Life in San Juan

COVID-19 brings food bank crisis to county

There is a dire need for food assistance in San Juan County with the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. The Blanding City Mobile Food Bank reports it had double the requests for food than it normally receives on the monthly delivery date on April 9. Cars were backed up past Yaks Cafe and many families...

Travel declaration form sent to cellphones in cars on Highway 191

SEE UPDATE HERE Officials claim early success during the first day travelers to Utah were asked to complete a COVID-19 travel declaration form when entering the state. “This is very preliminary, but the results seem positive,” said John Gleason, of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) late...

COVID-19 causing widespread social disruption in San Juan County

The worldwide pandemic triggered by the COVID-19 virus has disrupted life in San Juan County and beyond. In addition to the enormous economic, education, and health care impacts, the distancing required by the public health response has had enormous social impacts. Religious communities generally...

San Juan County grocers navigate the minefield of COVID-19

“Make it stop!” That’s Craig Stanley’s response to the COVID-19 coronavirus craziness, and you can hear virtually every voice in San Juan County echoing the sentiment. Stanley, manager of Clark’s Market in Blanding, says his team is working hard and is tired, but they are doing everything they can...

Food bank provides assistance to the area

Estimates are that nearly one in five San Juan County residents face hunger every day. One quarter of children may not know where their next meal is coming from. The number of San Juan County residents facing hunger is much higher than national and statewide averages, reports the Utah Food Bank....

Traders, agents, weavers in book by McPherson

Local author Bob McPherson has recently published the history Traders, Agents, and Weavers: Developing the Northern Navajo Region (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2020). The book centers around the story of Navajo economic and cultural development through the testimonies of traders,...

Blue Mountain Entertainment brings Shakespeare to Monticello

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is hitting the road with one of the world’s most popular and tragic love stories, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Blue Mountain Entertainment will present the show on Wednesday, March 4, at 7 p.m. in the Monticello High School Auditorium. Admission will be by...

Youths honored for their kindness

The efforts of outstanding youth in area communities have been honored with the “Making A Difference” Community Youth Award campaign. The campaign is the work of a variety of law enforcement, city, county, and federal agencies, along with local businesses. They are all members of the San Juan...

Risa Shimoda calling for SJC residents help

Risa Shimoda has been collecting bits and pieces of her father’s history for 20 years and is requesting additional help from San Juan County residents. Her father, Midori Shimoda, was living in California during WWII when the Japanese living on the west coast were suddenly under suspect after...

San Juan County almost became a Southern Ute Reservation more than a century ago

Whenever I hike in Bears Ears National Monument, I think about how it almost became an Indian reservation. Over a century ago Durango businessmen actively campaigned to remove the Southern Utes to San Juan County, UT. Most of that county would have become a new 2.9 million-acre Ute Indian...