Dean and Bonnie Rogers were married 30 years ago, nearly as long as another significant commitment in their lives: the time they’ve been members of the Bit & Spur Riding Club.

After more than three decades of participation and service to the group, the Rogerses have been named the grand marshals of the Bit & Spur 4th of July Rodeo and Parade. It marks the first time the event has had two grand marshals.

The Rogerses, who live in Erda, have been around horses their entire lives. Dean Rogers, 66, grew up around ranching in southern Idaho and began competing in team roping competitions shortly after finishing high school.

Bonnie Rogers, 65, had a passionate love for horses growing up but had to find ways to ride horses, since her family didn’t own any. Born and raised in Tooele County, Rogers said once her brother got a horse she would ride it every day after school.

“I grew up in the country and I loved animals,” she said.

Following an upbringing in horse culture, Dean Rogers had plans to be a rancher when he grew up.

Life had other plans, however, and after Dean Rogers served an LDS mission, he joined the military.  He took a job with the Utah Highway Patrol in 1978 and attended competitions in Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico while assigned to Monticello.

Dean’s job with UHP eventually led him to Tooele County in 1982, where his association with the Bit & Spur Riding Club began.

“I started roping up there with them and joined the club and just kind of got sucked in — as you do,” Dean said. “I’ve quite enjoyed it.”

Bonnie and Dean Rogers met and were married just three years after he joined the club. About that time, Bonnie Rogers also became a member.

Each of the Rogerses served one year as president of Bit & Spur and worked with members Paul Griffith, Alan James and Doug George to bring team penning to Tooele. Now team penning is one of the club’s most popular events, even eclipsing team roping, Dean Rogers said.

Throughout their 30 years of marriage, the Rogerses have owned and housed horses at their home in Erda. The couple has four horses and Dean Rogers said feeding, watering and shoeing horses takes a serious commitment.

“It’s kind of a lifestyle,” he said.

The equestrian connection even mixed with Dean Rogers’ professional life when he was part of UHP’s mounted police unit during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

After Dean Rogers was stationed in Tooele, the couple stayed put in the part of the world they both call home.

“It was a good fit and I’ve been here the rest of my career,” Dean Rogers said. “I like the rural atmosphere rather than the big city atmosphere.”

“Then he married me,” Bonnie Rogers said, with a laugh. “I wasn’t going anywhere.”

After a few years in Washington state, Bonnie Rogers moved back to Tooele County for good.

“There’s no place like Tooele, as far as I’m concerned,” she said. “Why leave?”

The Rogers’ commitment to Tooele County extended into their professional and volunteer involvement. In addition to Dean Rogers’ career with UHP, Bonnie Rogers spent the past 20 years as a bus driver for the Tooele County School District, retiring this June.

Bonnie Rogers also became an EMT 10 years ago and volunteered with the North Tooele Fire District out of the Erda station, advancing from a basic to advanced EMT in the span of a decade.

While he never was able to have his own ranch, Dean Rogers now volunteers at the Vernon Beef Project, an LDS charity that provides beef products for needy members. Now that she’s retired, Bonnie Rogers hopes to help her husband more frequently with lassoing, branding and transporting the herd to new grazing ground.

“I don’t have the desire to run a ranch anymore, it’s just too much work,” Dean Rogers said. “I don’t mind going out and helping them, it’s down my alley. I enjoy it.”

The Rogerses both found fulfillment in their careers and the contributions to the community.

“You get opportunities to help people and you also get opportunities to see the bad side of people sometimes,” said Dean Rogers, on working in law enforcement. “It was a rewarding career.”

“I enjoy helping people,” Bonnie Rogers said. “I just retired from bus driving at the first of June and I’m really going to miss my ‘kids.’”

The Rogerses have a total of nine children from their previous marriages and 19 grandchildren. One of their granddaughters is the rodeo and parade’s princess and another is a first attendant, the Rogers said.

“It’s going to be a family affair this year,” Dean Rogers said.

While Bonnie Rogers joked that the grand marshals are always the “old ones” in the club and community, both said they were honored receive the distinction after being part of the Bit & Spur club for so many years.

“It means the others in the club appreciate what you’ve done through the years…and recognize you for your efforts and shows you’re appreciated,” Dean Rogers said.

While the Rogers acknowledge the club has changed and evolved over the span of three decades, both said the love of horses, riding and competing persists.

