October 12, 2020 Update

Welcome to a new week.  Things were busy for us over the weekend.  I promised a photo of the status of our kitchen cabinets "remodel project."  We are nearing completion - but here is a picture from Saturday that shows the overall look and feel of the new family kitchen.  More to come next week when we have more to show.

I also wanted to address a recent newspaper article highlighting discussions around the challenges from our utility billing software implementation.  The article also suggested an "outbreak" of Covid-19 in our customer service/311 call center.  While we have had a number of exposures to Covid-19 among employees in the department, I am not aware of anyone knowingly coming into work with a positive Covid diagnosis.  Out of an abundance of caution, some of our 311 employees are self-quarantining and others are working from home.  But it could not fairly be characterized as an "outbreak."  In the cases when we have had a city employee test positive, we had advised the employees who were likely exposed of the positive test and advised them to take appropriate steps.  Just a reminder that if there were an outbreak or known exposure that put you at risk, you would hear about it through official sources, not from the newspaper.  Nothing is more important to us than the safety and health of our employees and we commit to keeping you informed should there be an issue.

CORONAVIRUS STATS

Nationally, the CDC reports 7,740,934 cases with 214,108 fatalities.

Utah:  86,832 cases; 4,331 hospitalizations; 522 deaths

Utah County:  23,337 cases; 783 hospitalizations; 66 deaths

NEWS YOU CAN USE

• US Senate hearings began today on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
• Tomorrow is the Congressional debate between Representative Ben McAdams and his challenger, Burgess Owens. 
• Mail in ballots go out this week, so be on the lookout for those coming in over the next little while.
• Paris Hilton has led a protest here in Provo calling for the closure of a local school that she attended a little over 20 years ago. 
• A cougar stalked a man jogging up Slate Canyon and created a terrifying experience for our trailing running friend. For those canyon runners out there, be safe!

Departments join the maskerade

Thank you for all who participated in the "Maskerade" fun! There were some fun and pretty incredible displays, which will make picking winners no easy task! Enjoy a few of the highlights, and be sure to check out the folder with all of our photos, these few on here don't capture just how phenomenal everything looked! Nice work, everyone!  

Legal:

HR:

311:

Finance:

Police:

Mayor's Office:

Community and Neighborhood Services:

Library:

Peaks:

Development Services:

PROVO SOCIAL MEDIA

THE MAYOR'S DAY

Today, Mayor Kaufusi:

• Met the the Police Chief
• Held a meeting with the Fire Chief
• Participated in the Utah County Covid-19 Coordinating call
• Held a meeting with Mayor's office staff
• Participated in a communications meeting
• Met with the City PIO
• Participated in a meeting with her executive team
• Met with the Assistant CAO
• Held a meeting with the Deputy Mayor

FUN STUFF

I don't think I have highlighted any Neil Diamond music on the blog before, but this little cover from the Holderness family parodying famous Neil Diamond songs with a pandemic in mind is worth a little love.  For you younger folks who don't know Neil Diamond, you may recognize a few of these tunes from your mom and dad's 8-tracks.  :)

Long post today - sorry for including so much!  We appreciate you!

Wayne