Utah Political News
Debate over criminal ‘intent’ a balancing act in Utah Legislature
Debate over criminal ‘intent’ a balancing act in Utah Legislature By David Montero The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 4, 2012 06:17PM MDT In the movie “Minority Report,” a man is arrested by police and yells, “I didn’t do anything! I wasn’t going to do anything.” That world — based on a short story by Philip K. Dick — is one where cops can determine the intent to commit ...
Sunday February 5, 2012 12:17AM | sltrib.com
D.C. Notebook: Hatch loves Mitt, but warns him to avoid gaffes
D.C. Notebook: Hatch loves Mitt, but warns him to avoid gaffes By Thomas Burr and Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 4, 2012 06:00PM MDT Sen. Orrin Hatch says Mitt Romney has a lock on the Republican presidential nomination but warns that he needs to be more cautious in what he says to avoid headline-grabbing gaffes. The Utah Republican says Romney’s recent comment — tha ...
Sunday February 5, 2012 12:00AM | sltrib.com
Romney rolls in Nevada primary
Romney rolls in Nevada primary By DAVID ESPO and KASIE HUNT Associated Press Published Feb 4, 2012 01:18PM MDT LAS VEGAS • Republican presidential front runner Mitt Romney reached for his second straight victory Saturday in quiet Nevada caucuses, a contest that Newt Gingrich and the rest of his rivals conceded in advance. Unlike contentious earlier events from Iowa to Florida, this one fe ...
Saturday February 4, 2012 7:18PM | sltrib.com
Crying wolf
Crying wolf Published Feb 4, 2012 01:01AM MDT Mike Lee is crying wolf. The junior senator from the state of Utah has gone all ballistic over the fact that President Obama has a marginally different interpretation of the Constitution than he does. Lee is so hot and bothered about it that he is calling Obama a tyrant, comparing the appointment of a mid-level bureaucrat to Pearl Harbor and bo ...
Saturday February 4, 2012 7:01AM | sltrib.com
Powell pipeline
Powell pipeline Published Feb 4, 2012 01:01AM MDT A legislative task force wants to siphon 15 percent of revenue growth from state sales tax to finance the $1.5 billion Lake Powell Pipeline. That is unacceptable because it would create a funding drought for other essential state programs, from higher education to Medicaid. Last year the Legislature set aside 30 percent of sales tax revenue ...
Saturday February 4, 2012 7:01AM | sltrib.com
Herbert fumes over BLM plan to rein in oil shale
Herbert fumes over BLM plan to rein in oil shale By brandon loomis The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 10:08PM MDT Energy industry proponents howled while environmentalists raised a tepid toast Friday to the Obama administration’s plans to slash the acreage available in Utah and neighboring states for oil shale and tar sands mining. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s proposal ...
Saturday February 4, 2012 4:08AM | sltrib.com
Archaeologist blocked in appeal of job loss
Archaeologist blocked in appeal of job loss By JUDY FAHYS The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 08:41PM MDT Former State Archaeologist Kevin Jones cannot challenge the loss of his state job last summer in a restructuring at the Utah Department of Community and Culture. An officer of the Utah Career Service Review Office ruled Thursday that he has no jurisdiction in the case because Jo ...
Saturday February 4, 2012 2:41AM | sltrib.com
Lawmakers scrap effort to ban anti-gay discrimination
Lawmakers scrap effort to ban anti-gay discrimination By Rosemary Winters The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 08:34PM MDT Despite strong support in public polls and endorsements from prominent business leaders, lawmakers on Friday snuffed out a statewide effort to ban discrimination against gay and transgender Utahns. In a 4-2 vote, a Senate committee shelved SB51 after a 90-minute ...
Saturday February 4, 2012 2:34AM | sltrib.com
Rolly: The state’s great deal on wine gets buried in a hurry
Rolly: The state’s great deal on wine gets buried in a hurry By paul rolly The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 07:59PM MDT Shoppers at the state wine store at 255 S. 300 East in Salt Lake City thought they had died and gone to heaven. A Spanish wine that normally retails for more than $20 a bottle was on sale at the store for $2.24. The wine from the Rioja region of Spain, Valdema ...
Saturday February 4, 2012 1:59AM | sltrib.com
College students rally for higher ed funding
College students rally for higher ed funding By Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 06:50PM MDT About 150 college students and business and civic leaders from across the state lobbied legislators Friday to invest in Utah’s public universities. “Students here today can tell you the challenge we face: Enrollment growth hasn’t been funded since 2002, tuition costs ...