“As long as we can walk out there and stand on the fender of the horse trailer to get up on the horse, we’ll keep doing it,” Bonnie Rogers said. 

Fire crews battled a series of blazes in Tooele County on Monday as the wildfire season begins in earnest around the region.

A wildfire on the northwest side of Stansbury Island started early Monday morning and spread to encompass 38 acres, according to Tooele County Fire Marshal Tom Wilson. While the fire was not threatening any structures, fire crews and a helicopter were called in to contain the blaze, he said.

While the fire has not been put out yet, it is being managed and may be extinguished as soon as this afternoon or evening, said Jason Curry, spokesman for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

Fire crews also battled a total of 13 small roadside fires near Vernon on Monday, including one that threatened the Vernon Fire Department building and several vehicles.

The fires were spread along SR-36 between the Silver Sage in Vernon and the junction with SR-73, Curry said.

The fires were started when a truck pulling a trailer on SR-36 flatted and lost its tire, causing the rim to send sparks into dry grass alongside the road, Curry said. There was a camper in the back of the truck that obscured the motorist’s view of the trailer, he said.

Another vehicle eventually flagged the driver of the truck down, Curry said. It’s unknown yet if the driver of the truck will face any charges or have to pay for the fire response caused by the sparking rim, he said.

Fire crews managed to put out all of the fires in the Vernon area, including the blaze near the fire station that “gave us a good scare,” Curry said.

Fire season is well underway in Tooele County and the rest of the state, he said.

“We’re in full swing,” Curry said. “It’s definitely time to be careful.” 

A Tooele Iraq War veteran and retired Utah National Guardsman finally received medals and commendations this week that he earned prior to his retirement in 2008.

Utah National Guard Staff Sgt. Wendell Thayne was presented 14 military awards and decorations, including the Army Commendation Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, by Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) on Monday morning.

“When it comes time to honor our veterans, it’s something we want to take every opportunity we can,” said Stewart, an Air Force veteran. “We feel it’s an honor to do and a sacred obligation.”

Thayne served with the Navy Reserve from 1983 to 1989 then the Utah National Guard from 1990 until 2008. His time with the National Guard included stints with the former Deseret Chemical Depot following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a year in Iraq.

Thayne said he was inspired by his two grandfathers who served with the Navy in the Pacific theater of World War II.

While stationed in Iraq, Thayne oversaw guards at Camp Bucca in southeastern Iraq near the border with Iran and Kuwait. The prison at Camp Bucca was closed in 2009 but held prisoners that included Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and other inmates that would later form the so-called Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Thayne called his tour of duty in Iraq a major disruption to his life at home and retired shortly after returning home, which may have been one reason it took so long to receive the medals and commendations he earned.

“When I got back from Iraq, I got out pretty quickly and retired,” he said. “It took them a while to catch up with me.”

Thayne said he contacted the National Archives and other government agencies about his awards but his paperwork still had not been transferred.

In April, he sent an email to Stewart and the congressman’s office was able to sort out the paperwork troubles so Thayne could receive his medals. Stewart represents Utah’s 2nd congressional district.  

Sydney Ross had just returned to her job at the front desk of Tooele City’s Pratt Aquatic Center on Thursday, having finished hosting a birthday party for her daughter, Addison, at the pool.

To her surprise, a few family, friends and neighbors that hadn’t attended the party began to trickle into the lobby. More confused than suspicious, Sydney Ross asked her neighbor, Gene Buell, what he was doing there.

Buell told Sydney Ross he was there to get nachos, but then she spotted the real reason for the impromptu gathering: her husband, Utah National Guard Sgt. Todd Ross, was home early on leave from Africa.

She let out an excited scream and sprinted across the lobby and into his arms.

Todd Ross, of Stansbury Park, was flanked by family and friends, with his daughters, 4-year old Addison and 18-month-old Bailee, who spotted their dad in the parking lot, in tow. His teary-eyed wife stayed wrapped in his arms as their loved ones looked on.

Sydney Ross was expecting her husband would be home Saturday and his early appearance was the result of a plan he concocted with his mother, Heidi Ross, to surprise his wife and children. Sgt. Todd Ross is serving two, one-year tours of service with the Utah National Guard’s Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa in Djibouti.

An elated Sydney Ross said no one was more surprised than her when she saw her husband walk into the pool lobby Thursday night.

“We’ve been waiting for a long time for this,” she said. “It was nice that everyone came.”

