West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder’s Salt Lake County mayoral campaign plans to formally respond to allegations of campaign finance and ethics violations Tuesday. As KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports, a resident filed a complaint with the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office last week, but Winder’s campaign says it did nothing wrong.
Utah Congressmen Jim Matheson and Jason Chaffetz were among House lawmakers voting this morning in favor of a motion to move the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline forward as part of a transportation bill. Speaking on the house floor last night, Matheson said contrary to what many believe, this product is already being transported to the United States.
The state of Utah’s general fund is being eroded by tax exemptions and earmarks, hurting important needs like colleges and universities, the courts, water safety and environmental protection. That’s according to a new report issued by Voices for Utah Children, which is making new recommendations to the Utah Legislature to fix the problem.
A good chunk of this week was spent in the U.S. Senate debating and rejecting several budget proposals. And among them was a plan heralded by conservatives that was put forward by freshman Republican Utah Senator Mike Lee. Every Friday, we talk with Thomas Burr, Washington Correspondent for the Salt Lake Tribune and author of Political Cornflakes, a daily, online round-up of Utah politics.
Utah lawmakers are debating whether automatic license plate readers, used by law enforcement to catch criminals, violate the privacy rights of Utah citizens. KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports on the ethical questions raised during a legislative committee meeting at the state capitol Wednesday.
While longtime Republican Utah Senator Orrin Hatch will fight to keep his party’s nomination on June 26, former Senator Bob Bennett didn’t have the luxury of being in a primary election in 2010, when his bid for a fourth term in office fell right at the state GOP convention. Hatch, who is facing former State Senator Dan Liljenquist, seems to have the upper hand going into the primary. KCPW’s Jeff Robinson asked Senator Bennett, his former colleague in Washington for 18 years, whether Hatch’s re-election to a seventh term in office is assured as this point.
Salt Lake City is welcoming small businesses back to downtown. After years of empty storefronts, Mayor Ralph Becker will celebrate the opening of four new businesses along Main Street later this week that were all established within the last year.
If you recognize the name Breck England, it could because of his frequent op-eds in the newspaper, lambasting the Utah Legislature. Or perhaps it’s because the he’s co-written several books with famous Utah author Stephen Covey, and shared his expertise on LDS history. Now, the business consultant is hoping to win a seat in the Utah Legislature, running as a Democrat in Davis County.
He was elected in 1976, has served six terms in the U.S. Senate, and was just defeated in a Republican primary election by a Tea Party candidate. It sounds like we could be talking about Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, but that’s actually the story of Indiana Senator Richard Lugar. Every Friday, we talk with Thomas Burr, Washington Correspondent for the Salt Lake Tribune and author of Political Cornflakes, a daily, online round-up of Utah politics.
Salt Lake County is again seeking a bond for park improvements, as well as the construction of new parks in the west, southwest and southeast areas of the valley. The amount has increased from $110 million to $123 million, but the yearly payments would remain the same. Community Services Department Director Erin Litvack says if the county council moves forward with the proposal, it would go on the November ballot.
