STATES - The Salt Lake Tribune

Farm bill: Senate rejects GMO labeling amendment

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:37:03 MDT

Farm bill: Senate rejects GMO labeling amendment

By MARY CLARE JALONICK The Associated Press

Updated May 23, 2013 09:37AM MDT

WASHINGTON • The Senate has overwhelmingly rejected an amendment allowing states to require labeling of genetically modified foods. The amendment by Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders tried to clarify that states can require the labels. Both the Vermont House and Connecticut Senate voted this month to make food companies declare genetically modified ingredients on their packages. The Senate amendment was rejected Thursday on a 71-27 vote. Opponents are from farm states that use a lot of gen...

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Utah is tops for 2013 economic outlook, ALEC says

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:59:17 MDT

Utah is tops for 2013 economic outlook, ALEC says

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 23, 2013 08:59AM MDT

Utah holds the No. 1 spot for states with the best economic outlook in 2013, according to a report released Thursday by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council. “Utah’s economic policies have remained strong, and because of [its] firm commitment to economic growth and competitiveness, [the state has] ranked first in all [five previous] editions of our report,” said Jonathan Williams, director of ALEC’s Center for State Fiscal Reform and co-author of “Rich States, Poor States: ALEC...

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Poor or rich?

Thu, 23 May 2013 01:01:05 MDT

Poor or rich?

Updated May 23, 2013 01:01AM MDT

In an interesting study in contrasts, The Tribune Editorial Board hosted two advocacy groups on the same morning this week that could not have had more disparate perspectives on the state of Utahns’ well-being. First came four men representing the Utah Taxpayers Association and the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC, an organization supported by big corporations that advocates for small government and free markets, was in town to present the Beehive State with a sixth No. 1 ranking in ...

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

What’s on your plate

Wed, 22 May 2013 01:01:03 MDT

What’s on your plate

Updated May 22, 2013 01:01AM MDT

It’s our right as citizens of the United States to know what we are putting into our bodies. Most Americans don’t realize how many genetically modified organisms we ingest daily (bacteria and yeast, insects, plants, fish and mammals). Bills have been proposed in some states to require food companies to label our food to indicate it contains GMOs. It’s terrible that we don’t know what we are putting into our bodies, and the food industry isn’t giving us the option to choose whether we want to eat...

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

Home brewing boom embraced in all 50 states

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:07:51 MDT

Home brewing boom embraced in all 50 states

By Melissa Maynard Stateline

Updated May 21, 2013 09:07PM MDT

Americans have been brewing beer in their homes since colonial times — both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were home brewers. Even so, a recent explosion of interest in the hobby has created tricky questions for state alcohol regulators. As of July 1, home brewing will be legal in all 50 states. But many states still prohibit home brewers from transporting their beer to club meetings or competitions. Some states — including Utah — also limit the amount a home brewer can produce in a year...

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

Trib Talk: Is Common Core an upgrade or ‘cookie-cutter’ education?

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:54:09 MDT

Trib Talk: Is Common Core an upgrade or ‘cookie-cutter’ education?

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 22, 2013 10:54AM MDT

State Board of Education Chairwoman Debra Roberts on Tuesday urged opponents of Common Core educational standards and new computer testing to “let go of this political posturing and recognize what we can do to transform education here in Utah.” “This is great stuff. Let’s work together to meet the needs of our children,” Roberts said during a live video Trib Talk with Dalane England of the Utah Eagle Forum, moderator Jennifer Napier-Pearce of The Salt Lake Tribune and Tribune education reporter...

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

Obamacare, Part 2

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:01:04 MDT

Obamacare, Part 2

By XXXXXX The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 21, 2013 01:01AM MDT

The following editorial appeared in Monday’s Washington Post: Thought you had seen the last of the fighting over the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare? Since its passage in 2010, after all, it has survived Supreme Court review, innumerable challenges from House Republicans and Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful campaign to evict its author from the White House. Nonetheless, with the heart of the reform set to take effect next year, its most contentious days may lie ahead. The law will affect...

