The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Adds Members to Utah South Area Public Affairs Council

March 25, 2015 - Two members of the St. George business community were asked to serve on the Utah South Area Public Affairs Council for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Pedro M. Lopez will help coordinate Hispanic relations and Brian J. Tenney will help coordinate media and business relations.

The principles of building good will and creating lasting friendships have been critically important to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church has public affairs directors in every corner of the globe. These seasoned men and women help church leaders build relationships with community, government, and faith leaders of other churches. Working with government leaders, to fostering respectful interfaith dialog and answering questions from the media, public affairs forms a vital bridge between our congregations and the community.

Tom and Patsy Lamb, Directors for the Utah South Area Public Affairs Council for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offered the following thoughts, “It has been said: ‘Life is not a contest, but rather a journey in which we can help one another to a better place.’ As a public affairs council, we feel it a great privilege to help and be helped by our friends and neighbors in southern Utah.” 

For more information, the official resource for news media, opinion leaders and the public can be found at www.mormonnewsroom.org.

About Pedro Magdiel Lopez.

Lopez was born in Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico where he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the age of 16. Lopez immigrated to the United States during the 90's, settling in Riverside, California where he attended Riverside Community College prior to moving to St. George, Utah in 2007. Lopez was recently hired by Canyon Media to assist with their new Spanish speaking radio station located at 104.1 FM. Lopez previously worked at Estereo Unica 101.1 FM in St. George as an announcer from January 2010 until February 2015. Pedro is married to Candy Lopez and is the father to three beautiful girls, Stephanie, Amy and Gisell.

Pedro Magdiel Lopez

About Brian J. Tenney.

Tenney moved to St. George in 1988 to work for InkWell Communications. In 1992, he was hired as the Director of Marketing for LearnKey, Inc., a software training company. In 1994, he returned to his advertising roots and started TenneyClemons Advertising. Tenney is currently the president of TCS Advertising & Public Relations located in St. George, Utah. Tenney was born in Boise, Idaho and lived in several Idaho communities before venturing off to Brigham Young University, where he earned a degree in Business Management from the Marriott School of Business. Tenney resides with his wife Mandy in St. George. They are the parents of 4 children and 4 grandchildren.

Brian J. Tenney

HintonBurdick CPAs & Advisors Announces Addition to Cedar City Office

N E W S  R E L E A S E

News Release: Immediate

For more information contact:

Robert Cox

435-865-7666

St. George, UT, March 16, 2015 — Tad Tuttle, a certified public accountant specializing in tax and business services, will relocate to the Cedar City office of HintonBurdick CPAs & Advisors to help serve the client base in the Iron County area and build relationships with businesses and individuals in those surrounding communities,” according to Phillip Peine, managing partner of the firm.

According to Tuttle, “Since graduating from Southern Utah University, our family has always viewed Cedar City as a beautiful thriving place and one where we could see ourselves living. Cedar City will allow closer proximity to much of our family living in northern Utah, but still keep us close enough to family living in St. George.”

Tuttle received his undergraduate accounting degree from Dixie State University and earned a Master of Accountancy degree from SUU. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed to practice in Utah and is a member of the Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants.

Prior to joining HintonBurdick, Tuttle worked for Deloitte and Touche in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he specialized in taxation and business services with emphasis in individuals and pass-through entities, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, and non-profit taxation, along with his experience in the auditing of governmental entities.

In announcing Tuttle’s relocation, Robert Cox, managing partner in the Cedar City office noted that “the breadth of experience Tad brings to this office, especially his expertise in tax, makes him the perfect fit to assist our Cedar City team in building this part of our business footprint and assisting us in growing our professional accounting brand in this market.”   

Tuttle and his wife, Candice, will make their home in Cedar City with their four beautiful children, Wesley, Scarlett, Aubrey, and Derek. Tuttle loves working with people and appreciates opportunities to help individuals and businesses meet their financial goals. Tuttle has taken opportunities over the years to serve in the community in which he lives to help make it a better place to raise a family and to cultivate better opportunities for the economy to grow. According to Tuttle, “Honesty, integrity, and hard work are at the heart of everything I do, and I feel all of my clients benefit from those qualities and attributes.”

 

Tad Tuttle, CPA

 

About HintonBurdick CPAs & Advisors

Established in 1975, HintonBurdick CPAs & Advisors currently serves clients in all 50 states and some foreign countries with accounting and audit services, litigation support, computer training and systems management, payroll services, tax planning and consulting services. Offices are located in St. George, Cedar City, Hurricane, and Richfield, Utah, and in Mesquite, Nevada, and Flagstaff and Phoenix Arizona. For more information, go to hintonburdick.com, or call (435) 628-3663.

