Lawmakers killed so-called "ethics bills" that would have restricted lobbyist gifts to public officials and prohibited candidates from pocketing campaign funds. House Rules Committee members snuffed Rep. Ralph Becker's bill to limit lobbyist gifts even before it received a public debate. A Senate bill to require greater disclosure of such gifts flamed out earlier in the Senate. Senators also killed a bill by Sen. Karen Hale that would have blocked use of campaign donations for personal expenses. Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and the GOP-controlled Legislature are at odds over a bill that would alter the balance of power by keeping the government running even when a governor vetoed the state's budget. Fighting over the bill marked the second crack in relations between the new chief executive and new legislative leaders. The first and continuing battle is over funding for education versus highways. Huntsman wants to spend more on schools, the Legislature more on highway construction. The state Senate killed a bill that would have guaranteed some marriage-like benefits to people cohabiting outside wedlock. Supporters of the defeated measure say the action showed the conservative Senate's bias against gay and lesbian Utahns. But those opposed to the bill said people can contractually secure rights under current law. Julander to resign from state Senate
Dairy farmer makes an impression
Millard County dairy farmer Josh Wright is becoming a regular around Washington. After joking around with President Bush last month during a town hall forum on strengthening Social Security, the 27-year-old McCornick farmer got an invitation to sit in first lady Laura Bush's private box of seats during Wednesday night's State of the Union speech. ''I asked them why they wanted me back and they said, 'You just left an impression on him and he thought you were a pretty good guy,' '' Wright said after leaving the Capitol following the speech. ''They called me when I was out pushing feed. Every time they call, there's cows bellowing in the background.''
Jordan district may close 2 elementary schools
Cottonwood Heights and Mountview elementary schools could close after this academic year. A closure committee recommended that action Tuesday. The Jordan School Board could make a final decision by March 8. The board had asked the committee to identify only one school for closure. But after studying the issue, the ad hoc panel voted 27-4 to shut down two schools. As of October, Cottonwood Heights was operating at 43 percent capacity with 280 students; Mountview was at 59 percent capacity with 377 students.
Former sheriff jailed for violating probation
Former Iron County Sheriff David "Dude" Benson was ordered Wednesday to serve 10 days in jail for violating probation. Benson pleaded guilty in November to obstruction of justice and misuse of public funds, both third-degree felonies. He was ordered to serve six months of home confinement, as well as pay more than $20,000 in fines and restitution. On Dec. 10, he left his home for five hours to herd a neighbor's sheep. For that, retired 2nd District Judge Douglas L. Cornaby found him in violation of the terms of his probation. Under the conditions of his home confinement, Benson, who retired as sheriff in 2004, was allowed to leave home only for work and to attend church. More data on why not to dial and drive
If the TV camera adds 10 pounds, maybe the cell phone adds 50 years. When 20-year-old drivers get behind the wheel of a car and yammer away on a cell phone, their reaction times slow to the speed of 70-year-old drivers not using portable phones, according to a new University of Utah study. "It was like instantly aging the young drivers," said David Strayer, a U. psychology professor who co-wrote a study in Human Factors.
I felt that all illegal aliens should be deported. My parents would laugh when I said that."
Ð Heilit Martinez, a Utah State University student, who found out the hard way, when she tried to re-enter the country from Mexico, that she is not a U.S. citizen and was in the country illegally
"It's amazing how that worm has turned in such a conservative state."
Ð Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City,
on a Tribune survey that found Republican lawmakers are the first to raise taxes and spend revenue
"He accomplished what he said he was going to do. He made everyone look stupid."
Ð Kay Anderson, Orem investor,
about former Brigham Young University student Steven Greenstreet after Greenstreet debuted "This Divided State," his documentary about filmmaker Michael Moore's controversial visit to Utah Valley State College
TUESDAY
ATTENTION SHOPPERS
Harmons grocery stores will donate 5 percent of all sales Tuesday to area schools. Each store location is paired with 10 schools. Students from each school have decorated one of the store's departments and a check stand. There will be games, prizes and entertainment.
WEDNESDAY
STARTING A BUSINESS
Learn the basic steps in starting a business at the Sandy Library, 10100 S.Petunia Way, at 7 p.m. Topics will range from responsibilities and liabilities to ethical business practices.
Former Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman went on trial last week for misuse of public funds, with her defense saying she was simply "a big picture person" who fell short on details.
Workman repeatedly has claimed she was just trying to "help the kids" by allegedly using county health funds to pay bookkeepers at the South Valley Boys and Girls Clubs.
But her former top lieutenant, David Marshall, testified Thursday he knows of only one kid that Workman helped: her own daughter, Aisza Wilde, the club's chief financial officer.
Marshall said he first heard the "helping the kids" phrase at a meeting with Workman's re-election campaign managers, after the hiring scandal broke last fall. Special prosecutor Michael Martinez asked if Marshall believed the explanation. ''I think there was a kid she wanted to help, yes - Aisza,'' Marshall replied.
Workman, 64, was charged in 3rd District Court with second- and third-degree felonies for allegedly arranging to have two successive Boys and Girls Clubs bookkeepers paid from county Health Department funds. More than $17,000 in public funds was misappropriated, according to prosecutors.
Coming up: Expected to see debate soon on the House floor is a counter to mandates in President Bush's No Child Left Behind education law. HB135 would give the state more flexibility in improving lagging schools, rather than require conformance to strict federal steps.
STEPPING DOWN
PRESIDENTIAL PAL
EDUCATION
IN THE COURTS
Lawyers behaving badly? A Murray attorney urging the Utah Supreme Court to overturn a contempt finding against an Ogden lawyer almost overstepped the line himself Monday.
Justices questioned Mike Martinez about his assertion that attorney Geoffrey L. Clark was only providing zealous representation for a defendant in a murder case when he ran afoul of a trial judge who jailed him for 30 days.
In a brief, Martinez had written that Clark had no warning of what was considered unacceptable behavior and that 2nd District Judge Ernie Jones himself should be put behind bars. As an example, Martinez repeatedly insisted Monday that he could have appeared at the Supreme Court in jeans and a T-shirt and, because there is no written rule banning that specific attire for lawyers, be innocent of any contempt.
Justice Michael Wilkins called the brief "disrespectful" and told Martinez that he was "getting dangerously close to getting in trouble with this court."
Lawsuits in fatal plane crash: Pilots in control of a commuter plane that crashed near Kirksville, Mo., killing a Utah doctor and 14 others, had been working longer than allowed by the air carrier that chartered the flight, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
The pilots also failed to maintain proper control of an aircraft flying in dangerous weather, according to a second suit, filed in a state court in
St. Louis.
Clark Ator, who died in the Oct. 19 crash, and two Utahns who survived are not involved in the suits.
MODERN DANGERS
Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah land use plan
The Bureau of Land Management's Vernal Field Office has released its draft resource management plan for nearly 1.8 million acres of public land and 2.1 million acres of federal mineral rights in Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah counties.
More than three years in the making, the draft plan, when finalized, will guide natural resources, activities and uses on public lands during the next 10-15 years.
To weigh in
A 90-day public comment period on the plan will run through April 14. Five public meetings, all from 6-8 p.m., have also been scheduled:
l Tuesday: Vernal. City offices, 447 E. Main
l Wednesday: Duchesne County. Administration Building, 734 N. Center St., Duchesne.
l Thursday: Daggett County. Courthouse, 95 N. 100 West, Manila.
l Feb. 22: Grand Junction, Colo. Grand Vista Hotel, 2790 Cross Roads Boulevard.
l Feb. 24: Salt Lake City. Downtown Library, 210 E. 400 South.
