Springville High Latinos in Action hosts prom for people with special needs

SPRINGVILLE — A Springville High School program hosted a special event Friday night for a group of people who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to go to prom this year.

Latinos in Action (LIA) put on an incredible evening for everyone who showed up to a ‘Night in Hollywood.’

Securing decorations in place, high school seniors Jaretzy Garcia and Kim Hernandez perfected every detail for a big night at the high school gym.

They strung steamers on stair railings and hung a sign on the window with glitter stars and the word “HOLLYWOOD” in big, gold letters.

“It’s a dream come true. It’s exciting. Emotions are everywhere,” Jaretzy said, of realizing the night she has spent months planning was finally here.

Two friends hang a paper "Hollywood" sign

Kim Hernandez and Jaretzy Garcia hang a sign welcoming people to the Night in Hollywood prom (KSL TV)

The Latinos in Action (LIA) program coordinated the entire prom for the United Angels Foundation, an organization that supports individuals who are raising people with disabilities, offering education, resources and community events.

“Their prom dance that they do every year got canceled,” Jaretzy explained.

She wanted to roll out the red carpet and give the Hollywood treatment to teens and young adults with special needs.
With everyone dressed in their best, one-by-one, prom goers walked in and walked down the red carpet, with students from LIA lining each side, cheering.

Lacy Knight and her best friend Sadie Teague came in together, basking in the spotlight.

“I was like walking out, I was like walking like this,” Lacy later explained in the hallway, pretending to hold up a microphone as she and Sadie waved to demonstrate their movie star moment. “Hi, everybody! Thank you!”

Both girls talked about their dresses and hair, and how they were looking forward to dancing and listening to music.

After stopping at the photo booth for pictures, they stepped into the gym and got down on the dance floor.

Jaretzy explained that she knew she wanted to do this event last year, well before finding out about the canceled United Angels Foundation prom.

She came up with the idea after what she experienced at her own prom.

“There were some kids with special needs that were there. Some kids decided to record them and post them online, make fun of them,” Jaretzy said. “So for me, it was very like, it melted my heart in a bad way.”

Not wanting students to feel judged or like they couldn’t be themselves, she asked her teacher last August if LIA could host a prom for individuals with special needs.

Young prom goers dressed up walking down a red carpet

Prom goers strutted down the red carpet to claps and cheers upon arriving at the dance (KSL TV)

LIA organizes other events usually focused on Hispanic Heritage Month, runs a tutoring program for elementary school students to learn Spanish, and offers translation at parent/teacher conferences for parents who aren’t English speaking.

In January, the serious prom planning began, and LIA reached out to United Angels Foundation. Then they found out that United Angels Foundation’s annual prom couldn’t happen this year, as they explained church venues from past years decided not to participate this year.

It became the perfect project for Latinos in Action. They found sponsors including Macey’s, Zurchers, Ream’s, and Smith’s.

Jaretzy’s 50 other LIA friends, including Kim Hernandez, were all in on helping with planning.

“Me as a Hispanic Latina, I feel like sometimes we feel left out in some activities,” Kim said.

She wanted the kids to feel loved and cared for.

“They need to be validated. They need to be seen,” Kim said. “Just like any other teenager, they deserve their prom. They deserve to feel included.”

Thinking of every detail, LIA created a space for parents to be able to watch a live feed of the dance in the cafeteria, as their kids boogeyed in the gym.

Sadie’s mom Kari Teague, who is also the United Angels Foundation program and events coordinator, popped into the dance floor every once in a while to take pictures and video, beaming as her daughter danced.

“As a mom, I’m so grateful for this opportunity for her that she can be with her peers and having fun, and not feeling like she’s being pushed to the side,” Teague said. “And as a United Angels Foundation person, I’m really excited to see all my teens and young adults there, that they are so happy to be here.”

On a big night, LIA hoped to create a safe space free of judgment, with people free to dance– everything that makes a perfect prom.

“I hope they feel happiness. I hope this makes their whole entire year,” Jaretzy said. “I hope they leave tonight thinking that this was the best night of their life.”

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Jonas Brothers to headline 2024 Stadium of Fire concert

PROVO — You’re going to want to “Remember This”: The Freedom Festival announced Friday the headliner act for the 2024 Stadium of Fire concert will be the famous pop band the Jonas Brothers.

Stadium of Fire, held on Independence Day each year, is one of the largest events in Utah and has been a tradition for many since its inception in 1980. The concert is presented by America’s Freedom Festival, which organizes dozens of patriotic activities for the holiday that more than 500,000 people attend.

The Jonas Brothers last graced LaVell Edwards Stadium in 2009, and the festival has been wanting them to return ever since, festival executive director Jim Evans said, adding that he hoped it would happen before the “Year 3000.”

THE WORLD TOUR. On sale now at https://t.co/CjvOnTOPUg! pic.twitter.com/gOKRfK9boc

— Jonas Brothers (@jonasbrothers) January 11, 2024

“We’re delighted to welcome them back to Provo! They are one of the most electrifying — and of the most fun! — musical groups performing anywhere in the world right now,” Evans said.
The JoBros, as some fans affectionately call Nick, Kevin and Joe Jonas, formed the band in 2005 and gained popularity through appearances on Disney Channel, including the “Camp Rock” movies and their own TV series titled “Jonas.”

After a more than six-year hiatus when the brothers pursued solo projects, the band reunited in 2019 and fans across the world were “Sucker”s for the five-time platinum smash hit the band released that received a Grammy nomination.

With six albums, the New Jersey-raised brothers have truly found their “Wings” as they’ve sold more than 20 million albums, earned 26 Billboard Hot 100 hits, logged three consecutive No. 1 debuts on the Billboard 200 and generated billions of streams.

This year’s concert is anticipated to be one of the biggest Independence Day extravaganzas in the stadium’s history. Along with music that will have you saying “Happiness Begins” here, attendees get to experience the nation’s largest stadium fireworks show that will have them “Burnin’ Up.”

Idk about you guys, but the 2009 Jonas Brothers’ Stadium of Fire performance was my peak. @madelyn_carter @levi_laughs pic.twitter.com/XDSsskxk8U

— Hailey 🤘🏻 (@Haileyy_Johnson) March 29, 2018

Additionally, the event includes a flyover of jets from Utah’s Hill Air Force Base, tributes to military and civilian heroes, a performance from the Rockwell Uncommon Skydive Team and an appearance from the Las Vegas-based Zion’s Youth Symphony and Chorus.

This announcement will have many fans feeling “Like It’s Christmas,” but they will have to be “Paranoid” and “Hold On” for one more week before tickets go on sale to the general public at noon on March 22. Freedom Festival email subscribers will have early access that morning.

With a stadium capacity of 63,470, concert hopefuls will need to be ready, or they’ll end up screaming “S.O.S.” and “What a Man Gotta Do” to get tickets.

KSL-TV is holding a contest Friday night to give away a pair of tickets for Stadium of Fire. The winner will be revealed during the 10 p.m. newscast.

The Altabank Stadium of Fire performance will again be produced and directed by the Emmy award-winning production team of Baruch/Gayton Entertainment Group. The event will also be televised to more than 100 countries through the American Forces Network.

Notable past Stadium of Fire performers include the Osmonds, who created Stadium of Fire, the Beach Boys, Kenny Loggins, Kurt Bestor, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, Miley Cyrus, Brian Regan, Journey, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, the Blue Man Group, David Archuleta, Tim McGraw, One Republic and Keith Urban.

“Look Me in the Eyes” and tell me you aren’t excited for the “Cool” show that is happening this “Summer Baby.”

These simple activities can treat depression as effectively as therapy, study says

(CNN) — When a wave of depression hits, exercise may sound like the last thing you want to do. But a new study says it could be crucial to feeling better.

Many types of exercise — including walking, jogging, yoga, tai chi, aerobic exercises and strength training — showed benefits as strong as therapy when it came to treating depression, according to the study published Wednesday in the BMJ.

“Depression (affects) somewhere between (10%) and 25% of people. It hurts wellbeing more than debt, divorce, or diabetes,” said lead study author Dr. Michael Noetel, senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland in Australia, via email.

“Still, only half of those with depression get any treatment.”

Researchers analyzed data from 218 studies on exercise and depression, with more than 14,000 people included.

While there was risk for bias in the studies, the whole-body benefits of exercise, paired with data to suggest that it helps with depression, make for a strong treatment option, Noetel said.

The results align with what many other studies have said about the benefits of exercise, said Dr. Adam Chekroud, assistant professor adjunct of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and cofounder of Spring Health, a mental health-care service. He was not involved in this study.

Chekroud’s 2018 study of more than 1.2 million Americans showed those who exercised reported better well-being and mental health.

Both studies should give people confidence that exercise is a good approach to treating depression along with other options, including therapy and medication, Chekroud said.

“None of these treatments are silver bullets. But, given how debilitating it is to have depression, almost all patients should be offered both exercise and therapy,” Noetel said.

