Reva Peterson, 91, and Shirley Norton, 93, have seen a lot of change in their lives. But one constant has been people helping one another. 

Both women volunteered at Mountain West Medical Center through the hospital’s Our Healthy Circle program, and found that volunteering gave them enjoyment and more purpose to their lives.

Peterson volunteered for 16 years in the hospital’s gift shop, retiring last year to help care for her grandchildren.

“The hospital is kind of like a big family,” she said. “Especially the volunteers!”

There are volunteers at MWMC for several needs — front desk, waiting areas and gift shop, to name a few. 

Both Peterson and Norton worked in the gift shop.

Volunteers there work a four-hour shift on their own, serving as cashier, stocker and customer service. They also do inventory twice a year. 

Each volunteer works at least one four-hour shift weekly. 

The gift shop stocks cards, convenience items and small gifts for patrons or hospital employees to purchase.

Diane Johnson, manager of MWMC’s volunteer program, has high praise for the volunteers.

“Last year our volunteers collectively donated nearly 10,000 hours to Mountain West Medical Center,” she said in an email. “They are a vital part of our team providing great care to our community members.”

Norton joined the volunteer crew after 38 years of working as a bookkeeper for Tate Mortuary in Tooele. 

She retired from the mortuary and joined MWMC’s Our Healthy Circle program, which was then called Senior Circle, and discovered the hospital’s volunteering opportunities. 

After an interview, Norton accepted a volunteer job job in the hospital gift shop. She worked once a week for six years until her retirement last year at 93.

Norton said that being a volunteer has helped her create more friendships. 

“I’m not a very outgoing person,” she said. “I don’t go … strike up the conversation and things like that. I didn’t really have to there, because everyone was so friendly.”

After six years of volunteering, Norton retired. She now spends her time doing all of her own cooking, cleaning and shopping, keeping up on the news and national politics, and spending time with her family.

“I’m really grateful for my family,” she said. 

Norton has four children, 10 grandchildren, and enough great-great grandchildren that she has a hard time keeping track of them all. She said that her retirement has given her more time to spend with her family.

Two of Norton’s four children died young. A son passed away in a car accident when he was 20 years old. 

“If I had to give anyone some advice, it would be to spend time with their family,” she said. “Because you don’t know how long you’ll be able to.”

Her family means a lot to her. Photos of each and every child and grandchild cover the walls and tables in her home.

Norton values the time she had working in the gift shop.

“At my age, I was making mistakes and there were things I wasn’t doing right,” she said. “I met a lot of lovely ladies that I wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

Those lovely ladies included Peterson, who was also a volunteer at the gift shop.

Peterson volunteered for 16 years, retiring at 91 to help care for her grandchildren. She also discovered the opportunity through Our Healthy Circle, which she joined after moving to Tooele to live with her son, Jerry Wiseman.

“People used to come in all the time to see Reva,” Wiseman said of his mother. “She ran quite a good store!”

“I enjoyed being there,” Peterson said. “There were slow times when I could just sit and read … and it was a lot more than just helping customers, a lot more.”

Peterson, unlike Norton, is extroverted. 

“I was outgoing in school,” she said. “I was a cheerleader for a couple years … I liked being with people.”

After moving from Provo to Tooele, Peterson found that she couldn’t just sit at home. She joined Our Healthy Circle and began volunteering. Peterson also contributed time to service as an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I try to keep myself busy so I don’t just become an old lady!” Peterson said with a laugh.

Peterson, much like Norton, is independent. She drives herself everywhere and does all of her own cooking and cleaning in her apartment, which is an addition above her son’s home.

Before retiring, Peterson volunteered two to four days a week, up to around 500 hours yearly. She would also go on trips or to events with Our Healthy Circle. 

Now, Peterson keeps herself busy by taking care of her family, of which she has many: 35 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren and another on the way.

She reads historical fiction novels and does 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles at a rate of one or two per week.

One thing Peterson loves is technology. 

“I’ll tell you, a lot of changes have been made in my life … and I love it,” she said. “I love all the inventions. I like being on the computer. I like being on Facebook. I don’t know what I’d do without my phone. I used to dream, when I was young, of being able to talk to people as I was traveling or doing something, and now I can do it.”

The two gift shop volunteers agree on one thing in particular — work can be good for the soul.

“I just enjoyed working, I enjoyed volunteering,” Peterson said. “It got me out of the house. And Sunday night I’d be thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got to get up in the morning. I’ve got to be ready for work!’ It was nice to have that feeling, and to go in and have people you could say good morning to. It was great.”

“It was a very nice experience,” Norton said with a smile. “I’m glad I was able to do it.”

Although the world has changed a lot in over 90 years, both women have kept a positive outlook and continued serving their community. 

Peterson said that volunteering has helped keep her young.

“Volunteer if you can,” she said. “It keeps you young, and it’s wonderful to be around people. Don’t stay home in your rocking chair. Try to get out.”

Persons who are interested in volunteering at MWMC can call Diane Johnson at 435-843-3691 or send email to Diane_K_Johnson@Quarumhealth.com.

Grantsville City Planning Commission members will continue to review and suggest changes to a new General Plan before they make recommendations to the Grantsville City Council.

The planning commission held a public hearing Tuesday night and discussed some possible changes to the plan, but tabled approving any final recommendations until its next meeting on Aug. 8.

“Take your time and when you feel comfortable, submit your recommendations to the City Council,” said Councilman Neil Critchlow.

Debbie Spilman recommended that Grantsville leaders should seriously refer to the new General Plan when approving any future land developments.

“Once this plan is adopted and approved, we need to stick to the plan,” Spilman said during the public hearing.

Spilman said she has attended several City Council meetings in the past and property developments always seemed to be “rubber stamped” by city leaders.

“I felt like it was a bit haphazard,” she said. “Whatever anybody wanted seemed to get approved.”

Spilman said the plan will represent what city residents want.

