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FILE - This Jan. 14, 2010, file photo, shows the historic City and County Building in downtown Salt Lake City, shrouded in smog. Utah's plans to reduce air pollution turned out to be nearly as bad as the air itself. The state's Air Quality Board has scrapped pollution-fighting plans it deemed inadequate and start over with a new effort that will likely produce tougher regulations for a northern Utah urban corridor anchored by Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Mike Stark, File)

Utah regulators having trouble reducing emissions

Last updated Thursday, May 2, 2013 - 9:23am

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah regulators are promising to deliver a set of plans to curb air pollution by July but said Wednesday that the task won't be completed easily.

Air Quality, Emissions, State government, Utah Read more Comments

A drone known as the Global Hawk is unveiled at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in this 2009 file photo. The Federal Aviation Administration is looking for six sites to test drones, and Utah officials hope the state will be selected for one of them. (Associated Press file photo)

Utah angling for drone test site

Bryon Saxton Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, March 31, 2013 - 10:57pm

OGDEN — Unmanned aircraft, in addition to offering safety for Air Force pilots, may be dropping hundreds of millions of dollars from the sky to bolster Utah’s economy.

The competition is on among 50 organizations in 37 states to be one of six homes to an unmanned-aircraft, or drone, testing site.

Drones, Economic development, FAA, State government, Featured Read more Comments

FILE - This file photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Nevada state Assembly member Steven Brooks after an arrest on charges that he physically attacked a family member and grabbed for a police officer's weapon. Brooks has been arrested in California on charges including resisting arrest and throwing objects, just hours after he became the first lawmaker ever expelled from the Nevada Legislature. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, File)

Unstable Nev. lawmaker booted, then arrested

Ken Ritter The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, March 29, 2013 - 1:08pm

LAS VEGAS — Former Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks has been arrested in California on charges including resisting arrest and throwing objects, just hours after he became the first lawmaker ever expelled from the Nevada Legislature.

Jail records show Barstow police arrested Brooks, 41, at about 7 p.m. Thursday on Interstate 15 at Stoddard Wells.

“We had started to discuss possible next steps,” Mitchell Posin, Brooks’ attorney, told The Associated Press Friday. “Next thing I know, I heard about this.”

Crime, Mental illness, State government, National Read more Comments

Nev. assembly may oust lawmaker for threats, arrests

Scott Sonner The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 25, 2013 - 6:04pm

RENO, Nev. -- A lawmaker who has been arrested twice in two months, hospitalized for a mental evaluation and accused of threatening to harm a Democratic Party leader could this week become the first person in Nevada history to be kicked out of the Legislature.

State government, Threats, National Read more Comments

(Illustration by Calvin Grondahl/Standard-Examiner)

Clean-air measure passes in late legislative action

Antone Clark Standard-Examiner

Last updated Friday, March 15, 2013 - 12:04am

SALT LAKE CITY — Lawmakers waited until almost the end of the legislative session to approve a clean-air initiative that could raise the gas rates for Questar customers.

Members of the House and Senate put the final wraps on a proposal by Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, to push use of compressed natural gas for large vehicles as a means of reducing emissions in an ongoing battle to reduce air pollution levels in Utah.

The bill was finalized at 10:44 p.m., just a little more than an hour from the session deadline.

Air Pollution, Natural gas, Questar Gas, State government, Utah Legislature Read more Comments

Bill streamlining government passes House

Antone Clark Standard-Examiner

Last updated Tuesday, March 12, 2013 - 10:47pm

SALT LAKE CITY — Legislation to streamline state government, starting with the governor’s office, has cleared the House.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, and Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, will retool the governor’s Office of Management and Budget.

It easily passed the House on Tuesday morning and now heads to the governor’s desk for further review.

State government, Utah Legislature Read more Comments

FILE - This undated photo provided by Chuck and Judy Cox shows them with their grandsons, Charlie, left, and Braden, right. Charlie and Braden were killed along with their father, Josh Powell (AP file photo/Courtesy Chuck and Judy Cox)

After Powell killings Wash. may tighten child custody rules

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, March 8, 2013 - 10:55am

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington lawmakers are looking to implement new rules to protect children in custody disputes.