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BYU Management Society to Hold Luncheon on Entrepreneurship

Get ready for an exciting presentation at the next BYU Management Society luncheon to be held on March 26 at noon at the Courtyard by Marriott. Cost is $15 per person. RSVP to Drew Gubler at drewgubler@gmail.com. Our presenter will be Scott Petersen. He is currently the Managing Director for the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology in the Marriott School of Management at BYU. He also serves as a board director to Health & Benefit Systems, one of the largest voluntary benefits companies for large corporations and hospitals in the country; APU Solutions, the market leader for salvage and alternative parts for the automotive industry; and at Millenniata, a technology company that specializes in archival and long term data storage. 

Scott is a long time entrepreneur, having harvested three businesses in addition to founding or partnering in his current businesses. He is the past chairman of the Founders Organization that financially and experientially supports the Rollins Center. In 2005 Scott published a significant work, titled "Where Have All The Prophets Gone?", a historical, theological book on early Christianity using the Bible, the Pseudepigrapha, the Apocrypha, the Dead Seas Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Library, and all of the extant early Christian writings.

February 2015 Students of the Month Honored by St. George Exchange Club

St. George, UT, March 10, 2015 — The February Students of the Month recipients were recently honored by the St. George Exchange Club.  The St. George Exchange Club sponsors the Student of the Month Program, which honors one student from the area high schools each month. This program recognizes the students’ accomplishments in academics, service and leadership in their respective schools. Dixie State University recently partnered with the St. George Exchange Club and will provide each of the Student of the Month recipients a one-year, full-tuition scholarship. 

The 48 students recognized each school year by the St. George Exchange Club equates to a commitment of over $175,000 from Dixie State University. The Exchange Club is honored to work with Dixie State University in recognizing and supporting the outstanding high school students of our community.

In addition, one student from the eight students honored as Student of the Month from each high school will have the opportunity to become Student of the Year for their school and receive a college scholarship to the college of their choice from the St. George Exchange Club. Last year, the Student of the Year, EmRee Moody from St. George, was selected as the National Student of the Month and received a $10,000 scholarship from the National Exchange Club.

The St. George Exchange Club meets Thursday mornings at 7:30AM at George's in Ancestor Square. For more information about the St. George Exchange Club, contact Shonie Christensen at 435-767-9000.  We congratulate the St George Exchange Club 2015 February Students of the Month.

Back Row: Megan Seaton (THS), Michael Hirschi (PVHS), Shonie Christensen (Exchange Club President)
Front Row: Leah Cardoza (MHS), Kyleigh Wittwer (SCHS), Samantha Mathis (DHHS)

Advanced Hearing & Balance Specialists Ear Candling: Good or Bad?

Dr. Eric L. Maxwell

Ear Candling: Good or Bad?

Ear candling.  I have had a lot of people ask me if this procedure actually works to remove wax from the ear canals.  Ear candling is also called coning.  The premise is that by putting a burning, cone-shaped candle in your ear that it will create negative pressure that will then pull out ear wax.  There have also been claims by some that ear candling will also clean impurities out the sinuses, brain, and other body parts. 

A number of years ago I had enough people start asking me about ear candling that I decided that I would look into it in greater depth.  I had some patients who were planning on having the ear candling performed so I had them come into the office first.  We took pictures of their ears with my video otoscope before and after the candling.  Guess what???  There was no difference in the amount of wax in their ear canals.  The candling didn’t help.  My patients were astonished.

They told me that they had seen a lot of ear wax when they had cut open the ear candle.  The wax that they actually had seen had been the wax from the candle itself. 

There are documented cases of ear candling causing significant distress to the ear canals.  This occurs when hot wax drips into the ear and there have been cases of burnt ear canals, burnt eardrums (requiring surgery to correct), infections, etc.  There is a good article online that goes into greater detail about ear candling.  It can be found at www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candling.html 

So do I think that ear candling works?  No, I do not.  In fact, it can cause damage to the ear canals, eardrums, and other structures found in the ear.  Not to mention that people have burnt their houses down while candling.  In an upcoming article I will talk about the proper way to clean your ears.  Until then……Good Hearing.   

