Latter-day​ Saint missionaries return home — to quarantine

By Harley Barnes

Thousands of missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-​d​ay Saints ​are adjusting to a sudden and unexpected shift in lifestyle after being shipped home ​in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The church announced last week that missionaries nearing the end of their service would come home to stay​;​ others would return home to ​a two week quarantine before being temporarily reassigned to a new mission.

Gunner Harward returned from ​a mission in Texas ​on March 23. ​T​he most difficult thing​, he said, ​has been shifting from being busy to being in quarantine.

“The only thing I’ve really struggled with is just having things to do, just because when you’re a missionary you have your whole day planned out,” he said.

Harward​ said​ the change has brought ​about ​many decisions ​about school and work, changes he wasn​'​t planning to make so early. 

He is not alone.

Gentry Mower came home from Kentucky after serving for ​10 months. Mower was a student at Utah State University before her mission, and will return in the ​f​all.

“I was planning on starting school in the spring, so it’s a totally different change of plan for me,” she said.

Mower ​said the ​reality that she was headed home didn’t sink in until she was on the airplane.

The transition from missionary​ to "civilian"​ ​life can be a struggle ​under any circumstances. Returned missionary Aubree Hessing is worried that an unexpected early departure might make these struggles worse.

Hessing said missionaries may feel a sense of failure for getting sent home early, even though it was not in their control. 

“I feel like we have that outlook in the church that if you come home early you kind of failed,” she said. “I think I would have felt that way if I got sent home early.”

Hessing is also worried for the people the missionaries were teaching.

“You don’t know the next time they’ll be taught or if they’ll lose interest at that time,” she said.

For the foreseeable future, the church's missionary training centers will be teaching prospective missionaries online before they are sent to their assigned areas. The church is evaluating the risks for missionary work, and has not yet announced when missionaries will be sent back to the field.

Local teachers face technical challenges as schools ​shift ​to online

By Luke Diamond

Teachers at Ridgeline High School are working to ​adapt their teaching and ​overcome technical obstacles after the Cache County School District administration closed public schools last week due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“The teachers have never been forced to do something like this,” said Jim Crosby, the assistant principal at Ridgeline. “It is difficult, especially for the older ones.”

Teachers have been asked not to teach from their classrooms but rather to work from home using a variety of online platforms such as Zoom and Canvas.

Some teachers had opportunities last year to begin implementing more online resources to their teaching styles.

“The ones who made the transition are definitely profiting from it now,” said Gordon Allred, a teacher at Ridgeline.

However, many teachers who are not familiar with technology have struggled.

“I am a millennial and grew up with the internet,” said Nicholas Redmon, a teacher at Ridgeline. “That has made the transition easy for me. However, I have helped so many of my older colleagues figure out minor errors.”

Common ​​challenges include difficulty uploading assignments, remembering to save changes on assignments and tests​, and formatting documents correctly.

“It takes two to three times longer to create the same piece and it doesn’t go as well. It’s not the fault of the program. It’s just the familiarity,” Allred said. “Boy, I’ll forget to push save for an update on a change of questions and I’ll lose the questions.”

De​spite the difficulties of the transition, Allred is optimistic about the potential benefits of learning how to teach online.

“We can draw a benefit out of this,” Allred said. “It is helping us adapt to the modern online world.”

Utah State’s library limits services for students, closes to general public

By Sarah Murphy and Julianne Kidd

Utah State University’s Merrill-Cazier Library has closed its doors to the general public, and will shut down several floors to everyone, as new precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

On March 23, the library announced via Twitter that, to protect Aggies and community members, the facility would only be open to enrolled students and university employees starting this week. The library followed that announcement on Tuesday by restricting access to most other spaces beyond the first floor, only keeping the computer commons area open for use.

Starting Wednesday, the library was only opening its doors to students from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Saturday hours are now noon to 5 p.m and the library will be closed Sundays.

Students who visit the library will find they are only able to use the first floor commons as the library has also made the decision to close off the rest of its four floors to students.

“We restricted access to the first floor in an attempt to better monitor social distancing, maintain cleanliness and other safety measures,” said the library’s dean, Bradford Cole. “This is to ensure that we are able to keep the Information Commons open.”

The ​Information Commons are ​the library’s computer labs. While the labs remain open, some computers will be offline to follow social distancing policies, which are being strictly enforced. All computers are frequently being sanitized.

“It makes me feel good knowing that the school really does care about the protection of its students,” Utah State junior Grant Adams said. “There are a lot of people being affected by this, but they’re choosing to help and protect me.”

Other library resources, such as study rooms, help desks, archives and special collections, will be unavailable. According to the library's website, the Library Writing Center, the LatinX Cultural Center and the Disability Resource Center will discontinue their in-person services as well.

Although services like research help in special collections are typically in-person experiences, library leaders are assuring students​ these services can still be ​accessed ​through digital channels.

The library’s staff members are encouraging students to utilize online chats, email and phone appointments if students need help with research for their courses. The library’s leaders are counting on students shifting to these online options and have extended their online services from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.​

“It's kind of annoying,” said Camilla Cox, a junior studying at USU. She especially dislikes that the library closed down the study rooms because she would use them when teaching online American Sign Language ​labs. “I wish they would have kept them open but only have one person in there.”

Some Logan residents are also frustrated with the recent changes.

