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Show f-J c-j*jurity PANGUITCH • PANGUITCH LAKE • HATCH • BRYCE • TROPIC • ANTIMONY • HENRIEVILLE • CANNONVILLE • ESCALANTE • BOULDER Thursday, August 12, 2010 • Issue # 281 FORMER GARFIELD COUNTY SCHOOL FLASH FLOODING CAUSES DAMAGE TO FOREST TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM SUPERINTENDENT ARRESTED In the past week, heavy of damages it is still best to 66-year-old George Park, former Garfield County School Superintendent and current School Superintendent of Carbon County was arrested this morning in Price without incident on a second degree felony charge of Misuse of Public Money. The charge stems from allegations that in 2008 Park knowingly signed a fraudulent contract for Justin Baugh, former Garfield County School Financial Administrator, and intentionally aided Baugh in stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the Garfield County School District. The arrest warrant also alleges that Park directly paid himself unauthorized bonuses, gave himself a larger 401K contribution than the School Board had approved, and took a raise contrary to his previous statements that no raise would be given in lieu of his 401K increase. According to school sources, Park was working in Oregon when he was hired by the Garfield County School District in July of 2006. In June 2009 Park was put on administrative leave pending an Utah State investigative audit that found multiple discrepancies and errors. One error was that Park's contract with the school district had never been formally presented or approved by the School Board. After discovering the results of the audit, the Board, wanting to expedite his departure, told Park that if he would resign, the Board would not personally seek to press charges against him, and the District would not make disparaging remarks about him to other potential employers. Park decided to take that offer and resigned in April of 2010. He was hired by the Carbon County School District in July (2010). Park is being held in the Garfield County Jail on 10,000 bail. This case is directly connected to the case of Justin Baugh, former Garfield County School District Financial Administrator. In May (2010) Baugh was arrested on three felony counts of Misuse of Public Money, Communications Fraud, and Tampering with a Witness and is currently awaiting trial on those charges. LIGHTNING STORM CAUSES OUTAGE IN GARFIELD COUNTY Garkane Energy Customers in Western Garfield County and Northern Kane County experienced a power outage Tuesday night, August 3, 2010, due to a severe lightning storm, which hit the area. Power was off to the area (Cannonville, Tropic, Henrieville, Bryce Canyon, Cedar Mt., Hatch, and Spry) for approximately four and a half hours. Power went off at approximately 7:00 p.m Tuesday night. Line crews were immediately dispatched to patrol the lines and locate the problem. Battling miserable conditions and flooding at times, the crews searched and inspected structures from Henrieville west to Bryce. The problem was finally located at the Tropic Substation. A severely damaged lightning arrester was discovered at the Substation. Lightning was the culprit. "We are indeed grateful for any moisture a storm brings. However, lightning can cause some serious problems for an electrical system," stated Rob Wolfley, Garkane's Garfield THURSDAY Area System Manager. HIGH: 86 "During any storm, our LOW: 51 ISOLATED T-STORMS crews work under extremely difficult conditions in orFRIDAY der to restore power to our HIGH: 86 customers," stated Wolfley. LOW: 51 SUNNY "We appreciate their efforts, and we're sorry for SATURDAY the inconvenience power outages cause." HIGH: 78 SUNNY LOW: 48 These summer monsoon storms are welcomed for SUNDAY the moisture they provide, HIGH: 85 but for Garkane, any storm MOSTLY SUNNY LOW: 50 should serve as a reminder to plan ahead for the inevitable weather-related power MONDAY outage. Garkane reminds HIGH: 83 MOSTLY SUNNY its customers to choose an LOW: 52 easily accessible closet or cupboard for an emergency TUESDAY supply of flashlights, batterHIGH: 83 ies, and other needed items. MOSTLY SUNNY LOW: 53 monsoonal rains have caused flash flooding across the Dixie National Forest in southern Utah. Many roads and trails have been washed out and damaged. Areas on the Powell Ranger District (Mount Dutton and Paunsaugunt Plateau) and Escalante Ranger District (Aquarius Plateau) have been most impacted. The Dixie National Forest encourages any visitors to the area to call or stop by the Powell Ranger District in Panguitch at (435) 676-9300 or the Escalante Ranger District at (435) 826-5400 to get up-to-date road and trail information. During the weekend, the Red Canyon Visitors Center — located at the mouth of Red Canyon on Highway 12 — is another good source for up-to-date road and trail conditions. Additionally, it is wise for