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• Police: Utah soccer referee punched by player dies

  May 5, 2013 10:59 AM

  MURRAY, Utah - Police say a Utah soccer referee who was in a coma after being punched by a teenage player has died. They say 46-year-old Ricardo Portillo of Salt Lake City died late Saturday night. Unified police spokesman Justin Hoyal says Portillo passed away at the hospital, where he... more »

• Millsap leads Jazz over Hornets

  January 30, 2013 10:59 PM

  SALT LAKE CITY - Paul Millsap scored 25 points, Al Jefferson had 22 and the Utah Jazz defeated the New Orleans Hornets 104-99 on Wednesday night. Ryan Anderson's 3-pointer with 15 seconds left pulled the Hornets within 100-97 but Randy Foye and Millsap each hit two free throws down the... more »

• Group objects to state money for film festival

  January 15, 2013 7:41 PM

  A conservative group in Utah called on the state to stop giving taxpayer money to the Sundance Film Festival due to movies it says violate family values. The Sutherland Institute says the state shouldn't spend $300,000 on the festival that promotes films about porn stars and women who have affairs... more »

• "All Shook Up" over musical

  January 3, 2013 7:41 PM

  A parent in Utah upset about Elvis Presley songs in a high school musical got it canceled for a day and then the school district changed its mind. The criticism was the songs were too sexual. The Jordan School District now says the show will go on with minor edits... more »

• Utah Gov asks Obama to approve state's exchange

  December 11, 2012 2:31 PM

  SALT LAKE CITY - Utah Governor Gary Herbert is asking President Barack Obama to approve the state's health insurance exchange and declare that it meets the requirements of the federal health overhaul. Herbert sent the letter Tuesday ahead of Friday's deadline for states to decide if they'll do their own... more »

• Utah wants Winter Games again

  December 3, 2012 7:23 PM

  Utah and Salt Lake City plan to make another bid for the Winter Olympics after having hosted in 2002. It's considered a long shot bid for the 2026 games since other U.S. cities argue its their turn. Denver and the Reno-Lake Tahoe area want to make a bid, as well.... more »

• Settlement with man who flipped-off cop

  November 15, 2012 7:29 PM

  There's a settlement in a lawsuit where the ACLU says a man's constitutional rights were violated when a police officer pulled him over for giving the cop the middle finger in Orem, Utah. The ACLU sued on behalf of Seth Dame, who flipped off the officer. The officer pulled over... more »

• Prosecutors: Man stabbed grandmother 111 times

  October 15, 2012 12:49 PM

  SALT LAKE CITY - Court records say a Utah man accused of killing his grandmother stabbed her 111 times. In the newly released documents, prosecutors also claim Zachary Weston told police he cut her in several places and removed several of her internal organs. According to the records, officers went... more »

• Police: Call from 'burglar' actually came from dog

  October 5, 2012 12:59 PM

  OREM, Utah - Police in Orem, Utah, say a man who thought he was getting a call from a burglar had actually gotten a call from his dog. Authorities in the community south of Salt Lake City say the man alerted police Wednesday after he received a phone call from... more »

• Dance cut short over dress length

  October 2, 2012 7:25 PM

  A high school principal in Toole, Utah apologized to dozens of students who were turned away from their homecoming dance because their dress lengths were considered too short. On Monday, The Stansbury high school principal told students the school dress code was too vague to be enforced and offered another... more »

• Official: 'Goat man' in Utah mountains is hunter

  July 24, 2012 12:26 PM

  OGDEN, Utah - State wildlife officials have identified the man who has been spotted dressed in a goat suit among a herd of wild goats in the mountains of northern Utah. Phil Douglass of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said Monday the mystery man is a 57-year-old hunter from... more »

• Utah man uses obituary to confess indiscretions

  July 17, 2012 12:31 PM

  SALT LAKE CITY - A 59-year-old Utah man who wrote his own obituary before he died last week used the opportunity to come clean. Friends and family of Val Patterson learned Sunday that the man they thought held a doctorate from the University of Utah received the degree thanks to... more »

• Swallowed diamond ring

  July 10, 2012 7:55 PM

  A woman in Utah is accused of theft after she swallowed a $4,000 diamond ring at a department store before pawning it off after it passed through her system. Angela Hardman is accused of shopping at Macy's and asking to try on the ring. Police say she switched it with... more »

