SALT LAKE CITY — Ken Block, a motorsports icon known for his stunt driving and for co-founding the action sports apparel brand DC Shoes, died on Monday in a snowmobiling accident near his home in Utah.
Block, 55, “was riding a snowmobile on a steep slope when the snowmobile upended, landing on top of him,” the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The incident occurred in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Block, who grew up in Southern California, was a co-founder of DC Shoes, a manufacturer of skateboarding and snowboarding shoes and apparel that in 2004 was purchased by Quicksilver for $84 million.
Afterward, he rose to fame as a rally car driver and in 2005 was awarded Rally America’s Rookie of the Year honors. He won multiple medals at the X Games and also competed in other action sports, including motocross, snowboarding and skateboarding.
Block’s most lasting imprint on action sports may perhaps be his marketing prowess: his YouTube stunt-driving videos showing him navigating difficult terrain and man-made obstacles have garnered more than 1 billion views.
“He created an industry,” Steve Arpin, Block’s Hoonigan Racing teammate told ESPN.
Hoonigan, the Park City-based team that Block founded, called Block “a visionary, a pioneer and an icon.”
“He will be incredibly missed,” the organization said in a statement.
PASADENA, Calif. — KeAndre Lambert-Smith had the longest touchdown reception in Rose Bowl history on an 88-yard pass from Sean Clifford, freshman Nicholas Singleton broke a tiebreaking 87-yard touchdown run, and No. 9 Penn State rallied past No. 7 Utah 35-21 in the 109th edition of the Granddaddy of Them All on Monday.
Clifford passed for 279 yards and two touchdowns in an impressive farewell to Penn State, and Singleton rushed for 120 yards and two more scores on a rainy day filled with spectacular big plays by the Nittany Lions (11-2).
Utah couldn’t rally with quarterback Cameron Rising sidelined by a second-half injury, and coach James Franklin’s exuberant group comfortably won the Rose Bowl for the second time in school history and the first since Jan. 2, 1995.
Singleton got the Nittany Lions rolling in a well-played game when he broke through Utah’s defensive front and outran the secondary for his second touchdown early in the third quarter. The 87-yard romp was the third-longest TD run in Rose Bowl history and the second-longest in Penn State’s bowl history.
Shortly after rain began to fall on the Rose Bowl Game for the first time since 1997, Lambert-Smith got open deep and eluded Utah’s defensive backs on the first snap of the fourth quarter for the longest pass completion in Penn State’s bowl history. Clifford’s pass also broke the Rose Bowl record of 76 yards by Michigan’s Rick Leach to Curt Stephenson in 1978 against Washington.
Freshman Kaytron Allen added a 1-yard TD run with 10:36 to play, and Penn State’s defense got stops on the Utes’ first six drives of the second half.
The victory was a fitting finale for Clifford, the sixth-year senior who finally added a memorable bowl performance to his slew of Penn State career passing records in his 51st game. Clifford also became the winningest quarterback in school history with his 32nd victory, passing Trace McSorley.
Franklin called a timeout with 2:30 left to allow a hero’s farewell for Clifford, who waved at the standing ovation from Penn State’s white-clad fans while his teammates applauded.
“I’m just so thankful for this place,” Clifford said. “I can’t put it into words. It’s so amazing. I just love Penn State so much.”
Rising passed for 95 yards before apparently injuring his left knee in the third quarter, forcing the Utah quarterback out of his second straight Rose Bowl early due to injury. Bryson Barnes replaced Rising for the second straight year, but the two-time Pac-12 champion Utes (10-4) couldn’t rally behind their backup.
Ja’Quinden Jackson rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown for Utah. Thomas Yassmin caught an early TD pass from Rising, but Utah was shut out for 32 straight minutes before Jaylen Dixon’s TD catch with 25 seconds to play.
Rising, one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in Utah history, got hurt while being tackled after scrambling for a first down near midfield, eventually trudging to the locker room and returning later in street clothes. The Ventura County native also got hurt on a sack in the fourth quarter of last year’s 48-45 Rose Bowl loss to Ohio State.
Barnes threw his first collegiate passes against the Buckeyes after Rising’s injury and led an improbable tying touchdown drive before Ohio State won it at the gun. Barnes couldn’t recapture that magic in his second Rose Bowl relief role, going 10 of 19 for 112 yards with an interception.
The unusually gloomy afternoon in Arroyo Seco marked the end of an era for the sport’s oldest active bowl: It was the final edition of the Rose Bowl guaranteed to feature its traditional matchup between Pac-12 and Big Ten teams.
The game will be a College Football Playoff semifinal next year, and the subsequent playoff expansion means the Rose Bowl won’t usually control which teams make the trip.
In contrast to several wild Rose Bowls in recent years, including the Utes’ 93-point epic with Ohio State a year ago, both teams traded touchdowns early in drives with several old-school aspects with deliberate use of the run game and solid defense. Singleton even scored the game’s first touchdown on a run out of a T formation.
Yassmin scored Utah’s first TD while filling in for tight end Dalton Kincaid, the Utes’ leading receiver. Kincaid sat out to preserve his health along with Utah’s leading rusher, Tavion Thomas, and first-team All-American cornerback Clark Phillips III.
Penn State answered with Clifford’s 10-yard TD pass to Mitchell Tinsley, but Utah evened it less than two minutes later on a 19-yard TD run by Jackson, making it 14-14 at halftime.
Singleton then made his 87-yard sprint early in the third quarter, surpassing 1,000 yards in his impressive freshman season along the way. Only Saquon Barkley’s 92-yard run in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl was longer in the Nittany Lions’ lengthy bowl history.
RARE RAINFALL
The game began under cloudy skies after a week of uncharacteristically gray skies in Los Angeles, and in the third quarter, rain landed on the Rose Bowl Game for only the third time since 1955. The visiting fans from two hardy cities showed little concern about Southern California’s version of bad weather.
UP NEXT
Penn State: Hosts West Virginia on Sept. 2.
Utah: Begins its quest for a third straight Pac-12 title by hosting Florida on Sept. 2.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP—Top25
PASADENA, Calif. — Flower-covered floats, marching bands and equestrian units celebrated the New Year on a chilly but dry Monday as the 134th Rose Parade slipped through a gap in California’s siege of drenching storms.
Pasadena’s annual floral spectacle offered the optimistic theme of “Turning the Corner” for 2023, and former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona, who survived a 2011 shooting, served as grand marshal.
“The New Year is a time for renewal, an opportunity for a fresh start,” Tournament of Roses President Amy Wainscott told the television audience.
The parade, which by tradition is held on Jan. 2 when New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday, kicked off with the Los Angeles band Fitz and the Tantrums! performing “Let Yourself Free” and a crowd-pleasing flyby of two U.S. Air Force B-1B jets.
Rain has rarely fallen on the parade, but this year it came close. Downpours pounded Southern California over the weekend — and rain returned Monday evening during the Rose Bowl college football game between Utah and Penn State.
But earlier in the day, parade participants and thousands of spectators avoided a soaking.
Giffords rolled down the 5.5-mile (8.8-mile) route in a flower-decked antique convertible, accompanied by her husband, Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.
Marching bands came from across the U.S. and around the world.
The Riverside County, California, sheriff’s mounted unit was led by a riderless horse in honor of Deputy Isaiah Cordero, 32, who was slain during a traffic stop on Dec. 29.
The floats offered simple beauty — birds, bees, bears, bugs and giraffes covered in flowers or other natural materials — as well as messages such as a Cal Poly universities’ entry called the “Road to Reclamation” depicting animated snails and mushrooms living on a fallen tree branch.
The Louisiana Office of Tourism’s “Feed Your Soul” float depicting a paddlewheel riverboat was the stage for mid-parade performance by Lainey Wilson.
