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Park Record
Park City and Summit County News
Summit County Health Director Phil Bondurant will serve on the Utah Drinking Water Board for the next four years, after being confirmed to the position by the state Legislature last week.
“The Drinking Water Board adopts and enforces rules related to the drinking water systems, and it’s also the board that oversees the financial assistance piece to existing drinking water systems in the state if there’s a need for additional assistance for repairs or updates,” Bondurant explained. “It’s for those things that are required to make sure that the individual drinking water systems throughout the state are consistent and compliant with EPA standards, as well as state standards, for the delivery of clean, safe and abundant drinking water.”
The Drinking Water Board meets at least six times a year and has nine members from all over the state. It convenes in different locations across Utah each meeting in an effort to be more equitable, according to Bondurant.
“The board members reside all over the state from rural settings to big metropolitan areas,” he said. “The meetings tend to last between one to two hours with a lot of the homework and background reading being done prior to the arrival of the meeting.”
Other board members include engineers, mayors, water system operators and academics.
“There is an individual that owns a restaurant on the board, so someone that is affected by the regulatory aspect of this in terms of their business,” Bondurant added. “It’s really interesting to see the diverse group of professionals that represent this board and the interests of what the board regulates, but for me, what’s most interesting is it shows how important it is to deliver clean drinking water.”
State law requires one of the nine board members to be a public health professional. Jeff Coombs, the Tooele County health director, served on the board for two terms but decided to step down in 2025. 
To prepare for Coombs’ departure, the Governor’s Office reached out to the Utah Association of Local Health Departments for a nomination, leading to Bondurant’s involvement. 
“My fellow health officers across the state nominated me, which I was very honored to be considered in this capacity,” Bondurant said.
The nomination was then sent to the Governor’s Office, along with an application that Bondurant filled out. The governor decided to nominate Bondurant, a decision ratified by a Senate committee and then confirmed by the Senate last week.
Bondurant also expressed his gratitude for the Summit County Council and the Summit County Board of Health for supporting his appointment and recognizing the value of the Drinking Water Board. He said it’s an exciting opportunity to have someone from Summit County involved given the number of water systems in the area.
“Some of the regulations that exist in the health code are really progressive around clean, safe drinking water,” Bondurant said. “I’m looking forward to learning from the other professionals that are on this board across this state, hearing about some of the things that they might be encouraged by or might be dealing with. For me, it’s always just been about making sure that the environment that we interact with, whether it’s drinking water or air, is as safe as it could possibly be so that we can live a happy, healthy life.”
Park City Home
Winter 2024/25
The Park Record newspaper publishes twice weekly in Park City, Utah, and has been serving Summit County since 1880.

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Oct 16, 2024
What you need to know: California is expanding access to culturally-based substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services. Today marks the first time Medi-Cal will cover traditional health care practices that are deeply rooted in cultural practices and have been shown to improve health outcomes, particularly for individuals with SUDs. 
Sacramento, California – Governor Gavin Newsom announced today that California is expanding access to culturally-based substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services.  
After years of working toward this milestone, today marks the first time Medi-Cal will cover traditional health care practices in use since time immemorial. These are deeply rooted in cultural practices and have been shown to improve health outcomes, particularly for individuals with SUDs.
Native Americans continue to be disproportionately impacted by the opioid epidemic, with higher overdose death rates than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States.
As the home of the largest population of Native Americans in the country, California is committed to helping heal the historical wounds inflicted on tribes – including the glaring health disparities we see between Native communities and other groups. Like many of the issues that plague successive generations of Native people, those inequities can be traced back to the historical atrocities the U.S. inflicted on tribes across the country. By supporting greater access to traditional medicine and healing, we are taking another step toward a healthier, brighter future.
Governor Gavin Newsom
“Native American communities have long faced barriers to accessing traditional medicines and healing resources in this State,” said Tribal Affairs Secretary Christina Snider-Ashtari. “Support for these critical practices will again allow the rich and diverse Native populations who have lived here since time immemorial – along with those who now call California home – to access time-honored and tested methods to bolster wellness in Native families, communities, and tribal nations.”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) approval for California, alongside Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon, allows two new categories of interventions to be covered by Medi-Cal, as developed by the state in partnership with tribal partners:  
This marks a significant milestone in the state’s ongoing efforts to recognize the valuable contributions of traditional healing practices within the health care system. Traditional healing services have been trusted and tested methods of care for Native Americans for generations. They are deeply rooted in cultural practices and have been shown to improve health outcomes, particularly for individuals with SUDs.
