Utah
Utah, neighboring states get new emergency preparedness center
SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is funding a new emergency preparedness center led by a University of Utah professor.
The Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Center for Emergency Public Health will help Utahns and neighboring states ramp up preparation for extreme weather events and public health crises.
It doesn’t have a brick and mortar building. Center Director Dr. Kimberley Shoaf said instead, it’s an academic center designed to help us be ready when disaster strikes.
“As much as we’d like to, we can’t control Mother Nature,” Shoaf said.
Natural disasters like Hurricane Helene show the devastation many communities are left with after extreme weather rolls through.
‘As resilient as possible’
“We need to be able to respond and do the things that we can to make ourselves as resilient as possible,” Shoaf said.
The new emergency preparedness center she leads with the University of Utah’s Division of Public Health is designed to help with that.
“They funded 10 centers across the country, one in each of the regions, to work with state and local health departments and tribal health departments to help them be ready to respond to public health emergencies,” Shoaf said.
The Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Center includes Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
“Congress has reallocated funding to ensure that each health department across the country have access to one of these centers,” Shoaf said.
Her team, in partnership with the University of Colorado’s School of Public Health, has been working with those health departments for the last year.
“Wildfires was what was their top priority, flooding was actually another one in some of the areas,” Shoaf said.
They’re also concerned about severe winter weather.
“When something happens during the winter, how do we get people to respond? How do we get people from here to there? What do we do about sheltering?”
Prepared for earthquakes
Included in Shoaf’s list of priorities is earthquake readiness.
“I currently have a research project looking at the earthquake in Turkey from a year and a half ago, and trying to get a better idea of exactly how people get injured,” she said. “We have some data about that we’ve done in the past, but really looking at within a specific building with a specific type of damage, what kind of injuries would we expect to see?”
Dr. Shoaf’s team helps train members of public health agencies for emergency response. She said public health is a field where turnover is high.
“There’s always there’s a constant need for training, and to keep them up to date on how do they work with their partners, how do they work with emergency management, how do they work with the fire department,” she said.
It’s part of a national effort to have a coordinated response to disasters when they happen. Part of that is ensuring rural and tribal communities are included.
“We have an advisory council that has worked with us from tribal communities across the region, and so we’ve got those relationships there,” Shoaf said.
Nearly $1 million of the $5 million worth of funding the center has over the next five years will be allocated toward working with tribal communities.
She said they’re working on sending out messaging and alerts to help us prepare for what mother nature could bring our way.
“It certainly gives me a sense of hope that we’re turning the corner on recognizing the need to do this sort of thing,” Shoaf said.
Utah
Utah man dies of injuries sustained in avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A man died after he was caught in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon over the weekend.
A spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Thursday that Kevin Williams, 57, had died.
He, along with one other person, was hospitalized in critical condition after Saturday’s avalanche in the backcountry.
MORE | Big Cottonwood Canyon Avalanche
In an interview with 2News earlier this week, one of Williams’ close friends, Nate Burbidge, described him as a loving family man.
“Kevin’s an amazing guy. He’s always serving, looking for ways that he can connect with others,” Burbidge said.
A GoFundMe was set up to help support Williams’ family.
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Utah
911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas
CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.
LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.
Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.
The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.
MORE | Murder-Suicide
Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.
10:33 a.m. — Call 1
After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.
Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.
“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”
11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3
As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.
“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”
11:26 a.m. — Call 4
Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.
“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”
She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.
Police indicated officers were on the way.
2:26 p.m. — Call 5
Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.
Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.
“They found a note on the door.”
2:35 p.m. — Call 6
Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.
“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”
A dispatcher responded:
“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”
2:36 p.m. — Call 7
Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:
“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”
2:39 p.m. — Call 8
Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.
“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”
He repeats the details he knows for the second time.
3:13 p.m. — Call 9
Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.
“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”
Dispatch responded:
“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”
4:05 p.m. — Call 10
More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.
“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”
The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.
Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.
The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.
5:23 p.m. — Call 11
Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.
“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”
She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.
Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference
Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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Utah
Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — AI glasses could allow you to get answers, snap photos, access audio and take phone calls—and now a proposal moving through the legislature would ban the glasses from Utah school classrooms.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kizzy Guyton Murphy, a mother who accompanied her child’s class on a field trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday. “You can’t see inside what the student is looking at, and it’s just grounds for cheating.”
Mom Tristan Davies Seamons also sees trouble with AI glasses.
“I don’t think they should have any more technology in schools than they currently have,” she said.
Her twin daughters, fourth graders Finley and Grayson, don’t have cell phones yet.
“Not until we’re like 14,” said Grayson, adding they do have Chromebooks in school.
2News sent questions to the Utah State Board of Education:
- Does it have reports of students using AI glasses?
- Does it see cheating and privacy as major concerns?
- Does it support a ban from classrooms?
Matt Winters, USBE AI specialist, said the board has not received reports from school districts of students with AI glasses.
“Local Education Agencies (school districts) have local control over these decisions based on current law and code,” said Winters. “The Board has not taken a position on AI glasses.
MORE | Utah State Legislature:
Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.
“I think it should be up to the teachers,” said Briauna Later, another mother who is all for preventing cheating, but senses a ban could leave administrators with tired eyes.
“It’s one more thing for the administration to have to keep track of,” said Later.
The proposal, HB 42, passed the House and cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.
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