Free Republic

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.