Herriman Journal | January 2023

MAYOR PALMER REFLECTS ON FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE

By Justin Adams | justin.a@thecityjournals.com

One year ago, when Lorin Palmer was getting ready to take on the office of Herriman mayor, it was easy to see the challenges in front of him. COVID-19 had much more of an impact on our lives than it does today. The County Council had just approved the development of Olympia Hills against the wishes of most local residents and elected leaders. And, Palmer would be replacing a mayor who had drawn scandal to city hall multiple times, so much so that at one point the rest of the city council had called on him to resign.

Palmer burst onto the scene as the lead organizer of the ‘Herriman for Responsible Growth’ group, which campaigned against the Olympia Hills development, though that wasn’t necessarily his top issue upon entering office. On his campaign website, Palmer listed “unity through community” and “improving quality of life for residents” as the first two points of his campaign platform, followed by his position on housing.

That seems fitting for how Palmer’s first year in office has gone. While the issue of striking the right balance of housing types and densities certainly hasn’t gone away within the Herriman community, it hasn’t dominated online discussion in the community in the same way it has in previous years.

Unity Through Community

It’s not hard to see that creating community

connections is important to Palmer.

“The job of mayor… It is what you put into it,” he told the Herriman Journal. “I could spend a minimum amount of time and still be fulfilling my responsibilities. I like to be involved with as much as possible. I want to be face-to-face with people.”

Indeed, you can find Palmer at all the big onetime events of the year like Fort Herriman Town Days or the Herriman Howl, but you could also find him at the Herriman Food Truck Night on a weekly basis this summer, chatting with residents.

Palmer also started a weekly tradition of meeting with residents over lunch. It started rather informal: an invitation to any residents who work from home to join the mayor for lunch at a select local restaurant. In the beginning, the weekly event drew a handful of attendees each week. But the event grew over the year, culminating in a lunch at Garage Grill in December that brought out 60 people and also doubled as a donation drive for the Utah Refugee Connection.

Continued page 4

Mayor Lorin Palmer’s weekly ‘Work From Home Lunch Group’ is one of many ways that he has tried to create new ways for residents to connect both with each other and with city officials. (Photo from Mayor Palmer’s Facebook page)

“Dozens of doctors told me that there was nothing more that they could do to expect to be in a wheel chair. I went from the top 1% in the army Special Forces to being in so much pain that I could not tie my shoe or hold my new daughter. I did physical therapy and pain killers for years, but nothing worked. Finally, I went to Dr. Smith and I improved exactly as he told me I would. I couldn’t believe it! My wife cried, “I have my husband back.” —Steve

Palmer said the event has been great for bringing out people who might not otherwise have become involved in the community.

“There’s rarely a week that there’s not someone new who comes and wants to get involved in the city,” he said.

Another way that Palmer, along with the rest of the council and city staff, have tried to make city government more accessible to residents is with social media videos recapping the most recent city council meeting.

“If we’re being honest, very few residents are going to get on and watch an entire council meeting. Our average meeting length this year is probably four to four and a half hours and that is a lot to sit through,” Palmer told the Herriman Journal earlier this year.

As if all that wasn’t enough, the council also started a new event this year called ‘Cookies and Connections.’ For one evening, a contingency of elected officials and city staff set up shop at a park within the city and invite residents to come out and ask them any questions they have about what’s going on in the city. Oh, and they give out free cookies, too.

“The first thing we wanted to do as a council is get out more in the community and get more involved. Not everybody can come to city council meetings, but it’s our job to pick up the table and come to the residents. And this is more engagement than we get at council meetings,” he said.

Improving Quality of Life

Herriman City has seen a lot of improvements to ‘quality of life’ in 2022, chief among them being an acceleration of new businesses coming to the city.

When he came into office, Palmer told the Herriman Journal that one of his top priorities was to leverage his position as mayor to go out and recruit businesses to come to Herriman.

“I’ve been told that it just means more when someone with the title of mayor comes into a business owner’s office to negotiate,” he said.

That appears to have been a good strategy, based on the number of new businesses that opened their doors in Herriman last year. (Some of these businesses were, or may have already been planning to open in Herriman before Palmer took office.)

Garage Grill finally satisfied the city’s cries for a large sit-down restaurant. The opening of Lee’s Marketplace made it a lot easier for residents of the city’s south side to get their grocery shopping done. The Anthem Commercial Center continues to expand with additions like the Mexican restau-

rant, La Fountain. And although these businesses aren’t in Herriman boundaries (and thus don’t help the city out when it comes to its tax base), residents have surely appreciated the opening of a nearby Costco and a Cinemark movie theater just across the border in Riverton.

The most exciting developments for the city’s commercial business, however, could yet be on the horizon.

“The automall master development agreements are finally done. There are three car dealers committed,” Palmer said. “There is a commercial development coming in on Mountain View Corridor and 13400 S. Anthem will probably be full in the next year. We have Slackwater Pizza coming in as well as an indoor trampoline park. It’s filling in around the new Lee’s Marketplace. Business is booming in Herriman.”

Another facet of ‘quality of life’ that Herriman has improved this year is in its parks and trails. The K9 Memorial Dog Park opened at the beginning of the year and has quickly become one of the most popular dog parks in the valley. In November, the first phase of the 72-acre Juniper Canyon recreation area opened.

In April, it was announced that Salt Lake County would be working with Rio Tinto to develop over 100 miles of new hiking and mountain biking trails in the Oquirrh Mountains, including Rose, Yellow Fork and Butterfield canyons. Add those to Herriman’s existing trails in the hills to the south as well as the trails that cut through the city, like the Rose Creek and Midas Creek Trails, and it’s not hard to glimpse a future where Herriman becomes one of the state’s top destinations for all kinds of trail users.

Housing, Growth and Infrastructure

Already one of, if not the fastest growing cities in Utah, Herriman continues to add housing everywhere you look. The first houses in the Mountain Ridge and Teton Ranch developments popped up this year. And according to Palmer, the infrastructure for the first phases of the Olympia development is set to begin in the coming months.

While some potential first-time home buyers are likely excited to see the housing supply increase, many residents also have concerns over how this growth will impact things like traffic or classroom sizes. For elected officials who are bound to work within the deals and agreements signed by their predecessors, there’s often not much they can do besides work to proactively address those potential negative impacts. A big part of that is improving infrastructure throughout the city.