“This plan is everybody’s plan, not the City Council’s plan, or Planning Commission’s plan or Mayor’s plan,” she said.

The purpose of the General Plan is to provide a set of defined community visions or goals for the community to focus on for the next decade, according to the plan’s introduction.

The plan covers land use, community design, economic development, transportation, housing, recreation, open space and infrastructure.

Rural Community Consultants, with offices in Springville, have been working on the plan since last November. The consultants held three public meetings at Grantsville High School to gain input from residents.They also conducted an online survey and gathered about 430 online comments from residents.

“Typically we gathered everything we could and tried to write that down,” said Mike Hansen of Rural Community Consultants. “As the meetings continued, attendance dropped off.” He indicated that as time elapses people are beset with “planning fatigue.”

Hansen said people end up believing they have already been heard, or they feel they aren’t being heard at all and lose interest.

He said there were definitely some themes that played out during meetings and from a survey.

“We heard a lot about retail,” Hansen said. “Not a whole lot of people are loving having to drive to Tooele or Salt Lake for shopping. We heard a lot about not having local restaurants.

“People don’t want big apartment complexes. We didn’t see a lot of demand for small building lots either,” he said. “We heard a lot about equestrian trails, and we usually don’t hear that even when working with other small communities. … People want a rural atmosphere, but we struggle with the term rural. Rural seems to be in the eye of the beholder.”

Resident Frank Anderson said he has lived in Grantsville for 47 years.

“Rural to me is the country with 5-, 10-, 15-, 50- and 100-acre farmground,” Anderson said. “I don’t want to walk out my backyard and see my neighbor put their shirt on in the bedroom.”

Maria Spencer said she moved to Grantsville from West Jordan 25 years ago. 

“We looked all over from Ogden to Lehi and decided on Grantsville and it has been amazing,” she said. 

“Half-acre lots seem to be the norm now and I don’t think that says rural community and country,” Spencer said. “The rural community is what I moved out here for. It’s what I long for. Grantsville has been wonderful for the last 25 years. We’re not Tooele. We’re not Stansbury. We’re certainly not Salt Lake. I work in Salt Lake every single day and it used to take me 45 minutes to commute. Now it’s taking 90 to 100 minutes to get home.”

Kerri Anderson said Grantsville should slow down with residential development. She said if people want smaller lots, they can go to Stansbury Park or Tooele.

Mike Colson said Grantsville can’t shut the door on people who want to live in Grantsville on smaller lots.

“We’re leaving out two groups of people. We’re leaving out our young people and our retired people would have no place to go either,” Colson said.

“We need to make sustainable communities and minimize water usage. All we have are half acre lots because that seems to be a good compromise because it provides some open space. But it is not realistically sustainable for the future,” Colson said.

Fred Roberts said Grantsville has a nuisance code that should be enforced. He said unkempt properties with old parked vehicles and fire hazards are the norm in Grantsville. 

“Vehicles have been parked in front of places for 50 years,” he said.

Roberts said a document was formulated several years ago about a nuisance code.

“The document is very, very good,” he said. “I believe we need more inspections made. Several properties are fire hazards. We’re in the middle of firecracker season and with these hazards somebody’s house could burn down.”

Bary Bunderson said people want a lot of amenities, but everything takes money to operate and maintain.

“This town has a nice feel. It doesn’t feel too busy — a feeling I appreciate,” Bunderson said.

He said if future commercial development is located in one place it could lead to traffic congestion with everyone trying to drive to one spot.

He suggested smaller commercial areas in various parts of the city to alleviate everyone heading to one area for shopping.

Unemployment in Tooele County remained at its lowest point in almost 12 years during June, according to a report from the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

Preliminary data puts Tooele County’s June unemployment rate at 3.2%. The revised unemployment rate for May was also 3.2%, according to the DWS. 

That’s the lowest unemployment rate since 2008 when the rate from January through March also hit the 3.2% mark.

In June 2018, Tooele County’s unemployment rate was 3.4%

The low unemployment rate is affecting Tooele County employers, according to Cathy Stromberg, branch manager at Intermountain Staffing in Tooele.

“We have plenty of jobs to fill,” Stromberg said. “But finding qualified people has been hard.”

Intermountain Staffing fills temp-to-hire jobs for many Tooele County employers, according to Stromberg.

Some of Intermountain’s employers have raised their pay. Others have started to offer periodic pay raises to increase longevity on the job, as a result of the tight labor market, Stromberg said.

One of Stromberg’s employers is offering a $5 gas card to help job seekers with gas to drive to a job interview, she said.

“It’s a ways out there,” Stromberg said. “For some people that can be difficult.”

For some job seekers, the current job market has some advantages, according to Stromberg.

“This is a good time for people that are interested in trying out a job in a new field,” Stromberg said. “We have openings for entry-level temp-to-hire jobs.”

While the majority of Tooele County’s workforce continues to drive out of the county to work, the number of jobs available in the county grew in June by 2.9 percent to 16,416, for an increase of 460 jobs over June 2018.

The DWS reports significant job growth for Tooele County in the construction, retail trade, transportation/warehouse, and education/health/social service job sectors.

The average monthly pay for a job in the county remains below the state average at $3,391 for the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to $3,968 statewide.

The average wage in the county has also lagged behind the state average since the third quarter of 2015, due to the “closure of the chemical weapons stockpile destruction and its high paying jobs,” according to a DWS report.

However, the average monthly wage in Tooele County has been on an upward trend since it dipped to $3,280 in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The percentage of the county workforce population age 16 and over participating in the labor force, either by working or looking for work, was at 80% according to the DWS. Statewide the labor force participation rate is 79.3%. Nationally the participation rate is 77.6 percent.

Tooele County’s largest employers, at between 1,000 and 1,999 employees each, are the Tooele County School District, Wal-Mart corporation, and the Department of Defense, according to DWS data.

At 3.2%, Tooele County’s June unemployment rate ranks as the 11th lowest of Utah’s 29 counties. The lowest June unemployment rate was 2.6% in Utah County while the highest was 6.9% in Garfield County.

