Month: July 2018

An investigator for Uintah County has been charged with one count of Tampering With a Juror in Summit County’s 3rd District Court. 38-year-old Jayson L. Chamberlain was reportedly present at the Summit County Courthouse last December when potential jurors were being considered for the Flatlip, Flatlip, Rondeau trial that ended in mistrial. According to the charging documents, Chamberlain was present as an investigator for the prosecuting agency, the Uintah County Attorney’s Office, and was a potential witness for the State in the trial. On the day the tampering allegedly took place, there were approximately 60 prospective jurors on hand and they were questioned individually while the others remained in the courthouse lobby. “Throughout the day, the defendant made contact with many of the prospective jurors. Numerous prospective jurors described [Chamberlain] as being ‘chit-chatty’,” shares the charging documents. Charging documents include seven statements from prospective jurors who observed or had conversations with Chamberlain on that day; several of those alleging that Chamberlain talked about the jury process as well as his laptop and that it had very important information on it. One prospective juror told investigators that he overheard several of Chamberlain’s conversations with other prospective jurors in which Chamberlain gained knowledge that would be helpful for the prosecution during the jury selection process such as the jurors value system, family situation, and whether or not they wanted to serve on the jury and why. The charge of Tampering With a Juror was filed in 3rd District Court on July 17th. Chamberlain is scheduled for an initial court appearance on August 13th.

Roosevelt City is encouraging its residents and beyond to ‘Be Wise, Not Wasteful’ when it comes to water. Drought conditions are increasing in the United States and Utah sits right in the area of high drought.

The BLM announced Tuesday the beginning of a 15-day scoping period to include the public as a large amount of oil and gas leases are considered, the majority of which are located in the Uintah Basin. There are 225 parcels being considered for lease and 159 of them are located in the boundaries of the Vernal Field Office, according to BLM.gov.

The Utah Department of Health has reported the first findings of West Nile Virus in Utah counties this year and Uintah County is among them. According to Health.Utah.Gov, three mosquito pools tested positive for West Nile Virus in the last week; one each in Box Elder, Davis, and Uintah County.

There’s never a bad time to barbecue in the summer and TriCounty Health is offering safety tips for a successful meal. To protect yourself and your guests from foodborne illness during warm-weather months, follow safe food handling practices.

As technology changes it only provides new ways in which scammers can try to steal your hard earned money. According to Sweetwater County Sheriff Mike Lowell, scammers are making cold-calls, especially targeting the elderly, telling them that their computer has become infected with a virus, is compromised with malware, or has some other problem.

Longhorn Days kicked off on Monday launching what is always a favorite time of the year in Altamont. This year’s theme calls all to “Celebrate Big Time In a Small Town” with activities lined up every day.