Learn more about in-home care options for your loved ones

Given the choice, most of us want to stay in our homes. Sometimes, people need help to remain at home. That's where Always Best Care Senior Services comes in.

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TESTIMONIALS

“1. Stay active. Exercise may be the last thing you want to do when your arthritis hurts, but many studies show that physical activity is one of the best ways to improve your quality of life. 2. Eat a balanced diet. Studies show that a variety of nutrients may help ease arthritis symptoms. 3. Lose weight. Being overweight puts undue strain on weight-bearing joints such as your knees, spine, hips, ankles, and feet. 5. Use hot or cold packs. By increasing blood flow, hot compresses can ease pain and stiffness. 6. Keep pain under control. Over-the-counter medications can help ease arthritis pain. 7. Talk to your doctor about supplements and complementary medicine. Many supplements have been tested for the treatment of arthritis. 8. Try splints, braces, and other aids. Devices that support painful joints, such as splints, braces, and canes can help ease your discomfort and prevent injury. 9. Seek support. Living with arthritis isn’t easy. Finding other people that you can talk to and share ideas with can help. Check out arthritis support groups online or in your area. 10. Stay positive. Your mental outlook can have a big impact on how you feel, and how well you function. #SelfCare #Osteoarthritis #Arthritis #Disability #GoodHealth #PainRelief #SeniorCommunity #Caregiver #Caregiving #WECANHELP #OlderAdult #SeniorCare #SeniorLiving #SeniorServices #SeniorHousing #AlwaysBestCare #Exercise #SelfManaging #Tips”

Always B.
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“Always Best Care has some of the friendliest staff. They are quick to learn & eager to assist. Great schedulers who are on top of managing the schedules & keeping their employees accountable. I sure appreciate all the help they give!”

AsAn
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“I can leave a long review if I wanted to . I can talk about always best cares credentials and talk about mine. But What’s the point of leaving a review if it sounds like everybody else’s. The bottom line is , that they are great at their jobs from the bottom to the top. They have a process and people in place . They keep accountability and are communicative . Ive represented many companies in the past and still do till this day contract with only the best.. If you feel you want to hear more about this company on a deeper level just lmk. Happy Healthy Safe”

Jay R.
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“I like working for ABC because it works well with my busy nursing school schedule! I also like how I get to work on my own, but there are options to work with other CNAs for the care of some of the clients. It’s the best of both worlds! I’ve been with Always best care since 2021 and have thoroughly enjoyed working with the clients I work with!”

Olivia S.
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“Love always best care ❤️”

Breezy H.
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“Amazing business. Staff are helpful and kind.”

Margot K.
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“Always Best Care is always best!!! Highly recommended! Brent listens and hears what we need for my 94 year old mom and matches caregivers accordingly. Sometimes, the schedule changes and he works to fill the needs immediately and always with a great attitude! The caregivers are compassionate. Again, I highly recommend Always Best Care.”

shell S.
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“They are seriously so amazing to work with and really care for their clients. I came to them with some pretty difficult challenges that I was not sure we could work with but they were able to make it happen and truly did more than I thought was even possible. I highly recommend them.”

Mandy M.
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“Love working for this company”

Christina P.
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“Love them! Staff is always super sweet and easy to work with! Highly recommend.”

Olivia L.
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“As an employee of this company I could not ask for a better team to work with. They work with schedules, are understanding caring and all around amazing people. The clients are wonderful and have nothing but good things to say. They treat you as family and care from day one!”

Cassandra O.
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“Always Best Care has provided caregivers for my mother and now my father for the last year. They always send the best people to take care of them and give me peace of mind when I have to be at work. I highly recommend them if you’re seeking care for anyone in need.”

Salle A.
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“Alway best care! They are so giving and caring to their staff and clients❤️❤️❤️”

Brianne W.
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“I've been using ABC for about 2 1/2 years and have really met some wonderful people and great caregivers. I know they all work hard and are experienced and dependable which is important to me. At times I've needed a flexible schedule and they've been able to accommodate my needs and been very friendly about it. At times I've also had to ask these caregivers to do things for me outside of their job description and they've been very accommodating. Brent is also been great to follow up with phone calls and help adjust my schedule when needed. I do recommend this company.”

