Summit County

The Summit County Council has approved changes to the county's emergency staff positions—in a year when emergency response has been the major task for the county.

County councilor Glenn Wright said that at the county’s July 8 meeting that the Council took the position of Emergency Director and divided it up into two positions—one full-time and one part-time.

He said the full-time job is with the Health Department. That’s dictated to a large extent by the state.

Summit County Development Director Pat Putt says the county is going to study the plans announced by the Wasatch County town of Hideout to annex land that reaches into Summit County near Quinn’s Junction and Park City.

That follows the Hideout Town Council meeting last week, which Putt says caught the county almost entirely off guard.

COVID-19 cases continue to rise and Thursday Governor Gary Herbert issued a mask mandate for all school districts in Utah but he still resists issuing a statewide mask order.

The coronavirus was a major topic for a special meeting of the Council of Governments held on Tuesday, where attendees traded concerns about how they will enforce the county’s mandatory mask order.

On the positive side, they heard that the Oakley Rodeo went well, though it was scaled-down and COVID-conscious.

Among the comments during the COG meeting, Kamas Mayor Matt McCormick said he supports the mask order, given the number of people who come through Kamas. But he said it’s also frustrating for him and the town’s police force.

Summit County has received some backlash to its mandatory mask order, but county officials are defending their decision.

Responding Tuesday on KPCW, County Manager Tom Fisher said officials made their decisions to respond to an international crisis that has made its mark in Summit County.

The Summit County Health Board heard on Monday that a number of East Side businesses feel they’re seriously hurting due to the county’s mandatory mask order, and they say the county isn’t listening to them.

During a brief conversation in the Health Board’s virtual meeting, board member Chris Ure, a South Summit resident, said he’s heard some area business owners say they’re being treated “like a kicking post.”

As the Summit County Health Board met in their regular monthly session,on Monday County Health Director Rich Bullough reviewed the pandemic numbers that are concerning, and those more on the positive side; and commented on the county’s first recorded COVID-19 death.

Bullough told the Health Board that to date, the county has seen 536 cases total, and 47 of those have been hospitalized.

With COVID-19 restrictions leading to the cancelation of Fourth of July celebrations across Utah, the Wasatch Back had to get creative. 

Despite the modifications to public firework displays, officials in Summit and Wasatch County say this year was no busier than years past when it came to responding to fire calls.

There’s a new tally in the Democratic race for Summit County Council. 

Malena Stevens widened her lead over Canice Harte to 1,437 votes in the race for Summit County Council on Thursday. Stevens led Harte in the Democratic primary by just under 1,000 votes after the first batch of results was released on Tuesday night.

After Thursday’s vote count, Stevens has 2,601 votes to Harte’s 1,164.

Former Summit County Commissioner Sheldon Richins passed away on Monday, June 29, 2020. 

The lifelong Henefer resident was a Summit County Commissioner from 1989 through 2000. 

Flags at Summit County buildings, including the Richins Services Building at Kimball Junction named after him, have been lowered to half-mast in his honor this week. 

According to his obituary, Richins worked as an educator in the North Summit School District for 20 years. 

July marks the fourth month of living with COVID-19 restrictions in Utah, and the upcoming school year is just around the corner.

After homeschooling and virtual classrooms became the new normal for families across the country this spring, students and teachers had to adapt quickly to a new set of challenges.

Mail-in ballots were already standard in Utah, but on Tuesday it will be the only option for voters participating in the state primary election, among a host of other changes prompted by COVID-19.

Registered Republicans and Democrats in Summit County and Republicans in Wasatch County have already received their ballots by mail. Democrats in Wasatch County have not received ballots as there are no contested races.

Saturday marked the beginning of Summit County’s mandatory mask order, meaning that people may now get a ticket for not wearing face coverings in public places. The order is intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 while allowing local businesses to remain open.

Summit County Health Director Rich Bullough told KPCW that although numbers like hospitalizations and deaths in the county were good compared to other parts of the state, he was alarmed by several other trends that were heading in the wrong direction.