This is your daily news rundown for Thursday, Oct. 15. In this edition:
- Two Utah hikers got lost on a California mountain for 36 hours before rescue
- Utah Transit Authority services are free this weekend, but higher fares could come next year
- A new specialty license plate is tackling Utah's school lunch debt
Two Utah hikers were rescued after 36 hours lost on a California mountain
Two hikers from Salt Lake City were rescued after being lost for 36 hours on a California mountain.
According to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, the 20-year-old woman and 18-year-old man first set out for a day hike on Mount Shasta early Monday morning.
They got lost and called the sheriff’s dispatch that night, saying they didn’t have enough food, water, or clothes to manage the below-freezing conditions.
At the advice of dispatch, the pair kept descending the mountain, but their phones died soon after.
The next afternoon, search and rescue found the hikers uninjured at the bottom of Cascade Gulch — about 36 hours since the pair first set out.
The sheriff’s office said this was the third rescue on the Avalanche Gulch route within the last month.
UTA is going fare-free this weekend, but a fare increase is on the horizon
The Utah Transit Authority won’t collect any fares this weekend — but overall fare increases could be on the way.
Similar to the three-day fare pause last month, this one will let the agency keep upgrading its fare collection software and hardware.
That could include adding tap to pay features. Currently, riders can only tap to pay when using Farepay cards or transit passes.
Sometime next year, though, fares could go from $2.50 to $3. If approved, it would be the agency’s first fare increase in over a decade.
This new specialty license plate is tackling Utah’s school lunch debt
Yet another specialty license plate is now available in Utah — this one to help fight the state’s nearly $4 million in school lunch debt.
It was designed by the Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation and bears their logo against a blue background.
Each plate that’s sold or renewed will put $30 toward that goal. Before it went on sale, 500 people signed up for the plate, which would clear about seven schools’ lunch debt.
Drivers can order a license plate through the state Division of Motor Vehicles or on the Utah Lunch Debt Relief Foundation's website.