Jim J.
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“The best home health company that I have ever worked for. Friendly office staff, great scheduler, and the kindest CNA’s and workers that I know.”

Jenny J.
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“I work with Always Best Care and they're always flexible with my schedule. Everyone there is very nice and understanding and I enjoy working with ABC.”

Anna S.
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“Always Best Care has been an amazing company to work for! They are flexible with my schedule being a single mom and I can tell they are always putting their clients and the individuals that they care for, the needs and their happiness above all else. I know they care for every individual that they have and they make sure their staff are the same way!”

Aubrey S.
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“Always best is such an incredible company! They are so accommodating to all of the needs of their clients and do their best to help any way that they can. They are reliable and really seem to care. I would recommend Always Best to anyone looking for these kinds of services!”

Anni H.
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“Always best care has been warm and welcoming. They start off with a really good pay start and they also give really good hours and are very flexible with my work and school schedule. They are very kind even throughout my shifts they will sometimes ask me how my shifts went and make sure I’m doing ok and even through the holidays they send me messages or cards wishing me the best of holidays and always making me feel part of their family and business. And if I have any questions or concerns they are always supportive and always there for me I definitely recommend working hear and also I love working there my clients are all very nice and if you are ever looking for help always best care is the best place to call.”

Mackenzie C.
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“I work for Always Best Care now and have for some time now. I love how much people care about their clients and how the company is always there if we need something or have questions about something. This is one of the best places I have worked in the last 6 years of being a CNA. I love that the clients are the top priority to not just me but the whole team as well.!”

Ashley O.
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“Great company”

kathy N.
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“Always Best Care are the people to go to! Julie and Henry Lee are amazing people to work with!”

Bentley S.
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“Very caring, and great to work with!”

Jeff S.
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“I have used this company for a few of my residents. They take such good care of their clients and do such a good job at taking the time with each and every one of them. They go above and beyond for their clients. I’d definitely recommend them!”

Kaylee N.
 In-Home Care Blanding, UT

How does In-home Senior Care in Blanding, UT work?

Home is where the heart is. While that saying can sound a tad cliche, it's especially true for many seniors living in America. When given a choice, older adults most often prefer to grow older at home. An AARP study found that three out of four adults over the age of 50 want to stay in their homes and communities as they age. When you begin to think about why, it makes sense. Home offers a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity.

The truth is, as we age, we begin to rely on others for help. When a family is too busy or lives too far away to fulfill this role, in-home senior care is often the best solution. Home care services allow seniors to enjoy personal independence while also receiving trustworthy assistance from a trained caregiver.

At Always Best Care, we offer a comprehensive range of home care services to help seniors stay healthy while they get the help they need to remain independent. As your senior loved one ages, giving them the gift of senior care is one of the best ways to show your love, even if you live far away.

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 Senior Care Blanding, UT

Aging in Place: The Preferred Choice for Most Seniors

While it's true that some seniors have complicated medical needs that prevent them from staying at home, aging in place is often the best arrangement for seniors and their families. With a trusted caregiver, seniors have the opportunity to live with a sense of dignity and do so as they see fit.

In-home care makes it possible for millions of seniors to age in place every year. Rather than moving to a unfamiliar assisted living community, seniors have the chance to stay at home where they feel the happiest and most comfortable.

Here are just a few of the reasons why older men and women prefer to age at home:

Comfort
Comfort

How much does a senior's home truly mean to them? A study published by the American Society on Aging found that more than half of seniors say their home's emotional value means more than how much their home is worth in monetary value. It stands to reason, that a senior's home is where they want to grow old. With the help of elderly care in Blanding, UT, seniors don't have to age in a sterilized care facility. Instead, they can age gracefully in the place they want to be most: their home. In contrast, seniors who move to a long-term care facility must adapt to new environments, new people, and new systems that the facility implements. At this stage in life, this kind of drastic change can be more harmful than helpful.

Healthy Living
Healthy Living

Institutional care facilities like nursing homes often put large groups of people together to live in one location. On any given day, dozens of staff members and caregivers run in and out of these facilities. Being around so many new people in a relatively small living environment can be dangerous for a seniors' health and wellbeing. When you consider that thousands of seniors passed away in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for in-home care is often a safer, healthier choice for seniors. Aging in place has been shown to improve seniors' quality of life, which helps boost physical health and also helps insulate them from viral and bacterial risks found in elderly living facilities.

