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Show A-14 The Park Record Meetings and agendas Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, October 31-November 3, 2020 More dogs on Main TO PUBLISH YOUR PUBLIC NOTICES AND AGENDAS, PLEASE EMAIL CLASSIFIEDS@PARKRECORD.COM The eagle has landed AGENDA Summit County Board of Health Meeting November 2, 2020 4:00 – 5:30 PM ZOOM MEETING PUBLIC MEETING 4:00 – 5:30 1. Welcome and Approval of Minutes (All, 4:00 - 4:05) 2. Public Comment (4:05 - 4:10) 3. Director’s Report (4:10 – 4:15) 4. COVID Update (4:15 – 4:45) 5. COVID-19 Community Survey Results (4:45 – 5:00) 6. Fee Discussion and possible action to move forward to public hearing (5:00 – 5:20) 7. UALBOH Update (5:20 – 5:25) 8. BOH update discussion items (BOH, 5:25 – 5:30) Adjourn Please click the link below to join the meeting: https://summitcountyut.zoom.us/j/93451820697 Or iPhone one-tap : US: +12532158782,,93451820697# or +13462487799,,93451820697# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID: 934 5182 0697 International numbers available: https://summitcountyut.zoom.us/u/adHaerM2gn Female football star suits up for courtroom battle She sued districts for not creating girls’ programs SOPHIA EPPOLITO Associated Press/Report for America SALT LAKE CITY — Sam Gordon’s staggering football skills made her famous at age 9. But they didn’t make her fully welcome on the field. As the only girl in a tackle football league in Utah, she heard parents from opposing teams urge their kids to “beat the girl.” “I had a target on my back, and it was in the shape of a ponytail,” said Gordon, now 17. “It was awesome to prove to them that I’m more than just a girl in pads. I’m actually a football player.” Viral videos viewed by millions of her playing catapulted Gordon to a place in the country’s most popular sport, including the ESPN awards and Super Bowl commercials. But very few other women have gotten a toehold in football. To help change that, Gordon went to court. She sued her school district and two others for refusing to create a girls’ football program under Title IX, saying many girls like her don’t feel comfortable playing with boys and some are even harassed. One player who testified said she was forced to change in the boys’ locker room at away games and often faced dis- criminatory treatment by her male coach and teammates. But plenty of girls want to play, Gordon said, pointing to an all-female league she started with her father six years ago that’s drawn hundreds of girls from the Salt Lake City area. The districts and state athletic officials are pushing back in court, though. They argue a girls football program would be unsustainable and require new infrastructure they shouldn’t be responsible for. Closing arguments are set for this week. The school districts and state athletics association either declined or didn’t respond to requests for comment. Gordon’s push to expand access to the sport to more women comes as concerns about youth and professional football players getting injured has reached a fever pitch. She said the league has made minor adjustments to prioritize safety such as removing punt returns, kickoffs and kick returns from the game to limit plays that can often result in injuries. Jen Welter became the first woman in an NFL mentoring program for coaches when she joined the Arizona Cardinals’ training camp coaching staff in 2015. This year, there are eight female assistant coaches in the league, including the San Francisco 49ers’ Katie Sowers who became the first woman to coach in a Super Bowl last year. Football is considered “America’s game,” but it is one of few sports that doesn’t have gender parity at any lev- el, from the peewees to the pros, in terms of opportunity or compensation, Welter said. “For a girl to play on a boys team, she is the exception,” Welter said. “Yet when you see a women’s tackle team or a girls’ tackle team they’re all in it together. We encourage that in all sports so why would football be so different?” Some other opportunities for girls who want to play football are starting to open up. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the NFL announced in May that women’s flag football will become a nationally recognized college varsity sport by 2021. That opportunity could be life changing for young girls and their path toward receiving a college education, Welter said. “That changes everything,” she said. “Because now that we’ve seen life trajectory changing opportunities in football, that means it’s a viable dream and goal.” Even if Gordon wins her lawsuit, she may not get a chance to play for her school under the Friday night lights. She’s a high school senior now, so she’d get one spring season at best. But even if she doesn’t get to play with her school’s jersey, she said, the lawsuit would still be worth it for the girls who come after her. “For them to get the opportunity to go and play and to ... destigmatize girls playing contact sports and being tough and rowdy,” she said. “It’s more than just football, and I would be proud to be a part of that.” End of an era: Miller family announces sale of Utah Jazz Ryan Smith, who founded Qualtrics, will buy the team ASSOCIATED PRESS SALT LAKE CITY — The majority interest of the Utah Jazz is being sold to technology entrepreneur Ryan Smith, a move that when formally approved by the NBA will end the Miller family’s 35-year run as owners of the franchise. The Jazz said Wednesday that “definitive agreements” have been struck with Smith on the sale of the team, Vivint Arena, the team’s G League affiliate and management of a Triple-A baseball club. Part of those agreements call for the team to remain in Utah. Smith is a co-founder of the Utah-based firm Qualtrics, which was sold to SAP for $8 billion in an all-cash deal Don’t get buried in news you don’t need. Call 435–649–9014 to get the news you care about finalized last year. Gail Miller, the owner and chair of the Larry H. Miller Group, said