• BEST IN STATE—Senior Courtney Schoen Lewis was named Best PR Student in Utah. Story

National champs look to make the most of fall baseball

September 6th, 2014 Posted in Sports |

Story and photo by Jared Dangerfield PROVIDENCE — Fall is in the air and for many baseball enthusiasts that means the end of another season, but for the Utah State University club baseball players, their season is just beginning. “I’m excited, I don’t think I have ever been so excited for a baseball season in […]

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Willow Park Zoo gets ready to welcome new animal exhibit

September 4th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

By Sierra Copeland LOGAN — Willow Park Zoo workers can scarcely wait for Sept. 13, the day they’ll swing open the gates and reveal a new animal exhibit to the community. Staff and volunteers are bubbling with anticipation, ready to share the newest addition to the ever-evolving zoo, but are keeping the details hush-hush for […]

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Graffiti artists: Avoid the concrete jungle or risk arrest

August 31st, 2014 Posted in Opinion |

By Katherine Larsen LOGAN — After spending thousands of dollars and a week of sandblasting and painting over colorful graffiti in the “concrete jungle” — the concrete structures located on the hillside at the entrance to Logan Canyon —  police say anyone caught trespassing will now be arrested. “Anyone that goes up there past the […]

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Valley soccer rivalry kicks off with Sky View girls over Logan, 3-1

August 31st, 2014 Posted in Sports |

By Jared Dangerfield LOGAN — In the first rivalry game of the season, the Sky View Bobcats’ girls soccer team came away with a 3-1 victory over long-time rival, the Logan Grizzlies, Thursday at Logan High School. With vuvuzelas roaring — the two-foot long horns that gained fame during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in […]

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Logan Grizzlies hungry for state championship

August 31st, 2014 Posted in Sports |

Story and photo by Michael Royer LOGAN — Winning every game. That’s the goal. And coming off a heartbreaking 23-21 loss to Olympus High School in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Class 4A Utah State Football Championships, it’s a goal the Logan High School Grizzlies football team and its coaches believe is obtainable. “Expectations are […]

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Aggies leap from hot-air balloons, set insane ‘rope swing’ record

August 20th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

By Sarah Romero, BSJ ’14 SOMEWHERE ABOVE THE NEVADA DESERT—The bulbous hot-air balloon, blue with red and white stripes, rose slowly. I stood at the edge of the wicker basket, my heart racing as I prepared to jump into the empty sky. Three-thousand feet below, the Nevada desert stretched for miles, lit by the rising […]

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Column: A new perspective on beauty—my own!

July 29th, 2014 Posted in Opinion |

By Noelle Johansen I hadn’t shaved my legs in nearly three months, but nothing stopped the tiny old woman with a chin as hairy as my legs from patting my calves heartily. She had to be at least 80 years old, and her worn, floral housedress smelled of tobacco and bleach. All I could do […]

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An unlikely lunch craze delicacy on a stick—World’s Best Corn Dogs

June 2nd, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

Story & Photos by Noelle Johansen LOGAN—The hotdog mustard-yellow truck parked outside a plumbing supply company off Center Street drew a growing line of hungry patrons queued up at its single side window on recent weekday. Everyone wanted one thing: the World’s Best Corn Dog. With more than 2,000 Facebook fans, word has spread rapidly […]

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Indie-folk darlings Hoodoo branch out to new territory

May 25th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

By Paul Christiansen LOGAN — Cache Valley’s music scene is constantly changing. Bands often come together and fall apart within only a few weeks; musicians fall in and out of the spotlight quickly and sometimes disappear entirely. Lacey Johnson is aware that evolution is necessary — and unavoidable — when maintaining a degree of musical […]

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For disabled, Common Ground Outdoor Adventures says ‘no’ to ‘can’t’

May 13th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

By Noelle Johansen LOGAN—When USU senior Jordan Pease moved with his family from Texas to Utah 10 years ago, his older brothers quickly picked up snowboarding. Though he wanted to snowboard, too, Pease couldn’t join them on the slopes. His disability—arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, or AMC—curved his joints at birth, resulting in a hardening and shortening […]

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Crisis simulation is rite of passage for JCOM journalists, PR students

