“The Social Dilemma,” a documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, opens with an ominous quote: “Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse.” The phrase may have been coined by an ancient philosopher, but it aptly describes what the film’s director, Jeff Orlowski, deems one of humanity’s most dire existential threats — the incursion of social media into our daily lives. And, judging by the standing ovation the film received in Park City over the weekend, the message hit home.

The film taps an all-star team of experts, several of whom helped to unleash the powerful social media tools they are now trying to tame. Together, former Goggle, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook designers and marketing executives issue a bone-chilling warning about the intentionally addictive nature of the social media tools that are being used to amass reams of personal data.

The data presented in the film is guaranteed to make audiences squirm — from a cellphone’s ability to track users’ movements to the increase in teen depression and suicide rates attributed to social media pressure. The film also highlights Google and Facebook executives’ refusal to shoulder responsibility for misuse of their platforms and their resistance to any form of outside regulation.

But Orlowski and his team, including producers Larissa Rhodes and Daniel Wright, have already proven their prowess at tackling documentaries about global crises that might otherwise be considered beyond movie-goers’ comprehension. Orlowski and Rhodes previous award-winning films “Chasing Ice” (2012) and “Chasing Coral” (2017) and Wright’s “The Cove” were all audience favorites at Sundance and beyond.

Still, Orlowski admits, this film was “orders of magnitude” more difficult.

Part of the challenge, Orlowski said, was helping audiences visualize how their data is being vacuumed up and sold to advertisers, and how those companies are trying to accelerate user consumption with seemingly innocuous reinforcements like emojis and “like” buttons.

They crossed that hurdle by weaving in a story about a fictional family facing those all-too-familiar conflicts over cellphone use: a fragile pre-teen obsessed with her image on Instagram, an older teen lured into a viral political group, and a mom trying to hold her fractured family together by banning cellphone use at the dinner table. Each actor credibly portrays issues that play out on a daily basis in homes across the country.

The subject matter is made even more poignant by the remorse offered in interviews with the platforms’ actual creators, many of whom now limit their own screen time and forbid their younger children from using social media. In the film, they recount the high hopes they once shared, that the platforms would be used to unify rather than divide communities — and their subsequent dismay over how they have been hijacked by greedy corporations and extreme political interests.

The most compelling warning in “The Social Dilemma” comes from Tristan Harris, one of the tech industry’s earliest whistleblowers. Harris once worked for Google as a design ethicist, but when the company turned a deaf ear to his concerns, he went to the media to raise public awareness and then to Congress to plead for regulation. He has since founded The Center for Humane Technology and cohosts a podcast about the issue.

While in Park City, Orlowski said he hopes the film will gain wide attention and spur people to take action. Specifically, he is encouraging audience members to carefully monitor their own social media consumption and to implore their representatives in Congress to regulate how their personal data is used.

For more information about the film, go to: TheSocialDilemma.com.

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Amid the bustle of Arts Festival weekend, visitors might not notice that the event’s namesake no longer occupies its iconic spot at the base of Main Street. But they might pick up rumblings about the Kimball Art Center’s role as an anchor tenant for a proposed new arts and culture district in Bonanza Park.

Last month Park City officials announced plans to purchase a 5.25-acre parcel along Kearns Boulevard with the intention of creating an arts and culture district featuring two of the town’s most venerated cultural institutions: the Kimball Art Center and the Sundance Institute. According to an agreement enthusiastically ratified by the Park City Council in July, the Kimball and Sundance will each buy a parcel from the city to build their own facilities. The rest of the property will be developed by the city and will include retail spaces, affordable housing, parking and a transit hub.

The plan was hailed by the mayor of Park City as one of those “rare moments when the right people, the right place and the right reasons come together.”

The proposed district also received wide support at a recent public meeting.

According to the Kimball’s former executive director, Robin Marrouche, who now serves on the board and is helping to oversee the project, “We’re delighted and grateful for the outpouring of support. It truly validates that this is the right idea whose time has come.”

Marrouche was at the helm of the Kimball Art Center when the nonprofit first announced plans to expand its footprint on Main Street and launched an architectural design contest to solicit ideas. The project was stymied, though, by the city’s strictly controlled historic district guidelines. Unable to gain approval for its plan, the Kimball ended up selling its Main Street parcel and moving to a temporary location on Kearns Boulevard.

