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Utah, neighboring states get new emergency preparedness center

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Utah, neighboring states get new emergency preparedness center


SALT LAKE CITY The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is funding a new emergency preparedness center led by a University of Utah professor. 

The Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Center for Emergency Public Health will help Utahns and neighboring states ramp up preparation for extreme weather events and public health crises. 

It doesn’t have a brick and mortar building. Center Director Dr. Kimberley Shoaf said instead, it’s an academic center designed to help us be ready when disaster strikes. 

“As much as we’d like to, we can’t control Mother Nature,” Shoaf said. 

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Natural disasters like Hurricane Helene show the devastation many communities are left with after extreme weather rolls through.

‘As resilient as possible’ 

“We need to be able to respond and do the things that we can to make ourselves as resilient as possible,” Shoaf said. 

The new emergency preparedness center she leads with the University of Utah’s Division of Public Health is designed to help with that. 

“They funded 10 centers across the country, one in each of the regions, to work with state and local health departments and tribal health departments to help them be ready to respond to public health emergencies,” Shoaf said. 

The Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Center includes Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. 

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“Congress has reallocated funding to ensure that each health department across the country have access to one of these centers,” Shoaf said. 

Her team, in partnership with the University of Colorado’s School of Public Health, has been working with those health departments for the last year. 

“Wildfires was what was their top priority, flooding was actually another one in some of the areas,” Shoaf said. 

They’re also concerned about severe winter weather. 

“When something happens during the winter, how do we get people to respond? How do we get people from here to there? What do we do about sheltering?” 

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Prepared for earthquakes

Included in Shoaf’s list of priorities is earthquake readiness. 

“I currently have a research project looking at the earthquake in Turkey from a year and a half ago, and trying to get a better idea of exactly how people get injured,” she said. “We have some data about that we’ve done in the past, but really looking at within a specific building with a specific type of damage, what kind of injuries would we expect to see?” 

Dr. Shoaf’s team helps train members of public health agencies for emergency response. She said public health is a field where turnover is high. 

“There’s always there’s a constant need for training, and to keep them up to date on how do they work with their partners, how do they work with emergency management, how do they work with the fire department,” she said. 

It’s part of a national effort to have a coordinated response to disasters when they happen. Part of that is ensuring rural and tribal communities are included. 

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“We have an advisory council that has worked with us from tribal communities across the region, and so we’ve got those relationships there,” Shoaf said. 

Nearly $1 million of the $5 million worth of funding the center has over the next five years will be allocated toward working with tribal communities. 

She said they’re working on sending out messaging and alerts to help us prepare for what mother nature could bring our way. 

“It certainly gives me a sense of hope that we’re turning the corner on recognizing the need to do this sort of thing,” Shoaf said. 

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Utah

Washington EDGE Lance Holtzclaw transfers to Utah

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Washington EDGE Lance Holtzclaw transfers to Utah


Lance Holtzclaw has found a new home. The former Washington edge rusher entered the transfer portal after three years on Montlake and has signed with one of the Huskies’ former Pac-12 opponents, the Utah Utes.

Now in the Big 12, coach Kyle Whittingham’s team should be a good fit for the 6-foot-3, 225-pound pass rush specialist, which finished third in the conference in total defense, allowing 329.7 yards per game in its first year in the conference.

The Utes also finished fifth in the conference with 24 sacks, a statistic that Holtzclaw may be able to assist with if he can see the field more often.

In three years with the Huskies, the former three-star recruit who is originally from Dorchester, Massachusetts, played in 26 games and tallied 13 tackles, 2 sacks, and a fumble recovery.

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Holtzclaw’s most notable moment in a Husky uniform came in Washington’s 26-21 win over the USC Trojans in November. He came in on fourth down and pressured quarterback Miller Moss, forcing an errant throw in the game’s final seconds. He also completes an effective defensive line trade between the two schools, after the Huskies added a commitment from former Utah defensive tackle Simote Pepa last week.



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Dybantsa, Mandaquit lead Utah Prep to ‘Iolani Classic title | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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Dybantsa, Mandaquit lead Utah Prep to ‘Iolani Classic title | Honolulu Star-Advertiser




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Utah Jazz vs Brooklyn Nets: Recap and Final Score

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Utah Jazz vs Brooklyn Nets: Recap and Final Score


The Utah Jazz beat the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center with a final score of 105-94.

For the pro-tank Jazz fans, these type of games hurt. With this win, the Jazz move out of the bottom-three worst records in the league and would now fall behind the Nets in the lottery, should their records tie at the end of the season (pending Brooklyn’s visit to Utah on January 12th). With that said, losing this game would have proven difficult for Utah, as the Nets shot a shocking 7-40 from three, versus Utah’s 14-41. That type of three-point shooting discrepancy is almost insurmountable for any team in the NBA today.

The Jazz were led tonight by Lauri Markkanen’s 21 points and seven rebounds. Collin Sexton chipped in 18 points on 8-14 shooting, while Jordan Clarkson added another 16 points on 6-12 from the field. With Cody Williams and Kyle Filipowski both assigned out due to G-League assignments, Utah’s rotation featured some less-frequented veteran faces. Svi Mykhailiuk pitched in 18 points tonight on 7-11 shooting from the field and 4-8 shooting from three. Micah Potter, while only given nine minutes, scored three points, grabbed two rebounds, and dished out two assists. While both Williams and Filipowski playing more minutes in the G-League does offer some developmental value, a game like tonight would have been a great opportunity to involve them more in the offense, rather than having players like Mykhailiuk eat up playing time. Hopefully the Jazz call up both sooner than later.

For the Nets, Cam Johnson led their team in scoring with 18 points. Ben Simmons offered a double-double, scoring 15 points and nabbing 10 rebounds.

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