Saturday February 4, 2012 12:50AM | sltrib.com
Utah state school board opposes tuition tax credit bill
Utah state school board opposes tuition tax credit bill By lisa schencker The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 05:51PM MDT The state school board voted Friday to officially oppose a tuition tax credit bill intended to help students attend private schools. The board voted 8-6 to not lend support to Sen. Howard Stephenson’s SB151. The bill would allow donors to receive tax credits fo ...
Friday February 3, 2012 11:51PM | sltrib.com
Gun bills sail through committee
Gun bills sail through committee By David Montero The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 05:00PM MDT Two gun bills — one to make it easier for police to purchase firearms as private citizens and one to allow hunters to have concealed weapons with short barrels — passed unanimously out of a House committee Friday. Rep. Brad Galvez, R-West Haven, proposed HB117, which would allow la ...
Friday February 3, 2012 11:00PM | sltrib.com
Salt Lake City in Legislature’s cross hairs
Salt Lake City in Legislature’s cross hairs By derek p. jensen The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 04:52PM MDT After granting Mayor Ralph Becker and City Hall a first-term honeymoon — call it the calm after the Rocky Anderson storm — the Utah Legislature, it appears, has declared open season on Salt Lake City. From the opening gun this 2012 session, state lawmakers have been ...
Friday February 3, 2012 10:52PM | sltrib.com
Utah lawmaker returns with tenure ban bill, but research schools would be exempt
Utah lawmaker returns with tenure ban bill, but research schools would be exempt By Brian Maffly The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 04:27PM MDT A Provo lawmaker who believes the tenure system has outlived its usefulness in higher education is pushing new legislation to ban lifetime employment protection for college professors. If HB322 becomes law, Utah would become the first state ...
Friday February 3, 2012 10:27PM | sltrib.com
Herrod offers compromise on his guest-worker bill
Herrod offers compromise on his guest-worker bill By David Montero The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 04:22PM MDT The sponsor of legislation that would cost police officers their certification if they didn’t adequately enforce immigration law said Friday he’d be willing to take it out of a larger bill designed to replace the state’s existing guest worker law. Rep. Chris Hero ...
Friday February 3, 2012 10:22PM | sltrib.com
Herbert fumes as BLM reins in oil shale
Herbert fumes as BLM reins in oil shale By brandon loomis The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 03:57PM MDT Energy industry proponents howled while environmentalists raised a tepid toast Friday to the Obama administration’s plans to slash the acreage available in Utah and neighboring states for oil shale and tar sands mining. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s proposal, release ...
Friday February 3, 2012 9:57PM | sltrib.com
House votes to make boat hit-and-run a felony
House votes to make boat hit-and-run a felony By Lee Davidson The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 03:53PM MDT After witnesses said boaters at Pineview Reservoir left a swimmer to bleed to death after they struck her last summer, lawmakers advanced a bill Friday to make leaving the scene of a boating accident clearly illegal. The House Transportation Committee voted unanimously Frida ...
Friday February 3, 2012 9:53PM | sltrib.com
Who should pay to save Salt Lake City’s ailing trees?
Who should pay to save Salt Lake City’s ailing trees? By derek P. jensen The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 03:43PM MDT Bug-infested forests, scarring our mountainsides with swaths of red or gray trees, receive more scrutiny. But a similar malady menacing Salt Lake City’s urban forest suddenly has the attention of arborists and politicians alike. The city’s stately sycamore ...
Friday February 3, 2012 9:43PM | sltrib.com
Utah House passes tweaked voter bill
Utah House passes tweaked voter bill By Lee Davidson The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 02:53PM MDT Despite continuing concerns that it may violate the national Voting Rights Act, the Utah House approved a bill Friday that could remove voters from registration rolls if they fail to vote in several consecutive elections. It voted 46-27 for HB13 and sent it to the Senate. The Voting ...
Friday February 3, 2012 8:53PM | sltrib.com
Utah Senate advances environmental boards revamp
Utah Senate advances environmental boards revamp By JUDY FAHYS The Salt Lake Tribune Published Feb 3, 2012 02:45PM MDT A bill that reshapes Utah’s environmental advisory boards on such things as clean air and water and radioactive waste cleared its first Senate vote on Friday, 19-3. SB21 is expected to be up for its final Senate vote early next week. Sponsoring Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Ore ...
Friday February 3, 2012 8:45PM | sltrib.com
Social Networks