Any exercise is better than none

The study found that more exercise and a higher intensity of workout were better, but you don’t need to start out training like a professional athlete, according to the data.

“It didn’t matter how much people exercised, in terms of sessions or minutes per week,” Noetel said. “It also didn’t really matter how long the exercise program lasted.”

The intensity of the exercise made the biggest difference, but even walking had an impact, he said.

Any exercise was better than none, but Noetel recommended adding some challenges.

“We initially thought those with depression might need to ‘ease into it.’ We found it was far better to have a clear program that aimed to push you, at least a little,” he said.

The problem of motivation

Many people struggle with finding the motivation to exercise, and adding depression on top of that can make it even harder to get started.

Setting goals and tracking activity didn’t seem to help in the studies Noetel analyzed.

“Instead, I think we have to defer to more established wisdom about what works,” he said, pointing to support and accountability.

You can find those by joining a fitness group, getting a trainer or asking a loved one to go for a walk with you, Noetel added.

“Taking a few steps toward getting that support makes it more likely that you’ll keep going,” he said.

And whether your thing is weight training or walking, you need to make the activity enjoyable to keep it up.

“Be kind to your future self by making exercise as easy and attractive as possible, like getting yourself an audiobook or a trial at a yoga studio,” Noetel said.

The more you enjoy your workout, the more confident you will be to overcome exercise obstacles, which means you’ll be more likely to stick with a regimen, according to a 2015 study.

“Then, be kind to yourself if it’s hard — we always forget how easy it is for life to get in the way of exercise, so make a backup plan as if your happiness depended on it … because it does,” Noetel said.

Humanity’s earliest recorded kiss adds new twist to the history of locking lips

(CNN) — “The meeting of lips is the most perfect, the most divine sensation given to human beings, the supreme limit of happiness.”

So wrote the 19^th century French author Guy de Maupassant in his 1882 short story, “The Kiss.” He wasn’t alone in his flowery thoughts about kissing. Romantic kisses have long been celebrated in songs, poems and stories, commemorated in art and film.

No one knows for sure when humans first figured out that mouth-to-mouth contact could be used for romance and erotic pleasure, but scientists reported in May 2023 that people were locking lips at least 4,500 years ago. The findings, published in the journal Science, pushed back the history of the practice by about 1,000 years.

“Kissing has been practiced much longer than perhaps a lot of us realized, or at least had thought about,” said lead study author Dr. Troels Pank Arbøll, an assistant professor of Assyriology — the study of Assyria and the rest of Mesopotamia — at the University of Copenhagen.

Thousands of clay tablets from Mesopotamia survive to the present; their references to kissing shed light on romantic intimacy in the ancient world, the researchers reported.

“This fascinating case study adds to a growing body of scientific research on romantic/sexual kissing, and helps us understand kissing’s origins in human social behavior and in intimate life specifically,” said evolutionary biologist Dr. Justin R. Garcia, a professor of gender studies at Indiana University in Bloomington. Garcia, who investigates the culture and evolution of human intimacy at the Kinsey Institute, was not involved in the research.

“Romantic and sexual behavior experiences are part of larger patterns of human social behavior,” Garcia told CNN in an email. “Understanding how these behaviors express themselves, change, and evolve helps us better understand who we are today.”

When de Maupassant wrote his heartfelt descriptions of loving kisses, he probably wasn’t thinking too hard about how kissing arose in the first place amid civilizations of the past. But the origins of this “most divine sensation” are deeply rooted in human history and evolution, and there is likely much about its role and significance in ancient cultures that is yet to be discovered, the study authors wrote.

Passionate kisses

Previously, the oldest recorded evidence of kissing was attributed to the Vedas, a group of Indian scriptural texts that date back to around 1500 BC and are foundational to the Hindu religion. One of the volumes, the Rig Veda, describes people touching their lips together. Erotic kissing was also featured in great detail in another ancient Indian text: the Kama Sutra, a guide to sexual pleasure dating to the third century AD. Modern scholars therefore concluded that romantic kisses likely originated in India.

But among Assyriologists, it was widely known that clay tablets from the region mentioned kissing even earlier than it was described in India, Arbøll told CNN. However, outside of highly specialized academic circles, few knew that such evidence existed, he added. In the study, Arbøll and coauthor Dr. Sophie Lund Rasmussen, a research fellow in the department of biology at Oxford University in the UK, wrote of kisses inscribed in Mesopotamian tablets dating to 2500 BC.

“As an Assyriologist, I study cuneiform writing,” Arbøll said. Cuneiform, in which characters are pressed into tablets using cut triangular reeds, was invented around 3200 BC. Early cuneiform was used by scribes for bookkeeping, Arbøll explained. But around 2600 BC — perhaps even earlier — people began recording stories about their gods.

“In one of these myths, we get this description that these gods had intercourse and then kissed,” he said. “That’s clear evidence of sexual romantic kissing.”

Within a few centuries, writing had become more widespread across Mesopotamia. With that came more records of daily life, with mentions of kisses traded by married couples and by unmarried people as an expression of desire.

Some examples cautioned about the perils of kissing; to kiss a priestess sworn to a form of celibacy “was believed to deprive the kisser of the ability to speak,” according to the study. Another prohibition addressed the impropriety of kissing in the street; that this warning had to be made at all, hinted that kissing was “a very everyday sort of action,” albeit one that was preferably practiced in private, Arbøll said.

Across thousands of cuneiform tablets kissing isn’t the most mentioned topic, “but it is attested regularly,” he said.

Don’t talk, just kiss

Humans aren’t the only animals that kiss — so do our closest primate relatives. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) trade kisses as greetings. For bonobos (Pan paniscus), kissing is part of their very frequent sex play; they copulate face-to-face and often engage in “intense tongue-kissing,” wrote primatologist Frans B.M. De Waal, a behavioral biologist at Emory University in Atlanta.

It’s possible that romantic kissing evolved in primates as a way to evaluate fitness in a potential mate, “through chemical cues communicated in saliva or breath,” Arbøll and Rasmussen wrote.

But kissing isn’t all sociability, fun and pleasure. One less enjoyable side effect of kissing in humans is the spread of infectious disease. Another study, authored in July 2022 by more than two dozen researchers from institutions in Europe, the UK and Russia, stated that the rapid rise of a lineage of the herpes simplex virus HSV-1 in Europe about 5,000 years ago, was “potentially linked to the introduction of new cultural practices such as the advent of sexual-romantic kissing,” following waves of migration into Europe from the Eurasian grasslands.

But Arbøll and Rasmussen suspected that romantic kissing became accepted in Bronze Age Europe, and not because of migration alone. It’s more likely, they wrote, that the practice of kissing was already at least passingly familiar to people in Europe because it was common in Mesopotamia — and possibly in other parts of the ancient world — and wasn’t just restricted to India.

“It must have been known in a lot of ancient cultures,” Arbøll said. “Not necessarily practiced, but at least known.”

Kissing then and now

Unlike the kisses shared between parents and children, which are thought to be “ubiquitous among humans across time and geography,” romantic kisses are not common everywhere. Even today, many cultures shun romantic kissing, Arbøll and Rasmussen reported.

In a September 2015 study coauthored by Garcia, researchers surveyed 168 modern cultures worldwide, finding that only 46% of those societies practiced kissing that was sexual or romantic. Such kissing, the authors reported, was far less common in foraging communities, and was more likely to be found in societies that had distinct social classes, “with more complex societies being more likely to kiss in this manner.”

While Arbøll and Rasmussen’s study suggests that romantic kissing wasn’t unusual in ancient Mesopotamia, the authors point out that there were still taboos about who could kiss and where they could do it — and that romantic kissing was far from a universal experience across all cultures.

“This article is an important reminder that widespread kissing we see represented all around us in western society today was not always, and is still not always, a part of everyone’s displays of intimacy,” Garcia said.

It’s also possible that if kissing in the ancient world was more widely distributed than once thought, it was “perhaps more universal than in modern times,” Arbøll added. “It opens some questions that are interesting for future research.”

Mindy Weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in Live Science, Scientific American and How It Works magazine.

Video: Sunday Edition: Brad Wilcox

Many Americans think that money, work, and freedom from family are the key to a happy life today. In this week’s episode of Sunday Edition, Boyd Matheson sits down with the Director of the National Marriage Project Brad Wilcox who says the solution to happiness is marriage. Boyd and Brad explore which groups of people are the happiest today, who are the so-called “masters of marriage”, as well as the impacts marriage has on children, and the belief that one in two marriages today end in divorce. Wilcox’s new book, “Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization” goes on sale February 13th. In his final thought, Boyd explores the power of ideas versus the idea of power and how our politics could actually reconcile the nation.