Donate Life’s bright orange and red Chinese street dragon blowing smoke out its nostrils was awarded the sweepstakes trophy for most beautiful entry by the Tournament of Roses judges.
“American Idol” finalist Grace Kinstler performed aboard a float promoting tourism to her home state of Illinois, and country music star Tanya Tucker sang her current single, “Ready as I’ll Never Be,” in the parade’s finale.
PROVO, Utah — A small plane with four passengers crashed at a Utah airport on Monday, killing one and injuring the other three, according to city officials in Provo.
The plane crashed immediately after takeoff and one of the three survivors was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The other two sustained “minor bumps and bruises,” officials said.
The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that it was investigating the crash of the aircraft, which it identified as an Embraer 505, a light business jet.
The airport in Provo, just south of Salt Lake City, will remain closed until noon on Tuesday, and a number of flights have been cancelled, according to the airport’s website.
Brian Torgersen, the airport manager, told FOX13 that the scene of the crash was “devastating” and was surprised that two of those on board made it out with relatively minor injuries.
Other details of the crash, including its destination and the identities of those on board, have yet to be released.
OMAHA, Neb. — Someone could win more than half a billion dollars in the Mega Millions lottery Tuesday, but that jackpot wouldn’t even rank in the top 10 as the prizes have grown bigger in recent years.
The current Mega Millions has been building since Oct. 14 as 20 drawings passed without a winner, but the estimated $565 million prize pales in comparison to the record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot that was won in November by someone in Southern California.
The ten biggest lottery jackpots ever are all bigger than $687 million with all of those coming since 2016. The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever was more than $1.5 billion, won in 2018, and a jackpot surpassing $1.3 billion was won in Illinois in July.
And Tuesday’s top prize of $565 million is for the annuity option that is paid out annually over 29 years. The cash option would pay $293.6 million.
Tuesday’s drawing will be held at 11 p.m. EST when players will try to match six winning numbers.
When the jackpots grow this large more people buy tickets, increasing the chances that someone will win.
David Peralta, a 67-year-old retired technical college instructor, bought a $3 jackpot-only Mega Millions ticket at a Dillons grocery in Topeka, Kansas, because he had a few extra dollars and “to see if we get lucky.” He buys a few tickets regularly and said the jackpot attracted him, though he said he’s not sure he needs that much money.
“I could help out a lot of people,” he said.
But the odds of winning remain long at one in 302.6 million, and the jackpot will continue growing if no one wins Tuesday’s drawing. The odds improve slightly by buying multiple tickets, but even buying 100 tickets would only give you a 100 in 302.6 million chance.
But lottery officials say the $2 tickets offer an affordable way to daydream about a life-changing prize.
Mega Millions is played in every state except Nevada, Utah, Alabama, Alaska and Hawaii plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Associated Press writer John Hanna contributed to this story from Topeka, Kansas.
Federal authorities on Wednesday charged three of a self-declared prophet’s wives with kidnapping and impeding a foreseeable prosecution after eight girls associated with the polygamous group fled from state foster care.
Naomi Bistline and Donnae Barlow appeared in federal magistrate court in Flagstaff on Wednesday. They remain jailed and have court hearings scheduled next week. Moretta Rose Johnson is awaiting extradition from Washington state.
Samuel Bateman, the leader of the small polygamous group on the Arizona-Utah border, had taken at least 20 wives, most of them minors, and punished followers who did not treat him as a prophet, newly filed federal court documents show.
Naomi Bistline arrives at the federal courthouse in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022.
Jake Bacon / AP
The filing provides insight into what investigators have found in a case that first became public in August.
The FBI affidavit filed in the women’s case centers on Bateman, who proclaimed himself a prophet in 2019. Authorities wrote that Bateman orchestrated sexual acts involving minors and gave wives as gifts to his male followers, claiming to do so on orders from the “Heavenly Father.” The men supported Bateman financially and gave him their own wives and young daughters as wives.
Bateman, 46, has pleaded not guilty to state child abuse charges and federal charges of tampering with evidence. A trial on the federal charges is scheduled for January. He remains imprisoned in Arizona.
Bateman was a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, until he left in recent years and started his own small offshoot group, said Sam Brower, who has spent years investigating the group. Bateman was once among the trusted followers of imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs, but Jeffs denounced Bateman in a written revelation sent to his followers from prison, Brower said.
Jeffs is serving a life sentence in Texas for child sex abuse related to underage marriages.
Samuel Rappylee Bateman was booked into jail in September 2022 on three counts of child abuse.
Coconino County Sheriff’s Office
The FLDS is itself a breakaway sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, widely known as the Mormon Church. Polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream church, but it abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it.
Federal officials contend Bateman engaged in horrific acts with children and called upon his followers to help cover his tracks. His followers say federal officials have falsely accused him and claim something else is at play.
Barlow’s sister, Alice Barlow, said the community is supportive, children are happy and wives consider each other sisters. She said Bateman is a “sweet, gentle spirit,” who teaches that forgiveness and repentance are within reach.
“What they’re trying to do is annihilate a religion,” she told The Associated Press following Wednesday’s hearing. “Samuel is a prophet and a savior in this world. He hasn’t done wrong. They’ve got to realize that God will defend his prophet.”
According to the FBI affidavit, Bateman demanded that his followers confess publicly for any indiscretions, and shared those confessions widely. He claimed the punishments, which ranged from a time out to public shaming and sexual activity, came from the Lord, the affidavit states. Bateman lived in Colorado City, a community that straddles the border between Arizona and Utah, among a patchwork of devout members of the polygamous FLDS, ex-FLDS members and those who don’t practice the beliefs. Bateman and his followers believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.
He once tried to take his only daughter as a wife, but she told her mother about her father’s plan and the mother and daughter moved out and got a restraining order against Bateman. The mother was Bateman’s only wife in 2019, before Bateman started taking more wives.
Bateman was first arrested in August when someone spotted small fingers in the gap of a trailer he was hauling through Flagstaff. Police found three girls, between 11 and 14, in a makeshift room in the unventilated trailer.
The girls told authorities they didn’t have any health or medical needs, according to an Arizona Department of Public Safety report.
Bateman posted bond but was arrested again in September and charged with obstructing justice in a federal investigation into whether children were being transported across state lines for sexual activity. Authorities said that following his first arrest he instructed his followers to obtain passports and to delete messages sent through an encrypted messaging app.
“Bateman did so in order to obstruct, influence, and impede an investigation and prosecution in federal court,” federal prosecutors said when announcing the indictment in September. He was charged with destruction of records or an attempt to destroy records in an official proceeding; tampering or attempting to tamper with an official proceeding; and destruction of records in a federal investigation.
Alice Barlow said the family already was planning to get passports for a family trip to Mexico, not to evade authorities.
At the time of the September arrest, authorities removed nine children from Bateman’s home in Colorado City and placed them in foster care.
None of the girls, identified by their initials in court documents, disclosed sexual abuse by Bateman during forensic interviews, though one said she was present during sexual activity, according to the FBI affidavit. But several of the girls wrote in journals that were seized by the FBI about intimate interactions with Bateman. Authorities believe the older girls influenced the younger ones not to talk about Bateman, the FBI said.
Eight of the children later escaped from foster care, and the FBI alleged Bistline, Barlow and Johnson – all relatives of the children as well as Bateman’s current or former wives – played a part in getting them out of Arizona. The girls were found last week, hundreds of miles away in Spokane, Washington, in a vehicle that Johnson was driving, the FBI affidavit said.
In court Wednesday, Barlow’s attorney said her client was only doing what she believed was right. The attorney, Roberta McVickers, added that Barlow would follow whatever orders the court issues.
Donnae Barlow arrives at the federal courthouse in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022.
Jake Bacon / AP
Barlow has lived in Colorado City much of her life and has a 2-year-old with special needs, McVickers said in arguing for her to be released from custody. Barlow was educated at home through the 7th grade, and has no independent source of income and no criminal history, McVickers said.