Independence
Independence

For many seniors, the ability to live independently with assistance from a caregiver is a priceless option. With in-home care, seniors experience a higher level of independence and freedom - much more so than in other settings like an assisted living community. When a senior has the chance to age in place, they get to live life on their own terms, inside the house that they helped make into a home. More independence means more control over their personal lives, too, which leads to increased levels of fulfillment, happiness, and personal gratification. Over time, these positive feelings can manifest into a healthier, longer life.

Cost and Convenience
Cost and Convenience

More independence, a healthier life, and increased comfort are only a few benefits of aging in place. You have to take into consideration the role of cost and convenience. Simply put, it's usually easier to help seniors age in place than it is to move them into an institutional care facility. In-home care services from Always Best Care, for instance, can be less expensive than long-term solutions, which can cost upwards of six figures per year. To make matters worse, many residential care facilities are reluctant to accept long-term care insurance and other types of payment assistance.

With Always Best Care's home care services, seniors and their families have a greater level of control over their care plans. In-home care in Blanding, UT gives seniors the chance to form a bond with a trusted caregiver and also receive unmatched care that is catered to their needs. In long-term care facilities, seniors and their loved ones have much less control over their care plan and have less of a say in who provides their care.

Empowers Seniors

Affordable Care Plans

In-home care is a valuable resource that empowers seniors to age in place on their own terms. However, a big concern for many families and their loved ones is how much in-home care costs. If you're worried that in-home care is too expensive, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that it is one of the most affordable senior care arrangements available.

Typically, hiring an Always Best Care in-home caregiver for a few hours a week is more affordable than sending your loved one to a long-term care facility. This is true even for seniors with more complex care needs.

At Always Best Care, we will work closely with you and your family to develop a Care Plan that not only meets your care needs, but your budget requirements, too. Once we discover the level of care that you or your senior need, we develop an in-home care plan that you can afford.

In addition to our flexible care options, families should also consider the following resources to help offset potential home care costs:

Veteran's Benefits
Veteran's Benefits

Attendance and aid benefits through military service can cover a portion of the costs associated with in-home care for veterans and their spouses.

Long-Term Care Insurance
Long-Term Care Insurance

Many senior care services like in-home care are included in long-term care insurance options. Research different long-term care solutions to find a plan that provides coverage for senior care.

Private Insurance
Private Insurance

Home care can be included as part of a senior's private insurance plan. Read over your loved one's insurance policy carefully or speak with their insurance provider to determine if in-home care is covered.

Life Insurance
Life Insurance

Depending on the life insurance plan, you may be able to apply your policy toward long-term care. You may be able to use long-term-care coverage to help pay for in-home elderly care.


Respite Care Blanding, UT

During your Care Plan consultation with Always Best Care, your Care Coordinator will speak with you about in-home care costs and what options there may be to help meet your budget needs.

Compassionate Care. Trusted Caregivers

When you or your senior loved one needs assistance managing daily tasks at home, finding a qualified caregiver can be challenging. It takes a special kind of person to provide reliable care for your senior loved one. However, a caregiver's role involves more than meal preparation and medication reminders. Many seniors rely on their caregivers for companionship, too.

Our companion care services give seniors the chance to socialize in a safe environment and engage in activities at home. These important efforts boost morale and provide much-needed relief from repetitive daily routines. A one-on-one, engaging conversation can sharpen seniors' minds and give them something in which to be excited.

At Always Best Care, we only hire care providers that we would trust to care for our own loved ones. Our senior caregivers in Blanding,UT understand how important it is to listen and communicate with their seniors. A seemingly small interaction, like a short hug goodbye, can make a major difference in a senior's day. Instead of battling against feelings of isolation, seniors begin to look forward to seeing their caregiver each week.

Understanding the nuances of senior care is just one of the reasons why our care providers are so great at their job.

Unlike some senior care companies, our caregivers must undergo extensive training before they work for Always Best Care. In addition, our caregivers receive ongoing training throughout the year. This training ensures that their standard of care matches up to the high standards we've come to expect. During this training, they will brush up on their communication skills, safety awareness, and symptom spotting. That way, your loved one receives the highest level of non-medical home care from day one.

