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Showing posts from August, 2018

‘Behind the Headlines’: Indictment targets polygamists, former missionaries seek more safety for Mormon proselytizers and some inland port meetings will remain closed

Members of the local Kingston polygamist group are indicted in a $500 million tax-credit scheme , raising questions about a $50,000 campaign donation to Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes . And Sexual assault victims take their case to the church in hope of improving safety. And the Inland Port Authority board votes to keep its subcommittee meetings closed to the public. At 9 a.m. Friday, Salt Lake Tribune digital news editor Rachel Piper, senior managing editor Matt Canham and columnist Robert Gehrke join KCPW’s Roger McDonough to talk about the week’s top stories. Every Friday at 9 a.m., stream “Behind the Headlines” at kcpw.org , or tune in to KCPW 88.3 FM or Utah Public Radio for the broadcast. from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/2NyrSsN

Dana Milbank: The Democrats are a menace to public safety

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Washington • So President Trump is worried there will be violence if the Democrats win in November. "They will overturn everything that we've done, and they'll do it quickly and violently — and violently," Trump reportedly told evangelical Christian leaders at a private White House dinner Monday. Citing Antifa (anarchists, not Democrats) and "some of these groups," Trump added, "these are violent people." His concern is entirely understandable. The Democrats are a menace to public safety. It is time to hit this threat to domestic tranquility right between the eyes — and to arm teachers with guns just in case a Democrat wanders into one of their classrooms looking for trouble. This week, for example, I was sure Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was about to cane Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on the Senate floor (restarting the 1856 feud in which a South Carolinian attacked Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner). Fo

Arizona’s speedy QB Khalil Tate is going to be a handful for BYU. Can the Cougars slow him down?

Provo • From 2012 to 2016, BYU’s defensive players often said they were thankful that they only had to try to stop dual-threat quarterback Taysom Hill in practices, and not in games. The current Cougar defenders will get that challenge Saturday when they face a quarterback that might be even better than Hill was at running the football, Heisman Trophy candidate Khalil Tate of Arizona “Dynamic player, man,” said BYU defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki. “There are a lot of good defenses that he’s played, and he has shredded them all. It is [about] trying to keep him contained. He’s going to get his [yards]. It is just a matter of trying to not let him out for 300 yards.” Don’t laugh. Tate did that to Colorado last year, running for an FBS-record (for a quarterback) 327 yards against the Buffs. While the focus in Provo the last month has been on which quarterback BYU will roll out for the 8:45 p.m. MDT kickoff — senior Tanner Mangum got the nod over freshman Zach Wilson — Arizona h

Kearns industrial area has had dirt roads for 73 years. Now officials predict newly paved byways will lead to a business boom.

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Kearns • At the end of World War II, the U.S. Army Air Force closed Camp Kearns training base, and its northwest corner full of warehouses was converted into an industrial area. But for 73 years, it lacked paved roads — until now. Officials on Thursday celebrated completion of a $1.9 million project to pave about 1.5 miles of local roads, and predicted it will help attract more industries and jobs to the area. “It was so decimated,” state Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns, said about the old Army roads used for decades. “The roads were horrible. Access was horrible.” Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams said that until now, the 40 companies in the area “had to battle bumpy, sometimes muddy roads just to conduct business.” Hutchings said it required a four-wheel drive to get to some safely, and big trucks could not navigate it easily — or often tore up the dirt roads more when they attempted it. Not only are those roads now paved, the Kearns Improvement District also upgraded water and

Utah polygamous sect members in line to hold on to town council

Salt Lake City • A polygamous sect that has been losing control of a community on the Utah-Arizona border that it has long controlled is in line to hold on to seats on a town council after three member incumbents survived a primary election challenge from outsiders. Vance Barlow, the town manager and town clerk in Colorado City, Arizona, says Donald Richter secured one of the four seats outright because he won more than 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary. He says two other incumbents received the second- and third-most votes and will face four non-sect candidates in the November election for three seats. The results were somewhat surprising after non-members of the polygamous group took control of town offices last year in elections in the sister city of Hildale, Utah. from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/2LFAagw

Man threatened to kill newspaper staff over Trump editorials

Boston • A California man upset about The Boston Globe’s coordinated editorial response to President Donald Trump’s attacks on the news media was arrested Thursday for threatening to travel to the newspaper’s offices and kill journalists, whom he called the “enemy of the people,” federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors say 68-year-old Robert Chain's threatening phone calls to the Globe's newsroom started immediately after the Globe appealed to newspapers across the country to condemn what it called a "dirty war against the free press." The day the editorials were published , Chain, of Encino, told a Globe staffer that he was going to shoot employees in the head at 4 o'clock, according to court documents. That threat prompted a police response and increased security at the newspaper's offices. After the editorials ran, authorities say Chain said he would continue threatening the Globe, The New York Times and "other fake news" as long as they contin

