Utah news

• Lands stripped from Utah monuments open to claims, leases

  03-02-2018 23:33
  
  The window opened Friday for oil, gas, uranium and coal companies to make requests or stake claims to lands that were cut from two sprawling Utah national monuments by President Trump in December —but there doesn't appear to be a rush to seize the opportunities.
  
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• Police: Man evades officer, then crashes car in Kearns

  03-02-2018 21:54
  
  A man fled from a traffic stop on Friday night but then was arrested after he crashed his car a few blocks down the street, police said.
  
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• Legislature: Legal cannabis, school funding measures countered

  03-02-2018 20:41
  
  Lawmakers in the Utah state legislature introduced countermeasures this week to ballot initiatives seeking legal cannabis and more funding for public education.
  
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• Heber Valley high voltage power line project put on temporary hold amid resident concerns

  03-02-2018 20:01
  
  Amid new leadership and concerns from community members, a power line project between Rocky Mountain Power and Heber Light and Power has been temporarily placed on hold, pending studies into the feasibility and impacts of the project.
  
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• Funeral for Jon M. Huntsman Sr. to be held Feb. 10

  03-02-2018 17:50
  
  Funeral services for Jon M. Huntsman Sr. will take place on Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Huntsman Center at the University of Utah, according to his family.
  
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• Committee puts bill banning cellphone use in school zones on hold

  03-02-2018 16:12
  SALT LAKE CITY — Parents will still be able to make phone calls in the car when they pick up their kids from school.Rep. Dixon Pitcher, R-Ogden, presented HB220 to the House Transportation Committee on Friday to ban the physical use of cellphones by a driver in a reduced-speed zone."We ask that if you are in a school zone that you do not use a handheld device," he said.Pitcher specified that his his bill was "very narrowly" focused on school zones.Rep. Justin Fawson, R-North Ogden, asked w
  
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• Ian Cumming, businessman and ski resort owner, dies at age 77

  03-02-2018 07:17
  SALT LAKE CITY — Ian Cumming, a ski resort owner, businessman and Democratic donor who formerly lived in Utah, died Friday. He was 77 years old.Cumming died Friday morning in Jackson, Wyoming, surrounded by his family, Snowbird Ski Resort General Manager Dave Fields said on Twitter.Cumming ran Powdr Corp., the private corporation that bought Park City Ski Area more than two decades ago, along with several other ski areas, and had a majority stake in Snowbird.Cumming later made Jackson his
  
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• Utah lawmaker seeks to ease burden on diabetics renewing drivers' licenses

  03-02-2018 07:00
  SALT LAKE CITY — The House Transportation Committee advanced a bill Friday amending the burden imposed by forms for diabetics seeking to renew their drivers' licenses."Far, far too many people having to fill out this form in their doctor's office when the cost was not really necessary," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful.HB184 makes it far easier for doctors to choose when their patients need a follow-up. They could be good to drive for five years if they only have hyperte
  
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• Police: Attempted kidnapping ends in police chase in Weber, Davis counties

  03-02-2018 06:17
  
  An attempted kidnapping led to a police chase on Friday evening in Weber County, police said.
  
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• Utah lawmakers seek to snuff out smoking at the Capitol

  03-02-2018 06:14
  SALT LAKE CITY — The entire Capitol complex, both inside and out, may soon be smoke free.The House Government Operations Committee on Friday advanced a bill that would ban smoking and tobacco products at the complex, except for small smoking areas designated by the Capitol Preservation Board.Smoking has been illegal indoors and within 25 feet of entrances since the Legislature passed the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act in 1994.The sponsor of HB155, Rep. Bruce Cutler, R-Murray, said the action is
  
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• Sam sees the sunset, predicting longer winter

  03-02-2018 06:04
  SUNSET — For hipster-types who pride themselves on nonconformity, there is a less mainstream harbinger of seasons in town.His name is Sunset Sam, and members of the Sunset community gathered on Groundhog Day to see whether he would predict an early end to winter during a festival and chilli cook-off Friday.To quote Bill Murray's character from the 1993 film "Groundhog Day": "This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the wea
  
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• Lawmakers mulling bill that usurps cannabis ballot initiative, includes implementation delay

  03-02-2018 06:01
  SALT LAKE CITY — A state lawmaker says he's considering drafting legislation that would offer a route to legalization of medicinal cannabis that's different from what's being proposed to Utah voters in a ballot initiative.Rep. Lee Perry, R-Perry, told the Deseret News he's "just worried about what's going to happen (if the initiative passes), and that's why I've opened up a bill file."Too many people are trying to make it simple and say, 'Hey, don't worry about it. Vote for it. It's going
  
