The Roosevelt Municipal Airport will be closed starting Monday as major construction gets underway. Through the efforts of Roosevelt City Manager Ryan Snow, Assistant City Manager John Zilles, and Airport Manager Howard Harding, Roosevelt City was able to secure a $9 million dollar grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for the reconstruction of the existing runway and construction of a new parallel taxiway.
Community members were shocked and devastated when members of the Reynolds family were victims of a violent home invasion last September and CalDee Reynolds later succumbed to his injuries from the attack. The investigation by Vernal police led to identifying the suspect as a 15-year-old male juvenile and though information to the public has been sparse during the investigation, Vernal City Police provided a thorough update in a press release on Wednesday.
A fire in Gusher has left a family without a home and all their possessions. According to the Uintah Basin Interagency Fire Center, the South Gusher Fire was called in at 2:49pm. Responding agencies included Lapoint, Roosevelt, and Avalon with resources also coming from the State of Utah, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Bureau of Land Management. Uintah County Fire Marshal Jeremy Raymond reports that crews arrived on scene to find multiple trailers, vehicles, ATVs, equipment, and a home on fire.
Local stores, restaurants, hotels, and baseball diamonds are full of young baseball stars and their families this week thanks to the 11U Cal Ripken Pacific Southwest Regional Baseball Tournament being hosted by Vernal Youth Baseball.
This year’s Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo Legendary Cowboy is Lorin Merkley of Vernal. If the name doesn’t sound familiar that may because you know him as “Pudge”, his nickname of over 85 years. Pudge has raised and cared for livestock and other animals his entire life. He is a graduate of Uintah High School where he served as student body president.
The Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office had a very special guest on Tuesday to kick off a new program aimed at keeping community members safe. Project Lifesaver is a search and rescue program used around the globe by public safety agencies that utilizes cutting edge technology to locate its participating members who are typically “at risk” individuals prone to wandering off.
The stars are something we have shared with the ancients and will be able to share with future generations. To explore the expansive night sky is a treat for the area as we have several parks that are designated as dark skies and as a result, the Astronomical Society from BYU will be holding a stargazing party this week. There will be telescopes and activities set up in the park next to the Uintah County Library with all the parking lot lights turned off for this special event.
The Duchesne County Jail is the latest to join the trend of installing video visitation kiosks for inmates to use to visit with friends and family. According to the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office, the kiosks were expected to be installed by July 15th and the new system eliminates the need for an inmate’s family and friends to travel to the jail for a visit. Commander of the Duchesne County Jail Lt. Travis Givens explains that regular in-person visits are still an option but in-person visits will eventually be phased out.
The beauty, grace and speed of hummingbirds is always something to behold but we are still learning about them. DWR biologists are teaming up with Bureau of Land Management and Utah State Parks to learn what they can about the migration patterns of hummingbirds.
The PRCA was quick to acknowledge a special win at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo that took place over the weekend at Western Park in Vernal. Roosevelt cowboy Rhen Richard won the tie-down roping competition at the rodeo, a success that he hopes to build upon. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks,” shared Richard in the PRCA ProRodeo.com highlight.