“I've gone to the library in the past, and now is a time where I find myself wanting to go,” Logan resident Kyle Hatch said. “Being told that I can’t is a huge bummer.”

Since many local businesses have closed their doors for the time being, many Cache County residents are working remotely.

“With the Logan Library shutting down, and now the USU Library closing, too,” Hatch said, “it’s been hard finding a quiet place with Wi-Fi​ to go to do work.” 

Utah State librarians said they are just focusing on safety.

“We’re sorry for any inconvenience that may be caused,” Merrill-Cazier librarian Ken Buist said. “The purpose is to serve our Aggies and stay healthy.”

It is yet unclear when the library will reopen to the general public.

“It’s hard to tell when things will return to normal,” Buist said. “For now, we’re just taking it one day at a time and hoping for the best.”

Utah orders a restriction on medical procedures; many providers were already doing it

By Sydney Kidd

Many medical providers in Cache Valley were already setting limits on procedures to persevere equipment for the fight against coronavirus — even before an executive order aimed at protecting statewide stockpiles of gloves, masks and other supplies.   

Lizzie Loveland, who works as a dental assistant at Dr. Andrew Olson’s office in Providence, said restrictions had already been in place for a while before Gov. Gary Herbert’s Wednesday announcement. The result, she said, was a drastic reduction in the volume of patients her office has been seeing. 

Loveland normally works four days a week, from morning to evening. “And now I'm working for two or three hours, maybe, twice a week,” she said.

The transition has been hard, but Loveland said she knows it is important because of how likely COVID-19 is to spread in a dental office due to all the people coming in and out.

Logan Regional Hospital is another facility that was ahead of Herbert’s order. The hospital, along with all other Intermountain Healthcare branches, stopped doing elective and non-emergency surgeries on March 17.

According to Sarah Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for the hospital, personal protective equipment, also known as PPE, is being preserved in case medical professionals have to deal with a surge of COVID-19 cases in the Cache Valley.

“Our community's been really supportive and understanding of the decision,” Fitzgerald said. “People understand the importance of personal protective equipment and what a huge asset that is to our caregivers that are caring for COVID-19 patients.”

According to Fitzgerald, the hospital has plenty of PPE right now and has also received many donation offers. However, only medical-grade PPE can be accepted by the hospital and hand-sewn items like masks must be turned down.

Fitzgerald said it is unclear how helpful hand-sewn masks actually are.

“Fabric material like that tends to not be quite as effective,” she said. “However, we don't think it's a bad idea to take an extra precaution if you want to give them to neighbors, friends or family members just to be safe. What it can do is actually be a really good reminder for people not to touch their face.”

Other medical facilities, like Utah State University’s Student Health Center, haven’t been as impacted by the order.

According to university spokesperson Amanda DeRito, since the Student Health Center doesn’t offer elective procedures like the ones outlined in Herbert’s order, the office hasn’t had to deal with the effects as much. 

But DeRito did say that before students can access medical care they must call ahead to be screened for symptoms of a respiratory illness. The Student Health Center’s website asks students not to book appointments online. If students do have respiratory illness symptoms, DeRito said they can access care through telehealth. 

USU is not offering COVID-19 testing at this time.

Students still working on campus through COVID-19 pandemic

By Taylor Cripe

The loud ringing from construction sites and the echo of power drills are the only sounds heard on Utah State University’s almost lifeless campus these days.

“It’s a ghost town,” sophomore Emily Gilbert said. “It’s almost eerie.”

Although ​the school grounds ​are​basically shut down, there are places on campus, including the library and cafeterias, that remain open. ​

And that requires student workers. 

​USU students ​who have kept ​working through the COVID-19 pandemic​ are balancing concern for job security, safety and getting through the day. And about all they can be certain of, at this time, is that certainly will continue for the foreseeable future.  

“I wish there was a definitive answer on what is going to happen to us,” ​said ​junior Kielee Kinghorn​, who works at Quickstop, a convenience store located inside the Taggart Student Center​. “We don’t know if we are going to be open a week from now.”

Kinghorn​ ​said USU’s dining services have “been good at keeping them informed,” despite all the uncertainty. 

Calee Broderick, a non-student worker in dining services, said she was grateful to have a job. According to Broderick and Kinghorn, many students who work in dining services left campus to go home when campus closure was announced. Fortunately, they said, dining services​ has been fair with hours and most operations are business as usual.

When Broderick was walking around the store organizing and cleaning, she used a bottle of WAXIE cleaning spray, a new chemical brought in to combat any germs customers leave behind.

“It’s supposed to be stronger than anything we’ve cleaned with before,” she said. “We are also cleaning constantly, wiping stuff down that we never used to and wearing gloves for everything.”

Although it is slower than normal, Broderick and Kinghorn are fine with the quiet and said they are happy to still be working when others cannot.

Just up the hallway in the TSC, senior Maggie Thompson — who works at Scotsman’s Corner — said she was not happy with how quiet everything is, and said it’s “really boring.”

In the dining area next to Scotsman’s Corner there were several large signs stating all dine​-​in services are closed by order of ​Utah ​Gov.​ Gary​ Herbert. Students may order from the food court and leave, but tables and chairs are roped off. Chairs are even stacked together on outside tables to discourage people from utilizing any dining spaces.

