The sun beat down from a cloudless sky Saturday afternoon during a youth soccer game at McCall Field Park in Roy, and cheers from parents cascaded in intermittently from the sidelines as the action on the field intensified in waves, then receded.

Doubtless, similar scenes were playing out on thousands of fields across the country.

But for some parents at the park in Roy, the impact of the recent death of soccer referee Ricardo Portillo loitered in the air. Portillo died May 4, a week after a yellow-carded 17-year-old player allegedly punched him in the head in Taylorsville.

It was a chilling reminder, the parents said, of the violence that has embedded itself in youth sports.

HUNTSVILLE — The Utah Department of Transportation believes it has found a new way to open the state’s big mountain passes sooner while using less equipment.