Looking back, Marrouche says the new concept for Bonanza Park is better for all. “The reaction has been really inspiring, knowing the community is so behind this idea. It wasn’t supposed to happen over there. It was supposed to happen here,” she said.

The Kimball is planning to use proceeds from the sale of the property on Main Street to buy the parcel from the city and is raising additional funds to build a new 30,000- to 40,000-square-foot art center with expanded studio and exhibit spaces. And since the Kimball is already up and running at a temporary spot in Bonanza Park, Marrouche says, “Our hope and intent is that we won’t have to go dark, that we can keep operations going here, and once the construction is finished on the new building, we could move in and it would be a seamless transition.”

Another advantage is the prospect of an enhanced partnership with the Sundance Institute.

According to Marrouche, “We have discussed having a shared space that they might not need through out year to make sure it is utilized. We’ve, started to brainstorm about what can we do together for the community that could be used optimally.”

Marrouche pointed out that the Kimball and Sundance have lots of experience working together, during the Sundance Film Festival, for example. “But this is taking it a giant step further,” she said, adding, “This collaboration has been so positive. We each have our own mission but together we have the community in mind and there is a common goal. We are better together.”

Sundance chimes in

Betsy Wallace, ‎CFO and managing director of the Sundance Institute, agrees and underscored her organization’s commitment to the project.

“I think we are at a perfect time — all the stars are aligned for this to occur,” she said.

“We are excited about Park City being our home. We’ve been here for 30 years and we truly want to be part of an active, engaging arts-and-culture district, known not only within the confines of Park City, but within the state of Utah, within the U.S., and that has an international draw to it,” Wallace added.

Like the Kimball, Sundance has signed a letter of intent with the city describing plans to purchase a parcel within the Bonanza Park property. The goal is to build a projected 45,000-square-foot headquarters. But Wallace said it is too early to be more specific about uses for the space.

“The building is part of a larger campaign. We are really looking at the 40th anniversary of the Sundance Institute, and we are in the process of trying to get a sense of what we need,” said Wallace.

As the Institute looks to the future, Wallace emphasized that it hopes to expand its year-round programs while continuing to fine tune its signature Film Festival in Park City.

“We would love to make sure that our nonprofit is a viable, forward-thinking business that includes the festival, but is not just the festival. It is a 12-month, year-round nonprofit. We do a lot of work to support our artists that is outside of the festival, and we need to make sure we have that taken care of,” she said.

Both Marrouche and Wallace noted the positive impact a dedicated arts-and-culture district could have on the community.

“It would be so exciting to have the ability to confirm that arts and culture are a magnificent draw for people to Park City, and that they remain an economic driver for the state of Utah,” Wallace said.

While the arts district has received a seal of approval from the Park City Council, the partners have a lot of work to do before they can break ground. The city is currently finalizing its purchase of the property from a local developer. Later this month, according to Park City’s Capital Budget, Debt, & Grants Manager Nate Rockwood, the city will issue a Request for Proposals for a design team and consultant to work with the partners through the design and planning process over the next year.

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Whether or not the 11-year-old girl sitting cross-legged on the floor while watching Saturday morning cartoons owes her subsequent success to Wonder Woman may be open to debate, but according to Park City resident Jacki Zehner, the world’s first female super hero has been a constant inspiration.

“From my earliest days, I loved her super powers: the Lasso of Truth, the bracelets and the invisible jet,” she recalls about the 1970s animated show “Super Friends.”

In the coming years, Wonder Woman went on to star in her own live action series starring Lynda Carter, while the little girl in front of the TV made her mark as a title-holding, teenage, competitive body builder.

But as her animated friends moved from TV to the big screen, Zehner began to notice that Wonder Woman was taking a back seat to Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and the Green Lantern.

Zehner, herself, had moved on to become the youngest woman and first female trader to become a partner at the prestigious financial investment management firm, Goldman Sachs. But she didn’t forget her favorite superhero. In 2013, she wrote a 70-page report calling out the major film studios for leaving Wonder Woman in the wings while others grabbed the spotlight.

