Home Care In Junction, UT

LOGAN — Authorities have released the identities of the man who was found dead early Friday morning in the rubble of his Cache Junction home, along with the other two who remain in the hospital. The family’s house exploded Thursday night just before 6 p.m.

Cache County Sheriff’s Lt. Mikelshan Bartschi said emergency crews located John Mullin just after midnight. He had been in the home at the time of the explosion and perished in the blast. Meanwhile, Caryn Mullin and Joshua Mullin remain hospitalized in critical condition.

Firefighters and law enforcement were called to the Mullin’s home, near 5670 North SR-23, right after the explosion was reported. The home was almost completely gone except for a pile of debris and the foundation. Flames were also coming from the rubble.

Bartschi said Joshua Mullin was outside the home when the first crews arrived. He suffered multiple burns on his arms, chest and face. He was transported to Cache Valley Hospital by paramedics, where he is currently sedated and has a long recovery ahead of him.

Caryn Mullin could be heard yelling for help inside what was left of the house. She was rescued and transported to Logan Regional Hospital, suffering from multiple fractures and burns to her body. Doctors later transferred her to McKay Dee Hospital for additional care.

The sheriff’s office released body camera footage of emergency responders pulling Caryn from the rubble. Bartschi said the video demonstrates the heroic behavior of men and women who put their lives on the line during the rescue.

The Mullins family are professional dog breeders. There were approximately 30 dogs on the property in a separate structure at the time of the explosion. There were 16 dogs in the home, five dogs were recovered five hours after the explosion and taken to the New Vision Intake and Animal Shelter for treatment. Of those five dogs, three are in critical condition and 2 are in good condition. All the other dogs on the property are being taken care of by family members.

Firefighters from multiple departments responded to the scene to extinguish the two alarm fire, including Newton Fire, Logan Fire, Clarkston Fire, Trenton Fire, Smithfield Fire, Lewiston Fire, Mendon Fire, Franklin County Idaho Fire, Cache County Fire, and the Cache County Sheriff’s Office. There were no fire hydrants nearby so several tender units were also dispatched to establish a water supply.

Bartschi said the sheriff’s office was offering their sincerest condolences to the family of the victims involved in this incident.

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Some state lawmakers say the bill they passed Thursday morning ensures access to affordable housing. Summit County officials say it violates their land use authority and violates their existing contract with Dakota Pacific, perhaps illegally.

Senate Bill 84 passed 24-2-3 in the Senate Thursday morning. Senate President Pro Tempore Wayne Harper, the bill’s sponsor, spoke to Summit County’s opposition on the Senate floor before the vote.

“They are out of compliance with their moderate income housing plan. This bill goes through and provides a process for them to come into compliance,” Harper said. “I'm not sure they're comfortable with all those elements. But I think it is a step forward because affordable housing is important.”

County officials are definitely not comfortable with those elements. Language substituted into the bill in the Utah House—five minutes before the House vote—penalizes Summit County because it didn’t apply for what’s called a Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone in its moderate income housing plan.

The penalty: Dakota Pacific Real Estate gets to build its mixed-use development proposal at the Tech Center in Kimball Junction, without county approval or further revision.

Summit County Councilmember Chris Robinson doubts that Dakota Pacific’s development, which includes both market rate and affordable housing units, meets moderate income housing goals.

“In our county, the market rate housing, whether it's rent or for sale, is extremely expensive. So, the model of just increasing supply won't work,” Robinson said. “But we're viewed as not playing along.”

Robinson and other county officials think Dakota Pacific Real Estate lobbied for the additional language in SB84 due to the last-minute add sounding strikingly similar to the developer’s proposal.

“Dakota Pacific and its lobbyists have been working on this strategy for a very long time, it appears to us,” Robinson said. “This is very specific.”

Dakota Pacific told KPCW in a statement that they support the changes “to encourage compliance by local governments, including Summit County, and to expedite the development of urgently needed affordable housing.”

Summit County’s senators, Sen. John Johnson and Sen. Ron Winterton, were the only to vote against the bill. Johnson told KPCW, “I believe strongly that local authorities should make these zoning decisions.”

