Cottonwood Heights City Journal June 2018

June 2018 | Vol. 15 Iss. 06

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By Cassie Goff | cassie@mycityjournals.com

T

he Cottonwood Heights City Council may be forced to make some cuts to their budget for fiscal year 2018–2019. Some of the recommended cuts would involve losing staff members, including police officers, police support staff, firefighters and administrative services personnel. Additionally, the council has discussed eliminating funding for the arts council, city events, business association and newsletter.

The need for such drastic change within the budget comes from decreasing revenue and increasing fees. The four main revenue sources for the city are property tax, sales tax, municipal energy tax and business licenses/permits.

Next year, two of the four sources are estimated to decrease. The only significant increase in revenue will come from sales tax, estimated to increase about 5.67 percent. Property tax is estimated to increase as well, but only by 1.3 percent.

“It’s not a tremendous growth like we usually see,” City Manager John Park said.

One of the city’s expenditures is expected to significantly increase. Cottonwood Heights contracts with the Unified Fire Authority (UFA) for public safety services. Last year, UFA ex-

perienced significant restructuring, which included reevaluation of the fee schedule for their members. Of which, the cost to the city will be an additional $205,356 from the previous year.

An additional $68,000 will be taken from the city to accommodate new legislative bills that were passed over the previous session.

“The council directed city staff to balance the budget without putting reserves in, while keeping $850,000 for roads,” said Park.

On May 8, Park presented the tentative budget with a number of cuts to be considered.

He emphasized the word “tentative.” “This is a work in progress. Appropriate changes will be made prior to adoption of the final budget,” he said.

The first cut discussed would come out of the public safety portion of the city’s budget.

Police Chief Robby Russo was asked to cut $500,000 from the Cottonwood Heights Police Department’s (CHPD) budget. He worked with Finance Director Van Tran to calculate what a body in uniform costs, which came out to be around $100,000. He recommended taking $50,000 from ops, and cutting one support staff member in addition to four officers.

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Crews for Station 110 and 116 may be brought down from four-person crews to three-person crews based on budget cuts. (Cassie Goff/City Journals)

Another potential public safety cut discussed would come from the fire department.

Fire crews at Station 110 on Fort Union Boulevard and Station 116 on Wasatch Boulevard Continued on page 6...

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June 2018 | Page 3

Utah’s local bookstores unite for Independent Bookstore Day

By Joshua Wood | joshw@mycityjournals.com The Cottonwood-Heights City Journal is a monthly publication distributed directly to residents via the USPS as well as locations throughout Cottonwood and Holladay.

For information about distribution please email circulation@mycityjournals.com or call our offices. Rack locations are also available on our website.

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Cottonwood Heights Team CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Bryan Scott bryan@mycityjournals.com EDITOR: Travis Barton travis@mycityjournals.com ADVERTISING: 801-254-5974 DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING: Ryan Casper ryan.casper@mycityjournals.com 801-671-2034 SALES ASSOCIATES: Melissa Worthen melissa@mycityjournals.com 801-897-5231 Tracy Langer Tracy.l@mycityjournals.com 385-557-1021 Corbett Carrel Corbett@mycityjournals.com 385-557-1016 CIRCULATION COORDINATOR: Brad Casper circulation@mycityjournals.com

B

uying local does a community good. That’s why several area businesses took part in Independent Bookstore Day on April 28 to help connect Utah readers with their neighborhood bookstores.

With the growth of online shopping and recent decline in sales at brick-and-mortar stores, bookstores, like businesses around the country, have worked to combat the retreat of faceto-face business. According to the American Booksellers Association, independent bookstores express confidence that they are better equipped than chains to weather the changing retail landscape. Visiting Utah’s diverse independent bookstores shows good reason for that confidence.

“I am always preaching the gospel of local businesses,” said Tony Weller of Weller Book Works in Downtown Salt Lake. “It’s not about the preservation of our own old family bookstore. It’s about the community I want to live in.

There are a lot of businesses in this community that I used to support that no longer exist. I am saddened to see good businesses disappear.”

For supporters and members of the local bookstore scene, Independent Bookstore Day is about more than reading and local bookstores.

It is about community and the important role local businesses play in how they are shaped.

“The Local First movements across the country, and especially in Utah, are educating people about what shopping locally does for them, how it keeps their economy healthy, how it keeps their neighbors in their houses, pays for their sidewalks,” said Anne Holman of the King’s English Bookshop in Sugar House. “It’s a good thing to do. It’s the right thing to do.”

With many local businesses struggling to compete with chain stores and online retail outlets, independent bookstores have led a budding renaissance. In fact, the American Booksellers Association stated that there has been a 35 percent increase in the number of independent bookstore locations since 2009.

“People have come to realize that where

we shop defines our community,” said Aaron Cance of the Printed Garden in Sandy. “Where we buy our stuff defines what our neighborhood looks like. Independently owned businesses of all types have enjoyed a little resurgence in support.”

As part of Independent Bookstore Day, patrons could participate in a bookstore crawl, get a passport card stamped at each location, and get a chance to win free books. The event has taken place for four years and is gaining traction in Utah with the bookstore crawl now in its second year.

“It says a lot about the valley that there is a lot of value placed on reading,” said Cance.

The event served as a reminder to buy local, to let more people in the community know there are more independent bookstores in the area than they might realize, and of course, to encourage people to enjoy books. The diversity of bookstores in Utah is similar to the diverse subjects they offer their customers.

“You should balance the information that you’re bringing into your head,” said Weller. “I try to convince readers to leave that department where they feel so comfortable and walk across my bookstore to a different section and pick a book.”

The same could be said for the businesses people support and how they help shape the character of their communities.

“You have work, you have home, and you have the other place you like to spend time,” said Cance. “It’s a place where you can be yourself, where you can discuss things without fear.

It’s important for a lot of reasons.”

Independent Bookstore Day serves as a reminder of the importance of local bookstores, and local businesses in general. Those who discover them tend to keep coming back.

“A lot of our customers have been shopping here for 40 years, and now we’re on third generation, fourth generation,” said Holman.

Other local bookstores in the Greater Salt Lake area include the Golden Braid (Salt

Lake City), Ken Sanders Rare Books (Salt Lake City), Booked on 25th (Ogden), Marissa’s Books and Gifts (Murray), the Children’s Hour (Salt Lake City) and more. The American Booksellers Association’s website has a search function to help people find bookstores in their communities. Visit www.bookweb.org l

Independent bookstores host local author events like this children’s book author Mac Barnett at the King’s English Bookstore in 2016. (Travis Barton/City Journals)

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Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Open house for open spaces gives community a voice

By Joshua Wood | joshw@mycityjournals.com

The city mapped out ideas shared by Cottonwood Heights residents. (Joshua Wood/City Journals)

T

he next step in Cottonwood Height City’s plan for trails, parks and open spaces took shape during an open house for public input on April 26. The call for public input was the second round of a process intended to inform the city’s future approach to establishing and protecting open spaces.

As residents entered a large, sunlit meeting room in City Hall for the open house, they found three stations awaiting them. Each station included a map illustrating priorities derived from initial public input collected in November 2017. The lines and highlighted areas on each map showed suggested trails, parks or natural open spaces that over 100 respondents put on their collective wish list for the community.

Next to each map was a table and large pad of paper where residents could add further input into the process.

“This is a follow-up from November when we got a general sense of what people wanted,” said Andy Houlka, associate planner for the city. “We’ve tried to group those together into general ideas and find out which ones are more important and what we’re missing.”

The city collected all the input they received in November and grouped them into categories for the community to then prioritize during the second open house. This gave participants the opportunity to express their specific priorities for the city’s open space initiatives. In effect, people could vote for the options they liked most and add ideas that may not have received attention during the first phase of the public input process.

The topic is a priority for Cottonwood Heights Mayor Mike Peterson.

“As a mayor, I have a unique background in parks, trails and open spaces,” Peterson said.

“It’s a personal passion of mine that we do all

CottonwoodHeightsJournal .com

we can to preserve and enhance open spaces.”

The city plans an 11-member parks, trails and open space committee to lead efforts to implement the plan derived from public input.

As residents collected around the tables in City Hall, they shared their various concerns.

“We moved here 54 years ago because it was so beautiful,” said resident Vera Winn.

“Will our voices be heard?”

City planners were available throughout the event to hear out residents as they expressed their hopes for the community, their concerns and their questions about the process.

“This is the very beginning, so this is where public input matters the most,” said Senior Planner Michael Johnson. “This will lead to a plan that the city council will adopt and we can start implementing.”

With so many voices and a wide range of priorities among community members, the city’s challenge is to sort through the input and the available resources to create a coherent plan that takes all the competing realities into account.

“The emphasis we want to convey is that to really make a difference, we need to have a policy document in place,” Johnson said. “We need to have that direction in place before we can start allocating resources to get there.”

City planners have communicated with neighboring cities and community groups like the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Coalition to coordinate their planning efforts in areas in which their jurisdictions meet.

As the process moves forward, the input collected from Cottonwood Heights residents will help shape the city’s efforts to establish and protect the parks, trails and open spaces the community values.l

Residents offer their input for the city’s plan for trails, parks and open spaces. (Joshua Wood/City Journals)

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June 2018 | Page 5

The police department was asked to cut $500,000 out of their public safety budget. (Van Tran/Cottonwood Heights)

Many residents are in favor of raising taxes to keep the current city standard. (Van Tran/Cottonwood Heights)

would be brought down from four-person crews Continued from front page... to three-person crews.

The public works portion of the budget was also considered for a cut. Park recommended suspending a contract with Gilson Engineering, which costs $285,000 per year. “I think we can do that with support staff. Matt (Shipp, public works director) has been a city engineer before and has the ability to do that,” Park said.

Administrative services, which falls under the general government portion of the budget, would also be cut significantly. The public relations specialist, events coordinator, arts production manager and assistant city manager positions would be eliminated, while other city staff members would not receive a cost-of-living adjustment.

Additionally, funding would be eliminated for the city newsletter, website, arts council, business association and events.

“That’s all the damage we could do,” Park said. “It may come down to layoffs.”

Public reaction After listening to Park’s presentation, 28 people spoke during the public comment session of the city council meeting. Many others listened to the comments for two hours, requiring overflow seating in the council chambers.

Various comments were heard: many urging the council not to cut police, fire, events, arts, or the newsletter; some in support of making the proposed cuts; some concerned about employees losing jobs; some supporting a raise in taxes.

“There is a budget crisis facing the city.

We have a bloated police department which surpasses the needs of the citizenry. It’s time to make some cuts and to champion the leadership values,” said business owner Ed Schwartz.

