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Josh Hansen, 41, sits at his kitchen table in Woods Cross on Monday. The retired Army sergeant was deployed twice to Iraq and suffered traumatic brain injury from multiple IED blasts. (REYNALDO LEAL/Standard-Examiner)

10 years after Iraq invasion, retired Woods Cross sergeant helping veterans

Last updated Thursday, March 21, 2013 - 12:01pm

Josh Hansen sat across the kitchen table from his 6-year-old son. His blue eyes shifted from his wife preparing dinner to the boy coloring a page with a red marker. He smiled and then chuckled.

Hansen doesn’t have to worry about improvised explosive devices, suicide bombers or small-arms ambushes anymore. He’s as far away from the dangers of war as he could possibly be inside his home in Woods Cross.

The 41-year-old is happy with his current, peaceful life. With the exception of a memorial tattoo of a helmet, rifle and boots on his left arm, there is little to indicate a soldiering past.

Afghanistan, Brain injury, Disabilities, Iraq war, Veterans, Featured Read more Comments

Sports are a civil right for disabled, U.S. says

Philip Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, January 25, 2013 - 1:24am

WASHINGTON — Breaking new ground, the U.S. Education Department is telling schools they must include students with disabilities in sports programs or provide equal alternative options. The directive, reminiscent of the Title IX expansion of athletic opportunities for women, could bring sweeping changes to school budgets and locker rooms for years to come.

Schools would be required to make “reasonable modifications” for students with disabilities or create parallel athletic programs that have comparable standing as mainstream programs.

“Sports can provide invaluable lessons in discipline, selflessness, passion and courage, and this guidance will help schools ensure that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to benefit from the life lessons they can learn on the playing field or on the court,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement announcing the new guidance on Friday.

Education, College Sports, Prep Sports, Disabilities, Sports, Title IX Read more Comments

Adults with developmental, intellectual disabilities invited to meeting

Contributed Standard-Examiner

Last updated Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 12:06am

OGDEN — People First of Utah is a self-advocacy organization that helps people with developmental and intellectual disabilities learn how to advocate for themselves, increase their independence and become a part of their community.

Advocates, Disabilities, Meeting Read more Comments

Davis County helps fund Chloe's park for disabled children

Bryon Saxton Standard-Examiner

Last updated Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - 8:51pm

FARMINGTON — Five-year-old Chloe Bennett, wearing a bright dress and brighter smile, beamed as she sat in her wheelchair at the Davis County Commission meeting.

She waited for her doting father, Oby Bennett, who stood at her side, to be presented with a check.

Children, Davis County, Davis County Commission, Disabilities, Parks Read more Comments

Syracuse approves grant application for playground for disabled

Antone Clark Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 11:34pm

SYRACUSE -- City leaders have signed off on a grant application for Chloe's Sunshine Playground, which could potentially bring in $200,000 for the unique project.

City council members voted unanimously at a recent meeting to allow the city's recreational department to formally file a grant application for Land Water Conservation Fund money, which could help fund the playground.

Children, City Government, Disabilities, Syracuse City Council, Utah Read more Comments

'Imagine Independence' to raise funds for Canine Companions

Becky Cairns Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 7:42am

A person who is blind may use a guide dog; someone who is deaf may have a hearing dog.

But did you know that dogs can help folks with other types of disabilities?

Raising awareness of these types of service dogs is the aim of "Imagine Independence," a fundraiser on Thursday, April 26, for Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Features, Best Friends Animal Society, Canine Companions, Companion dogs, Disabilities, Frank McMillan, Fundraiser, Imagine Independence Read more Comments

Principal Lichelle Watne helps student Jared Quintana down the stairs to the cafeteria with a mobile chairlift at Hillcrest Elementary School in Ogden on Thursday. (NICHOLAS DRANEY/Standard-Examiner)

Chairlift helps Hillcrest Elementary student get to lunch

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Thursday, April 5, 2012 - 11:01pm

OGDEN — Jared Quintana’s journey to his Hillcrest Elementary School cafeteria used to take him and the person pushing his wheelchair out the front door, down a ramp, around the school through wind, rain or snow, up three stairs and into the back door of the basement lunchroom.

Now the second-grader simply rides “Jared’s machine.”

Disabilities, Disability, Disabled, Handicapped, Mount Ogden Junior High School, Ogden School District, Utah, Featured Read more Comments

COURTNEY PERRY/Star Tribune
David Hastings can't wait to take his driver's test and get his license, even though he has waited until he is 22. Hastings has Asperger's a form of autism, and traditional driver's education classes have not worked so he has gone through a special program to learn his driving skill. He is shown in Mendola Heights, Minn.

