COUNTY - The Salt Lake Tribune

Debunking DeBry

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:01:03 MDT

Debunking DeBry

Updated Jun 19, 2013 01:01AM MDT

I am currently visiting Salt Lake City. It is a sad state of affairs when an elected official suggests, as Salt Lake County Council Chairmen Steve DeBry did, that carrying a banner advocating equal protection of the law is a partisan political activity (“Did Salt Lake County show too much pride?” Tribune, June 12). DeBry should be thanked, though, for inadvertently exposing the dishonesty behind the oft-repeated claim that opponents of same-sex marriage only object to “redefining” marriage. De...

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Family steps up with $4 million to rescue Capitol Theatre project

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:33:02 MDT

Family steps up with $4 million to rescue Capitol Theatre project

By Mike Gorrell | The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 18, 2013 11:33PM MDT

Just when the future of the century-old Capitol Theatre was in dire straits, the Janet Quinney Lawson Foundation came to the rescue. In a surprise announcement Tuesday, Salt Lake County officials said the foundation donated $4.1 million to keep a $33.4 million renovation from being canceled at nearly the last minute after a federal tax credit came up $5 million short of budget expectations. For that contribution, the modernized facility will be renamed the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre. I...

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Weber voters to decide $45 million library bond

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:30:33 MDT

Weber voters to decide $45 million library bond

By cathy mckitrick The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 18, 2013 09:30PM MDT

In Weber County, library use is at an all-time high, but sorely needed upgrades and expansions have been put off for years. In a special vote-by-mail election on June 25, voters will decide whether those improvements can happen. On the table is a $45 million bond that will provide for • Renovation and upgrades of the historic main library at 2464 Jefferson in Ogden • Replacement of the southwest branch in Roy with a larger, more modern facility • Expansion and modernization of the North Ogden ...

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Tooele to grind up paved Pony Express section to save money

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:48:44 MDT

Tooele to grind up paved Pony Express section to save money

By Lee Davidson The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 18, 2013 07:48AM MDT

Financially troubled Tooele County is about to grind up a paved, 11-mile section of the old Pony Express Trail and turn it into a gravel road because that’s cheaper than fixing potholes. Residents are pleading to delay that project to study its effects — contending it will make travel more hazardous and hinder what they say is often heavy traffic toward West Desert recreational areas including the Little Sahara sand dunes. But county spokesman Wade Mathews said Monday the decision is final, and ...

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Utah County health officials: Let’s talk about sex

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:24:15 MDT

Utah County health officials: Let’s talk about sex

By kirsten stewart The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 18, 2013 09:24PM MDT

It says nothing of birth control. The only “barriers” mentioned are those faced by parents anxious about having – you know, “the talk.” But an abstinence education website — http://talking2teens.utahcounty.gov —launched Tuesday by the Utah County Health Department does contain frank talk about the sexual habits of teenagers. “Studies show that parents have the greatest influence on their child’s sexual behavior – more than their friends or the media – but they often avoid talking to their chil...

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Wanted Utah man creates new life in Mexico, but cops find him anyway

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:49:53 MDT

Wanted Utah man creates new life in Mexico, but cops find him anyway

By Janelle Stecklein The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 18, 2013 06:49PM MDT

It didn’t take Jesse Amos Bunker long to establish a new life in Mexico. In less than five years, the 33-year-old had purportedly built a nice life for himself, complete with a wife and a 1-year-old child, said Sgt. Jason Randall, who works with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Investigations Unit and the Joint Criminal Apprehension Team (JCAT). But Bunker also had a secret. In March 2009, he had posted $20,000 bond for 10 first-degree felony counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a chil...

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Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams turns his attention to helping education

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:43:25 MDT

Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams turns his attention to helping education

By Mike Gorrell The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 17, 2013 08:43PM MDT

South Salt Lake • Mayor Ben McAdams kicked off a campaign Monday to lend more Salt Lake County assistance to after-school programs and early-education opportunities in hopes of enhancing the community by doing more for its disadvantaged children. McAdams introduced Roderic Land, his assistant director of human services and a former clinical assistant professor of education, culture and society at the University of Utah, as the county’s liaison to the education community, government agencies and...