CHPD officer Kevin Salmon spoke on behalf of the police. “The proposed number

prepared with pamphlets. “I believe that arts are the heart and soul of our community. The paid employee, Kimberly Pedersen, has helped secure many grants of thousands of dollars. She is our liaison. We have hardworking people that have day jobs that cannot take over the job she is doing. Our program would wither away.

Don’t take away our ability to make Cottonwood Heights a better place to live,” Henriksen said.

“There is far more support to keep Cottonwood Heights what it is and tax us a little more, so what?” said resident Randy Whitehead.

Six additional residents supported a raise in taxes, including business owner and resident Carl Churchill. “We have the best police department. Safety and security of my family, friends and customers is paramount to me. If you have to delay road repairs, let’s do that. Let’s tax if we have to do that. Don’t make short-term cuts to degrade long-term quality of life within the city.”

However, four residents were not in favor of raising taxes and spoke against it. “Spending has to be slowed down. I’m a big supporter of law enforcement, but our law enforcement in bloated. The city has to live within its means.

Revenue is not going to increase. I would like to challenge this administration to put the brakes on before you raise taxes,” said resident Dan Jacobsen.

City council reaction “We recognize that everybody has their thing: police, fire, public works, arts council.

We value every one of those people who think their thing is the most important thing. You have to appreciate that. You would hate to have them think that their thing wasn’t the most important,” said Councilmember Mike Shelton.

“Keeping fire whole would equate to 7 percent on the property tax,” said Councilmember Scott Bracken, “or about half a million dollars

Page 6 | June 2018

of five police would greatly impede safety services to efficiently respond to calls of service in the city. Cottonwood Heights has a favorable reputation in the organization. We recruit the best officers. I worry about officers losing faith and trust in the city. With hiring shortfalls, the staffing problem would only be compounded.

We wouldn’t be able to recruit the quality officers we expect. Residents have enjoyed a Mayberry-type feel as officers engage on a personal level with the residents. Without those opportunities, the approachability of citizens is broken down. Don’t make a decision in haste. Involve the department; please listen to the employees and residents to make an informed decision.”

President of the local firefighters union Cliff Burningham said, “My obligation is to represent the firefighters that work here. A firefighter’s duty is to serve the community: that entails the most basic protection of the public through emergency lifesaving and property saving. Their concern is the decrease of crew size from four to three. It does have a significant decrease in efficiency of how we operate. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) requirement is two in and two out, if there is a known victim inside a structure. The chief would be forced to make the decision to wait until other people from another rig showed up.”

Youth City Council Member Kathryn Cunningham spoke against cutting city events.

“Events are what bring people together. Butlerville Days, I personally feel, it brings people together. I urge you to make a different choice.”

“Ann (Eatchel, events coordinator) is impeccable. She runs a program that is none other,” said resident Chuck Koehn.

“Don’t fire Bryce (Haderlie, assistant city manager). He is capable and loyal,” said resident Tim Hallbeck.

Arts Council Chair Becky Henriksen and members Katy Mitarai and Emily Smith came

to keep them at their current level. Let me know if those are acceptable numbers.”

“Given the path we are on, without changing the trajectory of that path, we will raise taxes again and again,” Shelton said. “For me, an important principle when it comes to raising taxes is to evaluate people’s ability to pay those tax increases. You create an unsustainable situation where you demand more from citizenry to feed the government.”

“We have incredible appreciation for those who work for the city in any capacity,” he continued. “Our police are second to none. It’s a difficult environment and they do the best job.

The firefighters don’t work directly for the city, but they are an important part of our community. We value that greatly.”

“We are grateful for the people that work in the city and (we) hate that some of those people go home tonight with worries about where they will work. I hope none of them will feel any less of our appreciation as we look hard at the difficult task that has been done. Every one of those people and what they do is precious to us,” Shelton said, with Bracken echoing his comments.

“We have asked staff to come back with detailed implications of all these items. We will evaluate every one of the cuts and make adjustments. I see some things that will change based on all the input,” said Mayor Mike Peterson.

The city council will be discussing the budget in upcoming meetings. Check the weekly agendas on the city website for more information.

The public hearing for the final budget will take place on June 12. The final budget must be adopted on, or before, June 19. Since that is Tuesday, it will probably be adopted during a business meeting that night at 7 p.m. l

Cottonwood Heights City Journal

CottonwoodHeightsJournal .com

June 2018 | Page 7

Senior artists show fresh skills at Whitmore

By Joshua Wood | joshw@mycityjournals.com

S

ome resulted from years of experience and experimentation. Others showed the youthful energy of a newly discovered passion. The variety on display at the Senior Art Show at Whitmore Library ranged from each subject depicted to the medium used to the artists themselves.

As part of the library’s senior programs, Whitmore hosts an art show every other year for seniors to display the work they recently created. The 2018 show drew 38 entrants, enough to fill every wall in the Whitmore gallery and require an additional standup display to hold several more. Dramatic landscapes, subtle stilllife paintings, portraits, abstract paintings and more brought the gallery walls to life and showed what the thriving senior community is capable of.

“There’s quite a variety of work,” said librarian Daniel Berube. “Most of it has been created within the past five years.”

One of the artists displaying her work was Anne Rideout, who submitted a portrait she painted of her grandson. The face seemed to peek around the corner of the Whitmore gallery from among the surrounding landscapes.

“He put (his picture) on Facebook, and I asked if I could paint it,” Rideout said. “I’ve never done anything in black and white, but it was fun.” Rideout started painting through classes with a community school and still takes lessons about every week.

Another artist at the show was Dennis Greenwood, who employed years of practice to create a stunning realistic oil painting of a mountain lake scene. A

golden light infuses the painting as it bounces off the rock of distant mountains and is again reflected in the calm waters below.

“I took up oil painting on my own because in high school, they didn’t teach oil painting,” said Greenwood, who has been painting for about 45 years. “It took years to learn how to do it. Now I paint at the senior center.”

When he was younger, Greenwood said it took him a couple months to complete a painting since he could only paint for a few hours on weekends. He now paints around six hours a week.

The show wasn’t just for seasoned artists who have been at it for years. There were relatively new artists who showed that it is never too late to pick up a brush or pencil and start a new hobby. Loraine Lovell had been painting for just six weeks at the time of the art show.

“I’ve always thought about it, but never got around to it,” Lovell said. “My mother is in assisted living in Australia, and they have a little art class there. My mother was partly paralyzed but she was putting stuff on this sponge, so I helped her do a little flower, and I thought, ‘well this is fun, maybe I should do this.’”

Whitmore Library has a committee that meets on a monthly basis to plan activities for community seniors.

This is the third Senior Art Show, which has taken place every other year since 2014. The committee will meet again to determine the timing of future art shows. l Variety was a major theme of the Senior Art Show at the Whitmore Library gallery. (Joshua Wood/ City Journals)

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YouChooseRealty.com Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Welcome to your summer festival guide

By Travis Barton | travis@mycityjournals.com

C

ometh summer, cometh the festivals.

Each year, cities across the Salt Lake Valley hold a summer celebration to commemorate the community, city or country. They do so with parades, contests, music and fireworks.

This year’s slate of festivals starts after Memorial Day and will run into fall. Here’s a chronological guide to everything on tap for summer 2018.

SoJo Summerfest | May 30–June 2 South Jordan kicks off the summer spectacles with its third annual SoJo Summerfest. This replaced its traditional Country Fest two years ago.

The four-day festival features events all over the city from Mulligans Golf Course (10600 South 692 West) and City Park (11000 South Redwood Road) to the public works parking lot (10996 South Redwood Road) and fitness and aquatic center (10866 South Redwood Road).

Events will feature family fun activities such as the carnival, 5K race, parade, car show, superhero party or swim with local performing group, Utah Mermaids. A skateboard competition, tennis tournament, chalk art contest and multi-category Battle of the Bands are also set to take place throughout the festival.

A complete list of events and times can be found at sjc.utah.gov/sojo-summerfest/.

Fort Herriman PRCA Rodeo | June 1–2 Held at W&M Butterfield Park (6212 West 14200 South), Herriman’s annual rodeo features a family night on Friday and military night on Saturday. The rodeo will also include a special needs roundup on Saturday from 3–4:30 p.m.

Visit herriman.org/prca-rodeo/ for more information.

Music Stroll | June 9 The seventh annual Heart and Soul Music Stroll returns to Sugar House on June 9. Dozens of local performers will share their musical talents throughout the day (last year featured 44).

Free to the community, the Music Stroll has 14 different locations spread throughout a two-block radius along Filmore and Glenmore streets between 2700 South and Zenith Avenue.

Thirteen performing areas are arranged on front lawns with one stage set up at Imperial Park (1560 East Atkin Avenue).

Heart and Soul is a nonprofit organization based out of Salt Lake City that aims to bring the “healing power of music” to people in isolation. Performers donate their time throughout the year performing at places like senior centers, prisons or hospitals.

Streets are lined not only with hundreds of people but several food trucks as well.

Visit heartsoul.org/music-stroll for more information.

WestFest | June 14–17 What started in the late ’70s at Granger Park with a car show, pony rides and a few food booths has blossomed into one of West Valley City’s premier events.

The annual celebration, which commemorates the establishment of West Valley City and the recognition of its residents’ various backgrounds, will take place at Centennial Park (5415 West 3100 South) from June 14–17.

The 2018 version will feature a WestFest Sombrero Bowl Skate Competition, the 13th an-

CottonwoodHeightsJournal .com

nual Dutch Oven Cook-off, a 5K and 10K and entertainment from No limits, This is YOUR Band, Chance McKinney and Channel Z. For more information and for those interested in volunteering, visit westfest.org.

Fort Herriman Towne Days | June 18–23 The city’s weeklong celebration of everything Herriman begins on Monday, June 18, with a talent show and ends on Saturday June 23 with a carnival, parade and fireworks.

Each day of the week features something different such as a disc golf tournament, home run derby, K9 and trampoline shows and a foam party.

All events will take place at W&M Butterfield Park (6212 West 14200 South), J. Lynn Crane Park (5355 West Main Street) and Rosecrest Park (13850 South Rosecrest Road), where the Herriman Hyzer Disc Golf Tournament will take place.

Times and events can be found at herriman. org/fort-herriman-days/.

Taylorsville Dayzz | June 28–30 Located at Valley Regional Park (5100 South 2700 West), Taylorsville Dayzz holds a full slate for its city celebration on the west side of the valley.

From Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. when the carnival begins to Saturday’s fireworks finale at 10 p.m., the festival is nonstop with entertainment.

Tributes bands Imagine (Beatles) along with the West Valley Symphony & Cannons will perform Thursday night, Desperado (Eagles) takes the stage Friday night and Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees) with the Taylorsville Orchestra will close it out on Saturday. Every show is free to the public.

