Utah news

• Op-ed: National monuments review ended but the fight for our lands doesn’t

  24-08-2017 23:59
  Since April, America’s national monuments in Utah have been under review by the Department of the Interior. In response to the DOI’s task, given by executive order, to review 27 national monuments, Utahns have written public comments, donated to organizations and spread the word. Thursday marks the end of this federal review period. But the review closing does not mean our public lands are safe. Utahns cannot forget about our public lands and now become complacent.The DOI’s rec
  
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• Pilot suffers minor injuries after plane crashes in West Jordan

  24-08-2017 23:58
  
  A man suffered minor head injuries after the twin-engine plane he was piloting crashed into a field near an industrial building Thursday afternoon, knocking down power lines and causing a small grass fire.
  
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• Two human cases of West Nile virus reported in Utah

  24-08-2017 23:42
  SALT LAKE CITY — State health officials have been tracking West Nile virus since the first human case was detected in Utah in 2003.The Utah Department of Health confirmed Thursday that two human cases have been reported in Salt Lake County, and one horse is infected in Carbon County.The mosquito-borne illness is transmitted by the noxious bugs who have bit an infected bird. In addition to humans, the virus can be found in wild birds, horses and sentinel chickens — at least those are
  
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• 3rd District candidate Kathie Allen vows to not take corporate donations

  24-08-2017 23:32
  PROVO — Democrat Kathie Allen vowed Thursday to not accept donations from corporations or corporate political action committees in her 3rd Congressional District campaign."I want the people of this district to know without a doubt that if they elect me to represent them in Congress this November, I will not owe a thing to corporate donors or deep-pocketed special interests," she said.Allen tapped into anger over some of former Rep. Jason Chaffetz's inflammatory rhetoric, gaining national m
  
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• Community concert raises money to feed hungry students

  24-08-2017 23:30
  
  Seventh-grade teacher Krista Gibbons said realizing some students were homeless motivated her to start a food pantry in her West Jordan Middle School classroom.
  
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• Eastbound I-80 in Salt Lake City to close this weekend

  24-08-2017 23:15
  SALT LAKE CITY — Eastbound I-80 will close between the I-215 split and Foothill Drive from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday as crews complete maintenance work on the eastbound bridge over I-215.All traffic will be detoured onto the I-215 east belt during the closure, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Transportation. Drivers will then need to exit at 3300 South, get onto northbound I-215, and follow the signs to eastbound I-80. Heavy congestion and delays of 30 to 40 minute
  
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• Restaurant manager accused of illegal relations with teen employee, charges state

  24-08-2017 23:06
  ST. GEORGE — A restaurant manager in St. George has been charged with having sex with a teen employee inside the restaurant bathroom.Raymond Kapongo, of St. George, who turned 23 on Thursday, was charged on his birthday with unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third-degree felony.Kapongo, who worked at the Teriyaki Grill, 974 W. Sunset Blvd., was the girl's shift leader, according to both charing documents and a pair of unsealed search warrant affidavits filed in 5th District Court. T
  
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• Pilot suffers minor injuries in West Jordan plane crash

  24-08-2017 23:05
  WEST JORDAN — A 26-year-old pilot walked away with minor injuries after his plane crashed in an industrial area Thursday.The man took off from the South Valley Regional Airport. About 2:10 p.m., the twin-engine Cessna experienced an unknown problem, according to West Jordan Deputy Fire Chief Reed Scharman.The plane went down in an industrial park near 8540 S. 4050 West, hitting a power pole and lines as it went down. That started a 5-acre brush fire. The aircraft hit the ground in an open
  
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• Crews responding to plane crash in West Jordan

  24-08-2017 23:05
  WEST JORDAN — A small plane has crashed near 8600 South and 4000 West, according to a tweet from the West Jordan Fire Department.There was no immediate word on injuries.Details will be provided as they become available.
  