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Three California men arrested on federal Utah warrants

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:31:02 MDT

Three California men arrested on federal Utah warrants

By Michael McFall The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 17, 2013 05:31PM MDT

Three defendants indicted in Utah in 2011 as part of an investigation into a large suspected marijuana distribution ring have been arrested in California and more than 1,400 plants confiscated. The three men are among 10 residents of California and Utah residents who were indicted in U.S. District Court of Utah for conspiring, combining, confederating or agreeing to distribute marijuana in Utah and elsewhere from about June 2008 to September 2011. Nine of them, including the three just-arreste...

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Utah man charged for girl’s death in ATV accident

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:36:48 MDT

Utah man charged for girl’s death in ATV accident

By Michael McFall The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 17, 2013 08:36PM MDT

A Provo man has been charged with killing a 7-year-old girl in an all-terrain vehicle accident in Tooele County on Mother’s Day. Chad Allen Tharp, 32, was charged in 3rd District Court on June 12 with automobile homicide, a third-degree felony, and misdemeanor reckless endangerment. The Tooele County Sheriff’s Office had been awaiting the results of blood tests before deciding whether to file charges against Tharp. The homicide charge, for which he could serve up to five years in prison, indic...

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Spying on people in New Jersey? State wants to know about it

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:15:02 MDT

Spying on people in New Jersey? State wants to know about it

The Associated Press

Updated Jun 17, 2013 12:15PM MDT

TRENTON, N.J. • New Jersey lawmakers are trying to require law enforcement agencies from elsewhere to give notice when they plan to conduct counterterrorism surveillance in the state, a measure prompted by revelations about New York City police spying on Muslims. The impetus for the proposal, which passed a Senate committee Monday, came from a series of articles by The Associated Press that revealed the NYPD operated secretly in New Jersey neighborhoods where Muslims lived and worked. They spied...

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Tavaci rezoning request headed to Salt Lake County Council

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:11:00 MDT

Tavaci rezoning request headed to Salt Lake County Council

By Mike Gorrell The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 18, 2013 08:11PM MDT

The dust had barely settled on the Salt Lake County Planning Commission’s rejection of a rezoning request for Tavaci Development, at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, when the developer turned to the County Council for a different decision. On Tuesday, the council set an Aug. 6 public hearing on the rezoning request, unanimously recommended for denial on Wednesday by the Planning Commission, which would give developer Terry Diehl latitude to transform the stalled development of 43 half-acre r...

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Salt Lake-Utah county line a wellspring of economic vitality

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:24:02 MDT

Salt Lake-Utah county line a wellspring of economic vitality

By Paul Beebe The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 18, 2013 02:24PM MDT

In northern Utah County, hundreds of workers at IM Flash Technologies turn the silicon in common sand into speedy, power-efficient flash memory chips that store songs, photos, documents and other data in mobile phones, cameras and tablets. Just up the road, in Salt Lake County, eBay unwrapped its new 240,000-square-foot Draper campus last month. The buildings accommodate 1,800 people who carry out customer service, software development, human resources and legal and accounting work for the e-com...

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It’s swim season! Help keep Utah’s pools clean

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:24:53 MDT

It’s swim season! Help keep Utah’s pools clean

By Nicole DeCriscio The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 15, 2013 05:24PM MDT

Salt Lake County public health officials are urging Utahns to help keep pools clean and safe this summer, concerned about a possible outbreak of illnesses caused by cryptosporidium. Germs from the parasites, highly infectious and chlorine resistant, come from fecal matter and can cause diarrhea for as long as two to three weeks. “Crypto outbreaks tend to be cyclic, and we haven’t seen a large outbreak in a few years,” said Pam Davenport, communications manager at the Salt Lake County Health Depa...

