Michael Harding
Iron County's weekly front page — every Tuesday morning. Tuesday, November 3, 2026 |
A note from the editor It's Election Day, Iron County — and this year the most important fact in this issue fits in one sentence: your ballot has to be in the clerk's hands by 8 o'clock tonight, and a postmark will not save it. The Lead below has every drop box and vote center in the county, so start there. Beyond the ballot: the T-Birds gave the No. 7 team in the country a fourth-quarter scare on Halloween, Cedar's playoff run ended against the top seed, and a calm, dry week follows a wet weekend. You'll also find the debut of Trade, Barter & Sell, our new first-Tuesday swap board — send us your first listings. Results from today's election come after tonight's deadline, so they lead next week's issue. Vote, and we'll see you there. — Michael Harding, Editor |
Conditions |
The week ahead — Cedar City (refreshed Mon Nov 2 — weather.com)
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Your ballot has one deadline that matters — and it's not the postmark |
Today is Election Day in Iron County, and this year the rule that decides whether your vote counts has changed. Under Utah's current law, a mail ballot must be received by the county clerk by 8:00 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, November 3. A ballot that is postmarked today but arrives tomorrow will not be counted. So the advice for publication day is simple, and there is no softer version of it: do not mail your ballot today. Return it in person, or put it in an official drop box, before 8:00 p.m. Early voting is over — Iron County's early voting ran October 27–30 in Parowan only, and there was no extension. What remains is today, and today is enough, if you use the options below. Vote in person, 7:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. Iron County runs three vote centers on Election Day, and any Iron County voter can use any of them: the Iron County Courthouse, 68 S 100 E, Parowan; the Enoch City Offices, 900 E Midvalley Road, Enoch; and Festival Hall, 96 N Main, Cedar City. (One local radio report called the Cedar City site the "Heritage Center" — the clerk's official election notice says Festival Hall, and Festival Hall is where you should go.) If you plan to vote in person, check the accepted-ID list at vote.utah.gov before you leave home, and expect the busiest lines at lunch and after 5 p.m. Drop boxes close at 8:00 p.m. sharp. Eight official drop boxes are open around the clock until tonight's deadline — in Cedar City at the Parking Garage (79 N 100 E) and at SUU (351 W University Blvd); in Parowan at the Courthouse (68 S 100 E); in Enoch at the City Offices (900 E Midvalley Rd); and at Kanarraville Town Hall (40 S Main), Brian Head Town (56 N Hwy 143), and Dixie Power in Beryl (71 E Highway 56). The eighth box, at Paragonah Town Hall (44 N 100 E), is available during regular business hours only — don't count on it tonight after hours. A ballot in any of these boxes by 8:00 p.m. is in the clerk's hands on time. What's on the local ballot. Two of the three Iron County Commission seats are before voters: Seat A, where Mike Bleak is unopposed, and Seat B, where K. Rand Bettridge (Republican) faces Wesley B. Curtis (unaffiliated). Your ballot may also carry state and other races depending on your precinct — the full picture is at vote.utah.gov, where you can also track a returned ballot through BallotTrax and confirm it was received. Questions today go to the Iron County Clerk's office at (435) 477-8340. One last timing note, because it shapes this issue: polls close at 8:00 p.m., after this edition is in your hands, so there are no results to report today — and anyone reporting "results" before tonight is guessing. The Ledger will lead next Tuesday's issue (Nov 10) with what Iron County decided. Until then: if your ballot is still on the kitchen counter, it has a trip to make before 8 o'clock. Make the trip. |
Photo of the Week |
Costumes, a home crowd, and a storm on the way in. Halloween weekend brought SUU home games, a downtown stroll, and Sunday rain — a very Cedar City send-off to October. This slot belongs to readers. Send your best Iron County photo — one per week gets the front page. Submission details are in the sign-off at the bottom of this issue. |
City Hall & County |
Next commission meeting: Monday, Nov 9, in Parowan. There is no Iron County Commission meeting today — the commission's regular schedule resumes Monday, Nov 9, 9:00 a.m., Commission Chambers, Iron County Courthouse, 68 S 100 E, Parowan. Two public hearings headline the day, both at 10:00 a.m.: a proposed zone change from A-20 (agricultural) to Industrial on 40 acres, applicant Karman Space & Defense; and a proposed zone change from A-20 to Commercial on 13.54 acres, applicant Mauri Ventures. Both items go to the Planning Commission first, this Thursday, Nov 5 at 5:30 p.m. — the earlier, quieter room where these cases usually take their real shape. Residents who want to address the commission on Nov 9 should note the standing rule: make an appointment and file your documentation with the County Clerk by the Monday before the meeting. Looking further ahead: the commission meets again Monday, Nov 23, for the 2027 budget hearing (10:00 a.m.) and adoption of the tentative 2027 budget. SDZ follow-up: the quiet week. A week after the commission adopted Ordinance 2026-23 — the Strategic Development Zone overlay that now governs data centers and other mega-projects (see last week's Lead) — there is, as of Monday, nothing new to report: no follow-up coverage has been posted, and no project has yet been reported as applying under the new overlay. The next hard date in that story is November 22, when the 180-day moratorium on new data-center, power-plant, and large-solar applications — the deadline pressure behind last month's vote — expires. The Ledger is watching for the first test case, and for whether the residents and tribal leaders who asked for more time in October keep pressing theirs. |
