Sundance unveils festival site, ticket details

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival on Wednesday revealed the festival site, a new logo, ticketing details, and that ticket package sales begin Oct. 18.

The 40th edition of the festival is scheduled for Jan. 18-28 in Park City and Salt Lake City, and online Jan. 25-28. The festival site shows a breakdown of this year’s ticket offerings, along with “How to Fest” guide for in-person and online attendees. 

In honor of the festival’s 40th edition, organizers designed a new logo that can be downloaded in static and video/GIF versions here.

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Ticket packages for the 2024 Sundance Film Festival are on sale starting Oct. 18 with individual tickets available for purchase starting Jan. 11.

Visit festival.sundance.org for more.

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Handful of schools reach reading goal

Five local education agencies in Utah — including North Summit School District — have already achieved the goal set by state legislators to have 70% of third grade students reading on grade level by June of 2027, with others on track to reach this mark soon, the Utah Board of Education reported Monday.

John Hancock Charter School was the top scorer among districts and charter schools with 82.6% of third graders reading on grade level or higher. Other charter schools, including North Star Academy, Bear River Charter School and Mountainville Academy were close behind at 76.5%, 76.2% and 70.8%, respectively.

These percentages come from Acadience Reading data from the 2022-23 school year and represent the percentage of students in grade three who were reading on grade level by the end of the year.  

Among Utah’s school districts, North Summit School District achieved 78.6% of third graders reading on grade level. They are followed by Rich School District (66.7%) and Wayne School District (62.5%). This is well above the overall outcome for the state, which was 48%. 

Park City School District scored 57.8% and South Summit scored 51.5%.

“This enthusiasm to reach goals is a testament to the hard work and collaboration that defines our educational community in Utah. We are proud of our students’ progress and look forward to continued success as we promote literacy for all,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson.

The full list of rankings here: http://www.schools.utah.gov 

Council to hold planning retreat Thursday

The Park City Council will meet for a strategic planning retreat on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 9 a.m. in the Park City Library Community Room (1255 Park Avenue). Agenda highlights include: 

Strategic Planning Exercise: The council will review the strategic objectives identified at their mid-year retreat and conduct an exercise to help shape Council’s priority projects going forward. 

Park City General and Main Street Plans: Council will be briefed on two comprehensive planning efforts. The Park City General Plan, which sets the table for the future of the entire city, is set to be updated for the first time since 2014. Council will also contemplate moving forward on a plan for the Main Street area. Public input will be heard on these items. 

Mayor’s Transportation Initiatives : The council and the city’s transportation planning team will review and discuss several ongoing transportation initiatives looking at regionally significant transportation solutions. Public input will be heard on this item. 

The retreat will also have the option to listen, watch, or participate virtually. For attendance information, go here. 

Community meeting planned next week

Park City Municipal and its consultant partners will hold a virtual community meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 26, from 5:30-7 p.m. regarding potential amendments to the Land Management Code. Opportunities to reduce barriers to affordable housing, missing middle development, and criteria for transportation demand management that supports multi-modal transportation will be discussed.  

To attend: Zoom Link (Meeting ID: 862 5865 3982 Passcode: 475985). An in-person attendance option is available at Council Chambers. 

Applicants sought for city Appeal Panel

Park City Municipal seeks interested and engaged residents to serve on the Appeal Panel. Candidates should be Park City residents, have five or more years of prior experience in an adjudicative position, and/or have a legal or planning degree.

Park City’s Appeal Panel is appointed by the City Council to hear appeals of Planning Commission decisions on conditional use permits and master planned developments. This opportunity is open until filled. Learn more about this opportunity here: t.e2ma.net/click/wgqzrk/kfhi3sv/kj4qk9

Gas prices rise over past week

Average gasoline prices in Utah have risen 4.1 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.28/g today, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 1,171 stations in Utah. Prices in Utah are 6.2 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 5.4 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 9.9 cents in the last week and stands at $4.53 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Utah was priced at $3.94/g yesterday while the most expensive was $4.79/g, a difference of 85.0 cents per gallon. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.94/g while the highest was $4.79/g, a difference of 85.0 cents per gallon.

The national average price of gasoline has risen 4.6 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.83/g today. The national average is down 1 cent per gallon from a month ago and stands 19.9 cents per gallon higher than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.