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“FYI Panguitch” is a weekly Insider column written by Panguitch resident Mack Oetting. Insider

Attention all parents, grandparents and family members: this Saturday is the 26th annual Easter Egg Hunt. It will start at 11:00 a.m. at the Panguitch City Park. There will be plenty of prizes, candy and money, just there for the picking. The Easter Bunny will again arrive in the fire engine, with the red lights and sirens going. Bring sacks or baskets for all of the goodies and cameras to remember the fun time. The hunt is for 6th graders on down to babies that can walk. So, join in the fun!

On Friday, there will be a circus in town, and it will be at the Triple C Arena between 4:30 and 7:30, so, join in the fun. Spring vacation is now running three weeks instead of just one, and this really helps with the crowds at the beaches and recreation areas. These are two events that are there to occupy your kids during their time off. Also, on Saturday afternoon is the Hurricane Car Show, and there is usually about 300 works of art there. To make for a grand day of it, we go down through Zion National Park. On Saturday evening, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will join with the Baptist church for an evening at the Gem Theater.

Speaking of national parks, Arches is going to be taking reservations to view their many arches, as will Zion Park. I don’t think that it will affect those driving through Zion, only those that want to take the buses up to the main canyon. That also goes for those looking to hike on the trails.

The MBA regular season ended today, and the playoffs started this week. The 9th and 10th place will have a one game play-in game to see who plays the number 1 team. I cheer for whatever team LeBron James plays on, and this year, the Lakers didn’t make the playoffs. LeBron didn’t disappoint his fans; he was, at 37 years old, the high scorer in the league. He became the only player to have 10,000 points and 10,000 rebounds. He also moved into second place on the scoring ladder, replacing Karl Malone and moving within 1,200 points of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As physically fit as he is, he should be able to play another three or four years. He does say that he wants to play a year with his son in the NBA.

I thought that I had dreamed this; twice yearly people across the U.S. go through the same stupid ritual that leaves us groggy and out of sorts, changing our clocks. But last week, the Senate unanimously approved a bill that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent across the country. Yes, even the party of “no” voted for it. In fact, it was Senator Marco Rubio who introduced the Sunshine Protection Act. If the House also passes the bill, then it will be up to the president to sign off on it. There will be no more going to work in the morning and coming home in the dark in the wintertime.

We have a real American hero, Senator Romney, who stood up to his party, alone with two others, and confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson was more than qualified, having handled over 900 cases. She has impeccable qualifications and has a distinctive resume that includes an extensive background as a defense lawyer. The “Supremes,” who are made up mostly of former prosecutors and corporate lawyers, will benefit from her fresh perspective.

COVID has really slowed down in our area, and we only have had three cases in the last two weeks. Just don’t forget where you live. We are in the tourist business, and with placing the Grand Staircase-Escalante back where it was originally, you can expect a lot more tourists this year. While the masks have come off, the flu season has started up a little. This year, in Garfield County, there have been 22 hospitalizations of patients and no deaths. In the U.S., there has only been 1,400 deaths from the flu. This is two straight years of low fatalities because of mask wearing. Normally, we have between 20,000 and 80,000 deaths each year from the flu.

This last Saturday, the Europeans came up with 9 billion dollars to give Ukraine in the battle with Russia. The U.S. has donated 1 ½ billion dollars. President Biden accused the Russian ruler Putin of being a war criminal and, now, has the world thinking the same thing. With the Russians killing unarmed civilians, mostly men, raping women and killing children, he certainly deserves to be tried for war crimes. Putin is showing the world his utter depravity by bombing shelters and train stations and killing civilians trying to evacuate the country.

Under fierce assault from Ukrainian forces, the Russian army has lost as many as 40,000 through death, capture, injury and desertion, and 25% of their tanks have been forced to leave their captured cities. Putin has appointed a new general to see what can be done to turn things around.

Spring is turning into summer really fast. California has been recording record heat, with triple digit temperatures and fire warnings out. We are just as bad, with 70 degree temperatures melting the snow and ice at the higher elevations. Brian Head Ski Resort will be closing the week after Easter for the season.

I went over to see the softball team play Water Canyon, but they didn’t have a team and didn’t come. Kelly Holman, their coach, is a real fun guy to play for. He showed the players how to use soft hands in catching a ball. He had some raw eggs that he threw in the air for the team players to catch, and those that dropped their hands down like he showed them had no problems. Those that didn’t got broken eggs to wash off their hands. They sure were having fun.

With all the trouble in the world, isn’t it a blessing we live in Garfield County?

Mack O.