A seemingly bad relationship between Rep. Greg Hughes and KSL political reporter John Daley just got worse.
Hughes was among a number of his colleagues in the House who were outraged last week when KSL's coverage of Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killipack's DUI, reported by Daley, included the pictures of Hughes, House Speaker Dave Clark and former House Speaker-turned lobbyist Greg Curtis.
None of them was with Killpack when he was arrested and they felt their pictures looked like mug shots.
"If someone had the sound turned down on their TV, they would have thought we were all suspects," Hughes said on his Red Meat Radio program on K-TALK Saturday.
Their only connection was that Killpack had been at a fundraiser for Hughes earlier in the evening. Clark and Curtis were also there. But that event ended nearly four hours before Killpack was arrested and no alcohol was served.
KSL also ran video of the venue where the fundraiser was held, Flash Academy, owned by Eddie "Flash" Newman, who is a friend of Hughes.
Newman also is outraged that his gym, which he uses as a martial arts school for children, was depicted in a story about a DUI.
"My place had nothing to do with what happened four hours later," he said. "But people are asking me why my place was in the story."
KSL News Director Con Psarras said when a story is developing, every bit of information that seems relevant is considered. Killpack had been at the fundraiser and, at first, that seemed relevant to the story, he said. "As the day went on, and we learned more, that [the fundraiser and who was there] became less germane to the story, so we pulled that out in later newscasts."
Hughes and Red Meat Radio partner Howard Stephenson repeatedly slam Daley on their Saturday morning program, mostly because he reports on environmental affairs and his wife, Heidi McIntosh is the attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
Daley broke a story a little over a year ago about an ethics investigation of Hughes (he was eventually cleared of any violations). Hughes and his colleagues believed the coverage was unfairly sensational. A friend of Hughes even taunted Daley during that time by standing behind him and holding a sign that accused KSL of biased news coverage as Daley attempted to report a live shot at the Capitol.
D.A. race looking familiar » Expect Salt Lake City prosecutor Sim Gill to announce this week that he is running as a Democrat for the Salt Lake County district attorney's position.
Gill ran four years ago for the job that was being vacated by longtime Democratic D.A. David Yocom. He lost narrowly to Republican Lohra Miller, who is running for re-election.
Gill will be battling for the Democratic nomination against fellow Democrat Greg Skordas, who unsuccessfully ran for attorney general in 2004.