Winterton echoed that on the Senate floor.

“This is starting down a path that we currently don't do in the state of Utah, spot zoning,” Winterton said. “And it seems like it's targeted right at them.”

Bills like SB84, which had language substituted after it had been read three times on the floor, don’t get read again.

In the House, which passed SB84 unanimously Wednesday, representatives voted without hearing what was added to the bill.

Two of Summit County’s representatives in the House, District 4 Rep. Kera Birkeland and District 59 Rep. Mike Kohler, told KPCW Thursday that they had voted yes in error because they didn’t know the bill contained a mandate to let Dakota Pacific build without county approval. Both said SB84 caught them off guard because they were working on other things.

Birkeland had previously introduced House Bill 233, which would repeal last year’s targeted HTRZ legislation. She said she will be making some amendments to it now that SB84 has passed.

But until SB84 is a law, work on the Dakota Pacific zoning proposal continues as normally as it can. Summit County Council held a work session Wednesday night all about HTRZs, the funding tool at the center of the standoff.

Brian Baker, the county’s financial advisor, walked the council through how government entities apply for an HTRZ. He’s the Vice President of Zions Bank, which has helped other counties apply for the zones.

The existing law that SB84 seeks to amend requires the county to explore adding an HTRZ as part of its plan to provide housing for middle income residents.

The way the tool works is by awarding developers local tax money or other subsidies to offset costs, including losses the developer takes on by creating below-market rate housing.

Baker said that successful HTRZ applications demonstrate that community benefits justify giving the developer tax breaks and subsidies. But, it would be nearly impossible to apply without a development partner at the table—officials can’t know what the benefits are if there’s no development plan in place.

But what does that mean for Summit County? Coming into compliance on its own terms might require working with Dakota Pacific, unless some other developer wants to build near a transit hub.

If SB84 becomes law, that compliance will be forced.

BEAVER, Utah (ABC4) — Over 340 fire personnel are at the scene of the nearly 7,300-acre Thompson Ridge Fire, according to Utah Fire Info.

The lightning-caused fire, located 10 miles southeast of Beaver, Utah, started just over a week ago, on Aug. 4. Officials said that as of today, Aug. 13, the fire is still 0% contained.

Officials said Sunday that a new weather system is bringing winds to the area and may increase fire activity. “Today there will be a new weather system moving in from the southeast, bringing winds from the east. Cooler, damper conditions will remain, but winds may increase fire activity when wind directions and terrain align,” a release states.

According to the release, firefighters have been able to identify areas where they can safely attempt to fight the fire around its perimeter. Officials said monsoonal moisture has helped fire crews in battling the blaze over the last two days. Parts of the fire area have reportedly seen .1″ to .25″ of rain.

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Fire officials will reportedly be hosting community meetings in Junction and Beaver this week. The Junction meeting will be at the local fire house at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 14. The Beaver meeting will be at the City Center at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15.

Both meetings will be streamed on the Fishlake National Forest Facebook page as well, officials said.

SR-153, Kent’s Lake Road (137), Upper and Lower Kent’s Lake, Little Reservoir Campground, Anderson Meadow, and LeBaron are open at this time. Officials said to use caution in and around these areas as there will be ground and air equipment working to suppress the fire.

There are currently 11 engines, six helicopters, two water tenders, three dozers, nine crews, and 344 personnel working to fight the fire. The area is made up of steep, rugged terrain transitioning into rolling pinyon juniper hills, officials said.

The Thompson Ridge Fire started at just five acres on Aug. 4, and has grown to 7,289 acres. For reference, a football field is about 1.32 acres in size, meaning the fire has blazed over the equivalent of 5,522 football fields.

Courtesy: Colorado Mesa Athletics

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University swimming and diving teams combined to defeat three NCAA Division I opponents while the Maverick women knocked off a Power 5 conference member for the first time in program history on a stellar day of performances at the Intermountain Shootout, which wrapped up Saturday here at the El Pomar Natatorium.