The state unemployment rate for June was 2.8%. Nationally, the rate was 3.7%.

Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series discussing illicit drug use in Tooele County, criminality linked to drugs and treatment and recovery in the county.

Last Friday, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food and the Utah Division of Purchasing released a list of eight permitted marijuana cultivators. 

The state only issued eight of the allowed 10 licenses to “avoid an oversupply of product, while still maintaining a healthy diversity of cultivators,” according to a statement issued by the state department and division. 

The licenses are the result of Utah voters approving Proposition 2 last November, which legalized medicinal marijuana. 

The legalization of medicinal marijuana in Utah, as well as legal recreational use in Nevada and Colorado, shows a shift in attitudes toward marijuana by American voters. In 2019, 11 states and the District of Columbia, have legalized marijuana for recreational use.  

The shifting legal landscape around marijuana required law enforcement to initially take a step back and analyze the changes, said Tooele County Sheriff Lt. Eli Wayman. 

“The Legislature did a pretty good job of outlining how the medical marijuana will be dispersed and distributed, and put together a pretty good game plan,” Wayman said. “So as far as the green leafy substance, that’s still illegal. It doesn’t change our approach with how we deal with that.”

Being stopped with a personal use of amount of marijuana doesn’t usually amount to more than a citation, according to Detective Jay with the Tooele County Drug and Gang Task Force. Jay’s real name will not be used in the article to protect his identity and ongoing investigations. 

The larger cases, which do result in criminal charges, involve indoor “grows” in the cities or unincorporated Tooele County, Jay said. There are usually several busts of grow operations in the county each year, according to Wayman. 

While it used to be relatively common to find marijuana grows in the county, the drug has become so readily available that most people don’t take the time to grow it, Wayman said. Marijuana coming into the county can have a variety of different points of origin, he said. 

“It can come out of California, it can come out of Washington,” Wayman said. “I mean, there’s a lot of states that have pretty good marijuana growing environments, so it just depends.”

A rise in marijuana use has also led to an increase in drug-related DUIs in Grantsville City. Allred said training to look for drug impairment is a factor but there has simply been an increase in people arrested for drug-related DUIs. 

Based upon numbers provided by the Grantsville City Police Department, the number of DUI arrestees has more than doubled over the past three years. There were 47 in 2016, 61 in 2017 and 103 in 2018. 

In 2018, there were more than three times as many DUI arrests for drugs as there were for alcohol. 

The same trend hasn’t been observed in other jurisdictions, as the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office reported a fluctuating number of DUIs over the past three years, with a majority for alcohol. 

The sheriff’s office reported 104 DUI arrests in 2016, with 22 related to drugs. Of the 61 reported in 2017, only six were drug-related and nine of the 73 DUIs reported in 2018 were connected to drugs. 

Whether discussing marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin or any other drug, possession charges usually go hand-in-hand with property crimes, like theft, burglary or robbery, said Wayman. 

“Very seldom do we arrest someone for burglary or stolen vehicle or something like that where they don’t have some controlled substance or paraphernalia which would indicate they’re using a controlled substance,” he said. 

“The drug addiction directly fuels our property crimes in Tooele City,” said Tooele City Police Sgt. Jeremy Hansen. 

The story is the same in Grantsville City as well, Allred said. 

“If you look at the people that are stealing, why they’re stealing, nine out of 10 times its to support a habit,” he said. 

Drug use is the number one factor in rising property crimes and to say otherwise would be foolish, Jay said. He said supply and demand dictate the cost of product in the narcotic trade, just like any other commodity. 

“You don’t see too many people stealing $10 worth of stuff for $10. They’re doing it for a reason,” Jay said. “… The more expensive things are, the more people are going to have to steal to come with the cost for that.”

Most of the property theft and related offenses are crimes of opportunity, Wayman said. With population growth and so many people working outside the area, Tooele County is obviously a bedroom community, he said. 

“People know that the vast majority of the populace works in the (Salt Lake) valley and homes are left unattended,” Wayman said. “We very frequently get calls of people prowling around houses, checking doorknobs front and back, things like that.”

Shaking car door handles and copper thefts, especially wire, are very common, Hansen said. 

Property crimes have been on the rise throughout Tooele County. In the past five years, the Tooele City Police Department reported about 1,000 property crimes, primarily thefts, each year. 

Tooele City police received 1,048 property theft reports in 2014, which dipped to 964 in 2015 before jumping to 1,154 in 2016. In 2017 and 2018, the number of property theft reports were 1,083 and 1,126, respectively. 

The Tooele County Sheriff’s Office reported more than three time as many property crimes, including theft, larceny, burglary and robbery, between 2014 and 2015. The number jumped from 104 to 333 between the two years. 

Since the jump in 2015, the sheriff’s office reported 315 theft-related charges in 2016, 228 in 2017 and 249 in 2018. 

Property crimes showed more moderate fluctuations in reports from the Grantsville City Police Department. The total number of property crime offenses rose steadily between 2014 (197) and 2017 (308), before dipping in 2018 to 257. 

Allred said he’s noticed property crimes seem to be more related to heroin than other drugs. 

If someone is addicted to heroin and is using once or more a day, when they don’t have the money for more their body physically can’t handle not having it, said Jay. 

“It’s the one drug that people physically can get sick if they don’t have it,” he said. 

In addition to turning to property crime to get more of the drug, those with substance use addiction will also turn to dealing heroin or meth to support their own habit. 

“That’s very common, to have low-level street dealers strictly dealing dope to support their drug habit,” Jay said. 

In the past three years, the number of drug charges reported by the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office jumped from 141 in 2016, to 277 in 2017 and 339 in 2018. The Tooele City Police Department reported a rise in reports over the past three years as well, with 428 in 2016, 545 in 2017 and 551 in 2018. 

