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ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4) — Spring breakers are flocking to Southern Utah, and local leaders are preparing for the rush.

Last year, Zion National Park saw more than 700,000 visits during March and April. Right outside of the park, the small town of Springdale is expecting to handle the majority of those visitors.

The Mayor, Barbra Bruno, says this is one of the best times of the year to visit and they usually see a lot more people.

“Well, it’s great to be here, because the weather’s great and things are starting to come to life,” she said. “We’re coming off of what we call a shoulder season, which used to be our quiet time of year. And frankly, isn’t just that quiet anymore.”

Spring break is kicking off this weekend, and it is likely Springdale will get busier.

“When I just drove over from my house at the other end of town, there was a lot of parking available. I suspect that, by tomorrow, that will not be the case. I think our town will be full of cars,” Bruno added.

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Local businesses are already seeing early signs of spring break travel. Jess Kavanagh works at Zion Adventure and says she has already seen an increase in visitors, from Utah and elsewhere.

“We’re definitely seeing plenty of people from within the state of Utah coming down this week. But every week is kind of different,” she said. “Statistically, where people are from, it kind of feels like you can track where the spring break is happening throughout the country.”

With crowds expected to build in the coming weeks, Mayor Bruno has a simple message for visitors.

“Just slow down. Our speed limit through most of Springdale is 30 and sometimes that’s even a little too fast. But just be careful. There’s a lot of traffic,” she said. “There’s a lot going on, and the bike lanes make it a little trickier on top of that.”

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ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4) — On Friday, the Utah State Bar presented a statewide survey on how often legal professionals face threats, intimidation or violence.

In 2006, the Utah State Bar conducted the first survey in the nation that examined threats and violences directed at members of a state legal profession. That survey found that 46% of respondents had receiving threats or violence in their career.

Now, two decades later, the Utah State Bar has conducted a similar study and presented the findings during a conference on March 13.

“For 2026, in the first two months. There have been 230 investigations of 176 threats on 151 different judges,” said Stephen Kelson, one of the main researchers behind the 2006 and 2026 survey.

The survey results indicated that there has been a drop in threats made online or through inappropriate communications, but there has been a significant increase in direct threats, according to Kelson.

He added that, since 2023, there have been over 100 threats to Utah courts, six swatting incidents, an incident in which private information was ‘doxxed’ or released publicly, and a security breach.

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“There are threats that are taking place with our Utah courts and there have been, just in the last couple days, this [survey] doesn’t include those,” Kelson continued. “The point being is that while the Utah profession has not suffered a life taking event in many years, it doesn’t mean that threats and violence just aren’t frequently occurring.”

According to Kelson, legal practitioners in family law, criminal prosecution, and criminal defense typically see the highest number of violent threats. However, members of every legal practice reported receiving violent threats.

Kelson says public trust in legal professionals has decreased significantly, which could be a factor in the increase in threats. He said, “The legal profession, including the judiciary…over the last 20, 25 years, has been considered in low regard…Also, politics appears to be having an effect.”

Based on survey results, 5% of Utah’s legal professionals have definitively been on the receiving end of threats of violence or actual violence, though Kelson says that number could be higher, because only about 12% of all legal professionals in Utah responded to the survey.

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Additionally, some practitioners may brush off threats or don’t report them to avoid potential controversy. Kelson said, “An issue that comes up with threats and violence in the legal profession is that it’s not talked about…and it generally comes down to that, one, you don’t want that out there. There’s a fear or a concern that you don’t want to be that practitioner, because maybe it has a stigma to it.”

At the conclusion of his presentation, Kelson asked who in the audience had received threats, by a raise of hands. While not everybody raised their hands, nearly two dozen individuals did, including Kelson.

While investigating and prosecuting threats is up to law enforcement, Kelson says the legal field needs to acknowledge the potential danger that their professionals face.

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“We need to recognize it. It is affecting attorneys’ well-being here in the state of Utah. And as well, if it’s affecting the well-being, it means it’s affecting the practice, how attorneys are performing their jobs, which means it can have a direct effect upon the access to justice for the public,” he said.

Elizabeth Wright, the executive director of the Utah State Bar, added, “We want judges to be able to make decisions based on the law and facts in front of them and not be worried. that if they rule a certain way or rule against certain individuals that their family can be threatened.”

“So, the recommendation is going to be in regard to we need to educate our legal community of how to address this, prepare themselves, and so they can avoid the threats and violence and make sure it’s not going to happen to them,” Kelson continued. “it’s going to be through training and also to look at to help them be self-aware and recognize if there’s a real threat what can they do to protect themselves and those around them.”

