U.S. Forest Service investigators are asking the public for information on the start of the destructive Pack Creek Fire that continues to burn south of Moab. Investigators have confirmed the fire began as the result of an unattended campfire on June 9 and are asking for tips "that may help i…
The Pack Creek Fire continues to burn over 5,400 acres on the slopes of the La Sal Mountains south of Moab. While residents of the Pack Creek subdivision were allowed to return, on June 13 the San Juan County Sheriff announced the evacuation of private property east of Geyser Pass after the …
On June 9, firefighters responded to report of smoke in Pack Creek, southeast of Moab. Strengthened by strong winds, the fire grew through the rest of the day, being first pushed upslope by strong southwest winds into the Manti-La Sal National Forest lands in the foothills below Mt. Tukuhnik…
Grand County High School journalism students have proudly published their yearly news magazine The Devil’s Advocate, and this year it’s online for the first time. Sophomore Lillian Scott put in extra hours outside of class to bring the magazine onto the Canva platform.
At its regular June 8 meeting, Moab City Council discussed municipal speed limits, matching funding for a Recreational Hotspot pilot transit project, and allowing e-bikes on paved city pathways.
Label: Public Land
The new Spanish Valley Clinic is under construction on Spanish Valley Drive, currently on budget and scheduled to open on Nov. 1, according to San Juan Health CEO Clayton Holt. San Juan Health is the San Juan County service district that oversees San Juan Hospital in Monticello as well as cl…
At the regular City Council meeting on June 8, Moab Mayor Emily Niehaus issued a proclamation in appreciation and recognition of three current and two former Moab City police officers: Sgt. Gerri Neumeier, officers Amanda Edwards and Travis Clark, and former MCPD officers Larry Velasquez and…
Seekhaven Family Crisis & Resource Center’s first logo in 1990 featured an illustration of Puebloan homes before a desert landscape. Moving into the 2000s, the logo changed to depict a house, parent and child, which has now evolved to the clean, teal and purple image — representing domes…
In the late afternoon of May 30, law enforcement officers responded to a call about a fire on Bartlett Circle in Moab. An officer from the Moab City Police Department and another from the Bureau of Land Management arrived to find a fence on fire; the two were able to control the flames with …
The Lionsback Resort development, located on land owned by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration adjacent to the Sand Flats Recreation Area, has been in the works since the mid-2000s. The project has been highly controversial, generating fears about the spring protecti…
In order to have Grand County School District athletic activities go on for the school year during the COVID-19 pandemic, Grand County High School’s COVID-19 “Test-to-Play” team volunteered to arrive at 6:45 a.m. for 26 testing sessions, each lasting for about an hour.
At its June 1 meeting, the Grand County Commission passed a resolution permitting the use of Class 1 e-bikes on the county’s paved trail system on the north end of town, but fans of the motor-assisted electric bicycles shouldn’t get too excited just yet.
The Bureau of Land Management has issued its annual statewide Fire Prevention Order to help prevent the risk of wildfires igniting in Utah, banning explosive material or exploding targets on BLM-managed land. Utah Governor Spencer Cox and interagency fire leadership asked the public to chang…
“I don’t support the whole concept. I’m not going to be a part of it,” said San Juan County Commissioner Bruce Adams.
Moab resident Katie Creighton studied natural resources and joined the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources because she was interested in natural science. She now supervises other employees in her role as the native aquatics projects leader for the agency, and she’s discovered that she love…
Grand County held a voluntary vehicle noise-testing event at the entrance to the Sand Flats Recreation Area on May 27 to train officers on noise monitoring, collect data on off-road vehicle noise levels, and to educate the public on the county’s new noise ordinance. Drivers who decided to op…
At their regular June 1 meeting, the Grand County Commission heard presentations from county agencies and departments and approved a letter expressing continuing opposition to a proposed highway through the Book Cliffs.
A new boardwalk and birdwatching platform are being constructed at the Scott and Norma Matheson Wetlands Preserve after an April 8 fire destroyed a structure on the site. [See “Fire at Matheson Wetlands Preserve,” April 29 edition. -ed.] The rebuild will not include a roof like the old struc…
At their regular city council meeting on May 25 — their first in-person meeting since the pandemic began last year — councilmembers approved the mayor signing a letter of support for the Moab and Spanish Valley Regional Transportation Plan after some debate. City Engineer Chuck Williams also…
The Grand County High School track team ended their season on May 23 at the Utah High School Activities and Athletics 1A-4A State Track and Field Championships, held at Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah. Girls track member Kylah Ricks achieved three individual titles at the event, coming …
Grand County announced hiring new leadership for the County Planning & Zoning Department. John J. Guenther will take the helm this week as the Grand County Planning & Zoning director and Elissa Martin will be the department’s associate planner.
At their regular, in-person meeting on Tuesday, the Moab City Council heard presentations, discussed and voted on several issues regarding the budget, electric bicycles, zoning and this year’s local elections.
