Utah News

A wildfire near New Harmony, south of Cedar City, has destroyed 1 home so far and 7 other structures, forced the evacuation of about 40 homes, numerous farm animals, and led to the closure of I-15 between Cedar City and St. George.

Richard Hatch teaches magic classes during the  Cache Valley Summer Citizens program. UPR's Brianna Bodily sat in on one of Hatch's classes called "Magic 201: How to be an Amazing Audience."

At the beginning of the class, the students raise their right hands and pledge: "I promise not to expose the secrets of magic."

In addition to teaching magic tricks in his classes, Hatch also talks about the science of deception:

Organizers of the anti-corporate personhood Move to Amend initiative have taken their request to get on the ballot in Salt Lake City this year to the Utah Supreme Court.

Despite having more than enough signatures, the city recorder’s office rejected the initiative, because state law doesn’t allow for local initiatives that don’t create actual legislation to appear on the ballot. The city council had planned to circumvent that law by voting to place the initiative on the ballot directly, but Utah code apparently doesn’t allow that, either.

One can scarcely venture outdoors from one end of the state to another without detecting the haze and scent of wildfires. The latest fire break out is near New Harmony, just south of Cedar City.

Nick Howell, from the Interagency Fire Center in Cedar City insists that the extraordinary conditions call for extraordinary precautions:

It's already apparent that the recent and ongoing consuming wildfires in Utah will have an impact on the state's economy. Kerry Bringhurst spoke with Kyle Stevens, Deputy Commissioner for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, about the impacts on the agricultural industry in Utah. Livestock producers in Sanpete County have reported the loss of lambs and ewes in wildfires. In other areas of the state, livestock has been evacuated.