One important development in that regard is the transfer of ownership of 12600 S. Expected to become the busiest thoroughfare in the city as Olympia Hills develops, the road will incur higher and higher costs to maintain. Roads with regional importance are often acquired by the state to be managed by UDOT, rather than by the local municipality in which the road resides. Such is the case with 12600 South, as Herriman was able to negotiate its transfer to the state this year.

Palmer has also been working to lobby the Utah Transit Authority to bring more public transportation options to the southwest corner of the valley. There are no bus routes in Herriman, which means residents have one option when it comes to traveling outside the city: cars. Adding a few bus routes could be one way to get at least a few cars off of Herriman’s busy roads.

Perhaps the biggest potential impact of residential growth is what it can do to a city’s budget. From a city government perspective, it costs more money to provide services to residential developments than they bring in in property taxes. If that imbalance isn’t offset by a strong commercial tax base, it can lead to steep increases in property taxes. Luckily for Herriman residents, it looks like the city’s commercial development is keeping up for now.

“We didn’t raise taxes this year,” Palmer said. “A lot of entities around us did. And we don’t foresee having to do that any time soon.” l

HERRIMAN TEAM

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The scoop on Shoop: author and attorney

By Annabelle Larsen | a.larsen@mycityjournals.com

What is your favorite animal? How long has it been since someone asked you that question? Furthermore, how many of us know our favorite animal when asked? For many of us, this is a question that faded with time as we aged, something we were once very curious about but we grew older and lost touch with such questions, but for author and Herriman resident Kyle Shoop, this is one of his favorite questions he likes to ask people he meets.

Kyle Shoop has two self-published series that, after asking him about his writings, of which he is clearly very passionate. He is the author of the “Acea Bishop Trilogy,” an action-packed fantasy series containing elements of the animal kingdom. He is also the author of the “Senses of Love” series, several romance books that provide readers with sweet, emotional and inspiring stories to cuddle up with.

Q: Is your latest book, “A Touch of Love” released yet?

A: “Senses of Love” are based on the five human senses. “Touch of Love” released April 26, 2022 and is the final installment of the “Senses of Love” series.

“It's been a huge relief personally. You never know when you put your art into the public, and it's open for all types of responses, this was one that, resoundingly, the response has been positive, which is great because I love that story. It's about two separate love stories that are intertwined. One takes place in Poland during WWII: a man falls in love with a woman and they try to survive WWII. And then there's the second story that is modern day and a woman is going through a separation and in doing so she uncovers this mysterious photo of her grandfather, and she goes on a journey across the US where she tries to discover her grandfather's 'mysterious task' and eventually the story intertwines with one another, and I just loved writing about these characters and this story."

Q: What can you tell us about the “Acea Bishop Trilogy?”

A: Readers that like the “Percy Jackson” and “Harry Potter” series would like “Acea.” "Acea wakes up in the beginning of the first book and finds that he's been transported to this ancient magical kingdom overrun by wild animals. He traverses this kingdom to find his way home and he discovers there's a very specific reason why he ended up in this magical realm, and in his journey home it leads him to discover that he might have a wizard lineage and gets embroiled in a war against an evil sorcerer named Vesuvius. Each book has a setting based on real facts, right, with the first one is based on different animals, and everybody has a favorite animal or one that they are terrified of, no matter how old you are.

“So each book in that series has a setting based on real life facts. But there's a story that's interwoven through it. Even now, for the end of the second book I still get emails from readers saying, ‘I can't believe that happened, that's so crazy!” And that is my favorite reaction.”

While looking into Shoop’s writing career it’s plain to see that he has great reviews on the popular book social-media website, Goodreads. When asked about his high ratings on the website, he replies,

"I have no control of that, good or bad. I've always felt very lucky that it actually propels me to write. I write for myself more than anything, but I'm human so if I see a nice review that makes me feel extra pep to write that day.”

Q: How do you deal with the praise/criticism of your books, and how do you deal with that balance?

A: “So obviously I love praise, like anybody else does, but I'm probably my biggest critic. As I see it, the critiques, I don't let it steer me. My No. 1 rule for writing, for every book I've ever written, is that I write for myself. If I can't surprise myself, or if I can't emotionally move myself, if I can't create that emotion in myself how can I expect someone I've never

met to get that emotion. So that helps me deal with praise and criticism. If I see a negative review, I say ‘that's OK, that's their opinion and they are entitled to it, but I still enjoyed what I wrote.’ I didn't write for other people, I wrote for myself.

“You can definitely write ‘for-market,’ but this takes so much time of my life that I want to write what interests me, what appeals to me, and I don't mind if I make a buck or not. I've been fortunate that people have liked my stories, but it starts, number one, with writing for myself.”

Q: Shoop also balances his writing job with his full-time career of being a practicing attorney. How do you balance writing with your work?

A: “It's a really good balance. It's my Ying to my Yang. If I didn't have a stressful day job, I wouldn't want that escape into fiction. People ask if I write with the ambition of being a fulltime author someday and I say, ‘well I already am it takes so much time.’

“Some people say to me, ‘OK you're a guy and you write love stories,’ if you want to call it love stories or romance or whatever, some people call it inspirational or clean romance, ‘how do you do that? It's kinda unusual for a guy.’

“I tell people how I got to write the first book in that series. So the first book in that series is called “The Sound of Love.” It's about a woman who is a professional in marketing. One day something catches her eye. She's in Portland and she notices a homeless man, but there is a child with him. And she stops to help out by giving him a coat. She then learns she has a personal connection with the homeless man. She then continues to help him out even more and comes to find out his backstory, and how he got there. A romance brews between them. He's a musician as well, such is the title. So it's a beautiful story about two different worlds, where she's a business woman, and he's a musician that's fallen on hard times with his son.

“This began when I was out in Portland for work. It was a cold night, and I was walking back to my hotel and exactly that happened, I noticed a homeless man and I noticed a child with him. And that child, he looked about the age of my son at that time. I stopped and talked to the homeless man for a while, I tried to help out a little bit too, but the man said something to me that always stuck with me, and it took another year to resurface and become that story. So I asked him, ‘Do you live out here? Do you live on the street corner?’

