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Show A-10 Wed/Thurs/Fri, January 23-25, 2019 The Park Record meetingS and agendaS Core SampleS By Jay Meehan TO PUBLISH YOUR PUBLIC NOTICES AND AGENDAS, PLEASE EMAIL CLASSIFIEDS@PARKRECORD.COM The allure of the Program Guide AGENDA SUMMIT COUNTY COUNCIL Wednesday, January 23, 2019 NOTICE is hereby given that the Summit County Council will meet in session Wednesday, January 23, 2019, at the Summit County Courthouse, 60 North Main Street, Coalville, UT 84017 (All times listed are general in nature, and are subject to change by the Council Chair) 1:00 PM Work Session 1) Interview applicants for vacancy on the Park City Fire Service District Administrative Control Board (60 min) 2:00 PM Closed Session – Property acquisition (50 min) 2:50 PM – Move to Council Chambers 3:00 PM Work Session continued 1) Pledge of Allegiance 2) 3:05 PM - Legislative update; Kim Carson and Janna Young (30 min) 3:35 PM Convene as the Governing Board of the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District 1) Discussion and possible adoption of amendments to the District’s Policies and Procedures, Personnel Policies and Operational Policies; Brian Hanton, Megan Suhadolc and Melissa O’Brien (20 min) 2) 3:55 PM - Discussion and possible approval of the Public Recreation Trail Easement and Access Agreement for the Willowbend Trail; Brian Hanton and Melissa O’Brien (10 min) Dismiss as the Governing Board of the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District 4:05 PM Consideration of Approval 1) Council Minutes dated January 9, 2019 2) 4:10 PM - Council Comments 3) 4:20 PM - Manager Comments 4) 4:30 PM - Possible action regarding appeal of County Manager’s Decision for the Final Site Plan for Promontory Nicklaus West Clubhouse Phase 3 Expansion; Promontory Investments, LLC, Appellant (90 min) 6:00 PM Public Input Public hearing and possible action regarding special exception request to allow a Non-Conforming Parcel to be eligible for subdivision; Layne Sargent, Applicant; Pat Putt Public Hearing and possible action regarding Dowland application for Special Exception, on property located at 5337 Killkare Loop Road, Kamas, UT 84036; Amir Caus One or more members of the County Council may attend by electronic means, including telephonically or by Skype. Such members may fully participate in the proceedings as if physically present. The anchor location for purposes of the electronic meeting is the Council Chambers and Conference room, Summit County Courthouse, 60 N. Main, Coalville, Utah Individuals with questions, comments, or needing special accommodations pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding this meeting may contact Annette Singleton at (435) 336-3025, (435) 615-3025 or (435) 7834351 ext. 3025 Posted: January 17, 2019 On shutdown showdown, Romney sides with Trump Senator endorses wall, questions Pelosi’s intent BRADY MCCOMBS Associated Press OGDEN — U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said Friday he supports President Donald Trump’s push for a border wall that has led to a government shutdown and questioned why Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi won’t agree to “another few miles” of barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border. Romney also said he plans to keep working with other senators to find interim solutions, such as legislation that would make sure essential government employees still working get paid now. The 2012 GOP presidential nominee and new Utah senator acknowledged that it “takes two to tango” but backed Trump’s position and chided Pelosi for hers. That’s noteworthy from Romney, who despite being a Republican like Trump, has frequently criticized the president. “You (Pelosi) and your fellow Democrats have voted for over 600 miles of border fence in the past, why won’t you vote for another few miles now?” said Romney, speaking in the northern Utah city of Ogden after visiting with county commissioners about the shutdown’s impact on the community. “I don’t understand their position, I really don’t.” He implored the two sides to “make a deal” and end the suffering of federal workers who aren’t getting paid, suggesting Pelosi should offer a certain amount of money for the border wall and make a proposal to the president about border security. He said Trump is willing to allow participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to stay in the country. “On policy, it strikes me like there’s not a big gap but the politics have drawn people into different corners,” Romney said. Romney said the country deserves border security, which includes more barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border. He said there is “humanitarian pain” being suffered by people entering the country illegally and being stopped at the border. The backing for Trump in the shutdown duel illustrates Romney’s stated goal of calling the president out when he disagrees while supporting him when he feels he’s staking out the right position. His most recent critique of the Trump came two days before he took office in an op-ed for The Washington Post in which he said Trump’s conduct in his first two years in office had “not risen to the mantle of the office.” Romney said he backs an idea by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin that would ensure essential government workers who are still working get paid. He said the goal is to get legislation before the