Tag Archives: Utah

ABC News reports: In the west, very dry and blustery conditions continue to spread the Bighorn Fire near Tucson, Arizona, where evacuations have been issued. The Bighorn Fire is only 10% contained and is more than 6,000 acres. A brush fire also broke out just east of San Diego, where evacuation orders were in effect. Red flag warnings have now …

Utah’s Deseret News reports: Former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Wednesday he’s tested positive for COVID-19. One of four Republican candidates for governor on the June 30 primary ballot, Huntsman tweeted he has “been experiencing classic symptoms … like so many others, my goal is to keep my family safe. Though isolated temporarily, we’ve never been more energized in this …

The Grio reports: A white man declaring “All Lives Matter” during demonstrations in Utah on Saturday was detained by police after he aimed a bow and arrow at protesters. Video footage of the shocking Salt Lake City incident shows Brandon McCormick standing in the street beside his vehicle as he begins to prepare his bow and arrow to apparently use …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: The Republican candidates seeking to lead one of the reddest states in the nation have all agreed to appear in a forum on LGBTQ issues. Equality Utah, a political advocacy organization for LGBTQ rights, will host the GOP candidates for governor in an online forum on Friday, FOX 13 confirmed. Thomas …

The Provo Daily Herald reports: Nearly half of the employees of a Utah County business tested positive for COVID-19 after the business instructed employees to not follow quarantine guidelines and required staff who had tested positive to report to work, according to a written statement from county executives. The statement, which was released Monday evening and was signed by Utah …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: The Utah Attorney General’s Office will suspend use of a massive surveillance system after a news report showed that the founder of the company behind the effort was once an active participant in a white supremacist group and was involved in the shooting of a synagogue. Damien Patton, who helped launch and now leads the …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, says he has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the second member of Congress to confirm similar results within hours. “Today I learned that I tested positive,” McAdams said in a statement Wednesday evening. “I am still working for Utahns and pursuing efforts to get Utahns the resources they need as I …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: A bill that would effectively decriminalize polygamy and dispel fears of prosecution for plural marriage among consenting adults sailed through the Utah Senate on Tuesday. Sen. Deidre Henderson’s bill would reclassify bigamy as an infraction, codifying the practice of the Utah attorney general’s office not to prosecute otherwise law-abiding polygamists. An infraction, like a traffic …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump continued his verbal barrage on Sen. Mitt Romney on Monday, telling Utah’s governor, “You keep him.” Trump, who’s repeatedly criticized his fellow Republican since Romney voted last week to convict the president for abuse of power at his Senate impeachment trial, still had the Utah senator on his mind when Gov. Gary Herbert tried …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: A rural Utah lawmaker is asking his colleagues to send a message of support to President Donald Trump by voting to censure Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, on Thursday announced that he had filed a resolution to censure Romney, saying the senator’s judgment was questionable even if his motives were pure. “We’re …

From the editorial board of the Salt Lake Tribune: He could have voted with the rest of the Republican members of the Senate of the United States to acquit the president of the United States on both of the articles of impeachment brought by the House of Representatives. He could have rationalized it — to himself, to his party, to …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: A rule banning conversion therapy on LGBTQ children has gone into effect, making Utah the 19th state to ban the practice. Governor Gary Herbert’s office confirmed to FOX 13 that the administrative rule went into effect on Tuesday night. The governor’s office declined to comment any further on it. Last year, …

Ben Winslow reports for Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: It was meant as a fun, Utah-themed way to raise awareness of HIV. Utah’s Department of Health planned to distribute 100,000 condoms turning some popular state slogans and landmarks into double-entendres. But it apparently did not amuse Governor Gary Herbert, who put a stop to the campaign just hours after it …

The Washington Post reports: A former investment manager alleges in a whistleblower complaint to the Internal Revenue Service that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has amassed about $100 billion in accounts intended for charitable purposes, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post. The confidential document, received by the IRS on Nov. 21, …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and LGBTQ advocates have coalesced around a proposed ban on “conversion therapy” for minors. Gov. Gary Herbert on Tuesday evening announced that groups involved in the emotional debate have finally agreed on language that would prohibit the discredited practice. The proposed professional licensing rule for therapists and …

Fox News reports: Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announced Thursday morning that he is running for his old job once again. Huntsman left the governorship in the middle of his second term in 2009 to serve as ambassador to China in the Obama administration. He recently finished a two-year stint as ambassador to Russia under President Trump, which ended when …

A groundbreaking move for a major newspaper: The Salt Lake Tribune is now a nonprofit, an unprecedented transformation for a legacy U.S. daily that is intended to bolster its financial prospects during a troubling time for journalism nationwide. The IRS approved the shift in a letter dated Oct. 29, deeming The Tribune a 501(c)(3) public charity. That means supporters can …

The Associated Press reports: A proposed conversion therapy ban in Utah is in danger of being derailed after The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints came out in opposition, just months after it said it wouldn’t stand in the way of a similar measure under consideration. The church said in a statement that the regulatory rule prohibiting Utah …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman is returning home to Utah where he is reportedly mulling another run for governor. Huntsman sent President Donald Trump a resignation letter Tuesday morning and is planning to move back to the Beehive State in October. “American citizenship is a privilege and I believe the most basic responsibility in …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has issued a directive calling on a state agency to craft rules governing conversion therapy. In response to a question by FOX 13 on the status of legislation at his monthly news conference, the governor confirmed his directive. In a letter to Department of Commerce Director Francine …