Public Safety & Seasonal Safety |
Election Day driving. Expect extra traffic and full parking lots around Festival Hall in Cedar City, the Enoch City Offices, and the Parowan Courthouse until 8 p.m. — and pedestrians crossing Main Street in the dark after the 5:31 p.m. sunset. Slow down near the vote centers tonight. After the storm, before the freeze. Sunday's rain ended the weekend, and the week ahead runs dry but cold at night — lows of 31–34° Wednesday through Friday. If you haven't already: disconnect hoses, cover outdoor faucets, and check antifreeze and tire tread before mountain drives. Black ice favors the shaded canyon stretches on SR-14 and SR-143 in the early morning. The clocks changed Sunday. Daylight saving time ended at 2 a.m. on Nov 1. While you're adjusting: test smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms and swap the batteries if you can't remember when you last did. Heating season is when those alarms earn their keep. No specific police or fire incidents were verified for this briefs section this week; the Ledger prints incident briefs only when it can source them. |
Campus, Schools & Sports |
T-Birds scare the No. 7 team in the country. Southern Utah jumped out 10–0 on No. 7 Northern Arizona at Eccles Coliseum on Halloween afternoon, gave up 27 unanswered points, and then scored 17 in the fourth quarter to make it a one-score game — falling 34–27 when NAU ran out the final 2:23. Redshirt senior Floyd Chalk ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns, pushing his season total to 1,223 yards and into ninth place on SUU's single-season rushing list. The loss drops SUU to 3–6 overall and 2–4 in the Big Sky. Next up: Northern Colorado at home, Saturday, Nov 7, 1:00 p.m., Eccles Coliseum, on ESPN+. Volleyball pushes Montana, still chasing a first conference win. SUU fell to Montana 3–0 (25–17, 29–27, 26–24) on Halloween night at the America First Event Center — a sweep on paper that was closer than it reads: the Thunderbirds forced extra points in the second and third sets and led the third 24–23 before Montana closed it out. The win was Montana head coach Allison Lawrence's 100th. SUU, still seeking its first Big Sky win, travels to Weber State on Thursday, Nov 5, 6:00 p.m. Cedar's playoff run ends at the top seed. The Cedar Reds' season closed Friday night with a 49–0 loss to No. 1 seed Morgan in the 3A quarterfinal. Cedar finishes 6–6 — a winning season and a quarterfinal trip, ended by the best team in the bracket. (Canyon View's season ended Oct 23 against Manti, as reported last week.) Basketball season starts tonight. SUU's men open the regular season Monday, Nov 2, 8:00 p.m., against West Coast Baptist at the America First Event Center (ESPN+) — the result lands after this issue is drafted and will be in next week's roundup. The T-Birds were picked ninth in the Big Sky preseason polls, with Jaiden Feroah on the preseason All-Conference team. They are home again Saturday, Nov 7, 6:30 p.m., against Bethesda. |
Business Spotlight — Food |
Hermie's Drive In: 45 years on Main Street, and the scones are still fresh. After last week's retail spotlight, the rotation turns to food — and in Cedar City, food history starts at 294 N Main Street. Hermie's Drive In describes itself, accurately by local consensus, as "a Cedar City and Southern Utah favorite for 45 years and counting," serving from an old-style '50s drive-in just north of Cedar City Park. The draw is the menu's size and the fact that, by the business's own description, everything is cooked fresh to order and made from scratch: burgers (the Hermie Burger leads), steak sandwiches, Navajo tacos, deep-fried mushrooms, chicken tacos, and a soda lineup in both Coke and Pepsi varieties with more flavor add-ins than most places stock shelves. The item regulars name first is the fresh-made scones with homemade honey butter — and the shakes, malts, and banana splits close the argument. The practical details: Hermie's is open Monday–Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. Its location directly north of the park makes the local move easy — order, take the blanket, and eat in the park while the weather still allows it. Sunny and 57° is forecast for Saturday. The Ledger's spotlight rotates sectors week to week. Food this week; services and trades are next in line. Know a business we should profile? The contact is in the sign-off. |
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Local Flavors |
