POLICY - The Salt Lake Tribune

4 Americans killed since 2009 in U.S .drone strikes

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:26:03 MDT

4 Americans killed since 2009 in U.S .drone strikes

By LARA JAKES and PETE YOST The Associated Press

Updated May 22, 2013 07:26PM MDT

Washington • The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen since 2009. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama in which he plans to pledge more transparency to Congress in his counterterrorism policy. It was already known that three Americans had been killed in U.S. drones strikes in counterterrorism operations overseas, but A...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Susan Powell’s brother-in-law went from affable to suspicious

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:27:17 MDT

Susan Powell’s brother-in-law went from affable to suspicious

By brooke adams and nate carlisle The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 22, 2013 11:27AM MDT

Tacoma, Wash. • Of the Powell men, Michael Powell was the one people liked, and often trusted. Steve Powell wrote of missing his son Michael while he was gone. Josh Powell relied on Michael, his brother, to help him move and later to watch his children. Susan Powell’s father, Chuck Cox, wrote West Valley City police worrying his missing daughter was held prisoner by Steve Powell. But Cox specified that Michael Powell probably wouldn’t go along with it. Kiirsi Hellewell on Monday told reporte...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

White House insists Obama was not involved in IRS

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:09:57 MDT

White House insists Obama was not involved in IRS

The Associated Press

Updated May 19, 2013 11:09PM MDT

Washington • A top White House adviser insisted Sunday that President Barack Obama learned the Internal Revenue Service had targeted tea party groups only “when it came out in the news” while Republicans continued to press the administration for more answers. Trying to move past a challenging week that put the White House on the defensive, senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer was scheduled to appear on five Sunday news shows to repeat the administration’s position that no senior officials were involved ...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Will Boy Scouts accept gay youth? Vote is imminent

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:45:34 MDT

Will Boy Scouts accept gay youth? Vote is imminent

By DAVID CRARY The Associated Press

Updated May 18, 2013 01:45PM MDT

With its ranks deeply divided, the Boy Scouts of America is asking its local leaders from across the country to decide whether its contentious membership policy should be overhauled so that openly gay boys can participate in Scout units. The proposal to be put before the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA’s National Council on Thursday, at a meeting in Grapevine, Texas, would retain the Scouts’ long-standing ban on gays serving in adult leadership positions. Nonetheless, some conservatives ...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Hilman headed to new health insurance cooperative

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:36:56 MDT

Hilman headed to new health insurance cooperative

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 17, 2013 10:36PM MDT

Longtime health care policy advocate Judi Hilman will leave her post as director of the Utah Health Policy Project in July to join a new nonprofit health insurance cooperative. Hilman helped found UHPP nearly eight years ago. Her departure was announced Friday. She is planning to move to Arches Health Plan to serve as vice president of consumer engagement and strategic partnerships. Arches is Utah’s first health insurance cooperative formed under the federal Affordable Care Act. Hilman will ...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Judge lets Arizona policy on immigrant driver licenses stand

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:06:18 MDT

Judge lets Arizona policy on immigrant driver licenses stand

By JACQUES BILLEAUD The Associated Press

Updated May 16, 2013 07:06PM MDT

Phoenix • A judge on Thursday refused to halt Gov. Jan Brewer’s order that denies driver’s licenses for young immigrants in Arizona who have gotten work permits and avoided deportation under an Obama administration policy. The decision by U.S. District Judge David Campbell rejects the argument by immigrant rights advocates who said Brewer’s policy was unconstitutional because it’s trumped by federal law. Arizona’s refusal to view those in President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Ar...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Tooele County approves changes to retirement benefits

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:38:23 MDT

Tooele County approves changes to retirement benefits

By Cathy McKitrick The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 14, 2013 11:38PM MDT

Tooele • With cash flow evaporating in this sprawling county’s budget, Tooele County commissioners voted Tuesday to change the structure of retiree medical benefits. Speaking to a packed house, Commissioner Shawn Milne said they heard constituent concerns expressed two weeks ago and adjusted accordingly. “What we were proposing at that time was that all retirees be obligated to pay for 25 percent of their medical coverage, [and] ceasing coverage on dental and life insurance,” Milne said, “and ...

University of Utah reconsidering proposed skateboard ban

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:39:39 MDT

University of Utah reconsidering proposed skateboard ban

By Lindsay Whitehurst The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 10, 2013 09:39AM MDT

The University of Utah will take another look at a proposed campus skateboard ban, officials said Thursday. The proposal to ban all recreational nonmotorized riding devices on campus — including bikes — won’t come before the university’s Board of Trustees later this month, said U. spokesman Keith Sterling. Instead, an executive committee for the school’s Academic Senate will review it again on June 17. That meeting is closed to the public. “I think the drafters of the policy wanted to respect...

University of Utah weighing skateboard ban

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:20:12 MDT

University of Utah weighing skateboard ban

By Lindsay Whitehurst The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 9, 2013 01:20PM MDT

University of Utah police are proposing new rules to curb dangerous skateboarding with a policy change that could disallow all recreational riding on campus, including bikes. “There are plenty of places to skateboard. Streets, sidewalks and parking structures on campus are not the place to do it,” said U. police Chief Scott Folsom. Increasingly, young boarders are coming up to campus to speed down the hill to the city, creating potential hazards and at least one collision where a professor was ...

Washington Post: Tax reform on the table

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:26:04 MDT

Washington Post: Tax reform on the table

By The Washington Post

Updated May 8, 2013 04:26PM MDT

The following editorial appeared in Wednesday’s Washington Post: Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee, announced last month that he wants to spend the rest of his final term in office reforming the tax code, and there are signs that Republicans want an overhaul this year, too. Good. The tax code is an unruly, inefficient monstrosity that only tax attorneys could like. Congress has used it as a vehicle for interest-group giveaways and other forms of wasteful, underhanded...