THE
Wayne & Garfield County
INSIDER
Panguitch • Panguitch Lake • Hatch • Bryce • Tropic • Antimony • Henrieville • Cannonville • Escalante • Boulder • Fremont • Loa • Lyman Bicknell • Teasdale • Torrey • Grover • Fruita • Caineville • Hanksville
Weekend Storm Blows UDOT Building to Smithereens
Photos: Mark Austin
A metal building at the Utah Dept. of Transportation storage yard on Escalante’s Main Street was blown apart by a wind gust last Sunday. Top picture: Escalante City Mayor Jerry Taylor and Councilwoman Louise Barnes help with the cleanup in front of Serenidad Gallery. Bottom pic: The UDOT storage yard where the building once stood, with nothing left standing.
ESCALANTE - Last Sunday’s cold front that brought patchy rain, snow and strong winds through Garfield County turned out to be a “perfect storm” for one Escalante building. At around noon the skies darkened and a bout of heavy wind gusts blew through town, tearing down one of the
Utah Dept. of Transportation (UDOT) road sheds at their Escalante Main Street site, completely obliterating the metal building and sending debris flying across Hwy 12. Fortunately no one was hurt. Several large metal pieces from the structure sailed nearly through the front windows of Phil and Harriet Priska’s Serenidad Gallery just
across the street, but stopped just short of their shop. “It’s quite remarkable,” said Escalante City Councilwoman Louise Barnes. “It destroyed just the fences and that building. We were really lucky nothing else was damaged. It was clearly a microburst. Nothing around it was affected, just that structure.”
Locals Hike to Little Valley Oil Spill Site
Photos: Carol Kracht
GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE N.M. Following last week’s news report in the Salt Lake Tribune regarding an oil spill in Little Valley on the GSENM, a few locals decided to hike up to the area to take a look for themselves. They found evidence of an above ground oil plume approximately 4 miles long that appeared to come from a pad above the drainage. Above: the group looks at a section of the wash lined with 4-6 inches of oil. Inset: a pinion is coated with oil from what appears to be a relatively recent spill event. —Insider REGIONAL Weather forecast for some but not all regions represented in our newspaper coverage area
Thurs. APR. 3 - wed. APR. 9 PARTLY CLOUDY and coolish Thursday through Sunday with a chance of rain, particularly on Saturday (30%). Highs in the 40s. Sunnier and warming on Monday with high in 50s and warmer yet Tues-Wed with highs in the 60s. Lows consistent through week, in low to high 20s. Light winds through week 7 to 15mph.
Thursday, April 3, 2014 • Issue # 1042
Coincidentally, Barnes, who oversees city streets among her responsibilities on the city council, had just toured that very same UDOT building with Escalante Mayor Jerry Taylor the week prior to evaluate its condition. Though owned by UDOT, the shed has been used by the city to store municipal water and street supplies and equipment for the town, such asphalt and sand bags, signage, the road roller, and water connecting devices. During their tour Barnes and Taylor had noted that the bottoms of the posts supporting the structure had rotted out, and were no longer connected to the ground. Barnes says as a result of their tour she had recommended that the city work toward replacing the structure. Sunday afternoon’s calamity quickly brought townspeople to the scene, and city crews and volunteers, including city council members, swiftly cleared the debris, reopening Highway 12 within a couple of hours. During cleanup Councilwoman Barnes quipped to Mayor Taylor, “I told you it was rickety.” By Monday morning little evidence was left of the disaster and Barnes said that City worker Blaine Porter had been back to the debris location with a magnet to pick up all the nails and last pieces of metal debris that he could find. One purpose of the city council members’ tour of the UDOT structures and site during the prior week was to evaluate the site for a proposed long term lease of the property from UDOT. According to Barnes, Escalante City has been negotiation with UDOT for over a year to take over management of the location. They found the other main structures in the UDOT yard to be in good condition. —Insider