Soup weather, officially. The forecast says it plainly: highs in the low-to-mid 50s all week, lows at freezing, and not a drop of rain to show for it. That is the exact week Iron County's Dutch ovens come off the shelf and the soup pots go on — the same cooking tradition that anchored the Heritage Festival cook-off two weekends ago, now in its home season. It also settles, for another year, a familiar local argument. When a Cedar City outlet asked residents last month which St. George restaurants they most wish would come north, the list ran to Texas Roadhouse, In-N-Out, and Costco's food court — but the loudest answer was Café Zupas, a Utah soup-and-salad company, on the grounds that Cedar City gets actual soup weather. Four seasons of it, in fact. Until the chains make the drive up I-15, the local version is already here: a pot on your own stove, or a booth at one of Main Street's scratch kitchens (see this week's Business Spotlight). |
Arts & Events |
Percy Jackson comes to the Randall L. Jones Theatre. SUU Theatre opens The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical this week — the stage adaptation of Rick Riordan's best-seller, with book by Joe Tracz and music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki: a contemporary rock score wrapped around Greek myth, friendship, and a stolen lightning bolt. Performances run Nov 6, 7, 9, and 13 at 7:30 p.m., with matinees Nov 7 and 14 at 2 p.m., in the Randall L. Jones Theatre. Tickets are $16 for adults, $14 for SUU alumni, and $8 for non-SUU students (bard.org/tdaa). For Iron County families, SUU's Theatre Education program is running a companion "Killer Quest" — a set of Percy Jackson–inspired activities students complete with a parent or guardian (sign-up at lightningquest.org), with ticket discounts for participating families and for students who finish the challenges. Symphonic rock, two nights. The Orchestra of Southern Utah presents "Rock Gold: Volume Four" at the Heritage Center Theater, Thursday–Friday, Nov 5–6, 7:30 p.m. — the orchestra's popular symphonic-rock series returns for a fourth volume. At the library and the bookstore. Twelve pieces from the Cedar City Arts Council's art and photo contest, held with the Livestock & Heritage Festival, are exhibited at the Cedar City Library through November. And the Arts Council's literary group closes its reading year Wednesday, Nov 4, 7:00 p.m., at Main Street Books — bring suggestions for next year's list. |
The Week Ahead — Nov 3 to Nov 10 |
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Health & Wellness |
One session left to cook along. USU Extension Iron County's Diabetes Cook Along — the four-session, hands-on series this column featured last week — meets for its final fall session on Monday, Nov 9, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the USU Extension office, 585 North Main Street. The $49 series registration has included a meal at each class (plus leftovers to take home), the Diabetes Cook Along Cookbook, and door prizes. If you missed this fall's series, contact USU Extension Iron County about the next round — a cooking class that sends you home with dinner is a reasonable way to build the habit, which is the point of the thing. And a seasonal note that pairs with it: sunset is 5:31 p.m. today and shrinking. A short walk in the late-afternoon light — before dinner, while it's still light enough to see the sidewalk ice that isn't there yet — is the easiest daylight you'll get until March. Take it while the week is dry. Educational information only — not medical advice. |
The Community Page |
A field, and a clubhouse, in a coach's name. Cedar High softball families are honoring longtime coach Steven Jenson — who helped build the Cedar High softball field itself — by directing memorial donations to the CHS Softball Clubhouse he helped design shortly before his passing (chsunited.com; Venmo @CHS-United, per the family's notice). See In Memoriam below for service times. Festival art, all month. The twelve pieces selected in the Cedar City Arts Council's Livestock & Heritage Festival art and photo contest are on exhibit at the Cedar City Library through November — the festival's longest-running encore. (See Arts & Events.) The county showed up — again. Whatever today's result, Iron County's election ran on neighbors: poll workers at three vote centers, a clerk's office that published its drop-box map weeks ahead, and voters who learned a new deadline rule and met it. Results lead next week's issue. In Memoriam (From Southern Utah Mortuary listings.)
To submit an In Memoriam notice, see the sign-off below. |
Trade, Barter & Sell — DEBUT |
New this month: the Ledger's swap board. Trade, Barter & Sell is The Cedar City Ledger's reader marketplace, and it runs on the first Tuesday of every month — starting now. The idea is the oldest one in any small town: you have something you don't need, a neighbor has something you do, and cash is only one of the ways to close the gap. This first outing is a launch call: there are no listings yet, because yours haven't arrived. Be one of the first names on the board when listings debut in the December issue (Tuesday, Dec 1). How it works:
Send your listing by replying to this issue or writing the Ledger (contact in the sign-off), with "Trade, Barter & Sell" in the subject line. First listings run Tuesday, Dec 1 — and the first board is the one everyone remembers. Get on it. |
Classifieds |
Send it in: News tips, photos for Photo of the Week, event listings, Trade, Barter & Sell listings, and In Memoriam notices — reply to this issue or write the Ledger any time. Local businesses: advertising starts with a listing — full rate card at thecedarcityledger.com/advertise. |
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Election results lead Issue No. 3 — Tuesday, Nov 10, 9:00 a.m. — The Cedar City Ledger · Cedar City, Utah |