Free Republic

AMERICAN FORK — A Democratic candidate for the Utah Legislature was charged Monday with aggravated kidnapping. Mark Byrge — a candidate for House District 56 — is also being investigated for allegedly selling pain medications out of his house. Byrge, 33, of American Fork, was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony; aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; and obstructing justice, a second-degree felony. His wife, Tina Byrge, 32, is charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony. On June 1, a man went to Byrge's front door and an argument ensued. The fight escalated to the point...

(CNSNews.com) – At a House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation on Thursday, ranchers from Western states testified that they are routinely threatened and bullied by federal land management officials, including the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife. “I sit before you today to let you know what’s going on up there, and I hope that we can come to some kind of agreement on what needs to be done and move forward on it, because enough is enough when it comes to bullying people that have been on this land for...

A federal judge handed a landmark victory to Kane County and the state of Utah on Wednesday in a years-long dispute with the federal government over whether some rural routes should remain in use as roads, or if they should be closed to the public. In two decisions, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups found he had jurisdiction to hear Kane County's claim, gave parameters for "reasonable" right-of-way widths on some routes and determined that 12 of 15 routes in dispute were roads and therefore accessible by the public. The distinction hinged on an 1866 law through which Congress sought to...

Despite an eleventh hour interjection from the U.S. Forest Service, the Ouray County Commissioners made history this week, unanimously voting to adopt a new county road map that brings it into the 21st century. The last time an official county road map was prepared in Ouray County was in 1961. Proposed revisions to this 1961 iteration of the map took place over the past five years, first through the work of the collaborative, multi-jurisdictional Public Access Group and later through two years of intensive work by Ouray County IT/GIS Manager Jeff Bockes, who integrated modern computerized mapping techniques (including GoogleEarth)...

Forcing Utah drivers to prove their citizenship and identity for a license may have seemed like torture at times during the past five years, initially causing lines with waits that averaged more than three hours. But it has brought some results expected by lawmakers during heated immigration debates. Since the program started in 2010, the state found that 5,923 undocumented immigrants illegally had full driver licenses, obtained largely through use of Social Security numbers they should not have had. "We knew there were a handful of people out there who were undocumented but had a Social Security number, so they...

BATTLE MOUNTAIN — Once again ranchers who run cattle on the Argenta Allotment in Lander County were told Wednesday that due to drought a number of areas would be closed to livestock. Pete and Lynn Tomera were told by the Bureau of Land Management they had a week to remove cattle from nine segments of the allotment ... We have 7 days to ride the entire mountain and have the cattle off. We are right in the middle of haying and are forced to drop everything and begin gathering cattle,” the Tomeras wrote. “We are forced to put the cattle...

Scientists with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are warning that streams harboring endangered salmon and steelhead could go dry because of the heavy water consumption by marijuana growers. During the growing season, California “pot farms” consume 60 million gallons of water a day. That equals 50% more than is consumed by the entire city of San Francisco. ... Two men were arrested were arrested last week at a Santa Cruz County pot farm that state authorities said used diverted stream water and threatened steelhead trout and endangered Central Coast Coho salmon. The raid netted 180 mature marijuana plants...

A new study shows the lesser prairie chicken population has exploded by 20 percent prompting concern by western lawmakers that the Obama administration acted hastily when it listed the bird as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The aerial survey conducted last month by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies showed the grouse species numbers jumped from 18,747 to 22,415. That study plus the Agriculture Department’s tardiness in reporting conservation efforts to Congress as required by law prompted a letter from lawmakers including Colorado Republican Rep. Scott Tipton demanding the report. “We request that your department provide this...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday said Utah is not required to recognize the marriages of roughly 1,000 same-sex couples there while state officials pursue appeals. The court’s order was two sentences long and said only that a lower court’s ruling “is stayed pending the final disposition of the appeal” by the federal appeals court in Denver. Friday’s order came in a different case, one concerning the status of what the state calls “interim marriages,” meaning those entered into during that period in December and January when same-sex marriage was briefly allowed. The case seeking recognition of the 1,000...