This week, though, she said has been as giddy as that little girl wearing a Wonder Woman cape. In late May, she attended the premiere of the newly released “Wonder Woman” film starring Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins and this weekend she is celebrating its wide release.

“I am so happy. It seems kind of silly that a 52-year-old woman can be so excited, but it is more than the character, it is a sign of progress,” said Zehner.

Zehner adds that the release of the film coincides with her current work as an activist and philanthropist. She is a leader in global efforts to raise money for causes related to women and children. The initiative, “Women Moving Millions,” is celebrating its 10th anniversary and has surpassed its fundraising goal of $1 billion. Locally, Zehner supports the Park City Christian Center and the Sundance Institute, where she has helped to establish a fund to support women filmmakers. She said the fund, dubbed Gamechanger, has already raised over $6 million.

“So the fact that this all happened to align in the same year is very significant to me,” she said.

Zehner also believes the success “Wonder Woman’s” success is important for women filmmakers and women in general. So she is doing her best to fill seats on the film’s opening weekend.

“I call it ‘the power of the purse’ or ‘shopping your values,’” she said.

Thursday night, Zehner bought out an entire theater in Salt Lake City to help boost opening weekend ticket sales and she is using her considerable presence on social media to drive traffic to theaters across the country, including the Redstone 8 Cinemas in Park City.

“Opening weekend statistics for films are incredibly important they send messages back to Hollywood executives about whether a film works … It will make such a statement if opening weekend is one of the largest openings for a superhero film ever,” she said.

After seeing the premiere , Zehner said she was thrilled with the way Gal Gadot portrays her childhood hero. “It is so important to know what you stand for. That is how I relate to the character. She stands for truth, she stands for justice, for doing the right thing, for fighting the fight for others. It is all about character.”

Zehner said she’ll no doubt be rounding up her local girlfriends and their daughters to see the film again in Park City this weekend.

The post Wonder Woman finally gets top billing appeared first on Park Record.

Finally. The State Office of Economic Development has delivered on a promise made more than two years ago.

Thursday, the website that allows recreators to sign up for the long-awaited Utah Search and Rescue Assistance Card went live, guaranteeing participants they will not be back charged for extraction from some unwanted adventure. The cost of the card is $25 per individual, or $35 per family, per year, and covers all nonmedical search-and-rescue operation expenses.

The intent of the program, originally approved during the Utah Legislature’s General Session in 2015, was to help beef up reimbursements to individual counties for the search and rescue costs associated with the state’s growing outdoor recreation industry.

The state currently dips into money collected from surcharges on recreational vehicles and boats for those reimbursements, but the payments amount to only a fraction of the money spent.

Summit County Sheriff’s Department Lieutenant Alan Siddoway says any money generated by the new USARA card will be welcome.

According to Siddoway, the county’s all-volunteer search and rescue team has never yet billed anyone for their services, but the costs mount up quickly and in outdoor recreation meccas like Summit and Grand counties they can take a big bite out of the budget.

“The program is a good thing. If folks support it, the money will augment the fund we use for equipment and training. Our search and rescue department is 100 percent volunteer and I want to equip them the best we can,” Siddoway said.

While the volunteers may be enjoying a brief off-season respite right now, Siddoway is anticipating a busy summer season. He listed numerous sportsmen who might need their services in the coming months including hikers, climbers, fishermen, boaters and even paddle boarders.

According to Tom Adams, director of the state Department of Outdoor Recreation, the delay in implementing the program was due to concerns about some of the wording in the original bill. That was corrected when the legislature met in January.
Now that the website is up and running though, Adams said he hopes outdoor enthusiasts take advantage of the program, not only to avoid a gnarly rescue bill, but to support the volunteers to stand ready to make sure everyone gets home safely.

“We have a great community when it comes to volunteerism. They are the unsung heroes and we want to support them with this program’” Adams said.

According to the USARA card website, “When people head into the backcountry, they don’t plan on having an accident, getting lost, or suffering from temperature extremes. But when ‘nature happens,’ calls for help go out to county search and rescue crews. Purchasing a Utah Search and Rescue Assistance (USARA) card provides you and your family peace of mind and helps to support the vital Search and Rescue services we depend on in the backcountry. The USARA card is just another piece of ‘safety equipment’ the prudent person takes into the wilds.”

