Category Archives: Utah

Super Tuesday 2024 live: millions of voters head to polls in the US as Haley suggests she could stay in the race

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Donald Trump looks all but certain of Republican presidential nomination as Nikki Haley rejects suggestions of third-party bid and says she may keep fighting

Over at CNN, Ronald Brownstein has an analysis piece which looks a little at the potential weakness of Donald Trump support away from his core base. Brownstein writes:

[Trump’s] performance so far reflects his success at transforming the Republican Party in his image. He’s reshaped the Republicans into a more blue-collar, populist and pugnacious party, focused more on his volatile blend of resentments against elites and cultural and racial change than the Ronald Reagan-era priorities of smaller government and active global leadership that former South Carolina Gov Nikki Haley has stressed.

But while the primaries have underscored Trump’s grip on the GOP, they have also demonstrated continued vulnerability for him in the areas where he has labored since he first announced his candidacy in 2015 – particularly among the white-collar suburban voters who mostly leaned toward the GOP before his emergence. The early 2024 nominating contests have shown that a substantial minority of Republican-leaning voters remain resistant to Trump’s vision.

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Man found dead inside airplane engine at Salt Lake City international airport

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Utah police found the 30-year-old unconscious inside an engine of a commercial aircraft loaded with passengers

A man was found dead inside an airplane engine on Monday night at Salt Lake City international airport after police say he breached an emergency exit door, walked onto the tarmac and climbed inside the jet’s engine.

Officers found 30-year-old Kyler Efinger, a Park City resident, unconscious inside an engine mounted to the wing of a commercial aircraft loaded with passengers, the Salt Lake City police department (SLCPD) announced on Tuesday. The plane had been sitting on a de-icing pad, the engine was rotating at the time, but the cause of Efinger’s death remains unclear.

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Chinese teenager found alive in Utah woods after ‘cyber-kidnapping scam’

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Exchange student Kai Zhuang, 17, discovered in tent by police days after being reported missing

A Chinese exchange student who fell victim to a “cyber-kidnapping” scam, in which his parents were extorted for $80,000, was found alive but “cold and scared” in a tent in the Utah wilderness, police said.

Kai Zhuang, 17, was reported missing on Thursday after his parents in China told officials at his host high school in Riverdale, Utah, that he appeared to have been kidnapped and a ransom had been demanded.

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‘Extremely rare’ Jurassic-era fossils discovered in Lake Powell

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Tritylodonts, mid-sized mammal-related herbivores, roamed the area’s deserts 200m years ago

Scientists have discovered an “extremely rare” set of fossils at Lake Powell that the National Park Service (NPS) is calling one of the most important vertebrate discoveries in the US this year.

The findings, revealed this week, include skulls and teeth from dozens of mid-sized, mammal-related herbivores called tritylodonts that once roamed the region’s vast desert. The bones lay hidden in the sandstone walls of the reservoir for roughly 180m years before a lucky discovery in March.

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North Dakota state senator, wife and two children die in Utah plane crash

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Doug Larsen and family killed shortly after taking off from Canyonlands airfield, about 15 miles north of Moab

A state senator from North Dakota, his wife and their two young children died when the small plane they were traveling in crashed in Utah, a senate leader said Monday.

Doug Larsen’s death was confirmed on Monday in an email that the Republican state senate majority leader David Hogue sent to his fellow senators and was obtained by the Associated Press.

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‘Like a dream’: successful return of Nasa capsule with asteroid sample hailed

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Return of the largest asteroid sample ever to be recovered marks the culmination of a seven-year journey

Sitting isolated in the arid landscape of the Utah desert, its orange and white parachute cast aside, the Osiris-Rex capsule was a picture of stillness. Yet all around, scientists were swinging into action, rushing to recover its precious cargo: 4.6bn-year-old chunks of space rock.