With less criminal penalty for possession and cheaper drugs from Mexico, less people in the United States and Utah are involved in illegal grows or production, according to Tooele County law enforcement. 

“When you’re talking about meth, heroin, cocaine — any of the big three — they’re all coming from Mexico,” Jay said. 

The “super labs” in Mexico produce hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine every day, which makes it more expensive, time-consuming and dangerous for Utahns to make themselves, according to Jay.  

It’s too readily available and too cheap to try and make it yourself,” Wayman said. “There’s just too many avenues if you really want to procure it.” 

Both Wayman and Jay said meth is one of the most prevalent drugs in Tooele County, but there hasn’t been an influx of it into the area. 

“We have a lot better control on enforcement, and from that we’re resulting in higher quantities of seizures,” Jay said. “But as far as it being more available or on the rise, I don’t believe so.”

The Tooele County Drug and Gang Task Force, at about three-quarters through the previous fiscal year, had seized upwards of 140 pounds of marijuana, several kilos of heroin, about a kilo of meth and “tons of pills, according to Wayman. More than 100 investigations were opened as a result of the task forces work.

Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend, Maryann Edgeman, passed away at her home in Tooele, Utah, on Friday, July 26, 2019, at the age of 73. She was born on April 17, 1946, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Joseph and Reta Frazier Hartley.

Maryann married James Edgeman in 1970 and worked a large part of her career for Tooele Army Depot. She will always be remembered for how much she loved her husband, family, friends, and her dog, Tilly. She has been an active member of various community organizations and adored by all who knew her.

She is survived by: daughters, Teri Lynn and Allene Brook (Welby); sons, William Bryce and Jim (Jr); brother, Marvin (Kathleen); and three sisters, Jean Louise, Rebecca (Robert) and Kay Lynn. Maryann has 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Maryann is preceded in death by her husband, James; parents, Joseph and Reta; sons, Russell, Pete, Larry and Ron; brothers, Joseph, Larry, Harold and Ralph; sister, Cheryl; and nieces and nephews.

A visitation will be held at Tate Mortuary, 110 S. Main Street, Tooele, Utah, on Friday, Aug. 2 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., with graveside service at 1 p.m. and a Celebration of Life following the graveside.

The Tooele Transcript Bulletin has published Tooele County news since 1894. Here is a flashback of local front-page news from 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago that occurred during the first week of August.

Aug. 1-3, 1994

The Tooele County School District ended its search for a new superintendent by selecting Paul F. Skyles to fill the position.

Skyles, a 35-year veteran of the school district and former assistant superintendent, was set to retire on June 30. However, when Dr. Michael Jacobsen left the position, Skyles decided it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“I am too young to retire and I have too many fruitful years left,” he said.

Later in the week, more than 30 people attended a Grantsville City Council meeting to express their disapproval of a proposed racetrack less than three miles northwest of city limits.

But Mayor Howard Murray wanted to know how the other 5,000 townspeople felt about the issue.

The mayor said if there was an official public hearing on the matter, he would make a statement to support or oppose the facility.

July 29-Aug. 1, 1969

Mike Rockwell, former Tooele High School swimming great, reached the pinnacle of his swimming career when he was named to the collegiate All-American swim team.

Rockwell, a speedster in the freestyle events, earned All-American honors swimming on the University of Utah’s 400-yard freestyle relay team. The relay team finished high enough in the Nationals to earn the distinction as All-American.

As a high school swimmer, Rockwell set state high school records in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events.

Friday’s front page featured news of a torrential downpour that created a mudslide in Skull Valley on July 29. The storm occurred at Delle Canyon near the main ranch of Deseret Livestock Company. 

Oldtimers in the area say it was the worst storm in the area in many years. 

“I’ve been with the county for 25 years and we’ve had many floods, but never like this,” said Tooele County Road Superintendent John Erickson

Aug. 1-4, 1944

The first step of an elaborate recreation setup for Tooele City was expected to get underway in August in the form of a skating pond, it was announced by acting mayor D. Leslie Gillette.

Digging and filling of the pond would be constructed on the west side of the City Park and north of the present swimming pool. The project would take place as soon as possible so the dirt could settle and the pond puddle to the extent that it would hold water for the winter.

Later in the week, Lt. Billie Spivey, pilot on a B-24 Bomber and son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Quinn of Tooele, received the second Oak Leaf Cluster for meritorious achievement in aerial combat. Already the holder of the coveted Air Medal, Lt. Spivey had completed 30 missions over Germany and enemy-occupied Europe.

In civilian life he was a miner employed by Combine Metals of Bauer.

Aug. 1, 1919

The Midwest Dye and Chemical Company of Utah was set to erect a chemical plant on the Great Salt Lake waterfront near Lake Point. Construction would begin by Aug. 15 or sooner and a townsite was planned near the plant.

It was stated by officials of the company that no less than 200 men would be employed when the plant starts to produce. 

The company offers 1,000 shares of stock for sale to those who desire to buy into the company. It will manufacture caustic sods, chlorine as a byproduct, hydrochloric acid, silicate of sods and bleaching powder.

A Fridays on Vine staple returns to the stage for the third year in a row, with the unique sounds of Joshua Creek at Tooele’s Aquatic Center Park this week. 

The band performs all of its own original songs, which is a bit of a rarity in Utah, according to lead singer and rhythm guitarist Jeff Hinton. Joshua Creek’s blend of country and Americana is reflected in songs that focus on storytelling about family, nation and faith, Hinton said. He described the music as “feel-good.”

After returning to Fridays on Vine after a seven year absence in 2017, Joshua Creek has made the annual pilgrimage to Tooele City. Hinton had high praise for the concert series, which has featured a number of the state’s established regional acts. 

“It’s really fun to be a part of it,” he said. 

Hinton also mentioned the Fridays on Vine crowd, which has turned out again and again to hear the group’s music.

“There’s always a great crowd that gets into the music,” he said. 