she has known Smith and his wife Ashley for some time. Smith, she said, approached the Millers to gauge their interest in a sale. The terms were not immediately disclosed, though ESPN reported the purchase price to exceed $1.6 billion. “After much soul searching, lengthy discussions and extensive evaluations of our longterm goals, my family and I decided this was the right time to pass our responsibility and cherished stewardship of 35 years to Ryan and Ashley, who share our values and are committed to keeping the team in Utah,” Miller said. “We have every confidence they will continue the work we have undertaken and move the team to the next level.” The sale will have to be approved by the NBA’s board of governors. When that happens, By Tom Clyde Smith will be installed as the team’s governor. The Miller family will retain a stake in the franchise. “The Miller family has had an unbelievable impact on countless people through the Utah Jazz and the other organizations they run,” Smith said. “We all owe a great debt to the Miller family for the amazing stewardship they have had over this asset for the past 35 years.” Larry and Gail Miller bought 50% of the Jazz in May 1985 for $8 million, then bought the remaining 50% the following year for $14 million. Forbes, in its annual valuation of franchises, said the Jazz were worth $1.55 billion earlier this year. The Jazz have the NBA’s third-best record since the 1985-86 season, their .588 winning percentage in that span trailing only San Antonio (.633) and the Los Angeles Lakers (.596). There’s no getting around it — the season has changed. Monday night was as cold as a well digger’s brass monkey or something like that. I had -4 at my house, and others around the area were even colder than that. It’s not unheard of this time of year, but records were broken. With the cold, the resorts have fired up the snowmaking, and are finding water somewhere to spray on the mountain. I’m surprised there is anything left after this terribly dry summer. The river by my house is more or less dry, and has been for a couple of months. You have to hope for a big snowpack this winter, or the groundwater used to make snow could translate into a summer without showers. Still, it looks like we will get opened up for a socially distanced, plague-spreading ski season on schedule. It’s so dry that the well at my brother’s house, a half-mile or so from mine, has gone dry. So he has a driller in to drill a new and deeper well. It’s a noisy and messy process when they are working. With the cold, they haven’t been around much. For some reason they don’t like playing in the wet when it’s below freezing. I walked over to check it out the other day and noticed a bald eagle roosting in the dead cottonwood by the river. The eagles have used one specific branch as the lookout for at least 30 years, maybe longer. At some point, the dead tree will fall over and their whole cosmos will be disrupted. They might just move to the next dead cottonwood, though the favored location seems to provide a perfect overview of the river and any fish trying to portage around the rocks to move from one puddle to another. It must be pretty easy pickings. In the eagle world, it’s prime real estate. When the tree finally goes over, it will make a real mess. Fences will get smashed, it could block a road, or tip into the river damming up the flow. Every spring I think it would be good to take it down before it’s a problem, but then I think about sitting at the kitchen table, eating lunch and watching eagles, and figure that’s worth the price. People get cranky, and if there’s anything we don’t need right now, it’s one more reason to get cranky.” When the eagles show up, it always seems early. Then I look it up, and they are right on schedule. I’ve never understood how birds set their calendars, but they are extremely regular, showing up within a day or two of the same date every year. The departures are equally scheduled. They might even be more precise than I know, since the eagle might have been perching there for a couple of days before I noticed it. Everything is connected to everything else. The potgut squirrels hibernate very early in the year, leaving the red tail hawks to scrounge up a meal before they give up and move on. The sage grouse, fat, slow birds that can barely fly, are here all year. They completely vanish in the summer months. Then in October, they are all over the yard and driveway for a few weeks before they vanish again. I don’t know where they go, but there is something they like to eat that becomes available in the fall that pulls them in. Unlike the birds, squirrels, rivers, and seasons, we can’t seem to leave things alone. We’re always fussing with the clocks. This weekend is the shift back to standard time. That means we will be getting up in the daylight (for a while anyway) and it will be dark by five. The time change always throws things off for a few days. People get cranky, and if there’s anything we don’t need right now, it’s one more reason to get cranky. We would do well to delay messing with the clocks until after the election, if you ask me. There are always proposals to abandon the shift, and stick with either standard or daylight time year round. For years, proponents of leaving things alone have said it would be a great benefit to the farmers, especially the dairy farmers. The claim is that the cows are confused by the change. I solved that issue by taking the clocks out of the pastures. So the cows don’t know any different. If we are going to quit fiddling with the clocks, I’d be in favor of staying on the daylight schedule year round. That’s because I don’t have a real job and don’t have to get up and at it in the dark unless I want to. So the longer it’s light in the afternoon, the better for me. And I wouldn’t miss the biannual clock adjustment. After spending about an hour trying to figure out how to change the clock in the car, I realized that it had changed by itself. How does it know? I tell you, we are surrounded by miracles all the time. Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986. sunday in the Park By Teri Orr The meditation of many miles, part two Editor’s note: Part one of this column was published Tuesday. There was an extra space on a fabulous trip put together by the long established talented folks of Canyonlands Field Institute and I was offered the spot. As a gift. For three days and nights, basecamp was the Recapture Lodge in Bluff with meals and guides and sunshine and red rocks. I did hesitate but ... we would be outdoors — they were all about the protocols for COVID and the lodge gave me a solo room that they aired out for two full days between guests — for the sake of the guests of course — but as much for the safety of the Navajo maids who clean there. I said yes. The first night had all of us driving from all our various points — Colorado, Utah and even Berkeley, California. We had dinner outdoors, camp style, and a little program by our guides. And then they sent off us with the reminder of an expected meet-up the next morning at 7 a.m. When I wandered back toward my room across the dirt field above the San Juan River, Mars had shown up all red and ready to show off in front of the Milky Way and a galaxy of stars in this protected dark sky. It was so very clear and not fully cold yet. I kept my head cocked backwards. My naked eyes with limited celestial knowledge knew enough to be in awe. I eventually, reluctantly went to my room. Morning was crisp and cold but bright. After a cowboy outdoor breakfast we drove onto permitted BLM sites where we learned about terra firma and the people who walked there before us. The Sleeping Ute — the name of a natural long low mountain feature in the Four Corners area, was easy to spot. We stood in the middle of the middle of nowhere, and from there you could see Monument Valley, Navajo Mountain and even Shiprock. There were 360 degrees of clear air and the hundreds of miles of just red rocky nature was dizzying. So were the pottery shards and pieces of tools left behind by primitive cultures. One of the guests picked up a piece of pottery and turned it around in his hand and then discarded it in another spot. I spoke without a filter and with the voice in my head of a Navajo medicine woman who once said to me — “don’t disorient that which comes from the land or you may find yourself disoriented.” The guest looked at me and the guide nodded. After lunch we peeled off from the main group — because neither of us do well with rules. The sister of my heart — who once worked with me as the star reporter for The Park Record and later followed me as editor — led me on her own version of — choose your own adventure. Sena has spent all her life (except that Park City chapter) living and loving in Moab. Her family had explored this region for decades. She wanted to show me a different agenda than the one the rest of the group was going on. So we lit out in the Valley of the Gods and climbed up a crazy dirt road that led us to the ledge of Cedar Mesa. And since we were so close — about 40 miles is close in the desert — we decided to head over to Natural Bridges. Some paved roads — most not. We stopped at the Natural I kept my head cocked backwards. My naked eyes with limited celestial knowledge knew enough to be in awe.” Bridges to look at the incredible rock walls sculptured by wind and rain. We saw all the juniper berries in full and a raven that wanted our attention — or at least our snacks. “I think I want to come back as a raven,” Sena said. I said I saw her more as an eagle. “Oh no,” she said, “eagles have so much responsibility. Raven are the tricksters, they have all the fun.” And she tossed a snack at the bird who flew over and snapped it up. He might have winked at her. Sena now manages a horse ranch with her kind husband, John. It is on land forever preserved on the Colorado River — about 20 miles outside of Moab. She manages wranglers and guests and during COVID her business — that at first froze — has exploded. She spends days and nights showing folks the world over the beauty of the rocks and river. On this trip someone else was in charge of the adventure. The next two days included a Hopi guide who took us up washes where water once ran and now are rutted and filled with endless soft red dust. We would drive for over an hour and cover maybe 6 miles. Lyle was from Third Mesa of the Hopi Reservation and his girlfriend from Second Mesa. He talked to us about his ancestors and the ruins. We saw ancient dwellings and rock art. He connected the spiritual piece of the Hopi sites to the powerful Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. We felt the mystery and magic of those beliefs. When I left on the third day to head up to Boulder, Utah, Sena urged me to try a different route and drive to Lake Powell and take the ferry from Halls Crossing to Bullfrog. Her father had been the director of transportation for the state of Utah for years (in addition to being the publisher of the Moab Times Independent newspaper — where Ed Abbey once wrote letters to the editor when he was a park ranger at Arches). So I took that different drive and was so grateful — even though the road was paved — I didn’t see three cars in a hour. I did stay alert because the land was open range and cattle wandered the road freely. The short ride on the ferry was comforting — a gentle rocking in the primitive prehistoric, time-forgotten area made me curious about who might have once lived there under that Rainbow Bridge. What the trip to those Canyonlands gave to me was the thing I didn’t know I desperately needed. It renewed my sense of wonder. And that has been in short supply most all of my 2020 Sundays in the Park... Teri Orr is a former editor of The Park Record. She is the founder of the Park City Institute, which provides programming for the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Center for the Performing Arts. |