“I miss the social interaction,” Thompson said. “This is my senior year and I am sad it’s ending like this.”

While she agreed that dining services had been fair with hours, she said the hours worked felt much longer.

“We are doing a lot of deep cleaning; I don’t think I’ve ever done so much cleaning in my life,” Thompson said.

Thompson said she is not worried about COVID-19 and is grateful dining services is keeping people on staff.

“I’m a college student​," she said. "I can’t afford not to have a job​.​”

Not every student worker feels at ease. Gilbert works at the campus store and doesn’t understand why ​the store ​is still open.

“They don’t want anyone on campus, yet they have us here as non-essential staff,” she said.

However, one advantage to closing campus is very few students are coming into campus stores anyway. Besides the employees, there are​ often only a few people in the building​ at a time​. As a result, social distancing is easier to maintain.

She said ​employees were taking things “day by day.”

Another campus store employee, freshman Melody Wooten, said she also has the “one​-​day​-​at​-​a-time mentality” but is worried she will wake up one of those days and not have a job.

“The campus store has been awesome with us, but we can’t stay open if people stop coming in,” Wooten said. “We have to get money somewhere.”

Cash is no longer ​being taken at the store, and Wooten​ said she​ wipes down the keyboard after every transaction.

S​he said she is starting to appreciate how serious the pandemic is. ​

“I guess I didn’t take this COVID-19 thing as seriously as I should have,” she said. “I was worried about other things.”

Across campus, in the Merrill-Cazier Library, freshman Alisha Hawley sits behind a circulation desk surrounded by cleaning chemicals. After each student gets up, Hawley puts on a pair of gloves, sprays the computer area and wipes down the desk, chair and table.

Students are also encouraged to wipe down their own area before they use a desk. In fact​,​ there are almost as many ​L​ysol wipes as computers. Some computers also have signs over them stating ​those work stations are off limits to encourage social distancing.
“We have to stay open because, now that classes are online, we are essential for students that don’t have access to a computer,” Hawley said.

But, according to Hawley​,​ the transition has been “turbulent.”

“Between closing to the public, new cleaning procedures and new hours, it’s been a rough time,” she said.  

Hawley said she isn’t worried about getting sick.​ “People are going to act in their best interest, which is to stay home and not get others sick,” she said.

U​tah State's​ ​d​ean of libraries​,​ Bradford Cole​,​ is also optimistic about how the library is running.

He said students have been respectful about new rules, such as remaining on the first floor, and they have had no problems with the general public.

According to Cole, ​the library has been able to keep all library personnel employed and have them working on special projects from home. One project includes transcribing documents to make them “keyword searchable.” Cole said doing this will finally ​bring the library​ in line with the American with Disabilities Act Standards.

“So this COVID-19 thing does have a silver lining,” ​he said.

Students on tight budgets are trying to prep for potential stay-home orders

By Dalton Renshaw

Ramen and canned soup.

As people across the nation rush to stock up during the coronavirus pandemic, Utah State University students are gathering those classic student staples.

Alek Nelson, who recently returned from a trip to India, has been trying to self-isolate on the recommendation of an adviser from the study abroad office. On Tuesday, however, he had to take a break from his self-imposed quarantine to visit the grocery store in preparation for a potentially longer period of isolation.

“I spent about double what I usually do on my last shopping trip because I had my usual purchases, plus things with long shelf lives that I wouldn't normally buy,” Nelson said. “It could be difficult for students who depend on paychecks for groceries, especially if they've been laid off because of the pandemic.”

By the end of the week, 21 states across the United States will have stay-at-home orders in place. While the state of Utah is not among those states, it could be coming. Summit County issued a shelter-in-place order today for its residents — a decree that is expected to be maintained until May 1. Meanwhile today, just a few miles away in Idaho, Gov. Brad Little issued a “stay at home” order for the state to last for the next 21 days.

Student Scott Froehlich said he isn’t yet prepared for a similar order in Cache County.  

“Probably not prepared as long-term as I should be,” he said, adding that he might be able to stretch his current food for a week or two. “I guess the fact that our budget is a little strained plays into that.”

Froehlich lives in family housing with his wife and son and is waiting until the school year ends before moving back home. Many students and families still remain on campus, despite the university’s recommendation for everyone who can go back to their permanent residences to do so. 

Nelson said he would continue to remain in isolation, but as a precaution to help slow the spread of the virus.

“I have purchased some more canned goods and other foods that last longer, just in case,” he said. “Even if stores were to stay open in a lockdown, I'd rather stay in just to decrease the risk of picking up a disease or unintentionally spreading it.”

Parents adjusting to new work-at-home schedules during pandemic

By Harley Barnes

Utah State University officials are trying to better understand how a simultaneous K-12 school closure and university-wide migration to online courses will impact employees who have suddenly joined the ranks of work-at-home parents.

A school closure impact survey, which asked employees to indicate how many children they had in the K-12 school system and if they had any alternative resources for childcare, was sent to all Utah State employees on Saturday.

Amanda DeRito, who is a member of the USU Staff Employee Association board, said the results would be used to implement new policies and adjust employee schedules.

“We are working hard to find individual solutions,” DeRito said. “Every situation is different.”
DeRito said flexible hours would be one of the most used solutions to helping employees with children to adjust.

