Utah State News Service

By Jason Walker  The Facing Project came to Logan on Friday with its newest show, “Facing Depression in Cache Valley,” which took aim at stereotypes of people who struggle with depression in their lives. Students from the Utah State University Department of Theater Arts performed short monologues at the school’s Black Box Theater, telling the stories of Cache Valley residents who had sat down with writers to share their story of how they overcame depression. “Our main goal,” said Matt Omasta, the director of the performance, “was to take the stories that we had and portray them as authentic as possible to try to reach a wide audience and create a piece that would be engaging and interesting, but honor the stories we were working from.” The Facing Project is a national nonprofit which works with communities to put on performances to address a variety of issues, including mental health. Jenni Allred, who organized the Facing Depression project, said depression is very...

By Lauren Bennett This month’s temperatures have been 7.6 degrees warmer than average — and that’s likely to be just the start of warming to come, a National Weather Service scientist said today at the annual Spring Runoff Conference at Utah State University. “This is something we’re going to have to deal with,” said Brian McInerney, the senior hydrologist at the service’s forecast office in Salt Lake City. Anomalous temperatures in February and March indicate that temperatures are rising earlier in the year and by increased margins. The consequence this year has been rapid snow melting — and flooding — in Northern Utah. The early melting is a direct result of the warming conditions and it has significant impacts on Utah’s economy, as flooding can cost millions of dollars in repair damages, McInerney said. In a world in which carbon emissions continue at high levels, temperatures could increase by 12 degrees by the year 2100. A low-emissions scenario projects a 7-degree in...

By Lauren Bennett  When Utah State University-Brigham City student Kyle Dority was unsure about whether he’d done everything necessary to keep his financial aid package, he did what school leaders suggest: He reached out to an adviser. Dority said he was relieved to hear the adviser tell him that “it would be fine.” It wasn’t. Dority, who ended up losing the financial aid he was asking about, called the situation “frustrating.” And he’s not alone. USU-Brigham City’s dean, Tom Lee, said he’s heard from several students who have complained about advising. “I always hate to hear that, but sometimes it happens,” Lee said. “Advising almost always comes up if you talk to students.” Lee said he’s hoping events like the campus’ first “Dinner with the Dean,” which was held earlier this month, will create an open space for communication between students and faculty, offering the information needed to make changes to problems, such as those he’s hearing about with the advising pr...

By Abby Bart  They roasted one another. They lauded each other. They shared embarrassing stories. And then they danced. Saturday brought the latest installment of the Provo City Library’s AuthorLink series, featuring New York Times best-selling young adult authors – and close friends – James Dashner, Brendan Reichs and Ally Condie in a raucously unconventional book reading, signing and panel discussion. The event was intended to promote Dashner’s “The Fever Code,” the final installment in his “The Maze Runner” series, and Reichs’ “Nemesis,” the debut novel in his new duology. It was to be moderated by Ally Condie, the author of the “Matched” trilogy. But the authors had something else in mind. The revelry started as Condie and the library staff entered the venue — a small, blank-walled space known as “The Attic” that held more than 100 fans — and shed their jackets to reveal T-shirts with pictures of Reichs and Dashner. The shirts were intended to reconcile Reichs...

By Ben Nielsen Trail advocates in Northern Utah are trying to remind members of the public to treat the region’s trails with respect. Just five people are responsible for maintenance of trails crisscrossing more than 2,800 square miles in three Northern Utah counties. “So when you see people ask, ‘ugh, why aren’t they maintaining the trails?’ well, there just isn’t funding for that,” said trails planner Dayton Crites, who is hoping two upcoming meetings will help gauge opinion on trail preservation. Because there simply aren’t enough resources available to fix the damages that can be done by inconsiderate people, Crites would like fellow hikers to stick to established trails and to avoid creating new ones. “If you make trails everywhere, you can damage watersheds; you can damage environments and animals coming through,” Crites said. “If everyone does that, it’s 4,000 people and all of a sudden this nice trail becomes an erosion patch.” Crites said he appreciates the work o...

