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Soccer season begins despite the weather
Multiple games have gone on, even with some snow on the ground.
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Local woman holds vigil on GSL
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Leadership is all about service
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March 17, 2023 | Vol. 4 Iss. 10
Local companies pool resources to help village in Uganda
Please see UGANDA: pg. 3
Olympic Champion Dick Fosbury Dies at 76 Dick Fosbury, inventor of the “Fosbury Flop” that has become the standard method for high jumper since his gold medal in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, died on Monday at the age of 76. Born in Medford, Oregon, Fosbury became a fixture in Ketchum, Idaho over the last 25 plus years. He served as both a City engineer as well as the chair of the Solid Waste District in Ketchum, as well as a prominent board member of the Simplot Games in Pocatello.
By Becky Ginos becky.g@davisjournal.com CENTERVILLE—On the remote island of Bufumira in Uganda villagers don’t have running water, electricity or latrines. They walk a mile and a half carrying water on their heads to bring it back to their mud shacks. In an effort to help out, three local companies, Green Collective, Salmon Electric and Salmon HVAC, combined resources to drill two wells and build a latrine on the island at their own expense. “My wife and I served an LDS mission in Zambia,” said Salmon HVAC founder Craig Salmon. “We met another missionary Joseph Snengooba who was going home to Uganda. He was in a rotary type organization that tries to assess different needs in different areas. He called me and asked if there was any way we could help them on a remote island on Lake Victoria.” He told us they had no water and no latrine, said Salmon. “They have a little school and they were using water out of the lake and people were getting sick. They needed a well at the school for the kids but they also needed one for the village.” When they learned about what needed to be done, Salmon said he approached the other two companies to see if they’d like to help. “When we told them what we were doing they said ‘we’d love to help.’ Honestly it was a great experience to see them step up and provide money for people they don’t even know.”
NEWS BREAK
Silicon Valley Bank Collapses The Silicon Valley Bank, a major account holder for a number of Silicon Valley corporations, experienced economic failure over the last week, leading to fears of another 2008 style “chain-collapse” of banking institutions. The FDIC has insured the holdings of bank customers, whose funds were made available on Monday, averting a broader ripple effect through the economy. While several other, smaller banks had their credit downgraded no other bank experienced a similar meltdown, and economists predict that the event should remain fairly localized. Stocks were down immediately after the event, but have since recovered, signaling a resilient underlying system.
Oscars held on Sunday
BRICKS BEING STACKED for the latrine. The people living on the remote island of Bufumira in Uganda helped carry the bricks brought in by boat.
Courtesy photo
School board votes on next steps for Summit learning platform By Becky Ginos becky.g@davisjournal.com FARMINGTON—The debate over the learning platform Summit used in the Davis School District has been going on for quite some time. The Board of Education has heard from many parents who believe Summit has caused their children to lose confidence and get lower grades. After months of discussion, the board considered the next course of action at last week’s meeting. Before taking a final vote, board members were given the opportunity to express their opinion on the program and what should be done. “I’ve been on the board a long time,” said Board Vice President Brigit Gerrard. “We’ve studied Summit and I’ve listened to feedback and genuinely tried to understand concerns.” Parents are passionate about their student’s education, she said. “Administration
and teachers have spent time and effort to help students and parents. It’s not perfect but I don’t think anything is perfect. I think it needs to be addressed at the individual school level and identify those students who are struggling from data at each school and provide options.” “We need to look at the bigger picture moving forward,” said Board President Liz Mumford. “Some schools are having great success with Summit and others are not.” Mumford said first they need to identify students and parents who are struggling then create a structure at schools to find the barriers and make a site-based decision as much as possible. “We also need to create a digital learning task force made up of board members to look at adopting platforms and make long-term plans for digital learning and allocate resources to that,” she said. “It’s a new realm for us so we want to put the best minds into moving forward because we’re going to be making decisions like this in the future so we need to make sure it’s a
really thoughtful process.” “The schools we’re talking about that are using Summit are successful,” said board member John Robison. “What we’re really talking about are the students that are struggling. When I get an email from a parent that says their child is struggling my ears perk up. The solution to a problem with a student struggling no matter what system they’re in is at the lowest level possible which is at the school.” Robison said the input he’s received from special education teachers is that for the first time using Summit they could get to those kids. “I talked to one teacher whose son has an IEP and flourished at Farmington High for the first time in his life. It gave him a sense of belonging.” The board absolutely needs to be sensitive and listen to what the public is saying, he said. “That’s an integral part of what we do but we have to balance that with what Please see SUMMIT: pg. 3
The 2023 Academy Awards were given out last weekend, with the film “Everything Everywhere and All at Once” taking the lion’s share of trophies home. Directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan won best director, Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan won the supporting actress/actor awards, and the film itself won Best Picture. Brendan Fraser took home the Best Actor Oscar for “The Whale.” “All Quiet on the Western Front” won a number of sound and technical awards. “Top Gun: Maverick” won the award for Achievement in Sound.
Inflation falls for the eighth straight month Inflation, which reached historic highs during the summer of 2022, has fallen for the eighth month in row, according to economic analysts. Food prices, which reached an inflationary high of over 11%, are down to a low of 9.5% inflation since September. Fuel and commodities prices are also seeing a decrease. Though inflation is likely to remain an economic issue in many sectors, the overall reduction is being seen as a positive sign of stabilization. Many experts are encouraging the Federal Reserve to begin lowering interest rates in order to restart economic growth.