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• Lawmaker mulling bill that usurps cannabis ballot initiative, could include implementation barriers

  03-02-2018 06:01
  SALT LAKE CITY — A state lawmaker says he's considering drafting legislation that would offer a route to legalization of medicinal cannabis that's different from what's being proposed to Utah voters in a ballot initiative.Rep. Lee Perry, R-Perry, told the Deseret News he's "just worried about what's going to happen (if the initiative passes), and that's why I've opened up a bill file.""Too many people are trying to make it simple and say, 'Hey, don't worry about it. Vote for it. It's going
  
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• Jon Huntsman Sr., Billionaire Businessman and Philanthropist, Dies at 80

  03-02-2018 05:09
  Mr. Huntsman was an industrialist who made a fortune, gave millions to cancer research and left a legacy of public service.
  
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• Kearns man charged with impersonating U.S. marshal

  03-02-2018 03:32
  
  A man who prosecutors say impersonated a federal agent in an alleged attempt to get money owed to him, has been formally charged.
  
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• Resolution advances proclaiming Utah 'ready, willing and able' to host another Olympics

  03-02-2018 03:26
  SALT LAKE CITY — A resolution encouraging efforts underway to explore another Olympic bid for Salt Lake City was unanimously endorsed by a Senate committee Friday."This is a refresher," Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, told members of the Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee about his resolution, SCR9.Lawmakers have previously made it clear Salt Lake City, the host of the 2002 Winter Games, is "ready, willing and able" to host another Olympics. Now, tho
  
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• Bill limiting powers of temporary replacements for elected officials advances

  03-02-2018 03:18
  SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would prevent a temporary replacement for an elected official from making significant budget or staffing changes was advanced Friday by a House committee.The sponsor of HB176, Rep. Val Potter, R-North Logan, made a change in the bill to no longer allow a county council to terminate that temporary replacement after some lawmakers raised concerns.Potter urged members of the House Government Operations Committee to support his substitute bill, calling spelling out
  
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• Committee approves bill naming Utahraptor state dinosaur

  03-02-2018 03:09
  SALT LAKE CITY — Wearing a suit and tie, 10-year-old Kenyon Roberts expertly fielded questions from a Senate committee Friday about why the Utahraptor should become the state's official dinosaur."This dinosaur was a theropod," Roberts explained. "Theropods are the dinosaurs that little kids love, like T-Rex, the dinosaurs that walked on two legs and ate everything in their path."He described the dinosaur discovered in Grand County in 1990 as being able to reach the "phenomenal" speed of 20
  
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• Jon Huntsman Sr. remembered for legacy of service, philanthropy

  03-02-2018 03:00
  
  Utah businessman, billionaire and philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr. is being remembered by local and national leaders for his service and philanthropic efforts in the community.
  
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• Interior deputy pitches agency overhaul to Utah's rural leaders

  03-02-2018 02:54
  SALT LAKE CITY — Daggett County Commissioner Jack Lytle looked at a map of a proposed reorganization of Interior Department agencies by regions and not on state lines and was stricken."That was scary," he told the Interior's Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason during a Friday panel discussion in Salt Lake City hosted by Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah and his House Committee on Natural Resources.The meeting at the Governor's Office of Economic Development put multiple rural county commissioners
  
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• Lawmaker unveils bill to undo Our Schools Now ballot initiative

  03-02-2018 02:39
  SALT LAKE CITY — A state lawmaker unveiled a plan Friday to derail the Our Schools Now ballot initiative that would raise taxes to better fund public education.Rep. Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said the Legislature could funnel some $700 million to education over the next three years without a tax hike.Lawmakers have put $830 million into education the past three years — a 20-percent increase — and Schultz said he believes they could continue to do the same in the future."This year
  
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• Intermountain’s Community Heart Fair set for Saturday

  03-02-2018 02:35
  MURRAY — A free Community Heart Fair is set for Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Intermountain Medical Center, 5121 S. Cottonwood St.The event, sponsored the medical center's Heart Institute, will offer members of community access to some of the region's top cardiovascular experts and an opportunity to learn more about their heart health.The fair will also feature the MEGA inflatable heart, the largest portable walk-through inflatable heart in the world. Patrons will be able to walk insi
  
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• Local artist captures awe, appreciation of outdoors

  03-02-2018 02:30
  
  Classically trained artist Daren Wilding successfully juxtaposes the rugged and the beautiful in his nature-inspired art. His passion is creating paintings that express the awe and appreciation he experiences in the great outdoors.
  