There is a caveat though, the Search and Rescue Assistance Card legislation specifically states that all bets are off if someone “intentionally or recklessly created a situation requiring rescue services.” Card or no card, adventure seekers need to use some common sense.

To learn more and to sign up for the Utah Search and Rescue Assistance Card go to:
https://secure.utah.gov/rescue//

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Veteran news broadcaster Renai Bodley has been selected as KPCW’s new general manager. She will take the reins from retiring KPCW general manager Larry Warren on June 5. Bodley, who has been a KPCW news reporter for the past two years, also has 19 years of experience as a news director for Salt Lake City’s FOX 13 where she expanded the television station’s news programming from two to 10 hours a day.

In making the announcement on Tuesday, KPCW Board chairman Bob Richer said the selection was made after a nationwide search that drew 30 applicants. He acknowledged, though, the board suspected they already had the perfect candidate on staff.

“We knew we had a gem right down the hall but we felt we owed it to our staff, our listeners and to our supporters to find the absolutely best person for this job,” said Richer.

First and foremost, Richer said, the board was looking for an exceptional broadcast journalist. But the right applicant also needed to fit in with the community and be adept at administration and fundraising.

After interviewing several talented candidates, Richer said the board unanimously agreed that Bodley fit the bill.

Bodley, whose Virginia-tinged voice is already familiar to KPCW listeners, told The Park Record on Tuesday, that although her responsibilities at the station will shift toward management and financial sustainability, “Journalism is in my DNA.”

The new manager said there are no plans to change the current on-air format but she hopes to “enhance” the station’s political coverage and to present more live coverage of local events. She also wants to expand KPCW’s online presence.

“The news is no longer just 6 to 9 in the morning. The news is 24/7,” she said.

Bodley heaped praise on the current staff and volunteers, highlighting news director Leslie Thatcher.

Bodley also acknowledged her predecessor.

“Larry Warren took that station to a solid financial space. He expanded the news department and improved the infrastructure,” she said.

In an interview on KPCW, Warren said he is looking forward to retiring, but he added, that Park City’s public radio station is still facing financial challenges, especially in the wake of the federal government’s decision this week to “zero out” funding for the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) which contributes $150,000 annually to KPCW’s bottom line.

The post KPCW names new GM appeared first on Park Record.

Summit County assistant manager Anita Lewis is back at work with a new liver and, literally, a new lease on life. This winter, the 28-year courthouse veteran endured two liver transplants and is now contemplating how to ensure she is worthy of her donors’ sacrifice.

While she does not yet know the names of the organ donors whose sudden deaths made her own recovery possible, Anita said she feels a deep debt of gratitude to them and to their families.

“I am a different Anita than the Anita I was six months ago,” she said, reflecting on the six-month ordeal that brought her to the brink of mortality twice: when she first became critically ill, and again when her body rejected her initial transplant.

Anita remembers beginning to feel “a little off” a few years ago. She was tired and experienced swelling in her legs, but passed it off as no more than an annoying sign of aging. By 2015, though, the symptoms had become more acute. Her eyes were yellowish and she suffered from bouts of itching. Finally, the Upton native who grew up on a working ranch reluctantly consulted a physician. He immediately referred her to a specialist.

The physician told Anita she had cirrhosis – a liver disease commonly associated with alcohol abuse. She was stunned.

“Well, I don’t drink,” said Anita, who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which prohibits the use of alcohol and tobacco.

Her doctor explained that it was “not completely out of the ordinary” for adult women, even non-drinkers, to develop cirrhosis. Subsequent tests confirmed the disease, so she began dutifully taking medicine, anticipating a quick recovery.

Besides, she was too busy to be sick. Her 88-year-old dad, Keith Blonquist, had fallen and broken his femur. In addition to her full time job as Summit County’s assistant manager, Anita began spending nights keeping him company at a rehab center.

“At that point, my health went on hold. I had to focus on my father,” she explained. A few months later, he was released but the respite was brief. In the spring of 2016 her dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Her attention shifted back to her dad, despite her declining health.