 Caregivers Blanding, UT

Taking the First Step with Always Best Care

The first step in getting quality in-home care starts with a personal consultation with an experienced Care Coordinator. This initial consultation is crucial for our team to learn more about you or your elderly loved one to discover the level of care required. Topics of this consultation typically include:

An assessment of your senior loved one

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An in-depth discussion of the needs of your senior loved one to remain in their own home

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Reviewing a detailed Care Plan that will meet your senior loved one's needs

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Our caregivers are trained to spot changes that clients exhibit, like mental and physical decline. As your trusted senior care company, we will constantly assess and update your Care Plan to meet any new emotional, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs.

If you have never considered in-home care before, we understand that you and your family may have concerns about your Care Plan and its Care Coordinator. To help give you peace of mind, know that every team member and caregiver must undergo comprehensive training before being assigned to a Care Plan.

When you're ready, we encourage you to contact your local Always Best Care representative to set up a Care Consultation. Our Care Coordinators would be happy to meet with you in person to get to know you better, discuss your needs, and help put together a personalized Care Plan specific to your needs.

Latest News in Blanding, UT

Speller from rural Utah prepares for Scripps National Spelling Bee

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BLANDING, Utah — One of Utah’s brightest minds lives in the rural town of Blanding, home to 3,300 people.

14-year-old Luke Jeppesen is one of two contestants from Utah who recently qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

“It's so cool. I go around and people know me as ‘the speller,’” Jeppesen said. “It's kind of interesting. Some people say hi to me who I have never talked to before.”

But, there's much more to the teen than just spelling.

He has been playing piano for more than 10 years. He also has a passion for roller coasters even though the nearest coaster is located hundreds of miles away from his home.

“I love roller coasters a lot – thinking about them and designing them,” he said.

When he isn’t designing coasters on his computer or practicing piano, Jeppesen is going over his spelling bee study guide.

“They are very, very hard,” he said. “I looked at them from the start and I felt like I was going to die. It was so overwhelming at the start but [I am] getting it under control.”

Jeppesen is also an eighth-grade student at Albert R. Lyman Middle School.

“I give a lot of credit to him personally because it's a lot of work and dedication,” said principal Ryan Palmer.

The school serves a diverse population with many students who are Native American.

“It’s no secret the Navajo Nation was hit hard in the pandemic, and we suffered from learning losses,” Palmer said. “That does not define the students in the district. Our students can go on to do incredible things.”

Luke is hoping to continue his incredible journey at the Scripps National Spelling Bee and be the first Utahn to claim the championship.

That’s a lot of pressure for this teen to carry on his shoulders, but Jeppesen is finding ways to manage the excitement and anticipation.

“I feel like I am more social, so I don't get scared in front of people. I don't get stage fright,” he said.

And just like getting into a roller coaster, Luke is buckling up, getting ready to enjoy the journey at the Bee.

“I don't know if anyone is the biggest fan of spelling, but I found it's my natural talent,” he said. “I don't spell for fun; I spell because I have something I am competing for and I want to win.”

The Scripps National Spelling Bee begins on Tuesday, May 30. The championship round takes place on the evening of June 1.

Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Plans for a new uranium mill in Utah announced

This story was originally published by the Land Desk and is republished here by permission.Canada-based Western Vanadium & Uranium...

This story was originally published by the Land Desk and is republished here by permission.

Canada-based Western Vanadium & Uraniumannounced in a news releasethat it plans to build a “state-of-the-art” uranium, vanadium and cobalt mill in Utah to process ore “mined both from mines owned by Western and ore produced by other miners.” The announcement does not specify where in Utah the company plans to build the facility, only that it took two years to select and acquire the site, which was chosen “based on the support of local municipal and county officials.” While George Glasier, the company’s CEO, wouldn’t return our calls asking about the specific location, he told the Salt Lake Tribune it is planned for just outside Green River, Utah, near the site of a now defunct nuclear power plant proposal. It’s another twist in the weird Western politics surrounding uranium mills.

If this mill is ultimately permitted and built, it would be only the second operating uranium processing plant in the nation (in addition to the White Mesa Mill near Blanding, Utah, owned by Energy Fuels). But that’s a big “if,” as Glasier is well aware.

