“The Wave” is such a breathtaking hiking destination that just 20 people are allowed to visit per day, in order to ensure it remains protected—but the intense heat along the Utah-Arizona border, coupled with an open landscape with no marked trail, has claimed three lives this month alone. On… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
27-year-old Elisabeth Bervel died of cardiac arrest Monday, becoming the third hiker in a month to succumb to the brutal summer heat and disorienting open country along the Utah-Arizona border where no marked trail shows the way.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
The resolution of a lengthy legal battle over homes and land owned by a polygamous sect led by Warren Jeffs crept forward Tuesday, when a Utah judge gave initial approval for the creation of a trustees board to oversee the properties on the Utah-Arizona border.
Utah 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg approved the proposal, which now goes to Utah legislature.
Lawmakers must find a way to pay $5.6 million owed to Salt Lake City accountant Bruce Wisan, his attorneys and other firms hired to liquidate assets of a communal land trust once run by Jeffs. But until that happens, the long-overdue process of deciding how to redistribute about $100 million worth of homes and properties belonging to current and former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Hilldale and Colorado City, Ariz., will remain gridlocked.
Jeffrey Shields, an attorney representing Wisan and the trust, told Lindberg that this proposal meets the requirements set recently by a state board that includes Gov. Gary Herbert. Shields and the offices of the Utah and Arizona attorneys general have also agreed on the plan.
It remains unclear what Utah will do.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert acknowledged Tuesday that the state has a court-ordered obligation to pay up, and said the issue “is not sneaking up on anybody.” But he didn’t go as far as to guarantee payment, noting that the state needs to assess its liability and determine if there will be more money owed later.
Lindberg said she supports the approach mapped out during the hearing Tuesday in Salt Lake City. The judge’s approval is not a final decision, but rather permission to explore the option of the trustees board.
The proposal does not include details of how the property would be redistributed, leaving that up the board.
In a previous hearing, Lindberg expressed concern about whether a truly independent board of trustees can be created in the community. Many of the estimated 7,500 people living in the in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., are followers of Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Jeffs is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting two underage girls he considered his brides, but continues to try to lead the sect of about 10,000 people …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne says there is an ongoing criminal investigation into a polygamous sect along the Utah-Arizona border.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ leader, Warren Jeffs, is jailed in Texas for life after being convicted of sexually assaulting two of his underage brides.
A 26-year-old woman who claims Jeffs forced her into marriage at age 14 has now fled the group. She says she and her six children were held against their will for years.
Horne says her allegations of forced underage sex, among other things, are part of the ongoing case, but he declined to provide details.
Jeffs was convicted in Texas after similar allegations were leveled against him and others following a 2008 raid on an FLDS ranch in Texas.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
