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Serving Wayne & Garfield Counties, Utah Loa • Fremont • Lyman • BickneLL • teasdaLe • torrey • Grover • Fruita • caineviLLe • HanksviLLe PanGuitcH • PanGuitcH Lake • HatcH • antimony • Bryce • troPic • HenrieviLLe • cannonviLLe • escaLante • BouLder
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Issue # 1132
A Day for the Birds: Results of the 2015 Escalante/Boulder Christmas Bird Count
Intermountain Precision Genomics Core Lab Passes CAP Inspection
by KatHleen MuntHe ESCALANTE - Escalante’s 2015 Christmas Bird Count, held on 16 December, marked our 18th year of participation in the 116 year- old, country-wide census. There were 33 participants, a record number, including 31 people in the field and 2 dedicated feeder counters; some of the field folks also counted at their own feeders during lunch breaks. Collectively, the group spent 23 hours driving 228 miles, over 16 hours walking 14 miles, and over 25 hours counting at feeders; Nate Waggoner spent over 5 hours counting from horseback! Irit Reed and the Shaws were welcome new participants. It was a cold, but bright and windless day. Fueled by Terry’s freshly-made donuts and Shannon’s chili, teams fanned out across our 150 square mile count circle and managed to find 5,523 individuals of 75 species, tying last year’s record high species count. One new species was added to our cumulative list, a Great Blue Heron spotted by Jeff Lauersdorf, bringing our total to 121. There were 2 additional species seen during count week, i.e. 3 days before plus 3 days after the count: a Great-tailed Grackle in the Sorenson's yard, seen in only 1 other winter; and a Herring Gull at the reservoir, never before seen during the count period. Despite low recent temperatures, there were patches of open water at the sewer ponds and, especially, Wide Hollow Reservoir which drew
Jens MuntHe
White-breasted Nuthatch. Many species are found in numbers during the Christmas Bird count, but this year only one White-breasted Nuthatch was observed. concentrations of waterfowl. These included a record number of Canada Geese (330). Mallards were the most numerous ducks (176); 9 other duck species were seen, in numbers ranging from 6 to 60 individuals. Craig Sorenson spied a solo Wood Duck, and there were single individuals of Tundra Swan and Northern Shoveler. There was also one Pied-billed Grebe and over 800 American Coots. Except for Rough-legged Hawk and Northern Goshawk, all of the raptors seen on previous counts were recorded. Red-tailed Hawks were most numerous (19), but there were also several Golden and Bald Eagles — two adult Bald Eagles have been observed at the reservoir teaching last year’s
progeny how to hunt coots! Other raptors of note were: Northern Harriers (absent last year); a Sharp-shinned Hawk, photographed by Ramona Sorenson as it dismantled a House Sparrow in her yard; 2 Merlins; and a Prairie Falcon. The latter two species are not recorded every year. As usual, Northern Flickers (56) dominated woodpecker numbers, but the Stevenson/ Holt team turned up 2 Rednaped Sapsuckers, and Hairy Woodpeckers were also recorded. There were 2 species of Shrike noted, the expected Loggerhead Shrike and the seldom-seen Northern Shrike. The Tolbert/Young/Bernardo/ Hall team found our only flock of Horned Larks and a group of Yellow-rumped Warblers,
Allie Brown Receives Special Service Award on Behalf of Late Husband, Steve Brown by lora Fielding, tHe salina sun
the only warbler recorded in winter here; Reiser spotted a pre-dawn Great Horned Owl; Melanie Boone is once again hosting a wintering Say’s Phoebe, our only wintering flycatcher; and there was one group of Cedar Waxwings seen. Only 74 Wild Turkeys were counted, down from 222 last year. There were no wrens of any sort! All of the thrushes were recorded, including 100 Western Bluebirds, and good numbers of Mountain Bluebirds, Townsend’s Solitaires, and American Robins. Ray Barney was able to find his neighborhood Rubycrowned Kinglet, a relative of Old World, rather than New World, thrushes. Many of you have probably been wondering where all the Mountain Chickadees are…well, at least I have Bird Count
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SAINT GEORGE - Intermountain Precision Genomics announced their core laboratory facility has received accreditation from The College of American Pathologists (CAP). The CAP classification is a scientifically rigorous checklist of requirements that indicate laboratories worldwide can demonstrate excellence in laboratory practices and inspire confidence in patient care. The laboratory accreditation process by the College of American Pathologists inspects laboratories with a peer-based inspector model by the most respected pathology organization. According to laboratory manager David Loughmiller, the laboratory inspector was from a genomics lab at Stanford University and is heavily involved in
