Politics - The Salt Lake Tribune

Utah GOP again rejects reforms to nomination process

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:31:49 MDT

Utah GOP again rejects reforms to nomination process

by Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 19, 2013 12:31PM MDT

The Utah Republican Party again rejected a series of reforms to the party’s nominating process in a move that could trigger a threatened ballot initiative to overhaul the system for picking candidates. Count My Vote, a group made up of several prominent Republicans, including former Gov. Mike Leavitt, argued the current system puts too much power in the hands of a small group of delegates, depresses turnout and leads to radicalization of Utah politics. The group had said if changes weren’t ...

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Hatch has plan to attack public-lands pot farms

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:28:54 MDT

Hatch has plan to attack public-lands pot farms

by Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 19, 2013 12:28PM MDT

Washington • Somewhere in the remote wilderness of southern Utah on land controlled by the federal government, members of a Mexican cartel are putting new marijuana plants in the earth in hopes of reaping a multimillion dollar harvest this fall. And it eats at the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Sue Thomas. “They have taken over our public lands. They have no stake in Utah,” she said. “They are here to use and abuse our public lands for their own profit,” she said. These illegal flash farms a...

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Huntsman: ‘Political extremism’ prompts scandals

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:01:03 MDT

Huntsman: ‘Political extremism’ prompts scandals

by Thomas Burr And Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 19, 2013 01:01AM MDT

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman says the nation’s polarization is leading to the types of scandals tarring Washington lately, including the IRS scrutiny of tea party groups, the Justice Department’s seizing of Associated Press phone records and the eight-month-long investigation into the Benghazi terrorist attacks. “The events we’re seeing playing out are in fact, to my mind, an extension of political extremism. The politicization of governance,” Huntsman said last week in the inaugural XM-Sirius ...

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Utah gun sales, permits triple since Sandy Hook

Sat, 18 May 2013 21:36:14 MDT

Utah gun sales, permits triple since Sandy Hook

by Derek P. Jensen The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 09:36PM MDT

Utahns made an all-time high 23,000 gun purchases in December, the same month as the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. That number more than triples the state’s gun-sale average from the first 11 months of 2012. And while December’s buying spree was a spike, firearms sales have seemed to settle in at a new, higher normal. During the first quarter of 2013, Utah gun purchases doubled the prior decade’s average, while applications for concealed-weapons permits leapt off ...

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In surprise to the NSA, Utah Data Center may pay tax on electricity

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:42:23 MDT

In surprise to the NSA, Utah Data Center may pay tax on electricity

by Nate Carlisle The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 18, 2013 06:42PM MDT

Under a bill the 2013 Utah Legislature passed, the National Security Agency’s new Bluffdale data center might be taxed on the millions of dollars of energy it is expected to consume, providing a potential windfall for an obscure state authority. The NSA is protesting the possible tax, even though a Utah attorney said he informed the agency about HB325, and the top U.S. electronic spy agency voiced no opposition until an official emailed Gov. Gary Herbert’s staff weeks after Herbert signed the ...

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Hatch calls for investigation of Obamacare funding

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:24:42 MDT

Hatch calls for investigation of Obamacare funding

by Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 17, 2013 01:24PM MDT

Washington • Congressional Republicans claim Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is trying to skirt federal law by fundraising for a nonprofit promoting the Affordable Care Act. They argue the move is a way to bypass the financial restrictions that Congress has imposed on the agency and they want the Government Accountability Office to investigate, according to a letter sent Thursday signed by five top Republicans, including Sen. Orrin Hatch, the ranking member of the Senate Fi...

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Paul Rolly: Snakes trigger venom in Cottonwood Heights

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:07:40 MDT

Paul Rolly: Snakes trigger venom in Cottonwood Heights

by Paul Rolly tribune Columnist

Published May 17, 2013 10:07AM MDT

Residents in the Hollow Ridge neighborhood of Cottonwood Heights are joking they have been inundated with two kinds of pests recently. First, they learned one of their neighbors keeps 29 boa constrictors in his house, then, when word got out, their block was swarming with television news crews. Even USA Today has weighed in on the controversy. The neighbors also joke their Hollow Ridge area should be renamed Boa Ridge in honor of the newly discovered residents. Once neighbors complained, city o...

