INSIDER
Panguitch • Panguitch Lake • Hatch • Bryce • Tropic • Antimony • Henrieville • Cannonville • Escalante • Boulder • Fremont • Loa • Lyman Bicknell • Teasdale • Torrey • Grover • Fruita • Caineville • Hanksville
Thursday, November 14, 2013 • Issue # 1022
For Local Hospitals, First Weeks of Administering Affordable Care Act Have Been Murky, Burdensome by Bob Phillips, Contributing Writer WAYNE, GARFIELD, SEVIER & SANPETE COUNTIES - As the nation’s health care system makes the transition mandated by the recently instituted Affordable Care Act, many unanswered questions remain for area hospital adIf you’d like to ministrators share a story as they grap(good or bad) about signing ple with the up—or trying already comto sign up—for plex and often coverage through murky world the Affordable of health care Care Act, email regulation. us at snapshot@ The jury live.com, or leave is still out a comment on the on how the Insider’s FaceACA will book page. affect both consumers and medical providers over the long term, but the early stages of the transition haven’t gone smoothly, as noted in news reports from around the country. Some people have obtained significant reductions in health insurance premiums promised under the
act, others who are eligible for coverage have not rushed to sign up, and there remains significant confusion over who will qualify for subsidies under the program. Snafus with the federal insurance exchange website allowed only a relative handful of Americans to log on during its first days of operation, and it took the entire month of October for the Wayne Community Health Center in Bicknell to sign up their first applicant, said Gina Flanagan, director of the center. “It hasn’t gone very smoothly for us,” she said. “It’s pretty much not working at this point.” Many details of how providers will obtain reimbursement from the federal government remain unclear at best, Flanagan said. Among other concerns, she expressed unease over changes in the nature of patient co-payments —which will theoretically be partially subsidized under the ACA—as she has so far been unable to determine how the center will obtain federal reimbursement for the temporarily lost revenues.
In general, Flanagan and other area administrators said it’s an open question as to how many people will actually sign up for health care insurance, which is mandated under the act, and what percentage of those people who do participate will be healthy as opposed to high risk. Many Wayne County residents don’t have any additional money available in their budgets to pay for even minimally priced insurance, she said, and it still isn’t clear who qualifies for how much of a discount. It also isn’t certain that as many people will sign up for insurance as the program supposes, even with subsidies, “Because I think the population we’re talking about is already struggling to get by,” she said. “We’re just hoping we can help our community understand their options. It’s pretty frustrating when you really don’t have the answers. They really don’t have the product to offer to us at this point,” added Flanagan. Local Hospitals Cont’d on page 3
Local Chapter of the Old Spanish Trail Association Holds Inaugural Meeting by Lyman Forsythe
Fish Lake, Utah and 2) Utilizing the chapter as a vehicle for the education and enjoyment of all. OSTA, based in Las Vegas, New Mexico, describes its mission as: to study, preserve and protect, interpret and educate, and promote respectful use of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail and closely related historic routes. The group promotes public awareness of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail and its multicultural heritage by encouraging research and publication and partnering with governments Members of the Old Spanish Trail Association board are (Left to right) and private orSteve Taylor, co Vice President/Historian, Stephanie Moulton, President, ganizations. The Next Sharon Anderson, Secretary/Treasurer, and Lyman Forsythe, co Vice PresiFish Lake dent/Historian. OSTA chaplor. The people in attendance archaeologist Bob Leonard. ter meeting is tentatively set ranged from Bostonian Col- He gave an informative over- for January 2014 in Richlege professors to locals with view of the challenge, as well field, Utah. For meeting uplifelong ties to the Fish Lake the progress of his work in dates and chapter news look identifying, documenting and on Facebook at URL https:// area. The program consisted of formalizing the role of Red www.facebook.com/fishlakean overview of the history of Creek on the Old Spanish Trail chapter or contact chapter president, Stephanie Moulton the OSTA in the adjacent three Fish Lake Cutoff. The goals of this group at 2 North SR 25, Fish Lake county areas by Steve Taylor, Wayne County historian. The were identified as 1)The iden- UT 84744 phone #435-683second speaker was Dave Og- tification and promotion of 1000 email:fishlake@scinterden, resident of Sevier County The Old Spanish Trail in the net.net and recently elected mayor of counties surrounding scenic FREMONT - The Fish Lake Chapter of the Old Spanish Trail Association held their inaugural meeting and fundraiser in Fremont on Saturday, Nov. 9th. There were approximately 25 people in attendance to enjoy the food, beverages and hospitality of Steve Tay-
Richfield Utah. He has been an avid supporter of the OSTA organization, was instrumental in organizing the OSTA conference in Richfield, Utah in 2012. Dave has acted as its local spokesman for the last several years. Our third speaker was Fishlake National Forest
REGIONAL Weather forecast Thurs. Nov. 14 - Wed Nov. 20 More or less the same as last week but a little colder, with highs at beginning of the week hovering around 60, and going down to high 40s as the week progresses. Sunny to partly cloudy and maybe a chance of rain on Sunday. (A 50% chance currently projected.) Lows throughout week anywhere from low 20s to low teens.
