Utah News - The Salt Lake Tribune

Alleged cop-killer Matthew Stewart hangs self in jail cell

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:17:43 MDT

Alleged cop-killer Matthew Stewart hangs self in jail cell

by Jessica Miller And Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 11:17AM MDT

Ogden • Matthew David Stewart, awaiting trial in the slaying of a police officer during a botched 2012 drug raid that ended in a shootout, died late Thursday night after apparently hanging himself in his jail cell. Erna Stewart, Stewart’s sister-in-law, said Stewart’s parents were informed of the death by Weber County Sheriff’s authorities Friday morning. On Wednesday, Stewart, 39, had experienced a courtroom defeat when a judge rejected defense attorneys’ arguments that a police officer lied to...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

A Look Back: Utah’s national parks over the years

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:17:43 MDT

A Look Back: Utah’s national parks over the years

the Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 11:17AM MDT

Each Friday, The Salt Lake Tribune presents images from its archives in a special series called A Look Back. This week’s installment profiles Utah’s scenic national parks: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion. Every gallery of the series is available at www.sltrib.com/topics/lookback. Here are some of the previous installments: Life on the Ute Reservation in early the 1900s Women’s fashion in the 1960s Dogs in Utah around 1900 Utah’s early cultural diversity Utah arti...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Utah weather: A memorial forecast for the weekend

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:07:34 MDT

Utah weather: A memorial forecast for the weekend

by Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 11:07AM MDT

Utah’s Memorial Day weekend forecast calls for mostly clear skies, warm temperatures and cooling breezes out of the south. Northern Utah looks for high temperatures in the low-80s Saturday, mid-80s on Sunday and upper-70s on Monday with winds of 10-25 mph throughout the weekend. Monday also could produce some high-elevation thunderstorms, forecasters warned. Southern Utahns expect to bask in the upper-80s on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Winds in Utah’s Dixie will range from 10 to 20 mph. The Uta...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Three students face charges in West Valley school food fight

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:07:10 MDT

Three students face charges in West Valley school food fight

by Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 11:07AM MDT

Three students are facing charges ranging from assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest to disorderly conduct after allegedly igniting a food fight involving hundreds of students at West Valley City’s West Lake Junior High School. West Valley City police Lt. Rick McLenon confirmed Friday that the three students were arrested during the Thursday afternoon cafeteria free-for-all. One officer sustained a minor ankle injury while helping take one of the resisting students into custody. McLeo...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Secret recording: Mark Shurtleff offers $2 million to silence critic

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:14:53 MDT

Secret recording: Mark Shurtleff offers $2 million to silence critic

by Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 10:14AM MDT

On the breakfast table at Mimi’s Cafe, Darl McBride had eggs and potatoes served in a fried tortilla and an offer of $2 million from Utah’s then-attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, if he would just shut his mouth. McBride says he had invested $286,000 with a prominent businessman, Mark Robbins, who had allegedly promised him a $5 million return that McBride hoped would sustain a grueling legal battle over intellectual-property rights between his company, The SCO Group, and IBM. But, facing a benc...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Utah majority leader and lobbyists vacation together abroad

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:14:53 MDT

Utah majority leader and lobbyists vacation together abroad

by Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 10:14AM MDT

Utah House Majority Leader Brad Dee returned this week from a trip to Europe that included an eight-day Rhine River cruise with three prominent Capitol Hill lobbyists and their spouses. While the trip is not a first, and does not appear to violate legislative ethics rules, since the couples paid their own way on the vacation, experts say it raises questions about perception and propriety. “I totally understand that these people can be friends. The problem is the perception of this is problematic...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Steve Powell: Feds may be to blame for son’s suicide

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:37:31 MDT

Steve Powell: Feds may be to blame for son’s suicide

by Brooke Adams The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 08:37AM MDT

A day after learning his son Michael had committed suicide, Steve Powell wrote a lengthy letter to a daughter reiterating his belief that federal agents planned assaults on the family that may have included slipping Michael psychotropic drugs. “As with some of the other threats, it appears that they made good on this one,” Powell wrote in the Feb. 12 letter to his daughter Alina. “I am quite sure that [name redacted] had no intention to kill Michael, but Michael’s suicide, evidently in reaction...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Live chat: Boy Scout leaders vote on lifting gay ban