“It’s an adjustment for her to learn whose rules to follow,” McVickers said.
Prosecutor Wayne Venhuizen noted Bistline and Barlow were communicating with Bateman about the children.
“These women have proven that they will stop at nothing to interfere with a federal investigation and protect Bateman, who was sexually abusing children,” he said.
Ultimately, the federal judge overseeing the case ordered Barlow and Bistline, whose brief hearing focused on setting further court dates, to remain in custody.
Barlow, Bistline and Johnson face life in prison if convicted of the charges. Johnson does not yet have an attorney publicly listed in Arizona.
FBI spokesperson Kevin Smith declined Tuesday to discuss the trajectory of the case against the women and Bateman. Court records allege Bateman, 46, engaged in child sex trafficking and polygamy, but none of his current charges relate to those allegations. Bateman’s attorney in the federal case, Adam Zickerman, did not respond to requests for comment.
Criminal defense attorney Michael Piccarreta, who represented Warren Jeffs on Arizona charges that were dismissed and is not involved in the current cases, said Arizona has a history of trying to take a stand against polygamy by charging relatively minor offenses to build bigger cases.
“Whether this is the same tactic that has been used in the past or whether there’s more to the story, only time will tell,” he said.
Polygamy is a felony in Arizona but in Utah it is only a misdemeanor, after a change in 2020 ended jail time for polygamy between consenting adults. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly for the proposal, which supporters said will allow the 30,000 or so people living in the state’s polygamous communities to come out of the shadows and report abuses such as underage marriage by other polygamists without fear of prosecution.
Arizona Department of Child Services spokesperson Darren DaRonco declined to comment on the status of the nine children in state custody.
Alice Barlow has two teenage daughters in state custody, one of whom ran away from the group home. She says she hasn’t been allowed to see or communicate with them lately.
Three girls embrace before they are removed from the home of Samuel Bateman, following his arrest in Colorado City, Ariz., on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022. Seven were removed from the Bateman home, as well as two others from another house as part of the investigation.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The leader of a small polygamous group on the Arizona-Utah border had taken at least 20 wives, most of them minors, and punished followers who did not treat him as a prophet, newly filed federal court documents show.
The filing provides insight into what investigators have found in a case that first became public in August. It came as federal authorities charged three of the self-declared prophet’s wives with kidnapping and impeding a foreseeable prosecution after eight girls associated with the group fled from state foster care.
Naomi Bistline and Donnae Barlow appeared in federal magistrate court in Flagstaff on Wednesday. They remain jailed and have court hearings scheduled next week. Moretta Rose Johnson is awaiting extradition from Washington state.
The FBI affidavit filed in the women’s case centers on Samuel Bateman, who proclaimed himself a prophet in 2019. Authorities wrote that Bateman orchestrated sexual acts involving minors and gave wives as gifts to his male followers, claiming to do so on orders from the “Heavenly Father.” The men supported Bateman financially and gave him their own wives and young daughters as wives.
Bateman, 46, has pleaded not guilty to state child abuse charges and federal charges of tampering with evidence. A trial on the federal charges is scheduled for January. He remains imprisoned in Arizona.
Bateman was a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, until he left in recent years and started his own small offshoot group, said Sam Brower, who has spent years investigating the group. Bateman was once among the trusted followers of imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs, but Jeffs denounced Bateman in a written revelation sent to his followers from prison, Brower said.
Jeffs is serving a life sentence in Texas for child sex abuse related to underage marriages.
The FLDS is itself a breakaway sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, widely known as the Mormon Church. Polygamy is a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream church, but it abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it.
Federal officials contend Bateman engaged in horrific acts with children and called upon his followers to help cover his tracks. His followers say federal officials have falsely accused him and claim something else is at play.
Barlow’s sister, Alice Barlow, said the community is supportive, children are happy and wives consider each other sisters. She said Bateman is a “sweet, gentle spirit,” who teaches that forgiveness and repentance are within reach.
“What they’re trying to do is annihilate a religion,” she told The Associated Press following Wednesday’s hearing. “Samuel is a prophet and a savior in this world. He hasn’t done wrong. They’ve got to realize that God will defend his prophet.”
According to the FBI affidavit, Bateman demanded that his followers confess publicly for any indiscretions, and shared those confessions widely. He claimed the punishments, which ranged from a time out to public shaming and sexual activity, came from the Lord, the affidavit states. Bateman lived in Colorado City, a community that straddles the border between Arizona and Utah, among a patchwork of devout members of the polygamous FLDS, ex-FLDS members and those who don’t practice the beliefs. Bateman and his followers believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.
He once tried to take his only daughter as a wife, but she told her mother about her father’s plan and the mother and daughter moved out and got a restraining order against Bateman. The mother was Bateman’s only wife in 2019, before Bateman started taking more wives.
Bateman was first arrested in August when someone spotted small fingers in the gap of a trailer he was hauling through Flagstaff. Police found three girls, between 11 and 14, in a makeshift room in the unventilated trailer.
The girls told authorities they didn’t have any health or medical needs, according to an Arizona Department of Public Safety report.
Bateman posted bond but was arrested again in September and charged with obstructing justice in a federal investigation into whether children were being transported across state lines for sexual activity. Authorities said that following his first arrest he instructed his followers to obtain passports and to delete messages sent through an encrypted messaging app.
Alice Barlow said the family already was planning to get passports for a family trip to Mexico, not to evade authorities.
At the time of the September arrest, authorities removed nine children from Bateman’s home in Colorado City and placed them in foster care.
None of the girls, identified by their initials in court documents, disclosed sexual abuse by Bateman during forensic interviews, though one said she was present during sexual activity, according to the FBI affidavit. But several of the girls wrote in journals that were seized by the FBI about intimate interactions with Bateman. Authorities believe the older girls influenced the younger ones not to talk about Bateman, the FBI said.
Eight of the children later escaped from foster care, and the FBI alleged Bistline, Barlow and Johnson — all relatives of the children as well as Bateman’s current or former wives — played a part in getting them out of Arizona. The girls were found last week, hundreds of miles away in Spokane, Washington, in a vehicle that Johnson was driving, the FBI affidavit said.
In court Wednesday, Barlow’s attorney said her client was only doing what she believed was right. The attorney, Roberta McVickers, added that Barlow would follow whatever orders the court issues.
Barlow has lived in Colorado City much of her life and has a 2-year-old with special needs, McVickers said in arguing for her to be released from custody. Barlow was educated at home through the 7th grade, and has no independent source of income and no criminal history, McVickers said.
“It’s an adjustment for her to learn whose rules to follow,” McVickers said.
Prosecutor Wayne Venhuizen noted Bistline and Barlow were communicating with Bateman about the children.
“These women have proven that they will stop at nothing to interfere with a federal investigation and protect Bateman, who was sexually abusing children,” he said.
Ultimately, the federal judge overseeing the case ordered Barlow and Bistline, whose brief hearing focused on setting further court dates, to remain in custody.
Barlow, Bistline and Johnson face life in prison if convicted of the charges. Johnson does not yet have an attorney publicly listed in Arizona.
FBI spokesperson Kevin Smith declined Tuesday to discuss the trajectory of the case against the women and Bateman. Court records allege Bateman, 46, engaged in child sex trafficking and polygamy, but none of his current charges relate to those allegations. Bateman’s attorney in the federal case, Adam Zickerman, did not respond to requests for comment.
Criminal defense attorney Michael Piccarreta, who represented Warren Jeffs on Arizona charges that were dismissed and is not involved in the current cases, said Arizona has a history of trying to take a stand against polygamy by charging relatively minor offenses to build bigger cases.
“Whether this is the same tactic that has been used in the past or whether there’s more to the story, only time will tell,” he said.