Sunday Edition: Brad Wilcox

Many Americans think that money, work, and freedom from family are the key to a happy life today. In this week’s episode of Sunday Edition, Boyd Matheson sits down with Director of the National Marriage Project Brad Wilcox who says the solution to happiness is marriage. Boyd and Brad explore which groups of people are the happiest today, who are the so-called “masters of marriage”, as well as the impacts marriage has on children, and the belief that one in two marriages today end in divorce. Wilcox’s new book, “Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization” goes on sale February 13th. In his final thought, Boyd explores the power of ideas versus the idea of power and how our politics could actually reconcile the nation.

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Wednesday’s Child: 17-year-old Austin searches for a family to help him in adulthood

ST. GEORGE — At Comics Plus in St. George, exciting stories are told through colorful illustrations, pop culture collectibles, and trading cards. It’s an environment that 17-year-old Austin loves because of his passion for Mario, Minecraft, Marvel Comics, and Pokémon.

“I like to play, read, watch TV, and play on my Nintendo,” Austin said.

When you first get to know Austin, he’ll happily tell you about what he enjoys, like sausage pizza and snack foods.

“Cookies, chocolate, and Mountain Dew,” he said. “I have a sugar addiction, but I’m working on that. I’m mostly funny, and I’m mostly hungry.”

But knowing what makes Austin tick takes more time and effort.

“The one-on-one is really important for him, just sitting and connecting with him,” said Nicki Bidlack, Austin’s caseworker for the state.

Bidlack has worked with Austin since he entered foster care eight years ago. She describes Austin as an amazing kid who has displayed resilience.

“Even through everything he’s been through, he’s still so caring and loving,” Bidlack said.

Bidlack says Austin has a loveable personality, and she has enjoyed working with him over the years. She says his desire to learn shines through some of his intellectual delays.

“He can take care of himself, he’s learned a lot of skills, self-care, cooking, things like that, but there is everyday care that he needs somebody to help support him,” Bidlack said.

In just a few months Austin will turn 18, Bidlack says what he needs is someone to help him make good decisions as he becomes an adult.

“He’s a very smart kid. I could see him working and having a job, and so that is something he would need that support on,” Bidlack said.

For Austin, finding that supportive parent or guardian is critical. He has two siblings who have already been adopted, and he desires the same. He hopes to find a family that will support his relationship with his siblings.

“I want nice, caring people, that feed me and do all these nice things for me,” Austin said.

“He really deserves happiness and a family that is willing to be there for him all the time,” Bidlack added.

To learn more about Austin, please contact Raise the Future at 801-265-0444 or visit their website, www.raisethefuture.org.

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5 ways to reduce your stress this year

(CNN) — If feeling more relaxed is on your list of New Year’s resolutions, maybe you’re looking for a practice outside of the classic “work out and get more sleep” suggestions. Five other techniques CNN explored this year could add a little variety to your stress-management toolbox.

Stress is a normal reaction to high-stakes or unpredictable situations, but chronic stress levels have been associated with various health problems, including high blood pressure, depression and anxiety, said wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Stress can also “show up as frustration or anger, which can impact our relationships,” said clinical psychologist Dr. Karmel Choi, an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, via email.

Happiness or managed stress, on the other hand, “comes from feeling balanced and able to manage the bumps in the road that sometimes stretch our energy levels to the limit,” said Dr. Monica Vermani, a Toronto-based clinical psychologist and author of “A Deeper Wellness: Conquering Stress, Mood, Anxiety and Traumas.”

“Maximizing our energy levels … enables us to be present and capable of dealing with whatever comes our way,” Vermani added. “What better way to kick-start the new year than with a commitment to quality self-care?”

Five routines you could put into practice today could help you do just that.

1. Play around

Life does get real when you become an adult, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave the joy of play behind in childhood. In fact, in adulthood engaging in play remains important for coping with distress and improving life satisfaction.

A study published in March 2013 of nearly 900 university students found those who were more playful had lower levels of stress than participants who were less playful. Playful students were also more likely than less playful students to use healthy coping strategies focused on their specific stressors instead of trying to feel better by avoiding or escaping their problems.

How you incorporate play into your life is up to you. Are there any childhood activities you miss? Is there a new hobby you’ve picked up but haven’t made time to enjoy? Reflecting on these things could give you a way forward, as can taking the National Institute of Play’s quiz for determining your play personality.

Once you figure it out, ensure you regularly make room for play in your schedule.

2. Do something mindless

The idea of vegging out in front of the TV to reduce stress may sound very anti-wellness, but sometimes it could be exactly what you need.

Leisurely activities such as being a couch potato can be helpful for people who can’t easily turn their brain off and find meditating or other mindfulness practices difficult to do, Dr. Victoria Garfield previously told CNN. Garfield is a senior research fellow at the Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Aging at University College London.

Just make sure you don’t use screens within an hour of bedtime, lest you spoil the sleep that also helps you better manage and react to stress.

3. Sigh

Sighing may feel like a negatively indulgent response to stress, but a study published in January suggested otherwise.

One type of breathing — cyclic sighing — was found to be the most helpful of all breathing and meditation techniques considered. You can practice cyclic sighing by inhaling through your nose until your lungs feel halfway full, pausing briefly, inhaling again to completely fill your lungs, then slowly exhaling through your mouth.

“Cyclic sighing is a pretty rapid way to calm yourself,” Dr. David Spiegel, a study author and director of the Center on Stress and Health at Stanford University School of Medicine, told CNN in March. “Many people can do it about three times in a row and see immediate relief from anxious feelings and stress.”

4. Try progressive muscle relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation is a highly effective mind-body relaxation technique that can be done anywhere you can sit or lie down for as little as five minutes. With the active systematic tensing then relaxing of the muscles, PMR is another technique that’s good for people who need a little help focusing on meditative breathing exercises.

You can find detailed instructions for how to do it here.

5. Practice gratitude

Even during hardship, practicing gratitude can reduce stress and improve mood, studies have found. And this can be done in many ways — such as by keeping a gratitude journal that you jot some things down in every night before bed, or a gratitude photo album on your phone. The photos could be of anything, including of loved ones, accomplishments, a pretty sunset or meaningful text exchanges. Try looking at them during stressful moments instead of doomscrolling or comparing your life with those of others.

“Stress narrows our focus,” Choi said, blocking out the awareness of everything good in life.

But “when we feel less stressed,” Choi added, “we are able to widen our view to notice positive moments and the different opportunities around us.”

Religion

HOMESTEAD, Florida (AP) — Snuggling on the sofa across from the Christmas tree, Sol proudly showed off the dog her foster parents gave her for earning all A’s even though she crossed the southern U.S. border knowing very little English.

“They helped me a lot,” said the 14-year-old eighth grader. Then she blushed, hid her face in Cosmo’s fur, and added in Spanish, “Oooh, I said that English!”

Sol — who is from Argentina — is among tens of thousands of children who arrive in the United States without a parent, during a huge surge in immigrants that’s prompting congressional debate to change asylum laws.

Faith and community groups across the country are trying to recruit many more foster families to help move the children from overwhelmed government facilities. U.S. authorities encountered nearly 140,000 unaccompanied minors at the border with Mexico in fiscal year 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Almost 10,000 are still in custody of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to its latest data.

“It’s amazing the quantity of children who are coming,” said Mónica Farías, who leads the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami. “We’re actively recruiting parents.”

Program leaders have been going to churches and other community organizations every weekend to find more families like Andy and Caroline Hazelton, Sol’s foster parents.

Over the past four years, the Hazeltons — a couple in their early 30s living in a Miami suburb, with three biological daughters ages 8, 6 and almost 2 — have fostered five migrant minors for several months and more for shorter periods. Two teens were from Afghanistan, but most came from Central America.

“Our faith inspired us,” Andy Hazelton said, adding they felt the need to respond to the Gospel exhortation of helping others as one would help Jesus when they heard about families being separated at the border.

Like other foster families, the Hazeltons say they focus not on the often stridently divisive politics of immigration, but simply on assisting children in need. A globe ornament on their living room Christmas tree is marked with dots for the birthplaces of each family member.

“Every Christmas we have new kids in our home,” Caroline Hazelton said, adding that even the Muslim Afghan teens, who had never seen a stocking bulging with presents, quickly joined the festivities.

Like most youths in these programs, those boys were eventually reunited with their birth family — the mother hugged Caroline for ten minutes, sobbing in gratefulness. With Sol, whose father has gone missing on the journey across the desert, and other children without relatives in the United States, foster families’ commitments can last years.

As Sol packed her school lunch in a “Stranger Things” bag under Cosmo’s watchful eyes, the Hazeltons said they would be happy to have her stay forever and already refer to their four daughters.

Regardless of the length of stay, foster parents say they need to give the children enough stability to get comfortable with unfamiliar U.S. customs — from air conditioning to strict school routines — and to learn more English.

“We’re never going to be like their parents. Thank God we live in a country where things can be easier,” said Carlos Zubizarreta. A foster child himself 50 years ago, he’s been a foster parent in the Miami area for about 30 children over nearly two decades, in addition to having biological, now adult children.

Nevertheless, he always finds it hard when each foster child leaves after they’ve shared nightly dinners, vacations, and household tasks like car maintenance. Zubizarreta plans to continue to foster as long as he feels that is what God is calling him to do.

