Sen. Orrin Hatch

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah man is planning to starve himself until U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch agrees to more debates in the Republican primary race.

LAYTON — If one statement summed up public officials’ assessment of the environmental impact of basing F-35 fighter jets in Utah, it was one by Utah Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton.

Yes, he said, the F-35 will be noisier than the F-16s flown by wings at Hill, but “I don’t believe the noise level of the F-35 is going to cause any ill effects other than we may stand a little straighter when they fly overhead.”

SALT LAKE CITY — It was a record turnout for the Utah State Democratic Party annual convention Saturday at the Salt Palace.

Utah State Party Chairman Jim Dabakis called it “a great day for the Democratic family.”

“We broke attendance records ... we had great candidates to chose from, and the convention was a model of efficiency and civility,” Dabakis said.

SANDY — Utah Republicans denied U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch a clear path to a seventh and final term Saturday, forcing the 78-year-old lawmaker into a June primary with 37-year-old former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist. Hatch fell short of the outright nomination by fewer than three dozen votes from the nearly 4,000 delegates at the party convention.

SALT LAKE CITY  -- A month after being chosen to represent their neighborhoods, 4,000 Republican delegates in Utah are set to decide the fate of U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and his challengers during Saturday's state convention.

Utah's unique system of nominating candidates places th

SALT LAKE CITY -- The three Democratic candidates to the U.S. Senate have their own specific issues, but all feel there needs to be a change in how Utah is represented in Washington, D.C.

Salt Lake City residents Scott N. Howell, William D. Peterson II and Pete Ashdown each hope to be the party's candidate in November.

To do so, they will have to make it past the State Democratic Party Convention today and Saturday at the Salt Palace Convention Center, 100 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City. If no candidate receives 60 percent of the delegates' votes, the top two finishers will move on to a June 26 primary election.

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.