(RICHFIELD) – Sevier School District officials have found it necessary to establish temporary school crossing guards at several intersections in Richfield due to construction on 300 North. Transportation Director DeLoss Christensen said the temporary crossing guards are located at 300 West 300 North, 100 and 200 West and 100 North and in other areas. Christensen said all students east of Main Street in Richfield are encouraged to cross at Center and Main, with a special warning at 500 North. Sevier School District officials said that parents should have received the new safe walking route maps in packets that were sent home with students prior to school beginning but if a parent needs one, pick it up at the school where your student attends.

(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.)-KPHO-TV, Channel 5 in Phoenix, reports federal prosecutors in New Mexico have filed murder and carjacking charges against two escaped convicts from Arizona and a woman who accompanied them while they were at large.

The meticulous federal indictment charging the fugitives chronicles the role each played in the murder of 61-year-olds Gary and Linda Haas of Tecumseh, Okla.

Monday, a federal magistrate signed arrest warrants for 45-year-old John McCluskey, 42-year-old Tracy Province and their alleged accomplice, 44-year-old Casslyn Welch.

The trio has been accused of carjacking and murdering the Haases who were traveling from their home state to Colorado on vacation.

Authorities said three fugitives encountered the couple at a rest area along Interstate 40 in eastern New Mexico.

Prosecutors say McCluskey shot and killed the couple inside their travel trailer while court records show the fugitives then drove to a gas station, pulling the trailer with the couple’s remains inside.

Afterward, McCluskey then allegedly gave Province the money to buy gas, saying he couldn’t get out of the truck because he was too bloody.

Authorities say the three then drove the truck and trailer to a remote area of Guadalupe County in northeast New Mexico where they unhitched, burned and abandoned the trailer.

The fugitives abandoned the stolen truck in Albuquerque where authorities found it two days later.

The state of New Mexico recently renounced the death penalty but since the charges are federal, it could easily come into play.

(ST. GEORGE)-The Bureau of Land Management Arizona Strip District Fire unit has utilized four engines and 27 firefighters in hopes of combating a fire near Mustang Knoll which had burned almost 2,600 acres as of Monday.

Fire personnel are working to clear existing roads and complete resource chipping activities while monitoring fire behavior.

The fire is currently burning in pinon pine, juniper and sage vegetation on BLM-administered lands within the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.

The fire is being managed for multiple objectives to meet future desired conditions established in the Monument Resource Management Plan.

St. George residents may see the smoke from Black Rock Mountain.

(GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK)-Grand Canyon National Park faces challenges from water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution and insufficient funding according to a report Monday from an independent organization dedicated to preserving the nation’s parks.

The National Parks Conservation Association pointed to power generation, mining and aircrafts as potential culprits threatening one of the world’s natural wonders, one that draws 4.5 million visitors a year and pumps in excess of $1 billion in revenues to the U.S. Southwest.

The NPCA’s senior vice president for policy, Ron Tipton, says inadequate funding of national parks is part of the problem.

The report cites $300 million in deferred maintenance and notes an additional $6.2 million in base funding is needed to support employees.

Monday, the park’s superintendent, Steve Martin, said the report is accurate both from conservative and financial standpoints.

Impetuses of the Grand Canyon’s presumed demise are believed to be the Glen Canyon Dam and new mining claims at various places along the Colorado River, which flows into the canyon.

Air pollution presents a more immediate impact for visitors, according to the power plant.

Coal fired plants in the Four Corners region are among the biggest pollution factors, such as the Navajo Generating Station near Page, Ariz., which is less than 12 miles from the Grand Canyon.

The NPCA report suggests the Environmental Protection Agency and other regulators enforce the Clean Air Act and other laws because the National Park Service does not have authority over external sources of pollution affecting the Grand Canyon.

(PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti)-Haitian Latter-Day Saint and earthquake survivor, Daniel Delva, is appreciating his second chance at an education as he is currently enrolled in mechanical engineering courses at Weber State University in Ogden.

Delva, who grew up impoverished and without a father, says his goal is to return to his country and help his fellow Haitians overcome the aftershock of this past winter’s earthquake on the island.

Delva, who is being sponsored by anonymous Utah and California-based donors, resumes his studies Wednesday.

(SALT LAKE CITY)-Two women aboard a plane Tuesday that crashed in Nepal are native Utahns and employees of Provo law firm Howard Lewis & Petersen.

John Valentine, the managing shareholder of the firm, identified the two women as Leuzi Cardoso and Heather Finch.

