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Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Volume 126 Number 33 Richfield, Utah ©2014 The Richfield Reaper
Serving south central Utah since 1888
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MILKING THE RODEO Heading
FYI
back to school
Wednesday, Aug. 20, marks first day for most students By Mavanee Loftus Sevier School District
Scavenger A photo scavenger hunt is under way in Richfield in conjunction with the community’s 150th birthday celebration. PAGE 2B
Celebrate A back to school celebration is set to take place Saturday, Aug. 23, from 3 to 7 p.m., at the Richfield City Park. PAGE 5A
GOP The Sevier County GOP is looking for a new chairman. PAGE 10A
Vocab This week’s Reaper vocabulary word is holocaust. PAGE 9A
Help Clothing and monetary donations are being sought as children head back to school. PAGE 10A
Quote Quote of the week — “It was a riot to watch.” — Taylor White PAGE 1A
Inside
American Profile Special Classified Ads 6B Crossword 10A Happenings 4B Letters to Editor 2A Mini Page 3B Obituaries 6A Opinion 3A Public Notices 8A Sports 4A Television Listings 5B Theater 8A
Weather Check the current five-day forecast at
richfieldreaper.com Date High Low Prec. Aug. 5 86 56 Aug. 6 88 52 Aug. 7 86 49 Aug. 8 84 52 trace Aug. 9 91 49 Aug. 10 91 49 Aug. 11 91 47 60 Aug. 12
Water year precipitation to date, 5.97; to the same date last year, 5.13; all of last year, 9.91.
DAVID ANDERSON/RICHFIELD REAPER
Sevier County Search and Rescue volunteers Kyle Torgerson, front, Cameron Cowley and Barry Barney try to slow down a wild cow long enough to milk it Friday night at the Sevier County Fairgrounds in Richfield. Their efforts proved fruitless as the cow got away.
Helping emergency services while having some fun By David Anderson Associate Editor
When its committee was brainstorming how to get people excited about the Sevier County Fair’s rodeo, the goal was to reach out to people who are not the traditional audience. So, when the idea of a wild cow milking was proposed, the potential for comedy gold would draw people in, said Taylor White, committee chairman. “We brought in more people than we have since I’ve been on the committee,” White said. White said since the Thursday/ Friday rodeo, he’s gotten dozens of phone calls and comments about the wild cow milking.
“It was a riot to watch,” White said. The wild cow milking wasn’t only a way to entertain, but also a means of helping local emergency services. The milking teams were each made up of three representatives from local emergency response agencies. In all, eight teams were fielded across the two-night event, including representatives from fire departments, police, emergency medical services and search and rescue. The winning team had to extract at least one drop of milk and deliver it to a predetermined spot in the arena before anyone else. The cows, true to the name of the event, didn’t cooperate with
the endeavor. Cows dragged men around the arena, ran away and even stepped on a few people in their struggle to not get milked. For their efforts, volunteer firefighters Glen Chappell, Tyler Monroe and Justin Peterson, earned $1,500 for Monroe City’s fire department — the fastest team to complete the assigned task. White said the prize money was raised through rodeo sponsorships. “It was something people enjoyed watching and it let us give back to the groups that are important to us,” White said. White said the wild cow milking will likely return next year, possibly with a traveling trophy.
CONTINUED PAGE 11A
Facing fears of suicide
County commission commits to help in education effort By David Anderson Associate Editor
Organizers of an event designed to help raise awareness about suicide addressed the Sevier County Commission Monday afternoon. “Our county is deeply in trouble with this,” said Renna Ford, volunteer. “We need to let them know there is help. There is a place to go.” The Out of the Darkness community walk is set for Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Richfield Lions Park starting at 9 a.m.
CONTINUED PAGE 2A
Water year remains steady in south central Utah By David Anderson Associate Editor
A wet July helped the state of Utah through what has otherwise been a dry summer. The storm systems that moved through the state in July have resulted in this water year being almost an exact duplicate of last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Current runoff has improved over last month’s values in response to the precipitation, according to the NRCS Utah water and climate report for July.
“Many of the points that are near normal are due to reservoir releases,” said Randy Julander, hydrologist for the NRCS. Across the state, July precipitation ranged from 105 to 212 percent of average, with northern Utah receiving the most, Julander said. July precipitation has also brought soil moisture values up substantially across the state from very dry conditions to near average and in some cases, above average. Reservoir storage is at 60 percent of capacity statewide, down 6 percent from last month. CONTINUED PAGE 2A
GRAPHIC COURTESY/NRCS
The above chart shows that reservoir storage in the Upper Sevier River Basin is approximately the same at this point in the water year as it was last year.
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With the exception of the preschools, Wednesday, Aug. 20, marks the first day of the 2014-15 year in Sevier School District. Most preschool and kindergarten students will start the following week, with the exception of Koosharem’s kindergarten, which will also begin Aug. 20. Kindergarten gets under way Wednesday, Aug. 27, for Ashman, Monroe, and Salina elementary schools. All three area preschools will begin Tuesday, Aug. 26, for qualifying children, and Tuesday, Sept. 2, for mainstream students. Schools district wide will continue to release early every Friday throughout the school year. All visitors to the schools must enter through the main entrance and check in at the office. Superintendent Cade Douglas said he is looking forward to another great year in Sevier County schools. “Our principals, teachers and staff are some of the most talented and dedicated people in the state,” Douglas said. “We are excited to make memories and build lifelong relationships with our students and advocate for their future happiness and success.” Information about student policies and rules will be sent home, and parents are encouraged to read and discuss the policy summaries with their children, according to Douglas. “Students will be expected to fully comply with each policy as stated in the district policy manual that is posted online,” Douglas said. “It should be understood that teachers and administrators have been designated as officials to enforce all district policies.” Parents are encouraged to write their phone number on the inside of jackets, coats and backpacks to assist staff throughout the year in returning lost items. The district office is located at 180 East 600 North in Richfield. For more information, call (435) 896-8214, log onto www.sevier.k12.ut.us, or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.
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