Studies have demonstrated that these culturally centered approaches can enhance engagement and recovery outcomes, making them an essential component of holistic care for Native communities. Additionally, the state recognizes that tribal communities understand themselves best – and that each tribe has different needs, traditions, and histories – so each participating IHCP will create its own process to identify and credential its own traditional healers and natural helpers.
“CMS’ approval is first and foremost the fulfillment of the efforts of our tribal leader and Urban Indian Organization partners whose vision and steadfast advocacy made this a priority,” said State Medicaid Director Tyler Sadwith. “I am immensely proud that California tribal and Urban Indian communities now have access to culturally based traditional healing practices through Medi-Cal, marking a historic step toward health equity and honoring the rich traditions of our diverse Native communities.”
“It is vital that we honor our traditional ways of healing and understand they are as important and valuable as Western medicine,” said Kiana Maillet, licensed therapist and owner of Hiichido Licensed Clinical Social Worker Professional Corporation. “Traditional healing is deeply engrained in our blood memory, our cultures, and our communities. Without it, we are missing a piece of who we are. As we continue to regain access to traditional ways – ways that our ancestors were punished for in the past – we move forward with healing from historical traumas and improving the health of our future generations.”
Starting January 1, 2025, IHCPs can request Medi-Cal reimbursement for Traditional Healer and Natural Helper Services provided to residents of qualifying counties. In the coming months, the state will consult with tribes and tribal partners to develop guidance.
In 2019, Governor Newsom apologized on behalf of the State of California to California Native American peoples, and announced the creation of the California Truth and Healing Council. Through collaborative and consultative work of the Council, the Governor’s Office of Tribal Affairs, and tribes across the state, a number of policies and programs have been developed so that the state can better address historical injustices and support tribes and tribal work in everything from health to climate. 
Medi-Cal coverage for traditional healer and natural helper services strengthens the longstanding investments the state has made to expand SUD prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction resources for California tribal and Urban Indian communities through the Tribal MAT Project. 
This work also builds on the state’s broader efforts to address the opioid crisis and overdose epidemic, which is outlined in the Governor’s Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis and on opioids.ca.gov, a one-stop tool for Californians seeking resources for prevention and treatment, as well as information on how California is working to hold Big Pharma and drug traffickers accountable in this crisis. More information on the state’s efforts can be found here.
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Dec 24, 2024
News What you need to know: Governor Newsom and other West Coast governors are requesting a federal fishery disaster to support communities reliant on the industry following the worst albacore fishery season in over 30 years. SACRAMENTO – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom…
Dec 24, 2024
News What you need to know: CHP arrested more than a hundred suspects as part of a recent statewide blitz to crack down on retail theft during what is commercially the busiest season of the year — promoting safe shopping experiences for communities throughout…
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News What you need to know: According to new data from the California Energy Commission, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in California is 20 cents lower than last year and 70 cents lower than 2022 – saving Californians billions of dollars at the pump….
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President-elect Donald Trump slammed President Joe Biden on Tuesday for commuting the death sentences of 37 federal prisoners in an act of holiday clemency. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/TNS)
Joe Raedle/TNS
By Dave Goldiner
New York Daily News
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump slammed President Joe Biden on Tuesday for commuting the death sentences of 37 federal prisoners in an act of holiday clemency.
Trump said relatives of victims are angry that Biden spared the lives of some of the “worst killers in our country,” including inmates convicted in the slayings of police and military officers, as well as murders involved in deadly robberies and drug deals.
“When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense,” Trump wrote on his social media site. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!”
Trump, a vocal death penalty advocate, won’t be able to reverse the commutations. But he vowed to aggressively push for future federal death sentences when he returns to the White House Jan. 20.
“As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” Trump wrote.
Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates. They will instead face life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
He left three inmates on federal death row: Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018; and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Biden explained his decision by noting that his administration has imposed a moratorium on federal executions except in cases of “terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.”
“I cannot stand by and let a new administration resume executions that I halted,” Biden tweeted.
Relatives of most, but not all the victims, denounced Biden’s Christmas week decision to spare the killers.
Tim Timmerman, whose daughter, Rachel, was thrown into a Michigan lake in 1997 to keep her from testifying in a rape trial, said Biden’s decision to commute the killer’s sentence offered families “only pain.”
“Where’s the justice in just giving him a prison bed to die comfortably in?” Timmerman said.
