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Today the President addressed the 88th Annual American Legion National Convention in Salt Lake City He also met with with the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Later on he attended a fundraiser for the reelection campaign of Sen Orrin Hatch, R-Utah Today Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne celebrate their 42nd Wedding anniversary. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

The American Legion opened its national convention in Salt Lake City this week with high hopes the gathering would help "unite America" behind the war in Iraq. Instead, the veterans have found themselves in a fight with the city's anti-war mayor. Mayor Rocky Anderson, a Democrat in a city that is considered liberal by heavily Republican Utah's standards, has accused the Bush administration of lying about the rationale for war. He has called President Bush a "complete disaster." And he organized a protest rally Wednesday a few blocks from the Salt Palace Convention Center, just hours before Bush's arrival here...

Offended by Rocky Anderson's plans to protest President Bush this week, the Utah Republican Party is waging a public-relations campaign urging Utahns to call the mayor and tell him to "stop embarrassing" the state. And while Utahns have listened - flooding City Hall with almost 300 calls and overwhelming the phone system - Anderson hasn't. Salt Lake City's mayor isn't altering his protest plans. "Given the nastiness of some of these people, it actually just bolsters my resolve," said Anderson, who previously alleged that the "real embarrassment" is Utahns' unwavering support of Bush. The GOP acknowledged that its push, sending...

Salt Lake City is preparing for at least five demonstrations the afternoon and evening of Aug. 30, but all five may miss their mark if President Bush doesn't come until later in the day. The White House said Tuesday that Bush will spend the night of Aug. 30 in Salt Lake City and then "on Thursday, Aug. 31, the president will have events in Salt Lake City" before traveling to Camp David for the Labor Day weekend. It is not known when he will arrive in Salt Lake City on Aug. 30, and rallies are scheduled beginning at 11 a.m....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2006 – A veteran Utah Army National Guardsman from Salt Lake City is coordinating efforts to hold the municipality’s first Freedom Walk. Salt Lake City’s Freedom Walk is slated for the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Chief Warrant Officer Paul Holton, an Army interrogator, said. “It’s important for people to remember how we felt that day,” Holton said. It’s also important to honor military veterans, especially those who’ve given their lives safeguarding freedom, he added. Holton is working to get sponsors and publicity for his city’s Freedom Walk....

Anti-war activist 'jumped at chance' to be at protest WASHINGTON — Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson invited anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan to join speakers at a rally when President Bush speaks to the American Legion Convention. Anderson invited Sheehan via e-mail a few days ago, her spokeswoman Tiffany Burns said, and "she jumped at the chance to be there." Bush, along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, is expected to be at the American Legion convention on Aug. 30, which may draw about 14,500 attendees. Sheehan, who has become a high-profile spokeswoman for the anti-war movement since her son,...

When President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visit Salt Lake City next month for an American Legion national convention, Mayor Rocky Anderson plans a protest - even bigger than the one he spoke at last year. Critical of Bush on several fronts - from the Iraq war to funding cuts to environmental policies - Anderson expects "tens of thousands" to demonstrate. "I'm glad he's coming to Salt Lake City," Anderson said Friday. "I certainly hope there is an effective expression of opposition to where this country is headed right now under the Bush administration. When that happens in...

Thousands of mostly Latino Utahns made their way in vehicles and on foot Sunday afternoon to the Salt Lake City-County Building to participate in a "Dignity March" to highlight immigration issues that are now the focus of fierce debate in Congress and the nation. By early afternoon, several thousand had assembled for speeches and then a march up State Street to the State Capitol and back. Many were families, some bringing food and refreshments for picnics. Many carried American flags with a sprinkling of flags from Mexico and other countries. Some in the crowd also wore symbols of Americanism such...

Time is right for Russian Orthodox By Peggy Fletcher Stack The Salt Lake Tribune Every week, in a nondescript white building behind a tax office in West Valley City, Russian Orthodoxy comes alive. On an ordinary Wednesday morning, the new home of a burgeoning Russian Orthodox Church - about the size of a large living room - was ablaze with candles, smelling of incense and awash in the traditions of the country many left behind. The wooden icon screen compels reverence with its images of Jesus, Mary and the saints. A dozen or so believers stand for the two-hour service,...

Try placing a year on this scenario: a crusty, old-line newspaper teams up with an equally risk-averse broadcasting outfit, to provide a full time outlet for reporters to discuss their stories on the AM radio dial. What era do you think we'd be talking about here, the fifties? At best, the sixties? How about 2006! Yes, the Washington Post, notorious print media fossil, has teamed up with Bonneville Broadcasting to provide "Washington Post Radio" on 1500 AM, until now home to WTOP-AM news radio. Secondarily, its programming will also be heard on 107.7 FM, with its very limited signal reach.....................