Peter Crosby, a professor at the university and a father of three children, said the experience of being with his kids and working at has been both fun and frustrating.

“Managing two work schedules and three kids’ education has been a trip,” he said.

Crosby said he is most worried about how the situation is impacting his children's psyche since it is hard for them to understand why they have to stay home and not play with friends.

It isn’t just staff members who have been affected.

Becky Cowley is a parent and student at USU. Her son has also been doing his schoolwork online each day. Cowley said she is fortunate to work from home and be with him, and she is more worried on the emotional impact the quarantine has on families who have struggled to make schedules align.

“I consider us to be lucky,” she said. “I think there are people out there whose situation is much more difficult.”

Lawmakers’ self-isolation could hinder funds for Utah businesses seeking federal aid

By Libbie Anderson

Utah lawmakers were directed to self-isolate on Monday morning after a senator tested positive for COVID-19 — causing some concern about the collection of federal aid for Utah businesses affected by the novel coronavirus.

“It’s a good question for how the aid will be collected by the senate when it’s allocated by the federal government,” said Mark Thomas, the Utah Senate chief of staff. “But it depends on what that package looks like.”

Utah’s 2020 General Session ended on March 12. If Gov. Gary Herbert were to call a special session for budgeting federal aid, Thomas isn’t sure how that would be done.

“It will be interesting to see how they get together as far as future budgets go because of the remote-working plan,” Thomas said.

At the end of the general session, Utah’s Senate passed a bill allocating funds to respond to COVID-19. Thomas said the budget was based on assessments prior to Utah declaring the State of Emergency, so those assessments are no longer accurate.

“We gave Utah $16 million dollars to work with,” said Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Cache.

That allocated cash is already flowing throughout Utah, but the funds may dry up quicker than anticipated due to unexpected effects of COVID-19 and the earthquake that struck late last week.

“Because we only meet 45 days a year, we have no power unless the governor called for a special session,” Hillyard said about allocating any other aid.

Hillyard agreed that self-isolating for 14 days is a good precautionary measure for lawmakers and anticipated that the allocated funds will be enough of a response from the state to help local businesses until federal aid arrives.

Commencement recommences at Utah State — maybe

By Taylor Cripe and Lindsie Wharff

Graduating students received a ray of hope on Monday when Utah State University announced it would hold its annual commencement on Aug. 28 and 29 — pandemic pending.  

On Wednesday, school leaders had said commencement would not take place at the end of April as originally planned. 

Senior Tarren Jessop was elated by the change. “I am over the moon,” Jessop said. “But I do feel it's important to stress we will only get this chance if we all do our part in slowing the spread of the virus.” 

However, the date change is not good news for everyone. Many students have already moved home and a lot of graduates would have to make an extra trip to Utah for a fall ceremony.

“I most likely will not be here, and I probably won’t make the trip to attend later,” senior Kimmie Stewart said. 

California native Kaylyn Patenaude said she would also be unlikely to return.

“The date change means not getting to celebrate with my family like I already planned,” Patenaude said. “I don’t have closure in this season of my life. I am not even sure I can come back for graduation.”

Statewide campuses will also be planning graduation events for the first two weeks in September. University leaders more details surrounding these events will be provided later.

Graduating Aggies react to cancelled commencement

By Taylor Cripe

Students upset over the cancellation of Utah State University’s 133rd commencement ceremony have little recourse to change the school's decision.

“Unfortunately, this is a done deal at this point,” USU public information officer Emilie Wheeler said. “No school in Utah will be having a graduation ceremony this spring.”

When the announcement came that all classes would be moving online, Utah State President Noelle Cockett sent out a letter to students and faculty stating that a decision about graduation would be made by April. Within days, however, the hammer had fallen: On Wednesday, the school announced there would be no Pomp and Circumstance this year at any of the school’s statewide campuses – at least not live and in-person.

To that point, many students were still hoping for an end-of-the-school-year ceremony.  

“When the university first decided to go online, I thought commencement would still happen,” said senior Ethan Maul, who is set to graduate in April with a degree in electrical engineering. “As the week went on, it started to seem less likely, but I was surprised the decision was made so soon.”

To Maul, “it seemed like a quick and slightly irrational response.”

Others saw the writing on the wall.

“As more developments concerning the nation’s status were received, the postponing of graduation was something I began to anticipate,” said Tarren Jessop, who will be graduating with degrees in psychology and sociology. “I would be happy to wait for however long it may take to get the full experience though, and I know many other seniors feel the same way.”

Utah State officials are trying to figure out a way to honor graduates without a live ceremony.

“We will definitely be having some sort of celebration,” Wheeler said. “We are not going to let our seniors go without something to commemorate their time here.”

Wheeler said it is still not certain what an end-of-year celebration would look like. She said it may be different departments having a ceremony, or there may be some sort of reception for all seniors.

“The big question for us is when we will be able to do it,” Wheeler said. “We don’t want to plan something too soon and then have to cancel.”

For many seniors, walking at graduation is an important milestone.

“It means everything to me,” Jessop said. “As a first-generation student, this would be the first college graduation ceremony my family attends. It’s something I have dreamed of my entire life.”

Maul said it’s not as big a deal for him, but he was still looking forward to it. 

“Not having the ceremony means I don’t have a defining moment where I feel I am done with my undergraduate degree,” Maul said. “It’s very anticlimactic.”

