Life in the West Amid Covid and Controversy -- Oct. 5, 2020

News In The West

Fall on Blue Mountain:  Photo Courtesy Blanding City

~~November Election: Think Before You Vote  

by Janet Wilcox       

With just a few months until the elections, it behooves all of us to dig a little deeper for facts, as we determine for whom to vote in all levels of government. It’s a time to evaluate our core values, philosophies and freedoms, then then seek candidates we can trust to promote and protect those eternal truths. The future of the United States could turn sour for all if “extreme” socialists are elected who do not believe in these values.  Please research and query every candidate before you vote.  Rather than criticizing how candidates deliver their messages or believing other superficial data, we should evaluate their political philosophy and past actions.  

      Those who live in less populated states should be also be concerned about protecting the Electoral College which ensures that each state is equally represented in Congress; otherwise we are controlled by the East and West Coast extremes.  All of us should also vote for those who will curtail excess Federal spending, instead of looking at more ways to spiral the debt ever more into the abyss. (This includes not voting for those who support using our hard earned Social Security Insurance to pay for foolish whims.) The National debt is now over $26.7 TRILLION!  Consider who the foreign countries are who may bail the USA out of that fiscal quagmire!  Citizens who value peace, security, and individual rights must elect those who will support our military, law enforcement, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.  Don’t take your right to vote lightly; the future of all Americans depends on far-sighted and judicious voters.  

~~Stiles: Fast Forward to 2045 -- What Election 2020 Triggered

--From 2045…REMEMBERING THE 2020 ELECTION …by Jim Stiles • September 30, 2020 

“I am very cautious of people who are absolutely right, especially when they are vehemently so.”  –Michael Palin NOTE: This story is not intended to be prophecy, projection, or prediction; nor is it offered as a warning or a celebration of “things to come.” It’s merely idle speculation on my part, based on trends I see happening in America, for better or worse. And 34 days from now, give or take a month or two to count the mail in ballots, we’ll all know if at least part of this tall tale was accurate, or total bullfeathers. And now, on to the Future, as I look back at the distant past…J.Stiles

~~The Long Walk to Socialism: 

This video shares the unfiltered stories of the harsh struggles of the Navajo Nation. These raw experiences reveal the individuals, families, and communities torn thin by socialistic government programs and waste.

~~Indigenous People and Land Grant Universities.  High Country News Investigates

~~Governor Herbert:  An Anti -Masker at Heart?  

~~Excerpt from Billionaire Wilderness :  By Justin Farrell 

"Billionaire Wilderness offers an unprecedented look inside the world of the ultra-wealthy, focused on their increasingly significant relationship to the natural world. More specifically, it shows how the ultra-wealthy use nature to resolve key predicaments in their lives. Along the way, it reveals the surprising ways in which nature and wealth intersect in America, and the swelling impact of these relationships on the nation’s social and environmental landscapes."  Canyon Zephyr

~~The Slovenly Wilderness: The Least Consequential Election …by Stacy Young

"As regular readers of this column know, it is a deep and abiding frustration of mine that serious consideration of the material conditions of modern America is consistently avoided in favor of lazy identitarian demagoguery. This criticism applies not just to our political industry, but also to the news media, the arts, corporate marketing, and the way we “choose” to spend our own individual attention on social media, and it is an imbalance that not only distracts us from the root causes of things but divides us along relatively superficial categorical lines. . ."

~~Census Count Still Not Complete on the Navajo Reservation 

by Kate Groetzinger

~~ Phil Lyman, State Legislature, Call's Out Court Corruption   Recorded Interview

         (The Bad News is that this case has drug on forever!)