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• Grand Hotel lighting the way to energy savings

  24-08-2017 22:30
  A chandelier hangs in The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City on Thursday, where 24,000 light bulbs throughout the hotel were replaced to cut back on energy demand. The hotel invested $550,000, of which Rocky Mountain Power provided $251,596 in wattsmart Business incentives, resulting in annual savings of 2.6 million kilowatt-hours of energy, which is equivalent to the energy needed to power nearly 300 average-size homes.
  
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• Kaysville man charged with enticing a minor

  24-08-2017 22:25
  KAYSVILLE — A Kaysville man who prosecutors say wanted to sexually assault a 13-year-old girl he met online faces criminal charges after the girl turned out to be an undercover officer.Chad Daniel Christensen, 55, is charged in 2nd District Court with six counts of enticing a minor, one second-degree felony and five third-degree felonies.On July 26, an undercover officer began a conversation with Christensen on an internet website, police say. When the officer claimed he had a 13-year-old
  
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• FBI closes investigation into Ephraim police chief

  24-08-2017 22:12
  EPHRAIM — The FBI has wrapped up its investigation into Ephraim's police chief and closed the case."There are no criminal charges to pursue federally in this matter," FBI spokeswoman Sandra Barker said in a prepared statement Wednesday.The controversy surrounding the Ephraim Police Department began when three officers raised concerns that their chief routinely failed to file reports in a timely manner or filed reports that were incomplete.Those concerns led to an independent investigation
  
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• Sandy man charged with elderly abuse of mother found lying on floor for 3 days

  24-08-2017 21:29
  SALT LAKE CITY — A Sandy man has been charged with leaving his elderly mother lying on the floor for three days in her own feces and illegally obtaining a loan in her name.Anthony Leichtle, 49, is charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, a second-degree felony; exploitation of a vulnerable adult, a third-degree felony; and violation of a protective order, a class A misdemeanor.In March, a nurse went to the 73-year-old woman's home and found her "lying on t
  
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• This is what Utahns buy the most at Walmart

  24-08-2017 21:25
  Utah residents shop at Walmart a lot, and it looks like they’re buying sweets.Walmart recently analyzed data from Walmart.com to find which items were sold the most in each state, sharing the results with Business Insider.Popular products across the country included mulch, microwave ovens and vacuums.In Utah, the most popular product was chocolate.But the Beehive State wasn’t the only place where sweets won out the day. Alabama residents often buy cake mixes, while Rhode Islanders bu
  
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• Utah lawmakers, gun advocates question fee hike for concealed carry permits

  24-08-2017 20:40
  SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers are questioning the state Bureau of Criminal Identification's authority to nearly double the cost of obtaining a concealed firearms permit.Members of the Legislature's Administrative Rules Review Committee on Thursday reviewed a $20 increase to what had been a $25 fee for fingerprinting and performing a background check for new concealed carry permit applicants. The bureau implemented the new fee increase Aug. 1.Rep. Brian Greene, R-Pleasant Grove, told fell
  
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• Lee says GOP senators have no room to question Trump leadership

  24-08-2017 20:35
  SALT LAKE CITY — Though some Republican members of Congress have questioned President Donald Trump's leadership abilities, Sen. Mike Lee says they have no room to talk."I don't think senators, especially Republican senators, at this point have any business preaching to the president about leadership ability when we ourselves have failed to do that which we said we would for seven consecutive years," Utah's junior GOP senator said in an interview Thursday.Lee said Trump has, for the most pa
  
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• The most commonly stolen item in Utah

  24-08-2017 20:30
  Hold onto your money, Utahns. It’s most likely to get lifted.A new study from SafeHome looked into FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting data from 2015 to discover what items are often stolen by burglars and robbers in each state.The data found there were just over 4,600 robberies every day. Smaller crimes, grouped under "larceny-theft," occurred every 5.4 seconds.But not all thieves go after the same thing. SafeHome put together a map that shows the most commonly stolen item in each state.F
  
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• Zinke: 'Some' monument designations clearly outside law

  24-08-2017 20:16
  SALT LAKE CITY — A summary of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's draft monument review released Thursday notes that some monuments' adherence to definitions in the Antiquities Act were either arbitrary or politically motivated, lacked a basis in science or were unsupported by practical resource management.The executive summary made public is part of a more detailed report of recommendations delivered to the White House as part of a 120-day review of national monuments that began in April.An i
  
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• 3 teens arrested after stolen car turns onto dead-end street

  24-08-2017 19:47
  
  Three juveniles in a stolen car were arrested after the driver turned into a dead-end street while fleeing officers, police said.
  
