After 32 years working for Uintah County, Western Heritage Museum director Evan Baker has been dismissed from his position. Baker has served as director of the museum for the last eight years, and said he unexpectedly received a letter telling him his position had been eliminated under county budget changes.

“This is my last day. I’m through at 5 [p.m.]…Personally, I’m upset. It totally blindsided me,” Baker said.

National Park Service employees in Grand County are winterizing park campgrounds and trails after an unusual 2013 fall season. The financial costs of the unexpected partial shutdown of the Federal Government in October are still being felt by communities that cater to tourists.

It is estimated Utah suffered a loss of $30 million in tourism money. The impact of the closure is still being felt by employees of the state's national parks who are trying to catch up on work that piled up during the shutdown.

For millions of fans, the 1985 Chicago Bears were more than a football team. They were the greatest football team ever—a gang of colorful nuts dancing and pounding their way to victory. This was the first NFL team to really cross over, to become pop stars. Their ascent marks the beginning of the modern game. 

With the upcoming Logan mayoral election fast-approaching, the candidates are rallying their forces for the final push to victory.

As part of this final effort, a mayoral debate was held on the Utah State University campus Wednesday. Both candidates had 90 seconds to respond to questions revolving around their candidacy and the city of Logan, UT, then 30 seconds to present a rebuttal.

The election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 5 at voting locations around the Logan area.

On Friday, the Governor’s Mansion was buzzing with Medicaid expansion supporters as the Coalition for a Compassionate Utah kicked off its first official meeting. The coalition is a diverse collection of nonprofit organizations throughout Utah urging Gov. Gary Herbert to expand Medicaid to over 123,000 Utahns who currently go without health care.

"We got together and decided that it was important for us to take a stand in addition to or in support of all the groups that actually work on lower income issues," said Maryann Martindale, Executive Director of Alliance for a Better Utah. "We feel like even though this isn't our mission, it's everybody's mission."

In January, Gov. Gary Herbert advocated in his State of the State address for the relocation of the Utah State Prison away from Draper, arguing the move would produce long-term economic benefits for the state. State lawmakers shortly after formed the Prison Relocation and Development Authority to consider locations where the new prison could be built.

Now, Alliance for a Better Utah is calling for reformed prison policy to be a part of the process of building a new state prison.

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker has been named to a new task force that will advise President Obama’s administration on how to respond to the impacts of climate change.

Becker, along with other state and tribal leaders from around the country, was selected by President Obama to be part of the Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience on Friday.

Becker’s Deputy Director of Communications, Art Raymond, explained the group’s role.

A truck driver from West Jordan built the largest amateur telescope on record.

On the surface, Mike Clements is your typical professional truck driver for Central Refrigeration. But if you look closer, you will discover that Clements has a passion for building telescopes.

Clements said he became interested in telescopes when he was a kid. He would take apart telescopes and play with the pieces. Clements said this sparked an obsession for him.

Earlier this week, An Allegiant Air flight from Oakland to Provo was delayed 12 hours, which is the same amount of time that it would have taken if the passengers drove. 

In a news statement, the company said, the original aircraft scheduled to take the passengers from Oakland to Provo was experiencing steering difficulties.

A replacement plane was sent to the delayed travelers only to discover that the replacement plane was also experiencing maintenance problems.