In Baltimore, Jason Herring has been a foster father for a year, to five children from Central America through a program run by Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service that focuses on short-term care for those whose return to biological parents is being assessed by the government.

He says he is not religious — initially, he feared he wouldn’t be accepted in the program for being gay. That led him to sympathize with the plight of children suffering because of adult decisions they have no power over.

“I understand what it feels to be the other,” he said. “You don’t have to be a perfect parent, just be there.”

Like all foster families, those taking in unaccompanied migrant children must be licensed by their state, and often receive extra training specific to immigration law and trauma, said Amanda Nosel, the Lutheran agency’s program manager for foster care in Baltimore.

“There’s certainly a national shortage in foster parents right now. We have so many kids who need homes,” Nosel said.

Acclimating to a new country in a caring family setting is especially important given the deep and increasing level of trauma these children carry, from what they had to flee in their countries through the journey to the United States.

“It’s trauma on top of trauma on top of trauma. Kids are just living in survival mode,” said Sarah Howell, a clinical social worker in Houston with long experience counseling migrant children, including a teenage girl she’s raising.

They often internalize fear and grieving so much that they appear mature beyond their age, while still being terrified that any new familial relationship will abandon them. It takes a while before foster parents are relieved to see regular child or teen behavior make an appearance — even if that means refusing all but junk food or sibling bickering, it’s still a sign of normalcy.

“All of them are kids, but with an adult age,” said Bernie Vilar, who works as a mentor in a home for vulnerable youth, including those who age out of Miami’s Catholic Charities foster care. Vilar, 24, was homeless when he was younger, and he tries to pass on the passion for education that helped him survive that.

But he says many are too burdened by the debts they owe the smugglers who brought them to the U.S. to be interested in anything but work, while others struggle with depression after witnessing death and violence on their journeys.

Brandon Garcia, 20, seems to have beaten the odds. After crossing alone at 15 because his parents told him he would have no opportunities in Guatemala’s Indigenous highlands, he spent six months living with the Hazeltons and is now in Vilar’s group home, finishing technical college.

He still misses his family, but loves the Hazeltons’ daughters as his own sisters. At a holiday party in a suburban Miami bowling alley organized by the Catholic Charities program, he played with them at intervals between bites of pizza and aiming for strikes with other young men.

Garcia said the speed of change as he adapted to the United States was hard, but he has never thought of going back. His happiest moment came when the Hazeltons brought him to Orlando’s theme parks — a holiday tradition that they plan to continue this year with Sol – and they watched the fireworks display.

“I felt the same happiness as with my family,” Garcia said. “I told myself, this is a country of great opportunities, and I have to take advantage of them.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

British boy returns home to UK after disappearing for six years

London (CNN) — A British boy who was found in France after going missing for six years has landed safely back in the UK, according to local police.

Alex Batty never returned from holiday in Spain with his mother Melanie Batty and his grandfather in 2017. Now aged 17, he was found near the city of Toulouse in the French department of Haute-Garonne on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for regional authorities told CNN.

“It gives me great pleasure to say Alex has now made his safe return back to the UK after six years,” Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle, of Greater Manchester Police, told reporters on Saturday, according to the UK’s national news agency, Press Association.

The teenager met with a family member and UK police officers in the Toulouse airport before beginning his much-belated flight home, Boyle also said.

Batty is expected to be reunited with his grandmother Susan Caruana, who lives in Oldham, Greater Manchester, and is the boy’s legal guardian, PA reported.

In a statement issued through police, Caruana said she “can’t wait” to see her grandson.

“I cannot begin to express my relief and happiness that Alex has been found safe and well,” she said, adding that her family request privacy as they welcome him back.

It is understood that Alex’s grandfather died around six months ago, and that the boy’s mother – who does not have legal parental guardianship – may currently be in Finland, Reuters news agency reported citing Toulouse’s deputy prosecutor Antoine Leroy.

Found by a French motorist

The teenager was recovered this week from the side of the road by a French motorist, Fabien Accidini, who claimed the boy had been living in a “spiritual community” in the country for the last two years.

Accidini, a chiropractic student, had been delivering medicines to pharmacies overnight when he first came across Batty. After initially giving him a false name, Batty spoke to Accidini for three hours in English and French.

“He told me he was kidnapped by his mother five years ago in Morocco. After that he was in Spain. And that he had been living France for the past two years in a spiritual community,” Accidini told CNN affiliate BFMTV.

Accidini said the boy described his mother as “a bit crazy.”

Speaking to the BBC, a local from Quillan – the town where Alex was found – described how the area was home to a community of international nomads who have shunned a “normal life.”

“A lot of people here think they’re wrongdoers, high on drugs, but you find drugs everywhere. They just want an alternative life,” she told the outlet.

CNN’s Maya Szaniecki, Joseph Ataman, Caitlin Danaher, Alex Hardie and Niamh Kennedy contributed reporting.

‘I’m planning on eternity’: President Holland rededicates historic St. George Utah Temple

ST. GEORGE — A grand symbol of a crown jewel of Latter-day Saint doctrine was rededicated Sunday by a beloved hometown boy with powerful emotional ties to both.

Blocks from his wife’s grave and yards from where he played football as a boy, and with the promise of eternal families foremost on his mind, President Jeffrey R. Holland rededicated the St. George Utah Temple, the oldest operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after a major renovation.

President Holland said the refreshed and renewed temple represented a longing quest for temples, one that he said puts one arm around the church’s pioneer past while extending the other toward the church’s future.

“The early Latter-day Saints had left temples or the beginnings of temples in Independence and Kirtland and Far West and Nauvoo, so this was the first temple finished in the West,” said President Holland, the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “It was the first place after their exodus west that the Saints could go to a fully finished House of the Lord for their spiritual and covenantal experiences.”

That exodus began in 1846 when the pioneers began to leave Nauvoo. They would not complete another temple until St. George was finished in 1877.

“For a student of Latter-day Saint history, it’s a wonderful, wonderful building,” he said. “Anyone who knows the story of the church knows of the early Saints’ quest for a temple experience as they waited 40 years for the Salt Lake Temple to be finished.”

Anyone who knows the story of the church knows of the early Saints’ quest for a temple experience as they waited 40 years for the Salt Lake Temple to be finished.

–President Jeffrey R. Holland, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The historic quest for a temple in the West

Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff left Nauvoo, Illinois, in the winter of 1845-1846. The temple there had been dedicated almost room by room, church historian Emily Utt said. Then they had to walk away from it, she said. In Utah, they built a small Endowment House for some temple ordinances.

“They’re trying and they’re sacrificing and they’re giving their all and finally, they come here to St. George on Jan. 1, 1877, to dedicate three rooms of this temple while construction is still going on,” Utt said. “They dedicated the baptismal font. They dedicated an ordinance room. They dedicated the sealing room. Then 10 days later, temple work begins while carpenters and stonemasons and plasterers and painters are making all kinds of noise up all over the rest of the still incomplete temple.”

Brigham Young’s daughter, Susa Young Dunford, was the first to enter the font, to perform a baptism for a friend of hers. Her father was so ill he could barely function, Utt said.

“So he hobbles up the steps of that font, cane in one hand, crutch in the other, to witness his daughter being baptized,” Utt said. “The baptism is performed by his mission companion from the British mission, Wilford Woodruff, who is now temple president of St. George.

“Think about what that moment must have felt like, that they’d waited 31 years to see a temple ordinance taking place in a dedicated House of the Lord. Just imagine the realization of a hope that might never have come true. Am I willing to wait 30 years and go to the other side of the world and sacrifice everything to participate in a dedication like that?”

The St. George Temple is the only temple completed during Brigham Young’s 30-year tenure as church president.

Why President Holland is relying on the temple’s promise of eternal families

President Holland said the St. George Temple has meant everything to his family. Temples today are not used for baptisms for living people, but President Holland was baptized as a boy at age 8 in the temple, half a mile from his boyhood home. He performed proxy baptisms in the temple as a youth. He received his endowment there at age 19 before leaving for a mission to England.

Then he married and was sealed eternally to Patricia Terry Holland there in 1963. She died this summer after they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. She is buried a mile from the temple in the St. George City Cemetery.

“We’ve just been out to the graveside of my beloved wife, and it’s the first time I’ve been back since she was buried, so I’m filled with a lot of emotion and a lot of happiness,” President Holland said Saturday.

The St. George Utah Temple has a special place in Latter-day Saint doctrinal history. For one, it was the first temple where temple ordinances were performed for deceased persons by proxy.

It also was the place where Wilford Woodruff said the Founding Fathers of the United States of America appeared to him twice to ask him to have eternal temple ordinances done on their behalves.

A striking painting of this vision, “That We May be Redeemed” by Harold I. Hopkinson, hangs in a temple hallway.

President Holland spoke Saturday with the Deseret News about the Latter-day Saint doctrine of the sealing ordinance. The church teaches that those sealed by priesthood power in temples can create families that can be together forever.

