Renai Bodley Miller

**UPDATE:  I-80 will be closed Friday at 9am, according to Unified Fire Authority, to support firefighting operations.  They don't know how long the highway will be shut down.  If you need to get from Park City to Salt Lake City, take an alternate route.**

A fast-moving wildfire in Parleys Canyon sparked about 6:30pm Thursday evening.  About an hour later, Interstate 80 between Park City and Salt Lake City was closed to vehicles so fire fighters could battle the blaze on the ground and from the air.  The highway reopened around 9:30pm.

Tuesday night Park City School District and Wasatch School District will hold meetings to talk about how to safely return students to the classroom this fall.

By law, all public school districts have to post their COVID-19 plans for the 2021/2022 school year on their website by August first. 

  It appears Park City students will have the option of going to class in person or online next school year, according to a letter from the school superintendent, Jill Gildea, which is posted on the school district’s website, pcschools.us. Kindergarten through 12th grade classes for the 2020 / 2021 school year start August 20th. 

The Black Lives Matter mural on Park City’s Main Street was vandalized Tuesday night, just days after it was completed.

The word “black” was painted over with grey paint. So was the image of a fist that makes up the letter “i” in the word “lives”. The result is that the phrase “Black Lives Matter” becomes “Lives Matter.”

Four large temporary art installations are underway on Park City's Main Street this 4th of July.   

The four 20' by 300' murals are being painted on the street. Executive Director of the Park City Summit County Arts Council, Jocelyn Scudder, says her group saw an opportunity to create public art on the pavement when they realized Park City had closed Main Street to cars for the holiday weekend. The city had also cancelled the traditional 4th of July parade out of concerns about COVID-19. Scudder says that allowed artists to get on the street early in the day.

**UPDATE  11am:  Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez says Stratton has been found safe and has been reunited with his father. 

Search and rescue workers are looking for a missing 9-year-old boy near the Henry's Fork area in Summit County Thursday.

While the results are not official yet, it appears Malena Stevens has an insurmountable lead over Canice Harte in the race for Summit County Council.

Stevens and Harte, who serve together on the Snyderville Planning Commission, competed in the Democratic primary to fill the Council seat being vacated by Kim Carson.

In Tuesday’s unofficial results, Stevens received 1821 votes—nearly 1000 votes ahead of Harte, who received 831.

No Republican contender has filed to run for Carson’s seat. So barring a write-in, Stevens has been elected to the Summit County Council.

Utah has set another high bar for COVID-19 cases. There are 676 new cases of the coronavirus in Utah Friday, according to the state health department.  That brings the total number of positive cases in Utah to 20,050 since the pandemic began in March.

More than 317,000 tests have been administered. The rate of positives is at 6.3%. 31 more people are in the hospital due to COVID-19, bringing the total number of hospitalizations to 174.

Thursday night Utah Governor Gary Herbert approved Summit County’s request to make wearing face masks mandatory in public. County Manager Tom Fisher tells KPCW the county received verbal confirmation from Herbert's office and written approval will come Friday.

Utah saw its highest number of COVID-19 cases this weekend, and a Wasatch County man is among the recent deaths reported due to the virus.

On Saturday, the Utah Department of Health reported 643 new cases, topping the old record set just the day before on Friday, which was 586.  State epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn released a statement Saturday saying the number of new cases in Utah is “sobering.”  She noted that for three straight weeks the cases in Utah have been increasing at a rate that is not sustainable, and the state is at risk for overwhelming its hospital capacity. 

Monday night the Wasatch County Open Lands Board will meet to consider giving $2 million to save one of the last dairy farms in the Heber Valley.

The Albert Kohler Legacy Farm is 103 acres between River Road on the west, and the Provo River on the east around 1800 North.  The Kohler family has operated the farm since the 1800's. Currently, they process milk and cheese on site and sell it in a red building adjacent to the proposed protected property.  The family also operates a cafe and provides tours of the cheese-making facility to local students and tourists.

Utah’s COVID-19 cases went up by 2.1% Monday, with 256 more cases since Sunday.

Summit County has 437 cases, up three from the day before.  Wasatch County added two more cases, for a total of 332.

There were three more deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Utah Sunday, two women in Salt Lake County and one man in Davis County.  All three were older than age 60 and were hospitalized at the time of their deaths. A total of 124 people have passed away in Utah due to COVID-19.

COVID-19 cut the 2019-2020 ski season short by about a month and "significantly impacted" Vail Resorts' third quarter earnings, according to the ski company.  Thursday, CEO Rob Katz told investors the company lost $140 million in the first four months of 2020. Net income was $152 million, down from $292 million the year before.

The Utah Department of Health reported 268 new cases of COVID-19 in the state Sunday, a more than 50% drop from the day before.  Ten more people are hospitalized, bringing the total number of coronavirus patients in Utah hospitals to 118.  No new deaths have been reported.

Summit County has 434 cases, up eight from Saturday.  One more person has been hospitalized, bringing the total number of hospitalizations in the county since March to 40.  

Wasatch County has 330 cases, up four from Saturday.  

Utah set another record for COVID-19 Saturday, reporting 546 new cases.  The statewide total is now 11,798.  There was one more death, a Weber County man over the age of 85, bringing the total number of fatalities to 121 since March.

Summit County has 426 cases, up four from Friday.  Wasatch County has 326 cases, up nine from Friday.