~~ Meet Supreme Court Nominee  Amy C. Barrett

~~ High Speed Internet Coming to San Juan County Reservation Schools  by Kate Groetzinger

~~ Western Senators Push Bill to Control Wild Fire Risk 

~~ Reflections of the past: Trials and Travails of Park Ranger John Wetherill at Navajo National Monument by Harvey Leake/ The Canyon Zephyr

~~ Operation Firewood Blesses Navajo Reservation

~~  Wildfires: Creating a Defensible Space Around Your Home

Utah has had a record 1,300+ wildfires this year, over 1,000 of which have been human-caused. When recreating outdoors this fall, pay attention to federal, state, and local guidelines and warnings, always completely put out your campfires, and leave our lands better than you found them. If you live close to at-risk landscapes, take a few minutes and learn what you can do to protect your home.

~~ Political Polarization Taking Over Lives  Pollution of our dysfunctional political dialogue

~~ BLM Director Nominee Under Attack by Green Machine

~~What Does Kamala Harris Stand For? And What Should We Fear?

~~ Chad Booth's County Seat Funding in Jeopardy  Zac Podmore article 

                             Sunset Over Bears Ears -- Photo by David Homedew

April Showers Concern over Committees and Commission ~~ Bear Essentials 4/26/2019

Reflections on the West

Book on Bears Ears Available  $40 -- Back and Beyond in Moab

 Reflections on Bears Ears

"The idea, however, that the federal government would simply take over land in the possession of others through a designation of a national monument is not unprecedented. Just south of Bears Ears, Canyon de Chelly National Monument is still disputed ground. The Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs maintain ambiguous control of the area rather than the Navajo Nation, despite the fact that none of the land is technically owned by federal agencies."

~~

KUER Assigns Reporter to Cover SE Utah

"Kate Groetzinger (Southeast Utah Bureau) is from Austin, Texas, where she is completing a master's degree in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin's Moody School of Journalism. She has worked for Austin’s NPR station, KUT, and her work has been published in the Texas Observer, The Austin Chronicle, Quartz, Rhode Island Magazine and Artsy. She has also worked for the Voces Oral History Archive at the University of Texas, collecting and preserving the stories of Latino/a civil rights leaders in Texas. She holds a degree in English from Brown University."  However, SJC remains gun-shy! 

~~

Amy Irvine Takes On Edward Abby: Interview by Andrea Ross

"Amy Irvine: We all objectify landscape—because we have this idea that it’s our church, our refuge, our aesthetic. We feel entitled to use it as a surface for recreation, or entertainment.       Our impacts on public lands is something that I don’t think the environmental community has not been very honest about. I want to take this moment to ask: What do we do now? We have to admit that we are loving the land to death. For example, the numbers of people flocking to the Bears Ears: it has no management plan in place. And the government’s been furloughed, so even if they could staff it, that’s not happening; nothing is in place to protect it. On such vast and vulnerable landscapes, we must better police ourselves."

~~

Senator Mike Lee Pod Cast: Rediscoverng the Declaration of Independence

"Abuses of federal power, including federal overreach and over-regulation, balance of power between the legislative and executive branches, along with issues within the judicial system are rampant. All the issues appear rooted in the neglect of the Declaration of Independence. Could rediscovering the declaration renew the nation and restore power to the people? Utah's senior senator, Sen. Mike Lee, explores the issue on this edition of "Therefore, What?"

~~

Three of the most Telling Failures of Socialism

1. Socialism has never succeeded anywhere --including the Marxism-Leninism of the Soviet Union, the National Socialism of Nazi Germany, the Maoism of Communist China, the Chavez-Maduro socialism of Venezuela. It has never come close to anywhere near Marx’s ideal of a classless society.

2. Marx has been wrong about nearly everything he predicted. The nation-state has not withered away. Capitalism didn’t break down as a result of the Industrial Revolution.

3. Socialism denies the existence of an essential human trait—human nature. Marx borrowed from the Enlightenment to declare that human nature was malleable, not constant. Christian theology with its idea of a fixed God-given nature infuriated Marx.

~~ Dry Wash Reservoir Pipeline Increases Amount and Distribution of Water

by Scoot Flannery: The expanded storage in Dry Wash Reservoir highlighted the need for a more efficient conveyance system from Dry Wash Canyon. That's when the Blanding Irrigation Company went to work. Funding was procured, permitting was completed, and the project was constructed during one of the driest years in memory... just in time for one of the best water years!