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• Photos: All aboard! Public checks out latest in mass transit

  03-02-2018 02:29
  Jennifer Hosie, of West Jordan, explores a bus from the Utah Transit Authority's new articulated bus rapid transit fleet during the Legislature's Transit Day the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday. In addition to the articulated bus, which will serve Provo and Orem beginning in August, an all-electric bus from Park City's fleet was also on display. Transit Day offers Utahns an opportunity to learn more about public transportation and how it can help improve air quality.See the world through the
  
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• Local entrepreneurs learn basics of small-business growth

  03-02-2018 02:14
  SALT LAKE CITY — Growing a moneymaking idea into a successful enterprise can be challenging, especially if you have little experience in the realm of running a business or entrepreneurship. But it certainly would be easier if you got some advice from people who had already done it.A group of local small-business owners Friday received sage counsel on the topic at the annual Small Business Summit hosted by the Salt Lake Chamber. The half-day event offered small-business owners, entrepreneur
  
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• Ogden’s Idle-Free Week aims to increase air-quality awareness

  03-02-2018 02:11
  OGDEN — Area residents are being encouraged to reduce the time they spend idling in their vehicles during the city's Idle Free Week, which starts Sunday."Cutting back on idling can save you money and wear and tear on your engine," Brian Bennion, executive director of the Weber-Morgan Health Department, said in a statement. "We hope that Idle-Free Week will be a time when people reflect on the amount of time they leave their car running and try their hand at developing some new habits that
  
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• In our opinion: Jon Huntsman Sr. — a force of focus and will

  03-02-2018 02:00
  Legendary philanthropist and businessman Jon M. Huntsman Sr. died Friday at age 80, leaving a remarkable legacy that is saving lives. The absence of his presence will be felt across the state, around the world and in the organizations he founded and led.His life and his life's work are a monument to the power of singular focus in the pursuit of excellence and what one person can achieve through hard work, vision and shear will. Whether in his companies, his church or his causes, his focus produc
  
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• Photos: Bouldering event brings gripping competition to Utah

  03-02-2018 01:57
  Kyra Condie competes in the qualifying round of the 2018 Bouldering Open National Championship at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Friday. The top climbers from around the country, 16 years of age and older, are competing for the national title and a piece of the $10,000 prize purse. Last year, more than 184 competitors made their way to the Salt Lake event. The semifinal round begins Saturday at 9 a.m. and the finals at 5:30 p.m. Tickets, which are $15 for the semifinals a
  
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• S.L. County holding 4 open houses on proposed dog parks

  03-02-2018 01:54
  SALT LAKE CITY — Residents are encouraged to drop by one of four open houses to provide input and learn more about potential dog parks in Salt Lake County.In 2008, the county's Parks and Recreation Division finalized a master plan for off-leash dog parks, identifying the need for such parks throughout the county.Last fall, the division hosted open houses that presented detailed criteria for determining potential locations. After running all feasible sites through that process, the six most
  
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• Bills strengthening domestic violence laws moving through Utah Legislature

  03-02-2018 01:54
  SALT LAKE CITY — Legislation to fix gaps in Utah domestic violence law that were exposed when a man shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and her son in a Sandy neighborhood last year is easily moving through the state Legislature.Minority Assistant Whip Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, said the bills are "about letting women know, and other victims of domestic violence not just women, that if someone is hurting them they have somewhere to go and that they will be protected because we never wa
  
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• Feds arrest 4 in Utah-based pill pressing operation

  03-02-2018 01:52
  
  Four people were arrested and multiple search warrants served in several states Friday as agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration attempted to dismantle a counterfeit pill operation based in Utah.
  
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• Qualtrics co-founder Ryan Smith honored as Entrepreneur of the Year

  03-02-2018 01:50
  SALT LAKE CITY — He innovated a product category that did not exist 16 years ago and quietly built one of Utah's most valuable companies, opening offices around the world and amassing a corporate client list that numbers near 9,000 and includes most of the Fortune 100 and 99 of the top 100 business schools.He also launched an effort to find a cure for cancer — a disease his father successfully battled — setting a goal of raising $50 million and using a unique opportunity to spo
  
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• Midway Ice Castles closing Sunday due to warm weather