Sgt. Todd Ross told his wife the plan was to arrive on Addison’s fourth birthday, which was June 27, but arrived early so she’d get her birthday wish: that her dad would be home. Sydney Ross said they celebrated Addison’s birthday early so they could throw a welcome home party when he came in.

Even being able to come home during the two-year tour overseas wasn’t guaranteed when he left last December, Todd Ross said. Two promotions on the deployment earned him the rank of sergeant and allowed him the opportunity to get a 15-day break.

“It’s hard being away but I love what I do,” he said. “I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

Pulling off the surprise took a lot of work on the part of Heidi Ross, who paid attention to every detail in convincing Sydney Ross it would be a couple more days before her husband came home — including a fake travel itinerary.

Heidi Ross said she created an altered copy of the real travel itinerary, replacing the actual flight plans with the details of real flights from Djibouti two days later. It turned out to be a necessary rouse; Sydney Ross checked a few of the flights on the fake itinerary to see if there were any changes to the schedule.

“I looked up one of the flights,” Sydney Ross said. “She knew I was going to look, that’s why she chose those.”

Other snags attempted to derail the homecoming as well.

Todd Ross nearly didn’t get off base to make his flights after it was locked down due to an external threat. Heidi Ross said she didn’t let anyone know her son was coming home early until he was on a flight to Duluth, Minnesota for fear he might get called back.

Other pitfalls popped up along the way, including Heidi Ross needing to pick up the cake for Addison’s party and the airline losing Todd Ross’s bags. Family was also sent to tidy up the home for his arrival.

Heidi Ross said there had been a different plan for Todd Ross to surprise his family at a Salt Lake Bees game Friday, but the lobby reunion worked out well.

“Now he gets an extra day with his family,” she said.

With all of the moving parts in the plan he hatched with his mother, Todd Ross said he wasn’t sure they’d be able to pull it off without Sydney Ross learning about it.

“I was afraid she would figure it out,” he said.

Being able to pull off the surprise was fun despite all of the potential pitfalls, Todd Ross said.

“It was really cool to come home and surprise your family,” he said.

Flying across multiple time zones with little rest meant Todd Ross was likely going to crash after the excitement of spending time with family and friends wore off, Heidi Ross said.

“I think the adrenaline will carry him through,” she said.

Todd Ross had a lot to look forward to once he arrived home, including the Texas-style brisket his mother promised him. He said he had a picture of the brisket on his phone, which only increased the anticipation.

The reunion was small but had poignant and fun moments. A comment was made about the size of Todd Ross’s biceps, which he said was the result of having nothing better to do on the base than go to the gym.

Todd Ross also took a moment to marvel at his youngest, Bailee, who was walking all over the lobby. He said she was barely able to walk when he was deployed six months ago

“She wasn’t able to do that when I left,” he said.

Todd Ross now has 15 precious days to create new memories before he returns to the service of his country and the job he loves. 

The Grantsville City Council is reviewing its options after receiving a dispatch service agreement from Tooele County.

Councilmen and Mayor Brent Marshall expressed concern over rising dispatch fees, which would jump another $22,364, or about 31 percent, to $95,139 under the agreement from the county.

Grantsville and the county are operating under an expired contract and Marshall said the city has no input in the spending decisions of the county dispatch, which is overseen by the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office.

The county hired two additional dispatch employees near the end of 2014 and municipalities had no say in the decision, he said.

“In three years our dispatching fees have gone up more than 100 percent,” he said. “I don’t think that’s fair.”

Grantsville Police Chief Kevin Turner said meetings with the county indicate there could be another double-digit increase in dispatch fees next year as well.

“This is a difficult pill to swallow because we’re using 13 percent of dispatch as a user,” Turner said. “We’re paying between 16 and 20 percent. We’re subsidizing others.”

Grantsville City Council tabled a decision on the service agreement during its meeting Wednesday evening while it reviewed its options. If the city doesn’t accept the county’s offer, it could look to different agencies such as Valley Emergency Communications Center in West Valley City, which handles dispatch for various agencies in the Salt Lake Valley.

Turner said it’s possible there could be a slight delay in communication with other county agencies for mutual aid if Grantsville were to switch to a different frequency and provider.

A switch could still present problems for ensuring the degree of rate increases in the future, Councilman Scott Stice said.

“If we switch to this other system, we wouldn’t have any more say,” Stice said. “Our bill would just be lower.”