“I’m planning on eternity,” President Holland said. “I’m planning on the promises of this temple, because even (dedicating the temple) would be less than happy, it would be less than satisfying to me, if I did not know what I know about what happens in these ceremonies and with these covenants. (The dedication) will be a happy day because of what the temple means in a marriage.

“When we perform a marriage ceremony in the temple, there is no till-death-do-you-part language or concept. That is not part of our theology. We believe that a marriage is intended by divine decree, dating clear back to the union of Adam and Eve, to be for eternity.

“As I have said elsewhere, certainly, it wouldn’t be possible for me to talk about heaven or to talk about eternity if Patricia Terry were not there with me. That wouldn’t be heaven. Whatever it would be, it wouldn’t be that. That’s what I think every man feels about his wife and every wife feels about her husband.”

He said Latter-day Saint doctrine teaches that, “We leave the challenges and difficulties and tensions of mortality and of this world and move through this temple into eternity, into an eternally beautiful — even more beautiful — and eternally strong — even stronger — an eternally happy — even happier — union than we had in mortality. We have that in eternity.”

What was done during the St. George Utah Temple renovation?

President Holland said he appreciated revisiting church history as he prepared for his dedicatory prayer, which included consultation with President Russell M. Nelson and his own family.

“The past, present and future is captured about as well in this temple as any we’ll ever have,” he said. “It’s one arm around the past and one arm beckoning the future. This temple symbolizes that as much as any temple in the church has or will symbolize that.”

President Daniel H. Wells offered the original dedicatory prayer at the St. George Temple in April 1877.

“May it stand as a monument of purity and holiness as long as the earth shall remain, commemorative of thy great goodness toward us,” he said.

The temple closed for renovation in November 2019. The work took 36 months instead of a planned 30 because of pandemic-related supply chain delays.

The renovation will take the temple 50 to 75 years into the future, temple department officials said. It also restored the gleaming white temple’s exterior and interior to look like what the original pioneer-era workers built, following numerous additions and changes made during more than 10 renovations over the past 146 years.

“It’s been renovated as we believe the pioneers would have renovated. Granted, we had a lot more tools,” said Brent Roberts, director of the church’s Special Projects Department.

Workers strengthened the foundation by covering support beams with steel, wrapping columns with fiberglass and drilling steel pipes called micropiles 35-40 feet deep into the bedrock below the foundation.

May it stand as a monument of purity and holiness as long as the earth shall remain, commemorative of thy great goodness toward us.

–President Daniel H. Wells

Inside, bright white paint on pristine walls line long, elegant hallways with soaring arches. Deep red carpet with gold highlights in the hallways give way to classy blue and yellow carpet in the rooms.

A growing temple amid a growing number of temples

The original baptismal font, where Brigham Young witnessed his daughter in the temple’s first ordinance, and the 12 oxen carrying it had been painted white over the years. Workers stripped the paint and restored the font to the original golden color.

When the St. George Temple was dedicated for the first time, it was the church’s one and only temple.

It was extensively remodeled for over a year from 1937 to 1938, but was not rededicated.

The temple’s size nearly doubled from 56,062 square feet during another major renovation project in the 1970s. It was opened to the public for an open house and formally rededicated in 1975 by President Spencer W. Kimball.

At that time, it was one of still just 16 operating temples in the church.

“Our gracious and beloved Father,” President Kimball said in his dedicatory prayer, “thou hast permitted us to build and dedicate to thee for thy glorious work for the living and the dead, the many temples, near a score of them, among which is this beautiful, well-appointed temple, which for many years was the only spot in the world where thy sacred ordinances could be fully performed in proper order.”

Today, the temple has 143,000 square feet.

And it is now one of 186 temples, with another 149 under construction or announced.

The church’s oldest temples

St. George Utah Temple, 1877
Logan Utah Temple, 1884
Manti Utah Temple, 1887
Salt Lake Temple, 1893
Laie Hawaii Temple, 1919

The Manti Utah Temple is scheduled to be rededicated on April 21, after undergoing a major renovation.

Family of 8-year-old girl seriously injured after second-story window fall shares safety warning

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — The family of a young girl who fell from a bedroom window said they want other people to install extra protection locks on their windows.

Police said 8-year-old Alma Harris was flown to the Primary Children’s Hospital from her Eagle Mountain home Thursday night.

That’s where she’s being treated for several broken bones and a traumatic head injury.

Her aunt, Sara Cody, told KSL TV Harris was leaning against her open bedroom window when she fell.

Her mom was folding laundry in the room next to hers at the time.

“I just can’t even imagine being in my sister’s shoes, a whole floor away,” Cody said.

Making a full recovery

They’re hopeful Harris can make a full recovery.

“She’s the light and joy of basically anyone she meets,” Cody said.

8-year-old flown to hospital after falling from second-story window in Eagle Mountain

Alma Harris is a friend to everyone, and the older sister to three younger brothers.

“Happiness in a tiny body,” Cody said. “Always singing, always dancing.”

The 8-year-old is obsessed with the Utah Jazz.

The family of a young girl who fell from a bedroom window said they want other people to install extra protection locks on their windows. (The Harris family)

“We don’t miss [a game] if she’s around because she’ll remind us that they’re playing,” her aunt said.

Cody said Harris is a chatterbox.

“Alma loves everyone,” she said. “Alma loves to be social and communicate. She was waiting by that window to talk to everyone,” she said.

They don’t know who she was talking to when she fell several feet from the second-story window.

“They’ve kept her sedated to the point that she isn’t awake and alert enough to speak to us,” Cody said.

She said her niece had opened her bedroom window and was leaning against the screen, which gave way.

“Alma does have quite a few fractures and broken bones,” Cody said. “Most of them are on her left side.”

A neighbor walking their dog nearby was the first to help.

“It was a good thing the neighbor was there to be able to tell us she’s still breathing and she’s crying,” Cody said. “She was awake and she was alert when she fell.

Cody said her niece’s parents are grateful to the first responders and their extended family for responding quickly after the accident.

“Everyone was able to be here in Salt Lake by 1 o’clock in the morning,” Cody said. “We had so much family at the house and at the hospital.”

More information coming soon

Cody said the family expects to know more about the extent of Alma’s injuries very soon.

“She did sustain a few facial fractures, as well as a skull fracture, and then a clavicle structure,” Cody said.

Doctors are keeping her sedated for 72 hours following the accident while they monitor her head injury.

“We are watching her brain pressure, which is the biggest thing,” Cody said.

Her family has a message for anyone else with children. Cody’s sister Rachel Harris, Alma’s mother, said having locks on all of their windows wasn’t enough.

“Even though we have boundaries and we have rules set, children know how to do things,” Cody said. “My sister wants everyone to know, get extra locks for your window.”

Harris’ injuries are serious. Her family hopes their talkative, upbeat little girl will be back to cheering on the Jazz soon.

“We’re looking to stay optimistic and asking everyone to send positive vibes in whatever way that looks like for you,” Cody said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with medical expenses.

*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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Lori Vallow & Chad Daybell Investigation

A woman sentenced to life in an Idaho prison for murdering her two youngest children and another woman has pleaded not guilty to charges in Arizona of conspiring to kill her estranged husband and her niece’s ex-husband.

Lori Vallow Daybell, dressed in an orange jail uniform, stated her name and birthdate when a judge asked her to do so during a five-minute arraignment hearing Thursday in state court in Phoenix. Her trial is scheduled for April 4.

Keith Terry, Vallow Daybell’s attorney, did not immediately return a phone call and email Thursday morning after the hearing seeking comment on his client’s behalf.

In 2019, Vallow Daybell still lived in a Phoenix suburb with her children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and then-16-year-old Tylee Ryan. She was estranged from her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, at the time, and he had written in divorce filings that she claimed to be a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.

Utah couple describes the magical experience of decorating the White House for Christmas

HEBER CITY — When Farah Sanders saw an invitation by First Lady Jill Biden — on her Instagram account — seeking decorators for the White House, she jumped at the opportunity.

“I reached out to the White House in January and they said, ‘We would love to consider you, but not yet,'” Farah said. “And they said ‘we will contact you.’ And so they did. In August they sent me an email and they said ‘here’s the application process.'”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden (@flotus)

She and her husband, Bryan Sanders, own and operate their own flower business: Huckleberry Lane Farm. The couple was able to use their experience as florists and flower farmers, on a grand scale at America’s Capitol.

“I went to him and I said, ‘Let’s start a flower farm,'” Farah Sanders said. “We have the land to do it and flowers bring joy and they bring happiness and kindness. So when we applied [to the White House] we told them about [a family] tragedy and how that sparked us starting this flower farm.”

Farah Sanders and Bryan Sanders in front of the White House Christmas decorations 2023 (Farah Sanders)

Anyone in the state can apply to be a volunteer decorator. Farah Sanders explained the application asks for your experience and skill set along with an extensive background check. She and her husband had to apply separately but could indicate on their application that they would be coming together.

