Page 17 - Project Hotline News Today

Northbound I-15 has reopened at Layton Parkway after a medical incident caused a closure Monday evening, according to the Utah Department of Transportation.

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah lawmaker wants to allow people experiencing a crisis to sign up for a list that would bar them from buying a gun from a retail store for a limited period of time. Bill sponsor Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, emphasized HB267 is not a so-called "red-flag law," a type of law that allows close family members to request law enforcement to remove guns from those considered at-risk. He sees the bill instead impacting, for example, someone discharged from the hospital after a su...

SALT LAKE CITY — One Utah lawmaker wants to provide first responder agencies throughout the state with $1 million to develop or enhance their mental health resources. "We have seen an increase in mental health needs ... but especially for our first responders, we have not seen the expansion in the kinds of programs that are specific to them," bill sponsor Rep. Karen Kwan, D-Murray, told members of the House Health and Human Services Committee on Monday. HB248 would require the Division of Sub...

SALT LAKE CITY — Should elementary children participate in school suicide prevention programs? That question spurred a debate Wednesday as a Utah House committee discussed a bill that would expand suicide prevention resources to younger children amid the mental health crisis. More Utah youth ages 10 to 24 die from suicide than any other cause, bill sponsor Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, told members of the House Health and Human Services Committee. "Its remarkable to contemplate that a li...

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah bill that would allow concealed carrying of firearms without a permit prompted debate Friday among some who believe it will promote individuals safety and others who fear it will prove deadly amid the mental health crisis. "This is not just a left issue or right issue," bill sponsor Rep. Walt Brooks, R-St. George, said. "This is good data that drives good policy. ... The right to carry or protect yourself is a constitutional right." He said studies in some of the 16 st...

SALT LAKE CITY — This pandemic holiday season is unlike anything we have ever experienced before. It is a well-known fact that depression is linked to social isolation, and it typically increases around the winter holidays anyway, but this year we are adding masks, COVID-19 restrictions, quarantines, stay-at-home orders, family conflicts over gatherings, cold weather, dark days with less sunlight, and end-of-year deadlines. This time of year will be especially hard on people who are dealing w...

SALT LAKE CITY — A Vernal mother was charged Friday with shooting and killing her 2-year-old son while he was sitting in his car seat. Valerie Stringham Peck, 40, is charged in Uintah Countys 8th District Court with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and child abuse, a second-degree felony. On Dec. 14, "after previously making plans to commit the act," Peck took her 2-year-old son, Zack, to a camping area in Dry Fork Canyon and Red Cloud Loop Road, and after 20 to 30 minutes shot him w...

SALT LAKE CITY — A woman was arrested after police say she shot her 2-year-old son, then herself, near Fantasy Canyon in central Uintah County on Monday. Sheriffs deputies were dispatched on Monday around 2:30 p.m. to the area of Fantasy Canyon after a shooting was reported, officials said. Initial reports indicated it involved a young boy around age 3 and a 40-year-old woman. Valerie Peck, 40, was identified Tuesday in a statement by Uintah County Chief Deputy Brian Fletcher as the woman inv...