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Show C-1 B-1 JAMAICAN BURN HEATS UP THE DANCE FLOOR MINERS DRIVE TO STATE TOURNAMENT UPSET COMMUNITY, A-8 HAVE A COOL PHOTO? COLUMNS, A-16 GRANT RECIPIENTS AIM TO TACKLE CLIMATE CRISIS Share it to #parkcitypics or @parkrecord on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, and we’ll run the week’s best in print EVEN A BAD JOB CAN BE A BLESSING, TERI ORR SAYS Park Record. The PA R K C I T Y, U TA H | W W W. PA R K R E C O R D . C O M Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, February 22-25, 2020 Serving Summit County since 1880 Vol. 140 | No. 06 $1.00 County’s role in transit talks sparks debate Lawmakers pass resolution encouraging high schools to push back the first bell of the day Jeff Dempsey / The Park Record T he Utah Legislature has passed a resolution regarding high school start times that, while not binding, nonetheless brings the childhood development issue into the spotlight in school districts around the state — including in Park City, where local school officials have spent significant time in recent years grappling with the topic. Rep. Suzanne Harrison, D-Draper, introduced the legislation. As a physician and a mother of teenagers herself, she said the issue of sleep-deprived children is near and dear to her. “Anyone who has teens knows it is difficult to wake them up early in the morning,” she said. “But they aren’t lazy — they are in a unique developmental period. They are undergoing a host of biological changes, including brain development and sleep changes.” Chief among those changes as they pertain to sleep is the body’s release of melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate a person’s sleep cycle. In the average adult, melatonin starts kicking in around 9 p.m. For the average teenager, health experts say, the body doesn’t release melatonin until 11 p.m. As a result, only one in 10 teens are getting the recommended nine hours of sleep. “And this is putting them at risk for serious mental health, physical health and academic risks,” Harrison said. Harrison’s resolution, H.C.R. 3, encourages Utah school districts and charter schools to consider the possible benefits and consequences of a later start to the school day for high schools. After winning support in the House earlier this month, the resolution was approved in the Senate Friday, sending it to the governor’s desk. The resolution is nonbinding — it encourages districts to explore the change but doesn’t mandate it. That, Harrison said, is by design. For one thing, she said, addressing sleep deprivation in teenagers requires a holistic approach. It isn’t just the schools that need to adjust. “There are many things parents, families, communities and school districts can do to help our kids get more sleep,” she said. “Looking at school start times is one thing that studies have shown can help kids get more sleep and is an important public policy discussion to have.” For another, Harrison recognizes that a statewide mandated school start time is unworkable. Different communities have different needs. The emphasis, she said, is on local solutions. “I’m hoping this resolution will encourage conversations at the local school district and community level to educate families about sleep science and have a local discussion about how to help our kids be as healthy and academically successful as possible,” she said. “This is not a mandate. I’m asking for conversations and innovative ideas for helping our kids.” Harrison said she is looking forward to discussing the issue as a parent in her own community and seeing what works there. “I would love to see some reasonable shifts in start times where feasible,” she said. “I also hope this will spur innovative ideas and solutions. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution for this.” Harrison said in her research she has already seen some school districts make interesting changes to their schedules to allow their students to get more sleep. “Some school districts are offering options for first period to allow more students to sleep in,” she said. “Other districts have shifted the timing of core classes versus electives or PE classes to accommodate later school start times so student athletes miss electives or PE rather than core classes the few times a semester when they need to leave for competitions or games. “Other districts have found opportunities for improving efficiencies in transportation schedules or routes to help address transportation challenges in shifting times. The bright people in our communities and districts may come up with other ideas, but we won’t discover them unless more communities have the conversation about sleep science and high school start times.” Please see Spotlight, A-2 As Rep. Suzanne Harrison argues in H.C.R. 3, her resolution encouraging school districts to explore later start times for their high school campuses, the research behind the change is robust. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, for instance, has taken an official position on school start times, detailing the science behind the importance of sleep for teenagers in particular and the negative outcomes associated with sleep deprivation. As Harrison argued on the House floor, those outcomes are numerous. “Sleep-deprived teens are at increased risk of depression, anxiety, diabetes, obesity, poor academic performance, car crashes and risk taking behavior such as substance abuse,” she said. On the other hand, there is little research showing any benefit to teenagers starting school before 8 a.m. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later. The health benefits extend beyond the students, too, as research shows that young adult teachers, who also need 8.59.35 hours of sleep, are also harmed by early start times. When teenagers get enough sleep, research shows, they are proven to be more alert and attentive and to better retain what they are learning. They are also shown to have stronger immune systems, reduced rates of truancy and improved athletic performance, and to be less likely to fall victim to substance abuse and other high-risk health behaviors. For more information visit www.cdc.gov/features/students-sleep/index.html. Elected officials disagree about perks of potential system linking area to the Cottonwood canyons ALEXANDER CRAMER The Park Record State officials are studying transportation solutions for Little Cottonwood Canyon with some cost estimates in the hundreds of millions of dollars, for projects like widening roads, building avalanche sheds or creating an aerial transit system. The Central Wasatch Commission, which is chaired by Summit County Councilor Chris Robinson, is advocating for a more holistic mountain transit plan with a regional focus so that investment in one option for one canyon doesn’t foreclose future opportunities. “One of the issues is, should you spend $100 million on snow sheds,” Robinson said. A snow shed essentially provides a roof over a roadway and walls to protect it from an avalanche. “Now snow sheds might be a perfectly good thing if you have rubber-tired transit, or rail going up it. You want to protect it. But if your solution is aerial, then maybe you wouldn’t want to spend it — you’d want to spend your money elsewhere.” Summit County councilors appeared split at a meeting Wednesday on how involved they’d like the county to be in planning a future transit system and whether to advocate for increasing connections between the Wasatch Back and the Cottonwood canyons through an aerial transit system or other options. Council Chair Doug Clyde appeared to be the most passionately opposed to linking the areas, calling it “against our interest.” “Really all this is doing is providing a way for people from the (Cottonwood canyons) to get to Park City or Deer Valley,” he said. “I don’t see that as being any significant advantage to us. What is the point for us?” The discussion was prompted by the Central Wasatch Commission recently shifting its focus to developing mountain transportation solutions rather than pursuing land conservation through federal legislation. It is asking for public input to shape the scope and goals of a possible transportation system that could encompass both sides of the Wasatch Range. It’s an opportunity for the county to officially state its priorities and goals for such a system in writing, something County Manager Tom Fisher said hasn’t been done often in the past. Summit County has paid the commission $200,000 since 2013, including $50,000 this year. Robinson said the commission would like to rePlease see Transit, A-2 Gay ski week grows in Park City A funky fundraiser Organizers add a day to schedule as 1,500 attendees anticipated JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record The organizers of a gay ski week in Park City have expanded the event this year by one day, indicating the extra day is a result of the increasing popularity of the gathering. The event, known as Elevation Utah, is scheduled to start on Wednesday and run until March 1. Previous gatherings started a day later in the week. Elevation Utah brings more than 1,000 people to Park City each year. The 2020 edition is the 10th anniversary of Elevation Utah. A gay ski week in Park City predated Elevation Utah under a different management umbrella, 3 sections • 36 pages Classifieds .............................. C-7 Events Calendar ..................... C-6 Restaurant Guide.................. A-15 Scoreboard ............................. B-5 but the current run has appeared to be more popular. The organizers anticipate upward of 1,500 people will attend Elevation Utah this year, up sharply from the up to 1,200 who attended in 2019. “This will definitely be our biggest year,” said Tom Whitman, the founder and owner of the firm that organizes Elevation Utah and similar ski weeks elsewhere in North America. Whitman said presales for the event are the largest ever. He said Elevation Utah has generally grown on an annual basis and this year’s gathering will enjoy a large uptick in attendance. The 10th anniversary has drawn interest as well, he said. Whitman also said the organizers had a larger marketing budget based on the growth and have advertised the event internationally. He said the firm’s series of gay ski weeks is the largest in the world. Other gatherings take place in Mont-Tremblant, Canada, and Mammoth Mountain, California. The events are known to be fun, friendly and inclusive, he said. “We’ve built a brand that’s well known,” Whitman said. Elevation Utah involves skiing in the daytime followed by après ski and parties afterward. The organizers want the crowd to dress to glow in the dark for one of the events on Main Street while one of the après ski events is billed as “Flashback Friday.” There is another event advertised as Frat Party X, and a wine and chocolate tasting is also scheduled. A welcome party is slated for Wednesday and a farewell après ski is slated for Sunday. The organizers have arranged discounts for the Elevation Utah crowds at certain businesses. The Elevation Utah gatherings started shortly after another group of Please see Gay ski week, A-2 TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Mia Yue pours a drink at the Neon Nights for Powder Rights party at Skullcandy’s headquarters Thursday evening. The event was a fundraiser for Protect Our Winters, a nonprofit that advocates for action on climate change. Attendees were encouraged to dress in retro-themed skiwear. VISITOR GUIDE A thriller may hit home for Park City audiences The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association in partnership with the Park City Library will present Adam Green’s drama “Frozen,” rated R, at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Santy Auditorium. The film is a thriller about three skiers stranded on a chairlift. |