The city council unanimously approved tabling a vote on the county agreement to buy itself time to look into its options before it makes a decision on its dispatch provider.

“We don’t want to jeopardize anyone trying to save dollars,” said Councilman Mike Johnson. 

A 25-year-old man was sentenced to jail after he was convicted of sexual abuse in Third District Court on Tuesday.

Cody Dipo was sentenced to 180 days in the Tooele County Detention Facility and 48 months probation after he was convicted of two counts of second-degree felony sex abuse of a child. He will receive credit for 82 days already served in jail.

Dipo was arrested in September 2014 after police were notified of a sexual relationship between him and a minor under the age of 15 by the victim’s mother.

According to the police report, the victim had performed various sexual acts on Dipo over the span of about a month, the details of which the victim had recorded in a journal.

In the report, the victim alleged contact escalated until Dipo attempted to have sexual intercourse, but was unsuccessful.

According to the police report, Dipo had previously lived in Grantsville.

The victim’s mother read a victim impact statement and said her child felt isolated and engaged in self-harm after the involvement with Dipo.

The presentence report recommended 120 days of jail, but Tooele County Attorney Chief Deputy Gary Searle petitioned the court for a minimum of 270 days of jail.

Dipo’s court-appointed attorney, Richard Tanner, argued for the recommended sentence since Dipo had cooperated with police and admitted guilt. But Third District Court Judge Robert Adkins opted for 180 days. 

Lightning strikes ignited two additional wildfires Tuesday in Tooele County, only a day after crews battled a blaze on Stansbury Island and a string of fires on SR-36 in Vernon.

The new fires were located near the Vernon Reservoir and Fivemile Pass and began during evening thunderstorms, according to Jason Curry, spokesman for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

While the fires were deemed a growing concern, fire crews were able to respond quickly and manage the fires, Curry said. Crews from the Vernon Volunteer Fire Department and Utah Division of Land Management led the response to the fires, he said.

Crews were still monitoring the wildfires Wednesday morning, Curry said.

The wildfires Tuesday were the result of lightning, but a string of roadside fires along SR-36 on Monday were man caused.

A truck pulling a trailer flatted and lost its tire, causing the rim to send sparks into dry grass alongside the road, Curry said Tuesday. The fires were spread along SR-36 between the SR-73 junction at Penny’s and the Silver Sage in Vernon.

One of the blazes threatened the Vernon Fire Department building and several vehicles, but all of the fires were successfully extinguished.

With a number of fires already this week, Curry said Tooele County is experiencing prime wildfire conditions.

“Things are getting active,” Curry said. “The heat and dryness are bringing it on.” 

Grantsville City’s Fourth of July celebration will feature a revised parade route amidst a busy schedule of events this holiday weekend.

The new route will start on Main Street at City Hall, as opposed to the Grantsville Cemetery. The parade will head west on Main Street, turn south on Center Street and then west again on Cherry Street before concluding at Grantsville City Park.

Alterations to the parade route will make it longer and easier to stage the 40 entries, parade chairman Lacey Loop said. Main Street will be closed along the route and parade entrants will organize themselves between City Hall and the Family Dollar prior to the 11 a.m. start.

Another reason the route was changed was to increase accessibility, Loop said. The new, 2.1-mile parade course travels past Grantsville Elementary School and the senior center, which should provide ample parking for visitors and convenience for seniors watching the parade, she said

Awards for the parade will be given out in various categories, including most original, best in show and most patriotic, Loop said.

While the parade is one of the headlining events this weekend, Grantsville City will see a full slate of events, which started Wednesday night with the Little Miss Grantsville Pageant.

There will be a 3-on-3 soccer tournament tonight at Cherry Street Park, which begins at 6 p.m. Then at 6:30 p.m. Friday there will be a 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Grantsville Elementary. The Dusk to Dawn Tennis Tournament kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Cherry Street Tennis Courts.

The Miss Grantsville Scholarship Pageant is also Friday at 6 p.m. at Grantsville High School; doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Fourth of July festivities begin with a pancake breakfast at the Grantsville Fire Station from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. The flag raising ceremony will also be held at the fire station at 8 a.m.

The Grantsville City 5K Scholarship Run, in memory of Ray Barrus, will kick off at 7 a.m. with a kids run for those 12 and under. The 5K run starts at 7:30 a.m.

