Salt Lake County | featured news

A forecast for a series of thunderstorms and possibly heavy rain showers had two-thirds of Utah under a Flash Flood Watch through Wednesday night.
The advisory, which kicked in at 10 a.m., included southern, central and northeastern Utah. The National Weather Service warned of the potential for flooding in slot canyons, on mountain slopes recently denuded by wildfires and along normally dry washes and creek beds in steep terrain.
The risk for mudslides and rock falls along stretches of vulnerabl...

Dementia is a terrible thing.
For anyone who has watched someone go through it, there’s a sense of helplessness as you watch a loved one vanish.

On June 5, Brigham Young University-Idaho adjunct professor Ruthie Robertson typed up an 854-word post on her private Facebook page.
“In honor of LGBT Pride Month, I thought I would reveal some things in the name of authenticity,” the 22-year-old professor of political science began.
Robertson, who is Mormon, went on to articulate her support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender causes. She criticized LDS policies that include declaring same-sex couples apostates.

Laurie Lee Hall was excommunicated from the Mormon church for being a woman.
At least, that’s how Hall sees it.
The former LDS stake president, who oversaw a group of Mormon congregations in Tooele for eight years and worked as an architect on her faith’s most sacred spaces, faced, in her mind, an impossible choice: Either return to living as a man or resign her membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Giving up her female identity would cause grave damage to her physical a...

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Former state Rep. Chris Herrod is racking up big endorsements from national political action committees and right-wing politicians — including a tentative campaign visit to Utah by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz — effectively bolstering his reputation as an ultra-conservative candidate in the race to replace Rep. Jason Chaffetz.
“That’s where I see myself as a platform Republican,” Herrod explained.

Washington • The White House on Tuesday formally nominated former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman to serve as U.S.

Washington • After Sen. Mike Lee and three fellow GOP senators rebuffed Republican leaders’ plan to vote on a health-care bill, President Donald Trump on Tuesday declared it was time to let “Obamacare fail” and force Democrats to the table to work out a solution.
Meanwhile, Republican Senate leaders appeared unable to whip enough votes within their caucus to pass their Plan B: repealing Obamacare but delaying its effective date for two years, until after the 2018 midterm elections. That bill, wh...

An anonymous group of “scholars of archaeology” is calling on Brigham Young University to investigate ties between an assistant professor of ancient scripture and Hobby Lobby, which recently become ensnared in allegations of antiquities smuggling.
In a letter sent to The Salt Lake Tribune and to BYU’s administration and Office of the General Counsel, faculty member Lincoln Blumell is accused of violating professional standards by preparing to publish documents obtained through Hobby Lobby Presid...

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Salt Lake City is undertaking changes in the Rio Grande neighborhood that will drive out crime and allow homeless residents seeking help to get it, Mayor Jackie Biskupski told county leaders Tuesday.
Steps to thwart drug dealers include installing new lights on 500 West, as well as surveillance cameras, new pavement that prevents people from hiding drugs among rocks that have been removed and, possibly soon, deploying drones.
The update came as the city and county fell under sharp public cri...

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Our Schools Now is taking its ballot initiative on the road — again — after failing to comply with public notice laws during its first round of legally required town halls.
Backers of the initiative, which seeks voter support to boost Utah’s income and sales tax rates by 0.5 percentage points, will host seven regional meetings simultaneously throughout Utah on Thursday to receive questions and comments from the public.