The Maverick women went 3-1 in head-to-head dual scores against the other four teams, out-pointing BYU of the Big XII Conference for the first time. The Mavs also defeated Division I Air Force 224-186 to knock off the Falcons for the first time in 21 all-time dual meetings and extended their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual-meet winning streak of more than seven years to 34 with a 345-57 drubbing of CSU Pueblo.

The Mavs fell just short (206-198) of Pac 12 Utah as the duals with BYU and Utah came down to the final event, which saw the Mavs take second in the 400 free relay between Utah and BYU, one of ten second place and 19 top-3 women’s performances throughout meet, nine of which came on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Maverick men blasted Air Force 307-102 but fell short to BYU (253 ½-146 ½) and Utah (227-176). They Mavs were once again led by Ben Sampson, who won all five of his individual events throughout the two days, including the 200-yard individual medley and 200 back on Saturday, both of which were done with NCAA Division II Championship provisional or “B Cut” times.

The Maverick women also had three such times while divers Jenna Hurley and Isaiah Cheeks both set NCAA qualifying scores in 11-dive women’s 1-meter and men’s 3-meter competitions, respectively.

Sophomores Maddi Moran and Ada Qunell led the Maverick women as each won events on Saturday.

Moran took the 50 breaststroke in 29.66 seconds before coming back to take second in the 200-yard discipline with a time of 2:22.71. She also teamed with Katerina Matoskova, Kiara Borchardt and Qunell for a third place finish in the 200 medley relay, which saw the Mavs touch third in 1:44.88, just 0.04 behind Utah, a result that eventually would have reversed the overall dual against the Utes.

Meanwhile, Qunell set a NCAA “B” cut time of 52.01 (51.91-altitide adjusted) to win the 100 free before clocking a lead-off split of 52.02 to help the Maverick 400 free relay team to finish second in 3:30.28, a result that gave the Mavs the overall team win over BYU as the Cougars took third in 3:30.49. Utah’s top squad finished in 3:27.36 to secure the event and dual win.

Matoskova, who led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 free on Friday, also turned in another NCAA “B” time of 2:03.89 (2:02.69-converted) to place third in the 200 back while sophomore Olivia Hansson had yet another “B” cut time of 5:05.95 (5:00.95-converted), her third of the weekend, to finish fourth in the 500 free.

Freshman Amber Siverts and fifth-year senior transfer Benedict Nagy also turned in impressive runner-up performances to help the Mavs in their history-making day. Siverts turned in a 200 fly time of 2:07.84 (2:06.64-coverted) and moved into the No. 8 spot of CMU history with what was CMU’s fastest time in the event since the 2021 RMAC Championships.

Meanwhile, Nagy took fourth in that event with a time of 2:09.18 (2:07.98) to just miss out on a spot on the updated top-10 performers list in program history. Matoskova was also fifth in the event, touching in 2:10.65.

Nagy also finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:07.60 (2:06.40-converted), again just missing out of a spot in the Maverick all-time top-10 by just 0.07 seconds.

In the diving well, Hurley, a freshman out of Southlake, Texas, scored 401.75 points to break up a 1-5 BYU sweep while surpassing her first career NCAA Championship qualifying standard (390.00).

Cheeks also finished second in the men’s 3-meter event, scoring 506.00 points to register his second NCAA qualifying score in as many days.

Elsewhere, Sampson won the 200 IM in 1:51.19 (1:49.99-converted) before winning his fifth event of the meet in the 200 back with a time of 1:47.35 (1:46.15-converted). He set four NCAA “B” times during the weekend.

Sampson also teamed with Kuba Kiszczak, Dejan Urbanek and Jameson McEnaney for a second place time of 1:29.10 in the 200 medley relay while Kiszczak had a third place time of 45.83 in the 100 free.

The Maverick men totaled 13 top-3 finishes throughout the meet, five of which came on Saturday.

The Mavericks will continue their season next Saturday competing at the Denver Relays.

Courtesy: BYU Athletics

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — BYU swim and dive totaled seven more event wins as the Intermountain Shootout concluded at El Pomar Natatorium on Saturday afternoon.