president. “It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me that we ask people to work, we insist that they work, we tell them that if they don’t work they may lose their pension and may lose they their job, so they show up, but we aren’t paying them,” Romney said. “Somehow that just doesn’t seem right.” Romney met Friday with Weber County Commissioners about the impact on the city of Ogden, home to about 5,000 federal employers who work for the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Forest Service. About 3,750 IRS workers in Ogden were on furlough, though about 1,000 were called back this week to prepare for tax-filing season. The city of 87,000 residents is about 35 miles north of Salt Lake City. After meeting with Romney, Weber County Commissioner James H. Harvey called it a “desperate time” for federal workers and their families. “We want those messages heard so that there will be some action,” Harvey said. Independent redistricting supporters prepare for battle Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY – Supporters of a push to create an independent redistricting commission in Utah are steeling themselves for a potential challenge to the ballot initiative that voters narrowly passed into law last year. Leaders of the effort aimed at combating gerrymandering say they’re staying vigilant amid talk of a possible lawsuit to challenge the voter-approved law, the Deseret News reports. “We’re going to be vigilant. We’re going to be present. And we’re prepared through either a campaign or legal means to defend that,” said Jeff Wright, a Republican who co-chairs the group behind Proposition 4. Lawmakers have already made changes to a ballot measure le- galizing medical marijuana in a compromise with advocates and have discussed changing another ballot measure expanding Medicaid. Though no bills have yet been filed for the upcoming 2019 Legislature dealing with redistricting, Republican Sen. Todd Weiler said he’ll be pushing his colleagues to challenge the proposition in court. “I’d like to see the courts rule on the constitutionality,” he said. Republican Sen. Ralph Okerlund said a lawsuit is among several options lawmakers are considering. The measure that passed in November changes the process for creating legislative districts for the once-a-decade mandatory redistricting coming after the 2020 census. It would create a seven-member commission to draw districts, though lawmakers still would have to approve the boundary lines. It narrowly won approval with just over 50 percent of the vote. Previously, the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature passed redistricting plans by a majority vote, subject to a gubernatorial veto. Critics have said that the state’s congressional map unfairly carves up liberal-leaning Salt Lake City. The new commission is aimed at avoiding gerrymandering, defined as the manipulation of political boundaries to favor one candidate or party over another. Wright sounded a warning to opponents who may want to challenge the measure in court. “To say, ‘We like gerrymandering, we’re going to change the will of the people,’ that’s very unpopular,” he said. As strange as it may sound, the annual Sundance Film Festival digital program guide has, over the years, become one of my favorite reads. It’s like taking on a 5,000-paragraph postmodern experimental metafiction. It’s David Foster Wallace without the Pop Tarts and backhand volleys. You can open it anywhere and fall into any number of rabbit holes — each of which can take you to a microcosmic abyss of your choosing. But, of course, like with Wallace, you will get waylaid. You can get there from here but the more curious and informed the reader, the longer it’s going to take. It might well be prudent to leave a trail of Toll House semisweet chocolate chips along your path in order to safely return to whichever starting point fits the moment. Take Monday morning for example. While immersed once again in the Program Guide and performing the backstroke through that most often offbeat NEXT category, I came upon “Sister Aimee.” Without warning, I immediately astral-projected back to an outdoor stairway at the rear of the Los Angeles Central Library. It was the mid '60s and there I sat, facing an early edition of one of Sister Aimee Semple McPherson’s many houses of worship. As an employee in the Library’s old-school Manual Processing Department, I often took breaks, lunch and otherwise, amid the historically rich architecture of the cul-de-sac out back. That space, along with the musty stacks of archival volumes that ran down the central spine of the multi-storied affair, formed my sacred turf. The Stacks, dark and musty, not to mention otherworldy, were straight out of Umberto Eco’s monastery in “The Name of the Rose.” There was hidden access through secret doors that I discovered one day and, once I had wandered that holy ground, you couldn’t keep me out. It felt like you were breathing pre-Gutenberg air, back when Monks labored over manuscripts for their entire lives. I half-expected to stumble upon a copy of “The Book of Kells” at any moment. Although I discovered The Stacks on my own, I have my father, Robert Emmett Meehan (“Bob” to all), to thank for my familiarity with the long lost You can open it anywhere and fall into any number of rabbit holes — each of which can take you to a microcosmic abyss of your choosing.” lore of Sister Aimee. Somewhere along our family’s move south between my missed turn to Las Vegas and