Utah
Utah Warriors to host Major League Rugby’s west final after holding off Seattle 23-21
HERRIMAN — The ending left more to be desired, but the first-ever home playoff game in Utah Warriors history finished with a burst, a boom, and a celebration unlike anything the eighth-year franchise has experienced on home turf at Zions Bank Stadium.
Jordan Trainor scored a pair of tries and D’Angelo Leuila converted two critical second-half penalty kicks as the Utah Warriors held off the Seattle Seawolves 23-21 in front of more than 4,000 fans.
The host fans left happy Saturday night — if not without some nerves.
“We’ve got the best fans in the comp,” Trainor said. “To have them come out for us and to get a win for them, to put on a show for them, we’re stoke for them. … Having those home fans is like another player out there.”
Lauina Futi scored two tries for Seattle, but it was Trainor’s brace — and a crowd that included everybody’s favorite Uncle Phil, actor Ty Burrell, and Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson — that launched the top-seeded Warriors to a 17-0 halftime advantage.
“We were happy with the first half,” Trainor said. “I think we just stuck to our game plan and our systems, and came away real happy in the second half. … But we knew Seattle was going to stay in it, which they did. We’re just happy to get a win and move on to next week.”
Warriors coach Greg Cooper credited Trainor for sparking the first-half flash — as well as Kyle Brown, the 22-year-old New Zealand center who returned from a nearly two-month injury to start at outside center and spark the offense.
It was Brown’s offload pass that set up Trainor’s first try, and the youngster played a critical role in each of Utah’s three first-half scoring plays that also included Joel Hodgson’s penalty-goal conversions.
“We’re really lucky to have JT; our back three is really solid,” Cooper said. “And it was a tremendous performance from Kyle Brown. We gave him 40 minutes because that’s all we thought we’d get out of him today; and I thought it was an outstanding 40 minutes.”
The Warriors also held up another try to close the first half, which — when considering the final score — proved crucial, both mathematically and in momentum.
After a penalty try to open the second half, Futi dotted it down twice between the 58th and 71st minute to pull the Seawolves within 2 points.
But it was a pair of penalty kicks from Leuila — including one from distance in the 66th minute — as well as an illegal lineout by Seattle in the final minutes of the match that helped Utah advance to next week’s conference championship.
“I thought our defense was outstanding today,” said Cooper, who (somewhat cheekily) admitted his side hasn’t played a complete game yet. “We came under a lot of pressure, but I thought our first-half defense was superb. We didn’t chase rucks, we had chased rucks, and we put ourselves under pressure.
“Some of our attack was outstanding. But we probably left 3-4 tries out there.”
The Warriors will host the winner of Sunday’s match between Houston and Los Angeles next Saturday, June 21, at Zions Bank Stadium.
The winner will advance to face the Eastern Conference champion June 28 at Centreville Bank Stadium in Rhode Island.
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.
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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