By Anapesi Kaili  Olivia Fatongia felt ignored when she first arrived in Northern Utah. Then 23 years old, Fatongia said she spent weeks trying to get the leaders of Utah State University’s wrestling club to take her seriously. “When I finally showed up to practice, they took me lightly,” she said. “They thought I was a joke.” Then the two-time Hawaii state champion and 185-pound national champion got on the mat. “After seeing me wrestle, I think they changed their minds,” she said. “We have now all become good friends.” It wasn’t the first time she had to fight for respect, nor was it the last. And these days she’s fighting again – this time alongside the wrestlers she coaches, who have taken their struggle for equality from the mat to the courtroom. Earlier this year, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that Central Davis Junior High School had to allow one of Fatongia’s wrestlers to try out for the school’s previously all-male wrestling team — at least so long as th...

By Jessica Dryden Twenty dogs displaced by the Louisiana flooding crisis are heading to Utah, where they will be taken in by staff at the Cache Humane Society in Logan. The four-legged refugees were formerly housed at Acadiana Humane Society in Lafayette, Louisiana. That shelter is currently underwater according to Stacey Frisk, the interim director at Cache Humane Society.  “It will be a bit of a tight fit,” Frisk said of available space at her shelter, “but we have fantastic adoption rates in Cache County.” The dogs will be safe in Utah. Cache Humane Society is part of a coalition called No Kill Utah, an initiative led by Best Friends Animal Society that works to prevent stray animals from being killed.  “As coalition members, we pull dogs from Utah shelters all the time," Frisk said. "Best Friends reached out to us and asked if we would reserve some space for these Louisiana dogs displaced by the flooding.” Acadiana Animal Aid is sponsoring the c...

By Matilyn Mortensen Utah Department of Transportation planners have honed in on a road configuration they believe will improve safety and efficiency — and pass environmental muster — when a heavily trafficked Northern Utah highway is updated in coming years. Local officials, though, say UDOT’s road of choice prioritizes the protection of two acres of wetlands over human lives. State Road 30, which runs north of the Wellsville Mountains connecting Logan to Interstate 15, is narrow and, in many places, has no shoulder. Road improvements will include 12 foot paved shoulders on either side and a 14 foot center lane with a concrete median. UDOT officials have proposed merging the highway into two lanes as it passes through a stretch of Bear River wetlands. At a meeting on Monday, though, the local leaders said they’d like the highway to include two lanes running in either direction the entire way — and pointed out that any required merging would likely increase crashes in the of...

By Jacob Olson  In preparation for the renovation of the historic Old Rock Church in Providence, owner Ralph Call is about to begin restoring a bungalow that sits on the same property. The bungalow, which was made into a bed-and-breakfast by the property’s previous owner, stands just a few feet away from the church. The upper rooms were transformed by the former owner and now the bungalow’s basement will be furnished into rooms. Additionally, the two suites on the main floor will receive an additional bed each, manager Kip Gilley said. Call said he expects the bungalow to be completed by the end of summer, making room for the work on the church to begin. The church, which was finished in 1871, was bought four years ago by Call, who was worried that it might be torn down and was determined to preserve its “historical value.” The church’s chapel, which is used as an event center, will be restored to look like it was when it was first built.  Gilley expects...

By Ayanna Likens  The Cache County Council is considering a request to transfer an acre of property to Weber County. If approved, the land transfer — which would cede a plot of land near the Powder Mountain ski resort — would mark the first time the county has moved its boundaries since the 1980s. Council members, though, have expressed skepticism about the request. Craig Sears, a property manager and construction company owner, proposed the transfer to the council on Tuesday, explaining that there is “a misfit lot” on the county boundary lines. An acre of the lot is on the Cache County side and 3.46 acres are in Weber County. “If we don’t move the boundary it will become wasted land,” Sears said. “It is an irregular-shaped lot, so by moving the acre into the Weber boundary we would be able to make something great out of it.” Sears said he hopes to see the lot transformed into a housing development, noting the property enhancements would benefit the schools in the a...

By Ford Rasmussen  A musical score that premiered in Utah on Sunday got enthusiastic reviews from its composer, who said it was the best performance in the history of the 12-year-old piece. The piece, “Variationes Alchemisticae,” commissioned by the Chamber of Music Palisades, has been performed dozens of times, American composer Byron Adams said. He has been present at about 10 of the performances, in places such as Colorado, Los Angeles and England. Adams, who had never been to Utah before, attended Utah State’s Museum and Music concert at the Caine Performance Hall on Sunday. The concert’s musicians consisted of members from the Utah Symphony and the Fry Street Quartet. “There have been no better performances, and it was beautiful in every way,” said Adams, who sat on the upper aisle closest to the stage during the event. The Utah-based musicians “internalized” the work, Adams said, and excelled in their attention to dynamics. Austin Chadw...