Joshua Creek has released six studio albums and a live performance DVD, Hinton said. Another album, which should be released by the end of the year, is also in the works. 

The band — comprised of Hinton, bass guitarist and backup vocalist Quint Randle, lead guitarist and backup vocalist Ron Saltmarsh, and James Hollister on drums — has played a number of venues and concert series throughout the state this summer. 

Most recently, Joshua Creek performed at the Covey Center in Provo on July 12, playing an evening of songs about Utah, patriotism and family, according to the band’s website, joshuacreekmusic.com. 

Anyone unfamiliar with the band’s music can get a taste by searching for them on YouTube or checking out Joshua Creek Music on Facebook. 

“We’re hoping everyone will come out,” Hinton said. “It’s going to be a fun show.” 

Fridays on Vine starts at 7 p.m. at Aquatic Center Park, 200 W. Vine Street. The concerts are free to the public, but seating is limited. Patrons are encouraged to bring a blanket or lawn chair. 

A Tooele man facing eight first-degree felony charges was back in 3rd District Court Tuesday for a scheduling conference. 

Michael Porter Walden, 31, is charged with first-degree felony rape of a child, first-degree felony object rape of a child, three counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and three counts of first-degree felony sodomy on a child. 

Tooele City police were advised on a report of a child younger than 14 years old who had been sexually molested by Walden over the past two years on July 12, according to a probable cause statement. 

During an interview with investigators, the victim told police Walden had been asked them to remove their clothes in one incident and asked them to touch him sexually during numerous incidents of abuse. 

When the victim did not comply with Walden, he would force them to touch him, the victim said in the probable cause statement. The alleged abuse happened “almost every day,” the statement said. 

When Walden was located by Tooele City police, he was brought in for an interview, according to the probable cause statement. After being read his rights, Walden said he did not want to speak with investigators and was transported to the Tooele County Detention Center. 

During his initial appearance in 3rd District Court on July 22, Walden was appointed counsel and  Judge Mattew Bates set his bail at $250,000. Bates also ordered Walden to have no contact with the victim or the victim’s family. 

At the hearing on Tuesday, Walden’s scheduling conference was continued to Aug. 27 at 9 a.m. and he was again advised by Bates he may not have contact with the victim or the victim’s family. 

The name has changed but the faces are the same.

Intermountain Staffing unveiled a new name this week. The company is now known as Ascend Staffing, according to Cathy Stromberg, branch manager of Ascend Staffing’s Tooele office.

“Intermountain Staffing has been in Tooele for 20 years,” Stromberg said. “But the company has grown beyond the Intermountain region, so we’ve changed our name.”

With the new name comes a new mobile app and website, Stromberg said.

Stromberg said she and her staff are staying put in Tooele County.

Ascend Staffing helps match job seekers to employers in Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Utah, Washington, New Mexico and Oklahoma, according to its new website.

Ascend specializes in light industrial, clerical, and non-clinical hospital employment, according to its website.

In Tooele County, Ascend works with around 20 local businesses to place temporary, temporary-to-hire, and direct hire employees — full time and part time, Stromberg said.

Ascend’s employer clients include some of Tooele County’s largest employers, she said.

According to the company’s literature, Ascend helps employers control labor costs, provides workforce flexibility, reduces hiring risk, and allows employers to adapt to changing markets conditions. Ascend also helps people achieve their employment goals by finding opportunities and providing support.

“Somebody comes in looking for work and we have openings for welders,” Stromberg said. “We’ll send them over to Tooele Technical College for training and when they get done, we’ll help find them a job. We like partnering with the community to help people.”

Stromberg said she fills a lot of temporary jobs for events.

“We filled a lot of temp jobs for people to set up tents for Country Fan Fest,” she said.

Ascend works with around 30 to 50 prospective employees each month, according Stromberg.

Employers or employees can check out Ascend Staffing’s website at www.ascendstaffing.com or drop in the Tooele office at 1200 N. Main Street in Tooele City.

“We have jobs to be filled right now,” Stromberg said.

Millions of people throughout the United States will take part in National Night Out next Tuesday, a campaign to build police and community partnerships. 

In Tooele County, the event will be hosted by the Grantsville City Police Department, with all local law enforcement agencies coming together at Grantsville City Park on Cherry Street from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 6. The event is free and open to the public. 

The Grantsville City Police Department, Tooele County Sheriff’s Office and Tooele City Police Department rotate who hosts the event each year. 

National Night Out, now in its 36th edition, is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch and co-sponsored by local law enforcement. The nationwide event also focuses on generating support for local anti-crime initiatives and letting criminals know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

Also attending the event will be fire departments from around Tooele County, Stockton Police Department, Wendover Police Department, West Wendover Police Department and Adult Probation and Parole, as well as other local and state partners. 

In addition to serious objectives of crime prevention and community partnerships, National Night Out is family-friendly fun. There will be food trucks, bounce houses, a visit from the AirMed helicopter and K-9 demonstrations, said Grantsville City Police Sgt. Rhonda Fields. 

At least 20 communities throughout Utah participated in National Night Out Against Crime last year, according to the organization’s website, natw.org. 

Tooele County youth who have been raising animals for market will have the opportunity to show and sell the results of their work at the Tooele County Fair this weekend.

Beef, goats, sheep and swine raised by local 4-H club members, and Future Farmers of America, will be auctioned off at the 71st Annual Junior Livestock Show and Sale at the Tooele County Fair 9 a.m. Saturday inside Deseret Peak Complex’s indoor arena.

“We have a total of 330 animals to auction off,” said Robert Pitt, president of the Junior Livestock Show and Auction. “Kids have been raising these animals, getting up early in the morning to feed them before going to school. They learn responsibility while they feed, care and clean them.”

Showing and judging got underway Wednesday at Deseret Peak with the breeding sheep show at 3 p.m. and the weigh in for beef, goats, sheep and swine from 4-6 p.m.

Market swine, sheep, goat and beef judging were held also held earlier today. 

