Former postal worker convicted for delaying and destroying mail
A Salt Lake City woman and former postal worker was convicted by a federal jury on Wednesday for delaying and destroying immigration mail.
Diana K. Molyneux worked as an express mail clerk at the USPS Processing and Delivery Center in Salt Lake City. During her time in this position, she was responsible for sorting and processing express and priority mail.
Immigration mail from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services went missing in fall of 2017 and Molyneux’s coworkers reported they found mail in places it wasn’t supposed to be.
Some of the misplaced mailers had been tampered with or sent to be shredded. It was these reports that led to a criminal investigation.
Molyneux was seen on camera footage in 2018 digging through pre-sorted mail and taking out and setting aside priority immigration mail. This mail was never put back in its proper place.
Federal agents also witnessed Molyneux burying mail in a shred bin used to destroy and recycle undeliverable bulk mail.
Her sentencing before a U.S. District Court Judge is scheduled for Aug. 1.
Fentanyl testing strips legalized in Utah
Fentanyl testing strips are now legal in Utah following the latest state legislative session.
This legalization came days after the Rocky Mountain Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) wrapped up “Operation Last Mile." During this operation on the West Coast, agents confiscated an amount of fentanyl that could have led to more than 800,000 deadly doses.
The agency targeted drug dealers on the street and seized over 25 pounds of fentanyl powder and over 365,000 fentanyl big pills.
DEA Assistant Special Agent Dustin Gillespie said the fentanyl testing strips can be helpful in preventing the rise in fentanyl around the state. But Gillespie questioned if people are actually willing to use the strips to test pills that they may not be sure of.
The Utah Harm Reduction Coalition has been using the testing strip as part of a pilot program.
Mindy Vincent, founder and executive director of the coalition, said that their program giving strips to their clients has been incredibly successful.
Rainwater collection program distributes barrels around Utah County
The Utah Rivers Council’s RainHarvest program gives the residents the opportunity to conserve water through rainwater collection. The program has been around for nine years.
On Wednesday, Utah County residents had the chance to pick up a rain collection barrel in Lehi.
Zack Frankel, the executive director of the Utah Rivers Council, said they distributed 600 barrels to residents across Utah County.
The program has a partnership with the cities of Orem and Lehi, which allows residents to get the barrels at a lower price.
Frankel said they have distributed 11,000 rain barrels to Utahns over the last nine years, This means that each time it rains enough to fill a 50-gallon barrel, about half a million gallons of water are saved.
He said saving water is a necessary long-term investment that can help keep the Great Salt Lake at a high water level.
New Utah executive order requires water conservation at state facilities
An executive order requiring water conservation at state facilities has been issued by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who said the move could increase Utah’s drought resiliency.
Utah is one of the driest states in the nation. Portions of the state have experienced drought conditions nearly every year since 2000.
The order requires state agencies to assess compliance with water conservation requirements for state facilities and to follow the Division of Water Resources’ weekly watering guide.
The governor’s office reported that Utahns have conserved billions of gallons of water over the past two years through combined individual and government measure. They said these efforts are helping to keep more water in Utah reservoirs than the state could have maintained with typical use and during population growth.
