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Show B-1 WINTER ADVENTURE GUIDE INSIDE! Ready for an action-packed season? Look inside for The Park Record’s annual guide to all things winter in Park City. LACROSSE ATHLETES AIM TO SCORE POINTS WITH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TREE PICKUP EDITORIAL, COLUMNS, A-10 A YEAR TO REMEMBER — OR NOT COMMUNITY RESOLUTIONS AS THE CALENDAR TURNS Park Record. The PA R K C I T Y, U TA H Serving Summit County since 1880 | W W W. PA R K R E C O R D . C O M Down, but no disaster for lodging Tumultuous year may leave some students behind peers or dealing with mental health challenges JAY HAMBURGER ALEXANDER CRAMER The Park Record Please see Lodging, A-2 2 sections • 24 pages Classifieds ..............................B-9 Editorial................................A-11 Restaurant Guide....................A-7 Weather ..................................B-2 $1.00 Unseen costs of pandemic cause worry Pole position Chamber/Bureau sees a ‘solid performance’ given circumstances The day-by-day lodging occupancy projections in the Park City area during the crucial holiday stretch show numbers approaching 70%, off sharply from the same time in 2019 but not appearing to be devastating under the circumstances. The report is based on a survey of 16 properties that represent a range of traditional lodging options like economy hotels, luxury hotels and short-term vacation rentals. The numbers, released by the Park City Chamber/Bureau, were compiled on Dec. 15, meaning bookings or cancellations since then are not included. The 2019 projections were compiled on Dec. 15 of that year. According to the report, the occupancy projections by date are: • 58% on Dec. 26, as compared to a 92% projection in 2019 • 62% on Dec. 27, as compared to a 93% projection in 2019 • 65% on Dec. 28, as compared to a 92% projection in 2019 • 67% on Dec. 29 as compared to a 90% projection in 2019 • 69% on Dec. 30 as compared to a 86% projection in 2019 • 68% on Dec. 31 as compared to a 80% projection in 2019 • 61% on Jan. 1 as compared to a 71% projection in 2019 There is typically movement in the numbers by date on a year-overyear basis depending on which day Christmas and New Year’s fall. The actual numbers in 2019 tracked closely with the projections that year. Lodging options like properties rented by individual owners or rented through services like Airbnb are not included in the report. The stretch between Christmas and New Year’s is typically one of the busiest times of the ski season, but the continued spread of the novel coronavirus is expected to sharply cut into tourism numbers. The holidays are seen as the first stretch of the winter when the impact will be clear since early-season skiers and snowboarders are more likely to hail from Utah than from outside the state like Christmas-to-New Year’s visitors. The lodging numbers are a barometer for the wider Park City economy since the visitors typically also spend money at the mountain resorts and in other sectors like retail, restaurant and transportation. Jennifer Wesselhoff, the president and CEO of the Chamber/Bureau, said in responses to a Park Record inquiry about the projections that “we are excited and grateful to have the robust business levels that we do have this holiday season.” “We can observe on our roads and on Main Street this week that Park City is doing brisk business — and that is great news for our local merchants and restaurants. We are not attempting to beat or even match last year’s holiday numbers, given the current health crisis and restrictions on travel both domestically and internationally,” she said. She added: “I never thought I would say that we’re happy to be 20-25% down, but given the dire situation for many cities around the world, I’d say that these numbers Vol 140 | No. 94 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, December 26-29, 2020 The Park Record TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD A skier flies down Tycoon, a double-blue run at Deer Valley Resort, on Wednesday. Tycoon is one of 52 runs that were open at the resort, which experienced high demand leading into the holiday period. A ‘celebratory feeling’ as hospital receives vaccine Park City facility among first outside of Wasatch Front to begin inoculating caregivers ALEXANDER CRAMER The Park Record Christmas came early to some Park City Hospital staffers who began receiving the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday afternoon. The small hospital employs approximately 500 people, according to a spokesperson, and officials plan to make vaccinations available for all of them in the coming days. “There’s a palpable celebratory feeling in the room,” spokesperson Holly Nelson wrote in an email to The Park record. “The COVID-19 vaccine is not mandatory for caregivers, but all will be offered the vaccine.” Intermountain officials announced that the Park City Hospital and the Heber Valley Hospital were the first two rural hospitals in the state to receive COVID vaccinations. Nelson said around midday Wednesday that the hospital received doses of the vaccine manufactured by Moderna. She added that