News

US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has announced a plan to encourage oil shale and tar sands development in the Mountain West. The Bureau of Land Management released its final plan Friday to develop and test technologies to extract these fossil fuels in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. But the citizen group Utah Tar Sands Resistance says this move will endanger the environment and public health. 

A deal made more than 30 years ago between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Salt Lake County could end up saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

The weekend fatality of a West Jordan man will become an unplanned topic at the State School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration or SITLA Board meeting later this week. 22-year-old Kyle Stocking died following a rope swing accident from Corona Arch which is located on SITLA Land. Kim Christy is the Deputy Director of the Administration which owns 3 point 4 million acres in Utah. He offered condolences to the family and friends of Stocking.

The Gateway Mall looks to get out of the shadow of City Creek, a couple of Utah airports will feel the effect of federal spending cuts, and Bishop John C. Wester of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake sits down with KUER’s Dan Bammes.

  Utah's Catholic bishop, John Wester, was out of town when the church elected a new pope earlier this month. He's had a lot of people ask about it since, and that also offered the opportunity to talk about a number of other issues involving the Catholic church in Utah.  On Friday March 22nd, I asked Bishop Wester what he's learned about Pope Francis since the conclave.

As City Creek Center celebrates its one year anniversary, the nearby Gateway Mall is standing its ground and making new investments. 

The Gateway has lost about a dozen stores to City Creek Center.  But The Gateway’s General Manager Scott Bennett says the outdoor center for shopping, dining, and entertainment is doing just fine. 

Utah Governor Gary Herbert has vetoed HB 76, a bill that would allow any Utahn over the age of 21 to carry a concealed firearm without a permit unless the weapon has a round in the chamber. Now it’s up to Utah lawmakers to decide if they want to overrule the governor’s decision.  

Governor Herbert says he vetoed HB 76 because Utah’s current gun laws have served the state well and have become a model for the nation.

“So that’s a reason why if it ain’t broke don’t fix it," Herbert says.

Utah Transit Authority is set for the grand opening of the Salt Lake Regional Airport TRAX line next month, but before riders can climb aboard law enforcement and emergency management personnel are performing some exercises to prepare for a crisis situation.

Kane County and the state of Utah have regained ownership of several back-country roads that cross federal land. A federal judge granted the state and county title to 12 of 15 roads being contested in a legal dispute with the Interior department and Bureau of Land Management. 

Utah Attorney General John Swallow says the decision proves the state of Utah and 22 of 29 Utah counties involved in the lawsuit are not just barking in the wind.

  Governor Gary Herbert traveled to the Snake Valley on the Utah-Nevada line yesterday to talk to people who might be impacted by a plan to pump groundwater from the Great Basin to Las Vegas.

Prominent Utah pollster Dan Jones retires, members of the Clearfield Community Church try and move on after a devastating fire, and the University of Utah plans to bring science to prisons.

Prominent Utah pollster Dan Jones is retiring from his position as Political Science Professor at the University of Utah.  Jones is stepping down after more than 50 years of teaching, but says he will continue his work in political polling. 

The end of Jones teaching career was marked by a crowd of politicians, academics, and students at the U’s Hinckley Institute of Politics. 

“Dan Jones has had the largest impact of probably anyone in Utah on civic participation,” said the institute’s Director Kirk Jowers.

  Members of Clearfield Community Church are working to keep their church going after a fire almost destroyed their building yesterday.

The church will hold its Sunday worship service in rented space just a few blocks away at Wasatch Elementary School for a few weeks.  But former pastor Richard Axmann says the home-school group that met in the church will have to find another place to meet, along with several other programs.

The Salt Lake City Council can’t decide on a final destination for the Sugarhouse Streetcar, Salt Lake City and County reach an agreement for a new performing arts center, and thousands of gallons of diesel fuel spill into Willard Bay Park.

The Salt Lake City Council is clashing over where the Sugar House Streetcar will end. The council debated several options last night during a scheduled work session. 

  A plan to turn the old Granite High School into a movie studio has fallen through and the property could now be sold to a private buyer.  

Originally, the city of South Salt Lake hoped to buy the 27-acre Granite High School property and renovate its historic buildings.  But, two years ago, voters rejected a $25 million bond issue needed to do that by just nine votes.

A gay rights organization takes on Utah’s Amendment 3, Salt Lake County expands their small business loan program, and Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love could be gearing up for a rematch with Congressman Jim Matheson.

Utah’s Zion Curtain is staying put, three air quality bills survive, and the education budget gets a shot in the arm.

A gay rights organization announced Monday it is filing a federal lawsuit against the state of Utah.  The group Restore Our Humanity is seeking to strike down Utah’s Constitutional Amendment 3, which says that marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman.

Salt Lake County is expanding its small business loan program with some financial backing from commercial banks. The fund supplies higher interest loans to businesses that would be otherwise ineligible for traditional bank loans.  

Democratic State Lawmakers say they’re pleased the legislature passed a budget that fully funded growth in enrollment and boosted per-pupil spending but Utah residents are ready to invest more in public schools.

The final budget provides additional funding for roughly 13,000 new students and increases per pupil spending by 2 percent; enough to help school districts pay for the increased cost of employee benefits, but not enough for teacher pay raises. Lawmakers also appropriated ongoing money for extended-day kindergarten and dual language programs.

When the 2013 Utah Legislative session ended at midnight on Thursday, lawmakers had passed three bills aimed at improving air quality, but let four other bills expire without consideration. 

The Zion Curtain  - the barrier shielding restaurant customers form the preparation of alcoholic beverages - will stand this year, despite attempts by state House members to tear it down.  But some changes to alcohol laws did pass, including the ability for restaurant chains to get a single master liquor license. 

  Current Utah law would have required Utah’s Attorney General to investigate a complaint against himself of violating Utah’s election rules.  But the Utah State Senate passed a bill Thursday afternoon to give that job to an independent lawyer. 

Join KUER's team of reporters for a live chat from the Utah State Capitol as we track down the most important stories on the last day of the Utah State Legislature. Join in on the conversation and tell us what you think about this year's legislative session. Let us know what you think, be it  the good, the bad, or the ugly.

Wednesday night, the Utah Senate guaranteed that Governor Gary Herbert will play a key role in deciding if the state will expand its Medicaid program. Lawmakers in both chambers approved  a substitute bill that now sets guidelines for how the Governor will make his decision.

  Utah Catholics are welcoming Pope Francis I with high expectations. 

The bells at the Cathedral of the Madeleine were ringing this afternoon as Utah Catholics welcomed the news of the selection of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina as pope.

Stephanie Olmstead was watching the news with a group of students at the Newman Center just off the University of Utah campus.  She’s hoping the new pontiff will continue Benedict’s use of Twitter to communicate with the faithful around the world.