“And he looks me in the eye as he's holding his young son and says, ‘I try not to.’ And that just stuck out to me, and I thought what was his path to end up on that street corner versus what was my path, of where I was here for work. This grew into a fictional story that the book was based off of, and this interaction is at the center of the whole “Senses of Love” series, which is love. It doesn't need to be romantic love, there's all different kinds of love shown through all of the five books of the series. A large point of the series is to get people inspired by love instead of embarrassed by it, or it's something you achieve, and that it remains a part of your daily life.”

For the first book of the “Senses of Love” series, “The Sound of Love,” Shoop has made his own music to accompany the novel, which can be found on his website, www.Kyle Shoop.com, and on YouTube and Spotify, so instead of just reading the lyrics readers can listen to the music as the author has recorded them and envisioned for his novel.

“I had written songs within the last 10 years that went perfectly with the story I was trying to tell, and so I went back and found those old recordings, and changed some of the lyrics or re-recorded parts of it to fit the story better. So that took a lot of time.”

Throughout the interview with Shoop, it became clear

that he is a modern-day renaissance man. This of course led to the next question for Shoop.

Q: What's next for you?

A: “I definitely plan to write. I've started a couple different books but I'm not sure; I'm to the point where I can’t say what the next book is gonna be. I have a couple ideas though.

“My last book, “A Touch of Love” is a beautiful book, but it is by far my biggest book, and it took it out of me. But I'll be back writing in January, but I'm not quite ready to say what my next book is going to be. I have an idea for a high fantasy, and another idea for a love story.”

Readers and fans of Shoop’s work can keep an eye out. There are still more stories to be told and adventures to be had.

Shoop continues, “I wrote those five books in the “Senses of Love” series in two and a half years. My shortest was 59 days. That one was a stroke of lightning, honestly. It's like I was meant to write that book. I reread it last month and still felt this emotional pull to it.”

Q: What words of advice do you have for other people that want to start writing but don't know how?

A: “I tend to meet a lot of people that tend to want to write a book and they have great ideas but it's just getting that first sentence or first page done is the hardest, it seems like.

A couple things: just start. Your first page is probably not gonna be the best the first time you do it. But it's like any hobby, if you want to get good at running you take that first step. If you want to get good at writing don't overthink it, just start to write. You'll find your own voice as you do it more. But the main thing is to write for yourself. Don't write for others, write to impress yourself, because if you can impress yourself that is needed to impress others.

“I have to tell you though, the most rewarding aspect of writing has been reading my “Acea Trilogy” to my kids. It is the coolest thing to have kids engrossed in something.

So write for yourself. If it's good others will see that too.”

Lastly, Shoop expressed his love and appreciation for his readers.

“I love hearing from readers. I love when people reach out to me and have readers email me telling me their favorite animal in the first “Acea” book and which of the “Senses of Love” was their favorite. I love hearing from my readers.”

For fans of Shoop, or those wanting to find a good read, especially for these upcoming winter months, you can find more information about Kyle Shoop and his books from www. KyleShoop.com, and on Goodreads. l

Shoop sets up for Utah’s annual FanX convention (Kyle Shoop/www. kyleshoop.com)

Mountain Ridge High School junior Sam Chelius is interested in a career in floral design, but she doesn’t have to wait until she graduates high school to get started. Chelius is taking horticulture classes at the Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers. She has been able to use the skills and knowledge to make and sell school dance boutonnieres and corsages for friends and family members.

Students take JATC courses to prepare for college and careers.

“Every student has different needs and goals,” JATC South Campus CTE Coordinator Tami Clevenger said. “Some students take a program so they can work a higher paying or more flexible job while they put themselves through college after high school. Other students want to get a taste of what a career will be like, or they may have multiple career interests they want to explore.”

Riverton High senior Kole Tengberg is interested in a medical career, but he wasn’t sure if he would really enjoy the day-to-day tasks. So, he signed up to take biotechnology and medical forensics classes at JATC. After spending half of his school days at the JATC South Campus, working in a lab environment, using lab equipment and working on real-world scenarios, he said he can see himself enjoying this type of career.

“I could definitely do this,” he said while working on a lab experiment to cut viral DNA using enzymes.

The medical forensic class, added to the biotechnology program this year, has become one of the most popular classes at the JATC South Campus.

JATC offers 27 classes which prepare students for careers and college in areas of engineering, health sciences, information technology, skilled and technical sciences, teacher education and agriculture.

Students earn high school credits in science, CTE or elective requirements as well as college credits for JATC classes. Currently, 60% of JATC’s classes offer concurrent enrollment college credits.

JATC classes take up two or four periods of a student’s schedule. Students take morning or afternoon classes at one of two JATC campuses (located in West Jordan and Riverton) and spend the other half of the day at their high school. Buses are provided to both locations from the high schools.

Many students follow their passion to the JATC.

Riverton High senior Brooklyn Ashcraft loves plants—she has about 80 at home. She hopes to turn her passion into a career in the field of ecology, studying the relationship between plants and the environment. She took a few agricultural classes at Riverton High and now attends the JATC for the more advanced and hands-on classes.

“Instead of sitting at a desk and listening to the teacher talk, you actually get to do

Seeds of interest bloom at JATC

By Jet Burnham | j.burnham@mycityjournals.com

JATC open house

Jan. 26 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

At both JATC campuses: North Campus 9301 S. Wights Fort Road in West Jordan South Campus 12723 S. Park Avenue in Riverton.

Applications for 2023-24 courses are due by Feb. 28. Go to www. jordantech.org for program information.

hands-on learning,” Ashcraft said of her JATC courses.

Horticulture instructor Sydnee Roholt said students also learn the business side of the industry through real-world applications.

“We will do a lot of business concepts,” she said. “Whether students go into owning a landscaping business or a floral design as a hobby, they get real world experience.”

Students grow plants in the JATC greenhouse, selling poinsettias and cacti to the public each December and holding a flower sale in spring. They learn about pricing flower arrangements and about marketing. Horticulture students take on responsibilities as manager, marketer or planter in the greenhouse, which Roholt said prepares them for employment.

