MANTI, Utah (AP)-Allen Fowles had three touchdowns, Jeremy Palmer ran for two more scores while Braden Jackson hauled in a 22-yard scoring pass as the Manti Templars smacked the American Leadership Eagles, 37-0 Friday in non-region football action.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (AP)-John Ursua threw for four touchdowns and ran for another as the Westlake Thunder tripped up the Delta Rabbits, 35-21 in non-region football action Friday. Colin Christensen had touchdown runs of 16 and 3 yards for the Rabbits in the loss.

RICHFIELD, Utah (AP)-Tyler Giddings had touchdown runs of 38 and 5 yards and Eric Peterson and Jerry Thomas also scored touchdowns as the Richfield Wildcats pummeled the Grand Red Devils, 31-7 in non-region football action Friday.

NEPHI, Utah (AP)-Lawson Toomer ran for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Tad Sargent added a 55-yard touchdown as the Morgan Trojans waxed the Juab Wasps, 21-6 Friday in non-region football action. Curtis Orme scored the sole touchdown of the game for Juab.

FILLMORE, Utah (AP)-Colton Dunn passed for two touchdowns and Rhett Bird threw for another score as the North Sanpete Hawks gashed the Millard Eagles, 19-6 in non-region football action Friday. Nate Robison had a 2-yard touchdown run in defeat for the Eagles.

SALINA, Utah (AP)-Zack Wood had scoring runs of 13 and 27 yards and the Parowan Rams edged the North Sevier Wolves, 14-12 Friday in non-region football action. Kade Larsen hauled in a 73-yard scoring reception and Chase Argyle ran for a 15-yard touchdown in the loss for North Sevier.

BEAVER, Utah (AP)-Slade Edwards ran for 140 yards and Anthony Gibson added a pair of short scoring runs as the Beaver Beavers snuck past the North Summit Braves, 14-12 in non-region football action Friday.

JUNCTION, Utah (AP)-Chris Manzanares homered and went the distance on the mound as the Wayne Badgers bested the Piute Thunderbirds, 5-1 Friday in Region 20 baseball action.

MT. PLEASANT, Utah (AP)-Britton Leavitt and Elle Roberts had two goals apiece as the Dixie Lady Flyers blew past the North Sanpete Lady Hawks, 9-0 in non-region girls soccer action Friday.

DELTA, Utah (AP)-Ali Wagner had two goals to lead a balanced scoring attack as the Desert Hills Lady Thunder stormed past the Delta Lady Rabbits, 5-0 Friday in non-region girls soccer action.

(RICHFIELD) – A 12-year old boy pushing his bicycle across Main Street in Richfield Thursday afternoon was hit by a driver. According to a UHP report, 24-year old Keisha Allen of Richfield, was traveling southbound in a 2004 Chevy Malibu and hit the child while he was in the crosswalk at 100 North at about 4pm. UHP said the boy was transported to the Sevier Valley Medical Center in Richfield with possible injuries. The boy was carrying an orange crossing flag while in the crosswalk. Allen was wearing her seatbelt and was not injured. She told police that she was distracted by her children in the back seat and didn’t see the boy. UHP said that another motorist was stopped in the outside lane at the crosswalk to allow the boy to cross. Allen was cited for failing to yield at a cross walk and driving on suspension.

(LAS VEGAS)-KPNX-TV, Channel 12 in Phoenix reports that more than five years after work began, the Hoover Dam bypass bridge is nearly complete and drivers will likely begin crossing it in November.

When the bridge opens, motorists traveling between Phoenix and Las Vegas will save an average of 17 minutes on their trip and potentially hours under the worst possible conditions that may strike the Mojave Desert.

Additionally, truckers will be spared lengthy detours while all drivers will have access to picturesque views while traveling near Hoover Dam and the Colorado River.

The Federal Highway Administration has not yet selected an exact opening date for the $114 million span, officially named the Mike O’Callagahn-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

At a sneak preview to showcase the completion of the bridge deck Thursday, officials announced an opening gala on October 16. A federal spokeswoman also said the bridge will open in early November.

Workers are finishing the final details on the bridge as well as the highway connections and access paths for walkers, tourists and bicyclists. The work includes installing a pedestrian parking rail, building a parking lot for visitors and adding lighting, striping and crash barriers to approaching roads.

The bridge is part of an overall $240 million bypass project which includes new, gently curving and sloping highways on both sides of the gorge while the FHA says the work will finish within budget parameters.

After the new bridge opens, the existing entrance from Arizona to Hoover Dam will close to the public, meaning motorists won’t have to wait at a Homeland Security Department checkpoint. Thus, tourists need to remember they can only reach the dam from the Nevada end.

This work is all a part of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s ultimate goal of converting all of U.S. Highway 93 from Wickenburg, Ariz. to the Colorado River into a four-lane divided highway.

Powerful interests in Arizona, Nevada and California have been lining up to designate the steadily improving route as a future Interstate, which would be called Interstate 11 as part of a goal to create a major north-south corridor which would boost the region’s economy.

(SALT LAKE CITY)-A total of 158 gang members and individuals with gang ties, including many with previous criminal records, are facing new criminal charges or deportation following a four-month, multi-agency gang surge spearheaded by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations that represents the largest sting of its kind ever carried out in the state.

The arrests are the result of a coordinated effort by the new Homeland Security-led Operation Community Shield Task Force comprised of personnel from ICE and five local law enforcement agencies, including the St. George Police Department.