“Our athletes brought incredible energy to this meet,” said BYU swimming head coach Shari Skabelund. “I am pleased with the progress they’re making and momentum they’re carrying into the season after a solid summer of training.”

The BYU men won both of their dual matchups, topping Air Force 316.50-90.50 and beating Colorado Mesa 253.50-146.50. BYU women’s swim and dive overcame Air Force 229-181 and CSU Pueblo by a score of 343-57. Host Colorado Mesa, however, edged the Cougars 208-202.

Jordan Tiffany won his third event in two days and nearly broke a second school record in Grand Junction. Tiffany clocked 47.11 to take first in the 100 fly and tie Jorge Azevedo (2008) for second all-time at BYU. Javier Nicolas Matta (2022) holds the program’s 100 fly record at 46.40. Tony Puertas joined Tiffany on the 100 fly podium after finishing third at 49.62.

Tiffany, Puertas, Brad Prolo and true freshman Joshua Reed combined to clock 1:28.49, winning the men’s 200 medley relay over Colorado Mesa and Utah. Prolo built on his relay success with a winning time of 1:50.22 in the 200 fly. Luigi Riva and Reed finished one-two in the 100 free with times of 45.59 and 45.75, respectively.

Mickey Strauss completed his sweep of the meet’s men’s diving events as he posted a 513.05 in the 3-meter. BYU freshman Russell Haws took fourth at 479.85.

BYU women’s diving dominated the 1-meter competition with Alexia Jackson scoring 444.95 to finish first. Sophia DeBergh took third at 398.70 and Aubryn Ordyna fourth at 376.40.

Regan Geldmacher and Victoria Schreiber finished first and second, respectively, in the 500 free. Geldmacher came in at 5:01.96 while Schreiber cut nearly three seconds off her personal best with a time of 5:03.64.

Abi Furqueron finished third in the women’s 50 breast at 29.95, improving on her previous best of 30.81 set at the Intermountain Shootout a season ago. With her 50 breast performance on Saturday, Furqueron surpassed Londyn Clawson (2011) for No. 9 all-time at BYU.

After a week off, Cougar swim and dive returns to action with a dual meet at TCU on Oct. 13 in Forth Worth, Texas.

Courtesy: Utah Athletics

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Jaek Horner posted two first place finishes and the University of the Utah swim team collected eight individual wins and five team triumphs on Saturday on day two of the CMU Intermountain Shootout, which was held inside the El Pomar Natatorium in Grand Junction, Colo.

“We had a good meet,” said head coach Jonas Persson. “There were some really good swims and some swims that people can learn from. We dealt with a little pressure today and we still performed well and I’m happy with how the team responded. It’s really promising for us moving forward that we know the team can swim in those situations. It’s going to be a good next phase of the fall, starting Monday as we move towards the start of our dual meets.”

Horner made his mark with a pair of excellent performances, first grabbing the top spot in the 50 breaststroke, where his mark of 25.11 bested the field by more than a full second, then he outpaced the field in the 200 breaststroke, clocking in at 2:03.69 to land atop the podium again.

Utah’s first triumph of the afternoon came courtesy of Nick Chirafisi, who earned his second win in as many days by logging a time of 4:31.19 in the 500 freestyle. Also appearing in the winner’s circle for the second straight day were Summer Stanfield, who reached the finish in the 2:05.72 in the 200 individual medley, and Norah Hay, who outswam the competition in the 200 backstroke to the tune of a 2:00.04 mark. Krystal Lieu picked up her first victory of the year, taking first in the women’s 200 breaststroke by finishing in 2:21.98.

The Utes finished the day with back-to-back relay triumphs, as Erin Palmer, Stanfield, Maddie Woznick and Lily Milner took the women’s 400 free relay with a time of 3:27.36 and Will Woodall, Ethan Smith, Matthew Dedering and Evan VanBrocklin clocked in at 2:59.85 to nab first in the men’s 400 free relay.

Utah ended the day with three meet victories on the women’s side, topping the Air Force Academy, 216.50-187.50, besting Colorado State 312-57 and defeating Colorado Mesa 206-198. Utah’s men’s squad knocked off the Air Force Academy, 304-100 and triumphed over CMU, 227-176.