“They're learning how to hold a job and how to present themselves and how to finish tasks in a given amount of time,” Roholt said. “When they leave, they have job experience in a greenhouse.”

JATC classes also provide opportunities for students to make connections with professionals and industry representatives who are invited to be guest speakers for classes or judges for student competitions.

“We’ve had a lot of opportunities to go and tour different facilities, we usually try to do a couple of field trips and then bring in professionals as much as possible,” engineering instructor Noelle Schick said. “We’re really trying to connect students to real world engineering as much as possible, so that what they’re learning in this class is directly applicable to what they would be doing when they go on to their future in engineering.”

She said as the engineering program and its reputation has grown, more companies are approaching her to arrange internships with students, including two engineering and one drone company.

Some students don’t have to wait until the end of their program to turn their skills into a job.

Once engineering pathway students complete a CAD class, they are qualified to work as drafters, gaining experience in the field and earning a good wage as they finish high school and college. Students taking biotechnology classes earn state certifications that help them

qualify for jobs. Biotechnology instructor Mary Carlson said many of her former students have gone on to internships and jobs in various related fields, such as chemistry and bioinformatics. One student took an internship in Australia.

Even those who don’t pursue jobs in the field gain employable skills.

Schick said engineering students learn skills that are important in any career, such as working with a team, creative problem-solv-

ing, presentation skills and confidence.

“By the end of the class, I want to build their confidence in being able to solve any problem by knowing where to look for the resources and figuring out that they are capable of solving problems,” Schick said.

Schick left an engineering career to become an engineering teacher at the North Campus.

“I really like engaging with the students,” she said. “And I think engineering is a really

Kole Tengberg, Alyssa Hoggan and Austin Wells work on a lab experiment at the JATC. (Jet Burnham/City Journals)

Students learn flower arranging, pricing and marketing in advanced horticulture classes at the JATC South Campus. (Jet Burnham/City Journals)

fascinating field of study because you get to learn about the world around you and how it works. So I love transferring that excitement about understanding how things work to the students and seeing them get excited to learn about it, as well, and apply what they’re learning about the world around them to make it better.”

Many JATC faculty members have real-world experience in their subjects in addition to their teaching certificate. South Campus Principal Sonja Burton-Juarez said this is what sets JATC classes apart from CTE classes offered at high schools.

“Really, the main difference is that most of our teachers come from industry occupations,” she said. “They have worked in a chosen profession, and they have chosen to come and teach our students. They want to share their real-life knowledge with our students.”

The JATC’s faculty includes fire sciences instructors who work for Unified Fire Authority, hair and nail instructors who own their own salons and aviation teachers who are pilots. There are health science, criminal justice and engineering instructors who worked in the professional field before becoming teachers.

While some introductory CTE courses are offered at high schools, the JATC offers introductory and advanced courses. For example, the introductory Engineering Principles class is offered at three Jordan District high schools with the same curriculum. However, JATC students have access to high tech equipment including laser cutters, and, thanks to generous parent donations, several 3D printers, including PLA, resin and (in the near future) carbon fiber printers for the 3D design assignments.

“They can create a product and then actually see it, from green models on their screen to an actual part,” engineering instructor Amber Saffen said.

The JATC offers advanced engineering pathways in aerospace and drones, architecture, civil engineering and construction, or robotics and electronics for students who want

to get more technical knowledge in specific fields.

“Kids who come to the JATC, a lot of them have a very clear idea of what they want out of the experience and I really love facilitating that,” Saffen said. “They know what they want but they don’t always know how to get there, so I love being able to give them the resources, and set them on the path, and help them figure out the in between steps to get to where they want to go.”

Adilynne Hagen, a senior at Riverton High, fell in love with engineering at the JATC. She is taking aerospace and robotics classes.

“I've always really liked to work with my hands,” she said. “My dad was a mechanic and so I really was into mechanical engineering, so I wanted to see if I actually liked engineering or if it was just a random thought that I had. Once I came to the JATC, I fell in love with it.”

Some of her favorite hands-on projects have been converting a drone into an RC car and designing a “Back to the Future” themed playground.

JATC students have the opportunity to submit their classroom projects for student association competitions.

Clevenger said JATC students usually place in the top three at state and top 10 in nationals in these competitions.

Last year, 25 JATC students went to TSA nationals, four went to SkillsUSA nationals and six went to HOSA nationals. JATC students swept the Nail Technician categories, placed first in Game Design and took top awards in Web Design at the SkillsUSA state competition. At Educators Rising, they earned five first place spots at state and had three students finish in the top 10 at nationals.

The JATC robotics team won TSA state and national competitions. And a JATC student placed third in the nation for her FFA agriscience fair project.

Like a high school, JATC has student leadership positions (called ambassadors) and school activities. Both campuses recent-

ly hosted a Halloween carnival and holiday activities such as turkey bowling and Christmas ornament decorating. The nails and hair design students demonstrate their skills with a fun halloween-themed showcase in the fall and a fashion show in the spring. Landscape architect students design a haunted house in the fall.

Applications for all JATC courses for the 2023-24 school year will be given equal consideration when received between Jan. 3 and Feb. 28. Applications and more information can be found at www.jordantech.org.

There will be a JATC open house held Jan. 26 from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the JATC

North Campus at 9301 S. Wights Fort Road in West Jordan, and at the JATC South Campus at 12723 S. Park Avenue in Riverton. Parents and students can check out the campuses, tour the classrooms and speak with the instructors.

JATC staff members and student ambassadors work with middle school and high school counselors to get the word out to students about what the JATC offers with middle school expos and the annual open house.

“It’s always a shame when we talk to seniors and they're like, ‘Oh, I would have been in pharmacy tech if I would have known, but I had no idea,’” North Campus CTE Coordinator Mandi Jensen said. l

JATC student ambassadors give Sunset Ridge Middle School students a taste of what skills they can learn in JATC pharmacy classes. (Photo courtesy of Mandi Jensen.)

Students digitally design a drone and then 3D print, laser cut or purchase the parts to build it. (Jet Burnham/City Journals)

Students eat donuts off a string at the Halloween carnival at the JATC North Campus. (Photo courtesy of Mandi Jensen.)