Joseph DeGolyer contributed to this article.

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Nevada was one win away from its first MW Championship appearance since 2017 and two wins away from its first NCAA bid since the 2023-24 season. Both of those dreams faded away after a flat 79-66 loss to Utah State in the semifinal.

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Nevada rode a lot of momentum after winning the first two games of this tournament, but Utah State was the No. 1 seed for a reason. The Aggies’ defensive performance was just too much for Nevada to find the bucket.

Scoring Summary

1st Half

Nevada 32 – Utah State 39

2nd Half

Nevada 34 – Utah State 40

Final: Nevada 66, Utah State 79

First Half

The first 10 shot attempts of the game all missed, with both sides starting 0-5. Utah State broke that drought after three minutes with a layup for a 2-0 lead. Nevada broke its 0-6 start with a layup of its own by Vaughn Weems.

The first three of the game came from Utah State’s Karson Templin to give the Aggies a 9-5 lead under 14 minutes. The first three for Nevada came from the hands of Chuck Bailey in the corner, cutting it back down to a three-point game. Kaleb Lowery and Joel Armotrading traded scores in the paint and the Wolf Pack took a 12-11 lead just under 11 minutes.

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Utah State snatched the momentum right back, taking a seven-point lead before another media timeout under the eight-minute mark. Nevada had picked up six personal fouls at the mark, which turned into a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line for the Aggies.

The Aggies pushed themselves back on top with an eight-point lead at 27-19. Nevada’s best scorer in Corey Camper Jr. was held scoreless for most of the half until he made his first shot of the game under five minutes. It was a three that made it 29-24 Utah State.

A 6-0 run within the final minutes of the first half gave Utah State a nine-point lead. Elijah Price turned in a layup followed by some free throws to cut it down to five, but Utah State scored in the paint just before the buzzer. Nevada shot just 36 percent from the field and 25 percent from three, with Camper going 2-9 and five points.

Second Half

The second half started similarly to the first, with both sides missing their first few shots. Utah State turned in a quick five points after that, forcing Nevada to call a timeout just two and a half minutes into the half.

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Nevada’s first five minutes went without a score until Tayshawn Comer hit a fadeaway shot to make it 45-34 Utah State. The Aggies responded with a three to make it 48-34 with 15 minutes left.

The soul of Nevada’s team seemed just to fade away. Utah State forced turnover after turnover, and by the next media timeout under 12 minutes, the Aggies had a 57-37 lead. Nevada struggled to find consistent ball movement and turned the ball over 15 total times, with a lot of them coming in bunches.

“It shows how much pride we have as a team,” Weems said about Nevada not giving up and keeping the game somewhat interesting. “We could’ve laid down and given up multiple times throughout the game, but during timeouts, we had all our coaches and players saying, ‘We’ve been in this situation before, keep playing.‘”

Momentum never truly turned over after that. Nevada played how it has in road games all season, with costly turnovers and simply missing too many shots. Utah State’s student section, The Hurd, traveled well all tournament, and that was no different in this game. Whether the crowd sucked Nevada’s soul out, or there was sluggishness after playing its third game in three days, or maybe it was both.

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Nevada ended the night shooting 41 percent from the field, 26 percent from three and 65 percent from the free-throw line. All around, it just wasn’t a good shooting night for Nevada by any means. Weems was the lead scorer with 17 points, but went 0-6 from beyond the arc. In games like this, Nevada needed a big game from Camper that just never came, as he finished with nine points on 3-12 shooting.

“It felt a little fatigued, but we knew what we had with four games in four days, so we were prepared for it mentally,” Camper said of potential sluggishness in this one.

Utah State shot 45 percent from the field and 21 percent from deep. Adlan Elamin led the Aggies with 15 points on 6-9 shooting. The Aggies had five players reach double digits, including four starters.

What’s Next

Nevada was two wins away from an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, but for the second consecutive year, the Wolf Pack will not be dancing.

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The Wolf Pack submitted a bid to host an NIT game, so now it’s just the waiting game to see if Nevada will get that or participate in any other postseason tournament. Nevada declined to participate last year, but it appears Alford is more fond of the idea this year.

“I think it should be a no-brainer that we’re an NIT team,” Alford said about playing another game. “We’ve done a lot of good things this year and have beaten a lot of really good teams, so I hope and pray we get a bid for the NIT that we’d be very excited to play in.”