(WASHINGTON)-Friday, new Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan celebrated here ascension in the court with President Barack Obama and numerous friends and family in the East Room of the White House. Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in Kagan twice on Saturday. As part of the process, she will recite one oath as prescribed by the Constitution during a private ceremony at the conference room with only her family present. Roberts will then administer a second oath, taken by judges, with her family and friends and reporters present. Kagan will not be formally installed as a justice until October 1 in a courtroom ceremony at the start of the court’s new term.

(NOGALES, Ariz.)-KPHO-TV, Channel 5 in Phoenix reports that after the enforcement of Arizona’s SB1070 bill on July 29, border visits are down 17 percent according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel. Mexico issued a warning to its citizens about travel in Arizona four days after Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer, signed the measure. The dropoff amounts to about 12,500 fewer people entering Arizona daily. Experts say a decline in visitors to the border can’t all be attributed to immigration crackdowns as other factors may include the recession and increased wait times at ports on a daily basis.

(GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz.)-The National Park Service has announced it has awarded an $8.1 million contract to a Denver-based developer for the construction of 64 apartments along the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The employee housing project consists of a combination of one and two-bedroom apartments, 96 parking spaces, utility connections, sidewalks and landscaping, construction of an access road and the demolition and removal of several obsolete trailers’ units that currently occupy the site. The Grand Canyon has long suffered from inadequate employee housing, according to information from the National Park Service. A 2000 housing needs assessment prepared by an independent contractor projected the park would have a deficit of more than 200 units on the South Rim by 2002. The NPS provides housing to employees and essential cooperators, providing visitor services, including emergency services and resource protection. More than 560 people are employed by the NPS at the Grand Canyon, most of which are year-round employees. There are currently 344 housing units in the park with some units used by dual career-couples. Construction is expected to begin later this month and should be finished by next summer. The NPS plans to obtain the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification for eight apartment buildings and has designs of obtaining either a Gold or Platinum rating.

(ST. GEORGE)-The family and friends of 30-year-old Clay Branham of Ely, Nev., will begin a search Friday morning for the missing cowboy. Volunteers are continuing to meet at the Fredonia Welcome Center (900 S. Main, Fredonia) in the 10:00 a.m. hour Arizona time where his St. George-based brother-in-law, Mike Kelley, will lead a search. Paul Branham, Clay’s father, said he filed a missing person report with the White Pine County (Nev.) Sheriff’s Office and said his son had been depressed in previous weeks and is concerned for his welfare. He told KCSG-TV of St. George that he had searched the Kanab/Fredonia, Ariz. area and flown over the area en route to Jacob Lake at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Branham was last seen at the Aiken Lodge in Kanab on July 17 when checking out. The last known transaction on his credit card was made at Judd’s Chevron in Fredonia on July 21. Branham is approximately 5’8”, 165 pounds and usually wearing Wranglers and rounded toe boots. Additionally, he usually always wears a ball cap or cowboy hat and has a tattoo on his right shoulder of a purple crescent moon with white clouds. Anyone with any information on his whereabouts is encouraged to call the St. George Police Dispatch at 634-5000.

(CEDAR BREAKS NATIONAL MONUMENT)-Cedar Breaks National Monument will be celebrating a special evening of “shooting star” viewing during the Perseid Meteor Shower next Thursday, August 12 at 10:00 p.m. An expected 30 to 40 shooting stars per hour are expected to be seen at the Point Supreme overlook near the visitors center. Due to its 10,000-foot elevation, remote location, lack of interference from city lights and clear skies, Cedar Breaks is a good place to look at the stars. Cedar Breaks National Monument is located 23 miles east of Cedar City and accessible via S.R. 14 from downtown Cedar City or S.R. 143 from Brian Head and Parowan.

(MOAB)-A school Trust Lands pilot project involving 28,000 acres in the La Sal Mountains aims to tackle impacts of a 41 percent increase in trails created by off-highway vehicle (OHV) use. The La Sals project involves two chunks of property owned by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration which is using money from an OHV surcharge of $1.50 per vehicle to fund a system of better connected trails that accommodates use, yet closes some roads forged by trespass. After 15 months, the project has resulted in a complete inventory of trails and dirt roads contained in SITLA properties in Grand and San Juan counties. This inventory, completed last summer, found that since the 1995 inventory a multitude of new trails has been carved out by off-roading. SITLA not only has the mandate to manage or lease its lands for the benefit of Utah schoolchildren, but also has the charge of incorporating good stewardship and conservation practices of the land within its purview. The project proposes to leave open a little more than 135 miles of trails and roads while closing 50 miles of trails, some of which are single tracks for dirt bikes and others that ATVs use. Chris Fausett, a resource specialist with SITLA said the organization’s goal was to protect the resources and stop the degradation that had previously been occurring. Fausett also said “dead end” roads would also entice adventurers to carve their own paths on previously untouched lands. SITLA hopes to highlight accomplishments of this pilot project with an outreach campaign in late September before the deer hunt starts which could result in damage to the land.