Utah is one of the first HSI offices in the nation to establish an OCSTF, along with Dallas, St. Paul,Minn., and Charlotte, N.C.

Of the 158 gang members and gang associates arrested during the operation, 125 are foreign national from five different countries, including national representing Argentina, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and Peru.

Additionally, 29 of those arrested emerged from St. George while Washington City had four arrests with Santa Clara, Delta and Cedar City each having one arrest apiece.

(SALT LAKE CITY)-Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff may be about to fire his opinion that the right to free speech extends even from the most violent video games to the country’s top court.

Stanford law professor and CEO of the not-for-profit Common Sense Media, James P. Steyer, says Shurtleff is considering adding his name to a document in support of Entertainment Merchants Association, a video game trade association embroiled in a lawsuit in California.

If he does sign off, Shurtleff will be asking the Supreme Court to rule if it’s an unconstitutional violation of free speech for the government to ban any video game’s sale to children, regardless of how violent the game’s content may be.

When he was reached for comment Wednesday, Shurtleff said he doesn’t mind people lobbying him on issues, but he has not made a decision as of yet.

The U.S. Supreme Court has already agreed to hear arguments this fall in Schwarzenegger vs. EMA. The video game law never took effect because the industry trade group, the Entertainment Software Association, sued in federal court on the grounds that such a law would violate constitutionally protected rights of free speech.

The case has been in litigation ever since.

(SALT LAKE CITY)-Engaging socially, physically and mentally are key to maintaining brain health while research shows that people who embrace activities in all three elements are less likely to develop dementia, Utah senior citizens learned during a seminar at the University of Utah Thursday.

The seminar, which saw 400 people attend, featured a lecture by University of Utah neuropsychologist Kevin Duff of the university’s Center for Alzheimer’s care wherein he told seniors what they can do to avoid dementia.

Duff defined dementia as a loss of mental functions, usually multiple losses in cognitive and behavioral areas. It is typically persistent, so if the mental lapses aren’t overly prevalent, there usually isn’t a problem, Duff said.

Duff said that seniors who remember to be active and learn new things are less likely to develop dementia and that the most common type of Alzheimer’s occurs after the age of 65 and seems to have only a small genetic component.

(ST. JOHN’S, Ariz.)-A forest ranger who alertly spotted a pair of fugitives at a remote northeastern Arizona campsite was hailed as a “true hero” Friday after his tip allowed a heavily armed law enforcement contingent to capture the couple.

The ranger’s efforts came at a great risk according to Apache County (Ariz.) authorities as notorious fugitive, John McCluskey, had a gun in his possession and told officers he wished he would have shot the ranger when he had the chance.

McCluskey and his fiancee, Casslyn Welch, were captured after a three-week manhunt which began when they escaped from a Kingman, Ariz. prison.

While reports have previously surface that the couple had traveled as far as Arkansas, it’s unclear where they have been for the most part, although they are charged with a murder in New Mexico since they’ve been on the lam.

Authorities finally detained the 45-year-old McCluskey and the 44-year-old Welch at a campsite in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near the White Mountains of northeastern Arizona.

Welch reached for a weapon but dropped it upon realization that she was being outgunned by an incoming SWAT team, said Arizona U.S. Marshal David Gonzales.

Officers apprehended McCluskey without incident after finding him lying in a sleeping bag outside a tent. He informed authorities he had a gun in his tent and would have shot the ranger if he’d been able to reach for it.

The fugitives’ ruse began to crumble around 4:00 p.m. Thursday when a U.S. Forest Service ranger investigated what appeared to be an unattended campfire, Gonzales stated. He then found a silver Nissan Sentra nearby that was suspiciously backed into the trees, suggesting the drivers were trying to hide it.

The ranger had a brief conversation with McCluskey, wherein he appeared nervous and fidgety while within the next three hours, a SWAT team and surveillance unit surrounded the campsite.

McCluskey and Welch are currently being detained at the Apache County Jail in St. John’s, Ariz.

Arizona state Corrections Department Director, Charles Ryan, said he now hopes that American citizens can sleep better with the capture of these criminals.

Authorities plan to spend Friday scouring the campsite and looking for evidence that could link the fugitives to any other crimes during their time on the lam.

(SALT LAKE CITY)-U.S. Senator, Orrin Hatch, says his push for reform in the Bowl Championship Series, which robs Division I-A college football of a true national champion in many fans’ eyes, will not change notwithstanding the University of Utah’s acceptance into the Pacific 10 conference and Brigham Young University’s potential move to football independence.

The Utah Republican says the BCS is the impetus for the UofU and BYU’s move away from the Mountain West Conference and that he’s still fighting to get revenue fairly distributed to all schools.

(WASHINGTON CITY) – Police arrested five suspects this week in two illegal marijuana growing operations in southern Utah. Local and federal law enforcement officials on Wednesday eradicated more than 1100 plants at an abandoned field near Central in Washington County. Police believe the growers at that site may have fled after several other fields nearby were raided last week, netting almost 10,000 plants total in the double raids. Official reports said more than 50 officers raided a field Thursday perched high in a remote canyon just north of Pine Valley and arrested five suspects. A sixth man is believed to have gotten away. Officers also seized about 150 pounds of processed marijuana. The five men in custody represent the most arrests made at any one field since seven people were arrested in one raid last year. Three raids in the Pine Valley Mountains last week resulted in five arrests.