Utah State University -

‘Aggie Radio Drama’—Student radio station applies for FCC license

By Noelle Johansen LOGAN—Utah State’s 7-year-old student radio station, Aggie Radio, which has streamed its signal online in partnership with Utah Public Radio since 2007, is applying to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) for a low-power FM license to send its programming over the air and reach a wider audience. A low-power FM (LPFM) license […]

Tags: Aggie Radio, Brady Stanger, FCC, James Morales, Ted Pease, Tom Terry

Forrester Park—home of the famed Blue Sox and a small-town fixture

By Alicia Facer HNC Smithfield Correspondent SMITHFIELD—Green fields for baseball and softball, an equestrian park and outdoor batting cages are just a few features that Forrester Acres Park, home of the 120-year-old Smithfield Blue Sox, offers the community. Everyone know the park at 100 N. 600 West, says Mayor Darrell Simmons. “It is known throughout […]

Tags: Barbara Kent, Brett Daniels, Darrell Simmons, Forrester Acres, Smithfield Blue Sox

Caring, engaged, ‘the next Sarah Palin,’ Barbara Kent serves Smithfield

By Alicia Facer SMITHFIELD—Teacher at the longest running home preschool in town, City Council member, and mother of six, Barbara Kent has been active in the community for more than 30 years. Now in her second term, she’s been on the City Council for four years. “I got involved because people asked me to,” Kent […]

Tags: Barbara Kent, Smithfield

Fast-changing industry is a challenge, journalists advise USU students

By Sarah Romero ST. GEORGE—The journalist’s job is more complex than it once was. Simply being able to write a well-balanced and unbiased story isn’t enough for today’s ever-growing online audiences, say two Utah “content providers.” When Brittny Goodsell, 31, graduated from Utah State University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in print journalism, she […]

Tags: Brittny Goodsell, Faith Jolley, journalism, KSL, The Spectrum

Cows, barber shops—Cache ‘Gateway’ Wellsville by the numbers

By Sarah Romero WELLSVILLE—In the 6.4 square miles making up Wellsville, Cache Valley’s oldest city, there are more homeless people and more beauty salons than full-time city employees. Wellsville may be small (about 3,800 residents) compared to other cities, but it has a big job upholding its title as the “Gateway to Cache Valley.” 25—The […]

Leishman appointment to planning board has some worried

By Sarah Romero WELLSVILLE—Not everyone is supportive of Wellsville’s new planning and zoning commissioner, appointed Wednesday night. Jerald Leishman replaces John Spence, who recently resigned. But some residents are concerned about the new appointment. “There are some people that are very upset I’m here, just because they believe I am set in my ways,” Leishman […]

Tags: Don Hartle, Jarold Leishman, John Spence, Wellsville zoning

Wellsville considers splash pad for summer fun

By Sarah Romero WELLSVILLE—Children may have a new reason to put on their swimming suits and flip-flops this summer. Wellsville may install a splash pad north of the Wellsville Elementary School on East 100 South near the existing playground. “Every year the recreation committee tells me we need a splash pad for the kids,” City […]

Tags: Don Hartle, Gary Bates, splash pad, Wellsville

Smithfield’s Carnegie library will double in $1.44M expansion

By Alicia Facer SMITHFIELD—The town’s 93-year-old Carnegie Library on Main Street is getting a $1.44 million two-story, 5,600-square-foot expansion. One major concern for residents and council members was keeping the historic building intact. “It’s been in the community since the 1920s,” said City Council member Barbara Kent. “We have a lot of sentimental feelings about […]

Tags: Barbara Kent, Carnegie Library

Flash mob dances to raise awareness of abuse against women

By Noelle Johansen LOGAN—In a flash mob at Utah State University, students and the Community Abuse Prevention Services Agency (CAPSA) danced to raise awareness of abuse against women as part of the international One Billion Rising for Justice movement. “One Billion Rising is a global campaign that the statistic that one in three women will […]

Tags: CAPSA, Flash mob, Michelle Merrill, sexual abuse

You lookin’ at me? Robert De Niro’s dad was a great painter

By Katie Swain PARK CITY—Twenty years after the death of Robert De Niro Sr., HBO’s Sheila Nevins and Robert De Niro Jr.’s producing partner Jane Rosenthal came together with directors Geeta Gandbhir and Perri Peltz to honor the abstract expressionist painter with the film “Remembering the Artist Robert De Niro Sr.” Premiering at Sundance 2014, […]