Polygamy is a felony in Arizona but in Utah it is only a misdemeanor, after a change in 2020 ended jail time for polygamy between consenting adults. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly for the proposal, which supporters said will allow the 30,000 or so people living in the state’s polygamous communities to come out of the shadows and report abuses such as underage marriage by other polygamists without fear of prosecution.
Arizona Department of Child Services spokesperson Darren DaRonco declined to comment on the status of the nine children in state custody.
Alice Barlow has two teenage daughters in state custody, one of whom ran away from the group home. She says she hasn’t been allowed to see or communicate with them lately.
———
Associated Press writer Sam Metz in Salt Lake City contributed to this story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Ludovic Michaud was driving around the scenic red rock landscapes of Utah’s Arches National Park on a windy spring day in 2020 when something unthinkable happened: A metal gate whipped around, sliced through the passenger door of his car and decapitated his new 25-year-old wife, Esther Nakajjigo.
The tragic accident is now the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit Michaud and Nakajjigo’s family are pursuing, in which they argue that the U.S. Park Service was negligent and did not maintain the gates at the entrances and exits to the parks, leading to Nakajjigo’s death.
In opening statements Monday in Salt Lake City, attorneys representing Michaud and Nakajjigo’s family said they were seeking $140 million in damages from the government.
The family’s lawsuit claims when the national parks reopened in April 2020 after being shuttered due to COVID-19, rangers at the national park in Utah didn’t secure the gate in place, which in effect “turned a metal pipe into a spear that went straight through the side of a car, decapitating and killing Esther Nakajjigo.”
United States attorneys do not dispute that park officials shouldered blame, but argued the amount the family should be awarded is far less and called into questions the ways in which the damages being sought were calculated. They said claims by the family’s lawyers that Nakajjigo, who was 25 at the time of her death, was on track to be a non-profit CEO shortly were too speculative to be used as a basis for damages.
“We don’t know with any level of certainty what her plans were,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nelson said.
Attorney Randi McGinn, representing Nakajjigo’s family, on Monday described the death in gruesome detail. After requesting that the family leave the courtroom, she recounted the moment Michaud realized his wife had been killed, when he inhaled the copper-tinged smell of blood, turned to figure out what it was and saw she was dead.
Opening statements previewed how the trial will hinge less on varying accounts of the accident and instead focus on Nakajiigo’s biography and earning potential, which is used to calculate a portion of the damages. McGinn said if her life hadn’t been cut short that Nakajjigo’s trajectory suggested she would have gone on to become a non-profit CEO who could eventually have netted an annual income in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — or millions.
She described Nakajjigo as a prominent women’s rights activist who rose from poverty to become the host of a solutions-oriented reality television series in Uganda focused on empowering women on issues such as education and healthcare.
Nakajjigo worked on fundraising to open a hospital in an underserved part of Kampala, Uganda’s capital, became a philanthropic celebrity and immigrated to the United States for a fellowship at the Boulder, Colorado-based Watson Institute for emerging leaders.
Nelson, the government’s attorney, said an appropriate award would be $3.5 million, far less than the $140 million being pursued. He said he didn’t deny Nakajjigo was an extraordinary person, but argued it was difficult to speculate what kind of work she would have gone on to do. He noted she had recently worked as a host at a restaurant around the time of her death and didn’t have a Bachelor’s degree.
Arches National Park is a 120-square-mile (310-square-kilometer) desert landscape near Moab, Utah, that is visited by more than 1.5 million people annually. It’s known for a series of sculpture-like fins and arches made of an orange sandstone that wind and water have eroded for centuries.
SPRINGDALE, Utah — A woman died and a man was rescued and treated for hypothermia after they were caught in extreme cold weather while hiking in Utah’s Zion National Park, officials said.
The married couple were on a permitted, 16-mile (25-kilometer) hike through the park area known as the Narrows, the National Park Service said in a statement Thursday.
The woman, 31, and the man, 33, were not identified by the park service.
The Zion National Park Search and Rescue Team responded on Wednesday morning after shuttle drivers said visitors reported an injured man and a non-responsive woman in the Narrows, the park service said.
The rescue team found the man on a trail being helped by other hikers and transported him to the Zion Emergency Operations Center for treatment. Rescuers moved further up the Narrows and found the woman near the Virgin River. They administered emergency aid but determined the woman had died, the park service said.
The couple started their trip through the Narrows on Tuesday. They stopped about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from the north end of Riverside Walk, a paved trail. The man told rescuers they became “dangerously cold” overnight and experienced symptoms consistent with hypothermia, the park service said.
Early on Wednesday morning, the man sought help and the woman remained in place. Other visitors administered CPR to the woman before the rescue team arrived, the park service said.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Utah Office of the Medical Examiner and the park service are investigating the cause of the woman’s death.
A woman was found dead Wednesday, and her husband — who was rescued — reported that the couple suffered hypothermia while on a hiking trip in Zion National Park in Utah, officials said.
The two were discovered Wednesday morning by visitors in the Narrows — a gorge considered to be the narrowest section of Zion Canyon, the National Park Service said in a news release Thursday.
The 31-year-old woman died on scene, the park service said, while her 33-year-old husband was taken to the Zion Emergency Operations Center for treatment. No names were provided.
The couple had set out Tuesday on a permitted 16-mile hike, but overnight, they became “dangerously cold and experienced symptoms consistent with hypothermia,” the park service said.
FILE — A trail along the valley floor in the Narrows is viewed on Nov. 6, 2019, in Zion National Park in Utah.
Getty Images
The husband told park rangers that, in the early morning hours Wednesday, the couple came to a stop about one-and-a-half miles from the north end of Riverside Walk, a paved trail which runs from the Temple of Sinawava to the Narrows. The husband went on to get help, while his wife stayed behind, the park service said.
The visitors who came upon the man helped get him down the trail, while others went to his wife and administered CPR until search and rescue personnel arrived on scene.
Along with the park service, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner are investigating the woman’s death.
The Narrows is one of the most popular areas in Zion, according to the park service. However, hiking it requires people to walk in the Virgin River, which in some places is only 20 to 30 feet wide. Depending on the time of year, the park service explains on its website, the Virgin River can “range from ankle deep to full swims.”
“Flash flooding and hypothermia are constant dangers,” the park service writes.
A Phoenix Pastor and his daughter raised $1.8 million for families in need and victims of human trafficking, after being crushed by an 8,000-pound boulder.
Press Release –
Nov 21, 2022
COLORADO CITY, Ariz., November 21, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Pastor Luke Barnett and his daughter, Annalee, set out two years ago to hike the world-famous, 800-mile Arizona Trail. The two were hiking in an effort to raise $1 million to help the Short Creek Dream Center support families and individuals in need of housing, provide food resources to families in need and offer refuge to victims of abuse in Colorado City, AZ (the town featured in the Netflix docuseries, Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey). Luke and Annalee were 500 miles into the hike when an 8,000-pound boulder came bombing down toward Annalee. Heroically, Luke pushed his daughter out of the way, saving her, and, in turn, was crushed and dragged by the boulder himself. Narrowly escaping with his life, Luke was airlifted with multiple broken bones, including a broken femur, three broken ribs, and a nearly severed finger, spent nine days in the hospital, and encouraged Annalee to continue the hike without him.
This story broke internationally and allowed the hikers to raise over $1.8 million in support of the Short Creek Dream Center and Short Creek community.
Now, Luke Barnett is back on the Arizona Trail and determined to complete the last 300 miles of the hike. He wants to accomplish the feat that the boulder robbed them of two years ago and, most importantly, continue to raise money and awareness to support the Dream Center’s efforts in the Short Creek community to help survivors of abuse, human trafficking, domestic violence and provide critical resources to families in need.
The Short Creek Dream Center exists to serve the twin towns of Hildale and Colorado City as they continue to grow, heal, and transform. From transitional housing, recovery, community outreach and helping combat the effects of poverty, the Dream Center exists to help find and fill the needs of the Short Creek Community and beyond.
