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Show A-2 The Park Record The Park Record. Serving Summit County since 1880 The Park Record, Park City’s No. 1 source for local news, opinion and advertising, is available for home delivery in Summit, Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties. Single copies are also available at 116 locations throughout Park City, Heber City, Summit County and Salt Lake City. SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Summit County (home delivery): $56 per year (includes Sunday editions of The Salt Lake Tribune) Outside Summit County (home delivery available in Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah counties; all other addresses will be mailed via the U.S. Postal Service): $80 per year To subscribe please call 435–649– 9014 or visit www.parkrecord.com and click the Subscribe link in the Reader Tools section of the toolbar at the bottom of the page. To report a missing paper, please call 801–204–6100. Same-day redelivery is possible if you call during the following hours: * Weekdays: 6:30–8 a.m. * Saturday: 7–8 a.m. * Sunday: 7–10:30 a.m. To request a vacation hold or change of address, please call 435–649–9014 or email: circulation@parkrecord.com Continued from A-1 Virus cases surge the latest surge in COVID-19 patients has had on medical professionals. “I wish today I was coming to you with good news, really any good news at all,” he said. “Unfortunately, I’m not. Our cases are at an all-time high. Our hospitalizations are at an all-time high.” In a calm, measured tone, Stenehjem explained what it was like for him to lead the COVID rounds at his hospital. Approximately half of the patients are in the intensive care unit, he said, and they range in age from 19 to 90 years old. “All of them are suffering. They’re alone and they don’t have the comfort of their family or their friends nearby,” Stenehjem said. “Many won’t make it, unfortunately. And some will make it and be left with chronic medical conditions.” He said he wished more people could see the conditions inside hospitals and that it might lead people to take the effects of the virus more seriously. The state’s intensive care unit utilization rate is 73.9%, Dunn said, which means that three of every four intensive care beds are in use, with the state reporting a rolling seven-day average of nearly 1,300 new COVID-19 cases per day. About 20% of the intensive care unit beds are being used by COVID patients, she added. Health care providers themselves are nearing their capacity, officials said, and the system is at risk of reaching the point at which it can no longer handle new patients. Already, procedures like routine cancer screenings or elective surgeries are being postponed or rescheduled, which can mean negative health outcomes for Utahns moving forward, officials said. “We’ve seen in the past couple weeks that our health care system is at capacity, our health care providers are overwhelmed and exhausted, our public health system is stressed,” Dunn said. “... It’s now flu and cold season, where every year we stress our hospitals during this time. I’m really not trying to scare anyone, I’m just trying to inform you of what’s going on and give you the facts of where we are in this pandemic.” Officials also discussed efforts to Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, October 24-27, 2020 expand hospital capacity, including using temporary hospitals to deal with the surge in cases. Nearly the entire state has now moved into the high-transmission category, a distinction in a system state officials unveiled last week. State officials announced they were scrapping the red, orange and yellow risk-level system in favor of a new “transmission index” based on three key pieces of data: the prevalence of the virus in a community measured by positive cases per 100,000 residents; the percentage of tests returning positive results in an area; and the percentage of intensive care beds that are occupied statewide, along with the percentage of those beds that are occupied by people suffering from COVID-19. The system has distinct trigger points and is governed by publicly accessible data, which may provide more transparency and predictability than the previous system. One key aspect of the new system, Summit County Councilor Kim Carson said, is that it allows local health departments to issue stricter protocols than state measures — such as mask mandates — as long as the orders do not contradict those from the state. Previously, counties had to seek an exemption from the state health department and Governor’s Office. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert indicated Thursday that one move he might have done differently if given a chance is centralizing power with state officials rather than allowing local health departments more latitude to act. He also indicated a statewide mask mandate might have not had the intended effect and that he didn’t want to create a “prison state.” He said it would be up to local authorities to enforce the new state-mandated mask orders. “I think in a conservative state like Utah there’s a lot of people that don’t like government telling them what to do. We’re pretty independent in that regard,” Herbert said in reaction to a question about a statewide mask mandate. “We have people that, in fact, rebel against government telling them what to do.” Summit County’s mask mandate is in place until Jan. 8, and officials have indicated it will likely remain until a vaccine has been widely administered, expected to be in mid2021. On Wednesday, the Summit County Council adopted a new public health order that integrates the state’s new system. It keeps in place the exceptions to the mask mandate adopted by the Board of Health for those exercising in fitness centers and in certain child care settings. Continued from A-1 Referendum sought THE NEWSROOM To contact the newsroom, please call 435–649–9014 or email editor@parkrecord.com For display advertising, please call a sales representative at 435–649– 9014 or email val@parkrecord.com To place a classified ad, please call 435–649–9014 or email classads@parkrecord.com For questions about your bill, please call 435–649–9014 or email accounts@parkrecord.com The Park Record online is available at www.parkrecord.com and contains all of the news and feature stories in the latest edition