Cherry Street Park will host a car show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., as well as a talent showcase from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and pie and watermelon eating contests from 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The weekend’s events will be capped with a fireworks display at Cherry Street Park at 10 p.m. 

The community at Dugway Proving Ground got off to its traditional early start to Fourth of July activities, holding its parade and a full slate of events Wednesday afternoon.

Families took position along the parade route as Dugway commander Col. Ronald Fizer, vehicles from Dugway police and fire departments and more traveled past the community club building. Kids of all ages eagerly snatched up candy and freezer pops, and took advantage of water sprayed from the Cub Scout float on a sweltering afternoon.

In addition to the parade, there were games and activities, including an obstacle course, climbing wall and face painting. Competitions included “Are You Smarter Than Your Kids,” a spin on the “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” television trivia show. There were also jalapeno and watermelon eating competitions.

Entertainment was provided by the Utah Army National Guard Band and a demonstration by a Dugway dance group.

The evening’s activities  wrapped up with a fireworks show at 10 p.m. on the parade field.

The Fourth of July celebration was put on by the Morale, Welfare and Recreation Office through the Recreation Delivery System team. Event organizer Dennis Nichols said planning for the event begins months in advance to coordinate participants, volunteers and safety personnel.

Dugway is on a four-day work week and with its July Fourth federal holiday on Thursday, the best time to hold the parade was Wednesday, Nichols said. With the long weekend, personnel also look at Fourth of July as a time to get off base for vacation, he said.

Another benefit of holding its celebration early is Dugway doesn’t have to hold its event the same day as other Tooele County communities, Nichols said.

“We don’t want to compete with Tooele or Grantsville or any of our local communities that are doing fireworks programs or any other Fourth of July programs,” he said. 

From the street, the house at 25 S. 100 East that is home for the Tooele County Children’s Justice Center looks like a gem with its original wood windows and brick facade.

But move a bit closer and signs of deterioration and disrepair become evident. The problems that plague the building are a result of the center’s tight budget and deferred maintenance, which has sparked a capital improvement campaign to raise money for the needed repairs, said director Rachel Cowan.

Cowan is intimately aware of the problems the center faces — especially with one of the major concerns located behind her office. A deck on the second floor behind Cowan’s desk is slanted downward toward the house, which funnels rainwater at the French doors.

Rainwater that had been slowly funneled into the house by the deck in the past turned into a waterfall during storms this spring, she said. The water that leaked into the building flooded the ground level conference room.

The wooden windows are rotted and the plaster around the bottom of the window frames is bubbled up as a result of water damage. Cowan said the windows make the house difficult to heat in the winter and the rooms have different temperatures as a result.

There’s also no soffit or fascia at the rear of the home, which has allowed birds and other animals to nest in the attic and rafters, she said.

A lack of funding for maintenance and repairs, as well as work by volunteers instead of contractors, has led to the slow decline of the building, Cowan said.

“We know as a non-profit … usually you don’t have the best of the best,” she said.

Replacing the windows, installing soffit and repairing the deck are the priorities for the center this year, said Tenille Tingey, treasurer of the Friends of the Tooele County Justice Center. The non-profit is a fundraising and support group for the center, which is run by the county.

Contractors have not finished submitting bids for the work, but Tingey said she expects this year’s repairs to cost upwards of $70,000. The capital improvement campaign to fully repair the center’s house span three to five years, she said.

“We’re looking at significant dollars,” Tingey said.

In addition to the Friends of the Tooele County Justice Center, the center receives funding from the county and state. The county is expected to contribute to the needed repairs but won’t be able to cover the complete cost, Tingey said.

The non-profit will attempt to collect donations in addition to its annual fundraisers, a golf tournament, which was held in June, and a black tie, blue jean event in October. All proceeds from the two events will go toward the necessary repairs, Tingey said.

In addition to donations, the non-profit is looking to add more board members, Tingey said.

Bids from local contractors and awareness of the justice center’s mission — and asking questions — will all contribute to the cause, Cowan said.

“We really think we  have a great community and hope they can support us,” she said. 

Rain showers and concerns about safety brought an early end to Tooele City’s fireworks show on the Fourth of July.

Tooele City Mayor Patrick Dunlavy said moisture from the rain affected the launching of fireworks, with some going off at a much lower altitude than they were supposed to, which created a potentially dangerous situation.

“The fireworks were stopped for safety reasons,” he said.

