Month: August 2011

A head-on collision Wednesday evening at the intersection of 260 North and Dixie Drive sent four people to Dixie Regional Medical Center.

Lieutenant Giles with the St. George Police Department told SUN News that a small pickup truck was traveling northbound when the driver for unknown reasons crossed the center line and struck a mini van.

The mini van was waiting to merge into the southbound lanes of Dixie Drive when it was struck, deploying the airbags. Three ambulances from Dixie Ambulance Services responded and transported three adults and one child to the hospital with unknown injuries.

The accident is under investigation and Giles stated that it appears that safety restraints were in use in both vehicles which greatly helped decrease the seriousness of the injuries. Lieutenant Giles reminds drivers to wear seatbelts because seatbelts save lives.

On the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, people feel the day weigh heavily around them.

Friends and families of the victims come together in support of one another, many of whom have been doing so since the first anniversary of the  attacks. But as September the eleventh arrives, security on a national level is on the rise.

Airports, post offices, and transit stations are just a few of the places people will notice a change. Security forces are on the lookout and and have prepared for all modes of attack. And while it will be a tough time at the airports, everyone knows it will be a harder time in America’s hearts.

The $39 billion merging proposal between No. 2 wireless carrier AT&T and No. 4 carrier T-Mobile has been blocked after The Justice Department deemed it costly for consumers.

Government officials argue the proposal would greatly reduce competition and increase cost for consumers. Something CEO of No. 3 carrier Sprint, Dan Hesse agrees with, saying during a speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, “Competition will be stifled, growth will be stifled, and wireless innovation will be jeopardized.” He went on to say, “We just can’t let that happen.”

Not everyone is against this proposal. Large organizations such as AFL-CIO and the NAACP expressed their support for the merge with politicians getting in on the action. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said that the proposed merger could greatly benefit consumers by helping to spur innovation, as well as create new jobs. At this time 26 governors, 92 mayors, and 11 state attorneys general had also announced their support for the deal.

AT&T now has the opportunity to dispute the block. If the merge ultimately fails, T-Mobile will walk away with three billion dollars in cash, which is the sum AT&T pledged to pay if regulators reject the transaction. Then there are reduced charges T-Mobile USA would get for calls that get tunneled through the AT&T network. Finally, Deutsche Telekom-owned carrier, the fourth largest in the U.S., would also receive the luxury of AT&T’s wireless spectrum in some regions, resulting in better coverage for users on the T-Mobile network.

Extreme heat may be the cause of death for one Grand Canyon hiker.  Officials say Sunday that a report of a hiker was possibly in distress on the Tanner Trail. 

Mid-morning on August 28, a ranger at the Mather Campground on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park received the report.

Determining that the hiker’s car was still parked at the trailhead, rangers called for the park’s helicopter to fly the Tanner Trail in an effort to quickly locate the distressed hiker. 

The reporting party, a pair of backpackers, told the ranger they ran into a hiker on the Tanner Trail on Friday, August 26, who appeared to be exhausted and had abandoned his pack further down the trail. The pair, who were also feeling heat-stressed, provided the hiker with additional water and told him they didn’t think he could make it out. They urged him to go with them down to the river, but they say he refused, saying he wanted to continue up the trail. On their way to the river, the pair passed the man’s abandoned pack.  On Saturday as the pair began their return journey, they again passed the abandoned pack, took note of the permit information, and looked for the distressed hiker as they continued to their next campsite. They were carrying an extra gallon of water in case they ran into him again.  On Sunday, they finished their backpacking trip without again seeing the distressed hiker. Concerned for his welfare, the pair reported their encounter with the hiker as soon as they returned to the rim. 

Sunday morning, the helicopter crew reported spotted a body in a wash just above Tanner Beach. Rangers on-scene confirmed that the body matched the description of the hiker that the backpackers encountered on Friday.  The body was prepared for transport then flown to the South Rim by helicopter and transferred to the Coconino County Medical Examiner. The man’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The Tanner is a rugged, exposed trail, and high temperatures on Wednesday through Sunday ranged from 103 to 108 degrees Fahrenheit at the Colorado River.  The National Park Service, with the assistance of the Coconino County Medical Examiner, is conducting an investigation into the incident. This is the 13th death of the year in the park, but that includes fatalities among residents, auto accidents, visitor illnesses, and more. The park averages 14-15 deaths annually, she said, and gets more than 4 million visitors.

Some studies have shown that the ability for children to learn a second language starts fading as early as their first years.

However, according to a recent study, the brains of babies raised in a bilingual home show longer periods of flexibility to learn different languages than other children.

Researchers from this study measure the brain activity throughout a child’s first years of life and relate it to the language exposure and speaking ability. This study shows babies who have only been exposed to one language start losing the ability to distinguish sounds from a foreign language at eight- to 10 months old, while babies who have been constantly exposed to more than one language start losing this ability between 10 and 12 months old.

Early exposure to more than one language is vital in these cases. For example, if bilingual children are more exposed to English at home, including relatives and friends, these children will subsequently produce more words in English. The same pattern goes for other languages. The researchers say the best way for a child to learn more than one language is through social interactions and constant exposure to the language.

A great number of Utah households are bilingual due to immigration, people who have returned from serving LDS missions in different countries, among others, and some of these families decide to only speak the foreign language at home. However, language instructors say using the “one parent, one language” system works better, but parents need to be very consistent as they use it.

Rumors ran wild Tuesday that former polygamist leader Warren Jeffs slipped into a coma while serving time in a Texas prison. But Michelle Lyons, spokesperson for the Texas prison system, is reassuring the public that he has simply been sedated at a nearby hospital for health problems.

The infirmities are reportedly unrelated to his fasting period, which began at the same time he was convicted of multiple sex offenses against minors. With officials ordered not to go into detail on the matter, the specific problems are still unknown. However, as of press time, his condition is listed as critical but stable.

It is currently undecided which facility Jeffs will enter upon his release from the hospital.

Lightning, dry conditions, and wind are playing a major part in what fire officials are stating as “nearly three dozen fires around southern Utah.”

Sunday’s lightning storms throughout the state played a major role in starting the fires that have plagued southern Utah. Public Affairs Officer Rachel Tueller told SUN News, “A large majority of the fires were very small and in remote areas.”

Not every fire has been a small one though, “The Plateau Fire, about 10 miles south of Bloomington, has already burned 4,400 acres,” she said.

With red flag warnings still in effect throughout the state, Tueller says everyone still needs to be cautious.

For a full list of fires and how to report new fires, BLM officials have all that information and more posted on their website.

Polygamous leader Warren Jeffs has been hospitalized after scarcely eating or drinking since his incarceration earlier this month.

Michelle Lyons with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told The Associated Press that due to Jeffs’ lack of nutrition, he is in critical but stable condition. Jeffs was convicted August 8 on multiple accounts of child sex abuse. He is currently at the East Texas Medical Center in Tyler receiving treatment.

AUSTIN, Texas – The convictions of a polygamous sect member who argued that the 2008 raid on the Yearning for Zion ranch was unjust has been denied.

Michael Emack, an FLDS follower and Warren Jeffs supporter was denied by the 3rd District Court of Appeals on Friday, being the first convicted member of Jeffs’ followers to take a case to higher courts.

Emack’s argument of the raid being unconstitutional was rejected when a three-judge panel in Austin said authorities had sufficient grounds for probable cause.

Emack is currently serving a seven-year sentence for sexually assaulting his 16-year-old spiritual wife. Emack is one of eight convicted FLDS men serving a sentence, including Warren Jeffs, the polygamous sect’s religious president.