Utah
02/04/2012 - 01:08 AM
Lawmakers scrap effort to ban anti-gay discrimination
By Rosemary Winters
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Feb 4, 2012 08:08AM 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 public hearing with a standing-room-only crowd.
Sen. Ben McAdams, the bill’s sponsor and a Salt Lake City Democrat, said he was disappointed the bill failed but called the hearing a “valuable discussion” and a “huge milestone.” This is...
02/03/2012 - 11:47 PM
Should Utah cancer doctors be able to dispense drugs?
By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Feb 4, 2012 06:47AM MDT
Cancer doctors who want to give patients new “smart” drugs in their offices — a practice now forbidden in Utah — will soon take their case to the Legislature, arguing that the current law can make patients’ lives more miserable and cost them too much money.
Supporters say SB161, sponsored by Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo and introduced Thursday, would be a way to ensure people with cancer have better access to newer drugs, which manufacturers increasingly are turning out in pills rather than medic...
02/03/2012 - 01:54 PM
Archaeologist blocked in appeal of job loss
By JUDY FAHYS
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Feb 3, 2012 08:54PM 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 Jones chose to retire before he could be terminated in a reduction of force.
“By resigning and subsequently retiring,” said the decision by administrator Robert W. Thompson, Jones “avoided the negative consequences to his a...
02/03/2012 - 12:59 PM
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, Valdemar Inspiration, had a sticker on the bottle supporting the George W. Bush Library Foundation. One shopper, knowing he had stumbled onto a deal, bought four cases. He told a friend, who hurried to the store for another four cases, but by then...
02/03/2012 - 11:50 AM
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 have exploded and student loan debt is off the charts,” said Neela Pack, student body president at the University of Utah.
“We are here today to call for leadership and action to make education the state’s first priority,” she said....
02/03/2012 - 10:51 AM
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 for giving money to scholarship organizations. Those organizations would then award scholarships to students to help them attend private schools. To qualify, students would have to score below expected or proficient on certain tests, attend ...
02/03/2012 - 10:00 AM
Gun bills sail through committee
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 law enforcement officers to bypass background checks every time they made a private gun purchase because they already have annual background checks.
Galvez argued that by paying fees each time they make a private purchas...
02/03/2012 - 07:06 AM
Anti-Hatch booklet hitting Utah mailboxes
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Feb 3, 2012 02:06PM MDT
Washington • Utahns who have attended Republican caucuses in recent years should expect to find a glossy booklet in the mail that attacks Sen. Orrin Hatch on everything from his vote to create the Education Department in 1979 to his support for the 2008 Wall Street bailout.
FreedomWorks for America produced the 44-page document and has mailed 36,000 copies that should hit homes on Friday or Saturday.
It is by far the most detailed and costly attack the tea party group has leveled against Hatc...
02/03/2012 - 04:54 AM
BLM plans to rein in oil shale; Bishop balks
By brandon loomis
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Feb 3, 2012 11:54AM MDT
The Obama administration has proposed sharply reducing the acreage available for oil shale and tar sands leasing in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.
The proposal, released Friday for a 90-day public comment period, slashes a Bush-era leasing plan from 1.9 million acres of shale and 431,000 acres of sands to 462,000 and 91,000, respectively.
All of the tar sands and more than half the shale grounds are in eastern Utah.
The Bureau of Land Management announced a do-over of the old leasing plan last year...
02/03/2012 - 04:05 AM
Anti-Hatch booklet hitting Utah mailboxes
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Feb 3, 2012 11:05AM MDT
Washington • Utahns who have attended Republican caucuses in recent years should expect to find a glossy booklet in the mail that attacks Sen. Orrin Hatch on everything from his vote to create the Education Department in 1979 to his support for the 2008 Wall Street bailout.
FreedomWorks for America produced the 44-page document and has mailed 36,000 copies that should hit homes on Friday or Saturday.
It is by far the most detailed and costly attack the tea party group has leveled against Hatc...