John McCain memorialized as hero, fighter and wiseacre

Phoenix • Sen. John McCain was eulogized as a “true American hero” — and a terrible driver with a wicked sense of humor and love of a good fight — at a crowded church service for the maverick politician Thursday that ended with the playing of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” Addressing an estimated 3,500 mourners, former Vice President Joe Biden recalled "the sheer joy that crossed his face when he knew he was about to take the stage of the senate floor and start a fight." Biden, a Democrat who was among the fast friends the Republican senator made across the aisle, said he thought of McCain as a brother, "with a lot of family fights." The service for the statesman, former prisoner of war and two-time presidential candidate unfolded at North Baptist Church after a motorcade bearing McCain's body made its way from the state Capitol past Arizonans waving American flags and campaign-style McCain signs. Family members then watched in silence as uniformed military memb

Utah governor says it’s time to move forward on medical marijuana, whether ballot initiative passes or fails

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert still plans to vote “no” on Proposition 2, which would legalize medical marijuana in the state. But he said Thursday that whether the ballot initiative passes or fails, Utah’s lawmakers need to work to make medical cannabis available to patients. “If it doesn’t pass, then we need to get with the Legislature and come back into session and create a better law,” Herbert said. “If it does pass, we still have the same challenge, and that’s working with the Legislature and all the stakeholders." He said the initiative’s proposed law is flawed, and would require cleanup work if approved by voters in November. But he added that he understands the frustration of patients who feel the state has moved too slowly to respond to the legitimate medical needs of residents. “Either way,” Herbert said, “we’re going to get to the right spot, I believe.” The governor’s comments came during his monthly televised news conference on KUED Channel 7. Herbert became animated dis

2 Utah cities will be among the first to get the new ‘saloon-style' beer aged in High West bourbon barrels

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Salt Lake City and Park City will be among the first markets in the country to get bottles of Western Standard, a new saloon-inspired beer aged in bourbon barrels from Utah’s High West Distillery , company officials announced recently. The German-style lager is being called a “modern beer with historical roots” and should be in Utah’s state-run liquor stores by mid-September, said High West founder David Perkins. The beer is 5.2 percent alcohol by volume, a level that exceeds the 4 percent ABV that is allowable in Utah grocery stores. In addition to Utah, Western Standard is being rolled out in stores — and on draft — in Minneapolis and Phoenix in September. After its initial launch, the beer will be distributed nationwide in 2019. Perkins, who started High West as Utah’s first modern-day spirit maker a decade ago, said he always wanted to make beer. “But we never had the money, space or equipment to do it,” he said. Two years ago, High West Distillery was purchased by Constellat

Eye on the Y: BYU’s long offseason wallowing in disappointment of 4-9 football season is almost over

Eye on the Y is The Tribune’s weekly newsletter about University of Utah athletics. To have it delivered to you each Thursday, subscribe here . As I’ve written before in this space, BYU should have a better football team in 2018 than it did in 2017. It remains to be seen if that improvement translates to more victories and a bowl bid that, in my eyes, will signal a successful season. But it just seems like the players are more bought-in and the new offensive coaching staff knows what it is doing, compared to last year’s group. I put the question to head coach Kalani Sitake at Monday’s news conference: Can you assure BYU fans that this team will be better? “You will have to ask me at the end of the year,” he said. “Yeah, I anticipate it will be. We have done a lot of different things to get ready for this moment. I am not really nervous right now, so we will see what happens. I love our fans and appreciate their support. I know they have high expectations, and my job as a coach is t

Aggies hoping extra experience helps them avoid ‘disaster’ vs. No. 11 Michigan State

A year ago, the Utah State football team opened its season on the road against a Big Ten powerhouse ranked No. 9 in the country. This Friday, the Aggies open their season on the road … against a Big Ten powerhouse … ranked No. 11 in the country. So, what’s to keep this matchup with Michigan State from turning out the same way the 2017 tilt with Wisconsin did — when USU scored the game’s first 10 points, was tied at halftime, but fell apart after the break en route to a 59-10 defeat? “The difference with us is we don’t have nearly as many first-year starters going into the game as we did last year. The first snap was over the quarterback’s head. What a disaster. Hopefully, we can avoid that this year,” Aggies coach Matt Wells said at Monday’s weekly news conference in Logan. “We have more experienced players. Now, does that lead to better play and more points and all that stuff? Obviously, that remains to be seen. But, we’re not nearly as inexperienced going into the game as we were

Scott D. Pierce: ‘Jack Ryan’ is good, but will it join the list of TV’s best movie adaptations?