Wheeler said the university has received quite a bit of feedback about graduation being canceled and said USU “shares in the sadness and the anger.”

“Most have been understanding,” Wheeler said. “We also want everyone to know we didn’t do this immediately because we didn’t want to make rash decisions and wanted to align with other institutions.”

Utah State students are on their way home

By Emma Feuz

The lawn outside of several dormitories on the north side of Utah State University’s campus was a chaotic scene on Monday with some students playing sand volleyball while others were moving full couches onto trucks.

Utah State students are terminating their on-campus housing contracts early and returning to their permanent homes despite being encouraged to stay on-campus a week earlier.

The sudden surge of students moving out came after a Monday morning email sent to all students as a follow-up from President Noelle Cockett’s Saturday evening message. The email strongly encouraged all students, “to leave your on-campus housing and return to your permanent home.”

This change came as a complete reversal from the previous week. Then, students were encouraged to stay put as campus resources would still remain open and class labs would carry on.

“It’s crazy. It’s different every single day,” said Kiki Saker, a resident assistant for Rich Hall at the Student Living Center. 

So far, Saker said, she has moved three residents out of the hall. 

“But within the next couple of days or in a week,” she said, “almost everyone from my two floors are going to be cleared and gone.”

During the moving process, many students offered helping hands as the short notice and strongly encouraged isolation practices prevented families from coming to help.

Housing will still remain open for students who do not have any place to go. 

“We want students to be where they and their families feel the students are safest,” said Amanda DeRito, the director of crisis communication for Utah State. “As students leave, we may move some around to improve social distancing, and students who are ill should self-isolate to prevent spread.”

According to the email, those who do choose to leave will be offered refunds for their rent and parking pass. Additionally, out-of-state students who are seeking Utah residency will not be penalized for moving back home.

There were many sad goodbyes in recent days between friends parting ways two months earlier than expected. There will be more farewells to come.  

But Saker was already hoping for better times to come.

“It will all be fine eventually,” she said. “It will all bounce back.”

Coronavirus is officially in Cache Valley

By Taylor Cripe

Cache County officially confirmed two cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday morning.

The announcement came just one day after Box Elder County confirmed its first case of COVID-19.

The patients are a Logan couple, both of whom are over the age of 60. They did not require hospitalization, Bear River Health Department information officer Holly Budge said.

Bear River Health will seek to notify anyone who had close contact with the confirmed cases.

“The truth is we’ve always known this was just a matter of time,” Budge said. “It was just a question of when, but this is still hard.”

During the announcement, Bear River Health said it was receiving numerous calls from people concerned about the virus, as well as rumors of additional cases. Department officials have sought to assure residents that its epidemiology team will investigate all potential cases.

As of Thursday afternoon, there were 78 confirmed COVID-19 cases throughout Utah, and 1,526 reported people tested, according to the state. The actual number of people tested, however, is likely considerably higher because large private laboratories are not yet reporting negative results to the public.

“It’s not possible to keep this out of Cache Valley, but we need to control the spread,” Budge said. She encouraged residents to continue to practice social distancing and stay home if they are unwell.

Bear River Health has also stressed the importance of getting information about COVID-19 from reliable sources, as it has been made aware of individuals on social media who are impersonating the department.

Northern Utah restaurants are hoping customers give to-go a go

By Harley Barnes, Lance Johnson and Graysen Hendrickson

Elements isn’t known for its take-out.

The restaurant — a favorite of university search committees hoping to entice prospective faculty to this northern Utah college town — is about as close to upscale as it gets in Logan.

But in response to a statewide suspension of dine-in services, the restaurant’s staff quickly put a curbside pickup option in place — and loyal customers, eager to help the local business survive in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, are giving to-go a go.

Elements is not alone. More than a dozen other Logan restaurants have launched a social media-driven campaign to promote free pick-up and delivery options during the dine-in ban.

The Cache Valley Local Restaurant Cooperative is a way to promote local restaurants and help servers weather this uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, said Katie Cox, the social media manager for Cafe Sabor, Off-Premise Catering and Bluebird Candy.

Justin Hamilton, the owner of Sabor and Off-Premise, will provide delivery vans to local restaurants. Other participating restaurants include Great Harvest, The Beehive Pub & Grill, Angie’s, Firehouse Pizzeria, Logan’s Heroes, The Bluebird, Morty’s Cafe, Center Street Grill, El Toro Viejo, Old Grist Mill, MayMoes, Tandoori Oven, Stacked, Elements, The Factory, Caffe Ibis, Crumb Brothers, and Herm’s Inn. 

“We have always offered pick-up orders, but are adding delivery,” said Andrea Steffes, the general manager for Herm’s Inn. “Typically, we are not staffed large enough to handle a delivery service.” 

The advertisement for the cooperative features the logos of all participating restaurants on one poster, in an effort to show solidarity. 

“It’s wonderful, the sense of unity, that sense of brotherhood that should always exist,” said Saboor Sahely, owner of Angie’s restaurant. “I don’t look at each other as competitors; I look at each other as co-partners working to serve our community.”

Sahely’s staff is another reason why participating in the cooperative made sense to him.

“Our number one motivator is to make sure we take care of our customers, but also our employees,” Sahely said. “We want to make sure that all our employees are able to get a paycheck.”