Saturday also includes a 5K fun run, pony rides and a car show. A full list of events and times is available at taylorsvilledayzz.com.

Riverton Town Days | June 28–July 4 Riverton starts its celebration one day early this year on June 28 with its Three-Man Arena Sorting Competition and the Riverton Rodeo and runs right through to July 4 with its full slate of activities on Independence Day. July 4 will feature the 11th annual ATV Rodeo (Riverton Rodeo Grounds, 12780 South 1300 West) where races will include pole bending, barrel racing, pantyhose race, a key hole race and a hide race. Independence Day will also see Riverton Country Mile 10K, 5K and one-mile races in addition to the Tour de Riverton Bike Race. The starting lines will begin on the south side of Riverton City Park at 12800 South.

Food, hay dives and a July 3 evening parade are still on the docket for this tradition since the early 1900s. For more information, visit rivertoncity.com.

Western Stampede | June 30–July 4 What starts with a fun run, children’s parade, carnival and family fun night on June 30 continues with the focus of West Jordan’s summer festival — its rodeo.

July 2–4 features a PRCA rodeo at the city’s rodeo arena, 8035 South 2200 West. The rodeo also features the winner of the Western Stampede Queen Contest, which was scheduled for May 12.

Visit westernstampede.com for more infor-

Children enjoy a carnival ride at Butlerville Days 2016. (City Journals)

mation.

Murray Fun Days | July 4 Murray City carries a full slate of activities for Independence Day. Beginning at 8:30 a.m. will be the annual parade, which begins at Fashion Place Mall (6100 South State Street) and ends at the west end of Murray Park (296 East Murray Park Avenue). Awards are given for the following parade entry categories: special interest/antique, business/commercial, equestrian/animal and civic/ royalty/political/float.

The rest of the day takes place at Murray Park. It features a community breakfast, chalk art contest, talent show, a Ducky Derby along the creek in Murray Park, a coed volleyball tournament on the softball field and ends with fireworks.

For exact times and events, visit murray. utah.gov/283/Fun-Days.

July 4 Parade and Festivities | July 4 South Salt Lake will continue its festival tradition at Fitts Park (3050 South 500 East) on July 4. The day begins with a 5K fun run at 8 a.m. while the parade gets underway at 9:30 a.m. and the one-day celebration rounds out with a festival from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sandy City 4th of July | July 4 Sandy holds its Independence Day Celebration on the grassy promenade between Sandy City Hall and South Towne Mall at 10000 South Centennial Parkway.

The Sandy Classic 5K race begins at 7 a.m. A youth arts festival commences at 10 a.m. where children ages 4–12 can participate in face painting, craft stations and sand sculpting.

At 6 p.m. the parade begins with a concert at 7:30 p.m. and fireworks to close out the night at 10 p.m.

Draper Days | July 5–7, 12–14 Draper’s festival will take place over two weekends in July.

Culminating in the second weekend with fireworks and concerts, Draper Days will begin with various athletic contests the first weekend including a tennis tournament, pickleball tournament and 3 v. 3 basketball tournament.

Other events include Splash Dogs, horse pull, pie contest, rodeo, Draper Idol and a children’s parade.

Full event schedules and information can be found at draper.ut.us.

Butlerville Days | July 23–24 Cottonwood Heights continues its traditional celebration this year on Monday and Tuesday, July 23–24.

Planned by volunteers, city staff and the

Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center, Butlerville Days takes place at Butler Park (7500 South 2700 East).

The festival expects to have games, entertainment, a carnival, parade and fireworks show.

A creative craft market and pickleball tournament are recent additions to the yearly commemoration to go along with the 5K fun run.

Bluffdale Old West Days | July 27–28, August 6–11 While the rodeo will take place July 27–28, the city’s official Old West Days celebration goes all week long in August.

Details for events are still to come, but if last year is anything to go by then this year can expect another monster truck competition. Last year also featured a 25-mile cycling ride and ATV rodeo.

Check bluffdaleoldwestdays.com later this summer for more information.

Harvest Days | August 6–11 1938 marked the first Harvest Days in Midvale, according to the Midvale Historical Society. It was sponsored by the Midvale Kiwanis club.

Details are still being ironed out, but the weeklong celebration of Midvale, begins August 6. The week’s events generally feature an induction into the Midvale Arts Council’s Hall of Honors, a parade and a grand festival and Midvale’s City Park (between Center Street and 7500 South, at approximately 425 West).

Check midvaleharvestdays.com later this summer for more information.

Blue Moon Arts Festival | August 25 Holladay rounds out the summer season with its annual Blue Moon Arts Festival. The one-day celebration is different from other cities’ week-long engagements.

Holladay will have its Concerts in the Commons series running from July 14 through Aug. 25. July will also feature Jim McGee’s ambitious art project combining storytelling and large-scale charcoal portraits. “It’s an opportunity for people to model and collaborate, to be seen and heard in a unique kind of way,” McGee told the Journals in February.

Culminating in a festival for music and arts, the Blue Moon Arts Festival takes place at Holladay City Hall Park (4580 South 2300 East) from 3-10 p.m. on Aug. 25.

This year’s musical attractions will include Motown group Changing Lanes Experience and Gypsy jazz group Red Rock Hot Club.

For more information, visit holladayarts. org. l

June 2018 | Page 9

GRAMA makes them talk

By Cassie Goff | cassie@mycityjournals.com

Y 2018 EvEning SEriES

Season Tickets: $49 Adult, $45 Senior, $29 Child Murray Amphitheater Parking: 495 E 5300 S Ticket Info: 801-264-2614 or murrary.utah.gov June 2 ................................... Hairspray, Sing-A-Long June 9 ................................. One Voice Children Choir June 21-23, 25-27 .............Thoroughly Modern Millie June 30 .................................... Murray Concert Band July 7.................................... Murray Symphony Pops July 13-14 ............................... Ballet Under the Stars July 26-28, 30, 31, Aug 1....................Into the Woods August 10-11, 13, 16-18 ......................Secret Garden August 25...................................... SLC Jazz Orchestra September 3 ..............Murray Acoustic Music Festival

FAMiLY nigHT SEriES

Bring the Whole Family Young and Old! The 2nd Monday of every month at 7 p.m., FREE Murray Heritage Senior Center (#10 E 6150 S – 1/2 block west of State) June 11 – In Cahoots.......................Cowboy Music July 9 – Skyedance..............................Celtic Music Aug 13 – Company B....................................Oldies Sept 10 – Mixed Nuts .......................... Jazz, Swing

LUnCH COnCErT SEriES

Every Tuesday at Noon in Murray Park Pavilion #5 FREE June 5 – Michael Robinson ............Cowboy Poetry June 12 – Eastern Arts ...................... Ethnic Dance June 19 –CHASKIS......Music & Dance of the Andes June 26 – Chris Proctor .. Guitar for the New World July 10 – Wasatch Jazz Titans .................Jazz Band July 17 – Red Desert Ramblers............... Bluegrass July 31 – Time Cruisers.................................Oldies

CHiLDrEn MATinEE SEriES

Every Thursday at 2 p.m. in Murray Park Pavilion #5 FREE June 7 – Stephanie Raff ......................Storytelling June 14 – Nino Reyos .........Native American Drum June 21 – Miss Margene ..............Children’s Dance June 28 – Coralie Leue .............The Puppet Players July 12 – Jonathan the Magician ....... Magic Show July 19 – Rebeca Wallin ........Shakespeare for Kids July 26 – Popcorn Media .....................Family Rock Aug 2 – Honey Buns........................... Song/Dance This program has received funding support from residents of Salt Lake County, SL County Zoo, Arts, and Parks (ZAP), Utah Division of Arts and Museums, and Museums & National Endowment for the Arts.

Page 10 | June 2018

ou have a right to public records. Under the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA), any person can make a public records request. In the words of Eric Peterson, the executive director of the Utah Investigative Journalism Project, “If taxpayer dollars touch it, you should be able to GRAMA it.”

Cottonwood Heights Councilmember Tali Bruce sparked a discussion concerning GRAMA requests during a city council meeting work session on April 10. It was her understanding that Cottonwood Heights Police Chief Robby Russo filed a GRAMA request for some of her emails and those documents had been handed over without her knowledge.

Bruce inquired to the purpose behind the request, as well as the city’s protocol when GRAMAs are received. “I want to understand what transpired and why,” she said.

City Attorney Shane Topham addressed her question. “When GRAMA requests come in, I’m called in to review the items turned up in the GRAMA search, to make sure we are not releasing information that is private, controlled and protected.”

Private, controlled and protected records may not be released under GRAMA. Examples of private, controlled and protected records include addresses, social security numbers, medical, psychiatric, or psychological data about an individual, and information that would impair governmental procurement proceedings.

However, this does not include names. After learning that individual’s names were not redacted for the GRAMA request by Russo, Bruce was concerned. “Let’s say that individual potentially gets pulled over by one of the police officers. They might feel it was retaliatory or a threatening move because they were in communication with me. Is it a message regarding communicating with me in the future? You can see where people interpret those actions.”

“You’re making a leap that I don’t feel that is accurate,” Russo said. “If you’re making a leap that because someone is talking to you that the police department would target that individual, or unfairly treat them, or pull them over for no reason, or retaliate against them, that is simply not true.”

Bruce then asked Topham if he always reviews GRAMA requests by himself. He responded affirmably, explaining that if there is anything within the documents that he perceives to be embarrassing to the elected official or staff member, he will notify them.

Mayor Michael Peterson suggested, “Even though it’s not policy, we should make it a policy that the person is immediately notified.

In the past, it has been a courtesy. We need to move that from a courtesy to a policy.”

“Am I the first to not be treated with courtesy?” Bruce asked City Manager John Park.

“I believe you are first I’ve ever experienced where it was just your personal email account, under certain subjects, that were

A GRAMA requested by Police Chief Robby Russo sparked a conversation about how the city handles such requests. (Cottonwood Heights)

Councilmember Tali Bruce questioned how elected officials are notified when they are GRAMA-ed. (Dan Metcalf/Cottonwood Heights)

GRAMA-ed. Oftentimes, GRAMA requests come through for certain subjects that include all the emails from all the staff and council, and I don’t think we notified everybody on those,” Park said.

“I was GRAMA-ed prior to coming to Cottonwood Heights on emails that were exchanged between John (Park) and I, and I learned about it after the fact,” Assistant Manager Bryce Haderlie said.

Bruce asked if she could use a private email instead of the city’s email, and either have her city emails forwarded to her private email, or terminate the city email completely.

“The city has to go through all the city emails every time one of those requests comes up,” Councilmember Mike Shelton said. “You would have to deliver your technology and give access to your email, so they could pour through the private email account, even if it doesn’t attach to you personally in anyway. Just know they are going to have to get to your email account with every GRAMA request that you could have touched.”

