Victims were Provo’s fire captain, his wife and their three sons, who were hiking in Bicknell amid heavy rains
Five family members who had set out for a day of hiking were killed after a flash flood swept through canyons of southern Utah on Friday, law enforcement officials said.
The victims were a captain in the Provo fire department, his wife and their sons, according to fire officials. A daughter who was not on the trip survived.
Continue reading...Supporters of the method say it’s foolproof – but forensic experts say it can be ‘excruciating’ amid allegations it’s been intentionally botched
The tangled path of US capital punishment takes a new turn on Wednesday as Idaho becomes the first state to adopt the firing squad as its primary form of execution, embracing the brutal killing technique even as concerns grow that it can inflict excruciating pain and suffering.
The state’s department of corrections (IDOC) says it has met its deadline, set by the legislature, to have its death chamber at a maximum security prison south of Boise retrofitted and open for business by 1 July. It has spent more than $1m in the venture, including $24,000 on a rack of AR-style, .308-caliber, scoped rifles that will be wielded by volunteer marksmen.
Continue reading...Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson and Sydney Watson killed working to contain raging fires on Utah-Colorado border
The US Department of Interior on Monday released the names of three firefighters who were killed while working to contain wildfires along the Utah-Colorado border.
Two other firefighters who were part of the specialized helicopter-deployed crew were also injured in the blaze, although authorities did not identify them.
Continue reading...Church sues excommunicated member over Mormon Stories podcast but John Dehlin says name free for all to use
Trademark changes and copyright infringement disputes take many forms. Dunkin’ Donuts changed its name to Dunkin’ because Donuts did not suggest the vigorous, on-the-go attitude the coffee company wants to project.
But what happens when a church changes its name, but former adherents continue to use the original term in ways it may not like?
Continue reading...Self-proclaimed prophet Samuel Bateman already serving 50-year prison sentence over child sexual abuse
A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children was convicted Friday on state child abuse charges after girls were found in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona.
Someone alerted authorities about the trailer in 2022 after seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in the doors. Police stopped Samuel Bateman’s vehicle as he was driving through Flagstaff and found three girls inside, who were ages 11 to 14 at the time. The trailer was enclosed with a makeshift toilet, a sofa and camping chairs.
Continue reading...Governor also announced state of emergency and banned personal fireworks in state until after Fourth of July
Salt Lake City’s National Weather Service declared a “particularly dangerous situation red flag warning”, the first in the service’s history, according to a social media post.
“THIS IS EXTREMELY RARE … Wind gusts of 40-50+ mph, combined with hot temperatures and extremely dry air, could cause explosive wildfire growth. Any new fire that starts could spread rapidly and become difficult to control,” said Chase Thomason, a meteorologist for KUTV, Utah’s CBS affiliate.
Continue reading...Town of Eureka evacuated due to risk from Iron fire as officials forecast more hot weather in week ahead
Extreme heat and dry, windy conditions are fueling multiple wildfires across the US west, including a massive blaze in Utah that forced the evacuation of a small town, with hot weather in the forecast raising the risk of more blazes in the week ahead.
The Iron fire in Utah’s Juab county was first detected on Saturday and has so far blackened more than 2,000 acres. The fire, about 70 miles (113km) south-west of Salt Lake City, forced the evacuation of Eureka, population 1,000, and people at a nearby ranch.
Continue reading...Plan backed by Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary had footprint reduced but concerns remain over its health impacts
Utah residents have teamed up with a progressive non-profit organization to sue over an under-development AI datacenter backed by celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary, claiming the planned Stratos project facility “irrevocably” cuts off citizens’ rights by not allowing sufficient public input.
Filed by the Alliance for a Better Utah and five unnamed residents of the Box Elder county area where the center is being developed, the lawsuit comes as Shark Tank co-host O’Leary agreed to scale back the physical footprint for the project.
Continue reading...Kouri Richins, 35, faces up to life in prison for killing her husband, and her three sons say they are ‘afraid’ of her
The young sons of Kouri Richins, a Utah author, said ahead of her sentencing hearing Wednesday that they would feel unsafe if their mother was ever released from prison after she was found guilty in March of killing their father.
Richins, 35, faces several decades to life in prison on five felony convictions, including aggravated murder.
Continue reading...Experts say brutal temperatures in west threaten to melt sparse snowpack – and warn hot, dry conditions here to stay
A stunning heatwave that shattered records in the US west is threatening to rapidly melt the sparse snowpack and ramp up wildfire risks in the seasons ahead.
March has already been historically hot, but the early onset of summer weather across the region may be here to stay. There’s little reprieve in forecasts, which show more heat records may fall this spring.