  03-02-2018 01:45
  MIDWAY, Wasatch County — Due to unseasonably warm temperatures, Ice Castles announced it will close Sunday, but organizers will keep the attraction open until midnight Friday and Saturday to allow as many people in as possible."It's been a warm winter, which has made it difficult to sustain the ice," Ice Castles CEO Ryan Davi said in a statement, adding the attraction could reopen next weekend if the weather turns colder.Tickets to the attraction — which features lighted ice formatio
  
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• Feds arrest 4 arrested in Utah-based pill pressing operation

  03-02-2018 01:38
  SOUTH JORDAN — Four people were arrested and multiple search warrants were served in several states Friday as agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration attempted to dismantle a counterfeit pill operation based in Utah.Brian Besser, assistant special agent-in-charge of the DEA in Utah, said Friday's arrests marked the culmination of a year-long investigation into a counterfeit tableting operation suspected of producing fake oxycodone and Xanax pills. The group had been operating in th
  
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• Appeal denied for bus driver who sexually abused special needs children

  03-02-2018 01:38
  SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Court of Appeals upheld a conviction Thursday of a Draper bus driver accused of sexually abusing two special needs students he drove to school.A jury in July 2015 found John Carrell, now 65, guilty of 19 charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony. He was acquitted of 14 additional counts. He was later sentenced to 19 concurrent terms of 15 years to life in prison.Carrell appealed his conviction, arguing that jurors received improper instr
  
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• Sex offender charged with illegally visiting school

  03-02-2018 01:36
  HEBER CITY — A registered sex offender who was arrested Tuesday after police say he was spotted walking through the hallways of an elementary school has been charged with multiple counts of being in restricted areas in two different cases.Bruce Chatwin, 42, of Heber City, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with being a sex offender in a protected area, a class A misdemeanor, for Tuesday's incident. But he was also charged with four more counts of the same charge in a separate case.
  
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• Officer suffers facial fracture, lacerations after being attacked by man, police say

  03-02-2018 01:17
  
  A Spanish Fork man was arrested after police say he attacked a police officer, prompting a brief lockdown of nearby businesses and an elementary school while other officers searched for him Friday afternoon.
  
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• LDS Church, elected leaders and others react to death of Jon Huntsman Sr.

  03-02-2018 00:58
  SALT LAKE CITY — After the death of Utah businessman Jon Huntsman Sr. Friday afternoon, condolences poured in from leaders of the LDS Church, Utah's elected officials and others.The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a statement it shared the Huntsman family's grief following the death of the former LDS Church Area Seventy, who died Friday at age 80."We honor Jon as a cherished husband, father and friend, esteemed as a leader for his exceptional cap
  
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• Condolences pour in following death of Jon Huntsman Sr.

  03-02-2018 00:58
  SALT LAKE CITY — After the death of Utah businessman Jon M. Huntsman Sr. Friday, condolences poured in from faith leaders, elected officials and many others.Several praised Huntsman's philanthropic efforts and his dedication to finding a cure for cancer.Gov. Gary Herbert called Huntsman "one of the greatest Utahns ever to live" and "a tremendous champion of our state." Herbert said Huntsman was fiercely loyal to his close-knit family and did not shy away from wading into issues of the day.
  
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• Utah man charged with impersonating U.S. marshal

  03-02-2018 00:53
  TAYLORSVILLE — Prosecutors have charged a Kearns man with impersonating a federal agent in an attempt to get money owed to him.Marc Dane Raddon, 34, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with three counts of possession of a weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony; criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor; and impersonating an officer, a class B misdemeanor.On Dec. 15, Raddon and another man were at the at the Callaway Apartments, 1141 W. 3900 South, "banging on all the apar
  
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• Bill creating legislative oversight committee pitched

  03-02-2018 00:47
  
  A bill creating a new legislative entity to oversee state and local governments was pitched at a news conference Friday despite having failed to pass out of a House committee.
  
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• LDS Chruch, elected leaders and others react to death of Jon Huntsman Sr.

  03-02-2018 00:15
  SALT LAKE CITY — After the death of Utah businessman Jon Huntsman Sr. Friday afternoon, condolences poured in from leaders of the LDS Church, Utah's elected officials and others.The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in a statement it shared the Huntsman family's grief following the death of the former LDS Church Area Seventy, who died Friday at age 80."We honor Jon as a cherished husband, father and friend, esteemed as a leader for his exceptional cap
  
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• California woman charged with killing former BYU football player in suicide attempt

  03-02-2018 00:14
  
  A Northern California woman who drove her car head-on into freeway traffic in an alleged suicide attempt has been charged with the second-degree murder of a driver she struck, authorities said Thursday.
  
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