Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Friday AM headlines: Crumbl lawsuit, new superintendent for Salt Lake City schools

An assortment of decorated cookies from Crumbl
Crumbl Cookies

Salt Lake City School District names new superintendent

On Thursday, the Salt Lake City Board of Education voted unanimously to select Elizabeth Grant as Salt Lake City School District's new superintendent.

Grant is returning to the district after going through the K-12 education system in the same district. She served as principal at Lowell Elementary and assistant principal at Edison Elementary.

Grant said she is completely invested in the success of the children and youth of Salt Lake City.

The district evaluated applicants through a stakeholder committee of more than 40 district students, parents, employees and community leaders.

Federal judge hears testimonies in cookie company lawsuit

Crumblis suing Dirty Dough, another cookie company, accusing them of obtaining proprietary information, including recipes. Crumbl also claims that Dirty Dough stole its business model.

A federal judge will decide whether to block Dirty Dough from continuing to expand based on the accusations of stealing trade secrets.

Dirty Dough denied any wrongdoing in the case, while Crumbl asked the judge to pause the other company’s franchising.

Crumbl is also asking Dirty Dough for a public apology for what it claims were misstatements throughout the legal dispute.

On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Howard Nielson Jr. heard testimony from the leaders of both companies.

USU employee arrested on second-degree felony charge

A Utah State University employee has been charged with communication fraud and unlawful use of a financial transaction card. The second-degree felony charge comes after the university audit office found discrepancies in travel charges made by Terry Messmer, a Utah State University employee of almost three decades.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Messmer was in charge of a fleet of university vehicles that were “for the use of individuals when they would have to travel for field work.”

It also says when Messmer traveled, he would use one of the fleet vehicles. He would then return and “submit a reimbursement form to the University” saying he drove his own vehicle. Funds would subsequently be deposited into his bank account “for the personal mileage that he would falsely claim on his trip.”

The affidavit states Messmer took more than $11,000 dollars in documented funds.

USU’s associate vice president for strategic communications, Amanda DeRito told the Herald Journal that Messmer has left the university and is no longer a USU employee.

Caitlin Keith is a general news reporter at UPR. She is from Lindon, Utah and is currently an undergrad student studying print journalism at USU. Caitlin loves to write and tell people’s stories. She is also a writer at the Utah Statesman. She loves to read, ski, play the cello and watch various TV shows.
At 14-years-old, Kerry began working as a reporter for KVEL “The Hot One” in Vernal, Utah. Her radio news interests led her to Logan where she became news director for KBLQ while attending Utah State University. She graduated USU with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and spent the next few years working for Utah Public Radio. Leaving UPR in 1993 she spent the next 14 years as the full time mother of four boys before returning in 2007. Kerry and her husband Boyd reside in Nibley.