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Immigration bill boost in Utah County

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:01:08 MDT

Immigration bill boost in Utah County

By paul rolly The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 15, 2013 01:01AM MDT

From the bowels of hard-right Utah County, where the tea party thrives, anti-federal government resolutions are born and immigration reform ideas provoke hostile talk of rebellion, a state senator has taken a leading role in the fostering of bipartisan negotiations to pass an immigration bill that contains a path to citizenship. And he is doing it as a representative of the most prominent organization of state legislators that wants the federal government to take the lead so the states can more...

Politics everywhere

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:01:08 MDT

Politics everywhere

Updated Jun 15, 2013 01:01AM MDT

Salt Lake County Council Chairmen Steve DeBry is concerned that Salt Lake’s Pride Parade is a political event, and therefore the county’s library should not participate (“Did Salt Lake County show too much pride?” Tribune, June 12). He’s signaling out gays for special scrutiny. Gay pride events are no more political than Utah’s Hispanic Fiesta, which surely includes advocates for giving citizenship to undocumented immigrants. Both celebrate the existence and rightful place of their minority comm...

Vote-by-mail is safe, offers many benefits

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:01:04 MDT

Vote-by-mail is safe, offers many benefits

By ricky hatch

Updated Jun 15, 2013 01:01AM MDT

On June 25, Weber County will hold an election entirely by mail. This is the first time that a large Utah county will do so. This doesn’t need to be a scary thing, and it’s not really new, either. Almost 10 percent of Weber County voters’ ballots in November’s presidential election were cast by mail. Some people love vote-by-mail. Some hate it. Many don’t know much about it and wonder about its pros, cons, risks and controls. So let’s explore. Pros: Increased turnout. Voting data indicate that...

Still no charges against Utah teen accused of killing brothers

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 23:28:21 MDT

Still no charges against Utah teen accused of killing brothers

By Jessica Miller The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 15, 2013 11:28PM MDT

Three weeks after his adopted brothers were found stabbed to death in their West Point home, charges have not yet been filed against a 15-year-old boy accused of killing the children. Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said Friday his office is waiting to file charges at the request of the boy’s defense attorneys. “The juvenile suspect will remain in custody,” Rawlings said. “And we will give the defense, and particularly the family, an opportunity to communicate with us further before charges...

Map points the way along the Jordan River Parkway

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:40:02 MDT

Map points the way along the Jordan River Parkway

By Dawn House The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 14, 2013 12:40PM MDT

Enjoying the Jordan River Parkway just got easier with a newly released map of trails that run from the Utah County border in the south to the Great Salt Lake. The free map is available online and at several recreation centers through Salt Lake County. “This map is the first of its kind,” said Martin Jensen with Salt Lake County Parks & Recreation. “It’s literally a road map, and it’s made so that you can fold it up and tuck it into your back pocket.” The map has directions to the nearly continu...

North Ogden girl in serious condition after ATV crash

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:11:27 MDT

North Ogden girl in serious condition after ATV crash

By Bob Mims The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 14, 2013 04:11PM MDT

A teenage girl was in serious condition Friday, a day after she was injured when her 4-wheel all-terrain vehicle crashed and rolled near northern Utah’s Avon-Liberty Divide. The North Ogden girl, 15, and a 15-year-old male friend were riding ATVs near the county line between Cache and Weber counties about 12:30 p.m. Thursday. The girl apparently took a curve too fast, missed a corner and rolled several times, said Cache County Sheriff’s Lt. Chad Jensen. Emergency personnel answering a 911 call ...

Uinta winds topple tree, injuring Scout; another falls off climbing wall

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 23:04:55 MDT

Uinta winds topple tree, injuring Scout; another falls off climbing wall

By Kimball Bennion The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated Jun 13, 2013 11:04PM MDT

A Boy Scout was flown to the hospital Thursday afternoon after a tree fell on him at a Scout camp in the Uinta Mountains. Rick Barnes, chief scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America’s Great Salt Lake Council, said strong winds pushed a tree over on the 14-year-old Varsity Scout during the Varsity Big Event at the Hinckley Scout Ranch, about 30 miles south of Evanston, Wyo. Barnes said the boy suffered a head contusion, broken arm and broken leg but that the injuries are not life threatening...