Beyond duty
I love our law enforcement agencies!
Last Saturday, my husband and I helped some friends out of the area during the Pinebrook evacuation.
A Summit County MP approached the house to ask if we would leave. Our friend couldn’t use the stairs so we rolled him into an electric elevator when the power went out.
We knew we had to take our friend in a wheelchair down the stairs. The deputy said: “I’ll be right back.” When he came back he was wearing a backrest. I asked him if he was okay and he said he had a broken back. This brave broken-back deputy did not hesitate to offer help. He helped my husband move our friend down two flights of stairs … WITH A BROKEN BACK. That’s what I call surrender. I don’t know the substitute’s name, but God knows.
Our law enforcement agencies are not getting the recognition they deserve. They risk their lives every day to protect us. And sometimes they go beyond duty. I am eternally grateful to you.
Brenda Miller
Jeremy Ranch
*****
Bus timetable could use a revision
I love the free buses and drive them when I’m not walking. And I think it’s great service. However, I think there may be too many buses on the Deer Valley Drive route. I enjoy my coffee on the patio of our Powder Run condominium. Here’s what I recorded about the buses passing by the apartment.
Friday, July 23rd, AM:
7:13, 7:18, 7:29, 7:31 High Valley Transit, 7:43, 7:50, 7:59, 8:05 HV, 8:12, 8:20, 8:22 HV, 8 : 30, 8:37 HV.
Saturday, July 24th, AM:
8:12, 8:21, 8:22 HV, 8:29, 8:37 HV, 8:43, 8:47 HV, 8:49, 9:00, 9:13, 9:14 HV, 9: 21, 9:29.
I’m only here in summer so I don’t know how many skiers use the bus during the ski season. I find that bus use is related to the July 4th Parade and Kimball Arts Festival. Sometimes I’m often the only driver. Occasionally I see employees getting off the bus in the Snow Park.
I would think anyone planning to use the bus could / should schedule at least 15 minute intervals at stops. I see High Valley buses followed by Park City buses on Deer Valley Drive and both parked / idled at the Snow Park Lodge at the same time. Did you know that the High Valley buses run until midnight?
With so few stops to pick up / drop off drivers, the buses stand still waiting for the right times to leave certain stops – the transit centers and the snow park. Not all buses are electric. I wonder how Park City will achieve its carbon neutral goal by 2030.
I’m just a senior who likes to see all the resources available to everyone well used. There is no way I want anyone to lose their job, I just think the Deer Valley bus schedule could be reconsidered.
Chris Wilson
Deer valley
*****
Feel the pain of taxes
Alex Cimos, in his letter to the editor of August 14, complains about the increase in property taxes.
We all feel its pain. Literally. It shows the dangers of a wealth tax – and a wealth tax is a form of wealth tax that has particularly dire side effects. It is high time to abolish property taxes altogether and switch to a consumption tax or value added tax – which can be designed to generate the tax revenue needed to finance the state or as progressive as your policies require. Indeed, a progressive consumption tax has far better economic properties (incentives, false incentives, and economic distortions) than both a wealth tax and an income tax.
Philip Palmintere
Solamer
*****
Radio stations increased
I would like to thank Renai Bodley Miller, Leslie Thatcher, and the entire KPCW news team for their coverage of the Parleys Canyon Fire over the past few days. We had been away from Park City for the past two months and were driving through eastern Colorado on our way home when we heard the news of the fire. Fortunately, we were able to stream KPCW whenever we had internet access and stayed up to date. And while the news wasn’t always what we’d hoped for, we felt as informed as we would have been if we had been home. And on top of that, Renai’s calm and confident voice was particularly comforting.
I would also like to commend them for keeping their priorities clear and postponing their fundraiser until next week to give their full attention to the fire as many of us had much to fear.
Let’s reward their service and commitment to our community by giving early, often, and generously next week.
Larry Rose
Pine stream
*****
Pledges of support for KPCW
This week, the Park City community was hit by an unprecedented natural disaster when the fire broke out in Parleys Canyon on Saturday afternoon. KPCW immediately suspended its normal program to provide a live news stream with accurate and up-to-date information on the status of the fire and related developments. While KPCW was scheduled to hold its bi-annual fundraiser this week, it did not seem appropriate to hold a fundraiser while so many were being displaced. Ultimately, KPCW cannot work without the financial support of our listeners. It is the community that enables KPCW to deliver the kind of news and information that so many have relied on during this crisis. We have postponed the fundraiser for next week from Monday, August 23rd. Please consider supporting the broadcaster during the fundraiser next week so we can continue to bring award-winning news and programming to this great community.
Roger S. Goldman
Chairman of the KPCW Board of Trustees
*****
Column missed the mark
What a disappointment to read Amy Roberts’ column this week on mandatory evacuations due to forest fires. I understand that her column is her opinion, but the hideous tone and evil words Ms. Roberts chose are still representative of The Park Record.
Melissa DeFord
Pine stream
*****
Hats off to the hotel
As Summit Park evacuated from the wildfire this week, I experienced the insane rush for same-day accommodation and the uncertainty of where my family (with dog in tow) would stay to wait. There was also the question of how long we would have to stay.
I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to Peaks Hotel for standing up and offering the evacuees pet-friendly rooms for only $ 35 per night (their staff rate).
Your staff greeted us warmly despite the overwhelming amount of phone calls and the sudden hectic activity they faced. They have been remarkably patient and empathetic with booking extensions, room swaps, early checkouts, and all of the other unpredictables that come with an evacuation.
My hats go to Stephanie Samuels, the general manager, and her great receptionists including Art, Megan and Rayna. They all showed what it means to be part of a committed, caring community. My family and I thank you!
Eric Armentrout
Summit Park
*****
Take personal responsibility
During the Parleys Canyon Fire, about two dozen households refused to evacuate. They were told to stay inside, away from the streets and not expect rescue. Here in America it was her right to make that choice.
It’s time we treated the voluntarily unvaccinated the same way: if they choose not to get the COVID-19 syringe, as is their right here in America, they shouldn’t expect hospital care to help when they do Got COVID-19. Why should insurance and taxpayers pay for their care, and why should healthcare workers continue to be exploited to help those who refused the vaccine? Alcohol and smoking play a role in determining the health insurance rates. Vaccine status should have an even bigger impact on the price, if any attention is paid to it. There has to be a way out of this mess, and taking personal responsibility for not getting the vaccine would go a long way.
Mark Lindemann
Summit Park
*****
“Thank you” is not enough
This terrible fire in our beloved Park City that we are just emerging from offers us this great and rare opportunity to praise courage, selflessness, devotion and duty. I have just spent time with a firefighter friend, who described the conditions for fighting a fire to me. When firefighters are praised and then praised again, it is not enough, appreciated and loved, it is not enough.
Put your life on the line without thinking about endangering yourself? Not many of us have this ability – most of us don’t.
Sleep on the floor from exhaustion, full of smoke particles, eat on the run if you have time, and above all maintain these conditions. What words can adequately describe this? Sleep near a living fire in the rain on top of that.
For my part, I can’t understand it, can’t believe it, but these firefighters, rescuers, gave us all of this and more.
I’m in awe, and thank you don’t cut it.
Jack Carmel
Jeremy Ranch