City Recorder Paula Melgar added, “If someone GRAMAs you, we can confiscate your computer. Also, if you use Facebook to do any business with residents, those accounts are GRAMA-able and we can get that information.”

“In light of the fact that I was not even informed that I had been GRAMA-ed and in light of the fact that I wasn’t brought into the process and all of my emails were handed over without any consultation on my part, I will be using a private email henceforth,” Bruce said. “My city emails can be forwarded to that email and it’s still GRAMA-able, but I will know and I will be in on the process.”

Under Title 63G (General Government), Chapter 2 (Government Records Access and Management Act) of the Utah Code, “every person has the right to inspect a public record.”

That includes you. If you wish to make a GRAMA request, there are some things to know.

Most government entities, including cities, have their own request forms varying slightly.

GRAMA request forms can be found on their respective websites. There are many different methods to submit a GRAMA request, including email, fax, mail, through an opens records portal or in person. Some entities may require the use of one method.

Name, date, address and description of records sought are required on a request form.

(The more specific the description, the better.)

Remember to always keep a copy of a GRAMA request.

While requests are free, entities may charge fees based on staffing costs. Entities have up to 10 business days to respond to a request.

For more information on the GRAMA Act, visit: Utah Code: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title63G/63G.html Attorney General’s Office: https://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/grama Salt Lake County Records Management: https://slco.org/records-management/grama/ Utah’s Right to Know: http://www.utahsright.com/h_grama.php For more information on filing a GRAMA request visit: This how-to guide under the Utah Division of Archives and Records Services: https://archives.utah.gov/opengovernment/how-to-filea-request-for-records-under-GRAMA.html Salt Lake City Recorder’s Officer: http://www.slcgov.com/recorder/understanding-grama Cottonwood Heights Records Request: http://cottonwoodheights.utah.gov/your_government/public_records__notices/records_requests_grama l

Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Kicking the can down the road: balancing standards versus cost with city streets

By Cassie Goff | cassie@mycityjournals.com

L

ess than ideal roads and infrastructure were inherited by Cottonwood Heights from Salt Lake County when the city incorporated in 2005. Conversations, evaluations and attempts to maintain these roads have been ongoing ever since. As the city must prepare a final budget for the next fiscal year by June 19, pavement management has been a lengthy conversation.

A Resident Roadway Committee was formed to discuss strategies to address the growing concern of road maintenance within the city. They worked with consultants GeoStrata and Gilson Engineering, along with Public Works Director Matt Shipp and various members of his team.

“We went around the city and looked at the condition of each road,” City Engineer Brad Gilson said. Altogether, Cottonwood Heights has 114.9 centerline miles (a measure representing the total length of a given road from its starting point to its end point) and 252 lane miles (centerline mileage multiplied by the total number of lanes along the road).

The pavement management index (PCI) was used to evaluate these conditions. This index allows each road to acquire a rating between 0 and 100. A PCI rating of 100 would be a new or reconstructed road, while a PCI rating of 40 or below is considered a structurally failing road.

Only about 20 percent of roads within the city have a PCI rating over 75. Those are fairly new roads, such as Bengal Boulevard, and other residential roads within the city. Roads with a PCI rating around 85 are considered “good roads in good condition. They do not cost a lot to maintain and do not warrant expensive treatment,” Gilson said.

The majority of roads within the city have a PCI rating somewhere between 55 and 75.

“These roads get a lot of cracking, especially on the seams. The cracks propagate from the cold joint,” Gilson said.

Such cracking can be found at the intersections of Fort Union Boulevard and Park Center Drive, which has a PCI rating of 70, and Fort Union Boulevard and 1300 East, which has a PCI rating of 65. In fact, most of Fort Union Boulevard is within this range, mostly with an average PCI rating of 55.

The remaining 20 percent of roads have a PCI rating under 50. Many have stretches with PCI ratings below 40. A stretch on Creek Road, before the intersection with Danish Road, in front of three different churches, received a PCI rating below 40. Another example of these roads is Alta Hills (approximately 3200 East and 8700 South). These roads are structurally failing with “many potholes, deep cracking, and they are very hard to drive on,” said Gilson.

Gilson explained that roads are made from a combination of first and second acidaffins, saturated hydrocarbons, asphaltenes and polar compounds, also known as asphalt.

Even though concrete can be used to create roads, most of the roads are asphalt. “We don’t

CottonwoodHeightsJournal .com

use concrete because we have a lot of utilities under the road,” Gilson said. It’s much harder to cut into and repair concrete than asphalt is.

When designing roads, a few critical elements are taken into consideration, some of which are physical, including traffic and the related weight the road must withstand. If many heavy trucks are traveling along a road, it has to be designed to accommodate the truck traffic.

Unfortunately, truck traffic has a detrimental effect.

“Europe has long-lasting roads because they don’t allow trucks to drive on local roads,” Gilson said.

Environmental elements are also taken into consideration, like snow and rainfall. These elements can quickly impact the lifespan of a road.

Furthermore, when asphalt is exposed to sun, it oxidizes.

“Asphalt deteriorates by oxidation,” Gilson explained. Desiccation and hairline cracking follows oxidation. After asphalt has been exposed to the sun during the summer months, water from rain and snowfall trickles into the hairline cracks. The water freezes and thaws with the weather, creating much larger cracks and other deterioration.

Pavement maintenance is required when asphalt deteriorates. The most cost-effective ways to maintain roads are fog, slurry and mastic, and asphalt rejuvenation. More expensive maintenance includes crack sealing, microsurfacing and chip sealing, which are all methods to fill in cracks to keep water out. The most expensive road maintenance is an overlay.

“Over time, it is much less expensive to maintain a good road than it is to wait until an overlay, or worse, is required,” Gilson said.

The question the city council has to face is to what PCI standard all 252 lane miles should be held to, with the least amount of cost. They asked the Resident Roadway Committee to provide the council with a preferred methodology for approaching roadway maintenance and a repair program citywide.

“If we don’t do anything to a road in 30 years, it has to be completely redone,” Gilson said. “The best approach for addressing all roads is to treat each road at the critical stage before it drops to the most expensive category.

A critical time for treating roads is when they are six or seven years old.”

The committee has considered many community values within their discussions, including efficient use of tax dollars; benefiting the majority; good roads in certain areas; public health and safety for all users; education for residents; public perception; supporting commerce; maintaining excellent quality of life and high property values through good roadway maintenance.

“Delaying work on road construction projects has a cost impact that is mindboggling. In five years, we can go from a cost-maintaining a road from 35 cents to $1 per square foot, to a cost that exceeds $4 per square foot. We can’t

Asphalt rejuvenation is a fairly inexpensive method for maintaining the quality of roads. (Matt Shipp/Cottonwood Heights)

responsibly kick the can down the road on roads,” said Councilmember Mike Shelton.

The Resident Roadway Committee has asked consultants to re-evaluate some estimates brought forward. Once that is complete, the

committee will make a recommendation to the city council. The council has asked for that recommendation no later than the end of May so they can accurately accommodate for pavement maintenance within next year’s budget. l

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June 2018 | Page 11

Densifying the neighborhood

By Cassie Goff | cassie@mycityjournals.com

F

or almost a year, the Cottonwood Heights City Council has been discussing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) within the city. The first draft for an ordinance addressing ADUs was released on August 15, 2017. Since that time, the ordinance has been revised multiple times based on public comment, survey results, additional city research and much discussion.

Many people recognize ADUs as mother-in-law apartments, granny flats, carriage homes, garage apartments, coach houses or basement apartments. While there are varying definitions of ADUs across the city planning sphere, Cottonwood Heights defines an ADU as “a residential dwelling unit meant for one additional single family located on the same lot as a single-family dwelling unit, either within the same building as the single-family dwelling (attached ADU) or in a detached building (detached ADU).”

Prior to the city’s incorporation, ADUs were considered illegal under Salt Lake County. As such, they did not license, track or permit ADUs within what is now Cottonwood Heights. While the city is aware that there are ADUs within city limits, they are unsure of how many or where they are.

Currently, all ADUs are considered illegal within the city code and are enforced by Code Enforcement within the Cottonwood Heights Police Department. Historically, enforcement has largely been based on complaint, since search warrants are not generally issued for ADUs. If an ADU is found to be operating illegally, the property owners can be cited, or ordered to cease and desist, which may potentially kick individuals or families out of their living spaces.

The city council felt this issue was significant since it seemed like they had a system that favored people willing to break the law. In an attempt to address this issue, an ordinance was created. The ordinance needed to be passed through the planning commission as well as the city council. However, many issues including the ones mentioned above made creating an adept ordinance quite challenging.

The current ordinance, which was last revised on March 8, states that the purposes of

Page 12 | June 2018

Detached ADUs are addressed in the currently drafted ordinance as accessory dwelling units and have their own set of requirements. (Utah League of Cities and Towns)

ADUs in single-family residential zones (R-1 and RR zones) are an important tool in the overall housing goals and needs of the city, and they allow for alternative and flexible housing options in owner-occupied single-family residences.

For the council, one of the main purposes for the drafted ordinance is life safety issues.

The city wants to be able to preserve and enhance life safety standards required for residential occupancy through the creation of a regulatory process for ADUs. To keep those life safety standards regulated, property owners would have to acquire a license to operate an ADU. This would involve an approval process where development standards with a building inspection would have to be met. A property owner would have to pay an application fee of a minimum $150, show proof of owner occupancy from two documents, complete a building inspection and complete a landlord training program, among additional requirements.

On January 17, the planning commission voted on a positive recommendation for the

city-initiated proposal to create an ADU ordinance which was passed with a 3 to 2 vote. The recommendation had five conditions, including landscape requirements, language details, that a home-occupation license with clients is not allowed to have an ADU and that there should be a clear process of enforcement.

“I feel that ADUs represent the character of Cottonwood Heights. They are here and part of the character,” said District 4 Commissioner Christine Coutts.

Much public comment has been received by the city. A 26-page document was compiled with resident comments that were received from August to December 2017. These comments include statements taken during public comment sessions, as well as emails and other written comments.

Many of the comments opposing the ordinance involve protecting single-family neighborhoods, density, parking and nuisances. One of the most constant opposing voices is resident Robert Jacobs, who bought his home in a single-family neighborhood over 40 years ago.

“The ADU ordinance will eliminate R-1

zones from the city,” said Jacobs.

Many of the comments in favor of the ordinance involve affordable housing options, family accommodation and additional income.

“I’m in favor of the ADU. The planning commission has done a great job addressing safety, traffic and parking concerns. It’s a reality that ADUs are here today,” said resident LeAnn Airheart.