“I was in the backyard playing with the dogs and she came outside and said, ‘How would you feel about having Thanksgiving in Washington D.C.?’ and I was like, ‘OK, great. Sounds good to me,'” Bryan Sanders said.

“I couldn’t believe it was happening at first, and I think the pinch me moment happened when I did walk out the front door of the White House and I thought, ‘this is where so much has happened, this is where heads of state have come this is where the transfer of power occurs;’ All of those things happen through those doors and under that portico and that was where it was that real pinch me moment and then I hauled a box of glue sticks into the house,” Farah Sanders said.

They were two of 3,000 applicants who wanted to decorate the White House this year.

“Nothing is paid for by the White House. It’s all volunteers paying their own way. And that was something that was so neat, was all these people were willing to pay their own way to come. They picked at least one to two people per state,” Farah Sanders said.

The couple arrived on Nov. 18 and worked decorating the White House for over a week.

“They divided us into teams that were the names of the reindeer from Santa, so we were team ‘Dancer,'” Farah Sanders said.

Then, the 300 volunteers set to work.

“Monday morning bright and early at 7 a.m., we reported to the White House and we basically spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday preparing for everything that we were going to decorate: so inventory of ornaments, any crafting materials, and things that we needed,” she said. “There were teams that were painting large wooden presents that were going to be displayed outside and making ornaments and just different items for the rest of the week. And then Friday through Sunday, it was just a mad dash to decorate everything. It was pretty intense the last three days.”

White House Christmas decorations 2023 (Farah Sanders)

Farah Sanders and Bryan Sanders in front of the hite House Christmas decorations 2023 (Farah Sanders)

This year, the White House was decorated with:

Approximately 14,975 feet of ribbon, over 350 candles, over 33,892 ornaments, and over 22,100 bells
98 Christmas trees throughout the White House complex
40 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 40 sheets of gingerbread dough, 90 pounds of pastillage, 30 pounds of chocolate, and 50 pounds of royal icing used in the Gingerbread White House creation
Over 142,425 holiday lights to decorate the trees, garlands, wreaths, and displays in the White House.
72 classic wreaths which adorn the north and south facades of the White House.

Some of those things are new, but Farah Sanders said a lot of the decorations are reused or are even DIY.

“So they’re really working on maintaining, you know, reusing, DIY lots of DIY,” she said. “The two of us made a wreath from scratch from leftover garland from years before and that wreath currently hangs over the gingerbread house that is in the White House.”

The gingerbread house is a nod to the 200th anniversary of the beloved Christmas classic, “The Night Before Christmas.”

“With that DIY, there’s everything from counting old ornaments to see how many you have, to measuring the length of garland to see what will go in what room when you get there, and tagging it all, Then it goes through a security process and it gets loaded on trucks and it gets sent to the White House.

“Then we meet at the White House and we start unloading and unpacking. We start hauling supplies and everything from glue sticks to the ornaments that we counted and the garlands and paint brushes and measuring tools and glue guns and scissors and wire. All of that comes in, and the volunteers load all of that into the White House and get to work.”

This year’s theme was The “Magic, Wonder, and Joy” of the Holidays. Photos of the interior show incredible candy corridors, brightly lit Christmas, trees, elegant garlands, and whimsical representations of children’s dreams.

Bryan Sanders and Farah Sanders worked on many things, but of note, Farah worked on a mantelpiece in the State Dining Room.

(Farah Sanders)

“I was able to do the mantel that sits right below the 1869 painting of President Abraham Lincoln,” she said. “I’d crawl up on the ladder and I would be right at the feet of the painting, one of the things I had to be very careful of is the garland could never touch the frame of the painting, let alone the painting.”

Bryan Sanders worked on the ground floor corridor, focused on children’s letter’s to Santa.

The letter display in the ground-level corridor. (Farah Sanders)

“They repurposed some old U.S. Post Office mailboxes and painted them red and put letters of Santa,” Bryan Sanders said. “It looked like different letters from children, flying around the hallway into the mailboxes, which was really cool. But yeah, it took us a good two and a half days to probably get it all done.”

Some of the letters used in the display were real letters mailed to Santa or to the president of the United States.

“It was all so whimsical. It was really neat. Everything from a sleigh with Santa’s reindeer to represent the night before Christmas, and the ground floor corridor,” Farah Sanders said. “The state tree- the fun thing is when you walked straight in to see the state tree in the playroom, Utah’s gift tag was right front and center.”

Utah featured in the White House Christmas decorations. (Farah Sanders)

Bryan and Farah Sanders were also at the White House during two notable events, the death of First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and the 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s death. Both were honored with tributes there.

Rosalynn Carter (Farah Sanders)

“I was actually really excited because I had never been to the White House before and if there was any way to see it. I think that was probably the way to do it. Because you kind of had free rein, almost everything in the White House except the residence upstairs,” Bryan Sanders said. “And so being able to just kind of walk freely in and out of rooms and you know, decorating and moving stuff. I mean it was it was pretty awesome.”

The pair continued to emphasize that the decorations was huge group effort. They got to meet people from all over the nation. The volunteers represented 49 of the 50 states.

“I saw it as Americans coming together to benefit Americans,” Farah Sanders said. “That’s really what it was, and to serve the American public, because anyone can go and visit the White House at the holiday time.”

The couple is still in touch with many of the people they worked with in Washington D.C.

“It was seven days where you had people from about every single state in the United States that represented you know, different ethnic groups different you know, sexual orientations, political party, religious party, whatever. And we got along the whole week, there was no arguments, there was no fighting. It was just a common goal of decorating the White House which was fantastic,” Bryan Sanders said.

Since the White House encompasses so many different entities, there’s a lot of moving parts.

“So the house has multiple functions. Inside of the house, it functions as a national park and functions as a museum. It also functions as the executive branch of government. It functions as a residency, and with all of this going on, there are many, many, many hats helping this house function,” she said. “So there’s everything from the curators, to the National Parks Rangers to the Secret Service. Then there is the White House visitor center and then there’s the office of the First Lady, who helps oversee the decorating each year.”

Farah Sanders said the First Lady begins the process of planning for the holiday season the day after the Easter Egg Roll in April.

Tickets are available to tour the White House this holiday season on its website.

It is anticipated over 100,000 people will visit this holiday season along with 20,000 people for dinners and gatherings.

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New USU police dog being trained to help students with stress

LOGAN — College has always been a stressful place. Grades, exams, and figuring out what you want to do in life, can take its toll on any student.

But all that pressure at Utah State University seems to melt away whenever Sage shows up.

Hannah Whiting, who is a student at Utah State came over to pet Sage when she entered the student union building.

I can't wait to introduce you to Sage! She is the newest member of the @USUAggies Police Department, but she's not a bomb dog or a drug dog or anything like that. Her specialty is something relatively new for police departments. We'll have the story on @KSL5TV at 6:30 #ksltv #usu pic.twitter.com/4AspONolqf

— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) December 1, 2023

“I love dogs,” Whiting said

There is just something about a 12-week-old puppy that makes everything feel okay.

“I know they’re therapeutic and having a dog there will help students,” student Kiana Lawton said.

Sage is the newest member of the Utah State University Police Department.

She is about as popular on campus as any star athlete.

“People know her and they are calling her out by name and I can’t walk ten feet in some places without her getting mobbed,” Sgt. Shane Nebeker said.

Nebeker is Sage’s handler and loves all the happiness his pup brings to students.

He knows there are going to be plenty of times in the future when things aren’t so happy.

“That was my biggest interest in putting in to be her handler was to make a difference,” Nebeker said.

Sage is being trained as a critical incident response dog.

Basically, she’ll be there to help calm those who are victims of violence, or witnesses to some kind of tragedy, or anything else the campus police department would typically be called to.

“I don’t know what it is about dogs, but for some reason, dogs get it,” he said.

Sage is part of a program new USU police chief Jason Brei started.

It’s similar to the one when he was over the University of Arizona’s campus police.

“I have seen it in place and I have seen it work,” Brei said. “I have been out and have seen them in action. The work they do in calming a situation is amazing.”

Brei and Nebeker have both been in law enforcement long enough to know it can be difficult for people to talk and get their thoughts together after some type of disaster or tragedy.

Sage can help them.

“It does work,” Brei said. “It brings the heart rate down and it brings the mind back and it resets. It allows people to reset and just being in the presence, especially when you are petting the dog, just being in the presence is a reset.”

Sage will also be around campus just meeting students, where a simple hello can make any stress a student might be feeling to go away for a few minutes.

“If she can help do that, then we are better off for it,” said Sgt. Nebeker.

Sage, a Labrador retriever, still must go through training in order to truly be effective at the job she will eventually do. Right now, she is too young for that work.

Brei thinks in about a year she will be ready to go to help those in crisis.

“I think times are changing. The world is changing. You see social media and there is a lot more information at everyone’s disposal and so the approach for law enforcement has to change as well,” Brei said. “Getting out into the community and engaging with the community and meeting them at their level, with where they’re at and not just at where we need to come from is important.”

