SMITHFIELD — Chief Johnny McCoy has built the Smithfield City Police Department from the ground up. In 2000, he left his job as a lieutenant in Evanston, Wyo. to help start the department. McCoy now has eight full-time officers and three part time reserves (volunteers). McCoy has been in law enforcement since 1981, and police chief since 2000. (Continued…)

RICHMOND — Chris Purser hefts a bulky black binder onto her desk and begins shuffling through the yellowed pages pointing out the locations of various graves. “It’s a very primitive system,” says Purser, who is secretary of the city’s cemetery board. (Continued…)

On November 25, 2011, Justin Collett, a 30 year old Smithfield resident was arrested by Smithfield City Police for 2nd degree felony child abuse and booked into Cache County Detention Facility. According to information provided by SCPD Detective Sergeant Nick Hidalgo, Mr. Collett’s 16 day old baby was taken to Primary Children’s Hospital on November 24, 2011 due to severe trauma to the infant’s skull and brain. Medical personnel at the Logan Regional Hospital and the Primary Children’s Hospital informed Sgt. Hidalgo that the nature of injuries sustained by the infant were believed to be non-accidental. (Continued…)

Smithfield, Utah was voted the Best Place to Raise Kids in Utah by Bloomberg Businessweek. Their 6th annual report of best places said that Smithfield had “good schools, plentiful parks, and many fun events throughout the year.” (Continued…)

The councils of Logan, North Logan, Hyde Park, Cache County, and Smithfield will meet tomorrow evening to discuss the Logan and Northern Canal Reconstruction Project. This is an important meeting of all vested parties in rebuilding the canal. (Continued…)

LEWISTON — Ballroom dance, sign language, bread making, landscaping, and quilting are a few of the classes residents will have the opportunity to take, with the offering of community classes right in their own city. No longer will they need to make the half-hour drive into Logan to attend classes. (Continued…)

NORTH LOGAN—The new manager of the Logan-Cache Airport is settling in to his new digs and dreaming big. Stu Hunsaker became airport manager in June and is pushing for a new image of Cache Valley’s only public airport. (Continued…)

SMITHFIELD, Utah — A U.S. flag was desecrated in protest during the Fourth of July parade in Hyrum. On July 30, that flag was properly retired. American Legion Chaplin Tom Karren welcomed the thirty to forty assembled citizens and offered a prayer. He explained the retirement ceremony and said a few words on the meaning and importance of the flag to him. He then turned the ceremony over to The Boy Scouts of America. (Continued…)

A few of Smithfield residents have been hit with small item burglaries and suspicious trespasses. Single personal property items from six different homes or vehicles have been taken since the first of July. They include an iPad, a purse, a fire department handheld radio, gasoline, and serving china. Home stereos and lights have been purposefully left on inside the homes by the burglar(s)/intruders. (Continued…)

Political interest in some communities in Northern Utah is running high while in others it seems to be non-existent, at least as it is manifest in the number of those deciding to run for political office. Thirteen people have declared their candidacy in Logan, 11 in North Logan and nine in Brigham City, forcing primary elections in those cities on September 13. But in Mendon, where three council seats area available, not one person filed by the July 15 5 p.m. deadline. (Continued…)

A Smithfield police officer, who resigned earlier this month following the negligent death of an impounded dog, falsified official reports to cover up his involvement. (Continued…)

UPDATE: Town hall meeting is cancelled. My name is Terry Camp and I work for the Orrin Hatch Election Committee. I was hoping that you could announce on your website that Senator Orrin Hatch will be hosting a townhall meeting in Logan on Thursday July 7th from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Dansante Building in downtown Logan. (Continued…)

A Smithfield police officer received a traffic citation Saturday after an accident that caused heavy damage to his patrol car and another vehicle. (Continued…)

CACHE COUNTY—A new mosquito season has begun. Cache Mosquito Abatement District (CMAD) workers are checking areas of standing water for mosquito larvae and are finding high numbers present. Larvacide is being applied to attack the mosquitoes before they become airborne. (Continued…)

Canyon Road is closed from 400 East to 1300 East. The creek is running over the road at 1250 East. “It was about [midnight] when the culvert plugged up and water started running down the road,” said Bill Sinykin who lives right by the overflowing creek. “They came and sandbagged it about one, I believe.” (Continued…)

Suzanne Teuscher sent photos of the flooding around Smithfield. Volunteers filling and placing sandbags on 100 North. Fields around Bear River flooded as well as fields west of town. Let’s all hope that warm weather this weekend will not overwhelm the drainage systems. (Continued…)

Kyle Lindsay is going to have a chance to re-earn his wings. That’s the way Logan Mayor Randy Watts described his decision to hire the former Logan Fire Chief, this time as Assistant Fire Chief. Lindsay was hired as fire chief last August but he resigned less than two months later after being arrested on illegal prescription drug charges. (Continued…)

“Logan City Mayor Randy Watts announced this morning that Jeff Peterson has been selected to lead the city’s fire department as chief.” (Continued…)

LOGAN—A Smithfield woman pleaded guilty to criminal mischief (failing to remain at the scene of an accident) and driving under the influence of alcohol, both class-B misdemeanors, on Dec. 6 in 1st District Court. (Continued…)