WGCI Photos
GSENM’s range specialists provided public workshops last week on rangeland monitoring systems as part of the upcoming grazing EIS process. Shown above during last Thursday’s session near Escalante are Richard Madril, Nephi Noyes, Allan Bate, Jared Lyman and Jason Bybee. At right, Nephi Noyes (l) and Jared Lyman (r) demonstrate forage sampling techniques.
BLM Rangeland Workshops Kickstart Grazing EIS Public Comment Process
GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE N.M. - Bureau of Land Management (BLM) range specialists offered a series of workshops—beginning last week with two events in Escalante—to share rangeland monitoring techniques and land health evaluation methods with the public. Out on Big Flat, BLM staff demonstrated methods for monitoring key grass species, which on this particular allotment are galleta, blue grama and sand dropseed. BLM offered the workshops to engage public participation in the scoping process, seeking to prompt public input on the Livestock Grazing Monument Management Plan Amendment and Associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will replace existing grazing management decisions and amend the Monument Management Plan. The 60 day public scoping period for comment on the EIS began on November 4. The BLM is seeking input from the public to determine relevant issues that will influence the scope of the environmental analysis, including alternatives, and guide the process for developing the EIS. You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria in writing to the BLM by any of the following methods: Mail: BLM/GSENM, 669 S. HWY 89-A, Kanab, Utah 84741, Email: BLM_UT_GS_EIS@blm.gov, Fax: (435)644-1250. Please reference “GSENM Livestock Grazing Plan Amendment” when submitting comments. —Insider
WW II Comes to Wayne County
Seventy Years Ago This Month, the Wreckage of a Military Aircraft is Recovered Near Factory Butte
Part II: Recovery Leader Major Heston Gets Further Acquainted with Loa Town and Embarks with Convoy of Soldiers and Cowboys Toward the Crash Site by Debra Allen Young In our previous installment, in November 1943, a crashed military aircraft has been discovered west of Factory Butte, and Major LeRoy Heston, with a convoy of soldiers, has arrived from Mather Air Base to Loa to lead the effort to recover the wreckage and bodies of 6 crew members. It is the troops’ first night in Loa and they have just been met by LaVor Brown. (Major Heston’s misspellings in his letter are his own.) In this installment, Heston continues to desribe, in a long letter to his folks, his experience of getting acquainted with the locals, and with a group of cowboys led by LaVor and Grant Brown, the convoy heads out toward the airplane crash site and wreckage.
I always take care of the troops first and they would be here shortly so I thought of bedding them down inside the courthouse, or in the school building. “Reckon my Uncles got a key fer’ em,” said LaVar, quietly. I began to wake up
to the fact that this uncle was maybe the spark-plug of the community. “Whats your uncles name?” I asked. “Grant,” said LaVar. “He’s called Grant Brown.” He said the name proudly, respectfully. I looked at LaVar and then at the crowd as he spoke these magic words and I knew then I had found the answer to our present problems and possibly to our future ones as well. LaVar was a slight small man, looked a lot like a stove poker, only twice as tough. He wore Levi-straus trousers that plainly showed the wear and tear of leather chaps. His high heeled boots clacked along the road when he walked, double timing ours, and his legs seemed to swing in an arc when me moved. His leathery face had a kind of blue-brown skin stretched tight across it. His small but powerful hands always hung cupped at his side and somehow they reminded me of the bottom of a dogs foot.
His thin leather jacket was very worn. I would have been awfully cold dressed as he was but he seemed comfortable enough. LaVar’s uncle lived back from the hiway a short distance and as we drove up to the ranch we could hear the endless bawling of cows. “My uncles gonna weigh I guess, tomorrow, maybe.” I could hear the cow hands riding around a mess of corrals in the dark, yipping at the cows and pushing Military Aircraft Cont’d on page 5
Phone: 435-826-4400 Fax 1-888-370-8546 PO BOX 105 Escalante, Utah 84726 snapshot@live.com
A physicist is an atom’s way of knowing about atoms. —George Wald US biologist (1906 - ) 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.
This article first appeared in the Fall 2010 issue of Utah Historical Quarterly. Debra Allen Young is the granddaughter of LaVor and Mary Brown, who are featured in this article. She has authored two family histories and is a history enthusiast. The article has been abridged for publication in the Insider.
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