KCYN-KCPX NEWS Thursday 13Sept2012

SALT LAKE CITY — A public school teacher, business owner and hunting enthusiast were among residents Wednesday who staged a rally at the Capitol urging Gov. Gary Herbert to withdraw his efforts to gain control of federal lands.
Organized by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the rally was followed by the delivery of more than 5,400 signatures on a petition and post cards to Herbert's office to voice opposition to what they characterize as Herbert's "land grab."
>>Scientists Comparing Mars To Southern Utah

(Undated) -- Southern Utah looks like Mars. No, that's not a knock on southern Utah, it's a statement of how geologically similar the Red Planet is to the southern part of the Beehive State. The "Deseret News" reports more scientists are seeing similarities in the reddish-colored deserts, like exposed rock layers on Mars that look like sedimentary rocks in Utah. The new insight comes courtesy of the Mars rover Curiosity, which is sending back higher-resolution pictures of the Martian surface.

(Monticello Utah)-San Juan County Assessor Howard Randall is appealing a number of changes made by the San Juan County Board of Equalization (BOE) on local property valuations.
The appeals will be reviewed by the State of Utah.
The Board of Equalization (made up of the three members of the San Juan County Commission) heard appeals on the valuation of more than 110 local properties during BOE hearings in August and September.
Randall will appeal the BOE decision on 37 of the properties, including approximately 23 in the Blanding area and 14 in the Monticello area.
By the end of the day, Randall announced that he would appeal an additional adjustment made by the BOE during the meeting. During the discussion, the Commissioners heard a BOE appeal on the Gouldings properties in Monument Valley. They rolled back the value of the Gouldings properties to previous levels.
The Assessor’s office said that the value of the properties had increased by more than 350 percent in the past year, from $1.6 million to $5.9 million. Randall admitted that the massive increase was due, in part, to “neglect” on his part. “We hadn’t looked at the Gouldings properties in many years,” said Randall.
Mike Ewfield, from Gouldings, said they expect taxes to increase a little each year, “but not like this.” He asked if the county could implement the increase over the next several years rather than in one massive increase.
After discussion, the Commission set the Gouldings valuation at $1.6 million

(Moab Utah)-Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, in cooperation with the Moab City Police and Grand County Sheriff’s Office, arrested a man at his home in Moab on Tuesday, Aug. 30.
Kenneth Duane Ellis, 53, was charged with possession of child pornography.
Other residents living in busses and trailers on the property off Spanish Valley Drive were searched by agents during the arrest as part of protocol.
Mike Grindstaff of Moab was drinking a beer with his friend Glen Pupura on the property when FBI agents arrived. He said he saw a brand new truck with red and blue lights in the windshield drive onto the property.
As soon as Grindstaff stood up the truck doors opened and FBI agents with guns came running toward him and his friend.
“We put our hands up. I was like ‘I don’t have any weapons,’” Grindstaff said. “They came in fast. It was intense.”
Officers told Grindstaff that they were looking for another man on the property named Kenny. The agents checked all residences on the property
-0->>Census Data Shows Utahns Worse Off Than Four Years Ago

(Undated) -- New figures from the government are suggesting the average Utahn is worse off now than they were four years ago. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the median household income in Utah last year was a little more than 55-thousand dollars. That's down 15-percent from the last Presidential election. Utah's poverty rate also went from seven-point-six percent in 2008 to eleven-percent last year.

>>Former President Clinton Talks About Encounter With LDS Missionaries

(Undated) -- Former President Clinton is speaking very highly about when he was approached by LDS missionaries. Clinton, who's a Baptist, says two or three missionaries approached him in Hot Springs, Arkansas when he was a young man. He tells "Buzzfeed" that he listened to their explanation of the Mormon view and even recalled the different degrees of heaven as explained to him decades ago.

>>Hearing Today In "Free Speech Zone" Lawsuit

(Undated) -- A hearing is scheduled Friday Morning for a lawsuit that challenges Brigham City's "free speech zones." The Main Street Church and the ACLU filed the lawsuit earlier this week, seeking a restraining order so fliers can be passed out in front of a new LDS temple. The church got a permit for the protest, but it was only allowed on two sidewalks and there was a limit on how many people could be there.

>>Riverdale Leaders Say Foreclosure Cleanup Ordinance Is Working

(Riverdale, UT) -- Riverdale's ordinance against messy foreclosed properties is getting positive reviews one year after it was passed. KSTU-TV reports the city has cleaned up about a half-dozen vacant homes. If the city sees a problem with a foreclosed home, a cleanup crew is contracted and the cost is slapped onto property in the form of a lien. Any new owner would then have to pay the cleanup costs.
　
>>Report Says Laub Dam 'Good Condition' Five Months Ago

(St. George, UT) -- A report circulating in St. George today says the dam at Laub Reservoir that burst and heavily damaged a Santa Clara neighborhood was deemed safe just five-months ago. The report published by KSL-TV was allegedly performed by the Utah Division of Water Rights. It allegedly says the dam was in "good condition" and was "well-maintained" when an inspector checked it out back in April. The inspector did however observe a high number of rodent burrows but there's no indication if that had anything to do with the dam bursting.

>>Mixed Results In Oil Pipeline Study

(Salt Lake City, UT) -- The results of a 50-thousand-dollar study into the failure of a major oil pipeline in Utah are in. The 29-page report released yesterday by the national Pipeline Safety Trust doesn't say conclusively whether the oil spills that happened near Red Butte Creek in 2010 will happen again. However, the report does conclude state and federal regulators can do more to ensure safety along the pipeline. The report - commissioned by Salt Lake City in an apparent effort to inform the public - also said the state of Utah needs to be more aggressive in its pipeline regulating.

>>Boy Who Shot Self Is Springville Cop's Son

(Springville, UT) -- The child from Springville who accidentally shot himself to death is actually the son of a police officer. Authorities say the two-year-old boy shot himself Tuesday with a handgun inside his parent's home in Springville. The Utah County deputy attorney has not been informed whether the handgun was the officer's service weapon. The boy's mom also works for the city of Springville.

>>Utes Merchandise Red, Indicating A Hot Item

(Salt Lake City, UT) -- Football and fashion are making successful bedfellows at the University of Utah. Citing national rankings from a firm called the College Licensing Company, the "Tribune" says the Utah Utes' logo is among the nation's hottest sellers of college athletics' clothing and merchandise. The University of Utah ranks 39th in sales nationally. Nationally, sales of college sports merchandise tops four-billion-dollars annually. Top sellers are Texas, Alabama and Florida. BYU ranks 50th is sales.