Additionally, the city sent out an internet-based survey where a portion of questions inquired about ADUs. Around 600 randomly selected residents responded to the survey.

Based on the survey results, about half of residents were aware of ADUs. From that base, 46 percent of residents voted to amend the city code to allow homeowners to rent out portions of their homes as ADUs. Twenty-six percent voted that the city should take no action, while only 20 percent voted to enforce the current city code and evict those renters currently occupying ADUs. Cottonwood Heights city staff members reached out to surrounding cities for more information, asking a number of questions about ADUs within their districts. Nineteen cities responded, including Sandy, Holladay, Midvale and Taylorsville. One of the most consistent responses was that they did not know how many ADUs they had within their boundaries.

The most recent (as of publication) conversation by the Cottonwood Heights City Council was on April 17. The council members discussed enforcement, parking and policy with planning staff members. “You have to do something about the parking. I don’t want every house in our city to be able to do this,” said Councilmember Christine Mikell.

Voting on this ordinance has been continuously pushed back, as more issues are raised and many residents request to not rush the vote.

Currently, the vote has been scheduled during the month of June. Councilmember Tali Bruce will most likely abstain from the vote. Mayor Mike Peterson has also considered abstaining.

For more information on ADUs, visit the community development page of the city website. l

Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Rachel & Friends conquer Dragons in friendly book battle

By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com

B

utler Middle School recently had two teams — the Book Dragons and Epic — compete at Canyons School District’s inaugural America’s Battle of the Books competition.

Midvale, on its home turf, and Draper Park were unable to compete because of scheduling conflicts, but six middle schools sent two teams on April 13 to vie for the district title.

“We think of as many ways as we can to engage our students to read and to become diverse, lifelong readers,” Butler librarian and coach Jen Van Haaften said. “This was an inviting and fun way to include students who wanted to participate, and it celebrates our readers.”

Battle of the Books is a reading incentive program for students who have created teams to read books and come together to demonstrate their abilities and to test their knowledge of the books they have read.

Canyons School District Library Media Specialist Jim Wilson said they started talking about bringing the program district-wide about one year ago.

“There was enough positive talk and contributions from the schools that have held their own competitions that we felt this would benefit our students district-wide,” he said. “There are some elementary schools that also hold their own contest, so this would lead them up to this competition.”

Wilson said about 500 middle school students prepared for the competition by reading from a set book list.

“There is so much emphasis in academic reading that it has taken the joy out of reading, so this is an exciting way to see students be able to dig into a story they may not have chosen otherwise and understand it,” he said.

Van Haaften said her teams met monthly for the first four months, then every other week leading up to the competition.

“They were groups of friends, so they met over lunch and had fun together as they had conversations about what they were reading. When it came time to compete, they elected spokespeople so those who were shy didn’t have to be stressed, but could still have fun,” she said.

Much of the coordination of the competition was put in the hands of Eastmont’s teacher and librarian Sonya Miles, who has overseen her own school’s competition for three years and is a supporter of the program. She wrote and received a $357 Donors Choose grant to help get the program started.

“I really believe this helps students read more books, and the exposure to more books improves their reading strategies and their education,” she said.

Miles and other district librarians met to review the book list and changed a few to allow for more genres to be read, which resulted in librarians creating their own questions. The questions, posed to the students in a Family Feud game style, asked students to answer the question with the title of the book before receiving additional points with the author’s name.

CottonwoodHeightsJournal .com

Creating environments where moments of Joy, Independence, and Wellness are the focus each and every day!

Butler Middle School students prepare for Canyons School District’s inaugural Battle of the Books competition.

(Brenda Anderson/Midvale Middle School)

Miles said Battle of the Books is more than just the competition.

“One of my favorite things is to see the students check out books that they never would normally read and to see them really enjoy them.

With greater exposure to literature, they’re expanding their selection of reading,” she said.

At Eastmont, students have the support of faculty, some who even participate on their own teams, and students participate as part of their English honors classes. The school had 300 students participate on 62 student teams, which competed for two entries into the district-wide Battle of the Books. The Magical Mages won the school competition and their second-place team, Rachel & Friends, advanced to the district.

At district, the two teams met up with Mt. Jordan’s teams, who have had the program for six years at their school, as well as Butler’s teams and those from Albion, Indian Hills and Union.

“Battle of the Books goes along with intramurals, chess and debate as a way for our students to showcase their talents,” said Mt. Jordan librarian and coach Kim Mitchell, who held a school competition between the nine school teams before the district-wide tournament. “It’s also a lot of fun for the students.”

Besides creative names, students made signs or wore matching clothes. Mt. Jordan’s Dragons came with silkscreened shirts and the school’s other team, Kick’n Chickens, brought their own (stuffed) mascot.

While most teams divided the book list

into a manageable number to read, Mitchell said some of her team members read every book.

“They thought it was more likely that they could answer the questions if more than one team member had read the book,” she said.

Every team competed in the first three rounds, then the field narrowed to the two veteran schools. Before the final round, there was a sudden death tie-breaker between Rachel & Friends and Kick’n Chickens.

“It was very close and intense. These students seem to thrive on it,” Mitchell said.

When Rachel & Friends edged out Kick’n Chickens, they met the Chickens’ classmates, the Dragons, in the final round.

In the end, Eastmont’s Rachel & Friends pulled ahead with Mt. Jordan’s Dragons finishing in second place. Mt. Jordan’s Kick’n Chickens placed in third ahead of Eastmont’s Magical Mages.

Students received books as prizes. Rachel & Friends received “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”; the Dragons got “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” and Kick’n Chickens got “The Book Thief.”

Eastmont Middle School seventh-grader Avery Williams loves to read, so when the opportunity came for her to compete with her America’s Battle of the Books team, she was excited.

“It sounded like fun,” she said. “I liked reading the books and hanging out with my friends on the team.” l

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Honored teachers dedicate their careers to students

By Julie Slama | Julie@mycityjournals.com

S

ometimes music can touch a soul and spread far beyond who may be listening to it.

That was the case for Midvale Middle School instrumental teacher Lena Wood, who connected with a percussionist as a youngster.

“I was listening to the drummer for Yanni and thought percussion was so cool,” Wood said. “I connected and it saved me from going down an icky path.”

Being able to relate to students is part of the reason Wood was selected amongst 46 other teachers representing schools in Canyons School District as the district’s first runner-up for Teacher of the Year.

Corner Canyon’s Amber Rogers was named Teacher of the Year and Alta View Elementary’s Jamie Richardson was second runner-up. They will be honored at a Real Salt Lake game June 2. In addition to a crystal award and a gift basket, Rogers received $1,000 from the Canyons Education Foundation, Wood received $750 and Richardson, $500.

Wood doesn’t duck from her past. In fact, at the beginning of the school year, she tells her students that her path started in sixth grade when her dad was sent to prison. She now tells her students that it’s the choices that students make that can send them to success or into not good circumstances.

“I didn’t tell my friends and kept it quiet,” she said. “I always felt like I didn’t fit in because of it. I wasn’t good at math and struggled. It wasn’t until I discovered music that I flourished.”

After listening to the drummer for Yanni, Wood used her piano background to learn percussion in junior high and became involved in marching band and drumline in high school. She graduated from Weber State University with a music education degree on scholarship.

“Kids need to hear that we all aren’t super successful from the start; that we struggle. Sometimes there is a person they can relate to or something at school that gets them going. It’s OK if it’s music, dance, theater or gym. The arts are important in school and they can keep us going,” she said.

Wood, who followed her mother’s footsteps into teaching, has taught for 11 years, but said it wasn’t until she came to Midvale Middle School until she felt comfortable.

“I fell in love with the diversity here,” she said. “It’s so different. I felt accepted. Now I feel super honored to be honored. It gives me more confidence in my teaching and tells me that (I’m) doing OK. It gives my students that encouraging message.”

Rogers also is known to motivate and encourage students.

An example is that after a student was transferred into her class, she learned other teachers had grown frustrated with him.

“I made a snap judgment wondering why he got straight F’s and what his story was,” she said. “The first day he was respectful, so I wasn’t sure what was going on.”

Canyons School District’s top three Teacher of the Year finalists — Alta View’s Jamie Richardson, Corner Canyon’s Amber Rogers and Midvale Middle’s Lena Wood — were all smiles after receiving their awards in April. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

Afterward, he told Rogers no other teacher allowed students to have a discussion as she did with a dialogue about the Great Depression and that engagement got him back on track, she said.

“I’ve learned it’s the time when teachers aren’t talking when kids are learning more,” said Rogers, who chairs the social studies department and is the National Honor Society adviser. “I love giving students opportunities. We went back to the president’s inauguration and whether they agreed politically or not. It’s an experience being in that kind of atmosphere, they’ll never have again. And while we were there, we got caught up in the women’s march as we tried to get to a museum — again, another experience where they can say, ‘I was there.’”

Even in her own classroom, she has experiences like the World War I simulation where students represent countries and try to come to terms with the Treaty of Versailles.

“They try to figure out what they want, the cost, the military, the geography of Europe and how to develop strategies with others to get what they want,” she said.

She has mock congresses where students create their own legislature, and a decades projects where students not only learn about the historical events for that time period, but also share with one another the culture.

That belief in students lead to a round of applause by students and teachers coming into her classroom shortly after the announcement was made at her school that she was selected as

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Teacher of the Year.

“It was really sweet and I was a little embarrassed by the attention,” she said. “It took a moment, but then I got back on track with my students’ AP test that day.”

When Alta View’s fourth-grade teacher Jamie Richardson learned at an assembly that she was the school’s choice for Teacher of the Year, she was “completely surprised.” Her students and former students as well as parents and colleagues nominated her.

“I am humbled and grateful,” she said. “I’m not much for the limelight, but this has been a wonderful experience. It’s an amazing feeling to be recognized.”

One reason Richardson was nominated for the award is for what she calls “fun and silly” ways to engage students in learning.

“When they seem tired, I’ll have them give me some jumping jacks or have a ‘mingle mingle’ time and get them moving,” she said, adding that it helps them refocus. “I love working with kids and watching those ‘a-ha’ moments when they get it after helping them learn.”

Richardson said she debated teaching as a career, after watching her sister put the effort into it when she became a firstgrade teacher in Jordan School District, but continued to want to teach. Her grandfather also taught woodshop at Olympus High.

“I knew I’d have to dedicate myself to it if I chose to teach.

Teaching is a life, not a job,” she said. l

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By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com

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IN THIS WORKSHOP YOU WILL LEARN: Brighton students celebrate in the surf and sand after receiving awards for their performances at the WorldStrides festival in San Diego. (Daniel Emrazian/Brighton High)

A

bout 80 Brighton High School student musicians, their directors and chaperones tried their best to sleep overnight on a bus that would take them to the WorldStrides competition in San Diego this past April.

