Show u '' ' V ftWVSBii 5: V: £&&' ' 'J: V£V V v ju--s 'iiV J f ' Vft-f- ' :'i ?£ r ' v‘ 7 " i S x park plans m V b ‘ ' of approval V Remorsefulhunter' 9Mkr-- L The west side is getting a new '' park ': The LogariPlanning Commission -undersigned the design of a park in northwest Logan on Thursday “ft’sa nice design” said Plan- ring ConunissuMk Chairman Kail Ward “It should really help the community” V Logan city is building a regional park on the west side of town situated between 200 West and 600 West 1100 North and 1330 North According to sketches presented to the planning commission Thursday the park will be outfitted with three baseball diamonds two softball fields a soccer field and a variety of smaller basketball vol- leyball and tennis courts The design will also indude as many as 300 new trees and a hard- - ': ! suspertedwolfdeath W-i- ' By Laricn Frozlair staff writer ' '1 f ffity Jeramlah fgtaff writer 26-acr- e i''A r - Local state ' No dunes will be filed in die February shooting of a suspected wolf in the Weston area DNA testing to Confirm the animal’s species is not complete according to US Fish and Wildlife Service special agent Scott Brago-- nier who conducted an investigation into die shooting Even if tests prove the'animaiwMa py nhesaid S£S322£S?£t' the killing of an endangered species ‘After looking at the facts around thia situation the decision was made not to prosecute” said Bragonier who declined to release the name of the hunter who killed the animal “No criminal charges will be filed” Bragonier said officials took into account mitigating factors such as the location of tfae shooting the hunter’s willingness to cooperate with authorities the fact that he immediately called to report die incident and die fact that he believed the animal was a coyote The shooter reported the incident to Idaho Fish and Game officials who turned die case over to federal agents Bragonier said he doesn’t think the decision will set a precedent allow- ing anyone who kills a wolf to dodge by crying coyote "Wfe will definitely investigate situation” he said "No two are identical We might have a phone call today and under that circum-stance it (shooting a wolf) wouldn't s By Jeremiah Stettter staff writer Despite die controversy that surrounded die park early this year Thursday’s public hearing was absent of complaints One commissioner even complimented the city for its cooperation with the Ellis neighborhood So with the commission’s approval in harid city officials intend to go out for bid on the project in April The park will then be ready for use two years after construction begins School news tip? Call cducatkn reporter Holli Weiss ExL 329 ' hwdsshjnewsxom Crime news tip? Call policecouit reporter Jason Bergreen ExL 330 Brent StevenaHerald Journal 752-21- Camion Cook works on one of the classrooms at the new addition of the Logan River Academy jbergreenhJnemxom Teleconference set Wengreen given with space station astronaut students By USU media relations live teleconference between Utah State UnA iversity NASA Get Away Special (GAS) students and NASA astronaut Don Pettit on the Intemational Space Station (ISS) will take place at 8:30 am Saturday March 29 at the Science Engineering Research Building in the CASS Physics conference room (room 244) on the Utah State campus Utah State physics professor Jan Sojka Utah State students 30-min- : j I ' representing almost all departments in the college of cngi-- j neering and other colleges on campus will attend the telecon- ference Teachers and students from tiie Logan area ML Logan Middle School Spring Creek Middle School and the Idaho Shoshone-BannoHigh School will be present at the tele- conference The group will discuss science ask questions and suggest hands-o- n experiments The invitation to the teleconference was extended by Ned Penley at NASA and David Peak Utah State physics profes- sor ami assistant department head Pettit aboard the space station initiated die hands-o- n sci- ence activity also known as Saturday Science with common the station Several yean ago the materials found Utah State GAS team flew an experiment on the KC135 (Vomit Comet) This experiment dealt with blowing bubbles Pettit flew the experiment again on the in zero-graviKC135 for Utah State in February 2003 Sojka is die faculty advisor for the NASA GAS project at Utah State arid oversees the entire program The GAS team includes interdisciplinary undergraduate students developing experiments that will fly on the NASA Space Shuttle In feet Soijka said Utah State has put more experiments into space than any other university in die world ck ‘ on-boa- rd ty - i If die Weston animal which was photographed by other people before bong killed turns out to have been a wolf” it would be the first confirmed wolf in Cache Valley Federal Fish and Wildlife officials recently removed some protection from gray wolves by downlisting them from “endangered” to ened” in certain areas Under either listing it is illegal to kill a wolf with-ever- y out provocation and killing an “endangered” wolf can draw a $100000 fine and a one-yejail sentence “threat-punishme- nt ar ' - ' Hie Logan River Academy a boarding school and treatment cento1 far troubled teens is doubling its floor space in south Logan Rainwater pitter-patton the floor of the school’s new gymnasium on Wednesday Bricks had been laid but the roof was not yet finished Founding could be heard from the academy's 11 new classrooms accompanied by the singing of construction workers It was all music to Jeff Smith The Logan River Academy which he helped to establish three years ago was growing The expansion came as no surprise to the joint owner of the academy Room for growth had been sketched into the academy’s original plans “Our growth has been strategic'' Smith said When we got to this point it was just