Bluff / Mexican Hat

School Board approves sale of old Bluff Elementary School building, Bluff Town Council vote is forthcoming

The future of the old Bluff Elementary School is coming into clearer focus, but a vote by the Bluff town council (scheduled to take place after the press deadline) and securing financing still need to be finalized. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented normal operations at the new school,...

Bluff to place financial surplus into savings

The town of Bluff is in good shape financially, with about a $220,000 surplus from their budget year ending in June. The Bluff Town Council is working to make plans for the surplus, and Bluff’s hired accountant Jon Haderlie has suggested that the city place the funds into a Utah Public Treasurers...

Bluff addresses short-term rentals

Short-term rentals and speeding through town are among the recent priorities of the Bluff Town Council. At a work session and in regular session on May 4, the town council discussed proposed ordinances for short-term rentals in the city. Legwork for the proposed ordinance was provided by the...

Bluff says slow down

The main artery of Highway 191 traveling through Bluff was once again a topic of conversation at the Bluff town council. Mayor Ann Leppanen reported on conversations she had with the Utah Department of Transportation and local law enforcement for how to address the issue of speeding through the...

Bluff Town Council asks Biden to prioritize Bears Ears restoration

The Bluff Town Council passed a resolution requesting that President Joe Biden make it a priority of his administration to restore the Bears Ears National Monument. The resolution passed at the January 12 meeting with Mayor Anne Leppanen, council members Brant Murray, Jim Sayers, and Linda Sosa...

Bluff seeks to protect geoglyph near west-side gravel site

The Bluff Town Council is working to protect a geoglyph located near a state-leased gravel site in Bluff. The site is located north of the town beyond Seventh West. Protection of the site has been a focus of community members for the past few years. While petroglyphs and pictographs are located on...

Friends of Cedar Mesa Executive Director to step down this spring

Josh Ewing, the longtime Executive Director of Friends of Cedar Mesa (FCM), plans to step out of day-to-day operations of the organization in the spring of 2021. Friends of Cedar Mesa is a conservation-focused, non-profit organization based in Bluff. According to the organization mission statement...

Bluff Council discusses road issues

Roads in and near Bluff were discussed at recent town council meetings. Council member Brant Murray reported on October 13 that parts of the city roads, including 4th West, received patch work in the early part of October and roads would also receive a crack seal as temperatures drop. Mayor Ann...

Bluff Cemetery fire is doused quickly, but damages landscaping

A fire on Bluff Cemetery hill gave some neighboring homeowners a scare. On October 1, while cleaning up the pioneer portion of the Bluff Cemetery, volunteers from the Hole in the Rock organization used a propane torch to clear away tumbleweeds. From there the fire spread, eating up a few...

One COVID-19 Vaccine trial is including a few hundred members of the Navajo Nation in its final trial of the drug

COVID-19 vaccine trial to include hundreds of members of the Navajo Nation

The final phase of study for a coronavirus vaccine will include volunteers from the Navajo Nation. Since coronavirus first arrived in the United States in the late winter of 2020, a race among pharmaceutical companies to find a vaccine for the virus has been underway. Now three companies and their...