period of intense preparation,” Loughmiller said. “Although, to pass the CAP inspection, the process started more than 12 months ago, including hiring the best and the brightest on this team.” Dr. Pravin Mishra, Clinical Laboratory Director for Intermountain Precision Genomics, spoke highly of the scientific background and experience at the lab. He said, “This successful CAP inspection allows us to solidify what we are offering for cancer patients, look to the future, start developing other assays for liquid biopsy, and perhaps double our gene panel for other diseases.” Intermountain Precision Genomics is a service of Intermountain Healthcare which offers genetic sequencing of solid tumors. This in-depth se-
Courtesy interMountain HealtHCare
Aimee Shamo, Pat Bradley, Jackie Wayne, and Sara King process genomics samples in the core laboratory at Intermountain Precision Genomics. writing the regulations relative to next-generation sequencing. “He was extremely qualified in being able to review our processes,” Loughmiller said. Preparation for the inspection required a comprehensive amount of validation to ensure the quality and performance of the methods used are wellsuited to provide accurate information for ordering physicians and their patients. “The last three months have been a
quencing identifies individual mutations within a person’s cancer cells to identify specific DNA targets for personalized drugs. For more information about Intermountain Precision Genomics please visit: precisioncancer.org, join the dialog on Facebook (Intermountain Precision Genomics) or follow @precisioncancer on Twitter. —Intermountain Healthcare Southwest Region
First Baby of 2016 Born at Sevier Valley Hospital
Courtesy oF salina sun
Allie Brown of Loa was awarded an Ambassador of Peace Medal for her husband, Steve Brown’s service during the Korean War during a ceremony in Salina on Sunday. Standing, L to R are the children of Steve and Allie Brown: Peggy Chappell, Dwayne Brown, Dwight Brown and Bruce Brown. Seated L to R are are: Dee Gibson, Chapter Commander of the Northern Utah Military order of the Purple Heart; John Cole, 1st Vice Commander; Allie Brown, Tom Davis and Jay Wells.
SALINA - On Sunday, January 3, 2016 Allie Brown, Loa, was presented with an Ambassador of Peace Award on behalf of her late husband, Steve Brown, for his military service during the Korean Conflict. John Cole, 1st Vice Com-
mander of the Northern Utah Military Order of the Purple Heart, presented the award to Brown at the North Sevier Community Center in Salina. The medal, made from barbed wire that has been strung on the 38th parallel that separated North and
REGIONAL WEATHER FORECAST FOR SOME BUT NOT ALL REGIONS REPRESENTED IN OUR NEWSPAPER COVERAGE AREA
THURS. JAN. 7 - WED. JAN. 13 SNOW is scheduled to continue through Thursday, clearing somewhat over Friday and the weekend, and sunny on Monday and early in the week. Highs to remain steady, hovering in lowmid 30s, lows in single digits and teens.
South Korea, is from South Korea's officials and citizens 'In grateful recognition for service performed in preserving democracy.' Brown was also presented with a certificate signed by Korean officials, and a book Korea Reborn. Cole was the first Korean War veteran to receive the Service Award
RICHFIELD - Sevier Valley Hospital rang in the new year with the county’s first baby of 2016 on New Year’s Day at 11:36 p.m. Bentley Lyndon Thurston, a baby boy weighing 6 pounds 13 ounces and measuring 20 inches long, was born to Breonna Knight and Chris Thurston of Richfield. Dr. Daniel Smith was the delivering physician. As the first baby of the year at SVH, Bentley and his parents were presented with a gift basket of prizes, checks, and gift cards donated from the hospital and generous local businesses – valued at $1,000. Formerly Sevier Valley MediCourtesy sevier valley Hospital cal Center, Sevier Valley Hospital is Bentley Lyndon Thurston, a baby boy, and part of Intermountain Healthcare – parents Breonna Knight and Chris Thurston a Utah-based not-for-profit healthof Richfield. care system. Fully accredited by the Joint Commission, Sevier Valley Hospital provides high-quality healthcare services close to home, including oncology services, pain management, orthopedic surgery, labor and delivery and much more. The hospital has also been named as a Community Value Five-Star Hospital for 2015, 2014, and 2013, and recognized as a HEALTHSTRONG™ Hospital for top-performing hospitals in the country. For more information, visit sevierhospital.org. —Sevier Valley Hospital
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Without tenderness, a man is uninteresting. —Marlene Dietrich
ALL content for THE WAYNE &GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER must be submitted on FRIDAY BEFORE 5:00 PM to be included in the following Thursday edition of the paper.
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