Racing towards the scene were four helicopters bearing scientists, engineers and military safety personnel. Their mission: to recover the capsule as quickly as possible to prevent samples of asteroid Bennu from becoming contaminated by planet Earth.

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Utah officials sued over failure to save Great Salt Lake: ‘Trying to avert disaster’

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Environmental and community groups have filed lawsuit as the water body shrinks from overuse, hastening its demise

Environmental and community groups have sued Utah officials over failures to save its iconic Great Salt Lake from irreversible collapse.

The largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere has been steadily shrinking, as more and more water has been diverted away from the lake to irrigate farmland, feed industry and water lawns. A megadrought across the US south-west, accelerated by global heating, has hastened the lake’s demise.

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FBI agents shoot and kill Utah man accused of making threats against Biden

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Agents were trying to serve warrant on Craig Deleeuw Robertson’s home hours before president was expected to land in state

A Utah man accused of making threats against Joe Biden was shot and killed by FBI agents hours before the president was expected to land in the state on Wednesday, authorities said.

Special agents were trying to serve a warrant on the home of Craig Deleeuw Robertson in Provo, south of Salt Lake City, when the shooting happened at 6.15am, the FBI said in a statement.

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Texas hiker found dead in Utah planned to scatter father’s ashes on mountain

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Body of Jimmy Hendricks, 66, from Austin, was found after he announced on Facebook plan to hike in Arches national park

A Texas man found dead while hiking in Utah was on the way to scatter his late father’s ashes, according to family members.

Jimmy Hendricks, 66, left his Austin home in mid-July for Nevada, where he planned to scatter the ashes on a mountain. Along the way, he made stops at Guadalupe Peak in Texas and the Grand Canyon.

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Utah school district that banned Bible considers removing Book of Mormon

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Davis school district says it will assess text after complaint for ‘pornographic or indecent materials’ under law passed last year

A school district in Utah that last week banned the Bible from school libraries is now being asked to consider a further title for removal: the Book of Mormon.

The Davis school district, which serves Davis county, north of Salt Lake City, said it was considering a new complaint demanding the removal of the foundational text of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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Utah toddler struck in head by stray bullet at day care while playing outside

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Police say a hunter might have fired the shot in Spanish Fork, 50 miles from Salt Lake City

Utah police were investigating after a two-year-old boy was struck in the head by a stray bullet as he played outside at his day care. Authorities now suspect the wayward round came from a bird hunter’s gun.

Two adult caretakers found the toddler injured on Monday.

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Historic Colorado River deal not enough to stave off long-term crisis, experts say

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Agreement between California, Arizona and Nevada will cut water consumption by 13% but experts warn river is still in serious peril

A hard-fought agreement between California, Arizona and Nevada to slash the states’ use of the shrinking Colorado River is only a temporary salve to a long-term water crisis that continues to threaten the foundations of life in the American west, experts have warned.

The deal, announced on Monday, between the three states that make up the lower portion of the sprawling Colorado basin will pare back 13% of water consumption from the beleaguered river over the next three years if adopted, averting the prospect of more stringent cuts imposed by the federal government. Backed by $1.2bn in federal funds, the bulk of the reductions are structured to encourage voluntary cuts taken by rights holders, in exchange for grant money.

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Sound artist eavesdrops on what is thought to be world’s heaviest organism

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Artist records underground sounds generated by Pando, a huge group of aspens in Utah considered to be a single organism

When it comes to the world’s heaviest living organism, it is a “forest of one tree” that is thought to take the crown. Now a sound expert is listening into the quiet grove in an attempt to hear its secrets.

Known as Pando – Latin for “I spread” – the 47,000 genetically identical quivering aspens in south-central Utah are considered to be a single organism, with the “trees” actually branches thought to be connected by a shared root system.

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Suing Gwyneth Paltrow ‘absolutely not’ worth it, says Utah man

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Retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 76, faces seven-figure legal bill after unsuccessful lawsuit over ski slope collision

The retired optometrist who unsuccessfully sued Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 ski crash says taking the Oscar-winning actor to court had “absolutely not” been worth it so far, but he also had not ruled out pursuing an appeal.