Tonight there will be a Pee Wee Showmanship contest at 6:30 p.m. for entrants too young for the livestock show.

Friday the fitting and showing for sheep will start at 8 a.m., swine at noon, goats at 2 p.m., and beef at 3 p.m. An awards ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

The market livestock sale gets underway at 9 a.m. Saturday in the indoor arena.

Grand Champion and Reserve Champion animals, the first and second prize winners, will be sold first.

The sale committee has made arrangements for the animals to be delivered for slaughter and butchering after the show. Slaughter and butcher costs are not included in the auction price for the animals.

The auction price goes to the youth that owns the animal.

“Most of the kid use the auction money for their college fund,” Pitt said.

Any member of the public is welcome to join the auction on Saturday morning, according to Pitt.

“Even if they aren’t interested in buying an animal, everybody is welcome to walk through the indoor arena and see the animals during the fair,” Pitt said.

A Tooele man who fled police and led them on a chase throughout Tooele City on Tuesday morning has been charged. 

William Ybarra, 32, is charged with second-degree felony theft and third-degree felony failure to stop or respond at command of police, as well as misdemeanor counts of unauthorized control of a vehicle for an extended time, an accident involving property damage, and reckless driving.

Tooele City police were first dispatched to 10:49 a.m. on a report of two who were dealing drugs and then about to fight in the area of 160 N. 200 West, according to the probable cause statement. When the responding officer arrived at the scene, they observed two men get into separate black and blue vehicles.

The driver of the black vehicle, later identified as Ybarra, attempted to leave the scene and fled southbound on 200 West at more than 50 mph, the statement said. 

Ybarra’s car struck a utility pole at the intersection of 200 W. 400 South, Tooele City Police Sgt. Jeremy Hansen said. He then fled on foot, stole a red pickup truck in the area, then headed north on 100 West.

Assisting officers pursued Ybarra until he crashed the pickup truck and abandoned it in the area of 680 W 600 North, the probable cause statement said. Witnesses observed him run southbound toward the apartments on McKellar Street and he was seen entering one of the units. 

While officers pursued Ybarra, the initial responding officer searched the black vehicle, which contained men’s clothing and a cell phone logged into Ybarra’s Facebook account, the statement said. The vehicle was registered in his girlfriend’s name. The owners of both vehicles were contacted and both advised the vehicles had been stolen. 

After Ybarra was spotted entering the McKellar Street apartment, officers requested a warrant, which was written and approved by the on-call judge, the statement said. Tooele County SWAT was contacted while law enforcement waited for the warrant and setup containment, Hansen said. 

Once the warrant was received, SWAT entered the apartment and Ybarra was located in a back room of the apartment and taken into custody without incident, according to Hansen. 

Ybarra was questioned by police while he received medical attention for the injuries he suffered in the crashes, the statement said. He told police the keys were in the first vehicle he took, then invoked his rights and said he no longer wanted to answer questions. 

Ybarra is scheduled to make his initial appearance in 3rd District Court on Aug. 5 at 10:30 a.m. before Judge Matthew Bates

Builders are still trying to catch up with the demand for homes in Tooele County as local real estate agents largely attribute rising prices to a short supply of homes to sell.

Home prices and sales both went up in the second quarter of 2019 compared to the same quarter in 2018.

The median sales price for a home in the county rose by 5.7% in the second quarter of 2019, from $265,000 in the second quarter of 2018 to $280,000 in 2019.

“It’s largely supply and demand,” said Andy Stetz, real estate agent with Premier Utah Real Estate Tooele. “There’s a shortage of lots to build new homes, especially for local builders.”

Heidi Purvis, real estate agent with Wise Choice Real Estate and president of the Tooele County Association of Realtors, agrees with Stetz.

“It’s been a great year for real estate in Tooele County so far,” she said. “Prices are up and it’s supply and demand. There is not a lot of inventory.”

A good economy with low unemployment and low interest rates are bringing out buyers while builders are trying to catch up, she said.

“The new construction has been good for the county’s economy,” Purvis said. “It’s created a lot of jobs.”

Some real estate agents are concerned that growing home prices may soon price some people out of home ownership.

“People are going to need to find quality jobs, better paying jobs, if they are going to afford a home,” said Chris Sloan, broker with Group 1 Real Estate Tooele.

But even with the increase in home prices, prices in Tooele County are still better than in Salt Lake County, according to Sloan.

“But it’s going to get harder for our children to be able to buy a home and stay in the county,” he said.

The average home in new developments in the county are running from the high $200,000s to the low $300,000s, according to Purvis.

“Anything $270,000 or less is really hot right now,” she said. “A home under $270,000 will sell fast.”

A few years ago the price point for the fast moving, first-time home was closer to $200,000, according to Stetz.

Stetz said he sees more apartments and condos helping to fill the market for entry-level housing.

“One of the trends with millennials is they don’t want to be tied down to a big piece of property,” he said.

Nationally, millennials have become the largest population in the home buying market, according to Sloan.

“However, along with millenials, there also are a lot of aging baby-boomers out there,” he said. “So we  will probably see more developments like the one on 1000 North in Tooele City marketing to them.”

Higher prices didn’t seem to stop people from buying homes in the second quarter of 2019 in Tooele County. The number of home sales rose by 32%, from 351 in the second quarter of 2018 to 463 in 2019.

Stetz attributed the large increase to a number of developments that got started in earlier quarters but came online for sales in the second quarter of 2019.

The average days on the market for a home sale jumped from eight days in the second quarter of 2018 to 20 days in 2019.

“With all the new construction, we sell a lot as a ‘home to build.’” Stetz said. “But the Multiple Listing Service doesn’t record the home as sold until it’s built, making it look like the home has been on the market longer than it really was.”

Purvis agrees that the average days on the market is skewed.

Tooele County is following the national trend of increasing prices, but nationally the talk isn’t about a future bubble burst, according to Stetz.

