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KNEU 1250Uintah School District officially has a new Superintendent. During Wednesday’s regularly scheduled board meeting, Dr. Rick Woodford was sworn-in as Superintendent by 8th District Court Judge Clark McClellan. After taking his oath and signing his contract, Woodford thanked the school board for trusting him with “a stewardship over the education of the children in [the] community.”
Vernal Police Department released a statement on Wednesday about the incident that took place on Monday at the Uintah County Library. They shared the following: “On Monday February 10th, an adult male was observed by juvenile females viewing sexually explicit images on a computer at the Uintah County Library. Officers responded to the library and after obtaining a description of the individual the suspect was quickly located. The case remains under investigation with potential criminal charges pending.
The CEO of Ute Tribal Enterprises, Valentina Sireech, is featured in this week’s issue of Native Business Magazine. The publication announced last October that Sireech was among 30 CEOs to be highlighted in Indian Country. The in-depth highlight of Sireech was shared on February 12th, describing Sireech as a “People Person” who wakes up early each day, “prays to the Creator”, and then gets busy planning for a productive day. The article shares the following quote from Sireech: “My goal is to serve Tribal communities, offer jobs and training for Tribal members, while strengthening the Tribe’s financial position.”
We might be a small, rural community but the efforts to improve our services and opportunities have certainly shown promise. On Tuesday at the Vernal Chamber luncheon, Vernal Regional Airport Manager Doug Brown provided a report on airport growth. In 2018, there were 10,658 Commercial Enplanements, a term for people flying out of Vernal commercially. For 2019, the area reached 13,561 Commercial Enplanements with a total of 27,129 passengers coming and going. Enterprise Car Rental also stays busy, stating that they have 60 to 70 cars rented at all times.
The end of January marked six years since the tragic vehicle accident that took the life of Dean Townsend. His legacy of kindness is still remembered to this day. Dean, Lynn Labrum, and Chad Orme had been close friends. Dean had worked for Lynn for over 35 years and they eventually became business partners. After Dean’s passing, Cody Labrum became a partner in the business and though their business continued to grow, the partners were looking for a way to honor Dean. Lynn Labrum says, “Dean was always helping others. He made a big impact on the community.”
Seraph Young was the first female to cast a vote in Utah on February 14th, 1870. 150 years later, the Basin will be celebrating this momentous movement that forever changed the face of politics, women’s rights and modern America. Starting on Thursday, February 13th, there will be a special event as Uintah County Clerk/Auditor Mike Wilkins will present ‘Come Learn How To: “Make Your Vote Count”’. He will inform individuals about the Primary process during the presentation at the Uintah County Heritage Museum from 6pm to 7pm tonight.
The Ute Indian Tribe issued a press release on Tuesday, February 11th titled “Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Ute Indian Tribe’s Exclusive Right to Control its Lands”. The release states: “On January 9th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reaffirmed its position that the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation has the exclusive power to control hunting and fishing rights on its tribal lands.
USU Uintah Basin is doing something special to support, celebrate, and honor the women of the Uintah Basin with their Year of the Woman campaign. Janet Row, Director of the Family Support Center of the Uintah Basin, was selected as this week’s representative. Utah State University Uintah Basin shared a video highlighting her on their Facebook page. As the person who nominated Janet, Heather Tucker shares that Janet is a dedicated and hard worker that has done a lot of good in the community but doesn't care about getting credit for it.
The burden of cancer has many unmeasurable weights that seem to drag those dealing with it into a puddle of despair and loneliness. The ‘Let’s Talk: Uintah Basin Cancer Support Group’ hosts a monthly meeting offering educational and emotional support for cancer patients, as well as survivors, caregivers, family and friends. Cecilia Sullivan is the groups coordinator and says that they continue to have strong online support through their Facebook page with an average of three to four people attending the meetings.
A Uintah County man made his initial appearance in court on Monday on charges related to a relationship with a minor. According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause, 29-year-old Kevin Robert Butler was arrested on January 20th for the offenses of 3rd Degree Felony Unlawful Sexual Conduct with a 16-17 Year Old with the offense dates listed as February 26th and July 6th of 2019. On Monday, the same day as his initial court appearance, a new Affidavit of Probable Cause was filed adding 24 new offenses against Butler, 5 of which were 1st Degree Felony Sexual Exploitation of a Minor and 19 of which were 2nd Degree Felony Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.
The Uintah Basin was represented well at the 2A State Wrestling Tournament in Richfield over the weekend. Duchesne High Wrestling won the 2A State Title with 244.5 points and Altamont Wrestling took second place with 220 points. Wrestlers from both teams competed well and placed. Individual first place champions were Duchesne’s Ethan Clayburn and Ryker Blackburn and Altamont’s Riggin Boger, Dean Thompson, Cash Robb, and MacIntynre Thacker. Congratulations to both teams on your success!
The man arrested on multiple western Colorado bank robberies has been sentenced in one of the instances. According to 14th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, on February 5th, Rudy Cardenas entered a plea of guilty to Robbery, a Class 4 Felony, for the September robbery of the Craig branch of the Bank of Colorado. He went to immediate sentencing and was sentenced to serve 4 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Cardenas was arrested on the morning of September 27th at a motel in the Denver Metro area by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force.