Looking Ahead The Utes will now shift their focus to an Oct. 7 dual meet against the LSU Tigers that will begin at 10 a.m.

A University of Texas at Dallas-led team of researchers has developed a new technique to open the blood-brain barrier temporarily to deliver medication to the brain.

Getting medication past the brain’s unique and protective blood vessels, known as the blood-brain barrier, is one of the biggest challenges in treating brain and central nervous system diseases, said Dr. Zhenpeng Qin, associate professor of mechanical engineering at UT Dallas and co-corresponding author of the study that describes the method. The technique uses light and nanoparticles to pry open temporarily these barriers — called tight junctions — to allow medication to reach its target.

Qin and his colleagues in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and at other institutions demonstrated the approach in mice in a study published online Sept. 13 in the journal Nano Letters.

Researchers synthesized gold nanoparticles to target the tight junction specifically and demonstrated that transcranial picosecond laser stimulation of the nanoparticles post-intravenous injection increases the permeability of the blood-brain barrier. (Illustration credit: Nano Letters)

The findings are the result of five years of research funded in part by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Qin said the approach could lead to treatments for brain tumors and Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; aid in stroke recovery; and deliver gene therapy. Qin said further development and testing is needed before it could be used in humans.

“Approaches to increase blood-brain barrier [BBB] permeability are essential to advance therapeutics for central nervous system diseases,” said Xiaoqing Li, the paper’s co-lead author and a biomedical engineering doctoral student at UT Dallas.

The technique involves injecting gold nanoparticles, which absorb light, into the bloodstream to target the blood-brain barrier. Researchers apply picosecond (one-trillionth of a second) laser pulses externally to activate the gold nanoparticles.

“The action produces a tiny mechanical force that temporarily breaks the barrier open so a drug can enter the blood flow into the brain,” Li said.

The study demonstrated that the technique did not damage the blood-brain barrier or the constriction and dilation of blood vessels, called vasomotion.

“We demonstrated that the BBB permeability can be modulated without significant disruption to the spontaneous vasomotion or the structure of the neurovascular unit,” said Dr. Qi Cai, mechanical engineering research associate and co-lead author of the paper.

In their experiments, the researchers tested the method with cargos of antibodies, liposomes and adeno-associated viral vectors, which can be used to carry gene-editing components.

In August, Qin received a fourth CPRIT grant to study whether the method can be used to treat glioblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in adults. He and his team aim to design and produce magnetic nanoparticles that can be stimulated to disrupt the blood-brain barrier using magnetic fields.

“Support from CPRIT has been instrumental in our work,” said Qin, who received grants from the state agency — the second-largest cancer research and prevention program in the world — in 2016, 2018 and 2019. “When we started, we had an idea, basically to use nanoparticles to target specific components of the blood-brain barrier with minimal injury.”

The Nano Letters study involved a global interdisciplinary team of researchers including Dr. Heather Hayenga and Dr. Shashank Sirsi, both assistant professors of bioengineering at UT Dallas. Additional UT Dallas co-authors included Dr. Xiuying Li and Dr. Hejian Xiong, research scientists in mechanical engineering; and Peiyuan Kang PhD’20, now a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School.

Other collaborators included researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center: co-corresponding author Dr. Robert Bachoo, associate professor of neurology and internal medicine; Dr. Vamsidhara Vemireddy, co-lead author; and Dr. Edward Pan, associate professor of neurology and neurological surgery and section head of neuro-oncology.

The collaboration also included researchers from the Italian Foundation for Cancer Research Institute of Molecular Oncology, the Smurfit Institute of Genetics at Trinity College Dublin, and the University of California, San Diego.

In addition to CPRIT, funding for the research came from the American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health, the European Research Council and Fondazione Cariplo.

Journal

Nano Letters

DOI

10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02996

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Reversibly Modulating the Blood-Brain Barrier by Laster Stimulation of Molecule-Targeted Nanoparticles

Article Publication Date

13-Sep-2021

COI Statement

A patent has been filed based on these findings (WO 2019/241623 A1)

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