By Sophia Blankmeyer In the wake of a suicide attempt by a woman who stopped taking medication for her bipolar disorder when she became pregnant, police and psychologists in Northern Utah are warning against the arbitrary discontinuation of psychotropic medications. Logan police officers arrived at the home of the 21-year-old woman Tuesday morning after receiving tips from her boyfriend and mother. “They had to kick down the door,” said Capt. Tyson Budge. When the officers arrived they noticed an empty pill bottle and razor by her bed. The 16-weeks-pregnant woman told officers she had sought to overdose on Celexa, an antidepressant, because she did not want to deal with life anymore.  While women may have valid concerns about taking prescription medications during pregnancy, psychologists say shifts away of such medications should only be made in consultation with a doctor. The emotional turbulence of pregnancy can be a particularly challenging ti...

By Lauren Bennett  To convince lawmakers of the dire need for more mental health providers at Utah State University’s regional campuses, student leaders are hoping to demonstrate the issue is being taken seriously by fellow learners across the state. To that end, a vote scheduled for this week on whether to raise student fees by $15 could prove crucial. “It’ll probably take a couple years before the state will increase any funding to address the problem,” said David Bush, a licensed psychologist and the director of the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services office. “But more immediately we thought, well, this year we can at least show the state that the students are willing to put their money where their mouth is.” Bailee Bird, the student executive vice president for the university’s Uintah Basin campus, said increased awareness of where the money will go is vital, because students typically are wary of fees.  “The term ‘adding a fee’ is kind of freaky ...

By Matilyn Mortensen Rezoning land in the Cliffside area of Logan will encourage housing stability, city leaders believe, but likely will also contribute to urban sprawl in Cache Valley. The city council voted Tuesday to rezone approximately 65 acres of land in Logan, shifting lot sizes from six houses per acre to four houses per acre. Russ Holley, the Logan city senior planner, said the rezone is “not a big deal” because both designations are for single family homes. “It’s not like you’re going from residential to commercial, or residential to industrial,” Holley said. “Those kinds of drastic zone changes tend to be very impactful. This is a very minimal change.” The intent of the rezoning is so future development will match already existing neighborhoods. The Cliffside area was zoned for higher density a few years ago as part of the Envision Cache County plan. The goal of the plan is to “keep the city, city and the country, country.” This means preventing urban sprawl to...

By Eddie Collins A spike in Cache Valley’s air pollution earlier this month may have been bad for the health of people in Northern Utah, but it has been good for some researchers at Utah State University. The inversion culminated in the highest level of particulate matter 2.5, or PM2.5, in a single day since 2005. And that has provided researchers with increased accessibility to samples that are crucial for their work. “We want to know what air pollutants do to human health,” said Randy Martin, who researches airborne particulate matter in Utah’s Uintah Basin. “If we’re going to try to quantify that, we need to sample our air pollutants.” Collection of particle samples is Martin’s area of expertise, and it requires understanding of what the particles are made of, their sizes, and how to effectively collect them. During periods of bad pollution, his duties increase with the number of agencies and colleagues who need samples to carry out their own research. Roger Coulombe, a p...

By Zachary Aedo  If there’s a time to celebrate traditions, it’s now. That’s the perspective of students from Utah State University’s Latino Student Union, which is planning its annual Fiesta Americas celebration in the wake of a year in which many of its members felt targeted by hurtful words and hateful attitudes. Club member Karina Hernandez said it was hard “to witness people being so hateful towards our community" during the election season. "First it hurt. It did sting," Hernandez said. "But now we're coming together and creating a network of forces to combat that attitude towards us ... it's forcing us to mobilize and to be stronger than we've ever been before. So if anything, it's definitely bringing us together." For Hernandez, the Fiesta Americas party is a way for the Latino community to come together and keep celebrating its traditions — which can be hard when one lives in "a community that's very much different f...