CRAIG, CO — Monday, in an action to protect the long term health and beauty of Dinosaur National Monument, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) and The Wilderness Society (TWS) sent a letter of protest and separate comment letter to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) asking that it reconsider the upcoming lease sales it has planned for federally-owned parcels adjacent to Dinosaur National Monument. NPCA is asking BLM to reevaluate the oil and gas lease sales it has planned in northwestern Colorado for February and May of next year – both of which include significant acreage adjacent to the monument. Oil and gas development on these properties could ruin the visitor experience for the nearly 200,000 people who visit every year and harm the resources of this park unit.
Oil and gas exploration and development on these leases could cause air and water pollution, increased noise, loss of wildlife habitat, decrease in visitors, and numerous environmental impacts from creating new roads to handle the increased traffic associated with drilling for oil and gas near a national park known for its natural environment.

>>Funeral For Connecticut Shooting Victim To Be Held In Ogden Saturday

(Ogden, UT) -- Familymembers are planning a funeral service in Ogden this weekend for one of the victim's of last week's school shootings in Connecticut. Emilie Parker's parents grew up in Ogden and she lived there for a while. The family has been in Connecticut for less than a year. Members of the Parkers former LDS ward are planning to hang pink ribbons around town this week to welcome the family back home.
>>SLC-Area Students Remember CT School Shooting Victims

(Salt Lake City, UT) -- Students from one Salt Lake-area school take time to honor the memories of the victims of Friday's mass school shooting in Connecticut. Students at Mountain Ridge Junior High School in Highland wore their Sunday best yesterday as a way to remember the 26 victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Said ninth-grader Kaitlin Taylor quote, "I just thought it would be the right thing to show people we ? care for them."

>>Utah Lawmaker Sparks Controversial Gun-Control Debate

(Holladay, UT) -- One Utah lawmaker is trying to stir up debate over gun control. Since Democratic Representative Carol Spackman Moss of Holladay posted her thoughts Sunday night on Facebook several-hundred responders have chimed in. The rep provoked discussion in light of Friday's mass shooting that left 26 victims dead at a Connecticut elementary school. Moss wrote the nation's conversation on guns must include "access to mental health treatment, school safety and ? tighter gun regulations." Moss says that while she will not stand by quietly on the subject she has no immediate plans to introduce new gun-control legislation.


>>Kearns Boy, Eleven, To Be Charged For Having Gun In School

(Kearns, UT) -- The eleven-year-old accused of carrying a gun to his elementary school yesterday will be formally charged. KSL-TV is reporting the sixth-grade student from West Kearns Elementary allegedly threatened a student yesterday with his 22-caliber handgun and ammunition. The boy faces criminal charges despite his claim he brought the gun top class to protect himself just in case an incident occurred similar to Friday's massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

>>Disabled Woman Billed For Phony Chiropractic Services

(Murray, UT) -- Authorities in Murray say a chiropractor is in trouble for allegedly sending a mentally disabled woman fraudulent bills. John O. Meadors faces criminal felony exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Authorities say Meadors enticed the woman into fake care contracts and billed her for several-thousand dollars for services never rendered. Court papers say the woman is mentally challenged and unable to manage her own finances.

>>Christmas Song 'Sing-A-Long' Draws Thousands Of Crooners

(Salt Lake City, UT) -- Singing Christmas carols brings out thousands to an annual sing-a-long in Salt Lake City. The "Christmas Carol Sing-A-Long" at EnergySolutions Arena presented by the Larry Miller family celebrated its 28th incarnation last night. Anyone who wanted to belt out a few tunes was allowed inside the arena free of charge. Revelers reportedly sang renditions of "Jingle Bells," "Joy to the World," and "Silent Night."

(Undated) -- Unified Police are still trying to identify the man and woman whose bodies were discovered in a burned-out home in southeast Salt Lake County last week. The two were shot to death by somebody else, but that's about all investigators have at this point. They think the fire was set in order to try and destroy the evidence in the house. Even without the identities of the victims, investigators say they have plenty of possible suspects.

PROVO, Utah — Defense attorneys for a Utah County doctor accused of killing his wife filed a bombshell document on Monday, accusing prosecutors of misconduct and seeking to have his case dismissed.
Dr. Martin MacNeill’s attorneys, Randy Spencer and Susanne Gustin, filed the 47-page motion in Provo’s 4th District Court, accusing the Utah County Attorney’s Office of withholding evidence they are legally entitled to. They said they discovered what was missing when a subpoena was served on a prosecution witness, who handed over a thumb drive. According to the motion, the defense attorneys claim they found thousands of pages of information — including evidence of another potential suspect in the case, destroyed information, and one of their star witnesses being asked by prosecutors to question a child witness.


WEST JORDAN — Two men are safe after neighbors pulled one of the men from a burning house Monday night.
The fire started at 5131 W. Cobble Creek Drive (8330 South) in West Jordan. Battalion Chief Clint Petersen said a 14-year-old and his 27-year-old brother, who is severely handicapped, were in the house at the time.
The 14-year-old was doing homework at the kitchen table when smoke detectors went off. He called his father, who told him to go investigate. When he opened the door of the bedroom next to his brother's bedroom and saw the fire, he shut the door and ran for help.
　
(Orem Utah)
Utah County man is being held in jail after he tried to break into an Orem church an was stopped by its gun-toting pastor.
Robert Brooks is pastor of Victory Baptist Church in Orem, and lives in the church basement.
Papers filed in Provo’s 4th District Court on Monday said Brooks was awakened by a loud banging noise outside the church at 2 a.m. last Friday and went to investigate.
That’s when he found a 29-year-old man pulling on the exterior doors on the south side of the church trying to get in. The man, who appeared intoxicated, told Brooks he was looking for work, court paper say.
Armed with a pistol, Brooks got the man to lie on the ground and called police.

BLUFF, Utah – Situated beneath towering twin sandstone pillars that are symbolic of the Hero Twins of the Navajo, the Twin Rocks Trading Post, where the specialty of the house is fine Navajo art.
Steve Simpson, who owns the trading post along with his brothers Craig and Barry, will be the first to tell you that in this case, location, location, location is not enough.
The reason why Twin Rocks, located on a two-lane highway in a quiet town of 258 people six or more hours from any big city, has evolved into one of the world’s most distinguished purveyors of elegant Southwestern art has considerably less to do with its spectacular physical surroundings than with something that’s completely invisible.
The World Wide Web. Art lovers are still shopping at twinrocks.com – the address that never closes.“The Internet allows us to get to a much larger market,” Simpson said. “The web is essential in keeping the business viable.”
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