Bureau of Land Management Director Neil Kornze said that increased drilling and a shortage of staff are behind his agency’s request for a fee system to increase the agency’s inspection capacity. ... BLM is focused on a range of inspections, including drilling and production inspections. ... Irregular and declining budgets have hindered our ability to move out aggressively in this area. Through the President’s 2015 budget proposal, we are now seeking to fund inspections through a fee system that will allow us to be much more responsive to the needs of industry and, importantly, to meet the foundational safety and...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is a shady operator. From changing the Senate rules which allowed him to increase the tax-raising power of the Senate Democratic majority, ties to shady lobbyists, and numerous scandals in Nevada, it is little wonder how a guy on a relatively modest public servant salary has become obscenely wealthy. Now, Reid has been linked to a new massive bribery case that had two state attorneys general arrested already. Utah prosecutors on Tuesday filed criminal charges against two former state attorneys general in a court filing that makes tantalizing references to a possible pay-to-play influence...

Mesa County Commissioners approved a resolution on Monday to oppose the nationwide Clean Water Act, commonly referred to as Waters of the U.S. ... The proposed nationwide rule would expand the jurisdiction of what waters would be regulated by the federal government. This expansion would include dry washes, roadside ditches, and drainage ditches throughout Mesa County. ... the board of commissioners also expressed their concern since they see no apparent public benefit from the proposed rule

Utah prosecutors on Tuesday filed criminal charges against two former state attorneys general in a court filing that makes tantalizing references to a possible pay-to-play influence scheme involving U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In a court filing in Utah County, District Attorney Sam Gill charged former attorneys general John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff with numerous felony state crimes, including bribery, acceptance of illegal gifts, evidence tampering and a “pattern of unlawful activity.” The charges were expected for months and both men were taken into custody. Mr. Shurtleff served for many years as Utah’s top law enforcement official before retiring...

SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah Attorneys General John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff were charged Tuesday and arrested on allegations ranging from accepting bribes to destroying evidence. Both were arrested at their Sandy homes by members of the FBI and the Utah Department of Public Safety and they arrived at the Salt Lake County Jail shortly after 8 a.m. The state's former top law enforcement officers were charged in 3rd District Court with pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony; and three counts of receiving or soliciting bribes by a public official, a third-degree felony. In addition, Shurtleff was charged...

A man killed himself at Burning Man-style arts festival by leaping into a towering burning art structure in front of hundreds of horrified onlookers, authorities and witnesses said. On Monday, scores of "burners" - who commune in the Nevada desert every August for Burning Man -were mourning the doomed festivalgoer after he dove into the flames during a moonlit bonfire ritual at the Element 11 fest near Salt Lake City late Saturday.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment laboratory yesterday [8 Jul 2014] identified pneumonic plague in a Colorado resident. Investigation revealed the family dog had recently died unexpectedly. The carcass was recovered and tested at the Colorado State University Veterinarian Diagnostic Laboratory, where tests were positive for plague. ... Even though it doesn't kill people in large numbers like it once did, it is a serious disease ... There are 3 types of plague; all can be potentially deadly, if not treated. The 1st is bubonic, which causes lymph nodes to swell. There is also septicemic, which comes about...

The fate of a chicken-size bird carries huge economic and political stakes across the West. The sage grouse, long a threat to the thriving energy sector, is also a threat to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The ground-dwelling bird, which has habitat across Nevada and 10 other states, could be listed as a threatened or endangered species as soon as next year. Such a designation would place burdensome restrictions on the use of tens of millions of acres by ranchers, farmers, and oil and natural gas producers. Environmental organizations that want a halt to ranching and fossil fuel development are...

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK - The world’s authority on Yellowstone’s Super Volcano says it’s more than twice as big as scientists once thought. Does that mean it’s more likely to blow up soon? Penny Preston found Dr. Robert Smith at his home near Grand Teton, and found the answer. Millions of people visit Yellowstone each year to see its geysers, fumeroles, hot springs, and mud pots. It’s the largest concentration of thermal features in the world. The park sits on top of the world’s largest active volcano. The Super Volcano. Its most recent eruption was more than 600,000 years ago. All...

The Utah Attorney General’s Office announced Wednesday that it will appeal the 10th Circuit Court’s decision last month upholding same-sex marriage to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state will not seek an en banc review by the 10th Circuit Court, according to a statement from the attorney general’s office. "To obtain clarity and resolution from the highest court, the Utah Attorney General’s Office will not seek en banc review of the Kitchen v. Herbert Tenth Circuit decision, but will file a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United State Supreme Court in the coming weeks," a news release said....

