Public Safety
5:27 pm
Tue April 9, 2013

Swallow Joins Other Attorneys General Backing Immigration Reform

Credit Courtesy of the Utah Attorney General's Office

Utah Attorney General John Swallow is encouraging Congress to enact immigration reform.  Swallow is part of a bipartisan group of 35 Attorney Generals who sent a letter to federal leaders calling for reform that improves the immigration system, keeps communities safe and protects borders. 

Swallow says drug crime, identity theft issues, and gangs tied to illegal immigration are threatening Utah’s safety and economy.

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Business & Labor
4:33 pm
Tue April 9, 2013

Business Leaders Urge Congress to Act on Immigration

Vale Hale, President and CEO of the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Business leaders in Utah say they’re disappointed in the state’s two U.S. Senator’s for trying to delay comprehensive immigration reform while the economy suffers. But Republican Senator’s Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee say they’re not ready to back a catch-all bill, especially if it contains a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Congress returned from Spring break this week with immigration reform at the top of the agenda. Salt Lake Chamber President and CEO Lane Beattie says for members of Utah’s delegation to say they need more time is ridiculous.

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Rick has been a member of the WFPL News team since 2001 and has covered numerous beats and events over the years.   Most recently heââ

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Matt Thompson is an Editorial Product Manager at NPR. He works with the Digital Media team and NPR member stations and has helped to coordinate the development of 12 topic-focused local websites.

Before coming to NPR in 2009, Thompson served as the interim Online Community Manager for the Knight Foundation. In May 2009, he completed a Donald W. Reynolds Fellowship at the Reynolds Journalism Institute; where he explored creating context-centric news websites with results that have been widely cited in discussions about online journalism's future.

For four years prior to the Reynolds Fellowship, Thompson served as the deputy web editor for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. His work leading the development, community and production of a socially networked arts-and-entertainment website vita.mn contributed to the site being honored with a Digital Edge Award, "an Edgie," from the Newspaper Association of America' New Media Federation. Also at the Star Tribune, Thompson managed technology and interactivity-related projects for StarTribune.com, from creating an internal taxonomy to transforming the online opinion section into a blog.

As an online reporter/producer for the Fresno Bee from 2004-05, Thompson's work on multimedia projects earned him a first- and third-place 2004 Best of the West award. At the Bee, he led an internal advisory committee exploring the paper's strategies for acquiring new audiences.

Thompson was the Poynter Institute's 2003-04 Naughton Fellow for Online Reporting and Writing. While at Poynter, he and his colleague Robin Sloan produced the Flash movie EPIC 2014. Presenting a picture of the media past set 10 years in the future, the movie was written up in The New York Times, Financial Times, USA Today, the Guardian, and on MSNBC. In 2010, Thompson completed a four-year term on Poynter's National Advisory Board.

A graduate with honors in English from Harvard College, Thompson wrote his senior thesis on the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Outside of work, he blogs at Snarkmarket.com, has completed one Twin Cities Marathon and is itching to get ready for another.

-KUER News Pod
12:21 pm
Tue April 9, 2013

KUER News Pod: Tuesday April 9, 2013

Salt Lake City launches a new bike sharing program, outdoor businesses call on the president to protect land around Utah’s national parks, and a wind storm brings gusts up to 50 miles an hour to the Wasatch front.

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Environment & Public Lands
5:41 pm
Mon April 8, 2013

Conservation Groups Call for Federal Protection of Utah's Parks

Outdoor businesses and conservation groups are calling on the federal government to protect the land in and around Utah’s parks. 29 organizations sent a letter Monday to President Barack Obama calling for lasting protections for state and national parks from overdevelopment. 

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Hinckley Forums
4:18 pm
Mon April 8, 2013

Hinckley Forums: A National Tour Exposing a Silent Social Tragedy

Monday April 8, 2013

A National Tour Exposing A Silent Social Problem

Craig Juntenen, President and Founder of Both Ends Burning; Executive Producer of “STUCK”Award Winning Documentary

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Business & Labor
3:51 pm
Mon April 8, 2013

Salt Lake City Launches Bike Share Program

Salt Lake City Councilman Carlton Christensen with a bike Salt Lake City's new GREENbike program.

Salt Lake City officially launched its much-anticipated  bike share program today. It’s called GREENbike and it offers unlimited short-term trips between stations scattered across the city. 

GREENbike is not quite a rental system. With memberships ranging from $5 a day to $75 a year, users pick up a bike at one of the solar-powered kiosks. But instead of chaining it to a corral or storing it at an office, the user returns it to the nearest kiosk for someone else to use. 

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Politics
3:48 pm
Mon April 8, 2013

Chaffetz Calls for Piecemeal Immigration Reform

Credit File
Sign at U.S. Border

Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz called for a piecemeal approach to immigration reform while speaking at the Hinckley Institute of Politics today. He says if you want to solve the overall problem you have to start by fixing legal immigration.

“You never ever solve this problem unless you fix legal immigration," he says. "I don’t care how big, far, wide your fence is, if you don’t fix legal immigration you never solve the problem.”

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Hinckley Forums
3:43 pm
Mon April 8, 2013

Hinckley Forums: Congressman Jason Chaffetz

Monday April 8, 2013

Washington Update: Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)

Presented by the Representative Rob Bishop Civic Engagement Fund

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