Along with the Phoenix Dream Center, Streetlight USA, and Stop Traffic Walk, the Short Creek Dream Center is part of the largest network of anti-human trafficking agencies in North America. Trafficking comes in many different forms and we want to see anyone suffering from exploitation be set free and have a place to go for support.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday it would back proposed federal legislation to safeguard same-sex marriages, marking the latest show of support for the measure from conservative-leaning groups.
The nearly 17-million member, Utah-based faith said in a statement that church doctrine would continue to consider same-sex relationships to be against God’s commandments. Yet it said it would support rights for same-sex couples as long as they didn’t infringe upon religious groups’ right to believe as they choose.
“We believe this approach is the way forward. As we work together to preserve the principles and practices of religious freedom together with the rights of LGBTQ individuals much can be accomplished to heal relationships and foster greater understanding,” the church said in a statement posted on its website.
Support for the Respect for Marriage Act under consideration in Congress is the church’s latest step to stake out a more welcoming stance toward the LGBTQ community while holding firm to its belief that same-sex relationships are sinful. Still, its stance toward LGBTQ people — including those who grow up in the church — remains painful for many.
The Washington D.C. Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kensington, Maryland, U.S., on Monday, April 18, 2022.
Bloomberg
Patrick Mason, a professor of religious studies at Utah State University, said the church’s position was both a departure from and continuation of its past stances — respecting laws yet working to safeguard religious liberty and ensuring they won’t be forced to perform same-sex marriages or grant them official church sanction.
“This is part of the church’s overall theology essentially sustaining the law of the land, recognizing that what they dictate and enforce for their members in terms of their behavior is different than what it means to be part of a pluralistic society,” he said.
The faith opposes same-sex marriage and sexual intimacy, but it has taken a more welcoming stance to LGBTQ people in recent years. In 2016, it declared that same-sex attraction is not a sin, while maintaining that acting on it was.
The bill, which has won support from Democrats and Republicans, is set for a test vote in the Senate Wednesday, with a final vote as soon as this week or later this month. It comes after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, with Justice Clarence Thomas issuing a concurring opinion indicating that an earlier high court decision protecting same-sex marriage could come under threat.
The legislation would repeal the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act and require states to recognize all marriages that were legal where they were performed. It would also protect interracial marriages by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.” It makes clear that the rights of private individuals and businesses wouldn’t be affected.
Utah’s four congressmen — who are all members of the church — each voiced support for the legislation earlier this year.
People gather to watch a large television screen at City Hall prior to the California Supreme Court hearing on same–sex marriages, in San Francisco, California, March 5, 2009.
Barbara Davidson/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The church’s public stance is a stark contrast from 14 years ago, when its members were among the largest campaign contributors in support of California’s Prop. 8, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman in response to cities such as San Francisco granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Troy Williams, the executive director of Equality Utah, said it was “thrilling” to see the church part of the coalition in support of the legislation.
“Despite differences we may have, we can always discover common ground on laws that support the strengthening of all families,” Williams, who grew up a church member, said.
The faith opposes laws that would make it illegal for churches to not allow same-sex couples to marry on their property. But it has supported state-based efforts to pass laws that prohibit employment and housing discrimination as long as they clarify respect for religious freedom.
The Respect for Marriage Act neither fully codifies the U.S. Supreme Court decision that enshrined a federal right to same-sex marriage nor details all religious liberty concerns of those who object to it.
Faith groups see it as vehicle for passing religious liberty protections they haven’t been able to in the past, said Tim Schultz, the president of the 1st Amendment Partnership.
Schultz’s organization is advocating for religious liberty on behalf of a coalition concerned with that subject — a coalition that includes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Same-sex marriage has achieved broad appeal in our culture in significant part because it hasn’t trampled on people who believe in traditional marriage,” he said.
SALT LAKE CITY — A few weeks ago, Tavion Thomas was on the brink of losing his place on Utah’s team.
Rushing for a career-high 180 yards on Saturday night proved he’s all the way back.
“I was just so happy to be out there with my teammates,” Thomas said. “I wasn’t worried about my carries, I was just worried about finishing this thing and playing with these guys.”
Cameron Rising threw for three touchdowns and No. 13 Utah beat Stanford 42-7 on Senior Night.
Utah (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) started slow on a below-freezing night in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains, but scored 42 straight points after trailing 7-0 to Stanford (3-7, 1-7).
Utah’s defense was suffocating after the initial score while Thomas recorded his first 100-yard rushing game since the season opener at Florida and eclipsed his previous high (177) set at Stanford last year.
Thomas, who has been in and out of the lineup with personal issues, was pressed into heavy use because of injuries in the backfield.
“It’s been challenging but you can’t run from it, you have to attack it. I’ve got great guys here and a great support system and they got me back slowly but surely,” Thomas said.
He rushed for a four-yard TD in the second quarter and a 36-yard score in the fourth — his 28th career touchdown at Utah, moving him to third on the all-time rushing TD list.
“There were some bumps in the road … but I’m really grateful he continued to stick with it and fight through some of the issues he was having,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.
Thomas was a 1,000-yard rusher and had 21 touchdowns last season but was away from team at times this season and missed the Washington State game. He struggled through the middle of the season but showed renewed speed and power in time for Utah’s quest for a Rose Bowl return.
“It was great to see Tavion in his last game at Rice-Eccles get back to his old self. I’m really proud of him and glad that he’s weathered the storm,” Whittingham said.
Rising went 20-for-33 through the air for 219 yards with an interception to boost Utah’s home winning streak to 14.
“Once we eliminated our mistakes, things started to go our way,” Rising said.
The Utes initially struggled to execute against Stanford, which allows the most rushing yards of any team in the conference. After three fourth-down conversions, including a fake punt, Utah finally scored on a Rising-to-Devaughn Vele 9-yard TD pass in the second quarter.
“We’ve always been good at getting off the field on third down this year but fourth down has been a different story,” Stanford linebacker Levani Damuni said about Utah going 4-for-4 on 4th down in the first half.
After that, the floodgates opened and Utah rolled to 514 total yards with 279 on the ground. At the same time, Stanford’s entire offense failed to outgain Thomas, garnering just 177 total yards.
“We are just doing our job. A lot of the mistakes that were happening early in the season were guys trying to make a big play and not doing their assignments,” said Jonah Elliss, who had 1.5 sacks.
On Stanford’s second drive, Tanner McKee evaded the rush and threw a 51-yard pass and then snuck in for a one-yard touchdown one play later.
In the end, McKee passed for 155 yards but didn’t have much time to throw and was sacked seven times.
“It’s going to be a dirty pocket. It’s going to be tight coverage. When we have those one-on-one opportunities with all the pressure, and we get the protection, we got to hit them,” Stanford coach David Shaw said.
THE TAKEAWAY
Stanford: Without any semblance of a rushing attack — just 22 yards — the Cardinal couldn’t move the ball. Stanford’s defense forced Utah to convert four fourth downs to keep drives going but eventually wore down against the run and were exposed when Utah turned to the passing game against a stacked box.
Utah: The Ute defense looked suspect earlier this season and in this game, but dominated the second quarter by keeping Stanford without a single first down while the offense awoke. Once the Utah line controlled the line of scrimmage, the game was essentially over. Now Utah heads to Oregon in a battle in of one-loss teams.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
UCLA, Oregon and Mississippi were ranked ahead of the Utes in the poll and all lost, so Utah may move up a couple notches.
UP NEXT
Stanford visits California next Saturday afternoon.
Utah plays at Oregon next Saturday night.
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Democrats’ decision to back an independent rather than nominate a member of their own party to take on Republican Mike Lee transformed the state’s U.S. Senate race from foregone conclusion to closely watched slugfest.