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• US interior chief says he won't eliminate protected lands

  24-08-2017 19:43
  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced Thursday he won't seek to eliminate any national monuments carved from the wilderness and oceans by past presidents. But he said he will press to change some boundaries and left open the possibility of allowing drilling, mining or other industries on some of the land.
  Twenty-seven monuments in all were put under review in April by President Donald Trump, who has charged that the millions of acres placed under protection by President Bar
  
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• Utah-based shark organization traverses globe to raise ocean awareness

  24-08-2017 19:31
  
  While most ocean research organizations are based in coastal areas, Utah-based OCEARCH is making a huge impact in the scientific community and beyond. And it all starts with the groundbreaking data they're gathering from sharks around the globe.
  
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• 2 injured Idaho firemen airlifted to U. burn center

  24-08-2017 19:18
  
  Two of the three injured Idaho firefighters were airlifted to a Utah hospital after their firetruck ran over a gas can that engulfed their vehicle in flames as they fought a wildfire.
  
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• Utah ranch is worth $149 million, and it's getting international attention

  24-08-2017 19:04
  A New Zealand news and lifestyle website recently highlighted a ranch sitting on the Utah-Colorado border.The website called the ranch “straight out of a Western.”West Creek Ranch sits between Mesa County, Colorado, and Grand County, Utah. Behind the home rests a backdrop of mountains and red rock.“It's the stuff of great Westerns — bison, mountain lions and bears roam these cliffs. There are even genuine dinosaur footprints, and petroglyphs feature on the red rock faces
  
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• A.M. notes: Stewart to run for Senate? Herbert announces new program for tech, Taylor Swift album update

  24-08-2017 18:53
  Here’s a look at the news for Aug. 24.Chris Stewart in the Senate?Utah Rep. Chris Stewart said Wednesday he would very likely run for Senate if current Sen. Orrin Hatch decided not to, according to the Deseret News.Stewart said he supports Hatch for another run. But the Utah representative said he has spoken to Hatch about a potential run, adding that Hatch was "supportive" of the move, according to the Deseret News.Hatch has gone back and forth about whether he'll seek re-election in 2018
  
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• The Clean Cut: Watch this young Utah actress in the 'Wonderstruck' trailer

  24-08-2017 18:40
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDaSo8q7F64SALT LAKE CITY — A film version of illustrator Brian Selznick's book "Wonderstruck" comes out this fall and a young Utah actress is playing the lead.Based on his 2011 book, "Wonderstruck" tells two parallel stories; one set in 1977 follows the adventures of young boy named Ben who was born deaf in one ear, and the other follows Rose, a young deaf girl who sets out to find her silent film idol in 1927.Utah native Millicent Simmonds, who is deaf, wo
  
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• Fireworks law, concealed carry fee among issues on Utah's Capitol Hill

  24-08-2017 18:30
  
  Lawmakers took up several issues Wednesday, including fireworks, the state's new concealed carry fee, and why teachers stay and go.
  
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• Zinke won't eliminate any national monuments

  24-08-2017 17:35
  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he's recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated.
  But there would be changes to a "handful," he said.
  Zinke told The Associated Press that unspecified boundary adjustments for some monuments carved out of wilderness and ocean over the past four decades will be included in the recommendations he planned to give President Donald Trump on Thursday. N
  
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• Jay Evensen: With NAFTA in trouble, are we doomed to repeat history?

