Boating

SALT LAKE CITY — Lawmakers have voted to stiffen the rules involving hit-and-run incidents on state waterways.

House Bill 92 was inspired by an incident last summer at Pineview Reservoir, where University of Utah lab worker Esther Fujimoto was killed after being hit by a boat as she swam.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Hybrid engines aren't just for cars anymore. Hybrid engine systems are slowly catching on with environmentally conscious sailors, replacing less-fuel efficient diesel motors on sailboats.

The setup -- a diesel generator pair

FRESNO, Calif. -- Few people, if any, know the San Joaquin River as well as Louis Moosios.

Two tiny, aquatic critters have devastated fishing waters, plugged water delivery systems and ruined boats all across the nation, but so far, efforts in Utah have largely prevented the spread of quagga and zebra mussels.

In 2007, the Division of Wildlife Resources, the Utah Legislature and several statewide partners launched a massive effort to keep mussels from invading Utah's lakes and reservoirs. The mussels are mainly spread from one body of water to another by hitching a ride on boats.

Since 2007, evidence that quagga or zebra mussels might be in Utah has been found in eight waters. However, as of this month, only one of those waters -- Sand Hollow Reservoir near St. George -- is still classified as possibly having mussels in it, said Larry Dalton, aquatic invasive species coordinator for the DWR.

OGDEN — Search warrant affidavits in 2nd District Court name the three men in the boat that police say killed a Pineview Reservoir swimmer. The affidavits also state which man was driving.

University of Utah researcher Esther Fujimoto, 49, died Aug. 21 when she was hit by a powerboat in the Spring Creek area of the reservoir.

Weber sheriff’s deputies have seized the boat believed to have struck the woman. The recently unsealed affidavits have identified its owner as Skyler Shepherd, 21, of South Ogden. In the boat with him were Colton Raines, 22, and Cole Boyer, 29, both of Ogden, the affidavits state.

MIAMI -- Seven people, including a 4-year-old girl, survived 20 hours at sea by clinging to their capsized boat and a small blue cooler after their vessel flipped during a fishing trip off the Florida Keys, officials said Monday.

An 80-year-old woman who was with the group is missing and presumed drowned.