Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
URANIUM MINE-LAWSUIT
Environmental group sues uranium mill operator
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An environmental group is suing the operator of a southern Utah uranium mill, alleging it has worsened pollution in neighboring communities.
Grand Canyon Trust filed the suit in Utah federal District Court Wednesday against Energy Fuels Resources relating to operations at its White Mesa Mill in San Juan County.
The group says the mill's radon emissions in 2012 and 2013 surpassed federal standards and alleges the company ran more waste pits during that time than federal regulations allowed.
Trust attorney Anne Mariah Tapp says emissions from the nation's last operating conventional uranium mill pose serious health risks.
The company said in a statement Friday it has complied with regulations and has not been issued any violations.
Surrounding towns include Blanding and Bluff, a little over 300 miles south of Salt Lake City.
OFFICER ARRESTED-NUDE PICTURES
Former officer charged with sexual exploitation
(Information in the following story is from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net)
BRIGHAM CITY, Utah (AP) — A former small-town Utah police officer has been charged with sexual exploitation of a minor in connection with posing as a porn producer to get nude pictures of a teenage girl.
The Standard-Examiner of Ogden reports that 37-year-old Jeremy Rose is also charged with voyeurism and obstruction of justice.
Rose resigned from the Tremonton police department in July after the Utah Attorney General's office began investigating him.
He is accused of persuading a 15-year-old girl to send him semi-nude photos. He told her he was going to sell them on the Internet so she could make money.
He is also accused of taking video of the girl undressing using a camera he hid in her bedroom.
Neither Rose and or attorney were available for comment.
POLLUTION TRACKER
Weber State students create pollution tracker
(Information in the following story is from: Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com)
OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Students at Weber State University say they've found a new and improved way to track air pollution.
Instead of getting data from fixed areas in the state, their system can gather information specific to a neighborhood.
Michael Petersen, an electronics engineering major at Weber State, helped develop a small box of circuits called a multisensor array, or MSA. It's a small data-logging computer that weighs less than a pound and can run on a battery for five to six hours.
The idea is to get their sensors up on the edge of space using high-altitude weather balloons to help gather real-time data during some of Utah's worst pollution days.
The MSA has already made several trips up above the pollution.
The project is part of the High Altitude Reconnaissance Balloon for Outreach and Research program, a program WSU professor John Sohl started seven years ago.
The MSA won't replace systems the Division of Air Quality uses, which are fixed in place, but Sohl says the MSA can add to it.
Students now are working on packing even more sensors into the array before putting more of balloons into the sky.
NAVAJO COUNCIL SPEAKER
Navajo lawmakers place council speaker on leave
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Navajo Nation lawmakers voted Friday to place their legislative leader on indefinite paid administrative leave rather than oust him after he was charged with bribery and conspiracy.
Prosecutors allege that Johnny Naize and other tribal officials engaged in a scheme to divert money to their families. Naize has denied wrongdoing.
Lawmakers met in a special session in Window Rock to consider legislation sponsored by Alton Joe Shepherd, whose attempt earlier this year to remove Naize from the speaker's post failed to get enough votes.
The lawmakers went into executive session to discuss what they deemed to be a personnel matter and emerged with amendments to Shepherd's legislation that some saw as a compromise.
Under the revisions, Naize will continue to draw the speaker's $55,000 annual salary and retain his position as a lawmaker on the Navajo Nation Council, but he will not oversee council sessions or legislative staff.
Naize had no immediate public comment on the vote but had urged his colleagues earlier Friday to remain united and not let his court case distract them from legislative business. Naize's second, two-year term as speaker was set to expire in January. He has said he will not seek re-election to the Tribal Council after serving four terms.
The lawmakers chose LoRenzo Bates, head of the council's Budget and Finance Committee, as speaker pro-tem.
Prosecutors allege that Naize and several other current and former council delegates conspired to divert roughly $74,000 from a now-defunct discretionary fund to their families. The money was intended to assist elderly Navajos, people facing extreme hardship and students seeking financial aid. Criminal complaints allege that Naize's family received about $37,000 in exchange for his providing a nearly identical amount to members of other families in the years before he was elected speaker.
MORMON CONFERENCE
Mormon conference this weekend in Salt Lake City
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — More than 100,000 Latter-day Saints are expected to gather in Salt Lake City this weekend to find out church news and soak up words of guidance and inspiration from the faith's top leaders.
During The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' biannual general conference, leaders will give speeches and make announcements about church statistics, new temples or initiatives.
In addition to those filling up the 21,000-seat conference center during the five sessions that span Saturday and Sunday, thousands more will listen or watch from around the world in 95 languages on television, radio, satellite and Internet broadcasts. More than half of all 15 million Latter-day Saints live outside of the U.S., church figures show.
The conference is widely followed and analyzed on social media, with many using the Twitter hash tag "#LDSconf."
Others come to Salt Lake City and listen to speeches through loud speakers while sitting on the grounds of Temple Square, an immaculately manicured 35-acre area in downtown Salt Lake City where the church's towering flagship temple is surrounded by reflecting pools, statutes and buildings where visitors can learn about the faith.
It's here where a Mormon's women group pushing the church to allow women in the priesthood plans to demonstrate outside an all-male meeting Saturday, reprising a similar protest from last year.
The church has asked them to reconsider, or at least protest in a designated zone off of Temple Square. Church leaders have barred media from going on church property during the demonstration.
Despite the notice, the group, Ordain Women, says about 500 members intend to march into Temple Square and ask to be allowed into the all-male priesthood meeting.
A group of atheists holding its annual convention in Salt Lake City later this month also plans to protest this weekend. The American Atheists have a march planned Sunday alongside former Mormons around Temple Square.
Nobody outside the church's inner circle knows what might be announced, what topics will be addressed or even exactly who will be speaking inside the church's conference center.
SUSPICIOUS DEATH-PROVO CANYON
Cold, alcohol caused Provo woman's death
PROVO, Utah (AP) — A 20-year-old Provo woman died in the freezing cold after her car keys went missing in the woods during a night of drinking.
Authorities say Hadley Boberg and an unnamed man she was with were in Provo Canyon, elevation 7,420 feet, Wednesday night apparently drinking alcohol and doing some hiking. The Utah County Sheriff's office said Friday that when they set off to return to their jeep, they realized they didn't have the keys.
As they rummaged through the oak brush and trees, temperatures dipped well below freezing. They never found the keys or made it back to the jeep. Authorities say that at some point, Boberg lost consciousness and never woke up.
Authorities found her body Thursday morning after her parents reported her missing. They also found the man wandering in the area. The man was evasive and seemed confused during interviews with detectives. That, coupled with the scratches and cuts he had led them to initially label it a suspicious death.
But an autopsy report showed the cause of death was alcohol and exposure to the cold, and authorities now believe it was an accident.
Investigators found several empty bottles of alcohol in the area.
Weather records indicated it likely was about 17 degrees in the canyon the night Boberg died.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