Although they didn't have to build a tunnel from Indian Creek to Johnson Creek, the work, effort, and volunteer time that went into this project is proof that the spirit of those who came before us is still alive today!

  (See article in Good News Blanding) 

 Video showing run off from Dry Wash April 22

Summary of April Meeting with State AG's Office 

By Cheryl Bowers, Blanding City Councilwoman: 

" - A quick update on the training with the Attorney General's office today in Monticello (April 23). I wanted to get this out in case anyone (like me) was waiting to see the results of this training before writing additional letters.

The Assistant Attorney General, Scott Cheney, and the Director of the Utah Records office conducted the training. They were both gracious and very helpful at answering questions.

1. Bruce Adams was the only commissioner there. I'm not sure why Commissioners Greyeyes and Maryboy weren't there, but they missed out on some good information. Kendall Laws and the new Assistant County Attorney were there, along with John David and a Spanish Valley resident (I believe her name is Ms. Fields).

2. They only emphasized two areas of concern: the Open Meetings Act (OMPA) and GRAMA requests.

Items most people may not be aware of:

(1. The Assistant AG's determination was that having 4-6 meetings a year in other parts of the county wasn't a violation of the law (to have "Occasional meetings" outside of the county seat). In fact, he recommended it.

(2. Texts received during the course of a commission or public meeting are subject to GRAMA requests and have to be produced if they were about county business. They recommended public officials don't text during a commission meeting as then it becomes public information.

(3. The Assistant AG recommended that during public comment, the Chair of the board allow back and forth discussion, including answering questions, so there is no misperception of secrecy. They recommended that if we have a concern about why, how or who initiated an issue, resolution, etc. that we ask that question during public comment and the public body should respond. (The Chair does still have the ability not to answer or to stop discussion that he believes is beyond time, etc.).

(4. I spent a lot of time on- two members of a public body meeting together as there will be change to this starting in July. The assistant AG, said that if the meeting (without proper public notice) meets the definition of OPMA then it can be a violation- Definition - "The convening of a public body with a quorum present, whether in person or electronic communications, for the purpose of discussing, receiving comments from the public about or acting upon a matter over which the public body or specific body has jurisdiction or advisory power."  (More information about Utah Open Meeting Act)

~~Advisory Committee for Bears Ears SL Tribune Version 

~~SJ Record Version of New Advisory Committee

Adams, Maryboy, and Greyeyes: SJC commissioners - KUER photo

~~Utah, Colo, and Ute Tribe Hope to Benefit from "Liquid" Assets

~~ Conflicts Voiced at April 23 County Commission Meeting

~~ Senator Mike Lee's Congressional Concerns  Live stream video

~~The Problem with Affluence (and Influence) in the New West by Stacy Young

"The New West is also where virtually every successful company that comprises what we might call the Recreation Industrial Complex (RIC) now primarily sells sanctimony and only secondarily sells the good or service that keeps its owners and executives well-fed. In a way, it’s an ingenious twist on Robinson Crusoe: we should speak only of our arduous journey toward self-actualization but, yeah, by the way, we also happen to be fabulously wealthy thanks to the Brazilian plantation we own.

In canyon country, specifically, we can observe how the RIC manufactured both the demand for “Bears Ears” and the satisfaction of that demand. In statistical terms, approximately no one seemed to need to visit “Bears Ears” before December 2016, but now every outdoor athlete with a shoe contract and a Personal Brand to burnish — an “influencer” in the postmodern vernacular — seems determined to make an Insta-pilgrimage to “Bears Ears” or to at least engage in a bit of slacktivism from afar. The hoi polloi cannot be far behind."  April Canyon Zephyr

~~ Opposing view on Spanish Valley Development by Kerry Behunin 

~~ Kelly Pehrson, County Administrator Gives Two Week Notice:

Pehrson will be the new Deputy Director over Utah Department of Agriculture and Food in Salt Lake City. The Petroglyph

~~ Moab is Drowning in Tourists --Why are they Advertising?

