Latest news with #TheChurchofJesusChristofLatter-daySaints
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Miami Herald
18-year-old killed in shooting while stepdad was handling gun, UT officials say
An 18-year-old was fatally shot in the head at home, and now his stepfather is facing charges, Utah officials said. Joseph Le Page Lee, 46, is charged with second-degree felony manslaughter, plus four counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment, in the shooting, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office said in a June 26 news release. Lee said it was an accidental shooting that happened after he'd gotten home from buying 'some firearm-related items' on June 17, according to prosecutors. His stepdaughter 'asked him a question about guns, and he picked up a Glock 19x,' prosecutors said, citing Lee's account to police. Lee said he had two similar Glocks and thought he was handling the one he'd just cleared, according to prosecutors. 'He told police that in his mind, the magazine was not there, and 'bam,' (his stepson) fell,' prosecutors said. Security video from the home captured the shooting, according to prosecutors. It showed that about four minutes passed between the shooting and when Lee started performing CPR as requested by 911, prosecutors said. Lee later said 'he didn't immediately render aid, because he knew (the 18-year-old) wouldn't come back from this and CPR was just standard procedure,' according to a court filing. Before Lee started CPR, he gave his stepson a blessing, the court filing said. The 18-year-old was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, the filing said. Prosecutors didn't disclose the stepson's name, but he's been identified in news reports as Haven McBride. An online obituary said McBride was working to become an EMT and 'was ready to submit his paperwork to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.' The 18-year-old 'was a genuine, kind, funny, friendly, thoughtful, sweet person' and ' will be missed deeply,' the obituary said. In the news release, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said 'owning a gun is a right in our country. However, that right does not absolve all of us from the responsibility in the way we handle such weapons. If you are a gun owner, please follow proper protocol when using them, especially when others are around.'
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Yahoo
Community mourns Vineyard man who died during youth camping trip
A candlelight vigil was held Saturday evening in Utah County for the youth leader who died during a church camping trip earlier in the week. Family, friends, and strangers gathered at the Springville High School baseball field to remember Alex Johnson, 38, who was found dead Thursday morning inside his trailer at Wasatch Mountain State Park. Josh Probst, with the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office, said inside the enclosed trailer, deputies found charcoal in a Dutch oven. Investigators theorized that Johnson had used it as a heat source, which caused carbon monoxide to fill the trailer, killing him. The state medical examiner will determine the official cause of death. Those in the large crowd that gathered at the vigil Saturday were able to view photos of Johnson and learn about the things that were important to him. As they held lit candles and comforted one another, friends and family shared memories of the Springville native. The tragedy of Johnson's death has left a deep void in the community, according to family friend Mardi Sifuentes. She organized a similar memorial on Friday in Vineyard, where the Johnson family currently lives. 'Anything anyone ever needed, he was there,' Sifuentes said. 'He just kind of put his footprint in every family. Everyone around here, we just all loved him. It's a huge loss.' As the community grieves, they also remember a man who gave so much of himself to others. According to Sifuentes, Johnson was active in his community through church service. He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a beloved Little League coach, gymnastics dad and owner of a local landscaping business. He was one of our dearest friends," Sifuentes added. 'It's been a lot of tears, where you think that you don't have any more, but then they just still keep coming. I think there is always the question of: Why does it happen to good people?' Ashley Gollaher, another family friend, echoed the heartbreak felt by many. 'A lot of tears for his wife and kids,' she said. Johnson leaves behind his widow and four children. Contributing: Jordan Ormond
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Man found dead at church youth camp south of Midway
A 38-year-old youth leader was found dead in a trailer at the Chalet Campground in the Wasatch Mountain State Park on Thursday. The man had slept in an enclosed trailer Wednesday evening and was found dead by other leaders the next morning, said Wasatch County Undersheriff Josh Probst. The man had lit some charcoal in a Dutch oven and it was burning inside the trailer as a heat source, Probst said, adding that investigators suspect carbon monoxide poisoning. He said an autopsy will determine the official cause of death. He was participating in a youth camp for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Probst said. The sheriff's office has not yet released the man's name.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The Church of Jesus Christ increases international relief to 12 ‘high-need' countries with $63.4 million donation