They knew they would need to be at the top of their game as they faced other high schools from throughout the country in the festival. They had rehearsed after school every other week and held sectionals in preparation, said firstyear instrumental director Mikala Mortensen.

“Once we got there, we had some great clinicians who helped our students before we took the stage,” she said. “One of the teachers at Cuyamaca College told the band to articulate and make the attacks together. The strings were given great advice to balance between the younger players in the orchestra and those who have more experience.”

Director of choral music and guitar Daniel Emrazian said the choirs were given the advice to stand tall and be focused.

“We used that feedback at the festival and were ready to perform,” he said.

When they took the WorldStrides stage, Mortensen said, “They really pulled it off. It went so well.”

Brighton’s concert band received the top award, first, in the top level, gold.

“We took the Adjudactor’s Award for earning 90 or more points; we were the only band to receive it,” she said.

The string orchestra took silver, as did the I Suoni Dolic (the Sweet Sound) choir and the Madrigals.

The band also qualified for the WorldStrides’ gold festival, which would include a performance in Carnegie Hall.

“It would be amazing, but we

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haven’t had a chance to even think about next year,” Mortensen said shortly after their return trip.

The awards for Brighton didn’t end there. Two seniors, flutist Hailey Potter and pianist Lyndsay Hill, received the prestigious Maestro Award, which if selected as finalists, would allow them the option to perform in Carnegie Hall or in Sydney, Australia.

Emrazian said the two are excellent musicians.

“This demonstrates how they excel in musicianship,” he said, adding that Hill accompanied two of the concert choir songs and joined them to sing on the third.

Riding on a high, the musicians returned to Utah, where Hill competed in the state solo and ensemble competition four days later, on April 28. Hill earned a perfect score on piano. Her classmate, senior Aubrey Leak, also earned a perfect score singing soprano.

Emrazian said three other so-

loists, a duet and three ensembles also performed, receiving excellent and superior marks.

At the state band festival, Brighton received excellent marks after receiving straight superior marks at region.

“It’s the first time they’ve qualified for state in 10 years.

It’s been a good year for our musicians,” Mortensen said, adding that orchestra also earned perfect marks at region and was preparing to compete at state May 19.

Before leaving California, not only did the students have fun in the sand of Mission Beach and in the water of the Pacific Ocean, they also visited San Diego Zoo, Old Town, the USS Midway, Medieval Times and Knott’s Berry Farm.

“It was some of our students’ first time seeing the ocean,” Emrazian said. “It’s been a fun experience for these kids.” l

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June 2018 | Page 15

Students showcase talent of telling stories, holding a paint brush

By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com

W

hen Bella Vista first-grader Addison Boggess learned her school was doing a storytelling festival, she read “The Fox and the Goat” with her family and worked on memorizing it so she could present it to her class.

“It was hard, but I got help from my family and was told I’m brave,” she said. “I liked (the story) because it’s cute and funny.”

Addison not only got to tell it to her class, but she was also selected as one of two students in her class who, on April 24, had the chance to present her tale to her school at their storytelling festival and art show and possibly be chosen to present it at Canyons School District’s Story Weavers.

“It’s our second year doing storytelling and we had about 70 percent of our school participate,” Principal Cory Anderson said. They brought in storyteller Suzanne Hudson to help students get excited and prepare for the festival before spring break.

Third-grade teacher Rebecca Huot said that through storytelling, it gives students an opportunity to read and gain appreciation of literature as well as practice communication and memorization skills.

“It’s a great way for students to practice feeling comfortable speaking in front of classes,” she said. “They learned how to use their voice, expression and use actions in telling stories. It’s given them confidence.”

One of the requirements with the storytelling was students had to select a tale that was published. Huot said students in Rebecca Randolph’s third-grade class decided to write and publish their own tales, which they then performed.

“It allowed them to become creative and take their writing to a new level. It was an awesome experience for them,” she said.

Anderson said they coupled the storytelling with the art show so families could enjoy both activities.

As part of the Beverly Taylor Sorensen Learning Program, art specialist Jaime Wizner coordinated the art show, which adorned hallways leading to the classrooms where students were presenting their stories.

“The Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program is a teaching partnership where the art instruction integrates with the subjects — math, literacy, social studies and science — that the students are learning in their classroom,” Wizner said.

With the projects on display, patrons should see where students learned not only about shapes, such as hexagons in fifth grade, but also about art techniques, such as wax resist on their sea turtles.

In fourth grade, students learned about different layers of soil, as they created pictures of their vegetable or flower gardens. Third-graders learned how to create 3D bird nests to tie into their science curriculum.

Page 16 | June 2018

Bella Vista first-grader Addison Boggess tells the tale of “The Fox and the Goat” at the school’s storytelling and art night. (Julie Slama)

“I meet regularly with other art specialists to get ideas. I’m also working on my art endorsement, so I’m taking lesson plans from there to bring to our students,” said the firstyear arts specialist. “I meet with the classroom teachers to learn what they’re teaching and find ways to emphasize those things to bring into my curriculum.”

Such as when second-graders were learning time, they used oil pastels to create the face of the clock into another object.

“A lot of the students chose pizza,” Wizner said.

She also ensures students are meeting the core curriculum, such as having younger students use their fine motor skills of cutting and coordination.

It’s more than just learning about the project; it’s also being exposed to different mediums — tempera, print and others — and learning about some of the artists who inspired the art forms, Wizner said.

“The school used to have the Meet the Masters arts program, so I’m able to use those materials and tie in those artists with times and places they will be learning about,” she said.

One project the student body united to create was a rock garden. Wizner had students paint without numbers or letters.

It was displayed by the school’s doors, which fifth-grader Lucy Nelson had left after presenting her tale, “Goldilocks and the Three Monkeys,” with classmate Sydney Dixon.

“We wanted to switch the components around so it wasn’t the same ol’ thing,” Lucy said. “At first, it was nerve-wracking to tell tonight because it’s in front of people I didn’t recognize, but then I just had fun with it. It’s fun to tell stories, to show emotion and by doing it, I became closer to my friend.” l

Cottonwood Heights City Journal

A night like no other for school principal

By Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com

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t was in the wee hours of April 25 when Bella Vista Elementary Principal Cory Anderson heard police sirens by his school. He was up, watching the “beautiful moon,” and a “little sore from having a rough night.”

Anderson was sleeping in a tent on the roof of the school, fulfilling a promise to his students if they raised $8,000 by selling chocolate candy bars to help the PTA fund several programs, including DreamBox Learning, an online software provider that has more than 1,800 lessons presented as animated adventures, games and challenges.

Fifth-grader Iris Whitlock was the first student to check on her principal, arriving shortly after 8 a.m.

“I wanted to see if he was up there,” she said. “He said he would do it, but a lot of students didn’t think he would. I came to check on him last night, but a sign said he’d be back in a few minutes because he went to get his dogs to sleep with him on the roof.”

As more students arrived, Anderson greeted them with, “You guys didn’t think I’d really sleep up here, did you?” Then, he broke out into playing Frisbee from the roof with students on the ground below. He even gave instructions: “You throw a Frisbee like drawing a sword,” so students would learn the proper technique.

Mostly, students wanted to see his 9-year-

old shih tzu Charlie and 15-year-old Yorkie Gracie, who were met with a bunch of “ahhs.”

However, his night didn’t go as planned with an uncomfortable air mattress and with the Utah Jazz losing a playoff game.

“I had planned on reading all about the Jazz winning so when they lost, it was really hard,” said the season ticket holder who was still thankful that the overnight got pushed back one week as it was originally slated during a snowstorm.

Still, he said it was worth it to motivate students.

Iris was one of the top three sellers.

“I sold 10 boxes because I wanted to help fund field trips and new soccer goals and everything else. I got to eat lunch with the principal, too,” she said.

PTA President Ciara Bell said the students raised $1,000 more than the school goal and it also will fund activities such as field day, bingo night, Reflections, Red Ribbon Week, the school carnival and teacher requests for supplies.

“It’s a fundraiser where everyone can participate, and who’s not going to buy a chocolate candy bar from a cute kid for $1?” she said.

In addition to the incentive of eating lunch with the principal and having him sleep on the roof, students also could earn light-up shoelaces

Bella Vista Elementary Principal Cory Anderson and his dogs greet students before school after he spent the night on the roof. (Julie Slama/City Journals)

to getting an extra recess.

The idea about sleeping on the roof came from PTA fundraiser chair Lois Kristensen, who said two years ago, the principal agreed to kiss a pig and last year, be a mime.

“I asked him if he would do it and he said, ‘Sure, it sounds like super fun,’” she said. “He’s

thrown water balloons and candy to the students and dangled his legs over the edge and talked to the students. Even this morning, with being a bit tired, he was throwing a Frisbee. He’s a creative and cheerful principal and gets on the kids’ level to show he supports them.” l

Remember these safety tips during fireworks season

I

ndependence Day is a day (and night) to celebrate the birth of our nation. There’s watching parades, enjoying backyard barbecues and, of course, igniting fireworks.

Fireworks. There’s lots of them here, especially with July 24 , Pioneer Day, also being a holiday where fireworks play a major entertainment role. In makes for month full of blasts, bangs, whizzes, and sparkly colors lighting up the dark.

But the joys of fireworks come with risks. To avoid accidents (or even death), here’s a few tips to remember as you and neighbors prepare to celebrate your state and country.

1. Recent legislation passed in Utah limits the days of the year allowed to light fireworks.

Only light fireworks during those days in accordance with the newly passed law.

2. Check with your city to determine what areas allow fireworks. Cities such as Sandy and Herriman have decreased the areas that permit fireworks.

3. Know your fireworks. Read cautionary labels and performance descriptions before igniting.

4. Don’t get fancy. While it may be tempting to be creative and construct your own fireworks, the results may not be worth it. Just ask a friend who lost half his hair and needed to wear a hat/bandana for six months to protect his scalp.

5. Responsible adults should not only be present, but should supervise closely. Never give fireworks to small children.

6. Alcohol and fireworks does not make a good cocktail. Save your alcohol for after the show.

7. Light one firework at a time and don’t linger. Fireworks look just as pretty from 30 feet away as they do from five.

8. This one may seem obvious, but fireworks should be shot outside, not inside.

9. Dress appropriately. Loose clothing that can catch fire easily should be left in the drawer, while snugly fitted long sleeves and pants can protect from potential burns.

10. Always have a bucket of water and charged water hose nearby.

11. Never shoot fireworks into metal or glass containers. The ricochet hurts just as much.

CottonwoodHeightsJournal .com

12. Dispose of spent fireworks by wetting them down and place in metal trash can away from any building or combustible materials.

