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KNEU 1250David Archuleta wowed a sold out crowd on Thursday night at the Vernal Middle School at his second to last show on his ‘Winter In The Air’ Christmas tour which finishes tomorrow night in Richfield. His tour hit cities in California, Colorado, Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, New York, and Connecticut, before finishing up with these final two Utah shows.
Are you aware that the majority of live Christmas trees come from outside the state? That means that we have little migrating friends that come along for a ride from out of state. Officials from Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) are asking the public to be on the lookout for invasive insect species in their Christmas trees, very specifically the gypsy moth and pine shoot beetle.
On Saturday, December 1st, the Uintah County Commission hired Lance Dean to be the County’s first managing public defender. A press release issued on Thursday explains that the position is part of the restructure and improvements to the Uintah Basin’s indigent defense system. The Utah Indigent Defense Commission has given a grant to Daggett, Duchesne, and Uintah Counties to help improve legal services for representation in criminal cases and juvenile court proceedings for individuals unable to afford it. The goal of the new indigent defense is to be able to hire more attorneys to reduce caseloads and more fully protect the 6th Amendment rights of indigent individual, shares the press release. In the past, Uintah County had fewer then five bids from prospective public defenders. Dean was able to take a few minutes at a legal conference to talk about the need for qualified, committed public defenders in our area and with the grant, the number of applicants jumped to 30. “From that pool of 30 lawyers who submitted proposals, we chose a handful of highly qualified attorneys to begin building our program,” shares Dean. Dean’s managing public defender position has him building the program as well as representing all indigent defendants in Uintah County Justice Court, 8th District Court in Daggett County, and Uintah County Drug Court unless a conflict of interest is identified. This is in hopes to reduce the caseloads for the contract public defenders.
One of the great adventures in the Uintah Basin is to river trip down the Green or Yampa River. People travel from all over to take part of this wild ride and view the beautiful scenery. For those businesses that rely on these trips take note. The 2019 High Use Season lottery opened on Saturday, December 1st and is open until January 31st. For those unaware, if you plan to guide a multi-day river trip down the Green or Yampa River a special pass is required and is only available through the lottery. All applications must be submitted through Recreation.gov. The results can be expected in mid-February.
The 4th annual Sub for Seniors Christmas drive has been the most successful year, to date. The first year brought cheer to 75 senior households while this year Sub for Seniors is going to help over 200. “Our team of volunteers are humbled and left without words to describe our gratitude for our community, near and far, for the support and for helping us provide for 200 deserving and forgotten people,” shares coordinator Tiffany Henline.
This year the grand total raised by the Trees For Charity event is $266,281, beating last year’s total of $260,000. “I want to thank our community for coming together to raise so much for so many great causes,” shares 2018 Trees For Charity Chairman Jessie Barton. “Without you this wouldn’t happen. We live in a great community.” The trees garnered $218,000 dollars in donations during the auction gala in November. There were 46 trees auctioned with the tree for Corbin Dansie securing 6 bidders for a combined total donation of over $24,000 dollars, the highest of the night. Votes from the tree view were added up and the People’s Choice award was given to ‘The Sweetest Gift’ to benefit Kathy Reynolds in memory of Cal Dee Reynolds. The Kid’s Choice award was given to the Superman tree.
There are some changes coming to Uintah High School when it comes to sports. After a public hearing on Wednesday, December 5th, the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) Board of Trustees met and adopted new regions for 2019 through 2021. This will allow schools to organize and schedule sporting events with the new division alignment taking place in the fall of 2019.
Family and friends are mourning the passing of a valued member of the Vernal community. According to a press release from Idaho’s Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland, the Bingham County Dispatch Center was advised of a plane crash by the Aberdeen Airport on Monday at around 9:15am. “Officers from Aberdeen Police and Bingham County Dispatch Center were dispatched to the scene,” shares Sheriff Rowland.
Ashley National Forest has closed several roads. Red Cloud, White Cloud Loop, Taylor Mountain Road, Dry Fork and Whiterocks have been closed for the season. Do not let perceptions throw you off. The roads may look passable from a distance but they quickly become icy and deep with snow. Closing roads is not an arbitrary choice.
Yuletide logs make for a cozy fire but the Roosevelt Fire Department wants to remind people about the dangers of Christmas tree fires. It is estimated that an average of 200 homes a year suffered structure fires started by Christmas trees. Sadly these fires have resulted in a yearly average of 6 deaths, 16 individuals injured and $14.8 million dollars in property damage.
Paying off a library fine can come with the bonus of helping locals in need as Food for Fines continues at the Uintah County Library. Every year during the holidays, the library accepts canned goods in lieu of fines that will then be donated to the Ashley Valley Food Pantry. Bring in undamaged, unexpired, boxed or canned non-perishable food items to the Uintah County Library for a credit towards library card fines. This does not apply to lost or damaged items. Food For Fines runs through the end of the year. The neighboring Uintah Heritage Museum also has a simple service opportunity that could truly brighten the Christmas season for local elderly community members. A card making station is at the Heritage Museum during museum hours where homemade Christmas cards can be made. The cards will be taken to the Golden Age Center on Thursday and then delivered with Meals on Wheels and to other elderly locals who are homebound. Spreading the joy of the season doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive as the Uintah County Library and Heritage Museum are evidence of.
While at the Dinosaur National Monument have you ever stopped to read the outdoor signs? Dinosaur National Monument refers to these signs as outdoor wayside exhibits and they are requesting suggestions for particular topics or stories that they can feature in new waysides throughout the Monument. For those that aren’t familiar, the outdoor wayside exhibits are a way for the park to “caption the landscape.”