Keith Blonquist, her role model for hard work, died on Father’s Day. Three days later, her son Brandon was married. It was a whirlwind month.

By that time, Lewis recalls, her skin was completely yellow and, at work, she had to duck out for quick “power naps” in her car.

“My body started to cave,” she said.

But the rancher’s daughter was reluctant to slow down. “I don’t like to go to the doctor, I never have. I just kept pushing.”

That’s the way it was when she spent the summers as a child driving a tractor while her brother tossed hay bales to the cattle.

“We were raised to work the land,” she said. “My father didn’t have a job where he had insurance, so when we were kids we just didn’t go to the doctor. We didn’t have the income. When you are a farmer, and that is your sole income, it wasn’t a lot.”

Since then, Anita hasn’t strayed far from the ranch or its work ethic. She and her husband Kyle Lewis, a retired captain in the Summit County Sheriff’s Department, still live on the land where she grew up.

Liver transplant: Round 1

By August, it became apparent to Anita’s son Ashley, a paramedic with the Park City Fire District, that his mom was struggling. He insisted she go to the emergency room. The doctors there sent her to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, which has one of the county’s top liver transplant programs.

According to Anita, “That is when it all began. They told me, ‘Your liver is toast, we need to put you on the list for a transplant.’”

In fact, Anita’s’s condition was so dire, her name went to the top of the hospital’s recipient waiting list.

As the doctors outlined the risks and benefits of the procedure, Anita drew on lessons learned from her dad.

“I get this from my father. If that’s what needs to be done, that’s what needs to be done. I knew I could not go on the way I was,” she said.

In the meantime, Anita kept going to work — right up through Sept. 19 when she received an after-dinner call that a liver was available. At 4 a.m. on Sept. 20, she was wheeled into the operating room.

With characteristic optimism, Anita was already looking beyond the surgery and toward attending an NFL game in Kansas City featuring University of Utah alumnus Alex Smith.

Unfortunately, her medical chart did not reflect her sunny disposition. Instead it indicated that her body was rejecting the unfamiliar organ.

“That was probably the first time I was scared. I wanted to get out of the hospital and it was so painful” said Anita, adding that she ended up watching the game in the hospital.

The doctors, though, believed she would weather the initial rejection. After a week, and in her words “tons of IVs,” they sent her home.

Liver transplant: Round 2

A month later, she was readmitted with a severe infection.

“November was a blur, I just remember being very sick and in and out of the hospital,” she said.

Finally her doctors and her family broke the bad news. The liver had failed. She needed a second transplant.

Choking up at the memory of that moment, Anita said, “I was so angry. I told my husband ‘I am NOT going through that again.’ I said ‘When it’s your time, it’s your time.’”

With her family all gathered in the room, the doctor told her, in that case, she could only expect to survive another six to nine weeks. And they would be miserable.

“I felt, I don’t drink why did I get this in the first place? I followed their directions. I did everything they told me to do. I was very defiant and I was not nice to them. My family was crying, I was crying,” she said.

But then, she said, she looked into her two sons’ eyes and realized that she wasn’t ready to leave them.

Ashley remembers that day and it is still painful. “It is hard to describe the range of emotions we went through as a family and as individuals. It was a roller coaster that really put everything else in perspective.”

Anita told them she would think about it on two conditions: that they would find two other women she could talk to who had each undergone two transplants, and they would not restrict her pain medication the way they had before.

The hospital complied.

Anita was introduced to a spry 70-year-old woman who “walked in like a little dynamo. She understood the pain, why I was thinking what I was thinking and she said ‘Just pull on your boots and do it again, I am glad I did.’ She looked so healthy, it was amazing.”

The second woman “looked fabulous” too, according to Anita, and told her “You can do this. You have things you need to do.”

So she relented. Her name went back on the transplant waiting list. On Dec. 21, a second liver was found. But Anita wasn’t out of the woods.

While he procedure went according to plan, on Christmas Day Anita’s spirits sank to a new low. A snowstorm delayed her family’s arrival, leaving her alone in her all-too familiar hospital room.