Elements’ front-of-the-house manager, Joseph Quillen, noted that even if the shift to carry-out succeeds, restaurant staff members remain in a vulnerable position — especially those who earn their wages from tips, which don’t tend to be as generous for to-go orders.

“The serving staff are going to suffer during this,” Quillen said.

He’s hoping, however, that an increase in carry-out orders will sustain at least some of the staff.

“Our hope is that that’ll be enough that we can keep several people on,” he said, “running to-gos or deliveries if they want to stay with us.” 

While it’s unclear how many of Utah’s restaurants are trying to make things work with take-out and delivery, as opposed to simply shuttering during the statewide ban on dining in, many are hoping that customers will be willing to order out until circumstances change.

Summit County restaurants were the first to go take-out only, making the shift on Sunday. Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County officials made the same announcement on Monday. 

The state-mandated shutdown of dine-in services was announced on Tuesday.

Already by then, however, it was clear that customers were eager to help local restaurants and staffs, with several reports of unusually generous tips during the final days of dine-in services. At Rodizio Grill in Salt Lake City, for instance, a customer left a $1,050 tip to help sustain servers who would be out of work for weeks, at least.

In a message posted to Element’s webpage on Wednesday, Chef Eric Price expressed gratitude for an “outpouring of friends and regulars coming in, getting takeout and reaching out to us.”

The support, in a time of crisis, “has been humbling,” Price wrote. “We live in a pretty special place. Keep coming. We like seeing you.”

Even before the statewide ban was announced, cleaning policies had become stricter inside local restaurants. 

“We had implemented a timer that would go off every 20 minutes that our lead server was in charge of, and when the timer goes off, they had to yell ‘hand wash’ and we had to stop whatever we’re doing and go wash our hands,” said Brynne Peak, a server at Wingers restaurant in Logan.

“The changes made recently are really thorough,” said Stephen Lortscher, a senior at Utah State University who works at Chili’s, which also remains open for to-go and delivery orders. “We are even portioning ketchup to prevent multiple people from touching the same bottle every hour.”

Increased glove wear and limiting the amount of times the menus are touched were some of the other precautions that were being taken.

Another Utah State student who is an employee at Chili’s, Karlee Bough, said she has seen several servers’ hands and knuckles cracked from hourly peroxide scrubs of menus, table tops, door handles, bathrooms, salt and pepper shakers, and food trays. 

Cox said that social media has been important way to assure customers that restaurants “are utilizing all food safety and sanitation guidelines.” 

Many Logan residents are doing their part to help spread awareness by reposting the cooperative ads on their own social media accounts.

“We’ve had a great response from people sharing our posts to spread the word, tagging friends, and using the service,” Cox said. “We’re grateful that our local community is willing to bind together and help each other.” 

Already shaken by COVID-19, USU students get hit with a 5.7 earthquake

By Dalton Renshaw

For many students at Utah State University, Wednesday morning’s 5.7 magnitude earthquake was a first experience with a trembler.

For others, it was a first of another kind: A complex crisis.

With concerns over COVID-19 already putting people in a stressful state, USU student Savannah Shupe thought the earthquake could compound those fears.

 “I’m afraid it will fuel some people’s end of the world anxiety,” she said. “I’m trying to be light-hearted about it.”

Anne Benson wondered whether preparations underway for coronavirus might be helping in the wake of the quake and its dozens of aftershocks.

 “I don’t think people will be more worried,” she said. “They might feel better about having supplies.”

She did figure, however, that Utah’s religious climate might affect the way people think and talk about the combination of a global pandemic and Utah’s largest earthquake since 19992.

“People will probably start referencing the Bible and end of the world things,” Benson said.

The epicenter was in Magna, about 12 miles west of Salt Lake City. The earthquake broke pipes and caused flooding at the Salt Lake International Airport, which led to the airport being shut down and evacuated. According to Rocky Mountain Power, about 55,000 residents were without power in the morning after the quake. 

Also down: Utah Department of Health’s call center-supported information line for COVID-19. A temporary COVID-19 information line is available until further notice at 1-844-442-5224.

“I am so freaked out, I have never experienced anything like this, and the aftershocks are freaking me out,” said Sabrina Bell, a resident of Kearns, about six miles from the epicenter. “I was like, ‘what is happening? Did a car just hit our house?’ Everything was shaking and I’m like ‘No, this is an earthquake,’ and ‘What do I do?’ I couldn’t even move, I was just, like, frozen.”

Immediately following the initial earthquake, there were multiple aftershocks that were able to be felt, with some as strong as a 4.6 magnitude, according to the USGS. Dozens of aftershocks had been felt by mid-afternoon.

 “The couch still just shakes and it sounds like a loud, loud, big train that’s running right beside your house,” Bell said.

In Logan, Utah native Billye Wilson said she had felt a few earthquakes when she was younger, but those were “nowhere near as strong.”

“This was especially scary,” she said, “because I live on the third floor of my apartment and my bed is on risers. I originally thought my bed was shaking because my boyfriend was moving around, but then I realized I was sleeping alone at my house, and that’s when I shot up in bed and realized my whole room was shaking.”

These Utah State student clubs may not survive COVID-19

By Fa’aitiiti Tuileta

The COVID-19 pandemic is threatening the lives of people everywhere, but it is also threatening the survival of some Utah State University organizations.