At a gathering of representatives from global humanitarian organizations in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson announced The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would be donating another $63.4 million to expand the Global Initiative to Improve the Well-being of Women and Children — a uniquely collaborative effort across multiple organizations to lift women and children in especially poor parts of the world. The expanded funding aims to 'continue this great work to improve the well-being of women and children in the world,' President Johnson said. 'Together, we look forward to brighter futures for these women and children as we collaborate collectively in lifting and serving and blessing their lives.' This adds to a $55.8 million donation in 2024 to a collaboration of eight globally recognized nonprofits. Those organizations include CARE International, Catholic Relief Services, Helen Keller International, International Development Enterprises, MAP International (Medicine For All People), Save the Children, The Hunger Project and Vitamin Angels. 'There are only some things that a church can do,' said Sharon Eubank, director of Humanitarian Services, Welfare and Self-Reliance Services. 'And we need other partners to be able to bring their expertise — working with governments, helping in cultures where we don't have experience.' Blaine Maxfield, managing director of Welfare and Self-Reliance Services, said there is 'an unprecedented need now, more than ever, to provide relief to those that are in need all over the world.' He suggested this united effort could represent 'a model that can be transferred to other groups in this time of need.' The additional funding will allow the church and the eight organizations to continue working together in 12 especially 'high-need' countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia. The primary target within each of those countries is women and children, who are so often at most risk of malnourishment, disease and other dangers. This initiative combines efforts to improve child nutrition, maternal and newborn care, health care access including immunization that seeks to prevent deadly infectious diseases, mobility and disability support, and life-long learning and family education. 'Any student of the New Testament knows that Jesus broke a lot of cultural traditions and reached out to women in a way that they haven't been reached out to before,' said Eubank during a panel discussion. 'Women are the cornerstones of society,' said Abena Amedormey, Ghana country representative for Catholic Relief Services. But along with children, she noted that women are 'the most vulnerable in the communities,' who also 'hold the highest potential for growth and development of the society.' 'Therefore every support that there is that can be given to women, we know there will be rippling effects across the society ... when you support a woman, you support a nation.' Lizz Welch, CEO of iDE, said 'we have seen through our work time and time again, when you can help women to increase their incomes and the production of food for their families, they reinvest at much higher rates within their community.' She said iDE is working to expand 'local production of food and diverse, nutritious foods that families can consume within their household.' When gardening improvements go well, families can then sell extra food in the market and bring that income back to reinvest in their families and communities. Starting with this small investment in local gardens, Welch described the 'ecosystems of opportunities' that can result, allowing 'families to thrive in ways that they couldn't before.' The church has membership in 170 countries and does humanitarian work in almost 200 countries every year, Eubank said. 'Politics in lots of those nations are going to go up and down,' she noted. 'But the church's mission doesn't really change very much. ... We're going to take care of people that are vulnerable.' President Johnson told the Deseret News, 'I'm so grateful to be part of a church that, in a season of bounty and prosperity, is willing to commit its resources to the most vulnerable.' That includes donations in places where the church has few members, she explained — such as a significant investment in Nepal, with only 200 members in the country. 'Why?' she asked. 'Because those are Heavenly Father's children that need care and attention.' Ana Céspedes, CEO of Vitamin Angels, described how a simple increase for children in vitamin A — even just a 'drop in their mouth twice a year' — can reduce premature death by 25%, while also preventing 'night blindness.' After noting that 45% of deaths in kids are due to malnutrition and 1.2 billion women in the world today 'don't have the access to the right nutrients,' Céspedes emphasized the importance of finding ways to 'catch child malnutrition early.' Starting with the first 1000 days of life (0 to 3 years old), she expressed hope these combined efforts can make a significant difference on both 'child's nutrition rates and ultimately, child survival.' Since the project launched, it has exceeded the expectations initially set. For instance, while project leaders originally aimed for 12 million children and mothers receiving vitamins, they reported this week being able to reach 21.2 million children and mothers with vitamin supplementation. In addition: Screenings for malnutrition were conducted with 1.87 million children, with treatment provided if necessary. To track clinical cases of malnutrition and provide treatment, 125 health facilities were also trained. Training in nutrition best practices was provided for 1.6 million mothers. More than 141,000 families also received seeds and training, many of whom now have home gardens with more nutrient-dense foods. Training in improved hygiene behaviors was given to 41,000 people — with an estimated 6,800 benefiting from improved water and sanitation facilities. Training in maternal and newborn care, child nutrition, breastfeeding and vitamin administration was provided for 17,000 government health workers. And 159 newborns were resuscitated at birth, while 219,000 pregnant mothers received prenatal care. Over and over, leaders emphasized the collaborative nature of the project itself as the secret behind its success. For instance, Sarah Bouchie, CEO of Helen Keller International, highlighted the 'opportunity to be able to learn from each other's skill sets, improve consistently in the way that we approach our work, and continue that ripple effect by sharing the things that we know.' This kind of collaborative learning together, Amedormey said, 'has been a wonderful approach to reach a lot more women and children.' Welch likewise called this approach an 'incredible multiplier effect' to improve the well-being of families wherever they were working. Once families increase the food they're producing and associated income (through the efforts of one organization), she explained, that benefit is then paired with partner efforts to improve the micronutrients the families are getting, along with improved education about breastfeeding and many other ways to strengthen families. 