Terry Sanderson, 76, made the remarks after civil court jurors in Park City, Utah, on Thursday found him at fault in his collision with Paltrow at the Deer Valley ski resort.

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Gwyneth Paltrow found not at fault in Utah ski crash trial

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Hollywood actor and lifestyle guru found not liable for collision with optometrist Terry Sanderson in Park City in 2016

Gwyneth Paltrow, the Hollywood star and lifestyle guru, has prevailed in the dramatic court tussle over dueling ski-crash claims with the retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, who had sued the actor for liability in a collision on a Utah mountain in 2016.

The verdict in the much-watched case, which to many seemed to pit one affluent lifestyle against another, came after a two-week trial that heard from dozens of witnesses attempting to assert truth to an incident that only one witness claimed to see.

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Gwyneth Paltrow trial: plaintiff’s loss of joy claim at odds with his travel pictures

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Sanderson shown photos of himself on vacation after ski collision, and doctor suggested any concussion suffered was ‘very mild’

Gwyneth Paltrow’s attorneys called ski crash accuser Terry Sanderson back to the stand late on Wednesday in a final effort to eviscerate claims that he suffered an extensive brain injury that led to loss of joie de vivre and brain function as a result of the actress allegedly skiing into him on a Utah mountain slope.

Under an intense grilling, Sanderson was shown photographs, culled from Facebook, showing the retired eye doctor taking frequent holiday trips around the world after the ski collision, including floating down the Amazon, visiting the Netherlands three times, Morocco twice, Thailand and other destinations.

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Gwyneth Paltrow’s experts to testify in Utah ski crash trial

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Excerpts from depositions of actor’s children also to be read in court during trial over 2016 collision

Gwyneth Paltrow’s attorneys are expected to call a series of experts and read depositions from her two teenage children in the first full day of the actor’s trial that they have to call witnesses to make their case.

Owing to the eight-day limit the judge imposed on the trial, Paltrow’s defence team is expected to face difficult time-management decisions, much like Terry Sanderson’s experienced last week as they attempted to juggle family members, ski instructors and experts in skiing and brain science.

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Man suing Gwyneth Paltrow over ski crash to testify in Utah trial

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Terry Sanderson, 76, suing actor for more than $300,000 over 2016 collision, claiming she skied recklessly into him from behind

The man suing Gwyneth Paltrow over a 2016 collision at one of the most upscale ski resorts in North America is expected to take the stand on Monday as the closely watched trial goes into its second week in Utah.

Attorneys said on Friday that retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 76, would likely testify first on Monday, before his attorneys rest and hand the courtroom over to Paltrow’s defense team, who are countersuing, to make their case.

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Man was ‘fun-loving’ before Gwyneth Paltrow ski collision, daughter testifies

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Polly Sanderson-Grasham said seeing her father’s state after the incident was like ‘a slap in the face’

The daughter of the man who collided with Gwyneth Paltrow on a ski slope, has said seeing her father’s state after the incident was like “a slap in the face”.

Polly Sanderson-Grasham said that following the crash in 2016, her father was unable to “see the forest for the trees” and got “lost in the minutiae” of things.

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Gwyneth Paltrow trial over ski collision enters second day in Utah

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Retired optometrist Terry Sanderson is suing actor for incident on slopes he claims caused lasting injuries and brain damage

More witnesses were expected to testify on Wednesday in a trial about a 2016 ski crash between Gwyneth Paltrow and the retired Utah man who sued her, claiming her recklessness left him with lasting injuries and brain damage.

On the opening day of the trial, Paltrow and retired optometrist Terry Sanderson appeared across the courtroom from each other, looking nonplussed to hear arguments that have become familiar over the past seven years of legal proceedings.

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