Local

BANGKOK, Thailand — During his first trip to Thailand in 1966, President Russell M. Nelson traveled by boat through the canals and klongs of Bangkok.

He watched women gather water for their daily needs from the same river as their children bathed. He shopped at floating markets. And he visited the home of a medical colleague, spotting geckos on the walls controlling the insect population.

OGDEN — Police say a woman called in three bomb threats to an Ogden courthouse in order to keep her boyfriend from going to jail.

The calls came a week apart from each other, on April 5, 12, and on Thursday, when the man, Jerry Larkin, was due in court in a DUI case. Each time, police swept the courthouse and determined there were no explosives.

SALT LAKE CITY — Soon after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Brynna Dow's school was evacuated for a fire alarm.

As the Skyline High School sophomore and her classmates exited English class, their substitute teacher said, "Oh no, this just happened in Florida. I hope there's not a shooting here," Brynna recalled.

SALT LAKE CITY — A tax expert testified Friday he visited the Delta site of a purported solar energy facility, walked into a home and flipped the switch on and off, believing solar lenses were generating the power.

"I did not think it was connected to the grid," said Richard Jameson, a specialist in federal tax law who filed tax returns to the IRS on behalf of RaPower3 clients.

SALT LAKE CITY — Chris Mautz and Darin Piccoli, owners of the popular downtown music venue the State Room, are opening a new venue in Salt Lake City.

CEDAR CITY — Best-selling author and former CIA operative Jason Hanson wants people to know that working for the CIA is not quite like a Jason Bourne movie.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Seeing how the Utah-Oklahoma City playoff series involves only small-market teams, can we speak in country talk? Toby Keith and Garth Brooks are Oklahoma natives. SHeDAISY is from Magna and Julianne Hough from Orem.

Jeans are fine for the theater in both places, especially if “Oklahoma!” is playing.

SALT LAKE CITY — The family of former Salt Lake County Recorder Gary Ott, who died after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, has signed a settlement agreement with his former employee and fiancee who was accused of hiding his condition, leaving her his house and other belongings.

SALT LAKE CITY — The world's hungriest comedian is returning to Salt Lake City later this year.

PROVO, Utah — For a home where teenagers outnumber adults by a 2-1 margin, the Ruiz household is remarkably lacking in drama or angst. Gerardo, Leslie, Milagros and Salvador don't argue over clothes, chores or whose turn it is.

Unlike lots of siblings, they say they'd rather spend time with each other than with almost anyone else in the world, whether they pal around or tackle homework and housework.

Gmail is getting a makeover.

BEIRUT — Loud explosions rocked Syria's capital and filled the sky with heavy smoke early Saturday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced airstrikes in retaliation for the country's alleged use of chemical weapons. Syrian television reported that air defenses responded to the attack.

Editor's note: Deseret News and Church News writers are chronicling the ministry of LDS Church President Russell M. Nelson as he and other church officials travel to Europe, Africa and Asia during the next two weeks. Sarah Jane Weaver reports today from Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM, Israel — Just inside Damascus Gate, the Old City here is brimming with hurried activity.

SALT LAKE CITY — Data gathered in a new report shows that Utah's juggernaut tech economy is continuing to gain momentum, leading the country in job growth and among the top 10 states for tech jobs as an overall portion of all occupations.

And while the average wage for tech workers in Utah is lagging behind the national average, it's still almost double the average for non-tech jobs.