LOGAN—In lieu of spending two days in jail, a Smithfield resident was sentenced to 16 hours of community service for her guilty plea to charges of theft. Kristi Phillips, 23, was convicted of theft of a cell phone, a Class B misdemeanor, at the Bridgerland Applied Technology campus on Nov. 4. (Continued…)

“Former fire chief Kyle Lindsay’s felony charges have been reduced to misdemeanors and he will spend ten days in jail as part of a plea deal. Lindsay, 41, resigned as fire chief in August after being arrested for a Smithfield burglary case and being suspected of prescription drug abuse.” (Continued…)

The Smithfield Fire Department will be testing and interviewing potential recruits for a handful of volunteer firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician positions at 6 p.m. Thursday, September 30 at the fire station, 325 West 100 North. (Continued…)

“A fire destroyed one home and damaged another in a Smithfield trailer park Saturday afternoon. At approximately 4:45 p.m., fire units from Smithfield, North Logan, Logan and the Cache County Fire District were paged to the fire at 680 W. 100 North.” — Eric Frandsen (Continued…)

“A Smithfield police report sheds light on the circumstances surrounding the burglary and prescription drug charges filed last month against former Logan Fire Chief Kyle B. Lindsay.” — Bob Mins (Continued…)

LOGAN—Former Bingham County Coroner Kyle B. Lindsay made his first appearance in Utah’s 1st District Court Tuesday. Lindsay is charged with five felony counts including burglary, possession of a controlled substance and obtaining a prescription drug under false pretenses. (Continued…)

“A Smithfield official said Friday the city will not release a police report detailing the criminal investigation involving former Logan fire chief Kyle B. Lindsay.” — Matthew K. Jensen (Continued…)

“Microburst winds swept through parts of Northern Utah late Monday afternoon, knocking down trees and power, particularly in Richmond. The winds did not last long, estimated to be less than two minutes, but definitely packed a punch.” (Continued…)

“Home with her cats on Monday night, Lydia Phillips could hear the gusts of wind getting stronger outside and rushed to close the windows. She made it to the middle of her home and soon heard a ‘horrendous thud.’” — Charles Geraci (Continued…)

Kyle Lindsay, on the job as Logan’s fire chief for fewer than two months, resigned the position last Wednesday and will serve a court summons Aug. 17. (Continued…)

“The former Logan fire chief who resigned last week amid a police investigation was formally charged today in 1st District Court with three felony counts, including burglary and falsely obtaining prescription drugs. Kyle B. Lindsay, 41, voluntarily left the Logan Fire Department last Thursday – the same day Smithfield police officials said they had an open investigation involving Lindsay, who lives in Smithfield.” — Matthew K. Jensen (Continued…)

“A fire Saturday morning destroyed a small hay barn and two personal watercraft adjacent to the barn at 686 South 50 East in Hyde Park. A nearby boat was also damaged by the fire.” — Jennie Christensen (Continued…)

Mitch Dean, 25, of Harrisville, and Jess Jenson, 26, of Smithfield, put on lifejackets and jumped from their rented boat to swim to shore after it started having mechanical problems, said Utah State Parks spokeswoman Deena Loyola. They were about 1 mile north and 2 miles east of the Bear Lake State Park Marina on the Utah side of the lake. (Continued…)

“A Smithfield woman dropped harassment charges against her sister for sending a text message about her breast implants.” — Dan Metcalf Jr (Continued…)

“Putting old pictures of Smithfield on the walls, installing lettering on the outside wall marking the building as “Smithfield City,” installing a chambers sound system and rebuilding the council dais are among things yet to be done — turns out the dais put in is too tall and hides councilmembers from the audience.” — Jay Patrick (Continued…)

A surprise windstorm hit Richmond, Utah on Wednesday afternoon. (Continued…)

Loved your piece on Bike MS: Harmons Best Dam Bike Ride. The amount raised was a bit off. To date it is $1.5 million. Thought you may like this press release the NMSS sent out today. Thanks for writing about the event and hope you come out again. (Continued…)

Utah cyclists raised $140,000 this weekend for Multiple Sclerosis research. The “Bike MS: Harmons Best Dam Bike Ride 2010” was a two-day, all-valley ride. Saturday, riders went as far north as Dayton, Idaho before returning through Rimchond and Amalga to the starting point at the Cache County Fairgrounds. Sunday they went south to Paradise, past Hyrum Dam, through Wellsville, Mendon and back to the fairgrounds. (Continued…)

“The text said that because of Hansen’s new breast implants, she could now apply for a job at the Hooter’s restaurant. Hansen was offended by the text and went to Smithfield City Police Department with her complaint.” — Marco Ortiz (Continued…)

Editor’s Note: Safiyyah Ballard is a contributing reporter for the Sun, a journalism student at USU, and a very nice person. She wrote this story about a scam artist who reached her through a Craigslist ad. I recommend everyone read it to understand some of the red (and salmon) flags of a scam artist. (Continued…)

“Here’s how it works: 4,000 gallons per minute is diverted from Summit Creek through a pipe, which runs about 50 feet underground before dumping into a cement vault containing the turbines. The water runs through the vault and into a pipe that takes the water back to the creek. The turbines can generate a maximum of 1 kilowatt per hour — together enough to power two homes. Two more turbines will go into the vault in the future.” — Jay Patrick (Continued…)