• Utah mayor says vote too close to call on fate of his 18-inch handlebar mustache

  July 5, 2012 12:36 PM

  SALT LAKE CITY - The vote on whether a Utah mayor should shave off all 18 inches of his handlebar mustache is too close to call. Residents of the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray cast votes Wednesday on whether Mayor Dan Snarr saves it or shaves it by giving... more »

• 'Shame' punishments like ponytail cutting increase

  June 25, 2012 6:07 PM

  SALT LAKE CITY- A legal scholar says unconventional sentences that seek to shame defendants are steadily increasing and turning state courts into circus shows. A 13-year-old Utah girl received such a punishment recently in juvenile court after cutting a 3-year-old girl's hair with dollar-store scissors. George Washington University Professor Jonathan... more »

• Jindal going to Romney fundraising retreat in Utah

  June 22, 2012 2:14 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Gov. Bobby Jindal is joining Mitt Romney this weekend in Utah, for a retreat with top GOP donors and other Republican heavyweights. Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin said Friday that the Republican Louisiana governor will be attending. But he didn't respond to further questions about the trip. The... more »

• Five Wives Vodka banned in Idaho

  May 29, 2012 7:53 PM

  Liquor regulators in Idaho banned a vodka called "Five Wives Vodka" saying its in bad taste. The vodka is distilled in neighboring Utah, the home of the Mormon Church and the label shows five women hiking up their skirts. State Liquor Division administrator Jeff Anderson says the brand is offensive... more »

• Police: Utah man bound, tortured by roommates

  May 23, 2012 12:38 PM

  MAGNA, Utah - A Utah man's roommates have been arrested after police say they tied him up, stapled his lips shut, and tortured him with a power tool over the weekend. Police tell The Salt Lake Tribune the roommates accused the 41-year-old man of provoking other people to threaten them... more »

• Moose on the Loose

  May 17, 2012 7:23 PM

  A moose on the loose in a neighborhood in Utah triggered a police chase. Division of Wildlife Resources agents tried to corner him, but the wandering bull moose kept running away. It was stopped when one officer shot him with a tranquilizer dart. The moose was then loaded on a... more »

• Homework leads to burglary arrest

  May 14, 2012 7:20 PM

  Police in Utah say they got their man for a home burglary because the 18-year-old left his homework at the scene of the crime. They tracked a USB drive found at the house to Dallas Naljahih and say it contained his homework and was in a backpack abandoned in the... more »

• Salazar set to approve major gas well project

  May 8, 2012 9:47 AM

  SALT LAKE CITY- U. S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was set to approve a major natural gas drilling project in Utah. Salazar planned to make the announcement Tuesday at a pipeline compression station on Salt Lake City's west side. He offered no details before the event got under way.... more »

• Jindal travels to Utah, Colorado and New Mexico

  April 26, 2012 2:38 PM

  BATON ROUGE - Gov. Bobby Jindal is heading southwest for a string of Republican money-raising events. Jindal's office said the GOP governor was traveling to Salt Lake City on Thursday for a fundraiser to support Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and to Denver for a fundraiser for the Colorado Republican Party.... more »

• Booby traps found by military expert

  April 25, 2012 1:06 PM

  SALT LAKE CITY - A U.S. Forest Service officer who came across two potentially deadly booby traps along a popular Utah hiking trail says his years of military experience as a bomb disposal technician helped him spot the devices. James Schoeffler told The Associated Press on Wednesday he's been in... more »

• Naked run inspired by "American Pie"

  March 29, 2012 7:35 PM

  Four teens in Utah got a warning for running naked through a neighborhood armed with a BB gun in case they were attacked by deer during their jaunt. They say they were inspired by a scene from the movie "American Pie: The Naked Mile". Authorities say the kids were spotted... more »

• Man's shot aimed at mouse hits roommate

  February 28, 2012 11:36 AM

  SALT LAKE CITY- A Utah man has been charged after police say he tried to shoot a mouse in his pantry and ended up wounding his roommate. Christian Sunil Paul, of Taylorsville, was charged Monday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court with one felony count of discharging a firearm... more »