plus breaking news updates. The Record’s website also hosts interactive entertainment, restaurant and lodging listings and multimedia features. Contents of The Park Record are Copyrighted 2015, Wasatch Mountain News Media Co. All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the managing editor or publisher. The Park Record (USPS 378-730) (ISSN 0745-9483) is published twice weekly by Wasatch Mountain News Media Co., 1670 Bonanza Drive, Park City, UT 84060. Periodicals postage paid at Salt Lake City, Utah, 84199-9655 and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, UT84060. Entered as second-class matter, May 25, 1977, at the Post Office in Park City, Utah, 84060 under the Act of March 3, 1897. Subscription rates are: $56 within Summit county, $80 outside of Summit County, Utah. Subscriptions are transferable: $5 cancellation fee. Phone: 435–649–9014 The Town Council last Friday voted 3-2 in favor of annexing 350 acres of Richardson Flat for a future town center site with businesses and 600 residential units. Summit County over the summer sued to stop the land move and had initial success in the courtroom, but eventually lost two attempts to prevent the town from voting to annex the land. County officials have indicated the legal battles would continue, possibly for years. But the future of the annexation may ultimately be decided by Hideout residents before the litigation concludes. McLean told the Town Council before the annexation vote that a referendum could undo the annexation, and multiple councilors indicated that allowing voters to weigh in was key to their decision to support the project. Officials also inserted a provision into the development agreement that it not take effect until after the results of a referendum are certified, apparently pausing development progress until residents have voted. Any vote would only be open to Hideout residents, though Hideout officials have said they would like to include their neighbors around the Jordanelle Reservoir, like the developments in unincorporated Wasatch Continued from A-1 Olympic risks grow Fax: 435–649–4942 Email: circulation@parkrecord.com Published every Wednesday and Saturday “Risk is now a capital ‘R,’” Bullock also said as he spoke more broadly about organizing an Olympics. PARK RECORD FILE PHOTO Hideout residents have started the process to challenge the town’s annexation of hundreds of acres of Richardson Flat. Organizers will be tasked with collecting dozens of signatures from Hideout residents in coming months for a vote next year. Town officials will determine the signature requirement and the deadline in accordance with state code. County just to the town’s north. There are several bureaucratic steps before the measure makes it to the ballot. According to state code, the town has 20 days from last Wednesday to determine the authenticity of the application, including the signatories. The code requires at least five initial sponsors that are Utah residents and have voted in an election in Utah in the last three years. Once the application is deemed valid, the town attorney must determine what sort of referendum is being sought, which will decide the number of signatures organizers must collect. If McLean determines the referendum regards land-use law, that would require signatures of 40% of the town’s active voters, while other distinctions would require either 30% or 35%. Wasatch County Clerk Cal Griffiths reported that Hideout has 281 active voters, so it appears that organizers will have to collect between 84 and 113 signatures from Hideout residents. After the town determines the application is valid, it has five days to issue signature collection packets. Organizers would have 45 days from that time to collect the required number of signatures. Once organizers gather the signatures, the packets would be sent to Griffiths to verify their authenticity. Every signature would have to come from a registered voter who is a Hideout resident over 18 years old. If the number of signatures is deemed sufficient, the issue would be placed on the ballot. According to state code, certain referendums are required to be evaluated in general elections, which occur in November, while others may occur in a special or primary election, possibly next June. Bullock, meanwhile, said the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games since February has spent time on developing a budget. He said there is more uncertainty on the revenue side of the ledger than the expense side since a Games would be held at least a decade from now. The committee is conducting the budget crafting in 2030 and 2034 dollars. He said contingencies in the budget are being increased to address the risk. Bullock also said the committee will not make compromises on the so-called field of play of the sports venues, but other expenses could be scaled back, as was the case during the Olympics of 2002. It is unclear which other cities will also seek the Games in 2030 or 2034. Bullock indicated three other places have expressed an interest in a future Winter Olympics — Sapporo, Japan; Vancouver, Canada; and a combined concept of Barcelona and the Pyrenees mountains in Spain. Sapporo and Vancouver are former Winter Olympic hosts while Barcelona once hosted a Summer Olympics. A meeting of the full board of di- rectors of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games will be held later, possibly in the middle of November. The Park City area holds a key role in the blueprints for a future Winter Olympics. Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley Resort would be competition venues under the concept, alongside the Utah Olympic Park. Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in nearby Wasatch County is also identified as a venue. The conceptual venue map is similar to the one that was crafted for the Games in 2002. Direct Importer of the World’s Finest Rugs A t t h e H i s t o r i c Vi l l a T h e a t r e Views overlooking the Rees Jones Golf Course 6689 E Moonlight Drive / Victory Ranch 4 bd / 5 ba / 3,337 sqft / Offered at $2,665,000 Matthew Sidford REALTOR® matthew@sidfordrealestate.com 435.962.4544 sidfordrealestate.com Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed accurate. Buyer to verify all information. 3092 So. Highland Dr., Salt Lake City (801)484-6364 888.445.RUGS (7847) Mon.-Sat. 10 am to 6 pm |