With her recent success at RSL Academy, senior Natalie Scott has shown that she can excel at the prep level as well as college. However, she is quick to compliment the people who got her to this point.

“My mom has been with me through everything,” Scott said. “She has helped me through decisions in club and high school soccer. We flew out to Chicago every other weekend. That helped me get seen by Milwaukee.”

There are several achievements that Draper resident Scott has accomplished in both club and high school soccer. Two in particular stuck out to her.

“It was great for our high school team to win state after waiting so long since we were not able to take the state championship this past year,” Scott said. “With the club team, the biggest achievement is being able to sign and play with Milwaukee. It’s worth everything I put into it.”

Not only is Scott a student of the game on the soccer field, she is a student in the classroom as well.

“I’m going to study criminal justice at Milwaukee,” Scott said. “I will see how it will play out. If I get the offer to play pro

I will. It depends on what my life would look like. I would still like to be a part of the women's league regardless.”

When asked about which player would most compare to her game, RSL Academy coach Sly Yeates had a tough time pinpointing a specific individual.

“It’s hard to say,” Yeates said. “She is a unique player that has a lot of different skill sets.”

When it came down to winning a state championship, it took those specific skill sets to help put RSL Academy over the top.

“Her quick thinking and her mind set her apart,” Yeates said. “She has a strong mind set. We have the speed up top. She was able to get behind defenses quite easily. Her best moment was the Judge Memorial game when we were behind a goal. She had a really long throw in. The keeper was out of position, and we capitalized on it.”

One thing that helped Scott get to the next level was when the game started to slow down.

“Early on what set her apart is she approached the season as a student of the game,” Yeates said. “I gave them a journal to keep a record of insights and she’s al-

ways taking notes. That gives her an edge. She’s soaked in information and applied it on the field throughout the season.”

Soccer didn’t come without significant adversity for Scott as she had to battle injury problems earlier in her career.

“I found out freshman year I had a

broken back,” Scott said. “I had a bulged disc between my L4 and L5. I had to learn how to adjust and figure out my own body and what helps so I could continue my soccer career. I need to always take care of it since it won't ever go away. It’s something I have to adjust to and play through.”

The coaching staff at RSL Academy has found the way to best utilize her on the soccer field.

“When we play her up top as a wing forward, she is able to cut behind defenses and use her speed,” Yeates said. “When she’s isolated 1-on-1, she can beat a defender.”

The journey to RSL Academy was a unique one for Scott, things seemed to align for her at just the right time.

“My mom coached for RSL Academy my eighth grade year in 2018-2019,” Scott said. “I left my middle school. I absolutely loved everyone at RSL Academy, and it was a great environment. I didn't have to take PE. Seventh and eighth period was soccer. I had a good relationship with my coaches.”

Scott is ready to take her game to the next level, and even her coaches are noticing.

“It starts with passion,” Yeates said. “She is a passionate player and knows the work she will need to put in to play at the D1 level. She played with a team in Chicago last year. She is ready. She’s done the work beforehand, so she won’t be surprised in college.”

For anyone wishing to play at the collegiate level, Scott will be playing next year and she has some sound advice.

“Never give up,” Scott said. “It’s always very political. Everyone should love girls soccer. Even when coaches tell you that you can't do something or don't have the ability to do things in life, don’t give up.”

Even after her time is up at RSL Academy, Scott is always welcome to come back whenever she needs to.

“When you get into sports, relationships built on trust with people will continue,” Yeates said. “My door is always open for any of my former players. Players come back and train in the summer. We have current players come to play and also former players who are now in college.”

Scott is a great player whose legacy will not be forgotten at RSL Academy.

“Not only was she a great player, she’s a great person,” Yeates said. “She’s a great leader and captain that some people look up to on the team. It caught me off guard how well rounded she is as a person.” l

Natalie Scott at recruiting visit with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. (Photo courtesy Natalie Scott)

Herriman girls basketball starts season strong

Herriman girls basketball team has a hot start to their 2022 season, thanks to some aggressive defense and hot three-point shooting.

After winning their opener on the road against Fremont, Herriman played their home season-opener against Cyprus on Nov. 29, 2022. The Mustangs shot the lights out on their home floor, as they connected on most of their three-point attempts along the way to a 28-2 first quarter lead which Cyprus was never able to overcome.

The three-point barrage was Kylee Cheesman, Mariah Mons and Haley Stilson. l

The

Photos by Justin Adams | justin.a@thecityjournals.com

Senior forward Kylee Cheesman started the season red-hot from three-point land.

Kenlee Enger gathers the ball before going up for a layup against Cyprus

Kennedy Brown scores a layup against Cyprus.

Haley Stilson shoots from three-point range during the Mustangs’ win over Cyprus.

Mariah Mons launches a floater over the outstretched arms of a defender.

Herriman 2022

Local officials gathered for a ceremonial ground-breaking of the new Juniper Canyon Recreation Area project last March.

The Mountain Ridge wrestling team claimed its first region championship last season after going undefeated in its region duels. (Justin Adams/City Journals)

Herriman City Mayor Lorin Palmer and Jordan School District Board Member Darrell Robinson spent one morning helping out with crosswalk duties at Silver Crest Elementary last month. (Photo courtesy of Herriman City)

Herriman junior Parker Mortenson passes the ball to a teammate during a match with Riverton. (Justin Adams/City Journals)

Many of Herriman’s furrier residents came out to enjoy the new dog park on opening day. (Justin Adams/City Journals)

Not only were the residents of Herriman dressed up, but their furry friends were encouraged to as well, hosting a dog costume contest where the pups at the park could compete for the best doggy disguise. (Justin Adams/City Journals)

(Photo courtesy of Herriman City)

Trakker Danjanovich, a student at Mountain Ridge High School, was chosen to participate in the inaugural Esports Tower Summer Invitational. The Esports Tower Summer Invitational is an elite bootcamp style training and development event hosted in July.

(Photo courtesy of ESTV)

A view of the open pit as Kennecott Copper Mine reopens famed visitors center with new tech. (Annabelle

The Mountain Ridge softball team celebrates after beating Skyridge 6-5 in March. (Justin Adams/City Journals)

The Herriman football team was excited to get their 2022 season underway when they hosted Corner Canyon on Aug. 12. (Justin Adams/City Journals)

Mountain Ridge’s James Densley rocks as Dewey Finn in Hale Centre Theatre’s production of “School of Rock.” (Photo by Leave It to Leavitt.)