Glasier was the President and CEO of Energy Fuels in the 2000s. At the time, another Canadian company, Denison, owned the White Mesa Mill. But they weren’t too keen on processing ore from Energy Fuels’ mines. So, Glasier and Energy Fuels proposed building their own mill, the Piñon Ridge, in the Paradox Valley in Montrose County, Colorado. Glasier spearheaded the mill planning and permitting process up until his resignation in 2010.

Colorado regulators permitted the mill in 2011. Environmental groups sued. And as the legal process played out, a bunch of shuffling was going on: Energy Fuels bought out Denison and the White Mesa Mill, meaning they no longer needed the proposed Piñon Ridge Mill. Glasier started the Piñon Ridge Mining company, which purchased the mill license and various mining properties from Energy Fuels. And Western Uranium and Vanadium purchased Glasier’s company — and the Piñon Ridge permit — and installed him as CEO. Finally, in 2018 — more than a decade after the process began — a judge ruled the Piñon Ridge permit had been issued in error and the staterescindedit. The proposal was dead. (Uranium prices were so low by then it’s doubtful the thing would have been built anyway.)

Glasier, however, didn’t give up on uranium, instead working to keep the long-idledSunday Mine Complexin the Big Gypsum Valley near Slickrock, Colorado, from being put into reclamation status. With uranium prices shooting back up, Glasier and Western Uranium say they are preparing the Sunday Complex to produce orebeginning as early as next month.

But ore isn’t worth much until it’s milled. Although the White Mesa Mill has plenty of capacity (they’ve mostly beenprocessing other companies’ waste) and the owners of theShootaring Millnear the Henry Mountains say they want to get it up and running, Glasier and company apparently think yet another mill is necessary. One unique feature it would have is the ability to recover cobalt, a key component of electric vehicle batteries.

Western Uranium’s news release says permitting for the proposed mill has already begun. Even if that’s true, it will take years for it to wend its way through the process. Perhaps Utah regulators will be more amenable to a radioactive material processing plant than Colorado was with Piñon Ridge. But this time there’s likely to be even fiercer opposition from Indigenous and environmental advocates. And, as Sarah Fields of Uranium Watch points out: They’re going to need water to mill uranium and it’s in short supply these days.

Jonathan Thompson is the editor ofThe Land Deskand a contributing editor at High Country News.He is the author of Sagebrush Empire: How a Remote Utah County Became the Battlefront of American Public Lands.

Art & Science Join Forces in Sentinels Exhibit at USU Moab, Blanding

MOAB, Utah — Beginning in the last week of February through May 2023, Utah State University Moab and USU Blanding are hosting the exhibit Sentinels, an art and science project created by printmakers Todd Anderson and Bruce Crownover and social ecologist Gary Machlis.The collaborative exhibit demonstrates the migration of piñon pine and juniper trees as a result of increased dryness in the Ameri...

MOAB, Utah — Beginning in the last week of February through May 2023, Utah State University Moab and USU Blanding are hosting the exhibit Sentinels, an art and science project created by printmakers Todd Anderson and Bruce Crownover and social ecologist Gary Machlis.

The collaborative exhibit demonstrates the migration of piñon pine and juniper trees as a result of increased dryness in the American Southwest, as studied in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.

The idea for the exhibit started when Anderson found research papers detailing climate change and environment in the southwest, including Southeast Utah. Having spent the last dozen years working on artwork detailing the current climate crisis, Anderson saw this as another opportunity to bring awareness through art.

“I use a key question to guide my artwork: How can my artwork help with the climate crisis?” said Anderson. “I am trying to draw attention to some of these issues and show the facts to the general population. As an artist, I can show how beautiful and amazing these trees are and bring awareness to a widespread audience. I am trying my best to interpret and show the beauty of these trees and have that be a starting point for a larger conversation.”

Anderson previously worked with Crownover as both created a book about Glacier National Park and the shrinking glaciers there. Years later, Anderson invited Crownover to visit Southeast Utah, a place Crownover was already familiar with, having spent many summers near Grover, Utah, at a family ranch.

“For me, it was an invitation to go back to a place that I spent a lot of time as a kid,” Crownover said. “As a kid, I spent a lot of time roaming around Boulder Mountain and playing outside. I hadn’t been there since I was 16 years old. I am now in my 60s and I wanted to go back and see it. I was so immediately comforted by the place — it’s in my DNA. I felt very at home there and I was very keen on making some artistic record of what was happening to this place that I love.”

