Utah
American Red Cross of Utah encourages families to donate during Presidents Day school break
LEHI — On Monday, many families will spend time at home, off work or out of school for Presidents Day.
With that extra time, the American Red Cross of Utah said its doors will be open. The goal is to offer a great opportunity for families to make a difference and introduce the blood donation process to their kids. No matter what day it is, blood donations are still needed, which is one reason the Red Cross emphasized the importance of encouraging the next generation to donate blood.
“I remember growing up, the very first time I donated, my stepfather invited me to come with him,” said Benjamin Donner, executive director for the American Red Cross of Central and Southern Utah.
Donner said it’s thanks to that invitation at 16 years old that showed him firsthand the importance of giving blood. He hopes that others are encouraged to follow suit by their families.
“Find a blood drive. But if somebody’s at home, bring them with (you). That could be an amazing opportunity for them to see what this is all about, what this looks like,” Donner said.
Donner said so long as a person meets the requirements, is able-bodied and willing, donors just have to be 18 years or older. However, students who are 16 or 17 years old can donate blood with parental consent.
In the Beehive State, the Red Cross collects the majority of the blood and platelets used by the hospitals in Utah.
So while there may be no school for many students, a life lesson can be taught.
“This is a passion for helping someone; this is the only way they can possibly continue life. There’s no way to synthesize this. There’s no way to manufacture it,” Donner said. “It has to come from an amazing donor.”
SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah (KUTV) — An AMBER Alert was canceled after being issued for a 9-year-old boy out of South Salt Lake.
Marie Erika Lynn Marsh, 33, was accused of abducting a 9-year-old non-family member.
The alert was issued at 5:38 p.m. It was canceled just after 6 p.m.
An AMBER Alert was issued for Raymond Vigil, a 9-year-old boy abducted by Marie Erika Lynn Marsh, a 33-year-old non-family member. (Photo: AMBER Alert)
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SALT LAKE CITY — More fire restrictions are being added in Utah despite some recent help in its drought situation.
The Bureau of Land Management is reinstating Stage 1 fire restrictions on land it manages in Juab and Millard counties on Friday. State land managers issued a similar order for Juab and Sanpete counties, which applies to state lands and unincorporated private lands in the county.
It prohibits building or maintaining any open fire or campfires using solid fuels or any ash-producing fuel in the section of central Utah, except for fire rings or grills at developed campgrounds or day-use areas on public state lands that have a pressurized running water system.
Open fires are also permitted at permanently constructed fire pits at private residences, as long as they have a pressurized water system.
The order also bans any smoking except within a vehicle or enclosed area, as well as grinding, cutting or welding of metal, or operating or using any internal combustion engine without a spark-arresting device. Violation can result in fines, restitution fees and even jail time.
It matches several other Stage 1 restrictions already in place across the state. Most of the restrictions are located in southwest Utah, but recent restrictions have crept up into central Utah and parts of the Wasatch region, too.
Utah Fire Info maintains a list of active fire restrictions in the state.
Both new orders were signed amid some encouraging signs in Utah’s drought situation this week. The amount of extreme drought in the state dropped from 60% last week to 43% this week, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported earlier Thursday. Most of the improvement came in other parts of central Utah.
However, nearly 95% of the state remains in at least severe drought, and all other parts of the state remain in at least moderate drought. That means it’s still plenty dry for new fires.
Close to 250 different fires have been reported across the state this year, burning over 12,000 acres of land. The entire state is currently listed as having above-normal fire potential as well, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center.
“As fire danger continues to increase across the region, fire managers are asking the public to use caution with any activity that could spark a wildfire,” said Kayli Guild, fire prevention and communications coordinator for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Fox News senior correspondent Alicia Acuna has the latest on two former Utah court clerks charged with harboring illegal aliens on ‘Special Report.’
Jennifer Joma and Lauren Moro, former Utah court clerks, plead not guilty to felony obstruction charges for aiding illegal immigrants. Federal prosecutors allege the clerks improperly accessed databases to identify undocumented individuals, then guided them out the courthouse’s back door to evade ICE agents. A trial is set for August.
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