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John Krasinski is going where a lot of actors have gone before — into the lead role in “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.” A buffed-up Krasinski, complete with six-pack abs but retaining the likability and charm he exuded as Jim on “The Office,” is stepping into the shoes worn by Alec Baldwin in “The Hunt for Red October,” Harrison Ford in “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger,” Ben Affleck in “The Sum of All Fears” and Chris Pine in “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.” And he fills them very well. This new eight-part series — which starts streaming Friday on Amazon Prime — casts Krasinski as a young version of Ryan. He’s been through some tough times, but he’s working as a CIA analyst when we first meet him. (Or … meet him for the first time for the fifth time?) Anyway, Jack comes across some financial information that he believes is tied to one of the world’s most-wanted terrorists (Ali Suliman). His boss (Wendell Pierce) doesn’t see it that way, but guess who’s right? And, after spendin

Labor Day weekend traffic: Expect half-hour delays leaving town today on I-15, up to one-hour delays on Friday

Officials warn that Labor Day weekend travel will be complicated by heavy traffic by vacationers leaving town, some ongoing road projects and FrontRunner shutting down half its line for testing on Saturday, and replacing trains with buses. The Utah Department of Transportation warns that up to an extra hour may be needed to travel along Interstate 15 through Salt Lake and Utah counties on Friday between 2 and 8:30 p.m. because of holiday travelers headed out of town. The heaviest delays are expected about 5 p.m. Also because of return trips, UDOT predicted heavy northbound I-15 traffic on Monday, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. UDOT said it will suspend construction on projects statewide from Friday through Monday and open all lanes to traffic to help reduce congestion, however, some lane restrictions will remain in place to protect work zones. Some areas where drivers should expect restrictions include: I-15 Technology Corridor • On I-15 in Lehi, the northbound lanes are split from 2100

Red All Over: Ute football schedule’s degree of difficulty will increase after Weber State’s visit

Red All Over is The Tribune’s weekly newsletter about University of Utah athletics. To have it delivered to you each Thursday, subscribe here . Utah’s football team will play the 19th-toughest schedule in the country this season, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. Life gets only more difficult for the Utes after Thursday night’s opener vs. Weber State at Rice-Eccles Stadium. That's not to say the Wildcats will make things easy for Utah, just that starting the season with an FCS opponent by definition makes the rest of the year more challenging. You'll hear a lot from me this season about the FPI, the ESPN formula that ranks teams and assigns a probability level of winning and losing for each game – projecting the entire season. It's fascinating to monitor. The Utes have a 95.3-percent chance of beating Weber State, for example, and a 21.4-percent chance of beating Washington on Sept. 15. The FPI projects 6.9 wins for Utah in 2018. Sounds low, right? But that'

Commentary: McCain, Mueller and the current state of the right

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On Saturday night John McCain, former prisoner of war and senator from Arizona, died after a yearlong battle with aggressive brain cancer. While much has been written about McCain’s extraordinary life and more will certainly be forthcoming, I’m reminded of another war hero, Robert Mueller. Like McCain, former FBI Director Mueller is a veteran of the Vietnam War and has spent most of his adult life in service to the United States. Also like McCain, Mueller has been a registered Republican his entire adult life. The similarities don’t end there, as McCain and Mueller were also united by a sense of duty and dedication to the ideals of the United States. Both men have also been continually criticized and vilified by members of the extremes factions of their own party. On the surface, both men would seem to be odd choices for this level of vitriol given their consistent service to the nation and loyalty to the party. Looking at the individuals disparaging Mueller and McCain provides some

Commentary: McCain’s passing is an echo of the Reagan era

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Intriguing that the passing of Sen. John McCain, a Reagan Republican, feels a bit like the passing of Ronald Reagan in tone and message. Reagan’s passing was scripted perfectly and delivered a classic final bow for the former president. It seems McCain understood the moment and has taken a page from that playbook, without cynicism, but with purpose. McCain’s language, image, story and writings, spread over this week on television and social media, convey an optimism about the country, and for a number of days the nation will be exposed to valuable words about the importance of civic life and civil society. As with Reagan, it seems this part of McCain’s journey has been well thought out and, while one can look at aspects of his political career and take issue with positions or temperament, the core messages in his writings, speeches about NATO and national security, America’s role in the world and the impact its leaders’ comportment and judgment have on matters at home and far beyond

This week in Mormon Land: Another hint of a two-hour block? Science gives a nod to the Word of Wisdom. Spider-Man goes anti-LDS?