The two artists made sketches, paintings and took photographs of the landscape, trying to capture the piñon pine and juniper trees in as many ways as they could. They would return to their home studios to create wood prints of the landscapes.

Anderson then invited Machlis, his colleague at Clemson University, to join him in another visit to the area. Machlis, who specializes in research on conservation and sustainability, brought a scientific viewpoint to the artistic exhibit. Machlis began writing notes around the campfire and developed three different written “word paintings” of the area.

The first was a fictitious science article set in the 1970s. The second was a mock journal entry of the trip, written in the style of an 1880s travel journal. The final piece was an imagined newspaper editorial from the 1950s.

“It was a wonderful collaboration,” Machlis said. “I worked collaboratively with Todd to design the pieces to reflect these themes. These are extraordinary landscapes, ecosystems, and sacred places — and we wanted to share with the communities of Southeast Utah how we responded to the privilege of visiting.”

These word paintings, together with woodcut prints from Anderson and Crownover, were gathered together in a collection that was published as Sentinels: The Piñon Pine and Juniper Trees of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, Utah. The exhibit is four years in the making. The artists hope that their representations will be the beginning of a conversation about conservation.

“As an artist, I try to draw people to look at my work and then to reflect on why it is important,” Crownover said. “I try to show them this is a serious subject that is housed in a pretty picture.”

The Sentinels exhibit will be housed with different pieces at USU Moab and USU Blanding from late February through May 2023. Both campuses will host an exhibit opening reception with the artists that is open to the public, with a brief presentation by the artists. The opening reception at USU Blanding will be on March 1, while the open house at USU Moab will be on March 3.

“I hope people enjoy the exhibit,” Anderson said. “I am excited to come to Utah and meet the people at USU and meet students from different high schools in the area.”

WRITER

Marcus Jensen News Coordinator University Marketing and Communications [email protected]

CONTACT

Kristian Olsen Senior Associate Vice President Utah State University Blanding & Moab 435-678-8184 [email protected] Lianna Etchberger Associate Vice President USU Moab [email protected]

TOPICS

Statewide Campuses 280stories Arts 168stories Climate 141stories

Native American Heritage Day: Rock Your Moc’s with USU Blanding

Holding up a red ribbon skirt, USU advisor of Utah State’s Blanding campus, Shilo Martinez, explained the significance of the traditional Navajo skirt she plans to wear for National Native American Heritage month. “It’s handmade, you don’t go to Walmart or Target to buy these kinds of things,” Martinez said. “This one was made by someone in the community.” According to the USU Statewide website, 68% of USU Blanding’s students are Native American, with 90% of those students identi...

Holding up a red ribbon skirt, USU advisor of Utah State’s Blanding campus, Shilo Martinez, explained the significance of the traditional Navajo skirt she plans to wear for National Native American Heritage month.

“It’s handmade, you don’t go to Walmart or Target to buy these kinds of things,” Martinez said. “This one was made by someone in the community.”

According to the USU Statewide website, 68% of USU Blanding’s students are Native American, with 90% of those students identifying as Navajo. A week of events has been planned to celebrate Indigenous peoples and their traditions. This includes encouraging students to wear their traditional dress.

Hunter Warren, USUSA executive vice president of the Blanding campus, explained that everything the Navajo wear has a meaning.

“Everything we wear isn’t just for show, we’re connecting with our creator, our ancestors, providing protection for ourselves,” Warren said.

He plans to wear a button-up shirt with a horse picture in the middle, native designs on each side of the shirt, turquoise jewelry and his moccasins.

Heritage week aligns with nationwide “Rock Your Moc’s” week, where Indigenous peoples celebrate their traditions by wearing their moccasins all week long.

Aside from dressing traditionally, Blanding campus also plans to help their students eat traditionally.

In a campus-wide event, all students from all backgrounds are invited to partake in sheep butchering.

“We start early in the morning, we butcher the sheep,” Martinez said. “We use every single piece of the sheep, whether it’s eating it or using it for something else. Nothing goes to waste.”

The sheep is prepared outside with grills and a fire, and students are involved in preparing the sheep and vegetables.

“We all gather together, take all the meat, and make other sides like fry bread or tortillas, and other traditional foods like blue mush,” Martinez said. “It’s kind of like a celebration.”