Despite his continuous denials, some still believe that Mitt Romney will run for president in 2016. Speaking to MSNBC on Monday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, went one step further saying that the former Massachusetts governor will be occupying the White House after the next presidential election. “I think he actually is going to run for president. He probably doesn’t want me to say that. A hundred times he says he’s not, but Mitt Romney has always accomplished what he has set out to do,” Chaffetz told MSNBC. “I think he’s proven right on a lot of stuff. I happen to...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah police officer used his service weapon when he killed his wife, two children and his mother-in-law before turning the gun on himself in January, authorities said Monday. An investigation completed by Spanish Fork City Police was unable to determine Lindon police officer Joshua Boren's exact motive, Lt. Matt Johnson said. But investigators did learn Boren, 34, and his wife were having marital problems. Toxicology reports from the autopsy show Boren had no drugs or alcohol in his system, and he had no history of violence or mental illness, Johnson said.

Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the meadow jumping mouse as an endangered species. Now, the U.S. Forest Service, which oversees the Santa Fe National Forest, is considering erecting a series of 8-foot high fences to protect the mouse’s habitat. The Luceros, members of the San Diego Cattleman’s Association and holders of grazing permits with the federal government, say the fences will lock out their cattle — as well as those of other permit holders — from ever returning to the meadow where the livestock graze for 20 days in the spring and up to 40 days...

DENVER (AP) -- An obscure, chicken-sized bird best known for its mating dance could help determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the U.S. Senate in November. The federal government is considering listing the greater sage grouse as an endangered species next year. Doing so could limit development, energy exploration, hunting and ranching on the 165 million acres of the bird's habitat across 11 Western states. Apart from the potential economic disruption, which some officials in Western states discuss in tones usually reserved for natural disasters, the specter of the bird's listing is reviving the centuries-old debates about local vs. federal...

SALT LAKE CITY — Sexual assaults in Utah are going underreported, but the work of a BYU professor is helping to convince lawmakers and law enforcement to pay more attention to prosecuting such cases. Julie Valentine, a sexual assault nurse examiner and nursing professor at BYU, found that only 6 percent of cases in Salt Lake County have been prosecuted. Valentine examines rape victims and collects forensic evidence for cases. As she examined victims for prosecution, she would not hear back about any follow-up and wanted to find out why. “We would do these examinations — we’d do hundreds —...

PROVO – A trial date has been set for a Provo High School teacher accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old student. Donald Bills, 54, has been charged with one count of forcible sodomy and three counts of object rape, all first-degree felonies; and two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony. During a court hearing Thursday afternoon, a five-day trial was scheduled for December. Bills was arrested and charged in January after he and the teen were interviewed. Provo police said in January that someone viewed a text between Bills and the student and reported it to school officials,...

"This is the video of my experience with SLCPD the day I was told my best friend was shot. — at my own Back Yard." Weimaraner dog shot dead in owner’s back yard by police who were searching for missing three-year-old boy Sean Kendall said the Salt Lake City animal control department contacted him and told him a police officer had shot his dog in the head. Kendall said that the dog had been locked up in the fenced backyard of his house. He drove home and demanded answers about the incident from several police officers who were outside his...

Utah and Indiana became the latest U.S. states to see their bans on same-sex marriage struck down following separate rulings in federal court on Wednesday. "It is wholly illogical to believe that state recognition of love and commitment of same-sex couples will alter the most intimate and personal decisions of opposite-sex couples," a three-judge panel in the Utah case said while upholding a lower court ruling, NPR reported. Back in December, Utah briefly became the 18th state where gay couples received the right to marry, after a federal district judge ruled that the state's same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional. The...

In a 2-to-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Kitchen v. Hebert affirmed a lower court’s ruling holding that traditional marriage laws violate the Constitution. The case will likely soon go to the U.S. Supreme Court. Breitbart News examined this case last year when an Obama-appointed federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah invalidated that state’s law providing that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, comparing such laws to racism and saying they are literally irrational. Despite the fact that neither marriage nor homosexuality is mentioned...

In a decision coming from Utah, a federal appeals court on Wednesday for the first time backed gay marriage. The Denver-based U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court decision that struck down the state's bans on same-sex marriage. The ruling, which was stayed, sets the stage for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which touched off the current round of legal fighting on the issue when it struck down parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act last year.

A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that states outlawing same-sex marriage are in violation of the U.S. Constitution. By upholding a Utah judge’s decision, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals became the first appeals court to rule on the issue, setting a historic precedent that voter-approved bans on same-sex marriage violate the Fourteenth Amendment rights of same-sex couples to equal protection and due process. But the court stayed the implementation of their decision, pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. The appeals court upheld U.S. Judge Robert Shelby’s December decision, which struck down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage. The...