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Family of Isabelle Parr celebrates her life on the anniversary of her death

SALT LAKE CITY – A Holladay family is offering forgiveness to the driver of a hit-and-run that killed UVU student Isabelle Parr.

“We don’t have any bad feelings towards the driver, we hope that the driver can find our forgiveness and our love and have hope for the future, whatever that looks like,” Matthew Parr, Isabelle’s father, said.

It’s been one year since Isabelle Parr was killed while jogging in Provo. She was struck by a vehicle sometime between 5:20 p.m. and 5:25 p.m. on December 1, 2022, near 850 W. 800 North. The driver never stopped to help.

“It bothers us in just that we don’t know, we don’t have a conclusion to the accident story, and so it just hangs out there,” Parr said. “But we don’t have any ill will towards the driver, accidents happen, we don’t know the situation, we just know the results of the event.”

In an exclusive interview with KSL TV, Matthew Parr spoke publicly about the loss of his daughter for the first time. He says from the moment he, his wife, and their four other children learned about what happened to Isabelle, they’ve focused on honoring the life she lived.

“She was thriving,” Parr said. “She really liked being a young adult and found peace and happiness, and she was just going full steam and it was great.”

Parr says while Isabelle had a passion for fashion and loved clothing, she wanted to be a teacher. He says one of his favorite memories of her is her love of desserts.

“She loved to take one bite of all the desserts. She would come in and if you had a dozen donuts, she had to take one bite of every donut just to try it out,” he said.

Parr said Isabelle shared a special bond with her siblings and valued spending time with them.

“She loved her little sisters, just absolutely adored having little sisters,” said Parr. “The three of them were just good, super best friends.”

Parr’s son Tate, who is close in age to Isabelle, is currently serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was in Africa when Isabella was killed. Over the past year, the family has leaned into their faith and their belief in eternal families to help them through their grief.

“We’ve come together as a family with our faith and hope, and I think the future is bright, and we’re grateful for her memories,” he said.

As the family approaches the first anniversary of Isabelle’s passing, the family gathered with extended family to honor her. Wednesday night, they visited her gravesite as her headstone was placed. Earlier in the week the family visited the accident site and placed a giant rock displaying a sunflower, which was beautifully painted by one of her younger sisters.

“Everywhere you see the yellow sunflower, and this fall there were all kinds of wild sunflowers around and we took notice of that, and it was fantastic, it was special,” said Parr.

Thursday night, the family plans to gather at Isabelle’s graveside and celebrate her life with flowers and glitter.

“Isabelle — she loved Mama Mia and things like that, so we now have a tradition with glitter, so we’re going to have a glittering up at the cemetery and throw glitter in her honor,” said Parr.

When asked if there was a motto Isabelle lived her life by, Parr shared a story from her LDS mission in Winter Quarters. He says Isabelle was helping to build a rock wall for a service project when one of the volunteers said, “Sometimes you have to love them into place.”

“So that was kind of her saying after that, to love people into place. And that takes time and patience, and it takes effort. And I think that’s a great summary of her life and it’s to love people into place, and she did a great job,” he said.

Parr hopes that someday they’ll know the full story of what happened during the accident that took Isabelle’s life, but in the meantime, they’re choosing not to dwell on it.

“We can’t change the events of the accident, so we focused on becoming stronger as a family and understanding what the big picture looks like,” said Parr.

Parr shared this message for that driver:

“For the driver, we’ve offered our forgiveness. That individual has to live knowing that this accident took place for the rest of their life, and that’s a challenge as well, and it’s difficult, and we want to reach out with love and understanding that life’s challenges happen, and we hope that individual has a good future and can move on as we move on.”

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Chinese court starts hearing lawsuits against Malaysia Airlines over missing flight MH370

(CNN) — For nearly 10 years, Jiang Hui has been searching for answers as to why the plane carrying his 70-year-old mother back from vacation in Malaysia vanished without trace.

Jiang’s mother, Jiang Cuiyun, was one of 239 people on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 when it deviated from its scheduled path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and disappeared over the Indian Ocean on March 8, 2014.

To this date, the fate of MH370 remains one of history’s greatest aviation mysteries, and Jiang has never given up on his quest to find out what happened.

On Monday, a Chinese court will begin hearing claims for compensation for families of MH370 passengers, who say the disaster not only deprived them of their loved ones, but also plunged some into financial distress.

“Almost 10 years on, the family members (who refused to accept settlement offers) did not receive any apology or a penny of compensation,” Jiang, 50, told CNN in an interview ahead of the hearings at the Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing, more than seven years after the lawsuits were initially filed.

“In fact, my mood is very complicated now. There is both a sense of relief and a deep feeling of helplessness.”

Jiang is suing Maylasia Airlines, its insurer, Boeing and the manufacturer of the plane’s engine – companies he believes should be held responsible under Chinese law for damage occured during transportation. His demands include compensation, a formal apology, and the resumption of psychological assistance to family members, as well as the creation of a fund to continue searches for the plane.

About 40 Chinese families are taking these companies to court with varying but largely overlapping appeals, with hearings expected to last until December 5, Jiang said. His own case will be heard on Friday, he added.

Of the more than 200 people aboard the flight, 153 were Chinese nationals.

“The complete lack of legal remedies over the past decade has made our painful lives even more unbearable,” Jiang said.

In a statement to CNN on the court hearings, Boeing said: “Our thoughts continue to be with those who were on board MH370 and their loved ones.”

CNN has also reached out to Malaysia Airlines, Allianz and Rolls-Royce for comment.

Legal uncertainty

It’s unclear what enforcement power the Chinese court can wield over the defendants if it rules in favor of Jiang and the other plantiffs. All of them are international companies headquartered outside China, though Malaysia Airlines, Boeing and Roll-Royce have offices in China.

Similar cases brought in the United States by the victims’ families have been dismissed on the grounds that these lawsuits should be handled by the Malaysian legal system.

In Malaysia, two young boys who lost their father on the flight sued Malaysia Airlines for breach of contract and the Malaysian government for negligence in 2014. The case was settled out of court the next year.

In China, families who signed a settlement agreement with Malaysian Airlines received 2.5 million yuan ($350,000) in compensation. Only a few dozen Chinese families signed initially, but over the years more have opted to settle.

By March 2021, about 90 families had still declined to settle, but the number halved after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Jiang.

Now, only about 40 families have not settled, according to Jiang, who said they refused to sign the agreement because it removed all responsibility from the airline and the Malaysian government.

Three years of Covid lockdowns and other stringent control measures wreaked havoc on the Chinese economy, leaving many families struggling to make ends meet.

“On our long journey seeking the truth, many families fell into a tough livelihood or even survival situation. They settled as a last resort to ensure their lives,” Jiang said. “But no matter having settled or not, our ultimate goal remains the same – which is to find the plane and our loved ones.”

A 2018 report by Malaysian authorities concluded the investigation team was “unable to determine the real cause of the disappearance of MH370.” Human interference or error were more likely the cause of the plane’s disappearance than an aircraft or system malfunction, the report found.

The lack of conclusive evidence led to various theories and speculation about what happened to the flight, and Jiang said some family members still believe their loved ones are alive. He says he’s keeping an open mind – and will accept any outcome, as long as there is evidence.

While the jetliner was never found, pieces of apparent debris have washed up on islands in the southern Indian Ocean and the shores of Africa – suggesting the plane had broken up.

Years-long quest

Jiang’s persistence was driven by a key motivation – the urge to do something for his mother, who enjoyed traveling in her retirement.

“I’m at an age where I should pay filial piety to my mother, but I no longer have the chance to do that. So, finding her is the only way I can be filial to her,” he said.

Before the MH370 tragedy, Jiang was an ambitious manager at the Beijing office of a state-owned communications company. But one year after the flight went missing, he left the company and has since focused his time and energy on finding the plane.

Over the years, he has visited search teams in Australia and roamed the remote shores of Mauritius, Madagascar and Réunion – a French island in the Indian Ocean – to scour for the Boeing jetliner’s debris.

In Beijing, he has held regular gatherings with family members of other flight victims to discuss the next step in seeking answers and justice for their loved ones’ disappearance.

“I used to get completely immersed in my job, but now I can truly understand what’s the meaning of life, and what are its most precious things,” he said.

“If I can push for any progress (in finding MH370), or I can try my best till the end, I would feel very gratified and happy – and such happiness is beyond comparison with earning a higher salary.”

Who are the hostages released on Friday?

(CNN) — A group of hostages is recovering after being freed by Hamas as a temporary truce took effect, bringing a halt to fighting after weeks of conflict.

Thirteen Israeli civilians were freed along with 11 foreign nationals in the initial exchange. They are all said to be well, bringing to an end the first stage of the painstakingly negotiated arrangement between the warring sides with the help of foreign mediation.

