offers.The area businesses supplied judges for the events and donated prizes.  “Where else can high school students perfect their hands-on skills and meet with possible employers?” shared UBTech vice president of instruction Tammy Wilkerson. “We are getting these kids to succeed in the world.” Automotive students competed in over 14 stations to test their knowledge and skills. In a carpentry competition, the first of its kind, students were put in groups of three and instructed to build dog houses. Vernal’s carpentry students swept the competition.

The death of a Rock Springs man in a car fire has been determined to be an accident. 47-year-old Michael Lee Tinnie was killed in a car fire in Sweetwater County on February 15th. Fire crews were dispatched to the fire west of Rock Springs at the base of White Mountain where a silver 2006 Dodge was in flames. Investigators say Tinnie’s car had become high-centered and stuck and it was believed the heat from the exhaust system and/or catalytic converter may have started the blaze. An autopsy determined Tinnie’s cause of death was asphyxia due to smoke inhalation with no indications of foul play.

Week 5 of the Utah 2018 Legislative Session is over with 171 bills passed through the Senate and more coming. Senator Kevin Van Tassell reports that the hot topics of week 5 included a Resolution honoring Senator Orrin Hatch, a Resolution in Support of a New National Park in Escalante, Education Open Enrollment, Talent Ready Utah Center, Medical Marijuana, and Food Truck Regulation Amendments. SB154 Prohibition of Law Enforcement Quotas also received a lot of attention. The bill passed on the Senate floor and has now moved to the House for consideration. The Executive Appropriation Committee announced in week 5 that updated revenue estimates show a surplus of $581 million dollars this year, which is nearly twice what was expected. The Senate also approved SB130 which would authorize the Department of Agriculture to regulate CBD or Cannabidiol that is currently being sold to Epileptic patients. It would also apply for a waiver with the DEA for Utah to develop a medical grade CBD product that doctors can prescribe. That bill has moved on to the House.

TriCounty Health Department is sharing the good, the bad, and the risky when it comes to sexual health. While there are benefits to having sex, like improved heart health and lower blood pressure, TriCounty Health Director Jordan Mathis explains that there are also consequences when not engaged in responsibly.  

The most recent school shooting in Florida has pushed the issue of safety in schools to the forefront of concern for many. Uintah County Sheriff Vance Norton reports that the Sheriff’s Office is doing what they can to stop a few times a day at each local school in addition to having a full time officer at the high school. Still, he feels more should be done and is exploring the possibility of offering free concealed weapons classes to teachers and school staff as well as setting up a two day training camp to help teachers become more proficient with their weapons. “We can’t get to an incident quick enough to stop a threat that can do so much damage in just seconds,” shares Sheriff Norton. “That is why I think it is important to have teachers or staff that are willing to take on the huge responsibility to have a gun, be trained, and engage the threat until we get there.” Those with concealed weapon permits are legally allowed on school property with a concealed weapon, including teachers. Sheriff Norton’s aim is to help those teachers that want to arm themselves and train them to be more proficient. He says he believes gun control will not fix the school safety issues and will just hurt honest gun owning citizens.