visitors to stay on main roads and not to travel into unfamiliar areas without checking on conditions. Forest crews are working to place signs alerting visitors about road/trail conditions; however, due to the large area and severity check with the local Forest Service office before venturing off the main roads. As the monsoonal weather system continues, there may be additional flooding events. "Most years the Dixie National Forest gets large rain events this time of year," said Rob MacWhorter, Dixie National Forest Supervisor. "These monsoonal rains create major flash flood dangers. Visitors to the forest and surrounding deserts should be 'flood aware' and check road/trail conditions as well as forecasted weather." The Powell Ranger District has sustained the most damage due to flooding. The East Fork Road (Forest Road 087) is open, however, due to several rounds of flooding the road is rough and down to one lane in several locations. Ingram Hollow ATV trail is currently impassable. Please travel with caution as other roads and trail on the Paunsaugunt Plateau are in rough condition. The Cottonwood Road (Forest Road 125) that comes off of Mount Dutton is in rough condition as well. Finally, due to continuous flooding the Casto Canyon ATV trail is closed. Crews are working to reconstruct the trail, but it may be several weeks before reconstruction is completed. On the Escalante Ranger District, the Corn Creek Road (Forest Road 144) is impassable from either direction. The road has been closed from Main Canyon (Forest Road 17 thru Corn Creek south of Yankee Meadow to Forest Road 147. This closure will be in place for at least one week while crews work to make the road passable. Additionally, the Hells Backbone Road (Forest Road 153) — from Hells Backbone Bridge to Salt Gulch — has sustained severe damage due to runoff and is down to one-lane. For more information on road/trail conditions, contact the local district office or the Dixie National Forest Supervisors Office at (435) 865-3700. Forecast weather conditions can be found at The National Weather Service webpage http:// www.nws.noaa.gov/. COMMUNITY APPRECIATION NIGHT Garfield Memorial Hospital would like to express their appreciation to the community for their continued support. On August 27th at 9:00 pm. at the last Community Movie in the Park, the hospital will be sponsoring the movie, "Bedtime Movies." Come and enjoy the movie. Popcorn and other treats will be provided by the hospital. ,„ tneerrnount.: , thrte,1 1....o. w. s, ■1m Intermountain Garfield Memorial Hospital WEATHER WEDNESDAY." MOSTLY SUNNY Member of: or Utah Press HIGH: 82 LOW: 52 ***** I FPA• NDEPENDENT FREE PAPERS OF AMERICA Afc ''' MAUL 101• ,. I ,.p Ma 11Ama NM •tig hr. Escalante Canyons Art Festival EVERE'TT RUESS DAYS 2010 Escalante presents its Seventh Annual Escalante Canyons Art Festival/Everett Ruess Days on September 24-25, in venues at or near the Escalante City Center, 100 West between Main and 100 North. Registration and painting for the Plein Air Competion will be 9/19-23. This year's Featured Local Artist is J. Howard Hutchison, multi-media artist from Escalante. Keynote Speaker for 2010 will be James Aton, English Professor at Southern Utah University, whose topic will be "John Wesley Powell: Exploring Escalante and Beyond". Speakers' presentations begin on Thursday evening. Other Festival activities for the public will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. They include a variety of Speakers, Vendors, Entertanment, Demonstrations/Workshops, the Art Show, Auctions, Food, Fun and the Gala. Escalante is located on Utah's All-American Scenic Byway 12, midway between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks. Surrounded by the Dixie National Forest and the Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument, Escalante abounds in natural Fall spectacular beauty and the town's pioneer heritage is evident throughout the community. Being a small, rural town, accomodations are limited, so, early reservations are suggested. Detailed information and applications for artists, vendors and donars is available on the website: www.escalantecanyonsartfestival.org The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. H. L. Mencken THE GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER is owned and operated by Snapshot Multimedia and is distributed weekly to all of Garfield County. Its purpose is to inform residents about local issues and events. Articles submitted from independent writers are not necessarily the opinion of Snapshot Multimedia. We sincerely hope you enjoy the paper and encourage input on ideas and/or suggestions for the paper. Thank you for your support. Multimedia Phone: 435-676-2621 Fax 1-888-370-8546 PO BOX 472, Loa, Utah 84747 snapshot@scinternet.net ALL content for THE 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 LOA, UTAH PERMIT No. 5 |