• Cougar Controversy

  January 20, 2012 7:55 PM

  A school district in Utah will not allow a new high school to use "Cougars" as a mascot because of its connotation in popular culture. The Canyons School District Superintendent says some see the word cougar as carrying a "negative double ententre" since the term can refer to women in... more »

• Utah school passes on 'cougars' as mascot

  January 20, 2012 1:18 PM

  SALT LAKE CITY - A Utah school district has decided against using "Cougars" as a mascot for a new high school in part because of the negative connotation of the word in popular culture. Canyons School District Superintendent David S. Doty says the selection of "Chargers" as mascot was driven... more »

• Utah officer dies following drug-related shootout

  January 5, 2012 8:17 AM

  OGDEN, Utah (AP) - Authorities say a Utah police officer has died following a shootout that left five other officers and the suspect wounded. Ogden police say Jared Francom died from his wounds following Wednesday night's drug-related shooting. Five police officers from multiple agencies remain hospitalized with serious to critical... more »

• Officers Cleared in Pepper-Spraying of Dancers

  November 2, 2011 7:42 PM

  Police in a small town in Utah were cleared of excessive force allegations after they pepper-sprayed some dancers performing a traditional Polynesian dance after a high school football game last week. A report says the Roosevelt, Utah officers could have chosen other ways to maintain security but spraying the dancers... more »

• Virginity For Sale

  October 24, 2011 7:46 PM

  UTAH - A woman in Utah accused of trying to sell her 13-year-old daughter's virginity pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor. She admits she forced her daughter to model for men in her underwear. She faces up to 30 years in prison. Authorities say she... more »

• Rat Eater has Cruelty Charge Dismissed

  October 4, 2011 7:16 PM

  A man in Utah says it was grotesque, but he did nothing wrong by eating a live baby rat and his animal cruelty charge was dismissed. Andy Ray Harris of Tooele was charged in April after authorities saw a Facebook video of him eating what appeared to be a baby... more »

• Man with broken leg survives 4 days in Utah desert

  September 25, 2011 1:46 PM

  SALT LAKE CITY- A 64-year-old man who broke his leg while hiking crawled through the Utah desert for four days near Canyonlands National Park before rangers rescued him. Amos Wayne Richards of Concord, N.C. is now recovering at home. He was hiking alone Sept. 8 in the rugged... more »

• Organ Donor-Suicide

  July 15, 2011 7:22 PM

  A woman called 911 saying she wanted to be an organ donor, drove to a hospital and committed suicide in Utah. St. George police say the unidentified 57 year old parked outside the emergency room of Dixie Regional Medical Center, left her car and shot herself in the head. Doctors... more »

• Fake Drilling Lease Trial

  March 2, 2011 7:24 PM

  The lawyer for a man on trial for making bids he couldn't pay on federal oil and gas leases in Utah says Tim DeChristopher had no advance plan to disrupt the auction in 2008. He says DeChristopher had no intention of harming anyone, including the federal Bureau of Land Management.... more »

• Music Group Abuse

  February 17, 2011 7:34 PM

  The father of a musical group called The 5 Browns pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his daughters when they were children. Keith Brown admitted to three felony counts of sodomy on a child and sexual abuse of a child in Provo, Utah. His daughters are part of the classical piano... more »

• Protect that Winning Ticket

  December 6, 2010 7:31 PM

  A family holding a winning $1 million lottery ticket took no chances while traveling from Utah to cash it in at the lottery office in Idaho. Sisters Cindy Flint and Carol Olsen, along with their mother kept it locked in a fireproof safe on the 300-mile drive from Brigham City,... more »

• Elizabeth Smart tells jurors of 2002 abduction

  November 8, 2010 12:59 PM

  SALT LAKE CITY - Elizabeth Smart told jurors Monday how she was awakened with a cold knife on her throat and initially thought her 2002 abduction was a nightmare. She took the stand on the first day of testimony in the Salt Lake City federal trial of Brian David... more »

• Punkin Chunkin Record

  September 10, 2010 7:50 PM

  A team in Utah says it achieved the holy grail of punkin chunkin by setting a record of more than a mile. Its a sport where pumpkins are fired from a giant air cannon. The "Big 10 Inch Team" from Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey says it launched a nine... more »

