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May 19, 2023 | Vol. 2 Iss. 20
Covering Your Community
MHS boys soccer claim second at State Congratulations to the Morgan High Trojans on their excellent soccer season!
page 7
MORGAN COUNTY NEWS Since 1929
NEWS BREAK Durham Report Released
COACHES KACEY DEMOND (LEFT) and Dennis Peterson (right) pose with their state championship team.
MHS Girls Golf brings home first ever State Title By Liisa London Mecham
A
s freshmen in 2020, the MHS seniors on the golf team didn’t get to compete at state due to Covid. The next two years they watched at Richfield took the title twice, just like they had before Covid, four times in five years. But 2023 was the Lady Trojans year! Entering state as the top ranked 3A team, Morgan led from the first hole to the 36th hole. After the first day of the tournament, Morgan held a seven stroke lead, 322 to 329, over the reigning champions, Richfield, and after day two, they had stretched the lead to 12 strokes, bringing home Morgan’s first ever girls’ golf state title. Ellie DeMond earned Morgan’s first ever girls’ individual title finishing nine strokes over her teammate Jailee Snow, who earned the silver medal. In the team standings, Morgan finished with 642 total strokes over
second-place Richfield’s 654. Juan Diego was third with 666 and Grantsville finished fourth (707). Head coach Dennis Peterson commented, “What a way to finish off a high school golf career! I am so blessed to be able to be a part of this team. From having to play or not play through the Covid year and the changes that were made, to the worst spring weather ever in a girls golf season, this group just kept fighting until the end. To all of the team, thank you for letting me coach!” Seniors DeMond and Snow, who have both signed to play golf for Westminster College in Salt Lake City, led the team with the one-two finish individual finish as gold and silver medalists. DeMond finished two under par with a dominant Day 2 showing after shooting par on Day 1. DeMond led from start to finish to earn her first individual medalist title after finishing fourth as a sophomore
The Lending Library By Ethan Hoffmann
T
he Little Lending Library at Riverside Park is now open! The library's motto is to “bring one, borrow one” or “take one, leave one” and the community has been enjoying what the project has to offer for many years. Citizens of Morgan can choose a book to read while they are at the park and are free to take it home to read with the family. Just make sure that you bring it back when you are finished reading, or bring another book to replace it. If you are cleaning out your book collection, the Lending Library loves and is happy to accept gently used donations for the cause. The Lending Library was organized by River Pinhey, an Eagle scout who made the project in Morgan come to life. “I noticed that there were small boxes with books in them along the side of the road in several places
around Utah,” said Pinhey. “I thought it’d be beneficial to have one that is easily accessible to the public in Morgan and the perfect place would be at Riverside Park, the one place everyone comes and hangs out in Morgan.” Pinhey’s uncle, a local seminary teacher named John Heywood, helped him tremendously with this project, going so far as to help his nephew build the entire thing from scratch and install it at the park. According to Pinhey, the project actually changed a few times over the course of the next couple of years, mainly due to exterior damage. The kids at the park liked hanging on the door of the library, and in the process, they would often break it. Pinhey and
LIBRARY on page 2 THE LENDING LIBRARY at the Hinds Location.
Courtesy Photo
Photo by Katie Poll
and as a junior. Her freshman year DeMond won the PGA high school tournament that was held in lieu of the State Championships due to Covid. DeMond is a four-time All-State Golfer, four time regional medalist, and four time Region Champion. DeMond shared her experience at state. “As a team, we have been preparing for this tournament for the past year. I worked hard to be ready for this moment and decided to just focus on ‘one shot at a time’ which helped me shoot some of the best scores of my career, including a 2 under par in the final round.” “Coming up the 18th hole, I knew I wanted to finish strong and was so excited to see my team standing around the final hole. As I made my final putt, I was so excited to embrace my team knowing we had just won the championship.”
TITLE on page 7
The long-anticipated report from GOP-appointed special counsel John Durham into the FBI’s investigation into potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign was released to predictable partisan reactions. Former president Trump immediately claimed that the report confirmed the spurious nature of what eventually became the Mueller investigation, while critics on the left equally immediately trumpeted the fact that no prosecutions or advisory changes to the FBI came out of the report, showing that it was a “dud”. The likely outcome of the investigation is more fuel for what promises to be a long campaign season leading up to 2024’s presidential election, which is also likely to see a rematch of current president Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump.
Wholesale egg prices decline After a year in which egg prices were one of the main kitchen table indexes for the state of inflation in the U.S., production capacity has caught up and surpassed demand. In 2021 and 2022, avian flu had decimated the egg-producing chicken numbers across the country, leading to limited supplies and higher prices. Inflation added to the situation, and eggs reached up to $6 a dozen or even more in most markets. The numbers of layers have since rebounded, and avian flu has not been a significant health issue for animals this year. Wholesale prices have fallen dramatically, though so far the drop has only trickled down to retail costs. Experts predict those costs will also fall significantly in the coming months.
Record temperatures expected across the west
Following a wetter than average winter, the west coast of the U.S. has jumped straight into a hotter than average spring. Temperatures in Oregon and Washington have reached the low 90s already, with predictions of hotter temperatures to come in the next few months. There is not a lot of air conditioning infrastructure on the pacific coast, as the temperatures are generally fairly moderate. The “heat dome” which is currently occupying the coast will be moving inland and heading to the Rockies soon, bringing what are likely to be record temperatures to the inland northwest, including Idaho, soon.
Lori Vallow found guilty on all counts After deliberating for just over seven hours, an Ada County jury found Lori Daybell guilty on all the charges against her. Vallow was charged with two counts of the first-degree murder of her children, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, and additional counts of grand theft. Vallow will be transferred to Fremont County to await her sentencing hearing. The trial of Chad Daybell, which also includes charges of additional murders, will begin soon.