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:37:19 MDT

Live chat: Boy Scout leaders vote on lifting gay ban

by Ray Parker The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 08:37AM MDT

Dylan Lukes of South Jordan dropped out of his Boy Scouts of America troop two years ago after another Scout found his journal, where he had written about being gay. “The other parents freaked out and were not comfortable,” said Lukes, now 17. “I wanted to get my Eagle [Scout] badge … but I just stopped going because I felt uncomfortable.” In a historic decision Thursday, selected leaders of the BSA voted to ease an increasingly controversial ban and allow openly gay boys to join, while conti...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Two dead in RV crash on southern Utah’s I-15

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:37:19 MDT

Two dead in RV crash on southern Utah’s I-15

by Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 08:37AM MDT

In a deadly start to Utah’s Memorial Day weekend, two people were killed and eight injured when their motor home crashed through a fence line and into a residential area off Interstate 15 in southern Utah. Utah Highway Patrol Cpl. Todd Johnson said troopers were just beginning to investigate the crash and did not know why the motor home veered off the right side of southbound I-15 about 7 miles north of the Utah-Arizona state line about 5:50 a.m. Friday. The RV next plowed through a fence and th...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

First time ever, University of Utah student president impeached

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:10:55 MDT

First time ever, University of Utah student president impeached

by Lindsay Whitehurst The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 07:10AM MDT

For the first time in its history, the University of Utah student government has impeached and replaced its president. Nick Ferre lost his position following a trial Wednesday because his grade-point average dropped below 2.5, a requirement to hold office. The graduate student in educational leadership and policy argued that some of his grades were in dispute and said an accelerated course he’s due to finish next month could increase his GPA. “One of the things we try and get away from is we ...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Suspected suicide: Bridal Veil Falls fatality identified

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:26:03 MDT

Suspected suicide: Bridal Veil Falls fatality identified

by Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 06:26AM MDT

Investigators say it appears a Utah County man’s fatal 200-foot earlier this week from the Bridal Veil Falls trail was a suicide. Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon said trauma from the fall stymied initial efforts to identify the victim, but following an autopsy the deceased was determined to have been Kelly Lloyd Anderberg, 49. Sheriff’s deputies found Anderberg at the bottom of the popular Provo Canyon recreation site about 8 p.m. Wednesday. remims@sltrib.com Twitter: @remims

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

First peregrine falcon hatches in downtown Salt Lake City

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:25:26 MDT

First peregrine falcon hatches in downtown Salt Lake City

by Michael Mcfall The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 24, 2013 06:25AM MDT

The first peregrine falcon chick has hatched from four eggs laid in a downtown Salt Lake City nest box. The falcon parents were tending the eggs in a nest box on the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Their first-born cracked through its shell Wednesday as high-definition cameras installed in the box broadcast its arrival around the world via the Internet. An approximately three-minute video on a Facebook page dedicated to the birds shows the mother tending to the newborn shortly after its birth. ...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Experiment: Living Planet Aquarium sending students’ ‘heads’ into deep sea

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:48:11 MDT

Experiment: Living Planet Aquarium sending students’ ‘heads’ into deep sea

by Chris Mumford Special To The Tribune

Published May 23, 2013 09:48PM MDT

Sandy • The 4th graders of Castle Dale Elementary listened with rapt attention as Chris Barela, art director for the Living Planet Aquarium, described an eel-like creature called a hagfish that dwells in the deepest depths of the ocean. “When they get threatened by another animal that is trying to eat them, they produce slime, lots of slime,” said Barela. “Any idea why slime would be helpful for them?” The kids raised their hands to guess, with several suggesting that the slime might be a prot...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Preliminary hearing set for Utah man accused of killing girl, 6

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:40:35 MDT

Preliminary hearing set for Utah man accused of killing girl, 6

by Marissa Lang The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 23, 2013 09:40PM MDT

West Jordan » More than a year after the body of 6-year-old Sierra Newbold was found in a West Jordan canal, prosecutors will present evidence in court against the man accused of raping and killing the little girl. Terry Lee Black, 41, was ordered to appear in 3rd District Court for a preliminary hearing on July 29. Prosecutors anticipate at least three full days of testimony from witnesses and experts that will include DNA and crime scene analysis. Black is charged with aggravated murder, chil...