Independent Evan McMullin, an anti-Trump former Republican best known for his longshot 2016 presidential bid, attracted millions in outside spending in his campaign against Lee. He forced the second-term Republican to engage with voters more than in prior elections and emphasize an independent streak and willingness to buck leaders of his own party.
That’s spurring a debate: Did Democrats’ strategy create a blueprint to make Republicans campaign hard, compete for moderates and expend resources in future races? Or does the sizeable loss prove that Republicans’ vice grip is impenetrable in the short term, no matter the strategy?
The answers could contain lessons for both red and blue states unaccustomed to competitive elections.
Some Democrats say supporting McMullin was worth it — it shifted the political conversation, made the race competitive and forced Lee to spend almost double what he spent in his 2016 campaign. But other Democrats say the strategy hurt down-ballot candidates who didn’t have a strong top-of-the-ticket contender to help boost them.
“Building my bench in that sense is going to be so much harder. How do I convince candidates, going forward, that the Democratic Party will support them?” said Katie Adams-Anderton, Democratic Party chair in Utah’s second largest county.
Utah is among the fastest growing states, and Democrats hope they will be able to compete as the electorate becomes younger and more urban. Yet Republicans currently hold both Senate seats and all four congressional seats, occupy every statewide office, and this week expanded their supermajorities in the Legislature.
Four years after running for U.S. Senate herself, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson supported Democrats’ decision to back McMullin. She credits it with making Lee sweat. Though McMullin lost, she said, coalescing behind an independent benefited voters by making the race competitive. She hopes putting Lee on his heels will influence how he governs and votes in the U.S. Senate.
“This was a unique moment, and I actually do think we’ve lost an opportunity by not electing Evan to help break up some of the hardened partisanship,” she said, noting that whether backing an independent was a good strategy depended largely on circumstances.
Votes remain to be counted, but Lee is on track to defeat McMullin by double digits. That’s a narrower margin than his 41 percentage-point victory in 2016 over grocery store clerk Misty Snow but wider than McMullin’s team anticipated.
McMullin won 100,000 more votes than Utah Democrats’ four congressional candidates did collectively, but preliminary results don’t suggest his campaigning against the two-party system energized voters enough to substantially buoy turnout.
Independents have won Senate races in Vermont and Maine, yet in deeply red states like Utah, party politics remain entrenched and important to voters.
To put together a fragile coalition of Democrats, Republicans and independents, McMullin focused closely on threats to democracy. Rather than campaign on traditional midterm election issues, he attacked Lee’s November 2020 text messages to Trump’s White House chief of staff about ways to challenge President Joe Biden’s victory.
Both Lee and Democrats skeptical of his candidacy criticized McMullin for being unclear on issues such as abortion or infrastructure spending.
“You say you want to put country over party. I respect that,” Lee said at an October debate, addressing McMullin. “But parties are an important proxy for ideas. You see, because it’s ideas more than parties that tell the people how you will vote.”
Kael Weston, the Democrat Senate candidate who lost the party’s backing when it lined up behind McMullin, acknowledged it would have been difficult for a Democrat to defeat Lee. But he said McMullin’s focus came at the expense of local concerns, such as water or the closure of rural post offices. Focusing on those kinds of issues is the path to making elections competitive in red states, not becoming “Republican lite,” he said.
Though outside spending from Democratic-donor funded PACs and conservative groups like Club for Growth reflect how the race was more competitive than usual, Weston said, McMullin’s attempts to distance himself from Biden and Democrats hurt Democrats who were lower on the ballot.
“If all you see for three months is, Joe Biden is evil and Democrat is a four-letter word, that has an effect,” he said, noting the anti-McMullin television ads might have hurt Democratic candidates for statehouse seats.
Loretta Williams lives in Alabama but drove to Georgia to buy a lottery ticket for a chance at winning the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot.
She was one of many Alabama ticket-buyers flooding across state lines Thursday. The third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history has people around the country clamoring for a chance to win. But in some of the five states without a lottery, envious bystanders are crossing state lines or sending ticket money across them to friends and family, hoping to get in on the action.
“I think it’s ridiculous that we have to drive to get a lottery ticket,” Williams, 67, said.
Five states — Utah, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska and Alabama — do not have a lottery. A mix of reasons have kept them away, including objections from conservatives, concerns about the impact on low-income families or a desire not to compete with existing gaming operations.
“I’m pretty sure the people of Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia appreciate all of our contributions to their roads, bridges, education system and many other things they spend that money on,” said Democratic legislator Chris England, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Several times weekly, England hears from constituents asking when Alabama will approve a lottery: “Especially when people look on TV and see it’s $1.5 billion dollars.”
Opposition intertwined with opportunity
In 1999, Alabama voted down a lottery referendum under a mix of opposition from churches and out-of-state gambling interests. Lottery proposals have since stagnated in its legislature, the issue now intertwined with debate over electronic gambling.
In Georgia, a billboard along Interstate 85 beckons motorists to stop at a gas station billing itself as the “#1 LOTTERY STORE” — 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the Alabama-Georgia line. Alabama car tags outnumbered Georgia ones in the parking lot at times and a line for ticket purchases stretched across the store.
Bruce Gideos, floor manager at Pierre’s Place, in Chesterfield, N.H., prints out Powerball tickets on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. The Powerball jackpot climbed over $1.5 billion on Thursday after no one won Wednesday’s drawing.
Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Similarly, anybody in Utah wanting a lottery ticket must drive to Idaho or Wyoming, the two nearest states to the Salt Lake City metro area, where most of the population resides. Lotteries have long been banned in Utah amid stiff opposition to gambling by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church. The faith has its headquarters in Salt Lake City and the majority of lawmakers and more than half of the state’s residents belong to the religion.
In Malad, Idaho, 13 miles (21 kilometers) from the Utah line, KJ’s Kwik Stop is taking advantage of Powerball’s absence in Utah, advertising directly to Utah residents to cross over for tickets. “Just because Utah doesn’t participate in the lottery doesn’t mean you can’t!” their website read recently.
KJ’s sold hundreds of Powerball tickets to Utah residents on Thursday alone, said Cassie Rupp, a Kwik Stop cashier.
In Alaska, when oil prices slumped in recent years, legislative proposals to generate revenue through lottery games, including possibly Powerball, faltered. A 2015 report suggested annual proceeds from a statewide lottery could be around $8 million but cautioned such a lottery could negatively affect charitable gaming activities such as raffles.
Anchorage podcast host Keith Gibbons was in New York earlier this week but forgot to buy a Powerball ticket, even though he didn’t know the size of the jackpot. His response when told it could be $1.5 billion: “I need a ticket.”
He believes even though Alaska is extremely diverse — Anchorage School District students speak more than 100 languages besides English in their homes — offering Powerball would appeal to everyone.
“There’s a little bit of everybody here, and so when you bring things like that, it doesn’t just speak to our culture, it speaks to all cultures because everybody wants money, everybody wants to win, everybody wants to be part of the scene,” Gibbons said.
Not everyone agrees.
Harmful “waste of money”
Bob Endsley is no fan of Powerball. He says Alaskans shouldn’t have the opportunity to buy tickets. “It’s a waste of money,” said Endsley, also finding fault with the taxes that have to be paid on winnings and the increasing jackpots.
Taking a break from shoveling snow off his sidewalk, the Anchorage man said he once won $10,000 in a Canadian lottery. But it was so long ago, he said, that he doesn’t remember what he did with the windfall other than “paid taxes.”
Hawaii joins Utah as the two states prohibiting all forms of gambling. Measures to establish a Hawaii state lottery or allow casinos are periodically introduced in the Legislature but routinely fail in committee.
Opponents say legalized gambling would disproportionately harm Hawaii’s low-income communities and encourage gambling addictions. Some argue the absence of casinos allows Hawaii to maintain its status as a family-friendly destination. Gambling is popular among Hawaii residents, however, with Las Vegas one of their top vacation destinations.