She likened her IV stand to a poor excuse for a Christmas tree, bedecked with oxygen and feeding tubes and six drains.

“I was all alone in this hospital and my faith that I was going to get better was not there,” she said.

The turning point for Anita was a spiritual one. A group of caroling nurses came by and as they sang she said, “I felt my Savior’s arms come down and hold me. I felt then everything is going to be OK. I am going to survive.”

On the road to recovery

Anita is now back at work in the county courthouse –- still recovering but grateful to be among the friends and colleagues who supported and comforted her last winter. She laughingly tells them, “I went to hell, the devil spit me out and then I went to hell again.”

On a more serious note, she adds, “It was the most painful and blessed experience I have ever gone through in my life.”

In addition to her newfound faith, Anita is committed to finding a way to express her gratitude to the families of the donors who consented to give her a second chance at life.

One way is to support organ donor awareness. Both she and her husband admit they were not organ donors before Anita’s experience.

“Now, how could I not? My life was saved twice because of someone who was willing to donate their organs.”

She is hoping to contact her second donor’s family and says she has started composing a letter to them. “It is going to be the toughest letter I have ever written — to a family who brought me life on Christmas when they were burying someone. I just feel so unworthy for having two chances at life.”

To learn more about becoming an organ donor go to: yesutah.org

Please see “Medical director urges more to become donors” for further reading.

The post Liver transplant takes Anita Lewis on a harrowing journey appeared first on Park Record.

Anita Lewis says she is overcome with gratitude for the donors whose organs saved her life, but she reserves an equal measure of appreciation for the medical team who cared for her over the last six months. She credits her recovery from a nearly fatal liver disease to an “amazing” network of doctors and nurses — from the family physician in Coalville who listened attentively to her mysterious symptoms, to the specialist who identified her disease and, ultimately, to the surgeons and physicians from one of the top liver transplant programs in the country – right here in Utah.

“I felt I had the best team,” she said last week after returning to work at the Summit County Courthouse in Coalville.

Her son, Ashley Lewis, echoes that sentiment, singling out one doctor in particular, Dr. Richard Gilroy, Medical Director of the Liver Transplantation team at Intermountain Medical Center. “You can’t say enough about him. It is above and beyond the realm of understanding,” he said.

As a paramedic with the Park City Fire District, Ashley said his mom’s experience has reinforced his faith in the medical profession and changed his personal stand on becoming an organ donor.

“I didn’t want to be an organ donor for the longest time. But now I think it is the most unselfish thing a person can do,” he said.

That is music to Gilroy’s ears.

Gilroy, who happens to be a Summit County resident, too, said his greatest frustration is the disparity between the number of people waiting for organs and the number of donors.

According to Gilroy, by consenting to be an organ donor, one person can potentially save eight lives. Thanks to advances in medicine, viable organs include the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs and pancreas. In fact, a living person can now donate a portion of their liver to another patient where it will regenerate to the size needed, he added.

“The challenge is ensuring that conversation happens,” he said during a recent conversation near his home in Park City.

According to Gilroy, “118,000 people are currently waiting for an organ transplant and the liver transplant list that Anita was on will have about 12,500 people added to it this year. But we’ll only be able to do 7,500 transplants. That means that 5,000 patients will get removed without the opportunity to be transplanted because they get too sick or they die.”

Gilroy hopes to reduce that number by half though raising awareness of the importance of becoming an organ donor.

“On the religious side, I say to people, ‘We wouldn’t be given this ability, to donate our organs, if we weren’t meant to use it.’ Unfortunately many more are happy to be recipients than donors,” he lamented.

“Utah has great opportunities to increase its transplant rates. We are only at 55 percent of our potential. We need everyone to consider being a donor,” he said.

According to Gilroy, transplant patients, like Anita, can make remarkable recoveries.

“The goal is to restore them to their normal lives,” he said, citing Olympic bronze-medal snowboarder Chris Klug as a prime example. Klug earned his medal in 2002, two years after receiving a liver transplant.

To learn more about becoming an organ donor, go to: https://www.yesutah.org/ or https://www.donatelife.net/

Please see “Liver transplant takes Anita Lewis on a harrowing journey” for further reading.

