Utah
In deeply Mormon Utah, a push to require clergy report abuse
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Survivors and religion leaders rallied Friday on the Utah State Capitol to demand change to a state legislation that exempts non secular leaders from necessities that they report little one sexual abuse dropped at their consideration in religious confessions.
“If we as a folks, as church buildings and as a state are failing to guard our youngsters, then we’re failing,” Lindsey Lundholm, the rally’s organizer, informed an viewers of greater than 100 in Salt Lake Metropolis that included survivors of abuse applauding whereas tears streamed down their faces.
Lundholm spoke of her firsthand expertise of abuse rising up in Idaho as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a younger woman and member of the religion broadly often known as the Mormon church, she stated she informed an area bishop about her abuse and as an alternative of reporting it to legislation enforcement, the bishop guided her abuser to hunt forgiveness from God.
Lundholm’s story was one among many shared on the steps of the Capitol, which stands on a hill above the church headquarters and its Salt Lake Temple. Different ladies additionally shared their tales and browse aloud written accounts collected for the demonstration, utilizing them to demand lawmakers require clergy report abuse when it’s confessed to them.
The rally comes two weeks after an Related Press investigation discovered the church’s abuse reporting system will be misused by church leaders to divert abuse accusations away from legislation enforcement and as an alternative to church attorneys who might bury the issue, leaving victims in hurt’s method.
The AP story, primarily based on sealed information and court docket instances filed in Arizona and West Virginia, uncovered a bunch of issues that victims have raised in regards to the helpline. These embody how church officers have cited exemptions to obligatory reporting legal guidelines, so-called clergy-penitent privilege, as an excuse for not reporting abuse dropped at their consideration of kids as younger as 5 years outdated.
Since its publication, the church has criticized the story as flawed. In a press release this week, its representatives stated the assistance line “has every little thing to do with defending kids and has nothing to do with cover-up,” however didn’t dispute any of the story’s details.
Utah is amongst greater than 20 states with comparable legal guidelines that give reporting exceptions to clergy who obtain details about little one neglect or sexual abuse throughout religious confessions. The exemptions don’t lengthen to therapists, docs or another grownup identified to supply confidential counsel.
In Arizona, church attorneys try to make use of clergy-penitent privilege to restrict what its officers need to reply questions on in a lawsuit that accuses them of conspiring to cover-up little one intercourse abuse. A decide dominated this week that church officers needed to reply questions.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and lawmakers from totally different religion backgrounds and each side of the aisle have lately come out in assist of adjusting the state legislation exempting clergy from obligatory reporting. However such a legislation might face an uphill battle in Utah, the place the church instructions sizeable cultural and political affect, counts an estimated two-thirds of residents as members and depends on volunteers to function clergy members.
Rep. Angela Romero, a Democrat whose efforts to finish the exemption stalled in 2020, stated Friday that she remained dedicated to altering the legislation.
“I’m bored with making excuses for perpetrators,” she stated, noting that her push had lately received assist from Latter-day Saint Republicans.
Along with Romero and survivors, Friday’s rally additionally included a rabbi and former Latter-day Saints bishop. Stuart Smith, the bishop, stated clergy may gain advantage from clear abuse reporting tips.
“Such a requirement, codified in state legislation, might have the extra good thing about permitting the helpline for bishops now operated by the LDS church to raised carry out its acknowledged goal — which is to offer experience and sources to assist the victims of abuse,” he stated.
Copyright 2022 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.
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Utah
Grand County Sheriff: Search for missing Moab couple changes from ‘rescue’ to ‘recovery’
![Grand County Sheriff: Search for missing Moab couple changes from ‘rescue’ to ‘recovery’](https://www.abc4.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/06/IMG_1173.jpg?w=1280)
MOAB, Utah (ABC4) — The search for a missing Moab couple has officially transitioned from a ‘rescue’ mission to a ‘recovery’ one, according to Grand County Sheriff Jamison Wiggins.
Ray and Maranda Ankofski have been missing since June 21 after they traveled the Steel Bender off-road trail in Grand County. A search for the couple began after they didn’t return on time and their vehicle was reported as abandoned.
The son of the couple, Raymond Ankofski told ABC4.com earlier this week officials were planning to scale back their response at the end of the week because of the costs associated with the search efforts. According to a press release from Grand County Sheriff’s Office, as of Tuesday, eight agencies were involved in the search.
“Despite exhaustive efforts, including the use of advanced search techniques and resources, Ray and Maranda Ankofski have not been located,” stated a press release from Wiggins. “The decision to transition from a search and rescue mission to a recovery was made based on evidence at the scene during the operation.”
In the days following their disappearance, the couple’s children started a fundraiser via GoFundMe, with the initial goal of raising $25,000 — but Raymond Ankofski explained the money would not be for the family.
“The money is going towards the search and rescue to bring my parents back, and to find my parents,” Rauymond Ankofski said.
Utah
Utah gets $20 million for transportation and traffic light technology
![Utah gets $20 million for transportation and traffic light technology](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/057952a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4608x2419+0+155/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe5%2F76%2Fc0dec5284bd3a795fb0da877d733%2Fgreen-line-trax-at-gallivan-plaza.jpg)
The Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation has announced a $20 million grant to Utah.
Drivers of snow plows, public transportation buses, and other government-operated vehicles are using technology that can direct traffic lights to change in order to improve safety and travel time.
Under the “Saving Lives and Connectivity: Accelerating V2X Deployment” program, Utah will receive $20 million of the $60 million that is aimed to improve vehicle technologies. The other $40 million will go to Texas and Arizona.
“Connecting vehicles and infrastructure is a great way for us to be able to take advantage of technology to help improve safety and other outcomes. And Utah’s DOT has been a leader in this space for a long time,” Shailen Bhatt, US Federal Highway Administrator said.
UDOT will use this $20 million to fund projects in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, where each state represents different population concentrations and transportation facilities.
Bhatt says protecting personal private information can be one of the challenges when using these types of technology.
“So we will want people to understand what is being exchanged is called a basic safety message of DSM. The vehicle is going to report to the intersection that I’m approaching, and the intersection is going to report back ‘oh, the light is about to turn red or my light is red’, but it’s all anonymous data,” Bhatt said.
The technology is being used in Salt Lake City, where travel time reliability and bus performance have improved.
“It is unequivocal that when you deploy technology, we are able to reduce crashes, we’re able to reduce congestion, we’re able to reduce the amount of time people sit in traffic, and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from our system. And we look forward to more investments being made on the basis of the data that we get from this initial deployment,” Bhatt said.
Utah
As the Youth Group Hiked, First Came the Rain. Then Came the Lightning
![As the Youth Group Hiked, First Came the Rain. Then Came the Lightning](https://img1-azrcdn.newser.com/image/1543224-12-20240628083202.jpeg)
Seven members of a youth group hiking in Utah were transported to hospitals on Thursday after lightning struck the ground near them. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints youth group from Salina, Utah, were in the eastern part of Sevier County around 1:45pm local time when a light rain began and the lightning hit, Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis said in a statement. “Approximately 50 youth felt the shock of the lightning,” Curtis said, adding that seven of the young people had “medical concerns due to the electrocution,” per the AP.
Two of the victims had serious symptoms and were flown by helicopter to Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi, Utah. Five others were transported by ambulance to Sevier Valley Hospital in Richfield and Gunnison Valley Hospital in Gunnison, Curtis said. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening, according to Curtis, who said the other hikers were returned to their families in Salina, about 140 miles south of Salt Lake City. (A man trying to warn kids was killed by a lightning strike on a New Jersey beach.)
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