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Show Here's Recap Of 1990 Main Events January Severe cold temperatures raised havoc county wide at the start of 1991. Plummeting temperatures made plumbers the most popular people in the county as pipes froze and burst all over Garfield County in one of the worst cold snaps in recent history. In Panguitch, the all-time low was tied, and a record set for December as the Forest Service office registered a minus 30 on Sunday, Dec. 23. The USFS began keeping records in 1960, and the lowest temperatures recorded had been minus 30's in January 19 63 and 1971. Close to 30 homes had reported frozen lines in Panguitch and even lower temperatures were reported in the town of Hatch. A run on heat tape was reported by local lo-cal hardware stores and across the county folks were working desperately desper-ately just to start up their vehicles. Much revelry was bestowed on Trac N. Norris as he was named New Year's Baby by the Garfield Memorial Hospital. Trac was the first child born to Troy and Ann Marie Norris, newcomers to the Panguitch area. The much-welcomed infant was born on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 1991 at 7:33 a.m. and weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs. 12 oz. Garfield County School District Superintendent Phil Blais announced an-nounced the district's successful efforts ef-forts in obtaining a $1.5 million low-interest loan from the Permanent Perma-nent Community Impact Board to build Bryce Valley High School's new gymnasiumauditorium.The money was lent to the district at 3.5 percent interest over a 15-year period. According to 1990 census figures, fig-ures, total population for Garfield County is 3,980 up from 1980's 3,673, a difference of 307 new residents. resi-dents. Escalante contributed 166 of those, showing an increase from 652 to 818. Other communities showing increases were Panguitch with 1,444 up from 1,343 in 1980; Tropic with 374, up from 338; Boulder with 126, up from 113. Population in the unincorporated areas of the county is 738, up from 71 1, an increase of 27. Communities Communi-ties showing losses in population are Hatch at 103, down from 121 in 1980; Antimony with 83, down from 94; Henrieville with 163, down from 167 and Cannon ville with 131, down from 134. Debbie Pdllock, English teacher at Panguitch High School was named Outstanding Educator in District Dis-trict 73 and honored in special ceremonies cer-emonies held at the House of Representatives Rep-resentatives at the Utah State Capitol, Capi-tol, joining District 73 Representative Representa-tive Jim Yardley of Panguitch. February The Garfield County School District spent $3,431 per student during the 1989-90 school year, 64.3 percent for classroom instruction, instruc-tion, 12 percent for plant operation, 16.2 percent for administration, 5.2 percent for pupil services (including transportation), 1.3 percent for instructional in-structional staff services, and 1.0 percent for all other activities. . The Garfield County Travel Council reported on the success at the giant mid-January travel show held in Anaheim, Calif, where the thousands flocked to the booth sponsored by the Garfield Travel Council , Rubys Inn and Color Country. This year's show will be held Jan. 4-12. 1990 tourism statistics were up substantially as statistics were released re-leased on the number of visitors at the Panguitch and Hatch information informa-tion centers. The largest numbers came in June and May in Hatch and in July and August in Panguitch. Two mountain lions were killed in the Bryce Valley area within a five-day period after attacking family fam-ily dogs in the owners' back yards and at least one other cougar was still known to be stalking domestic animals in ' the same area. Lack of the usual amounts of snow seemed to have little impact on the Third Annual Bryce Canyon Winter Festival over the Presidents Day weekend at Bryce as motel owners in the BryceBryce Valley area pooled their efforts to make the event a success. Activities included the popular 10K cross country ski See Year End Recap Page 2A Year End Recap From Page 1 race, ski archery, snowmobiling, limited snow sculpturing, and sledding sled-ding plus a variety of evening entertainment. enter-tainment. March Garfield County was host to some 80 snowmobiles and more than a hundred snowmobilers on Saturday, March 2. Members of snowmobile clubs from all over Utah joined together to showcase snowmobiling as another sport other than skiing that generates tourism, money and winter activity in Utah. The third mountain lion to be killed in the Bryce Valley area in just over three weeks was shot March 5 as it feasted on chickens at the Lee Barney residence in Can-nonville. Can-nonville. Mountain lion researcher Clint Mecham said that the local mountain lion population seems to be in good shape. Garfield County with its high deer population seems to attract its share of the state's approximately ap-proximately 1,400 mountain lions. Utah Department of Transportation Transporta-tion crews got underway on work on Center and North Main Streets in Panguitch on the first major improvements im-provements on the U.S. 89 highway through the city in some 30 years. The approximately $2 million project pro-ject was scheduled to include a new storm drain system, improvements to water lines, new sidewalks, and curbs and gutters. April Garfield County Sheriff Than Cooper arrested an Arizona rape suspect April 4 on South Main Street in Panguitch after drawing his gun and ordering the fleeing man to stop. David Varela, 31, was held in Garfield County Jail on $100,000 bail. He was later returned re-turned to Flagstaff, Ariz, where he ultimately was convicted on several felony counts in connection with the rape of a Flagstaff area woman at gunpoint on April 2. A bomb threat at a Panguitch motel kept local law enforcement personnel busy for several hours on the afternoon of April 4. An anonymous telephone call to Donna Jefferson at the Cameron Motel stating a bomb was on the premises led to officers blocking off the area while a search was made. No bomb was found. Sixteen-year-old Justin Fischer, a junior at Panguitch High School, captured first place in science in Sterling Scholar competition at Southern Utah University in Cedar City. PHS students, Stacee Yard-ley Yard-ley and Bulkley were named run-ners-up, Stacee in business competition compe-tition and Christy honored in home economics. To Be Continued In Next Week's Issue |