The post Medical director urges more Utahns to become donors appeared first on Park Record.

“It is a miracle to be gathering at a meeting like this today,” said Lynne Rutan at Summit County’s inaugural Mental Wellness Summit, held Friday, April 21, at the Park City Hospital. The room was filled with more than 80 local leaders responding to a call for a united effort to expand and improve access to mental health services.

Two years ago, Rutan and her husband, Ed, were among the first in the community to highlight the county’s shortage of mental health services. They were motivated, she said, by their own experience trying to find care for their son.

“We had so much trouble finding him treatment and what options were available to our family,” she said, adding they were eventually able to get him stabilized and on the road to recovery. “But then we thought, what do other people do who don’t have that opportunity and support?”

The Rutans began to reach out to other Park City families and discovered they were not alone. The group began pooling their resources and in May of 2016, with support from the Summit County Health Department, they established a nonprofit organization, CONNECT Summit County, and organized a month full of educational events focused on mental health.

That was three months before the community was rocked by the deaths of two middle school students from drug overdoses. Suddenly, CONNECT had an army of supporters.

Since then, a number of local agencies have joined forces under the umbrella of The Summit County Mental Wellness Alliance. Park City, Summit County, law enforcement, social services personnel, all three school districts and many faith groups are all represented and on Friday they gathered to kick off a region-wide effort.

According to Ollie Wilder, program director for The Park City Community Foundation, which is also playing a key role in the alliance, “We are shooting big, we are really trying to make a difference in a big way for the whole county.”

While anticipating a long process, Wilder added that the goal is to present the community with a set of preliminary recommendations in August.

During Friday’s summit Wilder moderated a panel that included Corey Levy, Wellness manager for Vail Resorts; Tyler Walton, president of the Park City Interfaith Council; Lynne Rutan, co-founder of CONNECT; Katie Wright, executive director of the Park City Community Foundation; and Park City Council member Nann Worel.

Some of the highlights were:

Nann Worel said the Park City Council has elevated “citizen well being” to a top priority. “What’s important is that our community has recognized that we have an issue that we need to come together to work on it.”

Tyler Walton said the Park City Interfaith Council represents 15 congregations that offer a unique perspective based on “acceptance, love and compassion.” Many offer different types of services including counseling, referrals, financial resources for people in crisis and a variety of safety nets.

Corey Levy described a Vail Resorts’ Wellness benefit that offers every employee and their household six free, confidential mental health sessions per year, per issue. He added that the resort works with local providers so that employees can set up appointments quickly and easily.

Lynne Rutanencouraged attendees to participate in CONNECT’s upcoming Mental Health Awareness Month activities featuring lectures, panels, seminars and films. She said last year’s program drew more than 900 people. She also directed people to CONNECT’s mental health resource directory, which she described as the first of its kind in Summit county. (www.connectsummitcounty.org)

Katie Wright said the Park City Community Foundation had established a Field of Interest Fund to support the myriad efforts being undertaken by the Alliance. She encouraged people who have the “time, treasure or talent” to share to contact the individual organizations, or the foundation to learn more about how to get involved.

Mental Health Awareness Month begins May 3 with a free lecture by Gail Hornstein entitled “Our Minds and Each Other: Reimagining Mental Health.” For a complete schedule of events go to: http://www.connectsummitcounty.org

The post Panelists at mental health meeting pledge support appeared first on Park Record.

According to Park City resident Bari Nan Rothchild, who is a member of Temple Har Shalom in Park City, there have been sporadic cases of verbal slurs at the schools over the last few years, but they escalated over the last two months.

“Children in Park City come home and report incidents of anti-Semitic comments directed at them in their schools. A place they are told, every day, is a safe community for them. They do not feel safe,” Rothchild wrote in a letter to the editor.

In mid-February, a series of incidents at a local middle school prompted the temple to alert school district officials and to call on the Salt Lake chapter of the Anti-Defamation League for advice. On Feb. 12, a representative from the ADL visited with families at Temple Har Shalom and the next day met with administrators in the school district.

Temple Har Shalom Rabbi David Levinsky said he was impressed with the school district’s response.

“Superintendent Ember Conley has been fantastic. Their approach was that it had to be addressed immediately and strongly,” he said.