Herriman City held its annual Pedal-Palooza event on May 14. Hundreds of residents came out to enjoy a beautiful Saturday morning full of bicycling, helmet giveaways and even a free bike raffle. (Justin Adams/City Journals)

The Mountain Ridge lacrosse team celebrates their victory over Skyridge in the state championship game. (Justin Adams/City Journals)

Kaden Brown won the gold medal in mens’ tumbling at The World Games, held in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photos courtesy of Kaden Brown)

Larsen/City Journals)

Midfielder Landon Allen hoists the state championship trophy for the Herriman boys soccer team. (Justin Adams/ City Journals)

Mountain Ridge boys basketball start season off with win over Highland

Photos By Justin Adams | justin.a@thecityjournals.com

The Mountain Ridge High School boys basketball team started their 2022 season off with a 55-49 win over Highland on Nov. 22, 2022.

Senior guard Kyle Carley led the way with 15 points and 7 assists. Another senior, forward Jackson Moller, added 14 points.

The Sentinels will start Region 3 play on Jan. 13 with a home game against West Jordan. l

Senior guard Kyle Carley dribbles the ball up the floor against Highland. He finished the game with a team-high 15 points and 7 assists.

Junior forward Spencer Krainich goes up for a layup during the Sentinels’ win over Highland.

Senior forward Jackson Moller is the Sentinels’ primary big man this season. He scored 14 points in their season opener.

Sophomore forward Tate Munson tries a shot from distance.

Junior guard Jackson Briggs takes a three-point shot.

2022 Economic Trends Carry Over into New Year

By Robert Spendlove, Zions Bank Senior Economist

The last year brought both economic highs and lows, from soaring inflation to the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded in the Beehive State. For better and worse, we’ll see some of these economic currents carry over into 2023:

Recession fears linger. Recession fears loomed in most of 2022 as the Federal Reserve ramped up interest rates, consumer sentiment plunged, and the Gross Domestic Product contracted during the first half of the year. While the U.S. economy avoided a recession last year, thanks in part to robust consumer spending, the threat of recession persists. For one, the Treasury yield curve inverted, meaning that investors are willing to pay higher interest rates on short-term bonds than longer-term ones. Historically, this has been a warning signal that a recession could be on the way.

The labor market shines. The labor market was the star of the 2022 economy. As of August, all jobs lost in the pandemic were recovered. The unemployment rate is back down to 3.7% nationally, nearly as low as the pre-pandemic unemployment rate of 3.5%. Utah’s unemployment is nearly the lowest in the nation, measured at 2.2% in November. Yet, businesses are still struggling to find workers amid the Great Resignation

and shifting demographics. The labor force participation rate showed little net change in 2022, and the lack of available workers will carry into 2023.

Consumer sentiment remains historically low. Utahns and Americans expressed discontent in the economy in 2022. In the middle of last year, consumer sentiment fell to the lowest point recorded in the 70-year history of the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumer Sentiment. The Kem C. Gardner Institute’s much newer Utah-specific index also sank to a new low last summer. While attitudes about the economy have improved slightly, ongoing inflation continues to erode consumer confidence. Consumer sentiment matters because attitudes about the economy drive behaviors like spending and investing, often acting as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Global shocks roil markets. The economy has yet to fully emerge from the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chain snarls and recent protests in China continue to disrupt markets and strangle growth, while the war with Russia and Ukraine further hindered pandemic recovery. These global distortions make understanding the economy difficult and bring ongoing uncertainty in 2023.

Historic interest rate hikes. The Federal Reserve boosted its benchmark interest rate, the federal funds rate, from zero to between 4.25% and 4.5% in 2022 — the highest rate in 15 years. The Fed has said it plans to continue tightening credit to tame inflation, with more rate hikes expected in 2023. Although the amount of expected rate increases will be dramatically lower than in 2022, the Fed is expected to maintain higher rates for a longer period.

Inflation persists. Inflation was one of the biggest economic stories of 2022, peaking at 9.1% in June 2022 — a lifetime high for people under 40. In the Mountain region, prices grew even faster, hitting double digits earlier this year. While inflation has slowed to 7.1% nationally and 8.3% in our region, it’s still being pressured by hot wage inflation and remains well above the Fed’s target rate of 2%. We’ll likely see more price cooling in 2023, but it will take some time to get inflation down to historical levels.

Overall, 2023 is expected to be a year of economic moderation. Inflation will slow as higher interest rates cool economic conditions. We’re already starting to see signs of price moderation in areas like construction, motor fuel and used cars. While we haven’t seen this yet, the labor market should begin

ANGELO PULGIANO, MD Internal Medicine

Dr. Pulgiano joins Granger Internal Medicine – Riverton from the University of Utah. He graduated with a Doctorate of Medicine degree from Saba University School of Medicine in the Caribbean Netherlands in 2002. He then completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center in 2005.

Dr. Pulgiano is passionate about being a strong patient advocate and gives his best efforts to educate, support, and encourage each patient throughout all aspects of their care. He is a strong believer in preventative medicine, utilizing annual routine exams and age-appropriate screenings, combined with a healthy lifestyle.

COMMON AREAS OF TREATMENT

to soften as employers cut back on expansion plans in the next year. This process may be uncomfortable, but it is a necessary part of resetting an economy that has gone through many shocks over the past few years.

Robert Spendlove is senior economist for Zions Bank, a division of Zions Bancorporation, N.Al

HOSPITAL AFFILIATIONS

Jordan Education Foundation raised $75K for student shopping spree

Photos courtesy Jordan Education Foundation

Hundreds of teens who may have gone without gifts this holiday season got an early Christmas thanks to a caring community and the Jordan Education Foundation. The Foundation raised $75,000 to provide a holiday shopping spree for more than 500 students in need throughout Jordan School District at their annual “Christmas for Kids” event.

