This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Citing maintenance costs, Questar Gas seeking a rate hike
Questar Gas is asking the Utah Public Service Commission for a rate increase that would increase the typical residential customer's monthly bill by 48 cents, starting Dec. 1.
System improvements are driving the rate hike, said Questar President Craig Wagstaff. "Abundant natural gas supplies continue to hold down the price of natural gas," he said. "But costs associated with enhancing the safety and reliability of our high-pressure lines are up."
Annual environmental meeting will bring top scientists to Salt Lake
Nearly 2,000 scientists from 40 counties will be in Salt Lake City through Thursday for the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry's 36th annual meeting.
The meeting at the Salt Palace Convention Center will generate about $2 million for Salt Lake County's economy, said Karen Boe, a spokeswoman for Visit Salt Lake.
The Great Salt Lake will be a featured subject at the meeting, although numerous environmental issues will be addressed in 1,600 presentations and more than 180 poster and platform sessions.
On Sunday, Lynn de Freitas from Friends of the Great Salt Lake discussed the lake's ecosystem, which she described as "ecologically distinctive and economically significant." Her organization and the society are sponsoring a service project Wednesday on the lake's south shore for grade school children.
In addition, students from Murray High School and Butler, Hillside and Draper Park middle schools took part Monday in a poster session on a project they did with University of Utah researchers on tar sands mining.
"View on 20th" housing complex opens in Ogden
The redevelopment of downtown Ogden continued Friday with the grand opening of the "View on 20th," a new multifamily housing complex on the northwest corner of 20th Street and Grant Ave.
Built by Ogden's R&O Construction, the building will be managed by PEG Development.
"This project is part of the city's larger vision to reshape its downtown community," said R&O Construction President Slade Opheikens.
Fueled by food drive, America First donates 15,000 pounds of food
America First Credit Union donated 15,000 pounds of food last week to Utah Food Bank.
The credit union collected 11,000 pounds of non-perishable food items and funds that could purchase nearly 4,000 pounds of turkey in its 11th annual community food drive. Donations were accepted from Sept. 14-24 at America First's 112 branches, which serve 724,000 members.
US Synthetic founder receives UVU's social entrepreneur award
Businessman Louis Pope has received the first social entrepreneur award from the Utah Valley University's School of Business Entrepreneurship Institute.
Pope founded US Synthetic, an Orem company that produces diamond cutters for oil and gas exploration. In the 1990s, it was one of the state's fastest-growing companies. He retired from the company in 2010 to found Yehu Microfinance in 1999 which provides small business loans to women in Mombasa, Kenya.
The award is named after Stephen and Bette Gibson, whose nonprofit Gibson's Academy for Creating Enterprise seeks to alleviate poverty by teaching people around the world how to start and grow businesses.
Utah business people on the move
• Jim Powell is the Park City Chamber Bureau's new vice president of marketing. A 25-year veteran in tourism marketing, Powell was marketing director at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort and also worked at Canyons Resort outside of Park City.