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Would you be a good cop? Smithfield police talk about requirements

By Nick Bolinder SMITHFIELD — Chief Johnny McCoy has built the Smithfield City Police Department from the ground up. In 2000, he left his job as a lieutenant in Evanston, Wyo. to help start the department. McCoy now has eight full-time officers and three part time reserves (volunteers). McCoy has been in law enforcement since […]

Tags: police department, requirements for officers, Smithfield

Christmas 1917-style returns to American West Heritage Center

Story & photos by Nick Bolinder WELLSVILLE — The American West Heritage Center celebrated Christmas with the return of its annual Christmas Festival with Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. The festival returned to the Heritage Center after a two-year hiatus. It was previously held for a whole month but was cut to two days for […]

Tags: American West Heritage Center, Christmas festival, Wellsville

Recession plus increased tuition costs hit USU married students hard

By Allie Jeppson LOGAN — In July, Utah State University student Joshua Harmison and wife Natalie found themselves jobless, faced with upcoming bills and tuition expenses in the fall. Both previous employees of CityDeals.com, Joshua and Natalie were laid off in the same month, along with about half of the company’s employees, because of the […]

Tags: effects, married students, recession, USU, Utah State University

College grads seek other options with fewer jobs in struggling economy

By Mandy Morgan LOGAN — Dusty Jackson was certain that if he kept the connections he had at the Logan Recreation Center while finishing a degree in Exercise Science from Utah State University, he would be on the fast track to a full-time job that he enjoyed. All he had to do was graduate; it […]

Tags: Business, Cache Valley, college graduates, economy, job market, Utah

City Council increases Smithfield’s backyard chicken limit

By Nick Bolinder SMITHFIELD — City Council approved an ordinance that will allow people to own more chickens at Wednesday night’s meeting. Before this amendment, Smithfield residents were allowed to own four chickens; now they are able to own up to 14 chickens in a residential area. The number of chickens citizens are allowed to […]

Tags: chicken ordinance, city council, Smithfield

Cache County Council approves $550,000 for merit raises

By Nick Bolinder LOGAN – Cache County Council approved $250,000 in the budget Tuesday to be allocated for employees’ merit raises. If funds are available, the council approved up to $300,000 more to be allocated on July 1, also for merit increases. Many county employees were present to learn the fate of their salaries. The […]

Tags: Cache County Council, merit raises approved

A WORD for Final Exam Week

From Today’s WORD on Journalism By Ted Pease Professor of Interesting Stuff   “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull.” —W.C. Fields (1880-1946), comedian-philosopher-savant

Caffe Ibis marks 35 years serving up bird-friendly values, great coffee

Story & photos by D. Whitney Smith LOGAN — Owners of the iconic local roasting company and coffee shop known to most as Caffe Ibis celebrated the company’s 35th year in business this month, shortly after adding the Utah Green Business of the Year award to their list of accolades. Co-owners Randy Wirth and Sally Sears […]

Tags: bird-friendly, cafe, Caffe Ibis, coffee roasting company, Logan, Utah Green Business

Bad winter air seeps back into Cache Valley, causes asthma and illness

By Lindsay Nemelka LOGAN — Air quality is becoming more of a concern for residents of Cache Valley as Utah could move into its sixth winter season of falling below federal EPA pollution standards. Ashley Burraston, USU pre-nursing sophomore and bride-to-be, is one of many people who suffer from inversions that settle here in the […]

Tags: air quality, Cache Valley, health problems, inversions, red air, winter

Home brew: Art of making wine and beer on the rise in Utah kitchens

By Rouchelle Brockman LOGAN — Chris McGinty stumbled into homebrewing apple cider completely by accident. About three years ago, McGinty left a jug of apple cider in his Logan garage and forgot about it for over a month. The next time he saw it, “it looked like this milk jug was going to explode.” He […]

Tags: beer, Chris McGinty, Homebrewing, Utah, wine

Veterinary science no longer a ‘man’s world’ – women now a majority

By Rachel Kenley LOGAN – Kylie De St. Jeor loves animals. An animal, dairy and veterinary sciences major with an emphasis on bioveterinary sciences, Kylie grew up riding her family’s two horses in Magna. “I want to be a vet because I feel like [animals often] can’t help themselves when they’re in bad situations,” said […]

