Josh Loftin

SALT LAKE CITY — Opponents of a 72-hour waiting period for abortions in Utah don’t plan a legal challenge before the law takes effect on Tuesday, despite some similarities to a South Dakota law that has been put on hold by a federal judge.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Housing officials say there are fewer people dealing with chronic homelessness in Utah compared with a year earlier.

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance says thousands of roads Utah officials are trying to claim through a federal lawsuit could threaten wildlife habitat and national parks.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Thousands of Democrats and Republicans are attending state political conventions to choose their nominees for federal and state offices.

SALT LAKE CITY  — The son of a former Utah governor announced Thursday that he will join the Democratic candidate seeking to unseat Gov. Gary Herbert.

SALT LAKE CITY -- U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and his key Republican challengers met in their second and final debate before this weekend's state convention, with each emphasizing their strengths in a final push for delegate votes.

Like their previous debate several weeks ago, Monday night's affair between Hatch, state Rep. Chris Herrod and former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist on the campus of Dixie State College in St. George was congenial and didn't deliver the expected blows aimed at the incumbent senator. Candidates focused on the expansion of federal powers, the growing national debt and energy development.

Hatch has emphasized repeatedly the importance of his congressional seniority, especially the power he has over the federal budget as the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. He continued to do that Monday, making it clear to delegates that losing his influence in Washington will significantly hamper efforts to balance the budget and open the state's public lands to oil and natural gas exploration.