• LSU student arrested in nude photos case

  July 20, 2010 6:22 AM

  A 19-year-old LSU student has been arrested for allegedly soliciting nude photos of a 16-year-old Utah girl through the Internet. LSU Police say the girl sent the photos to Thomas Richard in May and June. Investigators say the girl met Richard online, but they never met in person. The girl's... more »

• Oil in Utah leaked from quarter-size hole

  June 14, 2010 2:28 PM

  Chevron says a hole the size of a quarter, caused 33,000 gallons of oil to leak into a creek in Salt Lake City. Refinery officials say the leak was caused by an electrical arc that traveled through a metal fence post. The spill has coated about 300 birds... more »

• Clemency decision expected from UT parole board

  June 14, 2010 8:48 AM

  A condemned Utah inmate scheduled for execution by firing squad will soon know if a Utah parole board will grant him clemency. Convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner will learn his fate today from the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole. The last time Utah granted clemency to a condemned man... more »

• Utah prepares Firing Squad

  June 8, 2010 9:29 PM

  Killer Ronnie Lee Gardner will be strapped into a chair with a hood placed over his head and a small white taget will be placed over his heart on June 18. Barring a last-minute reprieve, he will be shot by firing squad for killing a lawyer in 1985 during a... more »

• Coleman Will filed in Utah

  June 8, 2010 9:16 PM

  A friend and a former manager is the executor of the late Gary Coleman's eastate and specifies he wanted to be cremated. His will was officially filed with a court in Utah where Coleman died last month after suffering a brain hemorrage. The will was written in 1999 before Coleman... more »

• Prisoner who requested firing squad loses one appeal

  June 4, 2010 8:25 PM

  A prisoner who requested the firing sqaud for execution in Utah lost an appeal before the state Supreme Court. Ronnie Lee Gardner cannot challenge the signing of his death warrant. The justices agreed with prosecutors that a sentence can be appealed but not the order to carry out the sentence.... more »

• Actor Gary Coleman hospitalized in critical condition

  May 27, 2010 5:31 PM

  Former child television star Gary Coleman is in critical condition near his Utah home, a hospital spokeswoman said Thursday. Utah Valley Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Janet Frank said Coleman, 42, was admitted to the Provo facility on Wednesday but she couldn't release any other details. Coleman lives in... more »

• Utah man to ask for mercy, not firing squad

  May 19, 2010 8:38 PM

  A condemned killer in Utah is expected to ask the pardons board to commute his death sentence to life instead of facing a firing squad as he earlier requested. Ronnie Lee Gardner has expressed remorse for killing a lawyer in 1985. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole set the... more »

• Killer wants firing squad execution

  April 23, 2010 8:35 PM

  A condemned killer in Utah ask a judge to be executed by firing squad and the judge granted his request. Ronnie Lee Gardner had the choice between lethal injection or firing squad by a five-member team. Gardner got the death penalty for killing a lawyer 25-years ago during an escape... more »

• How now brown cow? Okay!

  April 8, 2010 8:44 PM

  A cow that spent several days trapped beneath a city street in Utah was hoisted to safety after it was fitted with a harness and pulled out by a tractor. It happened in Kaysville. Animal Control says the cow somehow squeezed into a culvert and became trapped as it moved... more »

• More states will join Montana over gun rights

  April 7, 2010 8:35 PM

  Wyoming and Utah plan to join Montana in a lawsuit against the federal government over regulating guns that are made and sold in the same state. Other states may sign on as well. Those states have adopted "firearms freedom" laws that say the federal government can't regulate guns made and... more »

• DNA breaks cold case

  January 4, 2010 8:11 PM

  DNA testing cracked a cold case in Utah where a young girl was stabbed to death 12-years ago. Matthew Breck is charged with murder and sexual abuse of a child. He was already in prison on an unrelated sexual-abuse charge involving another young girl in Idaho. Twelve-year old Anna Palmer... more »

• McDonald's rap gets teens in trouble

  October 29, 2009 8:18 PM

  Four teens in Utah who rapped their order at a McDonald's drive-through were cited for disorderly conduct in the town of American Fork, south of Salt Lake City. The teens say they were imitating a video on "YouTube" which begins "I need a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce..". They... more »