News

Love is in the air this weekend at 22nd annual Bluff Balloon Festival

Love is in the air when 22 hot air balloons take flight at the 22nd annual International Bluff Balloon Festival. Flights take to the air on Friday through Sunday, January 17-19 in and around Bluff. Sponsored by the Business Owners of Bluff (BOB), this annual event attracts balloons, pilots, and...

Unaffiilated voters can participate in March 3 Super Tuesday primary

March 3 is the day that Utahns will participate in the Super Tuesday Primary election in the race for President of the United States. San Juan County Clerk John David Nielson has sent letters to the 2,564 voters in the county who are not affiliated with a specific party, informing them how they can...

County Commission hears BLM reports

Amber Johnson, Acting Field Manager for the Monticello office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), provided a lengthy update to the San Juan County Commission on January 7 about local activities of the federal land agency. The report included a discussion of the anticipated Record of Decision on...

The news that clicked in 2019

We use a new measure this year as we look back on 2019 to determine the biggest stories of the year. Instead of using our in-house judgement to determine the biggest stories of the year, we decided to look at simply how many views each story received at the San Juan Record website at sjrnews.com....

Tuberculosis in the Wild West

You probably don’t think about Tuberculosis all that often. You probably don’t think about San Juan County all that often either. Out of site is out of mind, so they say. I never thought much about San Juan County until I brought my family here a few years ago. Even for a guy who grew up in...

Christmas Tree decor goes from Whitehorse to the White House

A total of 24 handmade ornaments made their way from Montezuma Creek to the White House this winter as part of the America Celebrates display, as first reported by Kate Groetzinger of KUER. The display includes the towering National Christmas Tree and 56 smaller trees representing every U.S....

Tax reform bill puts added burden on Utahns in rural areas, according to Rep Phil Lyman

On December 12, Utah lawmakers met in a special session to address SB-2001, a sweeping tax reform bill that decreases state income tax while increasing the tax on food, fuel, and services. Officials state that tax reform is needed at the state level to re-balance the education, general, and...

2020 county budget includes tax increase

San Juan County Commissioners approved a 2020 budget at the last Commission meeting of the year on December 17. The 2020 budget accounts for a tax increase in three separate funds controlled by the county. An actual tax increase will not be addressed until June. The tax increase would be due from...

Petition on Spanish Valley zoning plan progresses to signature phase

A group of San Juan County residents from Spanish Valley are initiating a petition process that could put a controversial action by the San Juan County Commission on the ballot. A petition carrying seven signatures was presented to San Juan County Clerk John David Nielson in November. On December 3...

Blanding City Council discusses water study that state officials call “forward thinking”

The Blanding City Council spent much of their December 10 meeting discussing a water rate study and forecast model. The study is complex and took more than a year to complete, but it’s already being hailed by state officials as forward thinking. State officials caught wind of the study after...