But Donnie Oliverio, a retired Ohio police officer whose partner, Bryan Hurst, was murdered, said the killer’s execution “would have brought me no peace.”
“The president has done what is right here,” Oliverio said in a statement.
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said in a statement that Biden has shown “the brutal and inhumane policies of our past do not belong in our future.”
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©2024 New York Daily News.
Visit at nydailynews.com.
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FLORIDA — One lucky Mega Millions player in Florida could ring in the new year $1.15 billion richer as the estimated jackpot rises for Friday’s drawing.
If a player chooses all the correct numbers, the $1.15 billion prize would be the fifth-largest jackpot in the history of the game, according to the Mega Millions site.
Mega Millions numbers are drawn twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. Eastern Time. To be eligible for the jackpot, Florida players must buy their tickets by 10 p.m. Tuesday under state lottery law.

Jackpots may be paid out over a 30-year annuity, but most people take a lump sum cash payment, which would be $516.1 million for Friday’s drawing. It’s important to remember that winnings are subject to federal taxes and, often, state taxes, as well.
Tickets cost $2. For another $1, players can buy the Megaplier option, which increases their winnings up to $5 million.
Players select 5 numbers between 1 and 70, and a Mega Ball number between 1 and 25. You can also have the lottery computer randomly select the numbers.

There are about 13,000 retailers in Florida that sell Mega Millions and other lottery tickets, including:
Many restaurants, bars and other businesses also sell lottery tickets. You can search the Florida Lottery site for retail sales sites.
In Florida, the state lottery must withhold 24 percent federal taxes on prizes more than $5,000 for U.S. citizens with a social security number.
For U.S. citizens without a social security number, the state lottery must withhold 30 percent for taxes on prizes more than $600.
The odds of winning the jackpot are pretty low — about 1 in 302.6 million. You have a better chance of dying in a plane crash or lightning strike. But the odds of winning smaller prizes ranging are significantly better: the odds of winning $1 million are about 1 in 12.6 million.

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Kulr Technology stock pops on bitcoin treasury launch  Yahoo Finance
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In the United States alone, there were almost 417,000 COVID-19 deaths in 2021. A year afterward, in 2022, there were around 187,000, and a year after that, in 2023, there were about 50,000.
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a massive surge in mortality in the U.S., resulting in reduced life expectancy. But today, life expectancy is recovering, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After dropping to 76.4 years in 2021, it increased by 1.1 years in 2022 (the CDC reported in March) and by 0.9 years in 2023 (the CDC reported in December), recovering to almost pre-pandemic levels.
The consecutive rebounds in 2022 and 2023 are thanks to declines in the age-adjusted death rates of almost all leading causes of death, from heart disease to COVID-19. The rebound in 2023 also coincides with a decreasing rate of drug deaths, according to another recent report by the CDC, indicating a downward trend in fatal overdoses.
Read More: Humans Have Altered Their Life Expectancy in Extraordinary Ways
According to the CDC, the life expectancy was 78.4 years in 2023, an increase from 77.5 years in 2022 and 76.4 years in 2021. Listed as life expectancies at birth, each of these estimates is an evaluation of the average number of years a baby born in 2023, 2022, or 2021 could expect to live based on the death rates from those years.
Consistently calculated by the CDC, these life expectancies are a valuable metric for assessing the overall mortality rate of a population, though it is important to note that they account for the overall mortality rate in a particular year (and thus cannot account for future medical advances or declines).
In 2023, around 3,091,000 people died in the U.S., while totals of about 3,280,000 and 3,464,000 died in 2022 and 2021. Though the life expectancies derived from these deaths are still shy of the pre-pandemic level of 78.8 years (and the previous peak of 78.9 years), life expectancy is inching toward pre-pandemic levels and improving significantly due to consecutive declines in death rates among the top 10 leading causes.
In all three years, the top 10 leading causes of death were heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, kidney disease, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, and COVID-19. Between 2021 and 2022, the death rates of all 10 declined, save for cancer, and between 2022 and 2023, they declined again, save for kidney disease.
In all three years — 2021, 2022, and 2023 — the leading cause of death was heart disease. In 2021, heart disease caused 173.8 deaths per 100,000 people in the U.S., adjusted for the age of the population, while in 2022 and 2023, it caused 167.2 and 162.1 deaths, respectively. That represents a 3.8 percent decline in age-adjusted heart disease death rates between 2021 and 2022 and another 3.1 percent decline between 2022 and 2023.
