(San Juan County) KCYN-KCPX News

The FBI on Monday afternoon investigated a bomb threat involving a tour bus in San Juan County. The threat closed U.S. Highway 163 south of Mexican Hat. tah Department of Public Safety spokesman Dwayne Baird said the threat involved a tour bus that was 14 miles north of the Arizona line in Utah’s Monument Valley, on Indian reservation land.Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Kitchen said the roadway was closed as a precaution about 2 p.m. while the FBI investigated.Everyone was evacuated safely from the bus.

Kitchen said traffic between the Arizona border and Bluff was rerouted to U.S. Highway 191, a parallel route to the east of Highway 163. tHE ROAD WAS REONED OVERNIGHT AFTEER THE BOMB SQUAD HAD SEARCHED TEH BUS AND LUGGAGE. A bomb squad from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office was called in to help Monday afternoon.


(Moab Utah) KCYN-KCPX News

A long-anticipated land exchange between the state and federal governments moved a bit closer toward the finish line Monday with the release of a draft environmental assessment.

The proposed deal would give the Bureau of Land Management nearly 46,000 of state acres with conservation and recreational values.

In exchange, the state School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, or SITLA, would gain 35,516 acres of federal lands with oil and gas and other kinds of profitable potential. Most of the lands the feds are giving up is in Uintah County, while most of the state holdings are in Grand County. The deal, authorized by the 2009 Utah Recreational Land Exchange Act, is designed to enable the state to consolidate its scattered holdings. It loses popular recreation destinations like Corona Arch near Moab but gains land with valuable resources.

The Evironmental Assessment examined how the swap would affect several Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, such as Nine Mile Canyon, Behind the Rocks and Lower Green River, big game habitat, grazing, mineral resources, local economies, sensitive species and archeological resources. The public has until May 17 to submit comments, which can be emailed to BLM_ut_comments@blm.gov.


>>DeChristopher A Free Man

(Salt Lake City, UT) -- Environmentalist Tim DeChristopher is a free man. The activist, who made a phony one-point-eight-million-dollar bid for an oil-and-gas lease in 2008, was freed yesterday after serving 21 months in federal prison. He says he has no regrets.

{UTActivistReleased} Q....than I expected :06.8

DeChristopher says he plans to become a minister. A documentary about him had its first showing last night in Salt Lake City.


>>Copper Mine Contractors Lose Jobs

(Bingham Canyon Mine, UT) -- Dozens of contract workers have been laid off their jobs at Bingham Canyon Mine. Thanks to a massive landslide, contracted projects were indefinitely suspended and terminated. Yesterday, Kennecott Copper received limited clearance to check out an area buried under the landslide.

>>Woman Charged In Texting Accident

(St. George, UT) -- A St. George woman has been charged with homicide for allegedly causing a deadly accident while texting. Police say according to eyewitnesses, 50-year-old Carla Brennan was speeding and looking down just before rear-ending a car. That car slammed into a couple out on a morning walk. David Henson died of his injuries; his wife Leslee was severely injured.




>>Pipe Bomb Found At Elementary School In Layton

(Layton, UT) -- Layton police are called to investigate at an elementary school after yesterday's discovery of a pipe bomb. Authorities say they safely destroyed a device containing rifle gunpowder that was found by a maintenance worker on the roof of Mountain View Elementary school. Police say the bomb didn't appear to have a fuse which could be lit. Students and faculty were forced to evacuate while officers destroyed the device.

>>Copper Mine Firm Asks Workers To Take Time Off

(Undated) -- A Utah copper mining company wants more than two-thousand workers to either take vacation or unpaid time off. The "Tribune" says Kennecott Utah Copper made the request to its workers in light of the landslide at its Bingham Canyon Mine. The company expanded the request to all 21-hundred workers after originally asking just 800 open-pit mine employees. The development comes as questions mount over whether the company will shut down temporarily.

[[ Note Nature ]]

>>H-S Teacher Charged With Sexually Assaulting Student

(Riverton, UT) -- A female math teacher at Riverton High School is under arrest in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a student. Authorities say 22-year-old Courtney Louise Jarrell faces charges including first-degree rape and second-degree forcible sexual abuse of a 17-year-old female student. Jarrell -- who also coaches the sophomore girls' basketball team -- has submitted her resignation. An attorney for Jarrell says she intends to plead not-guilty.

>>Alleged Kidnapper Marries Victim, Strikes Plea Deal

(Provo, UT) -- An unusual plea deal is struck in Provo with a man accused of kidnapping and sexual assault. KSL-TV says prosecutors agreed to a deal with Juan Leiva because he married the woman who he's accused of kidnapping. Deputy Utah County attorney Craig Johnson alleges Leiva violated a no-contact order last week and married his victim solely to prevent her from testifying at his trial. As his wife, the woman can't be ordered to testify due to marital privilege.

WEST JORDAN — Cities are turning on their secondary water systems but water watchers say that doesn't mean it's time to start watering the lawn. A lot of Utahns started working in the yard in the past week, but a number of water conservancy districts around the state say with the reduced water supply and the weather, its too early to start watering now. Most lawn care managers say the ideal time to start watering is around mothers day, May 12th.