A select group of healthcare providers, advocates, and community leaders met at the State Capitol Tuesday to discuss Medicaid, and the state’s pending decision on whether to expand the program to include more uninsured, low-income Utahns. Utah Department of Health Executive Director David Patton brought together about 20 people for the Medicaid workgroup.

A proposed change to federal fuel and car standards could have a large impact in Utah, climate activist Tim DeChristopher is released from federal custody, and the Utah Department of Health is opening up enrollment to the Primary Care Network.

Climate activist Tim DeChristopher made his first public appearance last night since being released from federal custody on Sunday. He was sentenced in 2011 to two years in federal prison for derailing a 2008 Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease auction. DeChristopher joined hundreds of his supporters at the Tower Theater in Salt Lake City for a screening of the documentary Bidder 70, which details his act of civil disobedience and his conviction. 

The federal Environmental Protection Agency is now taking public comment on proposed new cleaner fuels and cars standards. Known as Tier 3 of the Clean Air Act Amendments, they’re designed to improve air quality and public health by reducing the sulfur content of gasoline and making cars more efficient. 

The Utah Department of Health announced that it will allow open enrollment for its health coverage plan known as Primary Care Network or PCN.  The plan is designed to provide low income people and families with preventative care options, but there are many services it does not cover.

PCN has been closed to enrollment since March 2012, but enough funding currently exists to allow for open enrollment over the next three to four weeks.  Kolbi Young is a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Health.

  Utah Governor Gary Herbert is out of the country right now on a trade mission in Israel.  But that didn’t stop environmentalists from holding an Earth Day rally right in front of the Governor’s Mansion on South Temple.

As traffic whizzed by on one of Salt Lake City’s busiest streets, demonstrators wrote their messages of protest on blue ribbons.  They had to tie them to a volleyball net because they weren’t allowed to put them on the governor’s wrought-iron fence.

Runners at the Salt Lake City Marathon honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, the Utah Legislature will not override Governor Herbert’s veto of a controversial gun bill, and the billionaire owner of the Snowbasin ski resort dies.

  Runners and spectators will see a lot more security around the Salt Lake City Marathon on Saturday.  After the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday, marathon planners developed some new security strategies.  Deputy Salt Lake City Police Chief Terry Fritz says the Utah Highway Patrol, the Utah National Guard and other agencies have brought in additional resources for the race.

The U.S. Commerce Secretary visits Utah, the Utah Department of Health extends credit monitoring services to those affected by last year’s data breach, and the University of Utah College of Nursing looks to improve care for sick and injured veterans.

  This week, KUER's Dan Nailen focuses on the concerts coming up this summer at Red Butte Garden.

Follow Dan Nailen's blog at slcene.com

One of the nation’s top commerce officials was in Utah today admiring the state’s economic development strategies and touting the president’s new initiative designed to bring high-tech manufacturing and clean energy jobs to communities across the country. 

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank toured Hexcel, a company in West Valley that produces structural materials for aircraft and space vehicles. Blank says Utah has explicitly built the infrastructure necessary to attract this type of industry and create jobs.

Provo makes an epic announcement, Governor Herbert says the investigation of the Attorney General is taking too long, and Salt Lake City unveils the design for the new Broadway-style theater.

The exhibit called Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times is coming to The Leonardo in Salt Lake City this November. In making the announcement Wednesday, the museum’s director Alexandra Hesse  says it’s the largest collection of ancient artifacts ever displayed outside of Israel. She says Brigham Young University as well as the city’s Interfaith Roundtable will be adding expertise and dialogue to the exhibit.

It was billed as an epic announcement in Provo. Mayor John Curtis announced Wednesday an agreement to make Provo the third US city to have access to Google Fiber’s ultra-high-speed Gigabit Internet, after Kansas City and Austin. 

Google Fiber General Manager Kevin Lo stood on the roof of the Utah Valley Convention Center with the Wasatch mountains behind him, buffeted by strong winds. He promised all Provo residents would have access to free basic Internet, with the option to upgrade to speeds 100 times faster than the average American can access.

Salt Lake City officials unveiled the design scheme for the city’s new 2500 seat, Broadway-style Theater. It’s sleek and modern, but designers say they didn’t lose sight of the city’s surrounding historic architecture. 

Cesar Pelli is the lead architect for design firm Pelli Clark Pelli. He says the design scheme includes what he calls the city’s existing DNA. The New Performing Arts Center will be located on Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City, just south of City Creek Center.

  Utah Governor Gary Herbert wants to see federal authorities hurry up with their investigation of Utah’s attorney general.   The governor said this morning that the delay is impacting the Attorney General’s office and the investigation has taken too long.

As the National Day of Silence approaches this Friday the 19th, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center is honoring allies who reach out to people who are marginalized to give mutual respect and inclusion. Kai Martinez is the director of the center located on the campus of the University of Utah. He says Ally Awareness Week puts the focus on the support system.

After the explosions in Boston Monday, one Salt Lake City mother was relieved to find out that her daughter was safe at the Boston Plaza Hotel. But the family is still having trouble getting past the incident.

Rennly Williams says she didn’t see or hear the explosion at the finish line. Her boyfriend Tom Hickenlooper had finished the race 10 minutes before – faster than he expected because of a knee injury. Just a little slower, and he and Williams might have been there for the blast. 

The emergency medical and public safety communities in Salt Lake City are welcoming a new traffic system that allows faster, safety patient transport to trauma centers.

Troy Madsen is an emergency physician at the University of Utah. He says in a crisis situation, saving minutes and even seconds can be the difference between life and death.

The early estimates of the size of the Bingham Canyon mine slide show that more than 165 million tons of rock and dirt have slid into the bottom of the mine. That makes this slide the largest to ever happen there. Kennecott Utah Copper spokesperson, Kyle Bennett, says it will have a large impact on their yearly copper production.

"The 165 million ton slide does translate, unfortunately, into a reduced production of refined and mined copper of about 50 percent,” he says.

  Communities across Utah are planning for another statewide earthquake drill Wednesday morning – and each one has its own emergency planning issues to deal with. 

West Valley City, for example,  is miles from the Wasatch Fault, but it has unique vulnerabilities.  There are a couple of faults running under the city, and Fire Marshal Bob Fitzgerald says the lake bed soils over most of West Valley could liquefy in a strong earthquake

The Salt Lake City Police department re-evaluates security plans for the Salt Lake City Marathon, the Utah Legislature likely won’t reconvene to overturn the veto of HB76, and the Salt Lake County District attorney drops more drug cases involving the West Valley City Police Department.

Utah lawmakers are still in the process of deciding whether or not to override Governor Gary Herbert’s veto of House Bill 76. Some who voted for the bill have decided not to challenge the Governor.