'We're really seeing one plus one equal three or five or eight,' President Johnson told Deseret News. 'Those dollars are going further with the collaboration, because people are bringing their strengths, they're bringing their resources, they're bringing their best contacts, they're bringing their experiences, both good and bad, to the table and saying, 'What can we do to improve upon what we've learned?'' Bishop L. Todd Budge, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, acknowledged that no one anticipated the current funding challenges in the world when the project was envisioned. At a time when organizations everywhere are having to be more cost-effective, he shared a sense among nonprofit leaders that 'we have to do more with less because of the situation.' Bishop Budge reflected, 'This is perhaps a framework that can be applied with other organizations to really get the synergies from collaboration.' At a time of greater estrangement across societies, Bouchie went on to describe the added benefit of 'shared values' that all members of the collaboration bring — 'a vision for a future together where every child, every woman, should have the right to a proper nutrition to live a healthy life.' 'Obviously the church is doing this out of a faith mission,' Eubank told Deseret News. 'We're trying we care for God and we care for his children all over the world.' But whether people have 'any kind of a faith or no faith at all,' she added, people can come together and 'still get behind women and children' — especially the crucial needs that happen early on in a child's life. 'It's pretty galvanizing to look at the first five years of a child's life,' Eubank said, 'and know that if they don't get enough nutrition, their cognitive ability is forever stunted, and I can get behind that anytime.' To outside observers, Bouchie acknowledged that the solution to all these problems can appear deceptively simple. 'It seems like something easy, right? You have a child who doesn't have enough nutrition, give them nutrition. It doesn't seem that complicated.' But the problem, she went on to explain, is that 'if you only treat those things, you're constantly treating the symptom.' How do we really get at the underlying factors contributing to hunger, she emphasized — finding better ways to increase self-reliance and sustainability? 'If you don't build the whole ecosystem, you don't really get at these complex factors that lead to malnutrition itself,' said Bouchie. 'It isn't an easy fix,' Eubank agreed. 'Because you can make sure that that baby has all the nutrition in the world, and then they die of diarrhea or something.' There are 'so many factors that add up to that child living and thriving when they're 5 years old,' she added. That explains why 'the only way we thought we could do that is through this new way of collaborating.' 'When systems are strengthened' through collaborative efforts, Amedormey said, 'you have not just one impact per family, but also you're able to impact the society.' President Johnson returned this week from Nepal — describing firsthand 'what happens when these groups come together with a common objective … working so beautifully together in rhythm.' First, she described seeing pregnant women getting vitamins needed for prenatal care. Once those children came into this world, these mothers were then supported to prioritize breastfeeding — contrary to cultural practices where children are immediately separated from mothers, missing the early initiation of crucial skin-to-skin contact and nourishment. President Johnson then described seeing parents being taught in community groups about the kinds of food that they could prepare for their children using local resources. (Young children who were malnourished also received immediate care through therapeutic foods and fortified cereals.) President Johnson described meeting a woman who had been assisted to start a small chicken farm. 'Every day those chickens lay eggs, she has a protein source for everyone that lives in her family unit,' she reported, with excess 'stacks of eggs' then taken to the market to sell. 'That gives her an opportunity to raise the standard of living for herself and for her children — that reinvestment that we're hoping for so that we lift not just women and children, but families and communities and nations.' At the close of the event, President Johnson shared her hope with Deseret News that those reading these stories would be inspired, first of all, 'to look around and identify the needs closest to them.' 'Sometimes, I think we believe we have to do something grand that warrants this splash in the news. But I know that there are malnourished children in our community. There are children and mothers who can't read well. ... 'My invitation is look around you first,' she said, referencing the 'mandate from the Savior' in Matthew 25, where Jesus Christ 'describes those that will be on his right hand as those who saw the hungry and those who saw the thirsty and gave them something to drink.' 'I want to be counted amongst those on the right hand,' she said with emotion. 'There's opportunities for all of us.'