Crime, Murder-suicide, Powell boys, State government, National Read more Comments

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert makes remarks during a news conference Thursday March 7, 2013, at the Utah State Capitol, in Salt Lake City. The Governor and Rep. Eric Hutchings introduced a new innovation in education that could change the way schools, businesses, and government approach exercise and fitness. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Utah running out of time to set up health exchange

Phil Galewitz Kaiser Health News

Last updated Thursday, March 7, 2013 - 4:21pm

Three western states which had gotten tentative go-aheads to run their own online health insurance websites — Utah, Idaho and New Mexico — are running out of time to be ready for an Oct. 1 launch and experts doubt they will get green lights from the federal government.

Business, Health care bill, State government Read more Comments

FILE - In a Friday, Nov. 2, 2012 file photo, Julie Cervera holds a $23 million dollar prize banner as she leaves the California Lottery’s Inland Empire office after a news conference in San Bernardino, Calif. The 69-year-old California grandmother came forward to claim a $23 million lottery jackpot after the winning ticket languished in her car's glove compartment for months and almost expired. For state lawmakers in a tough budget year nationwide, the unclaimed prizes are adding up to a tempting pot of cash. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

State's hit the jackpot in unclaimed lottery winnings

Michael Brick The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - 4:00pm

AUSTIN, Texas -- So a guy walks into a gas station, buys a scratch-off, wins a few bucks, gets distracted with some fool thing and eventually puts the lucky ticket through the wash in his Wranglers. It happens. No big deal.

But for state lawmakers in a tough budget year nationwide, the unclaimed prizes are adding up to a tempting pot of cash.

Lottery, State government, National Read more Comments

Utah state budget surplus up $5M

Michelle L. Price The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, February 25, 2013 - 7:23pm

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s estimated revenues from taxes and fees increased slightly from November estimates, despite taking into account the effects of looming federal funding cuts, according to information presented to legislators on Monday.

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Idaho could profit from federal-land takeover

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, February 20, 2013 - 9:24am

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho could profit handsomely if it were to win control of millions of acres of federal forest, rangeland and mineral deposits.

Federal Lands, State government, National Read more Comments

House Minority Leader Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs, speaks against a bill that would limit the size of ammunition magazines at the Capitol in Denver on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. Kicking off a long, emotional debate about guns, Colorado lawmakers clashed Friday over setting limits on the size of ammunition magazines, a proposal in a package of Democratic bills responding to mass shootings at a suburban Denver movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school.(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Colo. House passes gun-control measures

Ivan Moreno The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, February 18, 2013 - 4:36pm

DENVER — New ammunition limits and universal background checks passed the Colorado House on Monday, during a second day of emotional debates that has drawn attention from the White House as lawmakers try to address recent mass shootings.

Gun control, Guns, State government, National Read more Comments

State senator proposes creating Office of Outdoor Recreation

Antone Clark Standard-Examiner

Last updated Monday, February 11, 2013 - 7:41am

SALT LAKE CITY — State officials hope to take promotion of outdoor opportunities in the Beehive State up a notch.

Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, told the Standard-Examiner he will run legislation, at the behest of Gov. Gary Herbert’s office, to create a new Office of Outdoor Recreation as a division of the Department of Economic Development.

Economic development, Outdoor Recreation, State government, Tourism, Utah Legislature, Featured Read more Comments

Bill requires paper trail for Utah lawmakers’ reimbursements

Antone Clark Standard-Examiner

Last updated Wednesday, January 30, 2013 - 12:40am

SALT LAKE CITY — A housing and meal perk offered to state lawmakers will come with a new requirement, if it is enacted: a receipt.

The House passed HJR6, sponsored by Rep. Brad Dee, R-Washington Terrace, on Tuesday by a 70-4 vote. The measure forces lawmakers to provide a paper trail when seeking reimbursement for expenses and provides a 1 percent to 2 percent pay increase as part of the package.

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Caseworker Cheryl Boone helps a client with paperwork during a therapy session at the Johnson County Mental Health Center Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013, in Shawnee, Kan. Lawmakers across the nation are rethinking cuts in mental health care spending in the wake of recent shootings. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Utah, other states reconsider cuts in mental health in light of shootings

Thomas Beaumont The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - 4:25pm

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Dozens of states have slashed spending on mental health care over the last four years, driven by the recession's toll on revenue and, in some cases, a new zeal to shrink government.

Mass shootings, Mental helath, State government, National Read more Comments