Tags: Robert De Niro, Sundance

You’ll say, ‘Wish I Was There,’ when you see Braff’s new film

By Katie Swain PARK CITY—Ten years after his directorial debut with “Garden State,” writer, director and actor Zach Braff returned to Sundance to tears and a standing ovation as he screened the premiere of his second film, “Wish I Was Here.” “Garden State was all the things me and my 25-year-old friends were obsessing about […]

Tags: Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Sundance, Zach Braff

‘Listen Up!’—annoying, arrogant but somehow likeable Sundance film

By Katie Swain PARK CITY—Premiering at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, “Listen Up Philip” is the latest indie film from director Alex Ross Perry. With unlikable author Philip Roth (Jason Schwartzman) as the belligerent, cantankerous, yet somehow charming protagonist, “Listen Up Philip” skillfully walks a paradox of hating and empathizing with its humorously despicable characters […]

Tags: Alex Ross Perry, Jason Schwartzman, Philip Roth, Sundance

‘The One I Love’—what?

By Katie Swain PARK CITY—In any film, the first concern should always be a strong, coherent plot. Artistic elements, daring experimentation, complicated visual effects, and even dialogue or casting should be considered only after a good storyline is mapped out. All the visual effects in the world can’t cover up an incoherent and rambling narrative. […]

Tags: Charlie McDowell, Sundance

Sundance 2014: ‘They Came Together’ is sweet, funny, klutzy

By Katie Swain PARK CITY—New York City, a big business “vaguely, but not overtly, Jewish leading man,” and a mom and pops candy store owning “klutzy, but adorable, leading lady” who are so different they’re obviously perfect each other. Sound familiar? It sounded familiar to writer/director David Wain and his writing partner Michael Showalter, too. […]

Tags: Amy Poehler, Michael Showalter, Paul Rudd, Sundance

‘Totally disagree’: Wellsville planning chair quits after 14 years

By Sarah Romero WELLSVILLE—For John Spence, it just became too much to bear. Uneven sidewalks, his own health issues and the city’s no-contract business deals pushed him too far. Planning Commission Chairman John Spence announced this week that he’s resigning after more than 14 years. Spence said his decision to resign resulted from his own […]

Tags: John Spence, sidewalks, Wellsville City, Wellsville Planning Commission

‘Back to Life’—Revitalizing downtown Wellsville

By Sarah Romero WELLSVILLE—Downtown Wellsville consists of one street lined by city offices and run-down shops on one side, and a church on the other. Some residents would like to see that changed. On Wednesday, Wellsville resident Mary Majocha asked the Planning Commission for permission to open an antique and collectibles shop on Main Street, […]

Real lives: Sundance film echoes Utah same-sex marriage debate

By Katie Swain PARK CITY, Utah — In the midst of angry debates and hurt feelings on both sides of the same-sex marriage situation in Utah, Park City held a celebration in honor of the approximately 1,300 gay and lesbian Utah couples who were wed in the last few weeks between Judge Robert Shelby’s ruling, […]

Tags: Ben Cotner, gay marriage, marriage equality, Reed Cowan, Robert Shelby, Ryan White, same-sex marriage, Sundance

More than a childhood, ‘Boyhood’ took 12 years, and tells moving story

By Paul Christiansen PARK CITY, Utah — The Sundance Film Festival has been host to many beautiful and inventive films over the years, but few have been as groundbreaking and inventive as director Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” the story of a boy growing from a child into a teenager, from an adolescent into an adult. Linklater […]

Tags: Boyhood, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater, Sundance

Better late than never: Sundance apologizes for missing ‘Bottle Rocket’

By Katie Swain PARK CITY, Utah–This was the 30th anniversary of Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival. As part of its celebration of three decades of success, the indie movie-fest also apologized for one of its mistakes—to a cast, crew and director passed up almost 20 years ago. In 1996, aspiring director Wes Anderson brought to […]

Tags: Botle Rocket, Owen Wilson, Sundance, Wes Anderson

Great stuff from Jeremy Messersmith at Sundance, and on new album

By Paul Christiansen PARK CITY, Utah — Since indie-rock darling Jeremy Messersmith announced in March he’d be releasing his fourth full-length album “Heart Murmurs,” his major label debut, on Glassnote Records, critics and fans have speculated he’d have to adapt his quirky sound into something a bit more mainstream. Those suspicions seemed confirmed earlier this […]

Tags: Glassnote Records, jeremy Messersmith, Sundance