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COACH SEX ABUSE CHARGES DISMISSED
Sex abuse charges dropped against former coach
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Felony charges against a Bountiful girls' soccer coach accused of having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old player have been dismissed.
Deputy Davis County Attorney Cristina Ortega tells the Salt Lake Tribune she dismissed the case Tuesday because she didn't see reasonable likelihood of a conviction at trial.
The dropped charges against 42-year-old Steven Dale Green include aggravated sexual abuse of a child, among others.
Green's attorney Greg Law says he provided evidence showing the girl never had sex with Green.
Law says his client is thrilled the charges are dismissed after 14 months of legal proceedings that took a toll on his family.
The teenager testified at a preliminary hearing that the two had a sexual relationship from 2008, when she was 13, until 2011.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA-KIDS
Utah to welcome marijuana for limited medical use
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Parents of Utah children with severe epilepsy are cheering a new state law that allows them to obtain a marijuana extract they say helps with seizures, but it's unclear how and when they'll procure it.
Utah's Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has already approved the law and is holding a signing ceremony Tuesday afternoon.
The new law doesn't allow medical marijuana production in Utah but allows families meeting certain restrictions to obtain the extract from other states.
The extract, which some believe helps with a severe form of epilepsy, is produced in nearby Colorado and is designed not to produce a high.
But Colorado experts say restrictions passed in that state to appease the federal government make it a murky process for Utah families to actually get marijuana-derived products.
BASE JUMPER IDENTIFIED
Zion National Park Officials ID BASE jumper body
MOAB, Utah (AP) — Zion National Park officials have identified the body of a well-known California BASE jumper that marked the third recent death by adventurers parachuting from Utah cliffs.
Park spokeswoman Aly Baltrus says search and rescue crews recovered the body of 38-year-old Sean Leary at about 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Zion officials said Monday the body was spotted by helicopter Sunday afternoon. It's unclear when Leary went missing.
National parks have outlawed the sport, which involves jumping with a parachute from buildings, bridges and other towering features.
In early February, 28-year-old Amber Bellows of Salt Lake City died in the park when her parachute failed to open.
On Friday, 35-year-old Kevin A. Morroun of Moab died jumping from a cliff west of Moab in southeast Utah.
BRIDGE JUMP-INJURIES
2 men injured in Idaho BASE jump accident
(Information in the following story is from: KTVB-TV, http://www.ktvb.com/)
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — A pair of BASE jumpers survived a 486-foot fall in southern Idaho Monday evening when their parachutes failed to fully open.
The Twin Falls Times-News reports the men were seriously injured after leaping from Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Twenty-four-year-old James E. Rawe of Draper, Utah, was taken to a hospital.
The other jumper, whose name wasn't released, was airlifted to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise with life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses said one of the men apparently leapt too soon from a bridge railing.
The pair collided in midair, tangling their parachutes and sending them plummeting to the Snake River canyon floor.
A BASE jumper was found dead Monday in Utah's Zion National Park, and another died Friday in a failed jump attempt near Moab, Utah.
WILDLIFE FUNDS-UTAH
Utah gets $20M from feds for wildlife projects
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah will receive nearly $20 million from the federal government for fish and wildlife conservation projects.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced Tuesday that Utah would be getting part of the $1.1 billion in excise taxes collected on purchases of sporting and boating equipment.
The tax applies to sporting firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, fishing equipment and electric boat motors.
Jewell says the money helps fund conservation projects, creates access for recreational boaters and supports outdoor education programs for children.
MORMON MISSIONARIES-UNIVERSITIES
USU enrollment dips after missionary age lowered
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Officials at Utah State University say a dip in spring semester enrollment is due to a change in Mormon church policy allowing missionaries to serve at a younger age.
Vice President for Student Services James Morales tells The Herald Journal the decline is less severe as expected.
Recent figures from the Utah System of Higher Education indicate that USU has about 1,100 fewer students than last spring, about a five percent drop.
The school currently has about 30,000 students enrolled across all campuses.
USU was in the middle range compared to Utah's other public institutions when it came to enrollment declines this semester.
The church last year changed the minimum age for men serving missions from 19 to 18. For women, the age dropped from 21 to 19.
WOMAN DEAD-TOQUERVILLE
Teen charged in woman's death in southern Utah
TOQUERVILLE, Utah (AP) — A 17-year-old boy has been formally charged as an adult with the killing of his 58-year-old neighbor in southern Utah.
Twelve charges were filed Tuesday against Joshua David Canfield, including murder, arson and aggravated assault.
Canfield is accused of shooting Geraldine Bommarito in her home sometime March 18 or 19.
Deputies say they responded to a home burglary March 19. They say Canfield was later spotted at a convenience store buying something with collectible coins consistent with ones stolen from the house.
Deputies say they ran the license plate on his car and traced it to the home where Bommarito was found dead. Authorities say her stolen vehicle was found burned near Springdale.
Police say Canfield was found later in the day and resisted arrest.
SIERRA NEWBOLD PLAYGROUND
Playground named for 6-year-old murder victim
WEST JORDAN, Utah (AP) — A new, half-million-dollar playground in West Jordan will be named after a 6-year-old girl who was kidnapped from her home and killed in 2012.
The City Council settled earlier this month on the name Sierra Newbold Playground. It will be located at Ron Wood Park.
Work on the playground is set to begin in April, and an official ribbon cutting is scheduled for May.
Plans call for a rubberized surface that accommodates children in wheelchairs, slides, swings, a spider web climber and other features.
Funds come largely from park impact fees, which are paid by developers.
ARRESTEE STEALS POLICE VEHICLE
Officer may face discipline after police SUV theft
(Information in the following story is from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net)
SUNSET, Utah (AP) — A police lieutenant in Sunset could face disciplinary action after a burglary suspect escaped with his police vehicle over the weekend.
Sunset Police Chief Ken Eborn tells the Standard-Examiner that Lt. Bruce Arbogast is aware of his mistake and is "beating himself up over this."
Authorities say 26-year-old Nathan Ward was arrested Sunday afternoon on suspicion of burglary and placed in an unmarked police vehicle.
Police say Ward convinced the officer to stop by Ward's house so he could tell his mom he was going to jail.
Eborn says that while the officer went to the house, Ward shimmied his hands from behind his back, jumped in the front seat and drove off.
Officials say the SUV was found abandoned in Ogden, and Ward was recaptured about 6 p.m.
COUGAR SPOTTED
Mountain lion spotted near Sandy elementary school
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Students and staff at a Sandy elementary school are allowed to leave the building again after a mountain lion was spotted near the school Tuesday morning.
Canyons School District spokesman Jeff Haney says a mountain lion was seen close to Edgemont Elementary around 8:30 a.m.
He says he doesn't know how close the animal came to the school.
The district asked students, teachers and others to stay inside the building until about 10:30 a.m., after police searched the neighborhood.
Haney says the sighting Tuesday is the first in the district in at least five years.
Division of Wildlife Resources Outreach Manager Scott Root says workers haven't found the mountain lion and will put up video cameras to capture any future sightings.
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