This is your daily news rundown for Thursday, Nov. 14. In this edition:
- Granite School District may close elementary schools for the third year in a row
- Utah crews completed over 500 miles of trail work in the last year
- Beloved Utah artist Pilar Pobil has died at age 98
Granite School District may close schools for the third year in a row
Granite School District is considering closing elementary schools for the third year in a row.
During their Nov. 12 meeting, the school board voted unanimously on an initial plan to close Douglas T. Orchard, Redwood, and Valley Crest elementaries, all in West Valley City.
The district says the decision comes from a decline in student enrollment that they project will continue. In October, they reportedly had 55,546 students compared 67,822 a decade ago.
At the meeting, some parents expressed concern over their students getting to school safely if they had to switch to schools farther away.
The board will hold a second public hearing on the issue as required by state law before the final vote on Dec. 10.
If the plan passes, the schools will close after the current school year with students spread between several other schools.
Valley Crest Elementary would become a Spanish dual language immersion magnet school and dual language immersion programs at Hillsdale and Monroe elementaries would be discontinued.
This would be the third year in a row Granite School District has closed elementary schools. Western Hills Elementary closed in 2023 and Twin Peaks, Spring Lane, and Millcreek elementaries closed in 2022. In 2019, Westbrook and Carl Sandburg elementaries were also shuttered.
Utah crews completed over 500 miles of trail work in the last year
The Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation released its end of season report for Utah’s statewide trails program this week.
Over the last year, the program has worked on 126 projects with over 500 miles of trail work completed.
Vegetation removal, tread work, and removing downed or hazardous trees were the most common types of work during these projects, with the vast majority of projects taking place on U.S. Forest Service land.
Volunteers contributed 436 hours of work to the efforts, which is equivalent to about 18 days.
Utah’s statewide trail crew operates across four regions in Utah — northern, central, southwest, and southeast — to maintain the state’s outdoor recreation areas.
Internationally-renowed Utah artist Pilar Pobil dies at 98
Beloved Utah artist Pilar Pobil died Wednesday at age 98, according to the Salt Lake City Pilar Pobil Legacy Foundation.
Pobil was born in 1929 in Madrid, Spain and spent her childhood on the island of Mallorca. She moved to Utah in 1956 after she married Walter Smith, a U.S. World War II veteran from Salt Lake City. They had three children and were married for 43 years, until his death in 1999.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Pobil’s paintings and sculpture were inspired from her life in Salt Lake City. She said the women she captured show “strength, energy and self-possession.”
Pobil received many local and international honors and awards for her art, including being knighted by the King of Spain in 2016 for her contribution to Spanish culture and being recognized as one of Utah’s Most Influential Artists in 2019.
Memorial services are pending.