One of the technicians working on the fireworks show was slightly injured as a result of the fireworks exploding near the ground, Dunlavy said. The show was canceled following the injury, he said.

The fireworks show was scheduled to start following the concert by Arrival at 8 p.m. from the Tooele High School football field.

Grantsville City managed to get its fireworks show off almost without a hitch despite the rainy weather. Grantsville City Mayor Brent Marshall said the city used a manual system to launch its fireworks and had little troubles when the show started at 10 p.m.

“Because of the rain we were watching the Doppler radar,” he said.

Grantsville City held its fireworks show at Cherry Street Park. 

A Tooele man was killed Friday morning after the motorcycle he was driving swerved into oncoming traffic on State Route 112.

Shylock Martinez, 41, was heading westbound on SR-112 near mile marker 7 around 9:45 a.m. when he turned into oncoming traffic, according to Tooele City Police.

Martinez then collided head-on with a dump truck in the eastbound lane. After being struck by the dump truck, Martinez was thrown into the road and struck by second vehicle, police said.

Martinez, who was not wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

The cause of the fatal accident is still under investigation, police said. There is no indication so far if speed or impairment were factors in the accident, according to police.

Starting last Friday, the Utah Highway Patrol reported it made 3,344 stops across the entire state over the Fourth of July weekend, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety. Of those stops, 2,096 were for speeding and 495 were for seatbelts.

There were also 45 DUI arrests reported by UHP but there were no fatalities in calls the agency responded to. 

A Grantsville man faces felony child sex abuse charges after he allegedly fondled a victim under the age of 15.

Kyle Toone, 38, has been charged with three counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of child for separate incidents that occurred last year. Toone made his initial appearance in Third District Court on June 30 and was ordered to have no contact with minor children by Judge Robert Adkins.

According to a Grantsville City Police report, Toone allegedly touched the victim under their clothing while he thought they were asleep and the severity in the degree of fondling escalated in the ensuing encounters last fall.

In a statement to police, the victim said Toone attempted to touch them on several additional occasions but were able to prevent Toone’s attempts while feigning sleep.

Toone admitted to the inappropriate touching during an interview with police, according to the report. Toone also said he thought the victim was asleep and hoped they would not know what he had done, the police report said.

At his initial appearance in Third District Court, a roll call hearing was scheduled for Toone at 1:30 p.m. at the Tooele County Courthouse. 

The Tooele County Detention Facility was placed on lockdown Monday due to low staffing levels, which happened several times over the past two weeks, according to the jail commander.

Lt. Ray Clinton said the jail has to go into lockdown if there are not enough corrections officers on duty to prevent a potentially dangerous situation for officers and inmates. A combination of vacations around the Fourth of July weekend and officers missing time to illness contributed to the low levels, he said.

“It’s just one of those weeks where everything happened at once,” Clinton said.

It had been months since the last time the jail had needed to go into a lockdown, Clinton said.

The jail is looking to hire additional corrections officers after four officers left earlier this year, Clinton said. Two left for patrol positions, one took a position in Hawaii and another left law enforcement entirely, he said.

In law enforcement, corrections is sometimes seen as a stepping stone to patrol or another division, Clinton said.

“We’re making progress to get people,” he said.

With two more corrections officers leaving at the end of the month, Clinton said the department has five positions still open. Filling the positions can take a while and some applicants have not been certified yet, he said.

Anyone interested in the corrections officer position can apply on the Tooele County website. The positions start at $17.54 per hour with benefits and applicants must be 21-years-old and able to pass a comprehensive background investigation, drug test and psychological evaluation. 

A rail car filled with hazardous material was put under supervision by local first responders in the West Desert on Monday after its contents became highly pressurized, according to the North Tooele Fire District.

The call for the pressurized railcar of hazardous material came in around 4 p.m. after Clean Harbors contacted first responders, according to a media release from NTFD. The chemicals were being transported from Dow Chemical in Texas to Clean Harbors incinerator at Aragonite, the release said.

NFTD, Mountain West Ambulance and Tooele County Emergency Management staff responded to the railcar.

The exact chemical contained in the railcar was unknown but the class was, said NTFD Public Information Officer Ryan Willden. The chemical had a boiling point of 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which made it especially sensitive to the heat and altitude in the West Desert, he said.

A storm moving into the area made the situation potentially more dangerous, as the hazardous material was flammable and lightning strikes were suspected in the area, Willden said.