a matter of pulling the trigger” Academy officials expect the expansion to be finished by late summer doubling its floor space In the last three years the academy’s population has swelled from a mere handful of teens to 72 students That kind of growth demands more space Smith said Though the school is not crowded in terms of dorms and offices it has moved six of its classrooms into trailers out back “I’m looking forward to haul ed park i be appropriate” builds to meet growth Yet the sketches that appeared before the planning commission varied from the design presented to the Ellis neighborhood two months ago The city removed the overhead lights above the Little League and Pony League fields — a request made by residents Overhead lights will still be installed at die two fastpitch soft-ba- ll fields on the west side of the 752-21- and regional news j won't bo punished in ' jv j By Jason Bergman staff writer A somber mood weighed heavily on the packed courtroom as 1st District Court Judge Thomas Willmore sentenced Sydney Wengreen to five years to life in prison Thursday for sexually abusing a girl two years ago To friends and family of Wengreen and the victim die sentence wasn’t a surprise Willmore explained that he was bound by Utah law to order the mandatory sentence that accompanies a conviction “I cannot craft an equitable sentence for what i$ best for the victim and her family or society or the defendant and his fami-ly- ” Willmore said Ajury convicted Wengreen in October 2002 on one count of felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child The conviction stems from Wengreen’s sexual involvement with a girl who was then 13 years old in March 2001 According to the victim Wengreen fondled her at his home while watching a movie after his wife went to bed The jury acquitted Wengreen of two identical aggravated sexual abuse charges Accusations of prosecutorial error surfaced after the jury’s decision and emotions ran high Upon hearing the verdict last October Wengreen’s wife stood up in court and lashed out at die now victim and her family “I can’t believe this” Kim Wengreen said “You liar you liar I was not Seeping I didn’t have a chance to testify” Cache County Attorney George Dairies first-degr- ee “We’re left with a lot of hurt and a lot of pain for the vie1 tim and her family and the defendant and his family" - Judge Thomas Willmore First District Court ot off-whi- te sentence five4o-lif- e 1 ing them off” Smith said Smith will get his wish this summer as the school’s modular classrooms are replaced with a 25000 square-fobuilding The facade will resemble the current academy with black ' shutters and a mix of red brick and paneling At a cost of $25 million the project will add 19 offices 11 classrooms a high school-siz- e gymnasium a weight room and 20 new beds At' least one additional therapist and two new teachers will be hired Smith said Yet in terms of the student population the facility will only grow by 10 students According to Smith the space will allow for mobility between beds within the academy Security measures in the new building will be minimal Alarms will be placed on the windows and doors will remain locked The rest will be done by supervision Smith said “We’re not a hospital or detention center” lie said rather a treatment facility for troubled teens Some of the academy’s residents have struggled with substance abuse Others have experienced trauma in the home The goal is to have a controlled environment for those students Smith said which the academy accomplishes through staff supervision The expansion of Logan River Academy began in October and will likely be complete by late July or August Wengreen apologized to his family and the court for having to deal with his case “I’m expecting to go to prison at this time if that's what the court sees fit” he said Willmore said he read more than 100 letters from people defending the victim and defending Wengreen before handing down his sentence He said a lot of those letters were full of misinformation about the case “I don’t know where some of this stuff comes from” he said Willmore went on to explain that this case was not about one family being pitted against the other “This was the state of Utah versus Syd- hey Wengreen” he clarified Willmore also defended the jury’s decision in convicting Wengreen “They were a good jury and a fair jury" Willmore said “They agonized deeply over all the evidence and what they 1 defended the conviction Thursday by arguing that a taped telephone conversa- - tion between the victim and Wengreen played a key role in convincing the jury of his guilt “Mr Wengreen’s conviction by a jury was pretty much based on his own words” Daines said “ Mr Wengreen is not being framed by a 1 girl did not seek or ask This little for any of this” Wengreen’s attorney Ken Brown defended his client by implying the victim had bigger problems that are not related to Wengreen’s actions “In our estimation there is more going on with this little victim than this crime” Brown said ” There’s possible abuse by somebody else that everyone wants to ignore” Wengreen maintains he never fondled the victim but admitted during sentencing that “mistakes” were made “Even today I fed sad for this little girl” he said “I’ve made some mistakes and I’m sony for them” heard” There are no winners in a case like this Willmore said “We're left with a lot of hurt and a lot of pain for the victim and her family and the defendant and his family” Willmore said In addition to the prison term Willmore fined Wengreen $10000 and ordered him to complete a sexual abuse therapy program while in prison Wengreen must also pay for all of the victim's counseling Wengreen waved to his wife and family and bit his bottom lip to hold back tears as court bailiffs took him into custody and led him from the courtroom |