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KNEU 1250Local news from across the Uintah Basin.
It was high local voter turnout for the Presidential Primary Election on Tuesday. Clerk/Auditor JoAnn Evans reports that Duchesne County had a voter turnout of 44.8 percent. Uintah County had a total voter turnout of 50.17 percent.
A fire chief and his spouse have been arrested in Sweetwater County for allegedly embezzling funds from the City of Green River Wyoming Fire Department Foundation. 50-year-old Green River Fire Department Chief Michael Nomis and his wife 46-year-old Stephanie Nomis were arrested on Monday morning without incident. Michael Nomis is charged with felony theft and wrongful appropriation of public property and Stephanie Nomis is charged with felony theft.
It was an impressive showing at the 2020 Uintah Basin Science Fair held on Thursday at the Uintah Conference Center. Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth grade students from Uintah Middle School, Vernal Middle School, and Terra Academy displayed a wide range of interesting and unique projects and awards were distributed by a long list of sponsors. The winners of the science fair included the following: In 6th grade Biological Science – first place Kade Richens and second place Ruby Glazier. In 7th grade Biological Science – first place Justi Cook and second place Zane Taylor.
In their efforts to keep the children of the Uintah Basin safe and educated, the Uintah/Daggett Children’s Justice Center will be holding child and teen classes throughout the month of March. The classes will be taught by The Journey Therapists for free. The first class will be Wednesday, March 4th at 5pm. The class is for those children that are ages 2 to 4 and will focus on safe and unsafe touches, safe people and places, and dealing with difficult feelings. This age is a great time to start teaching the children that their body belongs to them and how to reach out to others when they need help.
Coronavirus is a subject that everyone is talking about. There have been cases in Oregon, Nevada, and California, and the CDC recently requested that Intermountain Healthcare in Utah provide care for a person that was diagnosed outside the state at one of their high-level isolation units. Though there is no immediate risk to the American public, the CDC wants to remind the public that there is no vaccine for the Coronavirus disease and the best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed.
The Uintah Basin is filled with people that know what honest work is and is not afraid to get their hands dirty. It is a lifestyle that country music artist Ned LeDoux, who will be performing in concert this Thursday at the Vernal Middle School, knows all too well. LeDoux states, “I was born and raised on a ranch, which my family still owns outside of Kaycee, Wyoming. That was my life and it’s reflected in the songs I write. I just think back to those days working on a ranch and hanging out with my granddad, who taught me how to drive a tractor, work cows and everything that is associated with ranching, but music has always been my dream.”
Who would have thought it? Board games are seen as a way to pass the time but can add some great additional benefits. Some of the scientific benefits include a boost in language skills, sharpens an individuals’ focus, teaches the value of teamwork, and they help in a majority of social skills. Not only that but they benefit everyone from preschool to nursing homes. In the spirit of such play Uintah County Library and TriCounty Health Department are partnering together to have a Boardgame Party. It is an activity for all ages to come to the large conference room in the Uintah County Library and play board games.
A Roosevelt man is facing charges after allegedly giving an STD to a minor. 25-year-old Jaden Cecil Priebe has been charged in 8th District Court with two counts of 3rd Degree Felony Unlawful Sexual Activity with a Minor and Class A Misdemeanor Willful Introduction of a Communicable Disease. According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause, a 17-year-old girl spoke with a Roosevelt City Police Officer on February 7th stating that she and Jaden Priebe had intimate relations on two days in January, after which she said she “was told by multiple people that she needed to get tested for an STD because Jaden had told people he had an STD.”
Vernal Police took time on Sunday to respond to community concerns that appear to be circulating. “On March 1st, 2020, the Vernal City Police Department was made aware of some community concern over police radio traffic heard on a home scanner on February 29th,” shared Vernal Police on Sunday. “The radio traffic included phrases like ‘Shots Fired’ and ‘Suspect Down’. This radio traffic was part of ongoing officer in training scenarios within our department and was being communicated on a car to car channel with the trainee.”
The 1st Annual Hunger Project, an effort to package meals for Uintah Basin community members in need, was a huge success over the weekend at the Uintah Conference Center. The event, organized by JustServe Uintah Basin, packaged over 28,000 meals with the help of a long list of volunteers and by teaming up with ‘Feeding Children Everywhere’, an organization that provides hands on ways to fight hunger. The Uintah High School Student Council, Uintah baseball team, as well as many other community volunteers answered the call to help on Friday and Saturday.
Locals aren’t the only ones impressed with all the Uintah County Library has to offer. The new Library Catalog has gained some national attention as well, according to Uintah County Library Director Sam Passey. Passey has been invited to speak about the library’s innovations in the field of library technology at a national conference in Arlington, Virginia on March 31st. The title of the national conference is Computers in Libraries and Passey’s presentation will focus on ‘Amping Up Discovery With Open Source Software’.
A USU Uintah Basin scientist is being recognized for his work to combat air pollution in the Uintah Basin. Dr. Seth Lyman is the director of the USU Bingham Entrepreneurship & Energy Research Center and has been named the Clean Air Person of the Year by the Utah Clean Air Partnership(UCAIR). A USU press release issued on Thursday shares that over the past several years, Dr. Lyman and his team have worked with community leaders in the Uintah Basin to understand and mitigate air pollution. “I often say that there are no perfect answers but there are practical solutions,” says Thom Carter UCAIR executive director.