Hatch's campaign hits 2 milestones
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, says his presidential campaign has reached two important financial milestones.First, it has qualified for federal matching funds. He did so by raising at least $5,000 in 20 states through donations of $250 or less.
Second, he said he has raised more than $500,000 in donations from his fellow Utahns.
Hatch said he crossed that threshold in Utah with a $36 donation from Sharon Hoth, vice chairwoman of the Cache County Republican Party.
Of course, Hatch has been seeking $36 each from 1 million people. He said such donations would help him compete with "fat cat" donations that George W. Bush has received while setting records for fund-raising.
Hatch said almost 4,800 Utahns have given him such $36 donations. That is 995,200 short of his ultimate goal of 1 million skinny cats.
Sandy man struck trying to flee van
A Sandy man frantically trying to escape from an attacker was struck early Friday, suffering serious injuries.
At first the 39-year-old victim was fleeing from a man who was chasing him on foot at 4:55 a.m., Salt Lake Police Lt. Phil Kirk said. A witness reported seeing the victim running near 430 E. 400 South and being chased by another man.
The pursuer then got into a van being driven by someone else, and the van struck the victim at 400 South and 400 East, the victim ran out from behind a building into the roadway and was struck by the van, which sped up going east on 400 South, crossing into the west lanes to hit the victim.
The van, which was stolen in Salt Lake City hours earlier, was recovered about a block away. Kirk said the victim suffered a broken leg and multiple injuries.. Investigators were trying to determine a motive and had not yet released the name of the victim.
Co-worker charged in sex abuse case
A man accused of breaking into a co-worker's home in Kearns and sexually abusing two girls, ages 5 and 3, has been charged in 3rd District Court.
Filemon Huizar, 27, was charged Thursday with five first-degree felonies: aggravated burglary, sodomy on a child, child kidnapping and two for aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
Huizar was charged after the 3-year-old girl told her father the man who molested her works with him. The girl then identified Huizar in a work photograph, court documents state.
After the Nov. 14 incident, police chased someone from the scene but were unable to catch him. During the chase, however, the man left behind the jacket he was wearing. Police noticed the recovered jacket was identical to one Huizar wore in the work photograph, the charges state.
After obtaining a search warrant, police recovered hair and blood samples from Huizar's apartment. Those samples will be compared with ones taken from the scene and the jacket for possible DNA matches.
If convicted, Huizar could face five years to life in prison for each charge.
Drivers buckle up, earn bucks for Utah
High levels of Utah drivers buckling up have earned the state $221,700 from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The award is for Utah drivers who exceed the national average for seatbelt use and is equal to the estimated savings in medical care costs resulting from related reductions in motor vehicle injuries.
Utah's seatbelt usage has risen over the past two years form an average of 65 percent to 67 percent.
The money will be reinvested into highway safety programs.