On Dec. 10, the students partnered with volunteer chaperones who took them shopping at Walmart in South Jordan for everything from clothes and boots to beds, comforters, warm coats, and more. Every student got to spend $150.00 on holiday gifts. Santa Claus was there to spread some holiday cheer along with firefighters, police, and city leaders. l

Local police and Jordan School District work together for not if, but when

By Rachel Aubrey | r.aubrey@mycityjournals.com

Columbine High School. Sandy Hook Elementary. Stoneman Douglas High School. Robb Elementary. St. Louis High School. We recognize these names not because of the stellar standardized testing scores or the outstanding sports seasons, but because at one time there was an active shooter on each of these campuses, and tragedy ensued.

According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, “Incidents are labeled as an ‘active shooter’ when the shooter killed and/or wounded victims, either targeted or random, within the school campus during a continuous episode of violence.”

The aforementioned list of schools are just the incidents that caught media attention, in large part, because of the number of casualties.

According to Everytown for Gun Safety Research*, “In 2022 there [were] at least 140 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 46 deaths and 111 injuries nationally.”

*(At the time this article was written, data was up to date as of Nov. 4, 2022)

While there may be a lot of unanswered questions as a result of these horrific events, at a local level, there have come to be a lot of answers. These answers come in the form of police officer training, and school district collaboration and school compliance.

Police officer training

Officer Shauna Becker has been with the South Jordan City Police Department for approximately four years and has been a school resource officer for two of those years at Mountain Creek Middle School. Her decision to join law enforcement was largely prompted by the terrible events that occurred in February 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. She said she was part of conversations after that incident that were, what she called, finger pointing conversations, focused on the could’ve, would’ve, should’ve.

“All of this negativity, and everyone pointing fingers, it made me realize we’re all a bunch of hypocrites,” Becker said.

Becker said that with all of the finger pointing going on, becoming a police officer was her effort to do something meaningful to protect those in her community. As a mother herself, she said that joining law enforcement has helped her to understand that there are other resource officers, on other school campuses, willing to ensure the safety of her own kids.

“And hopefully that gives another mother some peace of mind knowing that I’m at the school protecting her kiddos,” Becker said.

Sgt. Eric Anderson is over the school resource officers within South Jordan City. There are 15 public schools, including 10 elementary, three middle, and two high schools within the city limits. There are currently no SROs specifically assigned at the charter schools or the private schools within South Jordan, however South Jordan Police patrol the areas in and near those schools. Any call made by schools needing officer assistance will be dispatched to

an SRO nearby. There are seven SROs within South Jordan City, including Anderson. These are sworn officers who have had at least a year of patrol experience.

If an active shooter situation were to occur on a school campus, the school resource officer is the first point of contact. Anderson said that if a 911 call was made by school staff, officers within South Jordan, who share radio frequency with neighboring cities Herriman and Riverton police departments, would respond with great numbers.

“If that level of extreme happens…there is an active shooter in the school…I guarantee that everyone and anyone is going to show up on that type of incident,” Anderson said.

While it is a comfort to know that in the event of an active shooter on campus all hands would be on deck, Anderson said that could cause a lot of chaos. The South Jordan Police actively train for mitigation of that chaos, or incident command.

In addition, South Jordan Police has specific training for school resource officers including Avoid, Deny, Defend, Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events, and single man building clearing. While the thought of being shot at could possibly keep them awake at night, officers like Anderson, who has been a police officer for more than 21 years, Becker, and countless others, know the risks and are willing to put their uniforms on to protect and serve.

“Even the officers that are not school resource officers themselves, there is not one officer within South Jordan that would not run head first into a school, if need be,” Becker said. “Not one of them would hesitate.”

Jordan School District collaboration

At a district level, board member and First Vice President Bryce Dunford said in his six years on the board, he gets constant inquiries about safety, often from parents, wanting to know if their kids are safe at school. His message is that Jordan School District is taking all necessary measures, directly and indirectly, to work and partner with local law enforcement to ensure students are safe at school.

“I think parents would be very surprised to know how close that relationship is between the police departments and the school district,” Dunford said. “And everything they have asked us to do, we’ve done.”

Dunford said that when a report comes out about an active shooter on a school campus, such as Uvalde, Texas, Jordan School District personnel consume and examine every inch of it in an effort to ascertain how ready they are for when something similar happens closer to home.

“Safety has been the one thing where we [the board] have just been the most united,” Dunford said. “Very few people show any hesitance in doing something to make students safer.”

Dunford did, however, express hesitancy on giving away too many details about the

specific preparation the district has in place. However, on Oct. 11, 2022, during a weekly school board meeting, which is available to the public, Deputy Chief Ken Wallentine, along with Lieutenant Richard Bell, both of West Jordan Police Department, were invited to engage with the board about the unique and ongoing collaboration between the police and the district.

Early in the conversation, Wallentine highlighted a specific example of collaboration that is currently in place, the use of SAFE UT, an app created “through bipartisan legislation in response to Utah’s unacceptably high youth suicide rate,” according to the Huntsman Mental Health Institute. The app is monitored by the district as well as the police department for tips about potential threats to students, teachers and staff.

“I do have a deep and abiding commitment to the schools of our community,” Wallentine said. “That commitment is also to the collaborative effort [the police department] enjoy with our schools.”

School resource officer training was brought up during the board meeting as well, specifically active shooter training.

“I am confident law enforcement in Jordan School District is very well trained,” Dunford said.

Wallentine made it a point in the meeting to emphasize that often, police do more than just enforce rules and laws. Sometimes the duties and responsibilities encompass emotional and mental needs as well as physical safety.

“We do our best to have our officers be seen as something other than the enforcer,” Wallentine said.

More than just a police officer, Becker is a familiar face in the school and a safe point of contact for students. She cracks jokes with the middle schoolers, or she will be on elementary campuses and may sit and color with the kids during a DARE activity. Those simple interactions, according to Becker, could be students’ very first interaction with law enforcement.

School compliance

Even if there were enough personnel and funding to allow for a SRO at every school campus, the district has found ways to allow for infrastructure to be more secure. Beginning in 2018, Bingham High School underwent major renovations including fresh paint, new HVAC, ADA approved ramps and elevators and a renovation of the main office entrance. These renovations continue to happen in phases.

