| OCR Text |
Show A-14 The Park Record The Mustang Restaurant for PLUS $8 CORKAGE 890 Main Street Entree plus choose 2: Salad-Appetizer-Dessert Reservations required 435-658-3975 or reserve your table online at www.MustangParkCity.com Unobstructed Views for $390,000 - Upper level living without stairs! - Priced at a great value - All the comforts of home without all the maintenance! - Close proximity to Park City recreation and Salt Lake City amenities! Jalayne Bassett 801–706–2200 jbassettrealestate@gmail.com 1261 W Black Rock Trail Unit 39F, Heber City, UT 84032 Wed/Thurs/Fri, October 24-26, 2018 Utah State Hospital cuts wait times down to 23 days Quicker treatment turnaround speeds judicial process Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — Utah State Hospital is making progress in its effort to cut down the wait times for people to undergo mental health treatment before they can stand trial, officials told lawmakers this week. The wait averaged 23 days in September, down from July, hospital superintendent Dallas Earnshaw told lawmakers on Tuesday. That’s despite an 80 percent increase in the number of people accused of crimes in need of treatment over the last five years, the Deseret News reported . “We’ve done a tremendous job,” he said. But the hospital will still need more than $2 million in state funding to make a March deadline for a 14-day wait time. The progress comes after a 2015 settlement with the Disability Law Center, which argued that defendants were sitting in jail cells for months awaiting treatment, sometimes longer than the sentence they would have served if they’d been found guilty. Defendants are considered mentally competent for trial if they can understand the charges against them and communicate with their lawyers. If they are found incompetent, the case has to stop until they can participate. To free up state hospital beds, officials have identified some patients who could be moved into jails or communi- ties for treatment. They have also taken advice from consultants and talked more with courts and prosecutors, Earnshaw said. This week, five people were awaiting admission, down from 15 in July, he told a panel of lawmakers. The hospital still needs more state money to open 12 more beds so it can make its make its March deadline, Earnshaw said. In the last three months, the number of people referred to the hospital has doubled since the same period last year. Rep. Ed Redd, a physician and Republican from Logan, said people with mental illness sometimes grew sicker as they waited in jail for treatment. “I hope we can continue to make improvements,” Redd said, “because it’s a lot better than it was before.” Study finds Pando grove’s decline not slowed by fence Aspen colony near Fishlake world’s biggest organism Associated Press LOGAN — A massive aspen grove is still deteriorating despite fencing designed to keep out mule deer that have been blamed for chewing the trees, a new study says. Two Utah State University professors surveyed the colony known as Pando, which consists of more than 40,000 trees with a shared root system and is considered the world’s largest living organism, the Logan Herald Journal reported last week. The pair found some fencing constructed in 2013 has effectively protected it, but additional barriers put up in 2014 haven’t worked as well. The fence has been damaged by falling trees, allowing the deer back inside, Utah State University extension professor Darren McAvoy said. The news is disappointing for him and research partner Paul Rogers, director of the Western Aspen Alliance and a USU adjunct faculty member. “Let’s do something to fix this,” Rogers said. “If this thing’s so big and it’s been around a long time . and it’s all of a sudden collapsing in our time . that makes us interested in saying, `What’s going wrong, and how do we need to turn that around and fix the situation?”’ The researchers looked this year at 65 sample plots across Pando, which is in central Utah’s Fishlake National Forest near Richfield. They documented and compared factors including new growth, animal scat, browsing from animals, older trees’ size and life status. They found “a deteriorating situation” for Pando, except for the parts inside experimental fencing erected in 2013. Fishlake National Forest spokesman John Zapell wasn’t surprised. He said officials have done little management work on the parts of the grove inside the 2014 fence. To keep it intact, forest managers will have to patrol the area, repair the fence and cut any trees that could damage the barrier, he said. The name Pando is Latin for “I spread.” The colony originated from a single seed hundreds or even thousands of years ago and now consists of over 40,000 genetically identical trees that collectively weigh over 13 million pounds. DE E R VA L L E Y Winter Parking Passes on Sale Now! Parking Passes: $ 550* *Day use parking only, daily parking is available for a fee PASSES AND DISCOUNTS VALID DECEMBER 8, 2018 - APRIL 7, 2019. The Chateaux Deer Valley 435.658.9500 • 7815 Royal Street • www.the-chateaux.com |
