Blanding

Listening for echoes of history at Blue Notch

Last Saturday, Ted, Oggie, and I drove to Blue Notch, the clay saddle between two massive red rock formations north of the Happy Jack mine in Red Canyon, hoping to photograph desert wildflowers. The prince’s plumes bloomed along with a few fishhook cacti, primroses, and, surprisingly, tamarisk,...

Traditional Memorial Day Sunrise Service at Blanding Cemetery is presented via video

Graduation for Class of 2020 to take place virtually this week

In one of the most unexpected conclusions to a school year ever, area students are set to receive diplomas this week from the five San Juan School District high schools. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in at-home education during the entire fourth quarter of the school year. While the hundreds...

Blanding City Council discusses challenge of holding popular summer activities and events

The possibility of holding popular summer activities dominated the May 12 meeting of the Blanding City Council, including opening the pool, running baseball and softball seasons, and holding events for the Independence Day holiday. Safely opening the pool is a chief concern. When the meeting was...

Know your Candidates

San Juan County Commission, District 1 Cheryl Bowers Bruce Adams San Juan County Recorder Cindi Holyoak David Carpenter San Juan County Assessor Logan Boyd Rick Meyer Republican candidates for Utah Governor Spencer Cox Greg Hughes Jon Huntsman, Jr. Thomas Wright Candidates for Utah Attorney...

Academic All-state honors for San Juan High School students

Five San Juan High School student athletes earned Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) Academic All-state honors for the COVID-19-shortened 2020 spring sports season. Staten Perkins was named to the Academic All-state tennis team, Madison Palmer and Delaney Palmer were honored in...

Fostering the pinyon’s tenacious hold on life

Despite a strong winter, some of the pinyons in Westwater have died with brown needles hanging on the branches or piled beneath. Those trees will become nurslings – sometimes to baby flickers whose parents have drilled holes into the dead wood – sometimes to other plants as the branches and trunks...

Radical quiet – a lesson

Due to the worldwide reset commonly referred to as COVID-19, Grange, our 20-year-old son, has returned to Bluff after a two-year stint at the University of Utah. Grange was just finishing his sophomore year in the Honors College at the “U” when the crisis struck. While he is sure to complete the...

COVID-19 discussion with Public Health Director

The COVID-19 pandemic was the focus of a discussion between San Juan County Public Health Director Kirk Benge and the Blanding City Council on April 28. Benge answered questions and provided an inside perspective into state and county efforts to mitigate the ongoing health crisis. Benge gave a...

Virus counts more than double in past week

The number of reported cases of the COVID-19 virus in San Juan County exploded in the past week, largely due to more than 1,500 additional tests that have been administered. The Utah Department of Health and Utah Navajo Health Systems (UNHS) teamed up for two days of free testing on April 30 and...