SANTAQUIN — Funeral arrangements for Santaquin Police Sgt. Bill Hooser are taking place Sunday afternoon, starting with a public visitation at Apple Valley Elementary.

The public visitation will start at 4 p.m. and end at 8 p.m.

Funeral proceedings for Hooser are expected to take place on Monday at 10 a.m. at UCCU Events Center at Utah Valley University.

Hooser will then be escorted to Santaquin City Cemetary.

Mourners can meet at the Park and Ride near 1200 West Center Street at 6 p.m. Sunday night to help tie ribbons and post flags in Hooser’s memory.

Delays and closures are expected to occur around UVU along parts of 1200 West and 850 South. Southbound I-15 itself will either be closed or delayed.

Learn more about Hooser and his life by reading his obituary.

Semitruck driver hits, kills Utah officer, police say; driver in custody after hourslong manhunt

I have been a mother for the last one third of my life. The first two thirds, until I was 40, I could not not claim that title. On this Mother’s Day, I want to salute all of the women of our state, whether they have children or not, whether they care for children or not.

From where I sit, our communities and our lives are so intertwined. I am able to be a radio announcer and college professor because of the dozens of teachers and mentors who inspired me. Some of those people were women. Some of those women were mothers. ALL of them had a profound effect on my life.

I have had a firsthand look at the hard work of teaching in K-12 this year as a substitute teacher in the Jordan and Salt Lake school districts. In the nearly 40 different jobs I’ve had in my life, I have never seen any profession work harder. I’ve never felt that kind of stress in any other setting.

I acknowledge that daily stress and physical and psychological demands are common to many jobs, both in and out of the home, and it is for that reason that I want to salute all Utah women on this day.

Research on challenges Utah women face

I read a research brief recently entitled Eleven Major Challenges Utah Women Face. It was done by the Utah Women and Leadership Project, founded and directed by Dr. Susan Madsen.

“3,500 people participated in the study,” Madsen explained. “2,433 gave qualitative answers. They wrote sentences and paragraphs. From those detailed responses, 11 topics rose to the top.”

The top one was lack of recognition, undervalued. That included things like sexism, bias and discrimination. Over a thousand people said that in Utah. Nearly a third of the respondents to the survey said this was a challenge for them.

Today I address that challenge directly, one I have certainly felt at different times in my life. I want to tell these women how much I appreciate you. I value what you do, what gets you up in the morning, the smile you give to others, the way you add to the neighborhood you live in, the way you encourage people on social media. My life would be so much less colorful without you.

Harassment

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that 1 in 10 respondents in the survey, 355 women, said they are experiencing abuse, assault or harassment today. Look around your neighborhood, your workplace. One out of every 10 women is experiencing this abuse TODAY!

“They asked the question, ‘If you reported a sexual harassment in your organization, do you trust that your organization would do something?’” Madsen explained. “The response was no. The organizations are going to cover. They’re not going to really care about their employees. We have some interesting data to support what we’re talking about.”

This ought to be a wakeup call to HR directors all over the state. It ought to be a wakeup call to all of us. There is harassment and abuse going on right in front of us. Why aren’t we seeing it? Why aren’t we stopping it?

Beyond flowers

Giving flowers on Mother’s Day is lovely, I sent my mother flowers every year until she passed 15 years ago. I am grateful to my own children and husband for wanting to love me in this way.

I just want to add something to this ritual. The women you encounter every day are all contributing to the quality of your life. Whether they are mothers or not, whether they are teaching your children or not. (Of course, the same is true for men. Gratefully men don’t seem to feel the same lack of recognition.)

Thanking the women you work with, the women you encounter every day, for what they do will cost you absolutely nothing. It isn’t subject to inflation, it applies across political parties and t is merely a gesture of gratitude and compassion that will go a long way to enriching all of our lives.

Thank you for reading – and Happy Mother’s Day.

Dickson: Mother’s Day gifts we moms really want

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Sixth-ranked UCLA won the final Pac-12 softball tournament as Sharlize Palacios hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning to defeat Utah 2-1 on Saturday night.

It was a defensive battle for the majority of the night, with every run coming on a solo home run.

Utah pitcher Mariah Lopez pitched a complete game, allowing just four hits and two runs — both of which were solo shots.

Lopez navigated her way out of a couple of tough situations throughout the night. In the third inning, she left two stranded and in the fourth inning, with a runner on third and one out, she struck out Ramsey Suarez, then induced a ground out from Thessa Malau’ulu to get out of the inning unscathed.

“She was incredible. I wish we could have put some hits together and scored some more runs for her because she threw one of the best games I’ve seen her throw in her career,” Utah coach Amy Hogue said.

UCLA pitchers Kaitlyn Terry and Taylor Tinsley were masterful, allowing just three hits and a solo home run.

“They were getting us to swing at balls. We’ve shot ourselves in the foot one too many times in the season with that same issue, and she did a nice job,” Hogue said.

“If she doesn’t have to throw strikes to get us out then she won’t, and so she kept getting us to chase balls and we weren’t disciplined enough to adjust and so we got three hits and that’s just not going to be enough.”

The Bruins struck first in the bottom of the second inning after Jordan Woolery got all of an off-speed Lopez pitch, smacking a home run over the center-field wall.

The Utes broke through in the top of the fifth inning on a two-out solo home run from pinch-hitter Karlie Davison, who took Terry deep to left-centerfield to knot the game at 1-1.

“I was really proud of Karlie to let go a real tough pitch in the first pitch in that at-bat with something that a lot of us were swinging at. She let it go and worked her way into a count that was a real good count to get a good pitch to hit and she hit it, so she did a nice job just earning that pitch and then obviously hitting it,” Hogue said.

After holding the Bruins scoreless in the bottom of the fifth inning — after the leadoff batter reached on an error, Lopez retired the next three batters — the Utes went down one-two-three in the top of the sixth.

Facing a 3-2 count, Palacios sent Lopez’s payoff pitch over the left field wall as the Bruins regained the lead.

“I think that she is a hitter that you have to throw every pitch, a full mix of pitches to her. She adjusted on a pitch that I think hit a good spot, so you just have to tip your cap to that hitter in that situation,” Hogue said.

Down to their last three outs, Utah’s Sophie Jacquez, Julia Jimenez and Shonty Passi were retired in order by Tinsley as the Bruins piled onto the circle to celebrate winning the final Pac-12 softball tournament.

With an RPI of 40 entering Sunday’s NCAA tournament selection show (5 p.m. MDT, ESPN2), a series win against then-No. 9 Washington to close out the regular season and wins over No. 22 Oregon and No. 8 Stanford in the Pac-12 tournament bolstered Utah’s resume.

“We needed every bit of those to position ourselves and yeah, we’ll be ready to travel somewhere and hopefully make a nice run into the postseason,” Hogue said.

The Utes should be comfortably in the NCAA tournament, which would be their second consecutive appearance. Last year, the Utes went to the College World Series for the first time since 1994 after defeating San Diego State in the super regional.