Blood found on teen arrested in deaths of 2 adopted brothers

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:40:35 MDT

Blood found on teen arrested in deaths of 2 adopted brothers

by Janelle Stecklein and Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 23, 2013 09:40PM MDT

West Point • A 15-year-old boy arrested after his adopted younger brothers were found stabbed to death in his family’s West Point home had traces of blood on him when he was found later by police. Davis County Sheriff Todd Richardson said during a Thursday afternoon press conference that the blood linked the teen to the crime scene. No weapons were found on the suspect, but two knives believed to be the murder weapons were recovered at the home. Richardson said the teen was cooperating with inv...

Family of slain man sues Utah sheriff after officer shooting

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:36:49 MDT

Family of slain man sues Utah sheriff after officer shooting

by Kimball Bennion The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 23, 2013 09:36PM MDT

The family of a Sandy man who was shot and killed by a Box Elder County deputy in 2012 is suing the officer and the sheriff’s office for negligence, willful misconduct and wrongful death. A complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court alleges that Deputy Austin Bowcutt failed to follow policies that govern automobile chases and use of deadly force when he shot and killed Troy Burkinshaw, 52, after a low-speed pursuit in Box Elder County. The family’s attorney, Jim McConkie, said Thursday th...

Paul Rolly: Holistic conference is LDS in name only

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:36:49 MDT

Paul Rolly: Holistic conference is LDS in name only

by Paul Rolly Tribune Columnist

Published May 23, 2013 09:36PM MDT

Note to faithful Mormons: If you miss the LDS Holistic Living Conference & Expo next month, it won’t affect your standing for a temple recommend. It’s not like missing church. In fact, despite its name, it has nothing to do with the LDS Church. But the name of the conference, and its description on the LDS Holistic Living website, probably helps boost sales for the two-day event, which costs $70 a pop. “Since 2010, the LDS Holistic Living Conference has provided a venue for like-minded LDS mem...

Deseret Chemical Depot destroys contaminated waste

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:24:02 MDT

Deseret Chemical Depot destroys contaminated waste

the Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 23, 2013 08:24PM MDT

The Deseret Chemical Depot has reached another milestone, disposing of more than 2.5 million pounds of contaminated waste created over 70 years as it stored and destroyed chemical weapons. Called legacy waste, it included used chemical protective equipment, tools and munition packing materials, the U.S. Army said in a statement Thursday. The waste was generated by the depot and by the now-closed Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System, which researched and developed chemical agents for the U.S....

West Valley City police respond to junior high food fight

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:56:32 MDT

West Valley City police respond to junior high food fight

by Janelle Stecklein The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 23, 2013 06:56PM MDT

Flying French fries and other items filled the air Thursday afternoon after a couple hundred Granite School District junior high students decided to launch a spontaneous all-out food fight. Ultimately, the West Valley City police were called to help restore order. Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley said the incident started about 12:30 p.m. at West Lake Junior High School when two youths got into a physical altercation. For unknown reasons, it escalated into a larger food fight, he s...

Volcanos, hurricanes at Natural History Museum of Utah

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:55:22 MDT

Volcanos, hurricanes at Natural History Museum of Utah

by Lindsay Whitehurst The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 23, 2013 06:55PM MDT

Ten-year-old Brennan Phifer switched a couple levers and pressed a button. Suddenly, an enormous gray cloud exploded on the screen in front of him in a virtual volcanic eruption. “It’s spraying some magma out of the earth,” he said about the virtual disaster. “This is so awesome.” The station at the Natural History Museum of Utah allowed him to control the amount of gas and silica brewing in the volcano, showing him how each material affected the eruption. It’s part of the newly built museum’s...