13. Report illegal explosives. They ruin it for the rest of us.

14. Don’t forget about your pets. Make sure they are securely indoors and have identification tags in case they do escape during a fireworks display.

15. Keep fireworks out of reach where curious children can’t get to them. High heat or damp air can damage the fireworks. The best place to put them is in a cardboard box in a high location such as a cabinet or shelf.

16. Last, but not least, make sure everyone using fireworks has safety glasses or goggles. l

June 2018 | Page 17

Bengals dominate Region 7 boys tennis

By Josh McFadden | josh@mycityournals.com

Brighton boys tennis players happily pose with the Region 7 championship trophy.

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t’s one thing to win a region title, but it’s even more impressive to do what the Brighton boys tennis team did.

The Bengals captured the Region 7 crown with an impressive performance from all seven of their varsity competitors. First singles player Redd Owen and second singles competitor Mitch Smith each took first individually.

Third singles teammate Derek Turley come close to winning it all as well, finishing second.

In addition, the first doubles pair of Jared Hunt and Parker Watts finished at the top, while second doubles players Blair Glade and Justin Allen were second.

“We had a fabulous tournament,” said head coach Natalie Meyer. “My boys played some of the best tennis they have played all season. Every match was a good, hard-fought battle. I am proud of their sportsmanship on and off the court and the dedication they had to each of their matches.”

Also, out of the right categories for the JV/alternate tournament, Brighton players had six first-place finishes, a second-place showing and a semifinal run.

All of Brighton’s varsity players moved on to the state tournament, which was held May 18–19 at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City where the Bengals produced its best tennis of the season to claim the 5A state title.

In a season where the Bengals produced excellent results on the court and enjoyed tremendous success, Meyer also acknowledges that she will remember little things and some of the behind-the-scene events.

“I have loved the enthusiasm, dedication, sportsmanship and respect that this team has given this season,” she said. “They are teachable and want to learn how to become the best. I will remember the fun times we have had at practice, riding buses to away matches, hanging out at the region tournament all day and getting to know the families.”

In Region 7, Brighton had to contend with league foes Cottonwood, Jordan, Corner

Page 18 | June 2018

Canyon, Alta and Timpview. Though the Bengals had to focus during the regular season, Meyer knew the state tournament would be even more demanding. It’s at state where the most talented teams and players in the state gather for intense competition.

“We will have to play our best tennis and have solid mental toughness,” Meyer said.

“Another key factor is the draws. First singles and first doubles have one type of region rotation. Second singles and second doubles have a different region match up rotation, and third singles has a separate region rotation from that.

We will have to be paired with the right schools at the right time for us to accumulate enough points to contend for the state title.”

Heading into state, Meyer expected all of her player to compete for individuals titles.

“That is why they play the positions that they do,” she said. “Between the coaches and the boys, we have come up with what we feel is our best shot at taking state. The state draws are oozing with talent, and it will be a hard-fought battle at all positions.”

There’s no reason to think the Bengals can’t continue their success next season. Owen and Turley each have younger brothers ready to join the program next year as freshmen. Meyer has high hopes for the next few years, as long as the boys put in the effort during the next several months leading into the upcoming 2019 campaign.

“Next season is going to be great as well,” she said. “We have other young tournament-playing players that will be in ninth-grade next year. I am excited for the upcoming future of Brighton tennis. My returning players need to continue to work hard, take lessons, play tournaments and mentally prepare for our next season. Playing high school tennis is oftentimes more pressure for these young men because they are playing for their school and not just themselves.” l

Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Sports facility offers variety of camps and programs

By Catherine Garrett | c.garrett@mycityjournals.com

T

he phrase “If you build it, they will come,” from the movie “Field of Dreams,” is familiar to many baseballs fans, and Cottonwood Heights resident Denise Johnson Swope has found that concept to be true since she opened her doors last year to the Elite Level Sports Academy, located at 2100 West Alexander Street STA A in West Valley City. The facility boasts 13,000 square feet of turf, eight batting cages, six mounds, workout facilities and meeting rooms.

“The response has been tremendous,” Swope said. “Parents and players really love our year-round skills and drills program and we provide quality instruction from top-notch instructors.”

The facility has been a dream of Swope’s for a few years, so she worked on the “right business model” to ensure that everyone can walk away from each time “feeling like they got real value from their time in our place.”

“I have always wanted to give back to kids, hoping they would experience the game and all it has to offer,” Swope said. “It is important to me that players get the skill development that is so badly needed in this area. I also wanted it to be a place where you can come regardless of your ability.”

A weekly hitting camp in May and a summer baseball camp are the upcoming events at the facility, which also offers private baseball and softball lessons and space for team practices. They currently have an Elite 13u team — which has GPA and community service requirements — and are planning to add more teams in the fall.

Swope said she recently brought on a strength and conditioning and speed and agility coach to help expand Elite Level’s services to other athletes, including football players. Several football camps are also planned for this summer.

The hitting camp for players ages 10 to 14 is scheduled for May 2, 9, 16 and 23 or May 3, 10, 17 and 31 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. each night.

Instructors will teach the fundamentals of hitting and work through drills with individualized instruction. The cost is $100.

For the summer baseball camp, professional instruction will focus on skills, proper mechanics, speed and agility, personal growth and fun. Two different weeks will be offered: June 4 through 8 and June 11 through 15 with a morning session from 8 a.m. to noon for players ages 7 to 10 and afternoon session from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for ages 11 to 14.

“Our focus at camp is to advance each individual’s skill and knowledge of baseball,” Swope said. “Each camper will receive specific instruction on how to play the game and how to improve on and off the field. We will cover all aspects of baseball.”

The cost is $150 per week and a T-shirt is included. Those interested can register at the facility or online at www.elitelevelsportsacade-

CottonwoodHeightsJournal .com

my.com or by calling (801) 972-2829.

Swope got her start on the field as one of the original Bonnett Ball girls and started playing softball when she was young. She later played for Olympus High and accelerated teams and then watched a son and daughter play for a few years. She has been a softball and baseball coach, but has been part of the baseball community for more than 20 years — as a coach, Crown Colony Baseball board member and president and district commissioner for Cal Ripken Baseball.

“I was very fortunate, being able to travel all over the country, meeting people and experiencing so many things,” she said.

The life lessons Swope has learned from sports — working hard, discipline, competing, teamwork, failure and success — are also part of what her goals are in the services she offers the sports community at Elite Level Sports Academy.

“I have seen sports give a lot of kids the structure and discipline they need to be successful in life,” she said. “To me, baseball and sports are really about a bunch of great life lessons. I love to see a young player find success when they have been struggling and having their hard work pay off.” l Instructors at Elite Level Sports Academy focus on proper mechanics for all skill levels. (Photo courtesy Denise Swope)

Players have access to strength and conditioning instruction at Elite Level Sports Academy to improve their athletic performance. (Photo courtesy Denise Swope)

The Elite Level Sports Academy has been teaching athletic skills since it opened last January. (Photo courtesy Denise Swope)

June 2018 | Page 19

Brighton wins tie-breaker to secure final softball playoff spot

After playoff drought, Brighton baseball advances in state tournament

By Josh McFadden | josh@mycityournals.com

By Josh McFadden | josh@mycityournals.com

Brighton baseball players react to defeating Roy in the Class 5A state tournament on May 16. Brighton won the game 6-3. (Photo/Chastity Concepcion)

W The Brighton softball team reached the state tournament for the first time since 2013 after defeating Timpview in a tie-breaking play-in game. (Photo by Jenivere Stotesbery)

T

he Brighton softball team barely sneaked into the Class 5A state tournament, but the Bengals will take it.

Brighton ended the regular season with a 4-6 record in Region 7 and in a tie with Timpview for fourth place in the five-team league. Only four teams for the region qualify for the state tournament, and because the two teams split their games during the season, they had to settle things on the field for a winner-advances game.

Brighton prevailed in the May 10 play-in game, 13-3, in a contest held on the Bengals’ home field. It was a different story from the last time the two teams met when, on April 19, Brighton allowed 14 runs in a one-run loss.

The pitching and fielding was stellar this time around, and it helped send the Bengals to the state tournament for the first time since 2013.

Brighton fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, but it quickly regrouped and picked up five runs in the second inning. After Timpview made things interesting in the third inning with a pair of runs, the Bengals responded with two runs of their own and then kept the Thunderbirds off the board the rest of the way. Brighton added four runs in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth, ending the game an inning early with the 10-run mercy rule.

Aleya Stotesbery was two for four

Page 20 | June 2018

from the plate and drove in a pair of runs. She also smacked a home run and contributed a double in the clinching victory.

Brighton wouldn’t have even had the chance to play its way into the tournament had it not defeated Jordan in back-to-back games to end the region schedule. The Bengals routed the Beetdiggers 13-0 on May 3 and 12-0 on May 4 to pick up league wins numbers three and four.

Brighton also had region victories over Alta (16-13 on March 20) and Timpview (14-5 on March 22).

The Bengals saw state tournament action for the first time in five years when they played at Maple Mountain on May 15. The Golden Eagles were the first-place team from Region 8, winning all 10 of their league games.

Brighton went toe-to-toe with Maple Mountain for five innings and even held a 2-0 advantage in the top of the fifth. That’s when things unraveled.

Maple Mountain knotted the score at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Then, the Golden Eagles exploded for 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early in a 12-2 rout.

The Bengals went to the one-loss bracket of the double-elimination tournament, where it played at Murray, the second-place team from Region 6. Brighton lost 15-5 to end their season. l

ith a fourth-place finish in Region 7, the Brighton baseball team snatched up the final playoff spot. Though the team ended the regular season on a losing skid, it entered the postseason for the first time in four years.

Brighton dropped its final six games heading into the Class 5A state tournament, finishing region play with a 7-8 mark. The Bengals’ reward: a date with Region 8 champion Skyridge on May 15.

The Bengals got the start they wanted against the favorites from Skyridge, taking a 1-0 lead in the opening inning. Pitcher Brennan Holligan struck out the first five batters of the game.

The score stayed that way until the bottom of the third when the Falcons erupted for six runs to start to pull away. They held the Bengals scoreless the rest of the way and added five more runs in the fifth inning to go up 11-1. The game was called at that point, and Brighton was sent to the one-loss bracket of the double-elimination tournament.

After the game, head coach Andy Concepcion told his team, “That game is over. We are way better than what we showed. Let’s go out against Roy and play Brighton baseball.”

His speech worked.

On May 16, after a slow start against Region 5’s third-place team, Roy, Brighton began to hit its stride in what turned out to be a tight contest. The Bengals didn’t get on the scoreboard until the fifth inning but went up 3-2 in the seventh inning. Roy evened things up at 3-3, sending the game into extra innings. Brighton tallied three runs in the top of the eighth inning and held Roy scoreless when it came up to bat.

