Tag Archives: Utah

Manhunt shifts for gunman who killed one on Utah campus

By Barbara Goldberg

(Reuters) – Hundreds of police officers poured into a canyon near the University of Utah’s Salt Lake City campus on Tuesday in a search for a gunman suspected of killing a student during a carjacking attempt.

The search shifted from the campus to Red Butte Canyon, a research area on the east side of the school, where classes were canceled on Tuesday following the shooting on Monday night, authorities said.

An overnight “secure-in-place” alert for the entire campus was lifted early on Tuesday.

University of Utah Police Chief Dale Brophy said the suspect, identified as Austin Boutain, 24, had assaulted his wife while camping in the canyon, which is used for research and has a public botanical garden, arboretum and hiking trails.

Brophy said Boutain then tried to hijack a car, fatally shooting ChenWei Guo, a pre-computer science student from China.

“ChenWei was parked near the gate in Red Butte Canyon when the suspect fatally shot him while attempting to hijack his vehicle,” University President David Pershing said in a statement.

Salt Lake City Police Detective Greg Wilking said the gunman did not take the car and fled on foot from the scene, just a few miles from downtown Salt Lake City.

Guo worked as a peer adviser in the International Student and Scholar Services Office, Pershing said. In his profile on WayUp, a social media site, Guo said he worked as an interpreter and technology supporter at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City.

The FBI and more than 200 law enforcement officers joined the hunt for Boutain, who police believe fled into the Wasatch Mountains, where Red Butte Canyon is located, and was “considered armed and dangerous,” Brophy said.

“We want to be sure we check all the nooks and crannies, anywhere this person might be hiding,” Brophy said. “We will continue our search until we are confident he’s not in the mountains or we find Mr. Boutain.”

Brophy declined to give more information about the suspect, including whether he was a student or where he lives.

Boutain’s wife approached campus police at about 8:15 p.m. on Monday to report being assaulted by her husband, Brophy said. She later was treated and was released, he said.

Shortly thereafter, police received reports of shots fired.

Commuter train services were suspended near the school, local media reported.

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee and Angela Moon in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Bill Trott)

Utah wildfire levels 13 homes, forces evacuation of 1,500 people

An aerial photo of wildfires burning across almost 50,000 acres near the ski resort of Brian Head, about 245 miles south of Salt Lake City, Utah is shown in this handout photo provided June 27, 2017. Courtesy Lt. Governor Spencer J Cox/Handout via REUTERS

By Gina Cherelus

(Reuters) – A fierce wildfire that has destroyed more than a dozen homes and forced the evacuation of 1,500 residents raged largely unchecked in southwestern Utah for an 11th day, as an army of firefighters struggled to corral the flames.

As of Tuesday morning, the blaze had scorched nearly 50,000 acres, the bulk of that in the Dixie National Forest, with crews managing to carve containment lines around just 10 percent of the fire’s perimeter, officials said.

The fire erupted on June 17 near the ski resort of Brian Head, Utah, about 30 miles northeast of Zion National Park, and spread quickly as high winds drove flames into dense forests, threatening homes in nearby communities.

The town of Brian Head ordered an evacuation of all residents, and the number of people forced from their dwellings throughout the fire zone has climbed to 1,500, according to U.S. Forest Service spokesman Andrew Jackson.

Local fire spokeswoman Elayn Briggs said at least 13 homes and eight outbuildings have been demolished since the blaze began but no serious injuries have been reported.

The fire was ignited by human activity, but officials said they were still investigating the precise cause.

By Tuesday evening, more than 1,600 firefighters were assigned to the conflagration, backed by an aerial force of 13 water-dropping helicopters. Their efforts were hampered by thick stands of highly combustible dead timber left blighted by bark beetle infestations, Jackson said.

The Brian Head blaze ranks as the largest of 20 major, active wildfires burning across Utah and five other Western states – Arizona, California, New Mexico, Idaho and Oregon. Those fires have blackened a total of 150,000 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Another large blaze in Arizona dubbed the Frye Fire has charred nearly 40,000 acres since it was sparked by lightning on June 7 near Mount Graham, but it was more than 40 percent contained by Tuesday, authorities said.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey declared a state of emergency on Friday, with more than 20 separate fires burning across the state.

