Newsletter-Early-Week

Last week, I described my evolution from driving gas-guzzlers to clean, quiet electric vehicles. Over the years, I moved from a “fuel-efficient” car, to a hybrid, and finally to a fully electric vehicle powered by the solar panels on our home. Here’s “the rest of the story!,” as Paul Harvey would say.

It’s not much of a secret that Utah is in a major drought. Sure, we’ve had some dry years in the past, but 2025 is setting records. Certainly not the kind of records we like. Over the last few years, I’ve tried to be careful with watering my yard and trees; still had five trees die anyway and the rest have LOTS of dead branches. “Pick up sticks” is a game my wife and I play with no joy after every windstorm. And say, what is the deal with all this wind. I remember when the wind hardly blew at all in the summertime. Sure, if a thunderstorm blew through, we had wind, sometimes severely damaging winds, but not wind that blew all day. Further, thunderstorms in the past brought good soaking rains and cooler temperatures. Sometimes too much rain, as when Main Street turned into a river and numerous stores had water pouring in. Heavy rains would turn my street into a temporary stream. So much time has passed since the last big rain like that, many of my neighbors have filled the drainage ditch that once ran out front. Some day they may regret that. Still, at least it rained, keeping our yards, trees, and fields green.

By Tom ElderUintah Trails Working Group Last year, I set out to locate the memorials for Gene Campbell and Dave Noel, two firefighters who lost… Login to continue reading Login…