Continue reading...Imam Shuaib Din was not hit by multiple shots fired by Abdul Raouf Afridi, who ambushed him outside his home
A man has been arrested for recently shooting a gun at prominent Muslim leader Imam Shuaib Din in Utah, the police department in the city of Sandy said Saturday.
Din’s suspected attacker was identified as Abdul Raouf Afridi. Police said the man was arrested on 12 counts of aggravated assault, including felony discharge of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, dangerous discharge of a weapon from a vehicle and possession of a dangerous weapon as a prohibited person.
Continue reading...Staff at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab spent days cleaning the concrete-covered great horned owl
An owl found partially encased in concrete after it got inside a cement mixer in south-western Utah is expected to fly free again after it was painstakingly cleaned by animal sanctuary workers who described the bird as a “fighter”.
The great horned owl was found at the Black Desert Resort in the south-western part of the state and arrived at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, earlier this month with its face, chest and right wing covered in dried concrete. After making sure the bird could breathe, sanctuary workers spent days cracking apart the concrete using forceps and cleaning its feathers using toothbrushes, dish soap and their fingers.
Continue reading...Nicholas Rossi, who fled US, receives first of two sentences after being convicted of raping two women in Utah in 2008
A judge has sentenced a Rhode Island man who appeared to fake his death and flee the United States to avoid arrest of at least five years in prison for rape.
The sentence handed down Monday for Nicholas Rossi, 38, was the first of two he faces after being convicted separately in August and September of raping two women in northern Utah in 2008. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November for the second conviction.
Continue reading...Tyler Robinson is quoted talking to his partner about having enough of the far-right activist’s ‘hatred’ in texts
Evidence put forth by Utah prosecutors Tuesday offered the clearest indication yet of what they suspect motivated Tyler Robinson to kill far-right provocateur Charlie Kirk.
In seized texts reproduced by prosecutors as they charged the 22-year-old with capital murder and other crimes after his arrest, Robinson is quoted talking to his partner – whom they described as “transitioning genders” – about having enough of Kirk’s “hatred”.
Continue reading...Men could face terrorism-related and weapons charges after officials say device ‘had been lit but failed to function’
Authorities in Utah say two men have been arrested on suspicion of placing an incendiary device under a news media vehicle in Salt Lake City. The bomb didn’t go off.
Police and fire department bomb squads responded on Friday when a suspicious device was found under the vehicle parked near an occupied building.
Continue reading...HB 128, passed in August, allows people with the proper permit to openly carry firearms on college campuses
As authorities at the federal and state levels parse the details of the fatal shooting of far-right activist Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah, a recently passed state bill that allows people with concealed-carry permits to carry firearms openly on college campuses has drawn fresh scrutiny.
Utah has allowed for permitless open and concealed carry of weapons since 2021. But before the passage of HB 128, firearms had to be concealed when carried on college campuses. The law allowed people with the proper permit to carry them openly.
Continue reading...US lawmakers, in bipartisan rebuke, say violence has no place in America as Trump orders flags lowered
The killing of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college on Wednesday afternoon prompted outrage from Democrats and Republicans over the latest act of political violence in the United States, with Donald Trump lamenting the loss of a key ally.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” the US president posted on his Truth Social platform.
Continue reading...Lower court to decide if Ralph Leroy Menzies, who killed Maurine Hunsaker in 1986, is competent to face execution
The impending execution of a man by firing squad in Utah was blocked by the state’s supreme court on Friday after his attorneys argued he should be spared because he has dementia.
Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was set to be executed on 5 September for abducting and killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. When given a choice decades ago, Menzies selected a firing squad as his method of execution. He would have become only the sixth US prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977.
Continue reading...Police say Arturo Gamboa was carrying a rifle when safety volunteer fired on him and accidentally killed bystander
A man jailed on suspicion of murder for allegedly brandishing a rifle at a “No Kings” rally in Utah before an armed safety volunteer fired and inadvertently killed a protester has been released from custody.
Local district attorney Sim Gill’s office said on Friday that it was unable to make a decision on charges against Arturo Gamboa after the 14 June shooting that killed demonstrator Arthur Folasa Ah Loo – but that the investigation into the slaying continues.
Continue reading...Nurse allegedly convinced woman she had cancer while plotting to collect more than $1m from the victim’s life insurance
A registered nurse in Utah allegedly convinced a woman that she had terminal cancer, injected unprescribed insulin into her, and killed her with that method while plotting to collect more than $1m from the victim’s life insurance, according to police.
Meggan Randall Sundwall faces charges of first-degree felony aggravated murder as well as obstruction of justice after her recent arrest in the death of Kacee Lynn Terry, 38, authorities said in documents that spell out the unusually grim case and were reported by various Utah news outlets.
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