The 1,400 residents of Mayer, Arizona, a town about 75 miles north of Phoenix, were told to evacuate as a nearby wildfire grew to 18,000 acres on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s burning in an area that hasn’t seen fire for 40 years,” said Tiffany Davila, spokeswoman for the ‎Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. “It’s tough going right now.”

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York and David Schwartz in Arizona; Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Bill Trott and Joseph Radford)

Utah enacts lowest U.S. drunken-driving limit

FILE PHOTO: Utah Governor Gary Herbert talks about the state's economic development in Salt Lake City, Utah January 11, 2012. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo

By Tom James

(Reuters) – Utah Governor Gary Herbert on Thursday signed a law setting the blood alcohol limit for drunken driving at 0.05, the lowest threshold in the United States, over strong objections from the restaurant and beverage industry.

The proposal lowers the predominantly Mormon state’s blood-alcohol limit from 0.08, currently the standard across all U.S. states, to 0.05 as of Dec. 31, 2018, to try to improve road safety in the state.

“I signed (the bill) into law to help strengthen Utah’s impaired driving laws and to reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths on our roads,” Herbert said in a statement Thursday.

Melva Sine, president of the Utah Restaurant Association, said her organization and other industry groups opposed the measure and see it as likely to hurt the hospitality industry in the state.

“It will be punishing those people who drink responsibly, and go out and enjoy an evening,” Sine said.

The American Beverage Institute, a lobbying group, which had previously taken out ads advocating against the measure in newspapers in the state, earlier condemned Herbert’s plan to sign the bill.

Herbert also said he would call a special legislative session to address the “unintended and collateral consequences” of the law, and to help “modify and improve it.”

The National Transportation Safety Board has advocated for a national 0.05 limit, and its representatives testified twice in support of the Utah bill before the legislature, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The board said studies show that impairment starts after one drink, even at blood-alcohol levels as low as 0.04, the limit for commercial truck drivers nationwide.

(Reporting by Tom James in Seattle; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Six Utah high school students stabbed, including teen suspect

Orem, Utah

(Reuters) – Five students were stabbed inside a Utah high school boys’ locker room on Tuesday before the 16-year-old male suspect turned the weapon on himself, school officials said.

The incident at Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah, occurred just before 8 a.m. MT (1500 GMT), and prompted a brief lockdown of the school, the Alpine School District said in a statement.

The stabbing suspect was apprehended by a school resource officer before he and the victims were transported to local hospitals, the school district said.

Their injuries range from minor to critical, it added.

Police did not release additional details about the circumstances surrounding the attack or what might have motivated it.

Students will be released to their parents later in the morning, police said.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Alan Crosby)

Utah Flooding Death Toll Rises

The death toll in Utah’s flash flooding has reached 17.

Officials say that 12 of the dead were from two families that had packed into vehicles and drove to watch the water.  A wall of water apparently smashed into them and threw them into the rushing flow.

Officials admitted that two of the victims from the cars were found all the way into Arizona.

Three people were rescued and according to the Associated Press they were all children.

Hildale, Utah mayor Phillip Barlow called the event a “100 year flood” and that it was a “wake-up call” for the town.

Resident of Hildale told reporters that what happened with the vehicles full of families is not uncommon for the area.  They said that downpours were something of a community event and people would come out to watch.

Officials also said the search for missing people continues and have urged people not to come to the area.

“This is going to be a heartbreaking night,” the Utah Division of Emergency Management said in a statement Monday night. “Our prayers are with the search and rescue teams and those families who are aching for their loved ones.”

8 Dead in Utah Flash Flood

A flash flood that washed through a town on the Utah/Arizona border has left 8 people confirmed dead and others missing.

All of the victims are mothers and small children who reportedly were sitting in cars watching the rushing waters.

The flooding roared through the streets of Hildale, Utah to Colorado City, Arizona.  Heavy rains started Monday night in mountains around the town causing the water to rush into canyons and valleys.

“It happened within like a half-hour, 45 minutes,” Chris Wyler told CNN. “(Then) it was just gone. And then the sun was shining again.”