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The Mormon Land newsletter is a weekly highlight reel of developments in and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whether heralded in headlines, preached from the pulpit or buzzed about on the back benches. Want Mormon Land in your inbox? Subscribe here . This week’s podcast: The politics of pot Soon after the church announced its opposition to a Utah ballot initiative on medical marijuana , emails began appearing in the inboxes of Latter-day Saints across the state. In them, the church stated that while it “does not object to the medicinal use of marijuana,” it is dead set against this particular ballot measure, declaring matter-of-factly: “We urge voters of Utah to vote NO on Proposition 2.” Will the church succeed in defeating what, to this point, has been a popular proposal ? Will the email blast prove effective or could it backfire? If the initiative passes, is it evidence of the church’s waning influence in Utah? If it fails, would it reinforce the notion

Utah DWR sends tiny trout skydiving into lake

A Utah Division of Wildlife Resources video of tiny trout skydiving into a lake is getting attention online and eliciting concern for the fish. Fun fact: We stock many of Utah's high-mountain lakes from the air. The fish are tiny — anywhere from 1–3 inches long — which allows more than 95% of them to survive the fall. #Utah #TroutTuesday pic.twitter.com/kotDe91Zzw — Utah DWR (@UtahDWR) August 21, 2018 The DWR posted the video along with this “Fun fact: We stock many of Utah's high-mountain lakes from the air. The fish are tiny — anywhere from 1–3 inches long — which allows more than 95 percent of them to survive the fall.” The video, shot from a camera mounted on the bottom of the plane, shows water and the little fish streaming out of the aircraft into the clear blue lake below. According to DWR, it was one of 70 lakes stocked that day in the Loa/Boulder Mountain area. It’s believed to be Raft Lake in the video, which is catching the attention of a number of commenters

U.S. to End Funding to U.N. Agency That Helps Palestinian Refugees

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By EDWARD WONG from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2wxzrsh

Honey, I Swept the Floor!

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By BROOKE WILLIAMS from NYT Style https://ift.tt/2Pk01gs

Yankees Looking to Trade for Andrew McCutchen, a Former M.V.P.

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By TYLER KEPNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2N3KVhz

Why You Should Tell Your Co-Workers How Much Money You Make

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By TIM HERRERA from NYT Smarter Living https://ift.tt/2PjuTO3

What’s on TV Friday: ‘Ozark’ and ‘Jack Ryan’

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By EMMA L. MCALEAVY from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/2LJ5bQC

How Germany’s Far Right Stole a Rallying Cry for Democracy

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By AINARA TIEFENTHÄLER and SARAH STEIN KERR from NYT World https://ift.tt/2N45dHO

How Much Hotter Is Your Hometown Today Than When You Were Born?

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By NADJA POPOVICH, BLACKI MIGLIOZZI, RUMSEY TAYLOR, JOSH WILLIAMS and DEREK WATKINS from NYT Climate https://ift.tt/2LIQ21K

Mob Protests in Germany Show New Strength of the Far Right

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By KATRIN BENNHOLD from NYT World https://ift.tt/2MIlgM3

President Trump Had a Lot to Say at His Rally and on Twitter. But Not About John McCain.

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By KATIE ROGERS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2N6Jm2c

‘An Attack on Students’ Rights’: Reactions to Betsy DeVos’s New Rules on Sexual Assault

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By JENNIFER MEDINA and EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2C3YpWi

2 Passengers Charged With Sexual Assault Aboard Aircraft as F.B.I. Cracks Down

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By KIRK JOHNSON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2PhTouX

Quotation of the Day: Tears, Laughter and Allusions to a Man Who Wasn’t Invited

By Unknown Author from NYT Today’s Paper https://ift.tt/2PkKtsu

Yankees, With Strongest Home Run Muscles, Are Outdone by a Weakling

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By WALLACE MATTHEWS from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2C0FMTd

Caroline Wozniacki Becomes Latest Giant to Fall at Armstrong

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By BEN ROTHENBERG from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2C3K6Rx

Nick Kyrgios Was Struggling. The Chair Umpire Stepped Down and Stepped In.

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By SCOTT CACCIOLA from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2wqSkhu

Corrections: August 31, 2018

By Unknown Author from NYT Corrections https://ift.tt/2LIBoHM

Works With Kids

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By DEB AMLEN from NYT Crosswords & Games https://ift.tt/2PSPV73

Ronan Farrow’s Ex-Producer Says NBC Impeded Weinstein Reporting

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By JOHN KOBLIN from NYT Business Day https://ift.tt/2NFpVuk

Germany, Vanilla Beans, Riz Ahmed: Your Friday Briefing

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By ALISHA HARIDASANI GUPTA from NYT Briefing https://ift.tt/2PgoVNG

Rumba, the Dance of Love

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By GIA KOURLAS from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/2MHEdOU

Heather Locklear charged with three misdemeanor counts stemming from June disturbance

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Three misdemeanor charges filed Thursday stem from Heather Locklear's June arrest after emergency personnel responded to a disturbance at her home.               from USATODAY - News Top Stories https://ift.tt/2wvkmbx

In-N-Out Burger donates $25,000 to Republican Party, prompting Democrats to demand boycott

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The beloved California burger chain gave $25,0000 to the state's GOP, a filing shows, prompting a Democratic Party official to call for a boycott.               from USATODAY - News Top Stories https://ift.tt/2Poz4bt