Free Republic

For 80 years, the Deseret News has not entered into the troubled waters of presidential endorsement. We are neutral on matters of partisan politics. We do, however, feel a duty to speak clearly on issues that affect the well-being and morals of the nation. Accordingly, today we call on Donald Trump to step down from his pursuit of the American presidency. In democratic elections, ideas have consequences, leadership matters and character counts. The idea that women secretly welcome the unbridled and aggressive sexual advances of powerful men has led to the mistreatment, sorrow and subjugation of countless women for far...

These people are believers in a turn-of-the-century prophet named John Hyrum Koyle. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Koyle amassed thousands of followers based on his dreams that predicted the end of the world. One in particular, Koyle's "Republican elephant" dream, predicted an elephant, embodying the Republican party, stumble to its knees during an election, and never rise again. A century later, there are still those who believe in Koyle's dreams—which they see as collective symbols of the end of the world—and have speculated Donald Trump's candidacy is a fulfillment of the elephant dream

The leaked video of Donald Trump’s lecherous musings had only been on the internet for a few hours Friday when the Mormon backlash began. “I’m out,” Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz told a local news anchor in Salt Lake City. “I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine.” The interview made Chaffetz the first Republican in Congress to officially retract his endorsement of Trump, and by next day he would be joined by dozens of his colleagues across the country. But in...

Mitt Romney said Saturday that he was "offended and dismayed" by the vulgar comments Donald Trump made about women in a leaked video Friday, and defended the Republican Party as as a group that loves "all the people in this country.".. "I want to express on the behalf of myself and my party how much we love all the people in this country, regardless of gender or ethnicity or religion — and I was offended and dismayed by what was said and done by Mr. Trump," Romney said.

A new report has government officials considering setting 10 million acres of across six states in the American west off limits to mining and development to protect the chicken-like Greater Sage Grouse, which is not an endangered species. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report found that much of the Sage Grouse’s habitat sits on top of extremely valuable deposits of minerals including gold, copper, lithium, silver, uranium and many others. The USGS report means that the government’s most restrictive grouse protection plan could kill even more than 31,000 jobs and lead to more than $5.6 billion in reduced annual economic...

Mike Lee to Donald Trump: Step Aside 1:28 AM, Oct 08, 2016 | By John McCormack Following the release of a 2005 video in which Donald Trump made obscene comments about how he gropes women and might commit adultery, Utah senator Mike Lee called on Trump to step aside so that someone else could challenge Hillary Clinton. "You yourself, sir, Mr. Trump, have stated repeatedly that the goal, the objective, has got to be to defeat Hillary Clinton in November. I couldn't agree more. It is for precisely that reason, Mr. Trump, that I respectfully ask you, with all do...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Congressman Jason Chaffetz said he is withdrawing his support for Donald Trump Friday after a video surfaced showing the Republican candidate for president making vulgar remarks in 2005 about touching and kissing women without their consent. Chaffetz, a Republican representing Utah's Third Congressional District, appeared on Fox 13 News at Nine Friday, saying: "I'm out. I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine." Rep. Chaffetz said he and his wife have a 15-year-old daughter, and he said...

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is withdrawing his support for Donald Trump. The Republican governor tweeted Friday night that that Trump’s statements “are beyond offense and despicable.” Herbert says, “While I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton, I will not vote for Trump.”

A school has been criticised after punishing a whole cheerleading squad after a male student said he was distracted by their short skirts. The student at Timpview High School had “impure” thoughts after seeing the squad in their uniforms, People reports, and so his mother wrote to the school and complained. After the formal complaint was made, rather than helping the male student to deal with the thoughts, the Utah school’s administrators appear to have punished the whole cheerleading squad. Administrators told the cheerleading coach at the school, who told the 44-strong cheerleading squad that they should not wear their...

Salt Lake City — (KUTV) While Donald Trump makes headlines nationally, there's a lot of talk in in Utah about how the election could swing to the left. For the first time in a very long time, pundits have been calling Utah a swing state in the election between Trump and Hillary Clinton. While Utah, as a swing state, is good election year fodder, it may be a bit of a stretch. “If you are a Donald Trump supporter you really don't go around telling people that you are,” said Jason Perry, Director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics. He...

This past Monday marked the 20th anniversary of President Bill Clinton using the Antiquities Act to create the 1.5 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. For most Utahns, this date is not a cause for celebration. It’s a source of anger toward what many see as an out-of-touch and overbearing federal government Infamously, the Clinton administration failed to notify the people of Utah prior to announcing the monument designation—probably because the administration knew that nearly everyone in the state was opposed to the idea. Utah’s congressional delegation, state and county leaders, and local residents all warned that a...

Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin on Sunday labeled Republican nominee Donald Trump a racist, calling for more people to "come out and say that cleanly." "Donald Trump is a racist," McMullin said in an interview at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. "Trump is a racist brand. We need to call a spade a spade, and any American leader needs to stand up for equality in this country."

There were two sightings of Western yellow-billed cuckoos this year, both in Delta County, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. The secretive birds are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering designating parts of western Colorado as critical habitat for the migratory bird, including lands along the Colorado River through Mesa County. Sightings — which frequently involve people hearing the cuckoo’s distinctive “klak-klak” sound — have been recorded in Mesa and Delta counties in previous years. ... “We have changed the initial map due to comments from the proposed...

Grand Junction will no longer be home to a district Bureau of Land Management office after the agency’s Grand Junction Field Office gets transferred from the northwest Colorado district to the southwest district under a reorganization. ... Mesa County Commissioner John Justman is uncomfortable with the Grand Junction Field Office no longer being part of the Northwest District, despite Mesa County’s close economic ties to the oil and gas development that takes place in northwest Colorado. Many area oil and gas jobs are based in Mesa County. “Financially the county is much more attached to the Northwest District than the...

(KUTV) Researchers at the University of Utah say there's a strong case to impeach Donald Trump, should he be elected as president. Law professor Christopher Peterson said he found ample evidence to charge the Republican candidate with fraud and racketeering, both of which are considered felonies within state and federal law.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee on Friday rejected Donald Trump's Supreme Court nomination proposal, saying he already has the job he wants, Politico reported. "Sen. Lee already has the job he wants which is why he is campaigning to represent the great people of Utah again this year," Lee's spokesman Conn Carroll told Politico in a statement.

LIVE on #Periscope: Bomb threat - potential active shooter at Utah grade school

SALT LAKE CITY – Well-known Hispanic activist Tony Yapias was charged with rape after he allegedly assaulted a woman who ended their four-year relationship a few months ago. Yapias, 50, known as Adolfo Tony Yapias-Delgado, was formerly charged in the 3rd District Monday with rape, a first-degree felony and evidence tampering, a class A misdemeanor.

Sea Bears is a successful restaurant serving sea food in Ogden, Utah.  They have made national news by their policy of open carry for restaurant employees and guests.  The policy brought them attention, and they have been successful enough to expand to larger quarters.  The family owned restaurant signed a lease for a new space at Union Station.  Union Station is home to four museums, including the John M. Browning Firearms Museum and the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.  This appeared to be a good fit for an open carry themed restaurant.The management of Union Station decided to...

A reader alerted me to this incredible story of patriotism at a high school in Heber City, Utah: Student Ben Schofield is known around Wasatch High School for his American spirit. He flies an American flag from the back of his red pickup truck. "I think it's really important," Ben told Fox 13 in Salt Lake City. "It's not just the material part of the flag, it's the meaning behind it." The other day someone set fire to Ben's flag in the school parking lot. Part of his truck was scorched by the blaze. Some of his classmates saw what...