~~Big Money Funding the Environmental Left

~~Fossil Fuels and Sage Grouse: Interior Dept Targeted in Law Suit

~~ How Instagram Ruined the Great Outdoors

~~Development in Spanish Valley May be Halted

~~ James Adakai Letter to SL Tribune

Battle over Bears Ears~~KUED

KUED Documentary on Bears Ears
Bill Keshlear and Jim Stiles Examine "Battle Over Bears Ears"

Jim Stiles Looks at CNN, PBS and KUED Documentaries on Bears Ears. 
Sloppy Journalism or Glimmer of Hope?  (Includes links to video and other references)

Mail in Voting on the Reservation: Pros and Cons --Sept. 2016

Occult group in Monument Vally -- Escorted out -- Navajo Times Nov. 30

Why the Right to Bear Arms is Important

Kay Shumway: Roots, Recreation, and Reflections of Life in San Juan   A great article by Jim  So over three summers I rode my bike from Canada to Mexico. First year, I went a thousand miles. Then I went back to where we’d quit, and went 800 miles the second year. The third year,  I completed the last 700 miles."

Stiles capturing milestones and events in the life of Patsy and Kay Shumway including: family, education, development of a college campus in Blanding, orchards and biking. "
Green House:  "I believed in solar power. Photovoltaics and water heating. And so, the kids and I built a greenhouse. About 70 feet long and 18 feet wide and the slope of the glazing to get maximum sun in the wintertime. And we grew tomatoes and cucumbers. We had these barrels full of water. The sun would shine in there, heat up the water in those barrels, keep it from freezing at night. So we’d walk in through 2 feet of snow, walk in and be warm, all these lush plants, our tomatoes up 6 feet high. "

Cross Still Stands Following Horrific California Fires

Free Range Report Needs Your Support

As you reflect upon those who have helped the cause of freedom and Public Land Use please  consider making a donation to Free Range Report :  Majorie Haun has stuck her neck out and dedicated her time to exposing falsehoods, and promoting freedom for years, and she was instrumental in keeping SOS informed and San Juan County in the broader loop of westerners who supported us as well.   Donate Through this Portal

How the Monumental Bad News Started in 2016:  
Bears Ears Brinkmanship: With Friends Like These, Does Cedar Mesa Need Enemies?
…by Stacy Young

"One such nugget comes about an hour into the (fall 2016 John Hopkins) presentation, when Tommy Beaudreau, Chief-of-Staff of former Interior Secretary Jewell, explains that the decision to launch the monument directly into the current political thresher was done with full knowledge that what has happened would happen. He acknowledges that the administration knew in late 2016 that the monument proclamation would be received as an act of provocation if not a declaration of total war. They knew there was no chance that the monument as designated would be properly funded or any other constructive steps taken toward its implementation. They knew the ensuing controversy would be protracted and the outcome of the fight uncertain. They knew this chain reaction would negatively impact the landscape and its cultural resources. And still they set it in motion."

Beware of "Wolves at the Door" in Utah's Dixie by Senator Orrin Hatch

Mexican Wolves Do Not Belong in Utah!
"As part of their proposal to “reintroduce” 750 Mexican wolves, these scientists want to have a self-sustaining population of 250 wolves in southern Utah and northern Arizona – places that fall well outside the predators’ historic range. How can you “recover” Mexican wolves in areas where they have not been?"

_____________

Though some of our ABC friends (i.e. Judy Mueller) 

feel that the Canyon Zephyr articles are too long with too many details, 

those interested in news with facts and research, find the Zephyr very refreshing. 

In a world of fake news, superficial research, and 30 second news briefs, it's a miracle that any of us know anything close to truth.    This is why "non-beholden" news outlets like the Zephyr need to be supported.  I hope you take this opportunity during this season to

Donate to the Canyon Zephyr

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