the hospital planned to immunize approximately 150 employees later that day and would continue to offer Please see Vaccine, A-2 COURTESY OF INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE Laurie Blankenship, Park City Hospital’s pharmacy director, holds some of the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that arrived at the hospital on Wednesday. Officials planned to offer vaccinations to all hospital employees by Saturday. The coronavirus pandemic appears to be impacting students’ mental health differently depending on their age, socioeconomic status and whether they’re attending school in person or online. So say three officials who work closely with youth mental health initiatives in Summit County. Older students are feeling more anxious and depressed or just disappearing from school outright. Some students who have a track record of success continue to do well, while others have struggled, especially ones who live in crowded apartments or have increased family responsibilities while parents are at work. More students who opted to attend school online are struggling with academics than their peers who attend school in person, and officials worry that might extend to their social and emotional health, as well. It’s too early to have data to support theories about the pandemic’s effects on students, the officials said, and they warn the true effects may not be known for years to come. One thing they do know is that more students are being referred into the school-based counseling program compared to years past. Nelson Clayton runs the University of Utah behavioral health program that’s offered in Summit County schools, which aims to provide a counselor to each school for a set number of hours each week. He said the pandemic has simultaneously increased students’ susceptibility to challenging circumstances at home while decreasing the protective factors that they normally rely on, like a supportive network of friends or access to trusted adults. “It's kind of a double-edged sword,” said Clayton, He said any student who wants to speak to a counselor should find a trusted adult like a parent or teacher to help them enter the school-based counseling system. Any adult that would like to arrange help for a student should begin by contacting that student’s school administrators, he added. Ben Belnap, associate superintendent of student wellness in the Park City School District, said he’s seen an increase in the number of students requiring mental health support and that the issues appear to manifest differently by age. Younger students may act out more, but older ones may withdraw, he said. “As they get older, we’re finding a really strong coordination with just disappearing, dropping off from remote work, not engaging, not turning in assignments,” Belnap said. Belnap said there appears to be an increase in depression and anxiety in older students. “Everything just feels bigger and heavier right now,” he said, offering the example of a student Please see Effects, A-2 Bishop, retiring, leaves uncertain legacy Congressman couldn’t sway the left-leaning voters of Park City JAY HAMBURGER The Park Record Congressman Rob Bishop toward the end of the ski season in 2012 scheduled a stop in Park City, likely understanding a crowd of detractors awaited him. The Republican who represents the 1st Congressional District, covering a wide swath of Northern Utah that includes Park City and surrounding Summit County, at the time was co-sponsoring legislation that was needed for the ski industry to advance a long-imagined idea to connect the Park City side of the Wasatch Mountains with the Cottonwood Canyons. Known as SkiLink, the concept called for a gondola between what was then the Canyons resort — now the Canyons Village side of Park City Mountain Resort — and Solitude Mountain Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Bishop wanted Congress to authorize selling 30 acres of land to Canyons to move SkiLink forward. Influential environmental activists and outdoors lovers from both sides of the ridgeline were livid, arguing SkiLink would have disastrous consequences. The resort industry, though, saw SkiLink as something that would increase Utah’s attractiveness as a destination, modeled on the interconnected mountain resorts of Europe. Bishop, who will retire from Congress in early 2021 after nine terms, in March of 2012 entered the Wasatch Bagel Cafe in Park City during what was a successful reelection bid that year. It was a rare public appearance in Park City by the congressman, and tensions were expected. Bishop attempted to calm the room, saying he would not Please see Legacy, A-2 PARK RECORD FILE PHOTO Rep. Rob Bishop in 2018 makes a campaign stop at a private residence in Promontory shortly before winning another term in the 1st Congressional District. Bishop did not seek reelection in 2020 and will retire shortly with a legacy in the Park City area that is difficult to ascertain. CORONAVIRUS TRACKER Summit County Utah Known cases: 2,959 Hospitalizations: 102 Deaths: 5 Known cases: 260,589 Hospitalizations: 10,406 Deaths: 1,204 Data as of Dec. 24, Source: Utah Department of Health |