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Hatch wants IRS probe to expand, include Freedom Path

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:42:46 MDT

Hatch wants IRS probe to expand, include Freedom Path

by Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 16, 2013 06:42PM MDT

Washington • A group of Senate Republicans led by Sen. Orrin Hatch called for a new investigation into the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday, focused on the improper release of information on nine conservative groups, including one that supported Hatch in his 2012 re-election campaign. In December, the IRS gave the website ProPublica the applications of 31 politically active groups with tax-exempt status, but nine of them had not been approved or denied. By law, the applications are confident...

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Green activists, neighbors blast new West Davis freeway plan

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:42:46 MDT

Green activists, neighbors blast new West Davis freeway plan

by Lee Davidson The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 16, 2013 06:42PM MDT

The Utah Department of Transportation on Thursday unveiled its preferred route for the new West Davis Corridor freeway — the northwestern extension of Legacy Parkway — that it says will best reduce congestion, be least expensive and have fewer impacts to existing homes, farms and wetlands. But community and environmental groups blasted the plan, saying it will ruin rural neighborhoods and harm wildlife and wetlands. They argue the project is not needed and will help only developers as it leads t...

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Obama names Utah state judge to 10th Circuit bench

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:45:03 MDT

Obama names Utah state judge to 10th Circuit bench

by Thomas Burr The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 16, 2013 03:45PM MDT

Washington • President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated Utah Court of Appeals Presiding Judge Carolyn B. McHugh to the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to replace a more senior judge taking on a smaller caseload. Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee suggested McHugh, who joined the Utah appellate court in 2005, and both Utah Republicans support the nomination. “Judge McHugh is smart, qualified, and really represents everything we look for in a judge,” Hatch said in a statement. “Carolyn has p...

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Salt Lake, Davis prosecutors also investigating Swallow

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:09:17 MDT

Salt Lake, Davis prosecutors also investigating Swallow

by Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 16, 2013 03:09PM MDT

Embattled Utah Attorney General John Swallow is facing another criminal probe, this one from two county attorneys who have been collaborating for months with federal investigators. Salt Lake County’s Sim Gill and Davis County’s Troy Rawlings are examining whether Swallow and his predecessor, Mark Shurtleff, broke any state laws. Gill said Wednesday that his office received information from attorneys for convicted swindler Marc Sessions Jenson about alleged impropriety in the attorney general’s o...

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Public input invited on Utah tar sands mining proposal

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:30:02 MDT

Public input invited on Utah tar sands mining proposal

the Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 16, 2013 02:30PM MDT

The Bureau of Land Management is inviting public comment on an environmental assessment released this week concerning a proposal to lease about 2,100 acres in Uintah County for a tar sands mining operation. MCW Energy Group has said it expects to produce 250 barrels a day at the Asphalt Ridge site, a few miles south of Vernal, under an agreement with Temple Mountain Energy Inc., which will supply the ore. Of the total lease acreage, the BLM report anticipates that 540 acres on the east side of A...

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Gun school for southern Utah teachers: Free training on a firing range

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:44:28 MDT

Gun school for southern Utah teachers: Free training on a firing range

by Derek P. Jensen | The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 16, 2013 10:44AM MDT

Wasatch Front teachers had their concealed-weapons crash course over Christmas. Now, five months after the Sandy Hook slayings, Utah’s leading gun lobby is offering a second concealed-training session for educators who plan to carry guns on campus — this time in St. George and with a live ammo shooting range. The Utah Shooting Sports Council will put on this weekend’s gun school for free, saying it wants to help all school employees better protect their students and themselves. Similar classes ...