  24-08-2017 17:00
  In his Phoenix speech Tuesday evening, President Trump sounded a troubling note on the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying he didn’t know whether it could be salvaged.“I think we'll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point," he said, leaving us all to wonder whether he was just using a bargaining tactic at the start of negotiations or signaling an inevitable policy direction.Either way, the uncertainty should be troubling for Utahns.Utah is on the verge of establishing
  
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• Bishop seeks full investigative report on Bureau of Land Management agent

  24-08-2017 16:19
  
  Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, is asking the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General to provide his House Committee on Natural Resources an unredacted and full report of an ethics probe regarding a BLM agent once over Utah and Nevada.
  
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• 25 pounds of meth found in car driven by 13-year-old, police say

  24-08-2017 14:50
  
  Authorities in western Colorado say they found 25 pounds of meth inside a car driven by a 13-year-old.
  
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• Parents of fallen Utah Guardsman say he died doing what he wanted to do

  24-08-2017 06:30
  MONTICELLO — A week after a Green Beret from Utah was killed in action in Afghanistan, Aaron Butler's parents said he died doing what he wanted to do.Randy and Laura Butler recalled their son, who joined the Utah National Guard as a senior at Monticello High, as headstrong, fearless and protective. They said he knew from the first grade he would be a soldier."Aaron lives on the edge. He always did and I knew he always would. But he walked that line to protect us," said Laura Butler. The st
  
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• Upgrades to Tibble Fork Reservoir bring in more trash

  24-08-2017 06:23
  
  The Utah Bureau of Land Management reports it’s been a busy summer for American Fork Canyon with 1.3 million people visitors in 2017. That’s up 300,000 from 2016.
  
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• High risk pools find support among insurers, cause concern for some families

  24-08-2017 06:20
  SALT LAKE CITY — Kat Martinez's husband suffers from epilepsy, so when health insurance was made available on the federal exchange in 2014, the Murray woman signed her family up.The family had been uninsured for a long time, she said. Martinez runs a home day care, and her husband is in school — not a combination lucrative enough to approach paying for expensive medications and a litany of brain scans and neurologist appointments.So the coverage, she said, is a godsend."We're really
  
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• Prosecutors maintain murder charge fits case of man accused of helping with girl's suicide

  24-08-2017 05:27
  
  As prosecutors seek to take the case of a Spanish Fork man to trial for murder after they say he helped a teenage friend kill herself, testimony in court Wednesday detailed what they say showed the intent behind the man's actions.
  
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• 6 deserving kids transformed into 'Justice League' thanks to photographer

  24-08-2017 04:37
  
  Photographer Josh Rossi and his wife Roxana set out to find and photograph "real" superheroes. Their search led them to six kids with rare diseases and disabilities.
  
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• How to protect yourself from wild animals

  24-08-2017 04:04
  
  There are things you can do to prevent being attacked by a wild animal.
  
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• Gun enthusiasts oppose state's new concealed carry fee

  24-08-2017 04:00
  SALT LAKE CITY — Gun enthusiasts are trying to pack a legislative committee meeting Thursday to protest a recent fee increase for concealed firearms permits in Utah.The Utah Shooting Sports Council and National Rifle Association are mobilizing supporters to speak against the $20 increase at the Administrative Rules Review Committee meeting at the state Capitol. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in Room 445.The groups contend the state circumvented the Legislature to raise the cost."I don't thin
  
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• Renewable energy developers call for energy task force, deregulation

  24-08-2017 03:58
  SALT LAKE CITY — A representative of the country's largest independent solar power plant developer encouraged a Utah legislative committee on Wednesday to consider launching an energy task force to look at deregulating the power industry in the state.R. Steve Creamer, executive chairman of sPower and the former CEO of EnergySolutions, also warned the Public Utilities, Energy and Technology Interim Committee that failing to make changes to boost the state's portfolio of utility-scale renewa
  