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

Get it over with

Sat, 18 May 2013 01:01:08 MDT

Get it over with

Updated May 18, 2013 01:01AM MDT

With the recent cascade of states legalizing same-sex marriage, Edward Cannon thinks we’re approaching a “tipping point when the … country must allow all adult Americans to marry whom they love” (“Gay marriage approval,” Forum, May 15). Wishful thinking. That speeding train of states will soon hit a procedural wall — the constitutions of 31 states ban same-sex marriages. Of the other 19 states, 12 now allow gay marriage, and not all of the other seven are likely candidates (think West Virginia)....

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

Javelin throwers gather at state track tournament

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:48:33 MDT

Javelin throwers gather at state track tournament

By Aaron Falk The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 16, 2013 11:48PM MDT

Austin Kafentzis watches video of some of the world’s best athletes, absorbing the details of their throwing motions and release points. The Jordan High star has been taught the importance of proper footwork and torque and achieving the optimum angle; a javelin flies farthest when it is thrown at an angle of 37.5 degrees. But there is another factor equally important for high school javelin throwers: location. Because as track and field athletes head to BYU this weekend for state championships, ...

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

Utah senator considers cutting state’s drunk driving threshold

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:02:07 MDT

Utah senator considers cutting state’s drunk driving threshold

By dawn house and Steve Oberbeck The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 16, 2013 10:02AM MDT

The Utah senator who takes the lead in setting state liquor policy on Wednesday said lawmakers will closely consider the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation that states reduce their drunk-driving thresholds. Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, said they will look for guidance from European nations that have seen fatalities decline after prohibiting driving with a blood-alcohol concentration above 0.05 — more than a third lower than the U.S. standard of 0.08. “I’m still in the investi...

Boomers need immigrants

Wed, 15 May 2013 01:01:04 MDT

Boomers need immigrants

By XXXXXX The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 15, 2013 01:01AM MDT

The Senate Judiciary Committee took up comprehensive immigration reform late last week. And, as expected, opponents are already rushing to derail it, arguing that any bill that legalizes the vast majority of undocumented immigrants in the United States will cost billions of dollars and place an unfair burden on taxpayers. Such arguments are merely scare tactics. There’s no doubt that granting citizenship to millions of immigrants 13 years from now, as the Senate bill would, will carry a cost, b...

Try Bush, et al.

Sat, 11 May 2013 01:01:04 MDT

Try Bush, et al.

Updated May 11, 2013 01:01AM MDT

I agree with Walt Borla (“Bagley’s ‘Lie-bury,’” Forum, May 2) that President Georgw W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should be tried in a World Court for their roles in the United States invading Iraq. We all rightly mourn the innocent deaths and injuries at the Boston Marathon, but in Iraq the United States killed thousands of women and children and more than 100,000 sons, fathers and husbands. The evidence and justification for that war were flimsy. Bu...

Utah now among top 10 states for immigration prosecutions

Sun, 12 May 2013 23:07:56 MDT

Utah now among top 10 states for immigration prosecutions

By brooke adams The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 12, 2013 11:07PM MDT

Utah is among the top 10 states for immigration prosecutions for the first time ever, though its case count is a sliver of that in leading states Texas and Arizona. Utah ranks 10th in immigration prosecutions with 135 cases filed in U.S. District Court for Utah during the first six months of fiscal year 2013, according to the report from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University. Utah ranked 13th a year ago. The Southern District of Texas in Houston topped the...

Dyer: Drones and Gitmo

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:04:02 MDT

Dyer: Drones and Gitmo

By Gwynne Dyer Syndicated Columnist

Updated May 10, 2013 01:04PM MDT

John Bellinger is the last person in Washington you’d expect to criticise President Barack Obama for making too many drone strikes. It was he who drafted the (rather unconvincing) legal justification for targeted drone killings when he was legal adviser to the Secretary of State in George W. Bush’s second administration, and he still supports them. But he went ahead and criticized Obama anyway. Speaking at a conference at the Bipartisan Policy Centre in Washington on May 1, Bellinger said: “This...