This is your daily news rundown for Monday, May 25. In this edition:
- Several Utah fires sparked in the last day, including one that required temporary evacuations
- Utah's longest-serving chief justice is retiring at the end of this summer
- Southern Utah's national veterans' cemetery celebrated its first Memorial Day
Five fires sparked in Utah in one day
Five Utah fires sparked in the last day.
The most notable was the Christy Lane Fire between Parowan and Summit in Iron County, which required about 50 people to evacuate for several hours on Sunday night.
As of Monday afternoon, the fire had burned roughly 30 acres and crews had contained 6% of it.
Another fire west of Salt Lake City was discovered on Monday and had burned 25 acres so far.
There were also two small brush fires sparked on Sunday as a result of car accidents in the Pintura area of northern Washington County, one of which burned 10 acres while crew members contained the other to just a quarter of an acre.
Utah’s longest-serving chief justice is retiring, leaving yet another seat to fill
The longest-serving chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court is retiring at the end of this summer.
Justice Matthew Durrant spent 26 years on the state’s highest court, over half of those as chief justice.
Durrant's seat is not the only vacancy on the Utah Supreme Court waiting to be filled — Justice Diana Hagen resigned earlier this month, and lawmakers voted to expand the court by two seats, meaning four seats out of seven need to be filled this year.
The state commission will choose a group of nominees, then Gov. Spencer Cox will select his picks to be confirmed by the state Senate.
Because of a law that passed last year, Cox will also get to select which will be the new chief justice.
Southern Utah's national veterans' cemetery celebrated its first Memorial Day
Monday was the first Memorial Day where visitors could spend it at southern Utah’s first national veterans’ cemetery.
These cemeteries make it possible for eligible service members and veterans to be buried closer to their home.
Although northern Utah already has a national cemetery, as well as a Veterans Affairs grant-funded one, southern Utah just got one last September. This was part of an initiative for getting these cemeteries into rural areas.
The Southern Utah National Cemetery will serve as a burial ground for nearly 15,000 veterans in the Cedar and St. George areas.