“The economy is good, more people are working, wages are going up,” he said. “The concern doesn’t appear to be with a bubble, but the talk nationally, as well as here in Utah, is about affordability.”

The Tooele Transcript Bulletin has published Tooele County news since 1894. Here is a flashback of local front-page news from 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago that occurred during the second week of August.

Aug. 9-11, 1994

Range fires, started by lightning in south Tooele County, had burned a total of 15,600 acres and destroyed 19 cattle by Tuesday, officials said.

However, a storm front moving through the county had helped knock the fires down, according to Dick Kline, interagency fire information officer.

Kline said three fires burning in the Sheep Rock Mountains south of Vernon had scorched 14,000 acres and claimed a small herd of cattle owned by Jim Gowans.

Later in the week, Tooele Army Depot got a $30 million boost to further identify and investigate hazardous waste sites at the installation.

The money was part of $330 million awarded by the Department of Defense to 11 regions selected for priority cleanup.

The funds were part of an Environmental Service Program Support contract, according to Roy Niskala, chief of TEAD’s Environmental Program Branch.

Aug. 5-8, 1969

Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Dan Chidester said two persons were killed and five injured early Tuesday morning in a head-on crash about eight miles west of Grantsville.

A small foreign car carrying four New York men crossed over the center line and smashed into a second car carrying two women and a man from Nebraska. The two women were killed.

Other accidents in a span of five days included a rollover near Delle, a minor collision in Erda, a collision on Smelter Road and a collision at the intersection of Coleman and Vine streets in Tooele. 

Friday’s front page featured an update on salary negotiations for teachers.

The Tooele Education Association had not yet accepted the proposed compensation proposals of the County Board of Education.

Teachers were requesting an increase that would make $6,000 the lowest salary for starting teachers with bachelor’s degrees. The top bracket in the schedule would be $10,200.

Aug. 8-11, 1944

A request by the Tooele City Council that beer parlors in the city be closed on Sunday was rejected when proprietors met with the City Council.

Declaring Sunday was their biggest day for sales, proprietors argued that they should remain open. One proprietor said without Sunday beer sales he could not operate.

Later in the week, the front page reported that Tooele Army Depot was in the process of a wide and rapid expansion of activities. This was noted to be true due to the handling of munitions that were received and stored at the depot for shipment to Pacific ports. 

To meet demands, the depot would need to increase its activities 800 to 1,000 % within just a few months to supply ammunition for war activities in the Pacific area.

Aug. 8, 1919

In response to requests by some taxpayers asking for tax re-adjustments, the Tooele County Commission asked the privilege from the state board of equalization to reconvene as a board of equalization, but the state board refused to let the commissioners do it.

The state board also sent information that the assessed valuation of all farmlands in the county had been increased 15 %.

In other county business, an appropriation of $15 was made to the Tooele Fire Department toward the purchase and installation of a fire siren.

Correspondent Mark Watson compiled this report.

The Tooele City Council punted on a final decision for the city’s final budget and certified tax rate during its meeting Wednesday night, scheduling another budget work session for next week. 

Following an 82% tax increase last year, Mayor Debbie Winn and the City Council pledged to hold the certified tax rate steady this year. 

The City’s $23.2 million tentative general fund budget, approved at the City Council’s June 19 meeting, was based around the current property tax rate of .003334. The council received the certified tax rate of .003024 from Tooele County on June 15, which is 10.25% less than the previous year. 

The property tax rate for taxing entities are set based on the certified tax rate, which is calculated by the Tooele County auditor using a state-issued formula and certified by the Utah State Tax Commission. The certified tax rate is designed to enable the taxing entity to collect the same amount of dollars from property as the previous year, plus income from new property added to the tax rolls. 

By sticking with the higher tax rate from the 2018-19 budget, instead of the certified tax rate, the city would generate an additional $492,107 in property tax revenue in 2019-20.

“I think what turned our heads was the difference on the certified tax rate and in conjunction with a property value increase that happened,” said City Councilman Brad Pratt, during the work session prior to Wednesday’s meeting. “ … And I think because of that shock and surprise, I think we owe it to our citizens to go through this again and see if we can’t find a way to lessen that burden.” 

Winn provided the City Council with a breakdown of the deficit to the approved tentative budget if they reduced the change in tax rate from 10.25% to a lesser difference, in 2% increments. 

If the tax rate was only 8% higher than the certified tax rate, the deficit to the tentative budget would only be $84,091. At 6% and 4%, the gap would grow to $192,330 and $296,250, respectively. 

If the City Council adopted a budget with a tax rate only 2% higher, the deficit to the tentative budget would be $396,099. Any deficit to the tentative budget’s revenue would result in cuts to its expenditures. 

City Council Chairman Steve Pruden said the question once the certified tax rate was calculated was if they could lessen the impact on taxpayers. 

“Is there a way that we can meet the needs that you have proposed and that these department heads deserve, but at the same time lessen the burden on the taxpayers after we hit them so hard last year,” he said. 

For a resident in a $280,000 home, the City’s portion of property taxes would be $513 under the tentative budget using last year’s rate. Under the certified tax rate calculated by the county, the same homeowner would pay $466. 

At a difference of 8%, that homeowner would pay $505, while at 6% the difference would be $495. At 4%, the homeowner in a $280,000 home would pay $485, while a 2% difference would be $475. 

Winn said the City’s financial advisors, including an outside advisor, recommended holding the previous tax rate of .003334 to avoid having to use its fund balance.

“We have determined, as a city, with the financial advice that we have received, is that if we do not continue to maintain that rate, we’re going to have happen to us again what happened last year,” she said. 

Winn also told the City Council the budget had already been trimmed during the budget process. 

“There is nothing in that budget we do not need,” she said. “We are not asking for more than we need.”

During a public hearing, residents expressed concern about rising property taxes, residents living on a fixed income and questioned tax breaks for businesses. 

The City Council tabled both the certified tax rate and final budget and a work meeting to discuss the budget was scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 5 p.m. at City Hall.

