Utah News

Last month, Chicago was overrun by some of the best Irish dancers in North America. Thousands skipped their way to the Windy City to compete in the 2012 North American Irish Dance Championships, simply known in the Irish dancing world as Nationals.

Among many Irish dance schools from Utah that competed, Cache Valley was represented by the An Tus Nua Dance Company located in North Logan. Some of the An Tus Nua dancers talked to UPR's Dani Hayes about why they chose this specific type of dance.

It's not unusual to sneak a peak of the planet Venus. Observers have been watching what appears to be a bright star shining in the east before sunrise for some time now, but on Monday, the moon and Venus will shine bright enough to be seen in daylight, but only if you know exactly where to look, says Patrick Wiggins, Utah's Solar System Ambassador for NASA.

On August 13, the moon will be easily spotted during the daytime and around 2:00 that afternoon you can look to the upper left of the moon, about 1/3 of the way up the western sky, to get a pretty good glimpse of Venus.

The Utah rural summit concludes today in Cedar City. UPR's Chris Holmes was there from opening to close and reports on highlights from the summit.

The keynote speaker on Thursday was Jack Shultz, author of the book The Seven and a Half Keys to Big Success in Small Towns. Key #1 according to Schultz is to have a "can do" attitude. In welcoming summit attendees, Southern Utah University President Dr. Michael T. Benson offered a local example: The Utah Shakespeare Festival.

The latest foreclosure numbers hitting Utah appear to be good news. The latest report by RealtyTrac shows the Beehive state dropped to 26th in the nation in filings, down 70 percent from one year ago. But as Jessica Gail reports, some experts worry the numbers may be short lived.

The impact of Sunday’s massacre at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin by a white supremacist hit especially hard for Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. Gill says as an American citizen and a member of the Sikh faith himself, he is both outraged and saddened by the events that occurred. He says hate crimes not only affect the immediate victims but also those who belong to community.

Today is the opening day of the 25th annual Utah Rural Summit, a 2-day seminar attended by leaders from Utah's non-Wasatch Front counties and cities. UPR's Chris Holmes sits down with Wes Curtis, Executive Director of Southern Utah University's Office of Regional Services, to talk about the summit his office is hosting and why Cedar City is a great place to hold this discussion.