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The BYU grad at the heart of Trump's trade war
The Trump administration may have left its toughest task this week to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, a 44-year-old alumnus of Brigham Young University from Paradise, California. Greer, who learned to speak fluent French during a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Brussels, Belgium, will be representing the United States at the annual meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, France, on Wednesday. There, Greer will attempt to advance tariff negotiations with trade ministers from top economies like Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Japan and South Korea. He is also scheduled to meet with officials from India, Malaysia, Vietnam and the European Union. 'I speak to (the president) on nearly a daily basis,' Greer told CNBC on Friday. 'When it comes to the pure economics, we have problems with all kinds of countries, friend or foe, and we are trying to resolve those.' But hanging over Greer's diplomatic efforts is a shifting policy environment complicating his mandate to translate President Donald Trump's vision of a remade international order that benefits American manufacturing into concrete trade deals with foreign allies and adversaries. Last week, a U.S. trade court ruled unanimously that Trump lacked the authority from Congress to impose blanket tariffs on imports from around the world. On Thursday, a federal court granted the administration's request to keep the tariffs in place while they appeal the ruling. On Friday, Trump accused China of breaking a trade war truce, with Greer alleging on CNBC that Chinese counterparts had been 'slow-rolling' their reversal of export bans on rare-earth materials, a claim Chinese officials rejected on Monday in a statement. Also on Friday, Trump announced an increase in steel tariffs from 25% to 50%, set to take effect on Wednesday, drawing rebukes from trade partners, including EU officials who said the move 'undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution.' Despite his difficult position, however, Greer's former mentors, law partners and associates say there are few people more prepared than Greer to balance the demands of a Trump White House with the realities of foreign relations and the needs of American workers. Former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer remembers exactly why he recruited Greer — then a JAG attorney in the Air Force — to work at his practice representing American producers harmed by unfair trade. And it had nothing to do with Greer's policy expertise. 'He didn't know international trade at all when I hired him,' Lighthizer said in an interview with the Deseret News. 'But he was a person of character and a patriot, so that's a pretty good foundation to start the analysis.' Greer's working-class background paired with his experience abroad made him open to Lighthizer's worldview as the chief intellectual proponent of Trump-style tariffs to reduce trade deficits and boost made-in-America-products, according to Lighthizer. Raised in a mobile home, with parents taking multiple jobs to make ends meet, Greer understood 'the struggles that Americans face when they are cut out of economic growth' because they aren't on a 'level playing field' with other countries, as Greer said during congressional testimony in February. Representing only domestic companies, Lighthizer led a team of lawyers at the Washington, D.C., office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, who he said were guided by the philosophy that protecting stable, well-paying manufacturing jobs would, in turn, 'help maintain families, which help maintain communities, which is the reason the country is strong.' Under the tutelage of Lighthizer, who had served as the deputy U.S. trade representative for President Ronald Reagan, Greer and others were 'taught' this brand of trade law from the basics, according to Stephen Vaughn, who worked with Greer both at Skadden and at his current firm King & Spalding. Instead of approaching international trade from the perspective of spreadsheets and formulas, their representation of actual American factories gave Greer a firsthand look at how some free trade agreements had let foreign countries take advantage of U.S. companies, Vaughn said. 