Youth Garden Project founder Sarah Heffron wrote in the introduction to a new community cookbook produced by the nonprofit that she fell in love with gardening after high school. She learned about the concept of horticultural therapy, and believed that a garden could be a nurturing space for…
The Utah State Legislature held a special session last week to discuss a variety of issues, including the appropriation of federal funds from the American Rescue Plan, a national COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus package. Many of the items discussed in the session were amendments to clar…
Their feet hit the ground before sunrise—whatever edge they could get to beat the heat. After being led in prayer by an elder, ten Indigenous runners began a five-day, 360-mile journey from Bears Ears National Monument in San Juan County to Warm Springs Park in Salt Lake City. Along the way,…
At its May 18 meeting, the Grand County Commission voted unanimously to ratify a policy requiring the continued use of face coverings on county property to protect against the spread of COVID-19. A state-level law resulted in the termination of public health orders directing mask use across …
At their regular meeting on Tuesday, the San Juan County Commission voted to approve a resolution that will hire William Cooper, an attorney who previously testified in the Navajo Nation’s redistricting lawsuit against San Juan County, to assess 2020 census data for San Juan County and redra…
The Moab Sun News and our reporters won four awards in total in the 2021 Top of the Rockies contest, sponsored by the Colorado chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The regional journalism contest honors reporters and news outlets in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
The Bureau of Land Management is currently working on an update to its travel management plan for the Labyrinth Canyon/Gemini Bridges area. Grand County is a cooperating agency with the BLM, and has the opportunity for weighted input in the planning process. At its regular meeting on May 18,…
The Grand County Commision spent much of its regular May 18 meeting discussing transportation: considering concepts for a pilot public shuttle service that could be funded by the Utah Transportation Commission through its Recreation Hotspot award, and a recently completed long-term regional …
Please, please don’t dispose of used wag bags in your regular trash can.
At their regular meeting on May 11, the Moab City Council discussed the possibility of a property tax for the 2021 through 2022 fiscal year. Moab has not levied a property tax for residents since 1992, but new finance director Ben Billingsley emphasized the advantages of a tax for funding in…
Abigail Taylor had never worked at a nonprofit before joining Seekhaven Family Crisis & Resource Center. A sixth-generation Moabite, she dabbled in restaurant work and lived in Seattle before returning to the desert in 2014.
After months of hammering out new noise ordinances and determining testing protocols and decibel thresholds, Grand County will hold a voluntary vehicle noise testing event near the entry booth for the Sand Flats Recreation Area on Thursday, May 27 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Local law enforcement…
The sun was scorching on the afternoon of May 6, when a small crowd gathered in the shade of an awning outside Moab Regional Hospital to learn more about naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. About a dozen people attended the first of three sessions facilitated…
During the COVID-19 lockdown, most kids spent extra time catching up on their favorite Netflix shows or doing what they could to get one step closer to becoming a TikTok sensation. 13-year-old Austin Paris Wright had a different goal in mind: he was set on beating over 2,000 other participan…
At the city council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, councilmembers heard a presentation and discussed the possibility of a partnership with Bird, a dockless electric scooter company, in Moab. No action was taken on the item.
At their regular meeting on Tuesday, the Moab City Council discussed the possibility of a new property tax to fund law enforcement and infrastructure updates for the 2021 through 2022 fiscal year.
Shed a tear of joy! A new 2.4 mile hiking loop, rated “very difficult” because of some scrambling sections, is now open. The trailhead is at an old drill pad off the Onion Creek Road, which is off of the River Road; a high-clearance vehicle is required to drive the last half mile to the trailhead.
Each year, the county treasurer identifies all parcels in the county that are five or more years delinquent on property taxes. Unless the taxes have been deferred or the owners are bankrupt, the parcels become eligible to be included in a spring “tax sale” in which properties are sold at auc…
Moab City Police Officer Amanda Edwards has received three awards for her service so far, and she’s only been a police officer for about a year.
At their May 4 regular meeting, the Grand County Commission approved the hire of a consultant to continue advising and training the county on noise ordinance and enforcement issues, voted to be an anchor community in a statewide renewable energy program, and discussed how to handle expansion…
“I'm greatly disturbed, dismayed, and lastly, saddened by the recent vandalism that has occurred, both at the Birthing Rock and the Sunshine Wall,” said Commissioner Trisha Hedin at the May 4th Grand County Commission meeting.
At a special meeting on May 4, Moab City Councilmember Kalen Jones told the city council about a conversation he had last month with a ranger at Arches National Park.
Last week, Utah State University hosted a webinar for natural resource professionals to discuss a drought reporting network called “Condition Monitoring Observer Reports.” Through a mobile app, Utah citizens can document drought impacts and submit their observations to a database used by sta…
Despite having the highest COVID-19 rate in Utah, Grand County’s local mask mandate automatically terminated, along with most state and local public health orders, as the state hits “endgame” benchmarks outlined in state legislation passed in March.
A 24-year-old man died after a fall in a side canyon of Cottonwood Canyon in Emery County on April 22, Emery County Sheriff’s office officials reported.
Moab City will use a ranked choice voting ballot for city council elections later this year, the council voted unanimously on Tuesday, with help from the Utah County Elections Team as part of the Municipal Alternative Voting Methods Pilot Project.
Happy Earth Day! Moab City elected officials and staff continue ongoing efforts to improve sustainability and environmental quality and health in the Moab Valley. With the hire of Mila Dunbar-Irwin as the new sustainability director, the city is poised to advance some of those efforts. At a …
The Moab City Council passed a long-awaited noise ordinance at their regular meeting on April 27 meant to address general noise complaints from residents across the city, specifically noise stemming from off-highway vehicles. Councilmembers ironed out specific time windows and decibel limits…