Cancer followed in all three years, then unintentional injury in 2022 and 2023. Between 2021 and 2022, age-adjusted cancer death rates declined by 2.9 percent, while age-adjusted unintentional injury death rates declined by 1.1 percent. And while cancer death rates stayed around the same between 2022 and 2023, unintentional injury death rates declined by an additional 2.7 percent.
According to the CDC, some of the most significant changes occurred with COVID-19 in all three years, with an age-adjusted death rate that decreased by 57.3 percent between 2021 and 2022 and by another 73.3 percent between 2022 and 2023. In 2021, COVID-19 caused 104.1 deaths per 100,000 people in the U.S., while in 2022 and 2023, it caused 44.5 and 11.9, falling from the third cause of death to the fourth in 2022 and the tenth in 2023.
Read More: Why Do Some People Live So Long?
While the increases in life expectancy are largely due to the declines in the death rates of the leading causes of death, decreases in other death rates are also occurring. According to the CDC, drug overdose deaths — which are not counted in the March or December mortality reports as a leading cause of death in the U.S. — dropped between 2022 and 2023, with the age-adjusted rate of death declining by 4.0 percent, from 32.6 per 100,000 people to 31.3. This is the first decline in age-adjusted drug overdose death rates since 2018 when overdoses caused 20.7 deaths per 100,000 people.
It’s a promising trend after years of increases in overdose deaths and perhaps a positive sign for future declines.
Read More: How To Extend Your Longevity
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
CDC. Mortality in the United States, 2022
CDC. Mortality in the United States, 2023
CDC. Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 2003–2023
Sam Walters is a journalist covering archaeology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution for Discover, along with an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
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10 Most Quotable Horror Movie Characters Of All Time  Screen Rant
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Est. 2006

From a press release:
“Today, a concerned group of 80+ shelter volunteers and citizens announced the formation of DC Watchdogs, an independent observer of DC’s animal shelter system, ahead of the Brandywine Valley SPCA’s takeover over DC’s Animal Care and Control contract on January 1, 2025. The group’s mission includes:
Monitoring conditions at DC shelters to ensure humane care for animals and accessible public services;
Promoting animal friendly legislation and agency oversight to the DC council; and
Empowering the public with information about local animal welfare issues and opportunities.
BVSPCA will take over the contract from the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA), which has come under scrutiny for unsanitary and unsafe conditions for animals, staff, and volunteers and for its failure to provide vital services such as public low-cost spay-neuter services to control overpopulation.
DC Watchdogs will monitor operations at BVSPCA and HRA, ensuring the organizations are providing proper care for animals, public low-cost spay/neuter and veterinary programs, transparency around euthanasia decisions, intake of stray animals and owner surrenders, and satisfactory treatment of frontline staff.
The group is cautiously optimistic about BVSPCA’s ability to provide quality animal care services to the city, services that have been missing or substandard for years.
“We hope that under BVSPCA’s leadership, DC’s shelter can provide a safe haven for animals and much-needed services for the public,” said Kate Finman, a member of the group’s steering committee. “The DC community deserves shelters and services that reflect the vitality of this great city and are accessible to all its residents.”
Originating as a group of HRA volunteers, DC Watchdogs will continue to monitor operations at HRA and the DC Council and Department of Health’s oversight of animal control.
HRA will operate as a private rescue outside DC animal control from its location at 71 Oglethorpe Street NW. It will also retain responsibility for Humane Law Enforcement and says it will take in owner surrendered animals in the District.
BVSPCA will occupy the current DC-run shelter at 1201 New York Avenue NE starting January 1, but says it will operate the bulk of its programs from its new location at 4 DC Village Lane SW — a location not easily accessible to most DC residents, raising concerns about volunteer activity and adoption access. There are also plans for a location at 1514-1516 Okie Street in Ivy City for adoptions and other services to be announced.
“We look forward to working with BVSPCA to ensure that shelter animals, staff, and community members get the support they deserve in DC,” said Kirsten Stade, another member of the group’s steering committee. “With the resources available in our nation’s capital, we hope to see, and will advocate for, more compassionate refuge for animals, better services for the public, and fair wages and decent working conditions for staff.
About D.C Watchdogs: D.C. Watchdogs works to ensure that shelter animals, staff, and community members get the resources they deserve through public education and accountability. We envision well-resourced, compassionately-led animal shelters that prioritize humane care of animals, celebration of staff and volunteers, and provision of accessible services in the nation’s capital.”
Rock in the new year DC style
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©2024 Copyright Prince of Petworth LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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