May 12th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

LOGAN—CRISIS! Teams of dozens of USU journalism and public relations students were thrown into the deep end of their professions in the third annual CommStrong crisis simulation exercise, a day-long trial by fire in which future communication professionals react to bombings, car crashes and municipal emergencies—all at once CommStrong is a professional training workshop developed […]

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Gossner’s perfect Swiss cheese—a long-time Cache Valley delicacy

May 12th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

Story & Photos by Sarah Romero LOGAN—For more than 45 years, Gossner Foods  has provided cheese-lovers in Cache Valley and around the globe with top-quality Swiss cheese. This is an accomplishment to be proud of—making top-grade Swiss cheese is more complicated than some may think. It requires time, the perfect environment and, most importantly, an […]

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Fuzzy-wuzzies, baby bears & bunnies make Baby Animal Days a hit

May 12th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

By Sarah Romero WELLSVILLE—Snuggling soft and fuzzy bunnies. Chasing baby goats. Cradling tiny fluffy chicks. Patting little lambs. What’s not to like? The American West Heritage Center on Hwy. 89/91 in Wellsville drew thousands of families at its 19th annual Baby Animal Days—especially baby humans, who cooed and giggled with their cuddly animal friends. Along […]

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Annual USU Powwow is about frybread, dancing—and cultural identity

May 12th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

By Noelle Johansen LOGAN—It’s more than bright feathers, costumes, drumbeats, dancing and the rattle of tin bells when the annual Powwow comes to USU’s Nelson Fieldhouse every year. Beyond the tribal dance spectacle, native American frybread and jewelry, USU’s Powwow—the 41st was this year—is a vehicle to bring native peoples together, and to celebrate their […]

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Canyoneering: A breath-taking weekend of redrock, ropes and trust

May 12th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

Romero and friends spend a weekend dropping off precipices in Southern Utah Photo Essay by Sarah Romero CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK—It’s an adrenaline-flooded feeling to hang over a 150-foot gorge on a single strand of rope. Canyoneering in Utah’s back country requires courage, yes. Some knowledge of ropes, knots and carabineers? Of course. But the […]

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Wellsville: Embattled Hwy. 89/91 ‘Sardinz’ truck stop finally approved

May 9th, 2014 Posted in Opinion |

By Sarah Romero WELLSVILLE—His truck stop was finally approved, but there’s still a long road ahead for developer Steve Kyriopoulos. The planning commission unanimously voted April 12 that the truck stop on U.S. Highway 89/91 was “an allowable use,” nearly three years after Kyriopoulos submitted his original proposal. However, the commissioners said Kyriopoulos must fulfill […]

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1978 USU journalism grad watching evolution of newspaper business

April 26th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

By Noelle Johansen OGDEN—A group of tired-looking journalists was gathered in a second-floor conference room of the Ogden Standard-Examiner, learning how to shoot and upload video from their cell phones. At the opposite end of the table, possibly the youngest guy in the room taught about A-roll and B-roll video composition. Then, a brief tutorial […]

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Wellsville residents oppose proposed truck stop on Hwy. 89/91

April 24th, 2014 Posted in Opinion |

By Sarah Romero WELLSVILLE—Some residents say it will kill people. Others say it will be a valuable asset to the community. It’s been two years since Steve Kyriopoulos first filed an application for a truck stop on the southeast corner of U.S. Highway 89/91 and 400 North. Kyriopoulos is completing his newest application and will […]

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Baby ducks and bears! Baby Animal Days comes back for 19th season

March 31st, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

By Sarah Romero WELLSVILLE—Snuggle a baby lamb, talk to an iguana or a porcupine, survive a mechanical bull ride, and watch baby bears. It’s the 19th annual Baby Animal Days Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the American West Heritage Center on Hwy. 91/89 in Wellsville this week. According to an […]

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Smithfield’s Kris Monson is in government for the long run

March 29th, 2014 Posted in Arts and Life |

By Alicia Facer SMITHFIELD—Never-ending stress, knee surgery, three children and three grandchildren have not stopped City Council member Kris Monson from donating her services to a community she has been a part of for the past 18 years. Monson has been serving the city for 13 years. “I was involved with the Youth Council for […]

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