Dr. Eric L. Maxwell, Au.D, FAAA, was raised in St. George and spent a lot of time in the Cedar City in his youth. He studied Audiology at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah and earned a Master’s of Science degree in Audiology from the University of Utah. Upon graduating, Dr. Maxwell and his family moved to Tucson, Arizona where he practiced Audiology for five years. When an opportunity came to move to Cedar City, Dr. Maxwell jumped at the chance and have been back in Cedar City for the past 8 years. He loves the beautiful scenery, friendly people, and the community. Dr. Maxwell specializes in:

• Digital Hearing Aid Sales, Service and Counseling Specialist
• Earmold and Hearing Protection Specialist
• Diagnostic Medical Hearing Assessments for Adults and Children
• Industrial Hearing Conservation Specialist

PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO LOVED ONES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION OR SPECIAL NEEDS THROUGH PLANS 529 AND 529A (ABLE Act)

Phillip G. Gubler and Thomas J. Bayles, Attorneys at Law

Historically Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code has applied only to tax savings related to  higher education;  however, the new Section isthI529A, the ABLE Act, was recently enacted to provide a convenient way to help a loved one with special needs. 

There are tax advantages for using the 529 Education Savings Plan.  Funds placed in a 529 account can grow without having to pay tax on the income as long as the funds are used by the beneficiary for qualified higher education expenses.  A qualified higher education expense includes payment for tuition, books and supplies, as well as room and board if the beneficiary is enrolled at least half time.  This is appealing for many as a means to contribute to a child’s or grandchild’s education without paying income tax on the increase in the investment, and the contributor may qualify for a state income tax credit for the funds placed in the 529 account.  Although it is most common for a parent or a grandparent to create and fund a 529 account for a child or grandchild, anyone can contribute.  The owner of the 529 account and the beneficiary do not have to be related.       

If a beneficiary decides not to pursue higher education, the 529 account can be transferred to another member of the beneficiary’s family, or the funds can be withdrawn.  However, if the funds held in the 529 account are not used for qualified higher education expenses, the contributor may be required to pay income tax and a 10% penalty on the earnings.  

The 529A plan, also known as the ABLE Act (Achieving a Better Life Experience), was signed into effect in December 2014.  The goal of the 529A plan is to provide supplemental benefits to a disabled beneficiary.   This will allow families with a disabled child a way to save for that child’s long-term disability expenses that are not otherwise covered by needs-based government programs.  There are a number of qualifications for the 529A, such as the beneficiary must be disabled before age 26; and disqualifications and taxes will apply if the account balance exceeds $100,000.00.  Any funds remaining in the 529A account upon the disabled beneficiary’s death must be paid to the State up to an amount equal to the total medical assistance paid by the State on behalf of the disabled beneficiary.

The 529A Plan is not available for use yet because the States are waiting for Federal regulations to be enacted to clarify several aspects of the ABLE Act.  However, it looks like a step in the right direction to allow parents and grandparents to provide for a disabled child.

JensenBayles, LLP provides a broad spectrum of legal services.  Thomas J. Bayles has been actively providing advice in the areas of trusts, wills, probate and tax planning in the St. George market for over 15 years. Please visit our web site www.jensenbayles.com or call 435-674-9718 and ask for Thomas J. Bayles or Phillip G. Gubler.  The information in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be construed as legal advice.

Erin Kimball Foundation Receives Grant

N E W S   R E L E A S E
News Release: Immediate

For more information contact:
Contact:  Sue Kimball
Telephone:  435 627-9232, 435-231-9536
sue.erinkimball@gmail.com

St. George, UT, February 20, 2015 —  “Congratulations! It's a testament to the importance of your mission that the Erin Kimball Foundation was selected for one of four grants out of 55 applicants,” Emily Caputo, Coordinator of the Utah Women’s Giving Circle shared in announcing the $5,000 award.  Focusing on empowering women and girls, the Utah Women’s Giving Circle brings donors and charities together to impact the health, education and well-being of women across the state.

The grant will assist women and their children fleeing violence in southwestern Utah with housing. The Kimball Foundation’s H.O.M.E. Housing, Options, Mentoring, Empowerment program assists families to move from the crisis of emergency shelters to independence through rental assistance and empowerment support.  “With funding cuts and escalating need, financial support from the community is vital to the families we serve and the continuation of our mission,” shared Sue Kimball.  “If a woman has the courage to leave a situation of terror, it will never be okay that she is forced to return to keep her children from becoming homeless.”

The Erin Kimball Foundation provides a lifeline while mom gains the skills and employment to support her family. To date the organization has provided over 220,000 nights of housing in apartment settings and served 187 women and 415 children in the Five County region.  To learn more about services or how you can assist visit www.erinkimball.org or call 435-627-9232.

Photo:
Utah Women of Giving grantees from left to right - Judy Kasten-Bell, Boys & Girls Clubs of Weber-Davis, Amanda Hughes, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake, Kristy Kimball, Erin Kimball Memorial Foundation, Esterlee Molyneux, Child & Family Support Center, Mary Southerland, Utah For Veterans