With the 6-3 victory, the Bengals advanced to face Region 5 champion Viewmont on May 19 at Kearns High School.

Senior pitcher Alex Zettler came in and threw two no-hit innings to help secure the victory. Concepcion said several young players stepped up to help power the team to the win.

“This game was a total team effort, “ Concepcion said. “I’m very proud of our team. We kept fighting until the end. We have a very resilient bunch of players. Our pitching kept us in the game the whole way. Our late-inning at-bats were solid.”

Concepcion also highlighted the play of Will Wolfenbarger, whom he called “the smallest guy on the team.” Despite not seeing much varsity action all year, Wolfenbarger came in at second base and was 3-4 at the plate with four RBIs. Junior pitcher Alex Hansen pitched six innings, and several pinch hitters came through for Brighton as well. Freshman Cole Bearnes had a key stolen base to put Brighton in scoring position to help ignite the rally.

Concepcion and his players knew a loss to Roy would end the season. Still, he said everyone was focused on doing his job and moving on in the tournament.

“There wasn’t much pressure,” he said.

“This season has been very successful regardless of the outcome. We wanted to go out and play Brighton baseball. We talked and said, ‘Let’s leave it all out on the field today and continue to live another day.’”

Brighton enjoyed its first state tournament win since 2014.

“Our players were happy knowing they are part of something special that hasn’t happened in a few years,” Concepcion said.

“They were very happy and were looking forward to moving on in the tournament.”

Editor’s note: The Bengals fell in a close 3-1 loss to Viewmont on May 19 to end the season.l

Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Bengals win region boys soccer with undefeated league record

By Josh McFadden | josh@mycityournals.com

POSTPONE YOUR HEADSTONE

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Senior captain David Brog lunges for a cross against Cottonwood in region action. (Travis Barton/City Journals)

P

laying against the likes of Alta, Timpview and Corner Canyon is no easy task, but the Brighton boys soccer team didn’t seem too bothered. The Bengals captured the Region 7 crown with an 8-0-2 mark.

The Bengals also finished the regular season with a 101-5 record, allowing just 18 goals all season long.

Brighton’s defense shut out opponents four times in region play, including a season-ending 2-0 victory over second-place Alta on May 10. Alex Fankhauser and David Brog scored for Brighton, and Thomas Jensen got the shutout. The victory was payback against the Hawks, who managed to tie the Bengals 1-1 when the teams first met on April 24.

The Bengals proved to play well in games down the stretch, as six of the team’s eight victories came by two goals or fewer. The two exceptions were in victories over Corner Canyon (4-0 on May 1) and Cottonwood (5-1 on May 8).

Brog led the way in scoring during the regular season with 10 goals. The senior was consistent, notching goals in nine games. His season best was two goals in the May 8 win over Cottonwood. Senior Jake Babcock, freshman Cameron Neeley and Fankhauser each contributed four goals in the regular season. Senior Traedon Chamberlain had three goals, and six other Bengals registered goals during non-region and region play.

Brighton entered the Class 5A state tournament with plenty of momentum. The team’s last and only loss came way

back on March 20 at Skyline. The Bengals were riding a streak of seven wins in eight outings as the postseason began.

With its first-place finish, Brighton secured Region 7’s top seed and drew a home matchup with Maple Mountain, the fourth seed from Region 8, in the Class 5A state tournament first round on May 16. Brighton held a slim 1-0 halftime lead in the first-round game but added three goals in the second half to easily pull away. Fankhauser, Brog, Josh Loomis and Kaleo Dutro-Raymond each scored in the tournament opener. Harrison Nuttall played goalie in the game and earned the shutout.

The Bengals advanced deep in the playoffs where despite dominating the majority of the game, it came up on the losing end to Viewmont in the semifinals.

Brighton placed third in 5A’s Region 3 last season and dropped a first-round playoff game to American Fork. It was the second straight season Brighton bowed out after the first postseason game. The team advanced to the 5A championship in 2015 where it lost to Alta 2-1. The Bengals also lost title games in 2011 and 2012. They last won a state championship in 2009 when they blanked Layton 4-0 in the 5A title game.

For next season, Brighton must replace 12 varsity players. The Bengals do bring back Fankhauser and Neeley, as well as six other contributors from this year’s squad and has a solid group of junior varsity players in the program as well. l

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Helping Families Heal for Over 130 years Freshman Cameron Neely battles for the ball against Cottonwood in a region game. (Travis Barton/City Journals)

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LarkinMortuary.com June 2018 | Page 21

Travel Budget

by

CASSIE GOFF

Schools out for summer! It’s time for vacation! One of my friends told me that her family spent around 10 grand on a two-week holiday. Don’t do that. Instead, use this nifty little invention called the internet to do some research. There are hundreds of blogs and forums where people share their travel experiences, sharing information about the cheapest transportation and best deals in various cities worldwide. Before going anywhere, check what people say about that destination and what they recommend when traveling on a budget.

Flying can be an expensive hassle. Many travel bugs recommend using a credit card that offers the chance to earn miles. Cashing in those miles can mean a free plane ticket. I’ve also heard that checking fares on Tuesday, two weeks before your travel date, will be the cheapest option. Don’t hold me to that though.

Driving can be boring. Don’t forget entertainment if you’re going on a road trip. If you have a Netflix subscription, download the app on your phone, and download episodes, podcasts, or comedy specials. Have everyone in your car do the same for hours of internet-free entertainment. Oh, and make sure to bring an auxiliary cord.

And water. Stay hydrated people.

For lodging, don’t stay stay in your destination city. It’s generally cheaper to book a place outside of the area. For example, it’s cheaper to stay in Murray than it is is downtown Salt Lake City. It’s cheaper to stay in Sandy or Cottonwood Heights than it is to stay in the canyon resorts during ski season. Know the areas around your destination city.

Luckily, we live in the era of Airbnb, where hotel prices are almost obsolete. The website is fantastic for any kind of group traveling. If you’re going with the whole family, you can check for full homes to book. If you’re traveling alone or with friends, you can rent out a room for low prices.

Hostels are also great options for the lone traveler.

If you’re going on vacation to see a physical place, and not going for an event, go during the off season. Tourist attractions, lodging, and other accommodations will be marked down. Plus, there won’t be so many crowds. You may end up on a tour with just a few other people, instead of a few busses.

When visiting new cities, check for free walking tours. Not only are they budget-friendly, they help you get acquainted with the city. You may see something you want to visit, which you didn’t know existed.

While you’re on that walking tour, find the local grocery store. Take some time to do your grocery shopping and make your own meals. Eating out is expensive, especially if you’re doing it every day. I recommend trying some local food no matter where the destination, but don’t go crazy. Eat out on only a few occasions and pack your own food the rest of the time.

Booking tours or buying attraction tickets the day-of can be mind-bogglingly expensive. Before you leave home, take some time to research ticket prices for the places you might want to visit. Many places have discounts if you book in advance or through third-party websites.

If you have a discount associated

with your identity, ask for it. There are so many places that offer discounts for military personnel, seniors, students, etc. Bring some proof, just in case. I used my University of Utah student card to get a discount on a tour in Australia.

Want to work while traveling?

Many places offer free lodging in exchange for labor. Like farm-stays, where you can stay for free if you help out around the farm. They may even feed you too. There are also many programs outside of the country for teaching English. One day, I plan to go help baby turtles make it to the ocean safety. A free place to stay for chasing birds away?! Yes. Please. l

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Cottonwood Heights City Journal

Don’t Kill the Messenger

Laughter AND

by

PERI KINDER

COTTONWOOD

With the introduction of the Internet Machine, news has changed. A flood of misinformation is available at our fingertips and anyone can post “news” and share it as reality. Your crazy Uncle Joe has the ability to post his conspiracy theories as fact, while negating facts as theories. (Yes, I’m talking to you, holocaust deniers and urine therapy adherents.)

As newspapers fold and journalists are fired, consumers must find their way in a wild wilderness, navigating blogs, podcasts, posts, tweets, forums and websites, searching for truth, justice and the American way.

On TV, Barbie and Ken dolls throw softball questions at politicians, making no effort to hide their biases.

They’re like balloon bouquets; pretty

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covering the truth.)

Do reporters pick on Trump? Yes. Does he deserve it? Maybe not all the time. Maybe. But his anti-press pomposity further erodes the faith we’ve placed in our news agencies as his bellowing cry of “Fake news!” rings from media outlets.

Investigative journalists are an endangered species. It seems little vetting, research or fact-checking is being done. It’s more important to have the story first—even if it’s inaccurate.

Wikipedia isn’t research. (I know that, because I looked up journalism on Wikipedia and it said, “This is not a news source.”) Here are other things that aren’t news sources: Facebook, Twitter, hateful bloggers and venom-spewing talk show hosts.

In 2009, I wrote a column, grumbling about the sensationalizing of stories where a celebrity’s activities were treated as breaking news.

(FYI: It’s not.) Things have only gone downhill.

There are many journalists working diligently to present the truth, but it’s getting harder to hear their voices over the screeching of velociraptors, the screaming of town criers and the bellicose rants of our leaders.

No news isn’t good news. No news is no news. l

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to look at and fun for a while, but then they float creepily through your home, lurking in doorways and scaring the skittles out of you at 3 a.m.

Sponsored content (advertorials) sneak their way into news broadcasts and articles, looking like journalism, but in reality they’re just fancy ads.

Usually, readers don’t even know.

Journalists have become public relations specialists, crafting news instead of reporting it.

On top of all that, our president declared war on the press. The U.S. just ranked 45th on the World Press Freedom Index, coming in behind places like Bahari, Namibia and Sokovia. (Only one of those countries is real, but I’m presenting it as fact. Most readers don’t bother dis-

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Life

Back when Paleolithic man ruled the world, humans only learned what was happening outside their cave when another caveman rode into town on his velociraptor.

Soon, dinosaurs evolved into horses (duh, that’s just science) and traveling merchants shared stories and events as they roamed the country.

They’d sit around campfires, making s’mores and spreading gossip. In cities, town criers walked the streets in ridiculous outfits, ringing bells and shouting information at passersby.

When Johannes Gutenberg mechanized the printing process, he started a revolution that led to books, newspapers and inexpensive bird cage lining.

Town criers became journalists, people dedicated to the pursuit of truth, shining a light on injustice and living on hot coffee and cold pizza.

America’s Founding Fathers recognized the importance of the press, protecting free speech in the first amendment. Journalists were regarded as necessary vermin, an invaluable cog in the democratic process of checks and balances.

Distinguished reporters like Carl Bernstein, Dan Rather and Walter Cronkite took journalism to its apex before its Icarus-like plunge into the mud of “journalism” today.

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