When you look at world history, and especially biblical history, you will find that polygamy has been an accepted and honorable way of life. Many beloved prophets of the Old Testament were polygamists, and Abraham was a friend of God, all while having many wives. Polygamy was once a lifestyle accepted by all. For Christians of 2000 years ago, polygamy was stopped by the Roman empire. Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome, said, “A bishop should be the husband of one wife.” He was simply telling them to obey the law of the land. Roman law is...

The federal government’s decision to ban energy development across a wide swath of Colorado and eastern Utah to protect the Gunnison sage grouse habitat has raised concerns the action would inflict economic damage. Although the Obama administration was not expected to make its decision as to whether the bird warrants the endangered listing until November, the Bureau of Land Management’s decision this week effectively puts an oil, gas and coal moratorium on 400,000 acres – roughly 90 acres per bird. The final decision was “pushed back until after the election, because when people understand the impact on jobs, people get...

<p>SALT LAKE CITY – A federal judge has issued a split ruling on Utah's controversial immigration law, upholding one key measure but striking down several others.</p> <p>U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups' ruling Wednesday upheld a key provision requiring authorities to check the immigration status of people arrested for felonies or Class A misdemeanors, such as theft.</p>

Another New Mexico county has joined a lawsuit to fight the listing of the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species. Lea County in southeastern New Mexico joined three other counties in the state last week in a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ... U.S. Rep., Steve Pearce, R-N.M., .. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to cater to environmental groups and disregard science will devastate New Mexico’s way of life,” he said. “New Mexicans will pay the price in lost jobs, industry, ranching and oil and gas production.”

Federal authorities have issued a moratorium blocking oil, gas and coal leasing on 800,000 acres of public land in southwestern Colorado and eastern Utah that is habitat for the imperiled Gunnison sage grouse. ... restrictive measures that will impact jobs and economic development

SALT LAKE CITY (KTSU) - A Salt Lake woman was arrested on attempted homicide charges after police said she tried to kill a man with a samurai sword. Officers said 25-year-old Tasha Davis was arguing with a neighbor when things quickly escalated. According to police, Davis went to her apartment and returned wielding a 27-inch samurai sword. Police said Davis attacked the victim, repeatedly swinging the long blade at him.

When the history of the great recession is finally written, I suspect that America’s domestic energy revolution will be credited for pulling us out of it. As a country, primarily through the application of new extraction techniques and technologies that are unlocking heretofore inaccessible oceans of oil and natural gas, the United States of America is transforming itself into the dominant energy producer in the world. Within the next few years, America will not only become energy independent, but could also become the world’s largest energy exporter. Once again, American ingenuity has found a way to move our economy forward....

The Mount Vernon Assembly – Indianapolis FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Skip Brown skip.brown@iga.in.gov 317-232-9521 The Mount Vernon Assembly to Meet at Indiana Statehouse June 12 and 13 INDIANAPOLIS (June 9, 2014) – More than 100 state legislators representing 33 states will meet at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on June 12 and 13 to continue establishing the rules and procedures needed for a future state-led convention for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as authorized by Article V of the Constitution. The meeting is a continuation of efforts that began in December 2013 at George Washington’s historic Mount Vernon estate...

In yet another spat between the Bureau of Land Management and residents of a western state, Utah is suing the federal agency after it unlawfully foreclosed oil and gas leasing on unprotected lands. Utah’s litigation alleges that the BLM is imposing ‘wilderness criteria’ on lands outside designated wilderness and wilderness study areas. Uintah County and the Utah Association of Counties is joining the suit, claiming that they have been left out of key management decisions.

Transcript of Mark Levin, 6/10/2014 You know what I've heard? On good authority, that Mitt Romney and Orrin Hatch want one of Mitt Romney's sons to go after Mike Lee in the Republican fight -- should there be one -- because they want to get rid of Mike Lee. Who are the purists, exactly? Who are the "Big Tent" guys, exactly? Now let me tell you what I'm gonna do if these fools pull that. Listen to me, Orrin, I'm talkin' to you. I'm going to go into your state and expose you. For your lies on this show. I'm...

A Salt Lake City police officer has been placed on leave after refusing an assignment to work at a gay pride parade. The officer was among about 30 officers assigned to provide traffic control and security for the annual Utah Pride Parade on Sunday in Salt Lake City, said department spokeswoman Lara Jones. "We don't tolerate bias and bigotry in the department, and assignments are assignments ... To allow personal opinion to enter into whether an officer will take a post is not something that can be tolerated in a police department," Jones told KSL. She declined comment on the...

