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SIBLINGS-MARIACHI GROUP
Utah siblings honor family tradition playing mariachi music
SPRINGVILLE, Utah (AP) — Two Utah siblings are continuing their family's tradition of playing mariachi music by performing the music at wedding, festivals and other parties in a nod to their Mexican heritage.
The Deseret News reports Sam Castillo and Karlysue Castillo Pereyra formed a mariachi group in 2016 after moving to Provo to attend Brigham Young University.
Their father and grandfather learned how to play mariachi in their native Mexico and encouraged the siblings to continue the tradition.
Mariachi music has been experiencing a rebirth in the U.S. Southwest as storytelling and a strong symbol of Mexican culture.
Castillo Pereyra said the music is empowering and increasingly popular with non-Latino audiences.
Both siblings said they hope to continue playing the music for a long time.
NATIVE AMERICANS-NEVADA
Native American population grows in Clark County
(Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The U.S. Census Bureau says Nevada's Clark County has one of the fastest growing Native American populations in the country.
The bureau estimates that between July 2017 and 2018 the number of Native Americans living in the county that includes Las Vegas grew at a faster rate than any other large county in the nation.
Experts told the Las Vegas Review-Journal more Native Americans are moving to the county because of its strong economy, employment opportunities and proximity to reservations in Arizona, Utah and Southern California.
Today about 50,000 people who self-identify as Native American live in Clark County — about 2% of the county's population.
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FACEBOOK-OVERSIGHT PANEL
New Facebook oversight board results to be public, exec says
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Facebook executive says a new quasi-independent oversight board will soon be making decisions on some of the most difficult questions about what material belongs on the platform in a "very public way."
Company director of governance and strategic initiatives Andy Pergam said in a University of Utah speech Friday that the board will consider a small number of cases after all appeals of Facebook decisions have been exhausted.
He says the board will make final decisions on individual cases but its broader policy findings will be advisory.
Board members will be named in December and start hearing cases in early 2020.
The board is expected to first weigh posts and later take on ads.
Ads came under scrutiny after Facebook refused demands to remove Trump campaign ads that make false claims.
GANG INJUNCTION-LAWSUIT
Federal judge scolds Utah county over gang injunction
(Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal judge has ruled a Utah county violated the constitutional rights of two Ogden men charged under a gang injunction.
The Ogden Standard-Examiner reports U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups recently ruled Weber County's injunction process lacked adequate due process to get a hearing before charges and for appeals.
Leland McCubbin Jr. and Daniel Lucero were served with the anti-gang injunction in 2010. The injunction came after the Weber County Attorney's Office filed a public-nuisance injunction against the Trece gang in 2010 following escalating gang-related crime in Ogden, Utah.
Ogden police had a gang member database, adding names to it based on criteria including style of dress, hand signs and tattoos.
The Utah Supreme Court threw out the injunction in 2014.
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SPEED LIMIT-LEGACY PARKWAY
Speed limit going up on parkway north of Salt Lake City
BRIGHAM CITY, Utah (AP) — The speed limit is going up on a four-lane parkway north of Salt Lake City.
Drivers can start traveling 65 mph (104.6 kph) on the 14-mile (22.53-kilometer) Legacy Parkway starting Jan. 1, up from 55 mph (88.51 kph). The change was announced during the monthly meeting of the Utah Transportation Commission.
The Utah Department of Transportation said Friday that large semi-trucks also can start using the parkway that opened in 2008.
Utah lawmakers declined earlier this year to extend the Legacy Parkway Agreement that featured the truck ban and the 55-mph (88.51 kph) speed limit. The agreement ended a lawsuit between the state and environmental groups that had blocked construction of the roadway to protect wetlands and wildlife.
Transportation Department official Robert Miles says the agreement signed in 2015 had a sunset date of Jan. 1, 2020.
PUMPKIN FREEZE
Statewide pumpkin suppliers face shortage after Utah freeze
(Information from: KSL-TV, http://www.ksl.com/)
CENTERFIELD, Utah (AP) — Utah pumpkin suppliers have announced a shortage of pumpkins after cold temperatures were reported statewide.
KSL-TV reported Thursday that a freeze last week left Beck Family Farms short of pumpkins and is believed to have affected other suppliers.
Suppliers at the Centerfield farm say they usually grow about 3,000 tons (2,700 metric tons) of pumpkins annually to distribute to stores across the state.
Suppliers say about 17% of those pumpkins were soft to the touch leaving them unusable for sale.
Farmer David Beck says the freeze came after an already cold spring that left production down about 50% across the state.
Suppliers say some shipments were cancelled and product would not be available after next week.
Suppliers say temperatures in Salt Lake City dipped as low as 29 degrees Fahrenheit.
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