The firm’s Web site lists both of the women as employees and states Cardoso, a Brazilian-American, had worked at the firm since 1983 while Finch had been with the company since 1995.

Valentine said it was their lifelong dream to visit Mt. Everest, where they were headed when the plane crashed.

The flight was carrying 14 people before it went down amid heavy rain in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu.

(SALT LAKE CITY)-EnergySolutions experienced a resurgence in the stock market Monday as the Utah money finalized a $1 billion deal in taking over a nuclear power plant in order to tear it down.

EnergySolutions president and CEO, Val Christensen, says the company is purchasing the Zion Power Station which is located on 257 acres of Lake Michigan coastline in Warrenville, Ill.

Christensen also said the company will obtain control of a $900 million fund set aside to guarantee safe demolition and cleanup of the plant.

The company’s landfill, in Tooele County, will receive only low-level radioactive waste, similar to what it has disposed of for the last 20 years.

However, no one knows what will be done with the Illinois plant’s most dangerous material, the spent fuel rods.

For the time being, EnergySolutions plans to place the rods in dry casks on site while waiting for a national decision about what to do with the waste.

The $1 billion cleanup in Illinois is expected to take about 10 years.

(BINGHAM CANYON)-Even as the Kennecott copper mine is preparing for renovations, there are still natural disasters looming which may change plans considerably.

Luckily for employees and visitors, predictions are possible because of high-tech monitoring systems wherein lasers bounce beams of light off of hundreds of crystal targets to detect tiny changes.

Under the surface, sensors are able to detect the slightest seismic activity and water movements.

Radar then bounces microwaves off the walls of the mine and the data pours into the computers that control automated alarms.

The detection system seems to be paying dividends as the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration rated Kennecott’s parent company, Rio Tinto, the safest mining company in the country.

(ST. GEORGE) – St. George police are searching for two men who allegedly exposed themselves to children Sunday within minutes of each other in separate parts of the city. Police reports said that the first incident occurred at about 6pm near Bloomington Hills Elementary, when a man streaked naked past some children playing near the school. The children described the man as white, in his 30’s, wearing only a dark-colored ball cap. A few minutes later on a bike path, two young children playing nearby told police an adult man approached them wearing only a brown T-shirt and brown hat. The man allegedly walked up to the children and made a few lewd comments to them before walking away. Police continue to look for the two men.

These are interesting times for the New York Giants. As one of the NFL’s flagship franchises, I saw Big Blue on television from an early age and actually didn’t like them for a time, especially when they beat my Broncos silly in Super Bowl XXI.

Nevertheless, through the years, as I’ve tried to become a more accomplished NFL historian, I now understand how great and classy the Giants really are.

After all, when the New England Patriots were nailed for cheating amid their potentially historic campaign in 2008, it was the Giants who saved the integrity of the game in exceptionally dramatic fashion.

Therefore, as a fan of the shield, I’ve tried to give the Giants sufficient love through the years.

That’s enough sentimentality, let’s get back to business!

The New York Giants, fresh off an 8-8 campaign still have reason to look forward to the future so long as Eli Manning doesn’t have his head split open again.

Manning (62.3 completion percentage, 4,021 yards, 27 TD’s, 14 INT’s) and a triumvirate of fleet-footed wideouts in Steve Smith (107 rec, 1,220 yards, 7 TD’s), Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks (16.8 yards per reception, 6 TD’s) should all contribute to give defenses headaches in 2010.

I also have a high opinion of Ramses Barden and sincerely hope he overcomes his stress fracture but time will tell on that polnt.

With all of that said, the Giants deserve more effort from Brandon Jacobs as someone with his skills should average more than the paltry 3.7 yards per carry he amassed in 2009. Nevertheless, Ahmad Bradshaw (822 rushing yards, 5 TD’s) has compensated for Jacobs’ lack of explosiveness in many instances.

As far as the defense is concerned, I fully expect Justin Tuck to have a breakout season. He seems to be capable of being a double-digit sack performer, while Terrell Thomas, fresh off a five interception campaign, seems to be coming into his own.

The NFC East is, literally, anyone’s game, and I would not be surprised to see anyone in this division win the crown, unless it’s Dallas because Wade Phillips is a loser.

Perhaps now is the time for the Giants to take the NFL by storm especially since everyone seems to be bewitched by Rex Ryan’s “adroit crassness” (note sarcasm).

As always, we’ll see what happens but I can see the Giants winning 11 games on the season if all goes well.

Take courage, Giants fans, as if you can emerge out of the NFC East, this could be another special season for Big Blue.