KCYN-KCPX News Thursday 6-14-12
Ogden • Aron Ralston — the Coloradoan whose story of cutting off his arm to save his life inspired the movie "127 Hours" — turned his efforts Wednesday toward saving the country that nearly killed him.
A motivational speaker and outdoor enthusiast, Ralston spoke to about 400 people, in Ogden, at the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance retailers’ trade show and as a $13,000 fundraiser for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). In his speech, he urged President Barack Obama to designate a national monument in southeast Utah, which would include Bluejohn Canyon, where Ralston nearly died. And he called on Utahns to "vote for the canyons."
He added that while the nation needs oil and gas, it shouldn’t come at the expense of wilderness. Each time he returns to the area where a boulder dislodged and trapped him, he said, he sees a new drilling rig closer to the scene.
　
Golf Week magazine recently released it’s list of the top golf courses in America and the Hideout is rated the #17 best public course in all of America!
That puts the Hideout in the same company as Bethpage Black in New York and Torrey Pines in California, who both have hosted US Opens in the past four years. Of note also is another course in our area, Pinion Hills in Farmington, NM which is #4 on the list.

The Hideout is also ranked fifth in Utah when rated to all courses, public and private.
People are finding out about our little gem here, with play up 10-15 percent over last year already and last year was the best year yet at the Hideout.
This past weekend, 158 golfers participated in the annual Arch and the Horesehead tournament, an event that features the Hideout and Saturday and the Moab Golf Club on Sunday.
Golf pro Tyler Ivins reports 158 golfers is the biggest event ever held at the Hideout, bigger than the heydays of the San Juan Amateur.
-0-
SPANISH FORK CANYON, Utah – A 21-year-old man is dead after falling 80 feet in Spanish Fork Canyon Wednesday morning.
Ammon Leatham of Orem and a woman were hiking on the Thistle Slide area early Wednesday morning and climbed into an overflow tunnel from the area of the Utah County Sheriff’s Office shooting range.
Near the west end of the tunnel, the pair reportedly heard something. Leatham went to investigate and fell 80 feet. The woman called 911 at around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Latham sustained serious injuries to his head, neck, chest and pelvis, but was still alive when emergency crews arrived. He was transported to the University of Utah Medical Center via medical helicopter where he died a short time later.
　
　
　
　
>>Preliminary Report On Tanker Crash

(Washington, DC) -- A preliminary report has been released on the June 3rd air tanker crash on the Utah-Nevada border. The National Transportation Safety Board says the Lockheed tanker collided with mountainous terrain, while dropping retardant on a wildfire 20 miles north of Modena. Two pilots from Boise, Idaho were killed. The NTSB is still looking into what caused the crash.
(Undated) -- The first section of the I-15 CORE project to be completed is opening today. The four-and-a-half-mile stretch from Lehi to Pleasant Grove now features six lanes each for northbound and southbound traffic. The 24-mile construction project that extends from Lehi to Spanish Fork is scheduled to be completed in December. The massive road construction project that started in 2010 is adding freeway lanes and updated and improving more than 60 bridges.

>>Bangerter Bridge Opening Saturday

(Undated) -- A new bridge on the Bangerter Highway is scheduled to open to traffic this weekend. Utah Department of Transportation crews will start shifting traffic to the bridge at 7800 South this Saturday night and UDOT says the bridge should be completely open by Sunday afternoon. The bridge will have drivers use ramps to turn onto 7800 South, similar to a freeway interchange.

>>Utah Export Growth Is 2nd In Nation

(Undated) -- Utah is a national leader in export growth. The state ranks second in the nation, behind only Texas, in export growth according to U.S. Chamber of Commerce report released yesterday. Utah exported nearly 19-billion dollars in goods and commodities last year. Rising prices for gold and silver drove much of the state's export growth.
　

>>Copper Stripped From School’s Air Units

(Ogden, UT) -- Copper thieves have left an Odgen school without air conditioning. KSL-TV reports copper wire was stripped from three rooftop units at Bonneville High. Investigators hope surveillance footage will give them a description of the suspects. The Weber School District says the 16-thousand dollar cost will be covered by insurance, and the new units will be installed by the end of August.
　
　

>>Insurer To Keep Parts Of Health Care Law

(Salt Lake City, UT) -- Even if the Supreme Court strikes down portions of the Affordable Care Act, one major insurer says it will keep some of its provisions intact. Regence BlueCross BlueShield says dependent children will still be allowed to stay on their parents’ policies, and the appeals process for denied coverage will continue. Regence says any other decisions will be made based on customer feedback.

>>New Center For Families Dedicated

(Salt Lake City, UT) -- The YWCA has dedicated a new Center for Families at its downtown campus. It provides a one-stop location for women and men who need help to get out of an unsafe relationship. The center on East 300 South also features a community education program and an expanded Family Justice Center. It will be open weekdays from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM.

>>Utah Nonprofits Share $402-Thousand In Grants

(Undated) -- A half-dozen Utah nonprofit organizations are sharing more than 400-thousand dollars in grants. The Colorado-based Daniels Fund is directing a total of 402-thousand dollars to organizations the fund's president says have a proven record of success in helping people rise above challenges. Grants are going to Murray Youth Baseball, the Erin Kimball Memorial Foundation in St. George, TriCounty Health Department in northeastern Utah, the Utah Food Bank in Salt Lake City, Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind in Ogden, and Canyon Creek Women's Crisis Center in Cedar City.

>>Taylorsville Set To Join UPD

(Taylorsville, UT) -- Taylorsville is moving to join the Salt Lake Valley Fire District and to contract with the Unified Police Department for law enforcement services. A majority of the city council endorsed those moves in a straw poll yesterday. The actions would remove the need for a tax increase to cover shortfalls in Taylorsville's 2013 budget. However, joining the fire district would add slightly less than 12-dollars to the monthly tax bill for the average home in Taylorsville. The city council is expected to vote on the changes at its regular meeting next Wednesday.