News

Utah Senate Democrats are calling on House and Senate leadership to authorize a committee to investigate the allegations brought against Attorney General John Swallow.

Senate Minority leader Gene Davis says the call for an investigation isn’t about impeachment. That’s a process left for the Utah House to begin. But he does say it’s in the interest of open government and the integrity of our elected officials to find the truth.

The effort to pump water from Utah to Las Vegas heads to court, the University of Utah names a new dean of graduate studies, and the number of Mormon missionaries reaches an all-time high.

  The last time Andre Williams came to Salt Lake, the Garage on Beck caught fire.  Dan Nailen talks about the show in Salt Lake and other entertainment options for the week.

Dan Nailen reports on entertainment for KUER and blogs at slcene.com.

Utah is now home to one of the fastest light business jets in the world. SyberJet Aircraft announced this week that it has selected Cedar City as the location for its headquarters and the new SJ30 assembly plant. SyberJet Aircraft President Chuck Taylor says the new seven-seat SJ30 will be assembled from start to finish in Utah. 

After several decades of recovery efforts the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list.

  The head of the University of Utah’s Physics and Astronomy Department has been named Dean of the Graduate School.

Dave Kieda helped to build the U’s astronomy faculty by recruiting new talent from across the country.  He also has research projects underway with observatories across the country.

But he says he’ll have important responsibilities for other non-science disciplines in his new job, especially in making up for cuts in federal funding.

Utah officials look to Arkansas for ideas on Medicaid expansion, a state lawmaker’s bill could take children away from murder suspects, and the Utah House of Representatives prepares themselves for the possibility of impeachment proceedings against Attorney General John Swallow.

The Downtown Farmers Market opens for the summer this Saturday in Pioneer Park. Vendors selling locally-grown produce and goods will stay a little later than normal this year. 

Nearly ten thousand people every Saturday during the summer visit the downtown farmers market, so this year vendors will stay open an extra  hour. Kim Angeli is Director of the Downtown Farmers Market and she says the extra hour will give people more time and room to browse.

With two high-profile cases in mind, a Utah Lawmaker is drafting a bill to make it easier for a judge to remove children from the custody of a parent who’s a suspected of murdering the other parent. GOP Senator Todd Weiler says his bill would lower the standard of proof the judge needs to make the call.

When Senator Weiler brought the bill to a Judiciary Interim Committee last month, he had in mind the families of missing West Valley City mom Susan Cox Powell and Salt Lake City mom Uta von Schwedler. Schwedler was found drowned in a bathtub in 2011.

Utah officials are keeping a close eye on Arkansas as they consider whether to expand Medicaid in the state. The Utah Department of Health held an informational conference call Thursday with Arkansas’ Medicaid Director Andy Allison. Members of Utah’s Medicaid Expansion community workgroup see promise in Arkansas’ unique model. It gives eligible low-income residents Medicaid expansion dollars to buy private health insurance. 

In response to questions from state lawmakers about the allegations surrounding Utah Attorney General John Swallow, the Utah House Majority leadership is sending out weekly informational emails to legislators while the body considers options for dealing with the embattled public official.

  A panel of scientists working with the National Research Council released its report this week on the management of wild horses in the West.  One of the experts is from Brigham Young University. 

A group of Utah mayors call on Utah’s senators to act on immigration reform, Salt Lake City launches a new bike route, and police find the body of a missing BYU student.

A bipartisan group of Utah mayors have sent a letter to Republican Senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, urging them to immediately pass immigration reform legislation. From Fruit Heights to Salt Lake City to St. George, 19 mayors signed the letter. It calls for comprehensive immigration reform, and warns that Utah communities will face significant challenges unless that reform is enacted. 

The Salt Lake City School Board approves a tax hike, Kennecott Utah Copper announces they are done with layoffs - for now, and the Salt Lake County Council Okays a proposal for a mutual commitment registry.

Salt Lake City residents will see an increase in their property taxes next year to help pay for area public schools. The Salt Lake City School Board approved the hike on Tuesday, saying the additional revenues will fill a gap in the statewide education budget lawmakers passed this year. 

Despite a 2 percent increase in per pupil spending by the state for the 2013-2014 school year, members of the Salt Lake City School Board say it’s not enough to pay the bills.

Workers at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Utah Copper are breathing a sigh of relief after mine officials announced today there would not be another big layoff. A recent landslide at the Bingham Canyon Mine has forced the company to drastically reduce production and layoff some administrative staff.

Officials and alumni from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law celebrated the groundbreaking of the new building on the southwest corner of the campus Tuesday morning. Dignitaries who spoke on the occasion included University President David Pershing and Hiram Chodosh, the Dean of the Law College. Chodosh says when they started this centennial project 7 years ago many close friends questioned whether he was being realistic about its completion at such an economically challenging time. 

Teen pregnancy is declining in Utah, a well known utah gun rights activist is temporarily losing his right to bear arms, and Cottonwood Heights first and only mayor is filing for re-election.

Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvin Cullimore Jr. has filed for re-election. Cullimore was elected as the first mayor of Cottonwood Heights back in 2004 following a successful incorporation referendum. Cullimore says his administration has done an excellent job of providing services at a reasonable cost.

In his re-election announcement, Mayor Cullimore stressed the important things Cottonwood City has not done under his leadership.

  A bill that could make it harder to sell fake or stolen prescription drugs passed the U.S. House of Representatives this week.   Utah 4th District Congressman Jim Matheson is a co-sponsor of HR 1919, which would require a product identifier code on every container of prescription drugs sold in the United States.  Matheson says technology is readily available to track them.

Another state legislator calls for the resignation of Attorney General John Swallow, more members of the LDS church than ever before participate in the Utah Pride Parade, and a Utah County family lays to rest their fallen soldier.

  Dan Nailen says he's generally not a fan of musical theater, but he's interested in Jersey Boys, the Broadway show playing this week in Salt Lake City.

Dan Nailen reports on entertainment for KUER and blogs at slcene.com

The Salt Lake City Public Library named an Illinois native John Spears as its new executive director on Thursday. The selection follows a year-long, nationwide recruitment process that began after the library’s former executive director stepped down. 

Thirty-nine-year-old John Spears comes to Salt Lake City after leading a public library system in the Chicago suburb of Naperville for about two years. Library Board President Kevin Werner says he was looking for an effective collaborator, communicator and manager who can think strategically about the future.

The Utah Pride Center in Salt Lake City opens its annual 2-day Pride Festival on the grounds of the Salt Lake City and County Building tomorrow. The center’s Executive Director, Valerie Larabee, says it’s all in support and service of the Utah LGBTQ community and its allies.

The electric shuttle bus project that would move through the middle of the University of Utah campus is another step closer to reality following a public open house Thursday on campus. Alma Allred, the director of the University’s Commuter Services says this shuttle will cut the commute time from the South Campus TRAX station to the north side of campus to 7 minutes, down from a maximum of 25 minutes. He says a major portion of the students come through that station.

Utah Republican Congressman Rob Bishop is praising an Air Force decision to move a major maintenance operation to Hill Air Force Base. 

A Utah man is doing well after surgeons at Intermountain Medical Center performed the first combined heart-liver transplant in an adult patient in the Intermountain West. 

Dressed up in a shirt and tie, you would never know 31-year-old Michael Mader is a transplant patient.  The surgery was completed on April 23rd. Mader, who has suffered from 18 heart attacks, says he could feel the difference right away.

“I feel better than I did at 22, when I had my first heart attack,” Mader says. “So it’s been a night and day difference.”