Industry interest and activity in shale reservoirs continues to escalate. The big headline-makers, such as the Barnett, Haynesville, Marcellus, comprise only some chapters of the big story. The less familiar names also are beginning to make their mark. Count the Cane Creek shale in the Pennsylvanian-age Paradox formation in the Paradox Basin in southeast Utah among those receiving considerable attention. "The Cane Creek is a transgressive-regressive sequence in the lower portion of the Paradox," said AAPG member Stephanie Carney, geologist at the Utah Geological Survey (UGS). "It's tens of feet to nearly 200 feet thick, over-and underlain by salt beds,"...

The mud-choked Colorado River flows through the dry lakebed of northern Lake Powell in a new satellite image released yesterday (May 22). Western drought has left this reservoir on the border of Utah and Arizona less than half full, the satellite image captured on May 13 reveals. As of May 21, the lake was at 42 percent of capacity, according to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) data.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A gay rights organization is calling on Utah Gov. Gary Herbert to apologize for suggesting homosexuality is a choice and for calling decisions by other state leaders to not defend same-sex marriage bans the "next step to anarchy." John Netto, head of the Utah Pride Center's board, said the governor's comments during his monthly televised news conference Thursday were hurtful. "To suggest that allowing gay marriage is the foundation of anarchy, to us, is hate speech," Netto told The Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/1mjgsGh ). "We think he is uneducated ... on current scientific positions in...

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Utah's Mia Love, a Republican darling who could become the first conservative black woman elected to U.S. Congress, is getting a second, and likely better, chance to make history after narrowly losing to a popular incumbent Democrat in 2012. Love, 39, is a Mormon mother of three who is upending stereotypes about the state and its predominant faith. She locked up her party's nomination to vie for an open seat in Utah's 4th District at a state convention last month with an overwhelming 78 percent of the vote. The seat became available when Jim Matheson...

A federal judge ruled Monday that Utah must recognize and imbue all same-sex marriages performed in the state with the same rights and privileges afforded to married opposite-sex couples. Chief among those rights, the judge noted, are the right to property, inheritance, legal protection and "the custody and care of children" — an issue at the center of a state challenge to three state court judge’s decisions to grant adoptions to married gay couples. U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball became the first federal judge ever to order a state to acknowledge and honor all gay and lesbian marriages performed...

Challengers see themselves in the Texas senator, even in races where their odds of an upset are considered steeper than Cruz’s surprise victory over a GOP establishment figure two years ago. He’s made endorsements in the Oklahoma and Nebraska Senate races, plus the Nebraska gubernatorial race, and sent almost $26,000 to federal candidates through his leadership PAC. “Ted Cruz would be extremely helpful as an endorser and a fundraiser,” said C. Edmund Wright, a consultant to longshot South Carolina Senate hopeful Lee Bright, in an email. “Rand Paul and Mike Lee would be great also.” But, he said, “the reason...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In the wake of a botched lethal injection in Oklahoma last month, a Utah lawmaker says he believes a firing squad is a more humane form of execution. And he plans to bring back that option for criminals sentenced to death in his state. Rep. Paul Ray, a Republican from the northern Utah city of Clearfield, plans to introduce his proposal during Utah's next legislative session in January. Lawmakers in Wyoming and Missouri floated similar ideas this year, but both efforts stalled. Ray, however, may succeed. Utah already has a tradition of execution by firing...

Federal officials have opened up an investigation into whether or not Cliven Bundy supporters damaged a protected archaeological site when they rode all-terrain vehicles through it during a weekend protest. On Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered near southern Utah’s Recapture Canyon, voicing their opposition to the fact that the area has been closed to recreational vehicles by the Bureau of Land Management since 2007. :snip: As RT reported previously, the BLM had barred motorized vehicles from Recapture Canyon after it discovered an illegal trail that was built through Native American archaeological sites – home to artifacts, dwellings and other objects...

In the wake of a botched lethal injection in Oklahoma last month, a Utah lawmaker says he believes a firing squad is a more humane form of execution. And he plans to bring back that option for criminals sentenced to death in his state. Rep. Paul Ray, a Republican from the northern Utah city of Clearfield, plans to introduce his proposal during Utah's next legislative session in January. Lawmakers in Wyoming and Missouri floated similar ideas this year, but both efforts stalled. Ray, however, may succeed. Utah already has a tradition of execution by firing squad, with five police officers...