'So today, when he goes in and sits down with these other countries, he has an enormous experience in terms of not just what it looks like in an economics textbook, but what it looks like in the real world,' Vaughn said. When Lighthizer was tapped as Trump's first trade representative in 2017, Skadden became a pipeline to the White House, with Greer and Vaughn taking charge of the Office of the United States Trade Representative while Lighthizer awaited congressional approval. For the next few years, Vaughn served as Lighthizer's general counsel and Greer worked as his chief of staff, where, according to Vaughn, Greer made a name for himself as an effective advocate for Lighthizer and the president's views on international trade. 'He's brilliant — he's one of the most talented people I've ever dealt with,' Vaughn told the Deseret News. 'But he's a very grounded person.' During Trump's first term, Greer developed the skills he would need to later fill Lighthizer's shoes, helping to craft trade agreements with Mexico, Canada, South Korea and Japan, while implementing a package of tariffs on Chinese imports, according to Steve Orava, who worked with Greer as chair of King & Spalding's international trade practice based in Brussels. 'It's taking what the president wants to do, which is often very general, and coming up with the legal pathways,' Orava told the Deseret News. 'And sometimes that takes creativity, it takes coalition building, it takes communication with others in order to make that happen.' But as Lighthizer's chief of staff Greer also developed the all-important relationship with Trump that would allow the president to entrust him with trade policy negotiations during his second administration. In one notable interaction, Greer flew with Trump on Air Force One to visit Greer's hometown of Paradise in 2018 where the deadliest wildfire in California history had taken the lives of 85 individuals and destroyed more than 18,000 structures, including the home of Greer's parents, who Greer had arranged to meet with Trump on the airport tarmac. As Trump's trade representative in 2025, Greer has been a loyal defender of the president's norm-breaking agenda, with his historic 'Liberation Day' declaration of global 10% tariffs, threats of steeper levies on countries with large trade imbalances and a series of sector-specific duties on steel, aluminum and auto parts. Despite dramatic impacts on the stock market, and predictions of increased costs for companies and prices for consumers, Greer has said Trump's policies are 'already bearing fruit,' are unlikely to cause inflation and are 'common sense' reforms to address the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs and industrial base capacity. In this belief, there is no daylight between Greer and the populist right's role model of economic policy, Lighthizer, according to Mark DiPlacido, a policy adviser at the conservative think tank American Compass, who briefly served under Greer as the deputy assistant trade representative for public affairs. 'Lighthizer, he more than anyone else, has probably been the most influential on the trade policy side of the 'new right' for a lot of government and policy professionals,' DiPlacido said. 'And Jamieson seems to be taking a similar approach.' It's a 'very complicated job' that Greer has before him, Lighthizer said, navigating fluctuating signals from the White House, maintaining relationships with offended international partners and collaborating closely with a dysfunctional Congress. Lighthizer expects Greer to be 'one of the stars' of the second Trump administration because he 'knows in his heart what the objective is,' which is to create 'an economic system that emphasizes American production and the American worker that leads to the overall strength of America.' Jonathan Freedman, the CEO of World Trade Center Utah, said he hopes the administration's priorities will be able to expand manufacturing options in the state, which has led the nation in manufacturing job growth since 2019. It is always an advantage to have someone with a relationship to Utah in a cabinet-level position, according to Freedman. And Greer has made his office open to feedback, reaching out to businesses across the country with open comment periods to share how they have been impacted by tariffs. Ultimately, any shift in international trade policy significantly impacts Utah business operations, Freedman said. Especially for those companies that rely on components and raw materials only found out of the country. 'The USTR has a tough job; he's in the middle of high pressure, complex negotiations with foreign countries, and the result of those negotiations have significant impact on Utah businesses,' Freedman said. 'I'm not sure that prior U.S. trade representatives have been involved with as ambitious of trade negotiations, and I think that Ambassador Greer is doing his best to thread the needle.'
