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KNEU 1250A new year brings new changes. The Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce is helping businesses to understand how the Utah Medical Cannabis Act (the Act) that passed on December 3. 2018 will affect the workplace. According to Jeff Holdsworth of the Employers Council, although the legislature has approved the Act, it hasn’t clarified specifically what employers can or can’t do.
Grab your rod, drill a hole, and go get some ice fishing in. Anglers are needed to address a worry of fisheries managers with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The recent cold has helped the ice to reach areas where small lake trout are abundant on the Wyoming side of Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Lake trout that are less than 28 inches are so abundant in the reservoir that they have lead to concerns with their growth rates having slowed because of the competition over limited food sources.
The chill in the air has people finding ways to warm their homes which can lead to some dangerous situations. As a friendly reminder, the Roosevelt Fire Department wants people to stay aware of fire safety in the winter months. According to FEMA, 890 people die in winter fires that cause over $2 billion in property loss each year. While home fires in the winter account for only 8 percent of the total fires in the United States, 30 percent of all fire deaths are from winter fires. The most common times for winter fires is 5pm to 8pm. Cooking and having a heat source too close to combustible materials are the top ways to start your home on fire so be aware. Be sure to clear your chimneys and fireplaces before lighting fires indoors. Never leave space heaters or candles burning unattended. Also read the label on the extension cord when using them especially with electric heaters. Finally be careful when dealing with frozen pipes. “This might sound obvious, but don’t use a blow torch on your pipes if they freeze,” Fire Chief Lee Rockwood advises. “It might work to thaw your pipes, but people often don’t notice what it’s doing to the wall behind the pipes. That’s how a lot of fires get started.”
As we start into a new year, we often reflect on the happenings of the closing year. Here might be something that you missed in 2018. The annual community Holly Days was a rousing success for Vernal with many great events. In the Parade of Lights there was a very special treat that you might not have recognized. Showalter Ford had a 2018 Mustang GT350 Shelby Cobra that traveled in the parade of lights.
On December 29th, a Basin local took to Facebook to ask about the Ashley Valley Calvary Chapel under construction on 500 North in Vernal, asking why it remained in the same state of construction and what the community could do to help the project move towards completion. Responses poured in from other locals from a variety of faiths who had the same questions and also felt a desire to help move the project forward. Some members of the Ashley Valley Calvary congregation chimed in and explained that the church did not actively fundraise and relied instead on unsolicited donations, trusting that the funding and construction would continue on God’s timeline. With many community members asking how they could donate, a congregation member provided a link to the church’s website donation page in which a donation could be made specifically to the Building Fund. Obviously hearing about what was happening, the Calvary Chapel’s Pastor Phil Daggett shared on the Facebook post his gratitude for the concern and rallying of the community. Just the next day, Pastor Phil checked in again, this time with amazing news. In the short time the link to donate had been shared, over $4,000 dollars had come in. Pastor Phil also shared a summary of the project’s history, explaining that it is approximately two-thirds complete and the exterior was completed first by design. The interior is framed and plumbing roughed in. Electrical work is the next phase of construction and is expected to get underway after the middle of January. More donations have come in in the days since. What an amazing example of neighborly kindness that many have grown to expect in the Uintah Basin. Those interested in donating to the Building Fund can scroll to the bottom of the page on www.avcalvary.org. Many small donations are so far adding up to make a real difference.Link:http://www.avcalvary.org/paypal/?fbclid=IwAR2LHciTENdc5O-Ek0Jqh5_QIYU77xuq9IYTgR4rbu6WAlFDaIbB45_B0W4
Have you ever thought that reading could be a service? Well thanks to Mark Cuban it can be. Uintah County Library is holding a Winter Reading Challenge that runs from January 1st to January 31st. If Vernal and the surrounding communities can reach the goal of reading 750,000 minutes, the library becomes eligible for funds from Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks. There is no age limits to participate. In fact, families are encouraged to get involved. You can even use one username and password as a family, log the minutes that they read, and then visit the Library as they earn prizes. Participants can download the app called Beanstack onto their devices to help track their reading at uintahlibrary.beanstack.org.
Naples City is known for its family values and sense of community. It’s also now known as the place for fireworks! Tonight is the second annual New Year’s Eve fireworks show in Naples City put on by Ashley Acre Lights/Blast Pyro. Naples hosted successful fireworks shows for July 24th and New Year’s Eve in 2017 and Naples City Council approved shows again for 2018.
As we enter the new year of 2019 we can be sure that water legislation will be a hot topic. It is projected that by 2065 Utah’s population will be doubled. As a desert state, water will be scarce so finding innovate and more effective ways to conserve this vital resource is always needed. A legislative report states that part of the problem is that it will cost $18 billion dollars to update the current water infrastructure and an additional $15 billion dollars for new infrastructure to aid the growing population. Local stakeholders will focus on water topics at the 2019 Uintah Basin Water Summit coming up. It will be held Wednesday, January 16th, 2019 at the Uintah Conference Center. Registration starts at 8:00am with Continental Breakfast and the conference starting at 9:00am. There will be informative and interesting programs throughout the day with a lunch served at noon. For more information, contact Cheryl Meier at 435-781-5483 or by email at cmeier@uintah.utah.gov.
Utah now has the toughest DUI law in the nation and locals are urged to take note. As of December 30th, the legal blood alcohol concentration to drive in the state of Utah has gone from .08 to .05 percent. The change was passed during the 2017 legislature and has just been waiting for December 30th, 2018, to go into effect. Officials have commented that the change doesn’t change the way officers evaluate drivers for impairment. “As far as the Utah Highway Patrol is concerned, it will be business as usual,” shares Colonel Michael Rapich, “and troopers will not change their behavior when evaluating a driver to determine if he or she is impaired.” As always, there will be extra patrols out locally for DUI enforcement as part of the New Year’s holiday. Vernal City Assistant Police Chief Keith Campbell encourages all to celebrate the New Year in a responsible manner. “Please don’t drive impaired,” shares Campbell.
Thankfully all survived an accident on the ice of Strawberry Reservoir on Saturday morning. According to Wasatch County Search and Rescue, a party heading out for some ice fishing, traveling on snowmobiles across the ice, fell through at around 8:30am. There was one male driving his own snowmobile with a husband and wife following on a second snowmobile when the party “happened upon a spot at the reservoir that had little ice coverage.
An investigation is underway after a shooting in Fort Duchesne that took one man’s life on Saturday. KSL reports that according to FBI spokeswoman Sandra Barker, a 55-year-old male from Vernal was shot and killed at about 6pm on Saturday evening.
At a recent Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Doctor Daniel Kwak, a Neonatologist from Ashley Regional Medical Center, gave a historical overview of medical newborn care and local services offered. Although harrowing while going through it, baby mortality rates have decreased immensely. In the late 1800’s, the mortality rate for mother AND baby was 75-80%. The mortality rates now are at 15-16% and are mostly caused by drug use and disease. The care for newborns is broken down to four levels: Level I – Well Newborn Nursery normal/regular newborn care, Level II – Special Care Nursery, Level III – NICU, and Level IV, Regional NICU which is the highest level of care for babies who need special surgery for birth defects and other disorders. The Ashley Regional Medical Center is a Level II care unit and can provide extensive services to new born babies 32 weeks and above. Dr. Kwak is also affiliated with with Primary Children’s in Salt Lake City which provides Level IV care.