With open houses and surveys completed, Grantsville City leaders are now reviewing a new 58-page Grantsville General Plan document.

Councilwoman Jewel Allen anticipates the Grantsville City Council will adopt the plan sometime in October after it provides additional suggestions to the consultants.

The plan needs to be adopted by the planning and zoning commission and then receive approval from the City Council, according to Allen.

She said Grantsville received a $60,000 grant from the Wasatch Front Regional Council and the City added $6,000 to pay for the updated plan. The process began in November 2018.

After a brief review of the plan by consultant Ben Levinger, councilmembers spent about 35 minutes Wednesday night discussing the General Plan draft.

“One of my concerns is, in essence, you have Main Street turning into a long apartment row,” Mayor Brent Marshall said.

Levenger said feedback showed citizens did not want high density scattered through the community. He said people also wanted the Main Street area preserved for commercial use.

The mayor also said the plan needs to mention SB-34, which is a state requirement for cities to provide a moderate income housing plan element in their general plans.

Councilman Scott Stice said he would like to see detailed street maps showing which streets are through streets and which would be deadends.

The mayor said a traffic study of all streets in Tooele Valley will be conducted soon.

Stice said the plan simply looked like a compilation of all comments received from citizens.

“We (City Council) will have to figure out how to put the pieces together,” Stice said. “… Your organization is getting paid a lot of money. Seems to me the plan should be more tight. I’d like to see it more precise.”

Stice said he was in favor of a general plan of five to seven pages with an appendix for all the other stuff gathered.

“I don’t think some of that other stuff needs to be in the general plan,” he said.

Levenger said an executive summary of three or four pages could be added to the front of the general plan.

Councilman Jeff Hutchins said some suggestions from the plan are in direct conflict.

“We get emails and phone calls all the time,” he said. “People want more places to eat, but they also want to stop growth.”

He said the goal is to attract business, but business owners make their own decisions whether or not to locate in Grantsville.

Hutchins also mentioned items on residents’ wish lists require money.

“We have to balance the budget and provide fire, police, water and sewer, but are people willing to pay more taxes to have more amenities?” he said. “Everybody would like to have a rec center, but are they willing to pay for it?”

Levenger said the general plan is a guiding document for a community and not a strategic plan.

He said the plan does not provide the specifics of “who, what, when, where and how.”

An introduction to the plan indicates it should be reviewed annually, and updated as the need arises, in order to provide responsible and well-formulated public policy direction to community decisions.

Recreational vehicles may be able to stay in one place in a recreational vehicle park for up to 150 days if the Tooele County Commission approves a proposed ordinance change.

The Tooele County Planning Commission voted to recommend that the County Commission approve changes in the county’s land use ordinance regulating recreational vehicle parks during the planning commission’s Wednesday night meeting at the County Building.

Chris Robinson, who bought the former S&W Trailer Park in Lake Point, requested that the county change the ordinance to allow a space in an RV park to be rented to an individual for up to 150 days instead of the current 30-day limit.

“I’m working with a partner who has experience in RV parks,” Robinson said. “And he said that 150 days is what is needed to be financially viable.”

For comparison purposes, American Fork allows 60% of the spaces in its RV parks to be permanently occupied and North Salt Lake allows up to 90 consecutive days of occupancy, according to Jeff Miller, Tooele County planning staff.

In response to a question from the planning commission, Robinson said the change he is requesting will apply only to RV parks, not mobile home parks.

“The whole reason I bought the old S&W trailer park was to control the development in the area,” Robinson said. “It was a blight … the infrastructure is a total mess.”

Robinson is also the developer of Saddleback.

With only three remaining mobile homes occupied in the former S&W park, Robinson said he may go through the required legal process to repurpose the property.

“I want this to be a nice RV park with RVs that come and go,” Robsinson said. “But particularly in the winter, we need some longer term residents.”

The planning commission amended Robinson’s proposal to allow for up to 40% of the spaces in an RV park to be occupied by the same RV for up to 24 months for workers in construction and professional services industries at the discretion of the park’s owner.

“I can see RV parks like this filling a need for temporary housing for workers,” said planning commission member Scott Jacobs.

Robinson also requested that the county change a portion of the ordinance related to RV parks that allows RV park campsites to include cabins without plumbing up to 400 square feet. He requested that the county strike out the “without plumbing” language in that part of the ordinance.

The planning commission agreed with Robinson’s proposal.

County planning staff also suggested language for the RV park ordinance that includes a minimum area to be set aside for common use, that areas not covered by RVs be landscaped and maintained according to an approved plan, driveways to be hard surfaced, and minimum standards for road width in an RV park.

The planning commission voted unanimously to recommend that the County Commission approve the requested ordinance changes.

Tooele County may soon be looking to fill a new position for someone to monitor the county’s contract with Valley Behavioral Health.

The Tooele County Commission held the first reading of a budget adjustment to add a new position to the County Auditor’s office during its meeting Tuesday night at the County Building.

“The primary responsibility for this position would be to monitor and audit the approximate $2 million in funds that flow from the state to Valley Behavioral Health through the county,” said Tooele County Auditor Alison McCoy.

The county has a contract with VBH to provide substance abuse and mental health services using state and federal funds.

The Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, a part of the state Department of Human Services, recommended the creation of the monitor position in a routine audit report earlier this year.

“This person would be specifically focused on the agreement with Valley Behavioral Health,” McCoy said. “They would oversee and evaluate the patient load and programs, making sure that services are being delivered as they should be.”

The base salary for the position is $75,000 annually, with 75 % of the person’s time directed at VBH and the remaining 25% at other duties in the auditor’s office, according to McCoy.

Eventually the position will be funded by additional grant revenue from the state, McCoy said.

There is no timeline for filling the position yet. The County Commission needs to approve the budget adjustment to include the new position before the hiring process can start, she said.

The County Commission may approve the new position after the second reading of the budget adjustment at its next meeting.