It took seven hours of temperature readings to monitor the hazardous material as it cooled and the pressure subsided, the release said.

Once the pressure returned to normal, the tanker railcar was resealed and Dow Chemical sent a response team to pick up the railcar and its material, according to the release. 

A Grantsville man arrested for breaking into homes in the city without pants was also wanted in connection with other lewd behavior, according to a Grantsville City Police report.

Dakota Joe Denton, 23, was arrested on June 17 after he invaded several homes at the end of May. He was charged with two counts of second-degree felony burglary, one count of third-degree felony attempted burglary and three counts of misdemeanor lewdness.

According to the police report, Denton was also implicated in a similar home invasion prior to May 29, when he broke into two homes and attempted to enter another. Denton also admitted he approached another woman in Grantsville in June and showed her a picture of his genitals on his phone, the report said.

In an interview with police, Denton admitted he was high on methamphetamine when he committed the home invasions on May 29 and stood next to the beds of two women while naked from the waist down. Due to his impairment, Denton said he only remembered flashes of what happened, according to the report.

Denton said he hid in a tree to evade police that attempted to arrest him the night of May 29, the report said.

A roll call hearing for Denton was scheduled for July 14 at 9 a.m. in Third District Court at his initial appearance on June 30.  

Complaints about all-terrain vehicle traffic on public roads in Grantsville has led the police department to crack down on riders violating the city’s ordinance.

Grantsville City Police Chief Kevin Turner said the most prominent issue has been residents using ATVs for general transportation, which isn’t permitted under the city code.

“People, including youth, are riding them to the gas station or restaurants or stores,” he said.

The code does permit riding ATVs to access the various trails that connect to the city, Turner said.

No riders under the age of 12 are allowed to drive ATVs within the city limits and those between 12 and 16-years-old must be accompanied by, and under the visual supervision of, an adult. All riders under 18-years-old must also wear a helmet approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Riders must also follow all licensing laws and be certified by the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation.

Turner said the rise in violations has been a recent trend and people have taken more liberties with the ordinance in the past year. If violations continue to be a problem, the ordinance allowing ATV traffic on city streets to access trails could be removed, he said.

The city code is intended to protect riders from potential hazards of road driving, Turner said. Even with a helmet, riders on ATVs don’t wear seatbelts and can be at risk for serious injury, he said.

Those situations only become more dangerous for underage riders who have no experience driving with traffic, Turner said.

Tooele City also has problems with ATV riding on city streets, said Officer Tanya Turnbow in an email. Another common complaint from residents is ATVs riding on private property without permission, she said.

Riders should remember to obey traffic laws and take a rider safety course, Turnbow said. Wherever they’re being driven, it is illegal to drive an ATV while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, she said.

To report illegal ATV activity, contact the Tooele County Dispatch at 435-882-5600.  

In an emergency situation, when anyone calls 911 in Tooele County, a trained dispatcher responds to the call.

Emergency dispatch is a vital piece of public safety in the county. It’s also costly, and the charges associated with the service will continue to rise, said Tooele County Sheriff Paul Wimmer.

“Dispatch is expensive,” he said. “It is a very expensive part of public safety.”

The county’s dispatch is run as a division of the sheriff’s office. In 2014, dispatch was budgeted $885,035 — a number that jumped to the $1,044,069 in the current budget year.

When he took office in January, Wimmer said he reviewed the dispatch budget, which is the third-largest public safety budget line.

“When I was elected, it was certainly something I wanted to look into — to see if this is the true expense,” Wimmer said. “Our budget is what it is. We run a very minimal budget.”

Dispatch fees have risen since the county stopped receiving funds from the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program three years ago. In 2012, the county collected $1.2 million from CSEPP, which helped subsidize dispatch and pay the salaries of some dispatchers.

When CSEPP funding stopped, the burden of funding the county’s dispatch shifted onto users, Wimmer said.

“We really don’t have an option,” he said. “We don’t really have a means of funding dispatch other than through dispatch fees and 911 funds.”

Communities such as Grantsville and Tooele cities pay a base fee based on population figures, as well as a usage fee based on a three-year average of calls per year.

The base fee is calculated as approximately 116 percent of a municipality’s population based on the most recent U.S. Census estimates. For example, Stockton had a population of 638 in 2014 and paid a base fee of $742.