Tags: agriculture, animal science, FFA, Utah State University, veterinary science, women

Smithfield City Council signs on for canal rebuilding project

By Nick Bolinder SMITHFIELD — The Smithfield City Council signed the cost participation agreement Friday for the Logan Northern Canal rebuilding project. Smithfield, Logan, North Logan, Hyde Park, and Cache County have all agreed to sign the agreement. The National Resource Conservation Service allocated emergency watershed protection funds for the project. These funds will cover […]

Tags: canal rebuilding project, city council, Smithfield

Drug Court helps addicts help themselves, one step at a time

By Rachel Kenley LOGAN – First District Court Judge Thomas Willmore sat in Courtroom Five Tuesday, but instead of handing out sentences he gave out advice. Willmore checked in with Cache County’s Drug Court participants, just as he has done nearly every Tuesday for 11 years. After chatting briefly with each person, he asked, “How […]

Tags: 1st District Court, addicts, alcohol, Drug Court, drugs, help

Customers queue up in the cold, wait hours for free food at Café Rio

By April Ashland LOGAN — Between 1,200 and 1,600 college students, community members, and high school students gathered Tuesday when Café Rio opened its doors in order to give back to the community. Five jars were placed next to the cash register, labeled with the names of four elementary schools and one middle school in […]

Tags: Cafe Rio, give-back program, Logan, schools benefit

Weber County man pleads guilty to stealing from USU dorm

By Allee Evensen LOGAN – A Weber County resident accused of stealing from a Utah State University dormitory room pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and theft Dec. 5 in 1st District Court. Mitchell Schoonmaker, 20, a Farr West resident, entered a USU dorm on Sept. 21 with the intent commit theft. According to the […]

Tags: 1st District Court, Farr West, guilty plea, Mitchell Schoonmaker

‘Fix it’ ticket for headlight turns into arrest for failure to appear in court

By Nick Bolinder SMITHFIELD – Fidel Ayllon, 35, of West Valley City was pulled over Tuesday evening by Smithfield Police for having a non-working headlight, but ended up with a much bigger problem. The arresting officer discovered Ayllon also had a warrant out for failure to appear in court in San Juan County. He made […]

Tags: arrest, failure to appear, Fidel Ayllon, Smithfield Police

Cesspools still exist in Logan; council says they can be legal

By Mitch Figgat LOGAN — Sewage cesspools are still in use within city limits, the City Council learned Tuesday night. There are still properties within city limits that are not connected to the sewage system, Salt Lake City real estate agent Lisa Edgington told the council. These properties feed into nearby cesspools, an outdated sewage […]

Tags: cesspools, Logan, municipal council, sewers

You’d better watch out — for prowlers, not Santa

By Lindsay Nemelka LOGAN — The holiday season can be a time for burglars and prowlers, and Logan Police want to remind everyone to lock all their doors and windows, whether at home or out. Police searched for a prowler in the area of 700 North and 800 East near Utah State University on Thanksgiving […]

Tags: holiday break-ins, Logan police, prowler

Bell choir startles stressed students with ringing flash-mob concert

Story & Photos by Heidi Hansen LOGAN—They call it dead week for a reason. The students of JCOM 1500 had that familiar crazed-stressed-delirious-from-study look in their eyes Tuesday morning. Professor Cathy Ferrand Bullock began the large GenEd class with her traditional Q&A session, likely adding to student stress as she randomly picked names from the […]

Tags: Cathy Bullock, Flash mob, JCOM class, Westminster Bell Choir

Interview with Guns N’ Roses’ Dizzy Reed as band tours U.S.

By Ben Hansen Special to Hard News Café Guns N’ Roses have been icons of the hard rock scene for decades, renown just as much for their live performances as they are for their epic music. The band is touring to promote their most recent album, Chinese Democracy, which has achieved platinum status in both […]

Tags: Dizzy Reed, Guns N’ Roses