News

State Sen. Dan Hemmert, R-Orem, is planning to sponsor a bill aimed at protecting the privacy of Utahns who use the state’s COVID-19 voluntary contact tracing app. 

When the White Mesa Mill was built in 1980, it was permitted to process domestic uranium ore for 15 years.

State and local governments have moved public meetings online in order to help slow the spread of coronavirus. They’ve had to figure out how to balance security and public access. 

Utah Business Revival, a group of small business owners that want to fully reopen Utah’s economy, plans to host a concert later this month in Kaysville. It’s the same group that held a protest in Salt Lake City last month, opposing stay-at-home orders.

Public transportation ridership in Utah has plummeted since the coronavirus pandemic began. 

The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has shattered small businesses around the country. 

In October 2018, University of Utah student Lauren McCluskey’s ex-boyfriend shot and killed her on campus. Before she was killed, McCluskey went to university police to report that someone was trying to extort her over intimate photos.

Most of Utah has moved to the yellow, low-risk level of the state’s coronavirus recovery plan, and some people are beginning to think about large scale events. 

BLANDING – As a triage nurse in Monument Valley, Utah, Amber Rasmussen stands in the parking lot all day, testing people for COVID-19. 

On a typical day, she sees 20 to 30 patients, many of whom arrive at the Utah Navajo Health System clinic with severe COVID-19 symptoms. 

After a failed attempt to limit local governments’ authority over stay at home orders during April’s special session, Utah lawmakers plan to try again. 

Public universities throughout Utah and the country received money as part of the federal CARES Act, an economic relief package in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Institutions, though, are required to disburse half of that funding to students. 

ST. GEORGE — Canceling the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2020 season because of COVID-19 was a decision executive producer Frank Mack hoped he wouldn’t have to make.

BLUFF — Business has completely dried up at Canyonlands Jeep Adventures in Moab. 

State lawmakers met Wednesday to review an audit on how Utah’s Community Impact Board, or CIB, has been using funds. 

Utah lawmakers met Wednesday to discuss plans to cut up to $1.3 billion out of the state’s budget for the next fiscal year.

In mid March, Summit County reported the first known case of COVID-19 via community spread. Soon after, its health department issued the state’s first stay-at-home order March 25. By then, the county’s peak tourism season was nearly over, and the order required all out-of-town visitors to leave by April 1. 

During April’s virtual special session, the Utah Legislature created the Public Health and Economic Emergency Commission to make policy recommendations to the governor on how the state should respond to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The June 30 primary election will be conducted entirely by mail under a new state law. Seven counties will give their residents the option to pick up a ballot in their car on election day if they don’t get one in the mail. 

The Town of Bluff will remain under the red, high risk category in the Governor’s pandemic reopening plan. The state gave the town permission to continue implementing strict guidelines for businesses, as the rest of Utah moves from high to moderate risk. 

Utah’s eviction moratorium for those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic ends May 15, after which landlords can begin serving notices to tenants who haven’t paid April or May rent. 

Minority communities are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, according to demographic data from the Utah Department of Health. Early efforts to spread information about the virus failed to reach non-English speaking communities, but now several initiatives are underway to target hotspots in vulnerable communities, including one launching this weekend.

The Bureau of Land Management is considering leasing over 100,000 acres of public land around Moab to energy companies, raising concerns about effects on both tourism and conservation efforts. 

The four Republican candidates for governor shared their plans — and criticized current approaches — to help Utah’s economy recover from the downturn spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. The candidates laid out their views Thursday, during a forum hosted by the Salt Lake Chamber and EDCUtah. 

The Utah Inland Port Authority met with environmental, business and other stakeholders Wednesday to discuss its strategy moving forward.

More than 14,000 gig workers and self-employed people have applied for unemployment in Utah over the past two weeks, including people working for ridesharing apps and Airbnb.