Forest Ecologist Helps Refashion Barbie Dolls as Scientists
When Nalini Nadkarni was a kid, she’d run home from school, climb into one of the eight maple trees in her parents’ backyard and spend an afternoon there with an apple and a book.
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Utah
American Samoans Ruled to Be US Citizens, Decision on Hold
A federal judge in Utah ruled that American Samoans should no longer be denied birthright citizenship.
Read morePublic Records
The Utah Supreme Court remanded an appeal which asked the court to determine whether the Brigham Young University Police Department is a “governmental entity” subject to the Government Records and Management Act. After the appeal was certified, the legislature amended statute to “explicitly define” police departments of private universities as governmental entities subject to the act.
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Utah Becomes 19th State to Ban ‘Conversion Therapy’ for LGBT Children
In a victory for the LGBT community, the state of Utah will ban the controversial practice of conversion therapy for children.
Read moreRight-Wing Ranchers
The Western Watersheds Project sued the U.S. Forest Service in federal court, claiming it’s allowing Utah’s Monroe Mountain area to be devastated by scofflaw ranchers who “have made overtly clear they have guns to back up their threats, and they call for the arrest of USFS employees who attempt to exercise basic management and oversight on federal grazing allotments as required by law.”
Read moreHuntsman Launches Bid for Third Term as Utah Governor
Jon Huntsman, onetime governor of Utah and a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, announced Thursday he will seek a third term as the Beehive State’s governor.
Read morePonzi Scheme
The court-appointed receiver sued Eric R. Enloe, Sharlene W. Enloe, Jayhawk Enterprises, et al. in Utah federal court, claiming they made $2 million from Gaylen Dean Rust’s $200 million silver-trading Ponzi scheme.
Read moreCampus Rape
A woman seeks punitive damages from Utah State University, claiming it failed to properly investigate sexual assault and rape charges against a now-convicted football player from six women, including her.
Read moreBYU Files Suit in Fight Over University Police Public Records
In an ongoing dispute over public access, Brigham Young University filed a complaint Wednesday seeking to stop a newspaper from obtaining emails from the school’s police department, claiming that they are considered private.
Read moreUS Woman Gored by Bison in Same Park Where Date Was Also Attacked
A U.S. man who was gored by a bison at a park in June thought it safe to take his date back to the scene of the crime — only for her to also be attacked.
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Judge Rejects Bid to Dismiss Bears Ears Monument Lawsuit
Legal challenges to the Trump administration’s 2017 decision to downsize and develop on Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments will move forward, a judge has ruled, handing environmental and tribal groups their first victory in the case.
Read moreCompany Tied to Mormon Sect Denies Affiliation With Troubled Predecessor
A Utah company asked a 10th Circuit panel Wednesday to reject a judge’s finding that it is a successor to Paragon Contractors, a company with numerous Department of Labor violations and ties to Mormon sect leader Warren Jeffs.
Read moreTour Bus Crash Near National Park in Utah Kills 4
A tour bus carrying Chinese-speaking tourists crashed near a national park in southern Utah, killing at least four people and critically injuring up to 15 others, authorities said Friday.
Read moreOil & Gas
Living Rivers et al. sued the Utah Division of Lands and Minerals and the U.S. Department of the Interior in federal court, claiming they offered 130 oil and gas leases on 130,000 acres of public lands on the Colorado Plateau without analyzing greenhouse gas and climate change impacts.
Read moreReal Estate Scam
The Utah Division of Consumer Protection claims Troy Stevens dba Real Estate Workshop; Prosperity International fdba Flip and Build Wealth fdba Real Estate Workshop, et al. raised $40 million through bait-and-switch real estate “workshops,” in federal court.
Read moreEmissions Cheating
Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment claims 4 Wheel Drive Hardware, Transamerican Auto Parts, United Web Sales, 4 Wheel Parts, et al. sell and install auto parts that defeat vehicle emission control devices, “increasing the discharge of harmful pollutants in a region already plagued by unhealthy air,” in federal court.
Read moreUtah Wildfire Destroys Homes, Prompts Hundreds to Evacuate
Officials say a wildfire has burned three homes, heavily damaged five more and prompted the evacuation of hundreds of people in the Salt Lake City suburb of Bountiful.
Read moreCourt Has No Role in Woman’s Beef With Religion, Mormon Church Says
Is the Book of Mormon the word of God? That is not a question for an American court of law to answer, attorneys for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday in a motion to dismiss a federal conspiracy lawsuit against the church.
Read moreNinth Circuit Upholds Verdict Against Sect-Run Arizona Town
An Arizona town that let a Mormon sect run the government deprived non-church members of their constitutional rights, a Ninth Circuit panel held Monday, affirming a federal judge’s 2016 finding.
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Feds Issue Final Plan for Shrunken National Monument
The federal government’s final management plan for lands in and around a Utah national monument that President Trump downsized does not include many new protections for the cliffs, canyons, waterfalls and arches there, but does include a few more safeguards than were in a proposal issued last year.
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