Driving instructors shift gears for students with disabilities

Jeff Strickler Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Last updated Sunday, March 11, 2012 - 7:43am

MINNEAPOLIS -- Like many young men counting down the days until they can drive, David Hastings has March 15 circled in red: It's the day he takes his behind-the-wheel driver's test. Is he confident he'll pass the test? "Yes, I am," he announced firmly.

Hastings had to master more than the usual challenges to get to this point. For one thing, he's 22, not 16. And he has autism.

Traditional driver's education classes haven't worked well for him.

But now that he's studying to be a graphic designer, he figures he needs a car for independence. He's determined that his form of autism, Asperger's, won't stop him from achieving either goal.

Features, Asperger's, Autism, Disabilities, Driver's ed, Driver's license, Driving Read more Comments

Teacher Shelly Moss guides a “blind” Naftali Sanchez,16, through the Ben Lomond High School cafeteria on Thursday. Sanchez is wearing blacked-out goggles that block her sight so she can learn the challenges blind people face daily. (MATTHEW ARDEN HATFIELD/Standard-Examiner)

Ben Lomond High peer counselors 'disabled' for a day

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Monday, February 27, 2012 - 12:08am

OGDEN -- Neftali Sanchez waited in silence on a bench inside Ben Lomond High School, helpless to see the way to the school cafeteria.

"I'll be back for you," teacher Shelly Moss called to the 16-year-old, hurrying toward the lunch line to help Neftali's classmate, Jasmine Ayala, 15, who was struggling to move forward in her wheelchair.

Education, Ben Lomond High School, Blind, Blind students, Disabilities, Disability, Disabled, Family, Handicapped, mentoring, Paraplegia, Parenting, Teaching, Teens, Utah, Featured Read more Comments

Local speaker observes 8-year anniversary of being paralyzed

JaNae Francis Standard-Examiner

Last updated Friday, February 24, 2012 - 5:32pm

OGDEN -- A popular local speaker in area churches will turn 30 this week and will celebrate the eight-year anniversary of becoming paralyzed.

Known for her favorite saying, "When life gets too hard to stand, just keep on rollin,'" motivational speaker and author Meg Johnson has a new self-published book, which she both wrote and illustrated, available on her website, MegJohnsonSpeaks.com.

Titled "The Coolest of Days," the book is a colorful story of a girl following God through the creation of the Earth and then through the creation of her own life and challenges.

Disabilities, Paralyzed, Religion, Featured, LDS Church Read more Comments

(JENNIFER GHAN/Special to the Standard-Examiner) Philip Michelsen and Curtis Christiansen, are basketball scorekeepers at Fruit Heights LDS Stake Center.

Twenty years' worth of controlling basketball games for two LDS men

Ruth Malan Standard-Examiner

Last updated Monday, February 20, 2012 - 7:44pm

FRUIT HEIGHTS — Many nights a month, Curtis Christiansen and Philip Michelsen sit at a table on the stage of the Fruit Heights Stake Center for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where they have kept score and managed the clock at church basketball games for 20 years.

Disabilities, Religion, Scorekeepers, Utah, Basketball, Featured, LDS Church Read more Comments

(MATTHEW ARDEN HATFIELD/Standard-Examiner) Jason Tonioli is the chairman of the board at EnableUtah.

Enable Utah chairman wants to increase awareness

JaNae Francis Standard-Examiner

Last updated Saturday, February 11, 2012 - 8:01pm

OGDEN -- If your company would benefit from an economical manufacturing process or service, Jason Tonioli has an idea for you.

Business, Disabilities, EnableUtah, Jobs, Utah, Featured Read more Comments

The historic cabin of Miles Goodyear is moved from the site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Ogden Temple, which is being remodeled, to a temporary site in November. The cabin will be moved, along with the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum, to a new permanent site in Ogden. The museum moves today; the cabin will be moved when the weather allows for landscaping. (MATTHEW ARDEN HATFIELD/Standard-Examiner)

Weber County DUP museum changing locations today

Mitch Shaw Standard-Examiner

Last updated Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - 12:49pm

OGDEN -- After spending the past few months in limbo, a pair of historic buildings owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will soon have permanent homes.

More than 100 years of history will move a few city blocks today as the Weber County Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum building will be moved from its current location at 2148 Grant Ave. to 2104 Lincoln Ave. on a half-acre lot donated by the city.

City Government, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Disabilities, Disability, Disabled, Event, Mormon pioneers, Museum, Ogden Temple, Utah, Utah history, History, LDS Church Read more Comments

North Ogden reluctantly complies with ADA, FHA rules

Rachel J. Trotter Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, January 22, 2012 - 11:35pm

NORTH OGDEN — The city council has approved ordinances that put the city in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act, but not with a smile.

City Council, Disabilities, Housing, Ordinance, Utah Read more Comments