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At Coral Pink Sand Dunes, more room for rare beetle, less for ORVs

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:08 MDT

At Coral Pink Sand Dunes, more room for rare beetle, less for ORVs

by Brian Maffly The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 16, 2013 10:00AM MDT

State and federal officials are expanding conservation zones in the Coral Pink Sand Dunes to further protect a rare beetle, narrowing the portion of the dunes available to off-road vehicles. Announced Friday, the move is hoped to secure additional habitat for the Coral Pink Sand Dunes tiger beetle, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The agency is to decide by the end of September whether to list the beetle as threatened. Such a ...

He’s back: Romney buys houses in Utah

Thu, 16 May 2013 06:39:41 MDT

He’s back: Romney buys houses in Utah

by Thomas Burr The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 16, 2013 06:39AM MDT

Washington • Utahns may see Mitt Romney a little more often. The former presidential candidate and his family have purchased two adjoining homes in Holladay, each of which is zoned for equestrian use. Romney purchased two homes through a holding company in March, Salt Lake County records show. Mitt Romney had sold his Deer Valley home in 2009 as he prepared for his second bid for the White House. The former head of the 2002 Winter Olympics still owns a home in New Hampshire and in La Jolla, Cali...

IRS chief ousted over tea party scandal

Wed, 15 May 2013 20:46:11 MDT

IRS chief ousted over tea party scandal

by Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 15, 2013 08:46PM MDT

Washington • President Barack Obama removed the Internal Revenue Service’s acting commissioner Wednesday in reaction to a growing scandal over the targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. Conservatives, including Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, had pressed the president to demand the resignation of Steven Miller, who was aware of the IRS’ inappropriate political filter during the 2012 election and withheld the information from GOP lawmakers. “It is important to institute new leader...

Fallen Utah officers honored in Washington, D.C.

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:33:53 MDT

Fallen Utah officers honored in Washington, D.C.

by Thomas Burr The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 15, 2013 04:33PM MDT

Washington • Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Aaron Beesley saved countless lives in rescue operations. Ogden police Officer Jared Francom charged head-on into dangerous situations. Border Patrol Officer Nicholas Ivie helped secure the nation’s southernmost boundary. All three Utahns died in the line of duty last year and were honored Wednesday in Washington along with 318 of their fellow law enforcement officers. “I did feel Aaron a few times,” Kristie Beesley, the wife of the late trooper, said a...

House passes Ute tribe land swap

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:28:02 MDT

House passes Ute tribe land swap

Published May 15, 2013 03:28PM MDT

Washington • A land swap between the Ute Indian Tribe and the state of Utah is quickly moving through Congress. The House approved the agreement sponsored by Rep. Rob Bishop on Wednesday, and a Senate committee may take it up as soon as Thursday. The legislation would trade the mineral rights to about 20,000 acres within the Hill Creek Extension of the Ute tribe for about 20,000 acres in the oil- and gas-rich northern part of the reservation. “With this legislation we accomplish the goals of ...

Senator pushing to have Utah’s attorney general appointed

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:33:42 MDT

Senator pushing to have Utah’s attorney general appointed

by Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 15, 2013 12:33PM MDT

A state senator said Wednesday he’s convinced Utah should amend its Constitution to have its attorney general appointed rather than elected, in part due to a scandal that has embroiled the current top cop, John Swallow. “The question here is: Do we want the best lawyer or the best politician as the state’s chief law enforcement officer?” Sen. Todd Weiler told the Legislature’s government operations committee. “I know it’s a big deal to take this away from the people, but I’m absolutely convince...

Paul Rolly: FreedomWorks, from hero to boogeyman?

Tue, 14 May 2013 19:54:08 MDT

Paul Rolly: FreedomWorks, from hero to boogeyman?

by Paul Rolly Tribune Columnist

Published May 14, 2013 07:54PM MDT

Just three years ago, the deep-pocketed political action committee FreedomWorks was claiming king-of-the-hill status with intraparty victories over Republican incumbents it deemed untrue to conservative principles. Among FreedomWorks’ claimed prey was former Utah U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, an 18-year veteran in the Senate who lost at the state GOP convention in 2010. He eventually was replaced by tea party favorite Mike Lee. FreedomWorks then set its sights on the other Utah Senate incumbent, Orri...