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• Stewart 'almost certainly' would run for Senate if Hatch doesn't

  24-08-2017 03:50
  SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Chris Stewart said Wednesday he would “almost certainly” run for Sen. Orrin Hatch’s seat if the seven-term Republican decides not to seek re-election.Stewart, a Republican, said he came to the decision in the past several months but would support Hatch if he seeks another term. Hatch, he said, has “real power” in Washington and would do a lot of good for Utah if he were to remain in office.The 83-year-old Hatch has indicated he will run a
  
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• Brigham City residents fuming after receiving higher than expected utility bills

  24-08-2017 03:28
  
  A hitch in the Brigham City's utility bill period has many residents fuming as they received bills much larger than expected.
  
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• For some ex-cons, there is hope at Utah's The Other Side Academy

  24-08-2017 03:00
  
  A new thrift store opened its doors in Murray this August. Inside, some ex-convicts are rebuilding their lives after finding a place at The Other Side Academy.
  
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• Woman charged with driving wrong way on I-215 while drunk

  24-08-2017 02:09
  SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake woman has been charged with driving the wrong way on the freeway while drunk earlier this month.Elisabet Gutierrez, 26, was charged Monday in Salt Lake Justice Court with DUI, a class B misdemeanor; driving on the wrong side of the road, an infraction; and not having any insurance, an infraction.Early on the morning of Aug. 13, Gutierrez got onto I-215 near 3500 South and headed north in the southbound lanes, according to the Utah Highway Patrol. She continued
  
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• Firehouse Subs foundation donates more than $81K in equipment to Utah County first responders

  24-08-2017 01:54
  AMERICAN FORK — The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation awarded $81,691 in life-saving equipment to four Utah County first responder organizations Tuesday.The American Fork Fire Department received extrication equipment valued at $33,145; the Lehi Police Department received tactical helmets valued at $12,950; the Pleasant Grove Fire Department received a chest compression system valued at $21,481; and the Utah County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse received 18 radios and remote speaker m
  
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• Salt Lake man sentenced to prison for shooting man in his apartment

  24-08-2017 01:53
  SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man has been sentenced to prison for shooting a man during a scuffle after breaking into his own apartment.Leroy Daniel Valdez, 35, was sentenced Aug. 17 to concurrent prison sentences of up to five years for criminal homicide by assault and possession of a firearm by a restricted person, both third-degree felonies. He was charged in connection with the death of 33-year-old Kenonren Goodman.Valdez pleaded guilty to the charges as part of a deal with prosecutors
  
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• Bishop seeks full investigative report on BLM agent

  24-08-2017 01:29
  SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, wants the names and other redacted information revealed in an ethics probe of the Bureau of Land Management law enforcement supervisory agent once in charge of Utah and Nevada.Details of the more than yearlong probe by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General were released in a February report, but key names were blacked out — including that of Dan Love, who the Deseret News confirmed was at the center of the probe.In the report,
  
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• U.'s Education Policy Center to survey state's teachers on why they stay, why they leave

  24-08-2017 01:20
  SALT LAKE CITY — An education research center at the University of Utah will survey past and current public schoolteachers statewide this fall to develop a comprehensive understanding of why Utah teachers leave the profession, and conversely, why they stay.Andrea Rorrer, director of the U.'s Utah Education Policy Center, said initial survey results should be available by January and will include statewide and district-level data."We're moving from the rhetoric of teachers are staying or le
  
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• More charges for Elk Ridge man accused of giving newborn drugs

  24-08-2017 01:18
  PROVO — An Elk Ridge man accused of helping his common-law wife hide his newborn baby's addiction by giving the infant drugs in the hospital is facing new charges.Colby Glen Wilde, 29, and Lacey Dawn Christenson, 26, are each charged in 4th District Court with three counts of child abuse, a second-degree felony; distribution of a controlled substance in a drug-free zone, a second-degree felony; child endangerment, a third-degree felony; two counts of possession of controlled substance, a c
  
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