Many of Utah State’s multi-cultural and indigenous programs rely on funds generated during large events that have now been cancelled.

The LatinX Student Union, Polynesian Student Union and the Native American Student Council have all cancelled annual activities that were scheduled for the last half of the spring semester.

All three organizations fall under the Utah State

Inclusion Center, which is funded through the university. The clubs, however, receive only a small portion of funding from student fees; the majority of their funding comes from the revenue earned from their large spring events.

Among those events was the annual food and arts gala, Fiestas Americas, hosted by the LatinX Student Union, also known as LXU.    

“Yes, I am worried,” LXU president Sherry Sanchez said. “There are enough funds that next council will be able to utilize for the first semester. However, LXU will have to fundraise for more funds so that Fiestas Americas can be organized for 2021.”

It’s not just revenue opportunities that have been lost.

“The hard work that council members did is not something that can be refunded,” Sanchez said.

The cancelled cultural celebrations are major annual events at Utah State.

The Polynesian Student Union’s annual luau, for instance, is a highlighted event during Traditions Week at Utah State, and this will be the first time in 47 years that there will not be an annual Native American Student Council powwow.

“We are very disappointed,” said Michelle Bogdan-Holt, ​the ​director of the Inclusion Center. “Our student clubs have worked so hard to put on events. However, we understand that this is in the best interest of our community.”

First COVID-19 case confirmed in Box Elder County, new procedures announced

By Taylor Cripe 

The Bear River Health Department announced its first case of COVID-19 in Box Elder County on Tuesday afternoon.

The person is an adult under the age of 60 and, according to Tuesday’s announcement, appears to have been exposed to a known case in Salt Lake County. The individual’s family has also been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days and monitor for symptoms.

This case brought the state’s total number of cases to 51, according to the Utah Department of Health, with 41 confirmed Utah residents and 10 visitors to the state.

Health department public information officer Holly Budge said there are test results from other patients waiting to come in, but the length of time it takes to get results back is spotty.

“We always hope it’s 24 hours, but it depends on who is doing it and if they have time,” Budge said.

While health officials will have a better idea of how the virus is spreading once more tests become available, they are still uncertain of when those tests will come in.

“All we know is that more tests will be made available, but we don’t have any information beyond that,” Budge said.

In the meantime, Budge said people experiencing light or mild symptoms should practice self-isolation. She added there is really no need to seek emergency medical treatment unless symptoms become severe, and people can call the Utah Coronavirus information line at 1-800-456-7707 if they have concerns.

“The message we need to convey in all of this is if you are sick, and it doesn’t matter with what, just stay home,” Budge said. “If you have the flu stay home, if you have a bad cold stay home. Please don’t go out and get others sick.”

Brad Gillman, the media relations manager with Intermountain Healthcare, also said there is little information on when new tests will be available. However, due to the growing number of cases in Utah, hospitals are updating some procedures and guidelines.

Beginning this week, non-urgent elective medical procedures will be postponed. This will free up space and resources for an expected surge in COVID-19 patients, Gillman said.

Additionally, according to an Intermountain announcement Tuesday, hospital visitation will be severely restricted. Only two visitors at a time will be allowed to see end-of-life patients and healthy babies. Only one visitor is allowed for patients undergoing surgery, and no one can visit confirmed or possible COVID-19 patients.

“There is no timeline for when these guidelines end,” Gillman said. “This is the reality for the foreseeable future.”

Lloyd Berentzen, the director of the BRHD, said in Tuesday’s press release he wanted to remind everyone that most people who get COVID-19 will experience very mild symptoms, but the community must slow the spread of the disease.

“I urge the public to please practice social distancing,” Berentzen said. “Do not gather in groups of 10 or more, stay home if you are sick, wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your face.”

According to Budge, the Utah.gov website will update every day by 1 p.m. with any new cases and related information. Relevant news can we found by going to https://coronavirus.utah.gov/latest/

Aggies abroad brought home amid COVID-19 pandemic

By Sydney Kidd

On March 12, Abbie Sherva woke up to several emails marked “URGENT.”

The emails, from Utah State University, were ordering her home. She was told she had six days to comply.

Sherva had been in Seville, Spain, for seven weeks as part of a study abroad program with International Studies Abroad. The trip was supposed to continue through the end of spring semester. 

Utah State is one of many universities in the United States to have canceled all study abroad programs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Some universities, like Brigham Young University, have even canceled domestic programs, such as those in Washington, D.C. 

Other institutions have chosen a different path. The University of Utah, for instance, has allowed students to continue with semester exchanges to the school’s Asia campus in South Korea.

Sherva decided to book a flight for March 18 — the last day she was told she could stay in Spain. It happened to also be the day with the cheapest flights. 

But, not long after booking the flight, Sherva and her friends began to hear rumors about the Spanish government potentially shutting down airports. She said between this and seeing the country’s coronavirus case count go up by 1,000 in one day, they knew they needed to leave as soon as possible.

“Things were changing by the hour,” Sherva said. “And so we were basically just trying to get out because we didn't know how much could happen in a few hours… I was running on adrenaline basically the whole time”

The next morning, Sherva got on a bus to Portugal with the intent to fly out of Lisbon. As she looked at Seville one last time, she saw a shell of the city’s former self.