The wool from the sheep is used to make mats that stay in the new Hogan, a place made to feel like a home away from home for the students.

This week, a special shoe game will be played in the Hogan. The game can only be played inside, at night, during the winter.

“It’s a cultural game where you hide a ball inside of some shoes, and the other team has to come find the ball,” Warren said. “It goes back and forth, and the score is kept with Yucca plants.”

The game was inspired by a story involving animals. The song of these animals is sung during the game by the participants.

There will also be beading and jewelry making, and cultural bags with sweet grass. Sage and Navajo tea will be given to students. Each element sends different blessings, a sense of belonging and appreciation.

Warren said Native American people are very family oriented, and he hopes that these events will help bring the campus community together to feel like a family.

“At any of our events, we aren’t going to push anybody away,” Warren said. “It’s a time for us to educate people, there are a lot of stereotypes.”

Warren and Martinez said they are excited about the upcoming events, and feel grateful that, although they are Navajo every day, they have a month to celebrate it.

You can follow their events taking place from Nov. 14-19 on Instagram @usublanding.

A Uranium Mill Near Blanding May Begin Processing Ore For Elements Used In iPhones And Military Weapons

Engineers at a uranium mill in San Juan County have figured out how to produce a concentrate of rare earth elements from North American ore. The company that owns the mill, Energy Fuels, announced their accomplishment Tuesday, after producing the substance at their facility outside of Blanding.“Rare earths are a big deal because...

Engineers at a uranium mill in San Juan County have figured out how to produce a concentrate of rare earth elements from North American ore. The company that owns the mill, Energy Fuels, announced their accomplishment Tuesday, after producing the substance at their facility outside of Blanding.

“Rare earths are a big deal because they have a lot of high-tech uses,” said Energy Fuels marketing director Curtis Moore, “so the government is interested in bringing their production back to the U.S.”

Currently, the U.S. imports 80% of its rare earth metals from China. But Energy Fuels is one of a handful of companies working to change that. It announced its intention to process ore containing rare earth metals following a push from the Pentagon in April to spur domestic production.

Producing rare earth elements requires a long chain of actions, according to Moore. The raw material usually contains a mix of the metals, which must be milled into a concentrated substance and then separated out. At that point, they are processed into alloys, which are used in everything from iPhones to heat-seeking missiles.

He said Energy Fuels is perfectly positioned to process material containing the metals, since they can occur alongside uranium.

“This is really not that different in concept than what this facility has done for 40 years,” Moore said. “It’s basically recovering Uranium out of an ore.”

An official with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality said Energy Fuels alerted the state earlier this year of its plans to import Monazite sand from the state of Georgia in order to extract rare earth elements and Uranium from it.

Although the last mine in the U.S. producing rare earth metals closed in 2015, scientists recently discovered ore rich in the metals at certain locations in Georgia. But Moore would not say exactly which mine produced the Monazite sand used by Energy Fuels.

Since the mill is recovering Uranium from the ore, along with the rare earth metals, the Department said it is licensed to dispose of the final waste product in the tailing ponds at the White Mesa Mill.

That has some environmental groups concerned. The Grand Canyon Trust and HEAL Utah both said the White Mesa Mill has outlived its purpose, which was to mill domestic Uranium, and that keeping it open affects the nearby Ute Mesa Ute community of White Mesa.

“It perpetuates the other harm the mill causes,” said Aaron Paul with the Grand Canyon Trust. “When, 40 years on, it seems like a good time to get serious about reclamation.”

The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe believes one of the mill’s tailings ponds is leaking, polluting a shallow aquifer beneath the community with chemicals. Energy Fuels acknowledges that toxins exist in the water below the mill, but claims some were there before the mill was constructed and the rest originate upstream.

Moore’s company has expanded its business model in recent years to process Uranium-containing material called “alternate feeds”. The mill is currently seeking permits to process waste material from a rare-earth producing facility in Estonia, as well as a construction site in Colorado.

“Really their business model is taking waste,” said Scott Williams with HEAL Utah. “Same is true with these rare earth metals.”

Moore said Energy Fuels will continue refining the rare earths concentration process over the next few months, before deciding whether to move forward with commercial production. He added the mill will remain focused on Uranium production, but processing ore for rare earth elements could be a complementary side business.

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