According to Bingham High School Vice Principal Art Erickson, there are more than 40 possible entrances into Bingham. While these entrances are to remain locked from the outside during school hours, forcing all those who want to enter to come through the main office, it is entirely possible for a door to be propped open for the purposes of convenience.

The tragedy in Ulvade, Texas started with a door. A door that had been propped open for a time, had been shut but not locked, thus allow-

ing the shooter access to the school. Wallentine and the board acknowledged and addressed this in the board meeting with Emergency Operations Manager, Lance Everill, as a possible breakdown in safety protocol.

Also mentioned in the Oct. 11 meeting were whether or not alarms should be adopted for propped open doors. With approximately 2,500 students at Bingham, there are students and staff coming and going at all times of day.

“Because of the ability we have for students to access part of their school day curriculum outside of the just being on campus proper, there is a need to allow them to come and to go,” Erickson said.

Rather than alarms, Erickson said he would love to see more full-time hall monitors who are able to interact with the students and

who monitor halls for things like propped open doors. Another concern for Bingham High were dead spots within the school, areas where radio signal strength was subpar. According to Erikson, those issues have been addressed at Bingham.

“In our world, in law enforcement, we always train for not if, but when,” Anderson said.

To access the Oct. 11 board meeting recording visit https://jordandistrict.org/board/ meetings/.

For more information and statistics about school shootings in the US visit https://k12ssdb. org/. Note: in July 2022, the K-12SSDB became an independent, nonpartisan research project that is not affiliated with any institution or agency. l

We are excited to welcome some of our newest chamber members. Goldenwest Credit Union and Keystone Chiropractic are our newest members of the Chamber. Keystone Chiropractic specializes in family wellness, prenatal care and pediatric care. Their new location will be open in February and we look forward to their grand opening. Goldenwest Credit Union in South Jordan recently joined the chamber. Gabriel Garcia has worked with the chamber in the past and when he took a new job he immediately joined. Goldenwest Credit Union is a great partner to the chamber and we look forward to continuing our relationship.

JORDAN SCHOOL DISTRICT - Public Notices

SPECIAL EDUCATION CHILD FIND

Every child is entitled to a public education regardless of disability. Children with disabilities may go without services because families are not fully aware of their options. If you know of a child, birth to age 22, who is not receiving any education services or feel that your child may be in need of special education services, please contact your local school or call the Special Education Department in Jordan School District at (801) 567-8176

SPECIAL EDUCATION RECORDS DESTRUCTION

On January 31, 2023, Jordan School District will destroy special education records of students born prior to September, 1995. Former special education students who are 27 years old may request their records from the school last attended; otherwise, the records will be destroyed.

CARSON SMITH SCHOLARSHIP

Public school students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) may be eligible for a scholarship to attend a private school through the Carson Smith Scholarship program. Further information is available at https://www.schools.utah.gov/

When you attend a ribbon cutting you get to meet the movers and shakers otherwise known as the decision makers of each company. What a great way to make a connection. We had a ribbon cutting for 801 Basketball and what an amazing company. When we got there, not only were the kids who participate in its program there but the NBA Africa and NBA Latin America teams practicing. If your kids are interested in basketball, check out 801 Basketball.

From the people who brought you Syncrete, nepotistic construction contracts and the ThrU Turn fiasco intersection, comes a mind-boggling project guaranteed to be unnecessary and over budget: the Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola.

The Utah Department of Transportation isn’t known for its rational, effective projects. It spent years studying the LCC traffic situation before making the wrong decision, but at least they didn’t go with the Little Cottonwood zeppelin.

Color me unimpressed with UDOT. Take 5400 South. Please. I travel this road every day and I know UDOT doesn’t understand east-west travel. Going from my home in Kearns to the I-15 interchange in Murray includes nearly 20 stoplights along that 7-mile stretch and I usually hit every. single. one.

There was a legend that if you drove exactly 42.3 mph, under the light of a full moon, you could travel 5400 South without stopping at one red light. Not true.

I blame my road rage on UDOT.

So, let’s talk about the gondola. With UDOT approving the nearly $600 million project, it must have overwhelming support. Nope. Local mayors, residents, environmental groups, Bigfoot and county leaders don’t want this to happen. A majority of the tens

Kinder Life and Laughter

of thousands of public comments are against the gondola.

Just a hair short of sketchy, Snowbird quietly bought land that could (will) be used for the gondola station at the base of Little Cottonwood. When the time comes, Snowbird will sell or donate (ha-ha) that land to the state.

Hikers, fishermen, sightseers and climbers don’t want the gondola. They don’t want to ride the entire length of the gondola system if their destination isn’t a ski resort. I guess UDOT could add a base-jumping experience if you want to parachute out of the gondola halfway up the canyon. But it will probably have an extra fee.

Measuring 8 miles, it will be the longest gondola system in the world and includes nearly two dozen towers, averaging 185 feet high. That’s about 17 stories. UDOT said the towers will be placed up the canyon by helicopters, like they’ll gently rest on the forest

floor where tree roots will wind around the base to hold them down, becoming part of the natural landscape.

No. Each tower will have a huge concrete base, requiring boulders and trees to be demolished. Not only that, but construction could disrupt animal migration patterns, pollute the watershed and highlight UDOT’s decision-making legacy.

UDOT explored options like rideshare programs, electric buses and road tolls that are less invasive, especially when trying to solve a traffic problem that only happens a few days a year. But those alternatives aren’t expensive and ridiculous, so that was a “no” vote from UDOT.

When you factor inflation, the project’s cost will be about $72 gajillion, paid for with “mystery funding” which we all know usually means “taxpayer dollars” in some fash-

ion. Even if you’ve never skied a day in your life, your tax dollars will probably help pay for a system designed by ski resorts, for ski resorts.

We’ve riddled this country with aging infrastructure. Obsolete railways, cables, steel and wiring lie unused and rusting. When the gondola becomes outdated, our grandchildren’s grandchildren will be stuck with the awful towers standing forever in the sacred space of Little Cottonwood.

UDOT’s track record is abysmal. I remember when it spent $700,000 to remove the stupid ThrU Turn on 5400 South. UDOT said the intersection wasn’t a mistake, just unnecessary.

That could be UDOT’s tagline: Building unnecessary mistakes. l

Peri