“Almost everything was closed besides supermarkets and pharmacies,” Sherva said. “There were a few cafes open. The entrances to the parks were all closed and everything.”

By Sunday night Sherva was back in her hometown of Fargo, North Dakota. She said while she was initially disappointed when she was told she had to leave Spain, she’s grateful she got out when she did, even if it meant rebooking a sooner flight.

“I'm so thankful that I didn't stay because I had a friend who had a flight early Monday morning out of Madrid and his was canceled,” Sherva said. “And he had to do the same thing and flee to Portugal and kind of take the same route that we did.”

Emilie Wheeler, a Utah State public relations official, said all students in “level 3” countries — China, South Korea, Iran and Italy — have now returned home. Utah State students in other countries are being brought home “as quickly as possible.”

Natalie and Connor Toone were originally supposed to go to the Philippines in January with a program facilitated by Utah State’s business school. After the Taal Volcano erupted in January, and amid concerns about coronavirus, they were reassigned to the Dominican Republic. A month into their trip there, were told the program had been canceled and given eight days to get back to the United States.

Connor said that initially he was “pretty bummed.” As the situation with the coronavirus escalated, however, he and his wife grew more nervous.

“We were getting all the notifications from KSL and other news sources just saying, ‘Oh, now schools are closed. Now churches are closed. Now everything's closed.’ and we were thinking, ‘oh, maybe this is bigger than what we thought,” Natalie Toone said.

Andrea Bresee had been on a student teaching exchange in Chiapas, Mexico, for just two weeks when she was told to get home. She said the news came as a complete shock.

“We were kind of living in a little bubble where no one was concerned about it and so it wasn't really affecting us,” Bresee said. “When I got the email saying that the program was cancelled, I started crying immediately. Like I just burst into tears because I was so upset.”

All four Aggies agreed the panic in the United States over COVID-19 is far greater than what they experienced abroad — even in Spain where the situation is more serious.

“People were freaking out so much less than they're freaking out here,” Sherva said. “Our parents were way more freaked out than we were because people in Spain were so chill about it… but the government there was taking it very seriously.”

Bresee and the Toones all said that while they were initially shocked and disappointed, they understand and respect the university’s reasoning behind canceling their programs.

“It makes sense. You don't know if borders are going to start closing,” Natalie Toone said. “I don't think they were so much afraid that we would get the virus. They were just worried about making sure we could all get home.”

Bresee said she feels relieved to be home. 

Last minute travel and study abroad trips can be expensive. The students were unsure of what they would be refunded and reimbursed for. 

“We’re working with students and programs to discuss how students might continue their academic progress, as well as what costs may be recoverable from the programs,” Wheeler said.

According to Wheeler, the university will know more specifics in the coming weeks.

But once students have returned from their travels, they aren’t out of the woods — especially for those coming from Europe. According to Wheeler, students are being tracked by the university upon returning home. In fact, Utah State sent out an email on Sunday to students who had traveled to the UK and France over spring break asking them to self-quarantine. When the students first arrived home, they weren’t required to do so. But as travel advisories have changed, the government has updated its guidelines.

Sherva tested negative for coronavirus in an airport screening, but is also having to self-quarantine for 14 days to be safe. While self-quarantining can be a tedious and difficult process, Sherva believes it’s worth it.

“Everyone thinks like, like 'I don't have it there's no way I've gotten it,’” Sherva said. “But in reality, some of us are wrong. Some of us have it.”

Visit cdc.gov for more information on COVID-19.

As churches close, Latter-day Saint leaders encourage community members to care for those without a priesthood holder in the home

By Luke Diamond

With churches closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have authorized members to hold services in their homes, including the administration of one of the church’s most important ceremonies — a weekly sacrament of bread and water.

But there is a problem: Only priesthood holders, male members of the church deemed worthy, can perform the ceremony — and not every household has such a person present in their home.

“We’re in the process of coming up with a plan right now. This is something that hasn’t happened before,” said Duncan Johannson, the Elder’s Quorum ​president ​of the Young Single Adult Providence First Ward.

Johannson is among those who have expressed hope, however, that this challenge ties together community members.

Local church leaders are making efforts to reach out to all members to make sure everyone receives the ordinance at least monthly. Some ward leaders have asked families to invite those who cannot perform the ordinance themselves to their home sacrament meetings. Other leaders ​have arranged ​for the ordinance to be administered by members of local elders quorums, which are made up of all priesthood holders and prospective priesthood holders in a local community.

For church member Deanne Chambers, the result has been a feeling of inclusion at a time in which she might otherwise have felt spiritually neglected.

“Sunday was a lovely experience having the sacrament in the home of my daughter with her husband and kids,” said Chambers, who is a widow. “It was very special. I felt thought of and special when the elders​ arrived at my home.”

The sacrament — the equivalent of the ceremony often known as “communion” in other Christian denominations — is not of little consequence to Latter-day Saints.

“This is the most important thing that happens every week,” said church member Tiffany Brunner​, a California native who served a Latter-day Saint mission in New Jersey before returning to school at Utah State University.

“It’s hard, but I really think this is the type of thing that brings a community together,” said Shelby Foster, the Relief Society ​president ​of the Young Single Adult Providence First Ward. “When you are able to help out, it brings about a closeness in a ward that is difficult to have any other way.”