Wearing a University of Alabama cap, John Jones of Montgomery, Alabama, bought a Powerball ticket on Thursday in Georgia. He voted for an Alabama lottery in 1999 and said he hopes lawmakers there try again. A retired painter, Jones said he usually doesn’t buy a lottery ticket, but decided to take a chance.
He said many Alabamians seem to be doing the same at the Georgia store. “I even met some friends over here,” said Jones, 67.
A pilot escaped without serious injury after an F-35 fighter jet crashed at an Air Force base in Utah Wednesday evening. The crash also sparked a small brush fire.
The crash occurred at about 6:15 p.m. local time at Hill Air Force Base, Col. Craig Andrle, commander of the 388th Fighter Wing, said in a Wednesday night news briefing.
It took place on the north end of a runway, Andrle disclosed, as the pilot was returning from a routine training mission. The pilot safely ejected the jet and was taken to a hospital for observation.
“Tonight, first and foremost, we’re thankful that he’s OK, he got out of the aircraft,” Andrle said.
No one on the ground was hurt, Andrle said. The exact cause of the crash is unknown.
According to the Utah state fire officials, the crash sparked an 8- to 10-acre brush fire on Defense Department land. Multiple fire agencies responded and were able to extinguish the blaze, state fire officials tweeted. Andrle said it took about an hour for crews to knock down the fire.
New Start: #TheStripFire is 8-10 acres. Cause was a downed Military Aircraft. No injuries reported. Fire was on DOD land. Fire suppression by Weber Co. resources and Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL) Fire has been suppressed but continues with Haz-Mat and other needs. #ffslkwpic.twitter.com/3ONcMbyUbV
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had tweeted that his office was “in communication” with the Air Force base and was “praying for the safety of the pilot and first responders and will continue to monitor the situation.”
Hill Air Force Base is located about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City.
A fire sparked by a fighter jet crash at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Oct. 19, 2022.
SALT LAKE CITY — An F-35 fighter jet crashed Wednesday at an Air Force base in Utah, officials said, adding that the pilot ejected and was taken to a hospital for observation.
The 388th Fighter Wing said on its Twitter account that the F-35 A Lightning II crashed at the north end of the Hill Air Force Base runway. It said the cause of the crash was unknown and would be investigated.
The 388th Fighter Wing said emergency crews both on and off the base responded to the crash.
Brock Thurgood said the pilot landed near his property near the base, KSL.com reported. Thurgood said the pilot was “walking and he was coherent,” but noted his hands were “bloodied up and he was a little banged up.”
“I don’t know how I’d be after I was in a plane crash but he was surprisingly tough,” Thurgood said.
Hill Air Force Base is located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Salt Lake City.
Evan McMullin, the independent challenging Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, said in their only debate Monday night that Lee’s actions around the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol were “a betrayal of the American republic.”
Lee, meanwhile, said he accepted that President Joe Biden in 2020 had won the presidency in the “only election that matters – the election held by the Electoral College.” The senator defended his actions that day, pointing to his votes to certify states’ Electoral College results.
Their clash came on the day elections officials in Utah began mailing ballots to voters.
McMullin describes himself as conservative but has said he would caucus with neither party if he defeats Lee. He is attempting to unite a coalition of Democrats, independents and anti-Donald Trump Republicans – and he got an assist this spring when Utah Democrats opted to endorse him rather than field their own candidate. But in Utah, even that coalition might not be enough. Trump won 58% of the vote there in 2020.
McMullin’s entrance into politics came in an effort to serve as an antidote to Trump. He ran for president as an independent against Trump in 2016. He drew 22% of the vote in Utah, well behind Trump’s 46% and Hillary Clinton’s 27%. Among those who voted for McMullin in 2016 was Lee, who said at the time that it “was a protest vote.”
Here are four takeaways from their Monday night debate:
McMullin’s sharpest attacks on Lee came after a moderator raised the topic of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
“You were there to stand up for our Constitution. But when the barbarians were at the gate, you were happy to let them in,” McMullin said.
Lee pointed out that ultimately, he accepted the Electoral College vote.
“Yes, there were people who behaved very badly on that day. I was not one of them. I was one of the people who tried to dismantle that situation,” Lee said.
McMullin, meanwhile, said Lee only voted to accept states’ electoral votes after no other plan to keep Trump in office materialized.
“You voted to certify the election in the last moment,” McMullin said. “In the same way that someone knows that a plot that’s not quite working out ought to abandon it, that’s what you did.”
McMullin repeatedly cited text messages reported by CNN in April between Lee and Trump’s then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in which the two communicated about efforts to overturn Biden’s victory for weeks.
In early December 2020, Lee began texting Meadows about the idea that states could submit alternate slates of pro-Trump electors to Congress on January 6. Lee ultimately voted to certify states’ electoral votes.
McMullin said Lee was working “to keep a president who had been voted out of office, according to the will of the people, in power despite the will of the people.”
He pointed to Lee’s November 7, 2020, texts to Meadows asking him to help Sidney Powell – one of the most prominent attorneys fronting lawsuits that supported Trump and made accusations of widespread election fraud – get access to Trump.
He mocked the pocket Constitution that Lee carries, telling the senator that it is “not a prop for you to wave about and then when it’s convenient for your pursuit of power, to abandon without a thought. That’s what you’ve done with that.”
Lee shot back: “I disagree with everything my opponent just said, including the words ‘but,’ ‘and’ and ‘the.’ An information-free, truth-free statement – that’s something of a record.”
“There is absolutely nothing to the idea that I ever would have supported or ever did support a fake electors plot,” Lee said. “Nothing. Not a scintilla of evidence suggesting that. Yet you continue to suggest that with a cavalier, reckless disregard for the truth.”
In an effort to cast Lee as extreme, McMullin invoked Utah’s other GOP senator: Mitt Romney.
Criticizing Lee’s approach to fiscal measures, McMullin said he “routinely votes against bills that would improve water infrastructure.”
“Meanwhile, Senator Romney has worked hard and consistently over the last three years,” McMullin said. “He works with Republicans and Democrats, Senator Lee, to deliver for Utah. And he voted in favor of the bipartisan infrastructure bill that you voted against. And now tens of millions of dollars have already been directed to Utah to improve our water infrastructure.”
Lee responded: “Yeah, I voted against that bill – a bill that spent well over a trillion dollars more than we have on all sorts of things that weren’t appropriately federal.”
Romney has stayed out of the race.
Lee, in an appearance last week on Fox, made a plea directed at Romney: “Please get on board. Help me win reelection,” he said. The move seemed designed less to win over Romney than to rile up Lee’s conservative base.
Trump followed Lee’s pleas to Romney with a statement in which he called McMullin “McMuffin” and said that Lee was being “abused, in an unprecedented way” by Romney.
Lee said he was “thrilled” with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had made abortion legal nationwide. He said he believes states should decide how to regulate abortion.
“This is where it should remain, because it’s within the states that we can achieve the most consensus and protect the most babies,” Lee said.
McMullin, meanwhile, sought to find a middle ground on abortion rights, saying that he opposes “abortion on demand” but also opposes state legislation to force young rape victims to carry their pregnancies to term.
“Some of these bills that I see being passed around the country are extreme,” McMullin said.
Orem, Utah — Fending off attacks from his independent challenger, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah worked to distinguish himself from former President Donald Trump in a contentious debate Monday evening.
“I stood against my party time and time again to oppose reckless spending. I will do it again and again and again. We need people who say no,” the second-term Republican said.
Lee repeatedly pointed to his voting record and twice told the audience at Utah Valley University that he voted less in line with Trump than all but two Republican senators – Rand Paul and Susan Collins.
“To suggest that I’m beholden to either party, that I’ve been a bootlicker for either party is folly. And it’s contradicted by the plain facts,” Lee said.