The usage fee takes into account the average number of incidents and traffic stops in a three-year window. That average is then multiplied by a rate which balances the remainder of the current dispatch budget.

For the 2015 budget, the cost per call is $10.83 and is based on a county-wide, three-year average of 59,572 dispatch calls. Dispatch fees cover $645,083 of the county’s $1 million dispatch budget.

Grantsville City saw its dispatch fees jump up $22,364, or about 31 percent, to $95,139, prompting its city council to table signing an agreement with the county at its July 1 meeting. Councilmen were concerned by the consistently rising costs.

Personnel costs and technology upgrades are two factors in the rising budget figure for dispatch, Wimmer said.

Tooele County Sheriff Lt. Regina Nelson said the division hired two dispatchers for 2015, which contributed to the increased dispatch budget. One of the new dispatchers replaced a position left unfilled since 2013 and the other represented the first increase in staff since 2007.

Dispatch also recently upgraded its phone system for $293,000, but 90 percent of the cost will be reimbursed through a grant, Nelson said. The new system replaces outdated equipment and prepares the county when the state adds emergency text service, she said.

“When the state of Utah is ready for text-to-911 capability, Tooele will be as well,” she said.

Since the phones are used around the clock, the equipment is replaced about every five years due to the heavy usage, Nelson said.

Upgrading and maintaining technology is important to keeping dispatch viable, Wimmer said.

“Dispatch is one of those areas of public safety that we don’t wait for it to break down in order to replace it,” Wimmer said. “Breaking down isn’t much of a viable option.”

To help mitigate its rising costs, the county is applying an additional $50,000 of its 911 fees toward the budget in 2015, from $250,000 to $300,000. The state tax commission collects a 70 cent fee for every phone line in the county — with 9 cents staying with the state and 61 cents to local government.

Of the 61 cents that returns to the local government, 1.5 percent stays with the commission to cover the expense of billing, collecting and paying the fee.

Wimmer said the county is on pace to collect $380,000 total in 911 fees in 2015. The remaining $80,000 will go toward the phone bill for dispatch and the remainder will go into a reserve fund for the division, he said.

County dispatch maintains a reserve fund of around $500,000 for unexpected or emergency expenses, Wimmer said. It also provides funds for capital projects like the phone system, which had to be purchased upfront before it was reimbursed, he said.

While agencies and local governments are feeling the squeeze from rising dispatch fees, Wimmer said he believes the expenditures are justifiable and the formula for determining payment is fair to keep the county’s dispatch system operational.

“It’s imperative there’s always someone there to pick up the phone,” he said. 

Four Tooele residents were arrested, and one remains in critical condition, after they allegedly attempted to rob a Tooele woman Sunday, according to police.

The 20-year-old victim of the robbery called a friend for a ride and was picked up in a large van around 2:30 a.m., according to a news release from the Tooele City Police Department.

Once inside the van, the victim, whose name was not released, was assaulted by two women inside after they demanded her property, police said.

During the assault, the victim stabbed a 22-year-old female suspect with a pocket knife, in self-defense, according to police. After the stabbing, the victim was able to exit the vehicle, the release said.

The suspect who was stabbed was taken to a local hospital then transported to a Salt Lake area hospital in critical condition, police said. There are charges pending against the suspect, whose name was not released, for her involvement in the robbery, according to the release.

Three other suspects were arrested and booked into the Tooele County Detention Facility on robbery and other related charges, police said. Johnnie Bear, Rachel Myers and Gregory Kissinger, all Tooele residents, are the suspects being held in the jail, the release said.

The investigation into the robbery is still ongoing, according to Tooele City Police. 

A Sandy man is in the hospital after a skydiving accident at Tooele Valley Airport on Sunday afternoon.

Trevor Sandberg, 20, was skydiving near the airport in Erda around 4:30 p.m. when he went into a twist about 200 feet above the ground, according to the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office. As the parachute spiraled out of control, Sandberg was unable to regain control of the parachute as it neared the ground.

The parachute did not fold up after deployment as had previously been suspected, the sheriff’s office said.

The out-of-control parachute resulted in a hard landing for Sandberg, who was transported by helicopter to the University of Utah Hospital in critical condition, police said.

Sandberg broke his leg and received other, non life-threatening injuries as a result of the collision, according to the sheriff’s office.

There has been no update on Sandberg’s condition since he was transported to the hospital, police said.