Alliant Techsystems Inc. has received $78 million worth of orders to manufacture ammunition for the U.S. military at the Alliant Lake City Small Caliber Ammunition Co. LLC plant in Independence. Alliant Lake City will complete the orders in about 18 months, Alliant Techsystems spokesman Bryce Hallowell said Friday. The U.S. Army Field Service Command in Rock Island, Ill., issued the orders. The Army owns Alliant Lake City, which Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE: ATK - News) of Edina, Minn., operates. Alliant Lake City has about 2,000 employees, Hallowell said. Since winning a contract to produce small-caliber ammunition in April 2000, Alliant...

Democrat supports an inquiry on Rocky Expenditure probe should not fall along party lines, she says By Brady Snyder Deseret Morning News Wednesday, October 12, 2005 The chairwoman of the Salt Lake County Democratic Party is joining Republicans who want District Attorney David Yocom to investigate Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson for possible misuse of public funds. Rocky Anderson "I believe that if a public official has done something wrong they should be investigated," Megan Risbon told the Deseret Morning News on Monday, saying she is sending Yocom a letter today officially requesting an investigation. Investigations of wrongdoing should...

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson has named his seventh communications director in less than five years after firing Deeda Seed, a longtime friend and his former chief of staff. Deeda Seed Clifford Lyon, a former executive with a gift wholesale company and a member of the Human Rights Center of Utah governing board, replaces Seed, who Anderson fired Friday apparently for complaining about his management style and in part over how the controversy surrounding his involvement in last week's anti-war protest during President Bush's visit was being handled. Like some of her predecessors, Seed complained that Anderson doesn't abide dissent...

Salt Lake City’s ABC affiliate, KTVX-TV Channel 4, refused to accept the ads. Station executive Jemina Keller claimed that it is an “inappropriate commercial advertisement for Salt Lake City… incompatible with our marketplace.” The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications, the Texas-based mega-broadcasting chain whose executives have been close to George W. Bush. (Article contains transcript of television ad)

Rocky to push non-married benefit, without OK He says he can file order without council approval By Brady Snyder Deseret Morning News Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson is moving forward with a plan to provide medical and dental benefits for domestic partners, sans City Council approval. After seeking legal advice from City Attorney Ed Rutan, Anderson said Tuesday he believes he can administratively offer medical and dental benefits to domestic partners. In a strange legal twist, however, Anderson said it looks like he cannot administratively offer them bereavement benefits. The mayor, then, plans to pass an executive order offering...

U.S. President George W. Bush (front) talks to actor and veteran R. Lee Ermey (R) at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) national convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, August 22, 2005. Bush underscored his policy of keeping U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq until the country establishes a stable government. REUTERS/Jeff Mitchell

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2005 Message of resolve for U.S., Iraq There were two clear messages in the speech President George Bush delivered to the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Salt Lake City Monday. The first, addressed to the American people, was a strong affirmation of his argument that the United States "must confront threats before they fully materialize" and that Iraq is "a central front in the war on terror." The second message reassured the Iraqi people that the president will remain steadfast in his commitment to their freedom. Mr. Bush warned in his address that...

President Honors Veterans of Foreign Wars at National Convention Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, Utah President Bush Honors America's Veterans and Soldiers 11:17 A.M. MDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) Thank you all very much. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's a pleasure to be back here in Salt Lake City, Utah. And I'm proud to again stand with the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Thanks for having me. (Applause.) I really enjoy coming to these conventions. Members here come from all walks of life and you do vital work across our country. I know firsthand the spirit...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2005 – U.S. servicemembers are fighting and sacrificing in Iraq because that country "is a central front in the war on terror," President Bush told Veterans of Foreign War members gathered in Salt Lake City today. Terrorists want to "establish Taliban-like regimes" in Iraq and other troubled areas of the Middle East, Bush explained to VFW members at their annual convention, in order to "turn that region into a launching pad for more attacks" against America and its allies. Yet, "in all their objectives" the terrorists "will fail," the president vowed. The overriding lesson provided by the...

President George W. Bush on Monday issued a robust defence of his Iraq policy against mounting domestic criticism, vowing "nothing less than the total victory over the terrorists". ADVERTISEMENT He acknowledged the deaths of 1,864 US soldiers in Iraq and the "grieving families and loved ones back home" but insisted that, rather than set a timetable for withdrawal, "we owe them something. We will finish the task that they gave their lives for." The speech in Utah, to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, marked the president's first direct response to Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq and...