Month: November 2018

This Veterans Day please take the time to give thanks to those serving and those that have served in protecting the freedoms of this country. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) offers the following thoughts: “It is important for us to pause and reflect on the service and sacrifice of our veterans. There are approximately 18.2 million veterans living in the United States today.

The decade long pursuit of the “Million Pipeline” continues to meet opposition. A proposal that was shut down to pipe water from the Green River to Colorado’s Front Range surfaced again last spring, proposing water be piped near Brown’s Park in Daggett County. Aaron Million is the Colorado business owner requesting that water in the Green River be piped to Colorado.

Becky Williams, a Utah State University- Uintah Basin professor, and Rich Etchberger, USU vice provost of regional campuses and former USU-Uintah Basin wildlife science professor, have been recognized for all their efforts in successfully running the Uintah Youth Conservation Corps by the USDA Forest Service.

Last year feedback from an expert on tourism and economic development evaluated the Vernal area. He made many recommendations, one of which was a wayfinding system. In response, 8 local entities including Uintah County, Naples City, Ballard City, Vernal City, Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce, Uintah Recreation District, Uintah County Tourism and the Uintah Transportation Special Service District have joined together to address the issue.

Santa’s Community Effort has a long and successful history in Uintah County with the Rotary Club now keeping the cause organized and running. Even with economic downturn, locals each year take tags from the trees around town and follow through by donating gifts for the children assigned. The hope is that the generosity will continue this year to help brighten the holidays for local families in need.

The Community Impact Board met Thursday with the a request to fund the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Uintah Basin Rail Project. A motion to approve the full amount of approximately $28 million dollars failed when it faced a split vote and the chairman broke the tie and voted against the motion. The state treasurer David Damschen and a representative from the state attorney general’s office were vocal in the discussion, opposing the project.

As the decline of honey bee colonies affects the world, the Uintah Basin is looking to address those needs by hosting the State of Utah Honey Bee Conference tonight, November 8th, at 6pm at the Uintah Conference Center. The Basin welcomes special guest speaker Sharah Yaddaw, Communications Director for Project Apis m. (PAm).