(SALT LAKE CITY)-A Utah man who once bragged about taking American Indian artifacts from federal lands avoided jail time Thursday after a federal judge decided to be lenient after reading letters from the man’s two daughters. U.S. District Judge, Dee Benson, said he planned to give 57-year-old Aubry Patterson prison time but changed his mind after reading the letters, which called Patterson an “amazing father” who despite a hard life always “provided for us.” Thus, Benson gave Patterson three years probation, waiving guidelines that would have put him in prison for a year. Patterson apologized for digging up valuable relics on federal lands surrounding his property near Monticello and promised to never do it again. Patterson became the eighth defendant to receive leniency and avoid prison time after a sting operation in June 2009 netted 26 defendants in Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Two of the defendants, a Blanding, Utah doctor and a Santa Fe, N.M. salesman committed suicide over their arrests thus leaving 16 more defendants and an investigation which remains open in Arizona and New Mexico. Prosecutor Rich McKelvie said the prosecution has all but shut down the black market trade and the judge agreed the largest-ever such federal investigation has sent a message that artifact looting is no longer acceptable. Benson said he wouldn’t fine Patterson but ordered him to stay off federal lands for three years and perform 50 hours of community service. Patterson surrendered hundreds of artifacts after pleading guilty last April to a pair of felony theft charges, stated McKelvie. The charges involved the sale of two exquisite bowls for $1,300 to a former antiquities dealer turned government informant. Prosecutors dropped six other counts involving the sale of additional artifacts. In secret recordings, Patterson said he knew when a ranger took days off but was more concerned about tourists who could blow the whistle on him. On his property, he continually dug fresh holes in the event someone came asking him about the origin of his artifacts. He said he dug up burials, but not since he lost a son, and tried to avoid caves where law enforcement officers could trap him.

(CEDAR CITY)-More than 100 police officers descended on two marijuana grows in southern Utah Thursday, netting thousands of plants and several arrests. Drug Enforcement Agency spokesman, Sue Thomson, said surveillance led officials to pinpointing the two locations, one in Iron County, near Cedar City, and the other in Washington County near Pinto. About 120 local, federal, state, county and city authorities participated in the raids. Police set up a perimeter before moving in and arrested two men armed with shotguns at the Pinto grow, Thomson said. The men have been identified as Alberto and Rito Gomez-Talavera who police believe may be affiliated with a trans-national drug trafficking organization. By Thursday afternoon, officers had counted between 2,000 and 3,000 plants at the grow. Near the grow in Cedar City, officers arrested two people, aged 16 and 18, while a third person got away after being bitten by police dogs, stated Iron County Sheriff Mark Gower. None of these individuals were armed. Officers at the grow counted about 3,000 plants by Thursday afternoon. No officers were injured and Gower said all arrests were made without incident.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) – Sen. Bob Bennett has voted against the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court saying her strong opinions will get in the way of being a fair judge. Bennett said that while Kagan has an impressive legal mind and prestigious background, she has never shown any inclination toward impartiality and continues to advocate her own beliefs and priorities. He commented that he doesn’t mind judges having strong opinions, as long as they don’t let that get in the way of what the law says. Bennett said Kagan has shown a willingness to allow her strong opinions dictate what the law should be.

(GLENWOOD) – A California woman riding a 2006 Honda motorcycle was injured on SR-119 near Glenwood Thursday afternoon when another motorcyclist hit her along the highway. According to a UHP report, 53-year old Virginia Hancock of Glendale, CA. was riding westbound, when she slowed to make a left hand turn. The report said that in the attempt, a 2006 Harley Davidson, driven by 64-year old David Miller of Lodi, CA., couldn’t stop and slid into Hancock. She sustained a leg injury after her motorcycle fell on top of her. Hancock was transported to the Sevier Valley Medical Center in Richfield for treatment. Miller was not injured in the accident and UHP said both were wearing helmets.