Lee faces a challenge from Evan McMullin, a former Republican known most for his long-shot bid for president six years ago, when as an independent he won 21.5% of voters in Utah, including Lee. McMullin has remained a pillar of the anti-Trump movement, attacking the former president as an authoritarian who poses a threat to democracy.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, right, and his independent challenger Evan McMullin pose for photographs before their televised debate on Oct. 17, 2022, in Orem, Utah, three weeks before Election Day.
Rick Bowmer / AP
Lee’s attempts to draw a distinction from Trump reflect the peculiar dynamics emerging in Utah this election cycle. In the red state’s marquee race, one candidate is running as an independent and the other is attempting to emphasize his independent streak.
The race has taken shape as one of the nation’s many referendums on the direction Trump has taken the GOP. McMullin is attempting to harness anti-Trump sentiment that has distinguished Utah from other Republican strongholds. Lee’s last minute efforts to put space between his voting record and Trump’s stances depart from his past messaging as Election Day nears.
“I don’t think he’s trying to distance himself from Trump. What I think he’s trying to do is draw that contrast,’” Utah Republican Party Chair Carson Jorgensen said.
“No, he’s stood up for what he believed every time, even when it came to Trump,” he added.
Utah is a reliably Republican state, but its religion-infused politics are idiosyncratic. The majority of residents belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which places a high value on manners and eschews alcohol and foul language. Members of the faith lean Republican, yet polling has shown Trump commands less robust support among them than other prominent GOP politicians.
Trump failed to win support from a majority of Utah voters in 2016 and Joe Biden performed better with Utah voters in 2020 than any Democrat since 1964.
Lee’s emphasis on his willingness to stray from Trump comes as McMullin attempts to paint him as one of the former president’s most loyal disciples. McMullin recently released an attack ad based on Lee’s 2020 remarks comparing Trump to Captain Moroni, a scriptural hero in the Book of Mormon.
Monday’s debate was McMullin’s first chance to directly confront Lee about the text messages he sent to Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which he’s made a centerpiece of his campaign.
The texts show Lee asking for advice on how to contribute to efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. Lee has defended his actions by saying he merely intended to look into the legal arguments and rumors about swing states putting forth slates of fake electors, noting that he ultimately voted to certify the results.
On Monday, Lee demanded an apology from McMullin and said his version of events exhibited a “cavalier, reckless disregard for the truth.”
Though the messages suggest Lee researched the legality of alternate elector slates in the lead-up to Jan. 6, Lee said they showed no evidence that he would have supported such a scheme.
A raucous crowd made up mostly of Lee supporters jeered and booed when McMullin called Lee’s actions “a travesty.”
“Senator Lee, that was the most egregious betrayal of our nation’s Constitution in its history by a U.S. Senator. I believe it will be your legacy,” McMullin said, wagging his finger at Lee.
Editor’s Note: Kara Alaimo, an associate professor of communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University, writes about issues affecting women and social media. Her book, “Over the Influence: Why Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls — And How We Can Reclaim It,” will be published by Alcove Press in 2024. The opinions expressed in this commentary are her own. Read more opinion on CNN.
CNN
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Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, recently signed two bills into law that sharply restrict children’s use of social media platforms. Under the legislation, which takes effect next year, social media companies have to verify the ages of all users in the state, and children under age 18 have to get permission from their parents to have accounts.
Parents will also be able to access their kids’ accounts, apps won’t be allowed to show children ads, and accounts for kids won’t be able to be used between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. without parental permission.
It’s about time. Social networks in the United States have become potentially incredibly dangerous for children, and parents can no longer protect our kids without the tools and safeguards this law provides. While Cox is correct that these measures won’t be “foolproof,” and what implementing them actually looks like remains an open question, one thing is clear: Congress should follow Utah’s lead and enact a similar law to protect every child in this country.
One of the most important parts of Utah’s law is the requirement for social networks to verify the ages of users. Right now, most apps ask users their ages without requiring proof. Children can lie and say they’re older to avoid some of the features social media companies have created to protect kids — like TikTok’s new setting that asks 13- to17-year-olds to enter their passwords after they’ve been online for an hour, as a prompt for them to consider whether they want to spend so much time on the app.
While critics argue that age verification allows tech companies to collect even more data about users, let’s be real: These companies already have a terrifying amount of intimate information about us. To solve this problem, we need a separate (and comprehensive) data privacy law. But until that happens, this concern shouldn’t stop us from protecting kids.
One of the key components of this legislation is allowing parents access to their kids’ accounts. By doing this, the law begins to help address one of the biggest dangers kids face online: toxic content. I’m talking about things like the 2,100 pieces of content about suicide, self-harm and depression that 14-year-old Molly Russell in the UK saved, shared or liked in the six months before she killed herself last year.
I’m also talking about things like the blackout challenge — also called the pass-out or choking challenge — that has gone around social networks. In 2021, four children 12 or younger in four different states all died after trying it.
“Check out their phones,” urged the father of one of these young victims. “It’s not about privacy — this is their lives.”
Of course, there are legitimate privacy concerns to worry about here, and just as kids’ use of social media can be deadly, social apps can also be used in healthy ways. LGBTQ children who aren’t accepted in their families or communities, for example, can turn online for support that is good for their mental health. Now, their parents will potentially be able to see this content on their accounts.
I hope groups that serve children who are questioning their gender and sexual identities and those that work with other vulnerable youth will adapt their online presences to try to serve as resources for educating parents about inclusivity and tolerance, too. This is also a reminder that vulnerable children need better access to mental health services like therapy — they’re way too young to be left to their own devices to seek out the support they need online.
But, despite these very real privacy concerns, it’s simply too dangerous for parents not to know what our kids are seeing on social media. Just as parents and caregivers supervise our children offline and don’t allow them to go to bars or strip clubs, we have to ensure they don’t end up in unsafe spaces on social media.
The other huge challenge the Utah law helps parents overcome is the amount of time kids are spending on social media. A 2022 survey by Common Sense Media found that the average 8- to12-year-old is on social media for 5 hours and 33 minutes per day, while the average 13- to18 year-old spends 8 hours and 39 minutes every day. That’s more time than a full time-job.
The American Academy of Pediatrics warns that lack of sleep is associated with serious harms in children — everything from injuries to depression, obesity and diabetes. So parentsin the US need to have a way to make sure their kids aren’t up on TikTok all night (parents in China don’t have to worry about this because the Chinese version of TikTok doesn’t allow kids to stay on for more than 40 minutes and isn’t useable overnight).
Of course, Utah isn’t an authoritarian state like China, so it can’t just turn off kids’ phones. That’s where this new law comes in requiring social networks to implement these settings. The tougher part of Utah’s law for tech companies to implement will be a provision requiring social apps to ensure they’re not designed to addict kids.
Social networks are arguably addictive by nature, since they feed on our desires for connection and validation. But hopefully the threat of being sued by children who say they’ve been addicted or otherwise harmed by social networks — an outcome for which this law provides an avenue — will force tech companies to think carefully about how they build their algorithms and features like bottomless feeds that seem practically designed to keep users glued to their screens.
TikTok and Snap didn’t respond to requests for comment from CNN about Utah’s law, while a representative for Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said the company shares the goal to keep Facebook safe for kids but also wants it to be accessible.
Of course, if social networks had been more responsible, it probably wouldn’t have come to this. But in the US, tech companies have taken advantage of a lack of rules to build platforms that can be dangerous for our kids.
There’s nothing innocent about the experiences many kids are having on social media. This law will help Utah’s parents protect their kids. Parents in other states need the same support. Now, it’s time for the federal government to step up and ensure children throughout the country have the same protections as Utah kids.
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you and your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States. En Español: Linea de Prevencion del Suidio y Crisis: 1-888-628-9454.