At the same time, Levinsky cautioned against overreacting, saying that there had been just “a handful” of incidents.

“There are other populations in our community that are much more vulnerable right now and we don’t want to take attention away from that,” he said, referring to concerns among local immigrants regarding changes in immigration laws and enforcement.

Levinsky said he was more inclined to attribute the epithets reported by parents and students to adolescent boundary-pushing and social media than to any deep-seated leanings toward white supremacy.

But, there is a possibility that verbal name-calling can escalate.

“The concern is whether that will internalize into real hate. At what point does it translate into action,” he asked.

Levinsky said the best remedy is effective diversity training, and the ADL and school district’s efforts seemed to have made a difference.

According to Superintendent Conley, although the incidents were isolated, “given the national climate, people are very sensitive and, with that, we wanted to be very proactive.”

She said school administrators talked with the students who were involved and their parents. They also distributed flyers to all of the students explaining “what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.”

Conley said administrators from Ecker Hill Middle School, Treasure Mountain Junior High, the Learning Center and Park City High School met with the ADL to talk about how to respond. Staff members have also have participated in previous diversity training programs.

“I also want to stress that it is the community’s responsibility to model appropriate language and to teach our children tolerance and acceptance of other cultures, beliefs and religions. We will continue to encourage those ideas in our classrooms,” Conley added.

Miriam Eatchel, president of Temple Har Shalom’s Board of Directors, said that earlier this year she received numerous reports of name-calling and epithets like “Heil Hitler” spoken at one of the schools, along with anti-Semitic graffiti in a nearby neighborhood.

“It was gut-wrenching, not just for the Jewish kids, but the non-Jewish kids were upset too,” she said.

To help families respond, the temple held a dinner and discussion with a representative from the Anti-Defamation League and 100 people attended.

“The ADL did some very moving things … They asked people to stand up if they had heard a racist joke (not just about Judaism) and it was a punch in the stomach to see how many stood up,” Eatchel said.

While it is “sad to see this happening” Eatchel said she, too, was pleased with the school district’s response and hopes the effort to identify and halt hate speech will help other vulnerable groups as well.

“We need to continue to be vigilant. It is better but not gone,” she said.

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House Bill 253, sponsored by Rep. John Knotwell, a Republican from Herriman, would prevent cities and counties from “enacting or enforcing an ordinance that prohibits an individual from listing a short term rental on a short term rental website.”

The bill is a less dramatic version of the one Knotwell introduced last year that raised the hackles of municipal and lodging entities around the state. That bill would have placed a moratorium on all municipal restrictions regarding short-term rentals but he shelved the proposal amid vigorous opposition.

The current version, approved in committee on Tuesday by a vote of 13 to 1, requires that the owner of the property must also occupy the site during the term of the rental.

In Park City, short-term rentals, commonly referred to as nightly rentals, are currently not allowed in large portions of the Prospector, Park Meadows and Thaynes Canyon neighborhoods.

In areas where they are allowed, City hall requires the property owner to obtain a business license and the unit be inspected for safety.

According to Assistant Park City Manager Matt Dias, officials have been working closely with Knotwell to convey their concerns.

Dias said the local ordinances that currently regulate short-term rentals are the result of extensive public input from the neighborhoods themselves.

“We feel our zoning reflects what the people in those areas want,” he said, adding that allowing short-term rentals requires a higher level of infrastructure, including parking and transit.

In a broader sense, Dias said, nightly rentals can adversely impact the community’s already strapped affordable housing base. Expanding the number of short-term rental opportunities in a popular resort town can lead to homeowners putting their properties online at a higher rate rather than offering them as seasonal rentals to employees.

They can also be detrimental to neighborhoods because properties may sit vacant for lengthy periods because the owners want to reserve them for more lucrative rates during the high season instead of renting them on a long-term basis.

The bill will next move to the full House for debate.

In the past, nightly-rental restrictions in Park City have been hotly debated at local public hearings, but Dias said the city is concerned that residents may not be aware of the discussion currently taking place at the state level.

To follow the House Bill 253’s progress go to: http://le.utah.gov/~2017/bills/static/HB0253.html

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