The two vehicles that contained those who died had 16 people within them.  Many were thrown from the vehicles by the force of the water.

Rescuers were forced to call off rescue efforts because of dangerous conditions overnight but resumed work with heavy equipment during the morning.

Plague Claims Another Life

Another western U.S. resident is dead because of the plague.

Officials in Utah say an elderly woman has died after contracting the potentially fatal disease earlier this month.  They could not confirm how the woman was infected but speculated that she likely had contact with a dead animal or fleas.

Utah officials would not release the name of the woman or any demographic information other than she was “elderly.”

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says 11 plague cases have been found this year in the U.S. and three patients have died.

“It is unclear why the number of cases in 2015 is higher than usual,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated in a brief update.

The average number of cases per year is between 5 and 6.

“Health care providers should consider the diagnosis of plague in any patient with compatible signs or symptoms, residence or travel in the western United States, and recent proximity to rodent habitats or direct contact with rodents or ill domestic animals,” the CDC says in its report.

“In humans, plague is characterized by the sudden onset of fever and malaise, which can be accompanied by abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.”

Quakes Shake Oregon, Alaska, Utah

The Fourth of July weekend had more than fireworks shaking things up in Utah, Oregon and Alaska.

Oregon residents started their day out in an unusual way when a 4.2 magnitude quake struck around 8:42 a.m. Saturday.  The quake was centered about 12 miles east of Eugene.

Officials from the Lane County Sheriff’s office and the Oregon Department of Transportation reported no damage being reported.  Residents say that the quake caused some shaking of homes, pictures to fall off walls and wood piles to shift.

In Utah, a 4.0 magnitude quake struck around 10 a.m., 1 mile south of Panguitch or 200 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Panguitch Fire Chief Dave Dodds told the Deseret News the quake lasted between three and four seconds but caused no major damage.

Alaska was the most shaken up with weekend quakes.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported Alaska was shaken by two quakes within one minute.

The first, a 4.9 magnitude quake, struck around 4:49 p.m. about 24 miles southwest of Talkeetna.  The second quake a minute later in the same area was reported at magnitude 5.1.

Also, the Arctic community of Kaktovik in the Arctic Ocean reported a quake around 11:26 a.m. that measured 4.6 according to the USGS.

Live Anthrax Found Shipped To More Labs

The Pentagon says an investigation into an accidental shipment of live anthrax to labs in nine states and South Korea was significantly larger and lasted over a decade.

The anthrax, sent from the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, has been shipped to 51 sites in the United States and overseas in the last 10 year.  The samples were all believed to have contained irradiated and inactivated virus.

The officials admitted they are testing 400 additional batches and if they are found to be live, the number of locations with live virus could significantly jump.

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said that 31 lab workers have ben undergoing post-exposure treatment as a precaution but that the public is safe.

“We know of no risk to the general public from these samples,” Work said.

The admission of the shipments of live anthrax are part of a pattern of accidents involving viruses that have observers questioning the way the military is handling potentially deadly pathogens.  A year ago, the CDC admitted a dozen employees may have been exposed to live anthrax and that another lab contaminated a flu virus with the deadly H5N1 bird flu and then shipped it out to another laboratory.

Less than a year ago, live smallpox vials were found in a storage lab at the National Institutes of Health.

Former Porn Star Shows Hate For Christians In Driver’s License Photo

A former porn star is using a fake religion created to mock Christians as an excuse to take a driver’s license photo with a colander on her head.

Jessica Steinhauser, who performed in adult films as “Asia Carrera”, brought a spaghetti strainer to a Utah Department of Motor Vehicles location, demanding she be allowed to wear it in her photo because she is a member of the “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.”

The “church” was created when an anti-Christianist named Bobby Henderson created concept to mock Christians where he says he worships a “flying spaghetti monster” that no one could see.

Henderson and others who belong to his anti-Christian group claim it’s no different than Christians worshipping God.

The group celebrates blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.  In one place on their website, they have a mockery of John 3:16 where they say “he boiled for your sins” and mark it “Spaghetti 3:16.”

Atheists and anti-Christianists in other states have been bringing a colander to their photos for official pictures as a way to mock and show their hatred for Christians.