4-H Leadermete is Coming Wayne County WAYNE CO. - 4-H’s statewide Leadermete, the conference that is all about connecting 4-H leaders and volunteers, will be holding their annual event this year in Wayne County on April 24-26. This will be the first time the conference has been held in Wayne County. Due to the unique nature of Wayne County as a Leadermete host county, workshop events will take place throughout the county over the three-
day event, from Loa to Torrey. “Already we have more than 200 participants signed up from throughout the state,” said GaeLynn Peterson, Family & Consumer Science 4-H Youth Agent for Wayne County. “So we’re expecting a pretty good turnout. We’re pleased with the response,” she said. Each year, the annual Leadermete helps 4-H partLeadermete
Cont’d on page 2
Gallery 24 Expands for 2014 Grand Opening April 19 TORREY - Gallery 24 in Torrey, UT, will open for the 2014 season on April 11, with a Grand Opening reception on Saturday, April 19 from 5 to 7 p.m. The gallery has expanded into adjacent space, allowing the display of more artwork. Gallery 24 features contemporary southwest art, including painting, sculpture, jewelry, photography, and ceramics. The gallery is located at 135 E. Main Street in Torrey. Regular hours will be Friday through Monday from 11 to 5, or by special appointment. Local artists whose work is featured include painters Ray Conrad, Nancy Green, Pat Priebe-Swanson, Bernard Simbari, and Paula Swain; mixed media artist Diane Barrett, photographer Guy Tal, ceramicists Marion Schlauch and James Stewart; jewellers Dallyne Crowton and Robbie Halladae, wood carvers Ron Nolte and Robert White, glass artist Donna Pence and metal artist Brian Swanson. —Gallery 24
Garfield Memorial Physicians Receive Teaching Awards PANGUITCH - Colin Marshall, DO, and Todd Mooney, MD, of Garfield Memorial Hospital have both been selected to receive the Outstanding Rural Teacher of the Year Award from the University of Utah Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s Medical Student Education in Family Medicine. This award recognizes their exceptional performance as instructors for the third-year Family Medicine Clerkship. Karly Pippitt, MD, Director of Medical Student Education in Family Medicine at the University of Utah, says “During the award’s nomination and selection process, high accolades were expressed by students, staff and faculty regarding Dr. Marshall and Dr. Mooney’s professionalism, excellent intrapersonal skills, steadfast support of the medical students’ education, and superb role-modeling of a rural family physician. The comments included: ‘I really enjoyed working with Dr.
Colin T. Marshall, DO
Todd S. Mooney, MD
Marshall and I appreciate the time he took to teach me and allowing me the opportunity to gain hands on experience.’ ‘Dr. Mooney involved me in many aspects of care. Working with him was a wonderful experience.’ ‘I had a fantastic experience during my rotation and it would not have been possible without their willingness to teach and let me get involved.’” Marshal and Mooney will be officially presented with their awards on April 30,
2014, at the annual University of Utah Family Medicine Student Dinner. Alberto Vasquez, Garfield Memorial Hospital Administrator, says “We are fortunate to have such outstanding doctors as a part of Garfield Memorial, and we are thrilled that such a prestigious institution has recognized their hard work and dedication to their profession, to education, and to our community.” —Garfield Memorial Hospital
Phone: 435-826-4400 Fax 1-888-370-8546 PO BOX 105 Escalante, Utah 84726 snapshot@live.com
Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius. —Sir Arthur Conan Doyle British mystery author & physician (1859 - 1930) THE WAYNE & GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER is owned and operated by Snapshot Multimedia, LLC and is distributed weekly to all of Wayne and Garfield Counties, Utah. Its purpose is to inform residents about local issues and events. Articles submitted from independent writers are not necessarily the opinion of Snapshot Multimedia, LLC. We sincerely hope you enjoy the paper and encourage input on ideas and/or suggestions for the paper.
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.
BOXHOLDER
PRE-SORT STANDARD PAID RICHFIELD, UTAH PERMIT No. 122