“The violence and what is going on there is escalating,” Hughes said Wednesday. “When it gets that out of hand, you can have a discussion about the National Guard with a straight face.”

The Draper Republican explained that he wasn’t asking Gov. Gary Herbert to call out the Guard just yet. But Hughes is among state lawmakers, city and county officials, as well as service providers, who have been working intensively for over three years to improve the neighborhood around Pioneer Park, the homeless shelter and other service centers.

Their efforts look to be falling short.

“It’s just a disgrace,” Hughes said. “I worry that we’re not ready to do the things necessary to clean that area up.”

Herbert’s office said Wednesday the governor was on a rural tour and could not be reached for comment.

Saturday, a homeless man attacked Las Vegas 51s baseball relief pitcher Logan Taylor in an attempted robbery.

When Taylor refused to hand over his wallet, the man, identified as Joshua Cruz, hit him over the head with a tire iron, police said.

News of the assault grabbed national headlines.

Then, on Tuesday evening, a car jumped the curb and plowed into a group of homeless people on 200 South near 400 West about 6 p.m., leaving one dead and five injured.

As folks around The Road Home recalled the incident, they acknowledged that almost anything is possible around Rio Grande Street.

“I turned around and went, oh sh–,” Matt Clark said Wednesday. “I went to that girl, Kendra. She was lying on the ground. I saw blood in her mouth. I didn’t know if she was alive.”

The word on the street is the woman, known in the neighborhood as Kendra, was the single fatality of a hit-and-run that police still are investigating. The cause remains unknown. The driver fled.

Five other adults were hospitalized — one in critical condition. By Wednesday afternoon, police had not identified the deceased…..More Here