PROGRAM - The Salt Lake Tribune

Obama sees narrower terror threat, defends drones

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:03:37 MDT

Obama sees narrower terror threat, defends drones

By JULIE PACE and LARA JAKES The Associated Press

Updated May 23, 2013 11:03PM MDT

Washington • President Barack Obama sought Thursday to advance the U.S. beyond the unrelenting war effort of the past dozen years, defining a narrower terror threat from smaller networks and homegrown extremists rather than the grandiose plots of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida. In a lengthy address at the National Defense University, Obama defended his controversial drone-strikes program as a linchpin of the U.S. response to the evolving dangers. He also argued that changing threats require changes...

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Goldman classes a big boost for Utah small business

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:26:27 MDT

Goldman classes a big boost for Utah small business

By Paul Beebe The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 22, 2013 06:26PM MDT

It took just 11 sessions of intense education for Frank Dsouza to feel on top of the world. Dsouza was one of 33 Utah small-business owners in the first class to graduate Wednesday from Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program, an educational initiative that aims to create jobs and spur growth in Utah and elsewhere in the U.S. The ceremony, attended by Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of the Wall Street banking giant, was held at the ornate Union Pacific Depot in The Gateway. “One of the things they m...

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SBA starting new lending program for veterans

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:48:41 MDT

SBA starting new lending program for veterans

By JOYCE M. ROSENBERG The Associated Press

Updated May 21, 2013 09:48PM MDT

New York • The Small Business Administration says it has lined up pledges from more than 120 banks to increase lending to veterans. The agency said Tuesday it’s starting a program, the SBA Veteran Pledge Initiative, aimed at increasing lending to veteran-owned businesses by 5 percent a year for the next five years. The 20 major banks known as SBA National Lending Partners are making the pledge along with about 100 regional banks across the country. The program is expected to help an additional 2...

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

Brewers minor leaguer Williams suspended 50 games

Tue, 21 May 2013 23:54:31 MDT

Brewers minor leaguer Williams suspended 50 games

The Associated Press

Updated May 21, 2013 11:54PM MDT

New York • Milwaukee Brewers left-hander Alan Williams has been suspended for 50 games under minor league baseball’s drug program following a second positive test for a drug of abuse. The 23-year-old is 0-2 with a 3.00 ERA this year in three starts and 10 relief appearances for Huntsville of Double-A Southern League. He signed with the Brewers’ organization in May 2011 after he pitched in the independent Frontier League. The suspension announced Tuesday was the 21st this year under the minor...

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

Women’s volleyball: BYU sends 2 to US A2 program

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:59:39 MDT

Women’s volleyball: BYU sends 2 to US A2 program

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 20, 2013 01:59PM MDT

BYU middle blocker Kathryn LeCheminant and outside hitter Kimberly Dahl have been added to the 48-player roster of the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Senior A2 program. The athletes in the program will train and compete this summer in Dallas. The duo comes off a 28-4 season with the BYU women’s volleyball team, which ended the 2012 season with a No. 12 national ranking after finishing in the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. LeCheminant averaged 1.01 blocks per set and hit .376, the team’s s...

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

Resort lodges finish a much better ski season

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:59:32 MDT

Resort lodges finish a much better ski season

By Mike Gorrell The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 20, 2013 12:59PM MDT

Lodging providers in Utah resort communities finished the ski season with improved results from the poor winter a year earlier. Occupancy through the end of April was 61.6 percent in Utah resort towns, up from 57.5 percent a year ago, according to the Denver-based Rocky Mountain Lodging Report. Average room rates, it added, rose $15 a night to $257. The improved performance mirrored results across the West. The Mountain Travel Research Program, also from Denver, said occupancy climbed 5.8 percen...

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

Suburban Utah sees huge spike in poverty

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:25:20 MDT

Suburban Utah sees huge spike in poverty

By Cathy McKitrick The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 21, 2013 11:25AM MDT

Half a century ago, those who could moved to the suburbs to escape concentrated poverty in America’s urban cores. But a new book released today shows that between 2000 to 2011, the rise in suburban poverty rose 64 percent, more than twice the growth rate of poverty in cities. By 2011, almost 16.4 million suburban residents nationwide lived below the federal poverty level — now surpassing the number of impoverished city dwellers by 3 million, according to Confronting Suburban Poverty in America,...

