After months of speculation that he would run, former Republican Utah Senator Dan Liljenquist formally announced Wednesday that he will challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch. KCPW’s Jessica Gail reports on his decision to enter the race and how the Hatch campaign is reacting.
Another state lawmaker is pushing to eliminate daylight saving time in Utah. Republican Representative Jim Nielson of Bountiful has introduced a bill to exempt Utah from the federal government’s time change, where clocks are moved forward an hour in the spring so that afternoons have more daylight, and moved back in the fall. As KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports, Nielson says the bi-annual adjustment isn’t right for Utah and one researcher says he might be right.
U.S. Housing and Urban Development announced today it would renew funding for homeless programs across the nation, including more than $5 million for fifty programs in Utah. The funding is intended to keep them operating through 2012 as part of the Obama administrations efforts to prevent and end homelessness.
Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker testified this morning before a congressional subcommittee against a proposal to sell a parcel of national forest land, paving the way for a ski lift between the Canyons and Solitude Mountain Resort. As KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports, Becker told the panel it’s the city’s responsibility to make sure the project doesn’t bypass the environmental reviews and public participation that need to take place before the project is solidified.
Internet entrepreneur Pete Ashdown is once again venturing into politics. The founder and CEO of Salt Lake City-based Internet service provider XMission will make another run for the U.S. Senate in 2012, hoping to tackle the influence of money in government.
With the congressional budget-cutting supercommittee’s super failure, whether or not the House and Senate can rein in the deficit during the upcoming election year remains in question. And some members of Congress are looking to repeal the automatic cuts that are set to go into effect with the committee’s inability to reach a deal. KCPW’s Jeff Robinson spoke with Democratic Utah Representative Jim Matheson, a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition.
Canyons Resort has turned to Utah’s Congressional delegation for support on a proposed gondola connection between Canyons and Solitude Mountain Resort, and all but one of those lawmakers is backing legislation to sell 30 acres of national forest for the project. Canyons says it will decrease traffic and benefit the local economy, but as KCPW’s Whittney Evans reports, some officials say it’s circumventing the public process for what amounts to a ski resort expansion.
The Bureau of Land Management is taking public comments on a proposed coal strip mine expansion outside of Bryce Canyon National Park. The BLM released a draft environmental impact statement on Friday considering the impact of leasing about 3,500 acres of federal land in Kane County, expanding current mining operations from private lands to public. Keith Rigtrup with the BLM’s Kanab field office says expanding the mine, which is operated by Alton Coal Development, has many advantages.
When Democrats criticized Republican Utah Senator Orrin Hatch for supporting Raser Technologies, a Provo-based green energy firm that went bankrupt, his office insisted he never tried to steer federal funds toward the company. But now, they’ve done a 180-degree turn, acknowledging the Senator, who has sharply criticized the White House for its loan to Solyndra, in fact submitted seven requests for federal cash on the company’s behalf.
Those who follow politics probably chuckle at the Super PAC, or political action committee, that was created by satirist Stephen Colbert. But now, Republican Utah Senator Mike Lee may become the first elected official who’s still in office to have his own Super PAC. Every Friday, we talk with Thomas Burr, Washington Correspondent for the Salt Lake Tribune, and author of Political Cornflakes, a daily, online round-up ofUtah politics.
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