Renai Bodley Miller

On Tuesday,  January 19, 2021, Summit County will join counties across the nation in a moment of silence to honor Americans who have died from COVID-19.

At a meeting on January 13th, the Summit County Council passed a proclamation to memorialize the hundreds of Utahns and six Summit County residents who died from the virus. All residents of Summit County are encouraged to stand in tribute and honor those who have succumbed to COVID-19.  

Gov. Gary Herbert announced Thursday morning that he is lifting the 10 p.m. “Last call for alcohol” regulation at Utah’s restaurants and bars, which he had instituted to help stem the spread of COVID-19 in the state. 

Gov. Herbert had reasoned that if people couldn’t order alcoholic drinks, they would be less inclined to gather for longer periods of time at bars.

A man died in a gyrocopter crash in Heber City Wednesday afternoon. 

The crash happened around 2pm.  According to a spokesperson for the Utah Highway Patrol, the gyrocopter went down by the side of Highway 189 near 1200 South shortly after taking off from the Heber City airport.

The pilot was the only person in the aircraft. He died in the crash. The Utah Highway Patrol is not releasing his name until his family is notified.

A small plane made an emergency landing on I-80 near Jeremy Ranch Saturday night.  No one was injured.

According to Agent Colton Freckleton with the Utah Department of Public Safety, the plane landed in the east bound lanes near mile marker 142 around 6:15pm. Two people were in the plane. They managed to push the aircraft to the shoulder of the road and out of traffic after landing on the highway.  

  A dump truck overturned on 224 Friday afternoon, about a half mile above the Montage, blocking traffic in both directions in Empire Pass. The road was closed for more than four hours, preventing Park City traffic from accessing Guardsman Pass, a popular fall drive, during that time. The road reopened around 7 o’clock Friday night.

Hideout's Town Council isn't done talking about annexing 655 acres in Summit County.

The council scheduled a meeting for Friday night of Labor Day weekend at 6:30pm.  On Thursday afternoon, a judge issued a preliminary injuction against Hideout's pre-annexation agreement with developers Josh Romney and Nate Brockbank.  Summit County had filed a lawsuit saying that agreement occured in violation of Utah's open meeting laws.  

Summit County released more information Monday about a private birthday party in early August that health officials believe has led to at least 75 new cases of COVID-19.

Rich Bullough, Director & Health Officer for the Summit County Health Department, released the following statement Monday evening:

"As COVID-19 continues to impact our communities, we want to share some additional information related to the recent event that has contributed to the increase in new cases.

A fire near Mirror Lake Highway had firefighters scrambling and campers and hikers evacuating an area near Norway Flat Saturday afternoon.

The Shingle Creek Fire started near mile marker 11 around 2:30pm on the north side of the highway.

**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.