our first actual contact with the Pacific Ocean at Cayucos, her story came up. It included her ornate Temples and her “hold” on the thousands, probably millions, who followed her traveling crusade. Bob was an encyclopedia, by the way, and he couldn’t stop the information from flowing. And, when her fundamentalist Christian followers bought into her outrageous story of being kidnapped when in fact she had stolen off to Mexico with her lover, I was hooked. I should also give a nod to her unwitting protégé, Donald Trump. Gullibility and blind faith – there’s a stew for you. Be that as it may, it’s a great yarn and I can’t wait to see the film at this year’s Festival. As I understand it from the Program Guide: “The sensational evangelist Sister Aimee Semple McPherson has pulled off her latest marvel: vanishing in plain sight of a devout disciple! “Except that this disappearance was a cleverly orchestrated ploy to run away with her lover, a married writer named Kenny. Outfitted with new identities and a courageous guide named Rey, Aimee and Kenny head for Mexico, searching for inspiration and adventure. “When Aimee tires of Kenny’s literary ineptitude, she enlists Rey’s help to ditch him in the desert. Yet getting Aimee back to Los Angeles — where the news, the police, and her devotees are anxiously searching for her — will take a real miracle.” Fear not, Sister Aimee, your base shall never desert you. Why, you could probably shoot and kill someone on Main Street and they would cling tighter than ever. Faith, my dear – that is the key. If this sounds familiar (I mean, other than a tweet from our president you read), Sister Aimee’s story had been rendered upon the silver screen before. Maybe you caught “Elmer Gantry,” a marvelous turn for Burt Lancaster with Jean Simmons in the female evangelist role. Burt walked away with a gold statuette for that one. What did I tell you about rabbit holes and the great microcosmic abyss? Excuse me, I gotta get back to my 2019 Sundance Film Festival Program Guide. It’s a jungle in there. Jay Meehan is a culture junkie and has been an observer, participant, and chronicler of the Park City and Wasatch County social and political scenes for more than 40 years. Debt forgiveness program for tech grads takes shape $2.5M incentive aimed at keeping STEM talent Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY – Utah is rolling out a program to forgive college debt for tech workers who stay and work in the state. Lawmakers created the Talent Development Incentive Loan Program $2.5 million program last year to retain graduates and keep Utah’s tech sector growing, the Deseret News reported. It requires students to have completed one year on approved academic track for a bachelor’s degree in order to apply, but after that accepted students could have their last three years paid for if they agree to work in state for three years after graduation. Associate’s degree students have to be enrolled for a semester before applying. For a University of Utah student, that could mean up to $30,000 in debt relief. School officials there are expecting to be ready for applications in the coming weeks. Qualifying jobs include applications software developers, management analysts, computer systems analysts, computer and information system managers and network and computer systems administrators. Those interested should contact their college’s financial aid office. Abby Osborne, vice president for government relations for the Salt Lake Chamber, told lawmakers last year that the state exports far more jobs that it imports. Students who attend publicly funded universities are often lured out of the state for jobs elsewhere, she said. “Workforce is really the key issue in Utah in these targeted tech areas,” said Senate Assistant Majority Whip Ann Millner, a Republican who proposed creating the program. “It’s really important for us to find ways to keep our grads in the state as they begin their careers.” Utah now has nearly 1,500 unfilled positions for software application developers and over 750 open jobs for network and computer systems administrators. The total number of tech jobs sitting empty numbers about 5,800, a nearly 20 percent increase over a year ago. The money is doled out to Utah post-secondary schools based on a formula assessing the average number of graduates in qualifying degree programs, said Spencer Jenkins, the Utah System of Higher Education’s associate commissioner for public affairs. The University of Utah, for example, will get just over $770,000 for the upcoming school year. Brenda Burke, the school’s executive director for Scholarship and Financial Aid, said her office has identified about 1,000 students who would qualify, though their allotment would fund about 90 students this year. Accepted students will have to sign a promissory note that puts them on the hook for loan repayment if they move early. “Our tech industry is growing faster than any other state in the nation,” Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance CEO Derek Miller said. “That’s the good news. But if we want to continue to have a sustainable knowledge-based, innovation economy we’re going to need to continue to focus on workforce development.” Your future Mountain Home is calling Check out the Park Record’s Real Estate Monthly for listings in Park City and the surrounding areas Looking to sell a home, condo, property, or townhome? Call 435-649-9014 to get your listing seen by over 10,000 people. |