More hostages were expected to be freed Saturday, but Hamas has delayed the transfer until the “terms” were agreed to by Israel relating to aid and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Here’s what you need to know about those released so far:

Israeli hostages

All but one of those freed on Friday were abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz, which was devastated during the October 7 attacks. More than a quarter of the community was killed or remains missing.

Yafa Adar, 85

Adar is a founder of Nir Oz and was the oldest person to be taken hostage. A video of her being taken into Gaza on a golf cart driven by Hamas militants went viral shortly after her abduction. “Her eldest grandson, Tamir Adar, a 38-year-old father-of-two, was also abducted, and is still held hostage,” a Nir Oz spokesperson said.

Margalit Moses, 77

The mother-of-three and grandmother of 10 is a retired biology teacher. She is also a cancer survivor who has diabetes, “fibromyalgia, and takes many additional medications,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel. The nature lover planned on traveling to Mozambique this winter.

Hana Katzir, 76

She is also a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz and the wife of the late Rami Katzir, 79, who was killed in their home. “A mother of three and grandmother of six. Her son Elad, 47 years old, was also kidnapped and is still in Gaza,” said Nir Oz’s spokesperson.

Adina Moshe, 72

The retired educator and Nir Oz resident is a mother of four and grandmother of 12. Her husband David (Sa’id) Moshe was killed in their home on October 7.

Daniel Aloni, 45, and Emilia Aloni, 5

Daniel Aloni was among three women who appeared in a hostage video released by Hamas late last month. She came to Nir Oz to visit family and was abducted alongside her daughter Emilia. Her sister Sharon Aloni-Cunio and other family members were kidnapped and remain in Gaza, says the Nir Oz spokesperson.

Doron Katz Asher, 34, Raz Asher, 4, Aviv Asher, 2

Doron visited Nir Oz with her family and was kidnapped with her two daughters, Aviv and Raz, as well as other family members, including Efrat Katz. She lives in Ganot Hadar and works as an accountant.

Her cousin, Dori Roberts, told CNN in October that he received a video posted to social media showing the two women and the girls being taken hostage by militants in the southern Israel kibbutz of Nir Oz. “She looked so horrified, confused and shocked,” he said of his aunt, Efrat, in the video.

His aunt’s 79-year-old partner and another relative were also taken hostage, Roberts said. “Those endless thoughts about, ‘Where are they? How are they doing? What are they going through every minute of the day?’ That can really drive you insane,” said Roberts.

Channa Peri, 79

Peri, who lived in Kibbutz Nirim, immigrated to Israel from South Africa in the 1960s. She worked in a grocery store and is a mother of three – one of whom was murdered on October 7 and another kidnapped. “She has diabetes, and suffers severe vision loss in one of her eyes,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in a statement.

Ruth Munder, 78, Karen Munder, 54, and Ohad Munder, 9

Ruth Munder, the 78-year-old Nir Oz resident who is a retired hairdresser and seamstress, was abducted along with her husband, her daughter Keren and her only grandson, Ohad. Her son, Roee, was killed on October 7, the Nir Oz spokesperson said. Her 78-year-old husband still remains in Gaza.

“She met her husband Avraham in the kibbutz… Ruth is a very talented woman, she was the librarian of the kibbutz and the seamstress. She also knits, paints, and sews. She is retired. Ruth attends classes and family trips,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Keren Munder, 54, is a physical education teacher for children with special needs was born and raised in Nir Oz. She was abducted along with her only son, Ohad, and her parents, Ruth and Avraham, said the Kibbutz spokesperson.

Ohad Munder, 9, “came to Nir Oz to visit family” when he was abducted alongside family members, the kibbutz spokesperson for Nir Oz said.

Foreign nationals

Thailand

The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday released the names of the 10 Thai nationals who had been freed by Hamas the previous day.

They are: Nattawaree Munkan, Santi Boonprom, Boonthom Pankhong, Mongkol Phachuabboon, Vetoon Phoome, Vichai Kalapat, Bancha Kongmanee, Buddhee Saengboon, Uthai Toonsri and Uthai Saengnuan.

Israeli farms employ thousands of Thai labourers, according to Israel’s ministry of interior.

Nattawaree Munkan’s mother, Boonyarin Srichan, lives in Thailand’s Khon Kaen province with her 8-year-old granddaughter. She revealed how she “cried out of my happiness” when she heard the news of Munkan’s release.

Philippines

Gelienor “Jimmy” Pacheco, a Philippine citizen, had been working as a caretaker in Israel when he was taken hostage on October 7. Avishay Ben Zvi, the son of the man Pacheco had been working for, said after the release that Pacheco was doing better than expected and had spoken with his wife back in the Philippines.

Poland

A Polish citizen was among the hostages released from Gaza Friday, Poland’s foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The ministry did not provide any information on who the Polish citizen is, but used the feminine version of the noun for “citizen,” indicating the citizen is female. It is not yet known if she is a dual national.

Religion

SALT LAKE CITY – President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has died.

After a recent brief hospital stay, President Ballard returned to his home where he attended to duties as he was able to before he died at approximately 11:15 p.m. on Sunday surrounded by loved ones. He was 95.

“President Ballard was never indecisive,” said Church President Russell M. Nelson. “He knew exactly what the Lord taught and how it could be applied in one’s personal life and bring joy and happiness.”

“We worked together closely, and I always loved his warm manner,” said President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency, who sat beside President Ballard in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for more than three decades. “He was a man to be trusted. And he was a man who trusted you.”

President Ballard is survived by his seven children, 43 grandchildren 105 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

Funeral details are pending.

President Ballard was born in Salt Lake City on Oct. 8, 1928, to Melvin R. and Geraldine Smith Ballard. After attending the University of Utah, he married Barbara Bowen in the Salt Lake Temple on Aug. 28, 1951. They are the parents of two sons and five daughters.

President Ballard couldn’t talk about his family without praising Barbara, who died on Oct. 1, 2018. “She was not only beautiful but had a sparkling personality. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to marry her, but she didn’t share the same feelings. It was a little hard convincing her. I kid her that getting her to agree to marry me was the greatest sales job I ever did.”

President Ballard praised Barbara as a wonderful mother whose calm approach made home life more like heaven. Their second child, Holly, agrees, saying her parents’ love and respect for each other influenced her and her siblings’ behavior in life-shaping ways.

“We felt like the best place to be was to come home and be there in that environment because our parents were very good with each other,” she said. “I learned that you need to treat everybody with respect. And they were very good about doing that with us as children.”

President Ballard’s ecclesiastical service included his time as a young missionary in England, bishop, president of the Canada Toronto Mission, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy and more than three decades as an Apostle.

"With great joy I humbly testify our Heavenly Father loves us, Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith restored the fulness of the everlasting gospel, and the Book of Mormon testifies of these truths. We are led by a living prophet today.” —M. Russell Ballard (1928-2023) pic.twitter.com/Y25SX582Iw

— M. Russell Ballard (@BallardMRussell) November 13, 2023

“I would not do this for money,” President Ballard said. “You could not hire me for money to do what I’m asked to do as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. But for the Lord, it’s the greatest privilege that could ever be given to a man. We are witnesses of the reality of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

President Ballard also served as chairman of the Church missionary council, which included work to develop the missionary instruction guide “Preach My Gospel.”

He was called as an Apostle on Oct. 6, 1985, and was sustained and set apart as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by President Nelson on Jan. 14, 2018.

Through all his experiences as a husband, father and Apostle, Church officials said President Ballard looked to Jesus Christ for inspiration and assurance in all things. In fact, he often carried a small image of the Savior in his lapel pocket for encouragement on difficult days.

“Whenever he would get discouraged, he would pull that out and look at [the image of Jesus Christ] and think, ‘I can do this. I can do anything for Him,’” Holly said.

President Ballard came to know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is an anchor in a world of shifting values. “I have strong convictions that those who are really anchored in their faith in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the mission of the Prophet Joseph and in the revelations that have come to the Church through him, which confirm and declare that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that the gospel is upon the earth, will be able to handle whatever life passes to them.”

Church members described President Ballard as leading a life of legacy.

“I love Joseph Smith and the Restoration, and so he kept bearing witness, and that really made a mark on me,” said Latter-day Saint Cheryl Gerstner. “He’s gonna be missed because he is kind of a gentle type of man and I do appreciate his character for that.”

Those KSL TV spoke with say they vividly remember President Ballard speaking in October’s general conference and said they will miss him greatly moving forward.

Sheri Dew shares thoughts on President Ballard

Sheri Dew, executive vice president of Deseret Management Corporation, spoke with KSL TV Monday night. She had known President Ballard for 35 years.

She said he loved all people.

“He loved people, he could connect to anyone. And I thought how interesting that his final message now, he testified of Joseph Smith, and he said, thank you to all these members that he’s seen around the world.”

Dew also said President Ballard had a passion for missionary work.

“He absolutely had a zeal for missionary work and for teaching, the restoration.”

Contributing: KSL TV’s Dan Rascon and Karah Brackin

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