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

High-risk Utahns’ health insurance will shift to federal management

Sat, 18 May 2013 23:44:28 MDT

High-risk Utahns’ health insurance will shift to federal management

By Jennifer Dobner The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 18, 2013 11:44PM MDT

Uninsurable Utahns will see their subsidized health insurance coverage plan shifted to federal oversight in July after funding ran short and state officials refused to take on the risk. The federally-funded HIP-Utah program covers individuals who have been rejected by insurers because they are too sick. The program was initially funded with $5 billion, but stopped adding new enrollees in February when the money began to run out. In late April, federal officials gave states just two options for...

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

Univ. of Utah Ethnic Studies: Don’t leave us in the basement

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:24:01 MDT

Univ. of Utah Ethnic Studies: Don’t leave us in the basement

By Lindsay Whitehurst The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 17, 2013 05:24PM MDT

Faculty of the Ethnic Studies Program at the University of Utah say a move to a tucked-away underground floor threatens the health of their nascent major. The department’s current offices are in Carlson Hall, which is slated to be demolished this summer to make room for a new law school building. While planners say the move is temporary due to space constraints at the U., some in the department feels it’s symbolic of the “debased, marginalized spaces,” often designated to minorities in America...

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

U.S. Justice Department faulted over terrorist identities

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:04:53 MDT

U.S. Justice Department faulted over terrorist identities

By PETE YOST The Associated Press

Updated May 16, 2013 10:04PM MDT

Washington • The government allowed “a small but significant number” of terrorists into America’s witness protection program and then failed to provide the names of some of them for a watch list that’s used to keep dangerous people off airline flights, the Justice Department’s inspector general says. As a result of the department’s failure to share information with the Terrorist Screening Center, some in the witness protection program who were on a government “no-fly” list were allowed to trave...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. 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...

Salt Lake County Library joins Big Library Read for global library book club

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:38:24 MDT

Salt Lake County Library joins Big Library Read for global library book club

By ben Fulton The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 14, 2013 11:38PM MDT

Salt Lake County Library will be one of 35,000 libraries worldwide participating in a two-week “Big Library Read” program, allowing thousands of patrons to read to a free downloadable book. Starting Wednesday and running through June 1, patrons can download Michael Malone’s 2009 novel The Four Corners of the Sky, about a young woman who follows her navy pilot father in adventures across the United States and into Cuba. The campaign marks a second wind for so-called collective book clubs, in ...

Helping beggars

Wed, 15 May 2013 01:01:03 MDT

Helping beggars

Updated May 15, 2013 01:01AM MDT

I feel Gina Petersen’s quandary about wanting to help beggars with signs but also wanting to not be duped (“Signs of the times,” Forum, May 12). No one wants to give money to someone who will use it for drugs or booze. I liked the idea I read in a letter about giving gift cards to Subway or McDonald’s so that you know your money will go for food. Better still, give money to a local humanitarian program. Salt Lake has several good free meals services. The best way for beggars to get help is for t...

5A girls’ golf: Bingham claws past Davis to defend crown

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:10:46 MDT

5A girls’ golf: Bingham claws past Davis to defend crown

By Christopher Kamrani The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 14, 2013 08:10PM MDT

One stroke. That’s what Bingham High School girls’ golf coach Liz Conry couldn’t stop repeating. One stroke. By one stroke her Miners won their fourth straight Class 5A state crown Monday afternoon at Glen Eagle Golf Course in Syracuse. They edged a deeply talented Davis Darts team, 318 to 317. “That was pretty intense,” Conry said. “I thought we had lost by one or two strokes until I saw the numbers go up.” Conry, in her sixth year leading the powerhouse program, is superstitious. She doesn’t l...

Utah pesticide use not dangerous

Sat, 11 May 2013 01:01:06 MDT

Utah pesticide use not dangerous

By leonard m. blackham

Updated May 11, 2013 01:01AM MDT

As a government agency responsible for regulating Utah’s agriculture industry, we find it necessary to offer a balanced view of the role pesticides play in our food system. Brian Moench, in a May 4 op-ed, “Spray at your own risk,” offer a very narrowly focused and unrealistic view that all pesticides should be removed from the market because of their potential to do harm. This is simply an irresponsible position to advocate, especially for a doctor. Are pesticides risk-free? Certainly not. But t...