Utah News

In a last-minute change, the Bureau of Land Management announced Friday it is pulling nearly 100,000 acres of federal land from an oil and gas lease auction scheduled for next week.

The agency says the public has raised concerns about impacts to sensitive species and cultural resources within some of the parcels slated for auction in Emery County near the San Rafael Swell.

BLM spokeswoman Megan Crandall says deferring the lands will give her agency more time to assess the area for natural and cultural resources.

Joyce Kinkead, professor of English at Utah State University was honored in Washington D.C. this week as the 2013 Carnegie Professor of the Year for the state of Utah.

The  award is given to professors who embody extraordinary commitment to undergraduate education and teaching.
 

Many Northern Utah residents woke up to a blanket of white on the ground Friday morning—a signal the seasons may finally be changing. Another greener indication that winter is upon the state is changing green waste collection schedules.

In Logan, the city will soon be asking residents to put their green waste bins into hibernation until March.

Logan’s green waste program started in 1994 and expanded to include roadside service in 2000. Conservation Coordinator Emily Malik said the city collects thousands of pounds of waste each year.

The anti-secrecy group Wikileaks released on Wednesday one chapter of the draft text of what would be the largest-ever economic trade deal between nations. Next week, Salt Lake City will play host to a chief-negotiators-summit for that deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The negotiations surrounding the largest international trade deal since the creation of the World Trade Organization 18 years ago have been so secret that it's likely you haven't even heard of the agreement. And this despite the fact the chief negotiators of the mega-agreement on trade, between more than 12 member nations will be gathering at the Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, beginning Tuesday Nov. 19.

The Trans-Pacific-Partnership, or TPP, has drawn strong criticism from those concerned that the secretive pact would rewrite U.S. laws and undermine democracy while protecting corporate interests. Today the pro-transparency group Wikileaks undermined some of that secrecy by leaking a draft chapter of the proposed agreement- a chapter that deals with intellectual property rights.

The Utah Student Association voted unanimously this week to actively support the Count My Vote project for Utah.

Count My Vote is a statewide initiative that seeks to change the state’s voting system, hoping to move it away from a caucus system which they believe to be outdated and exclusionary.

A Southern Utah man has cycled 24, 981 miles -- enough miles to circle the world at the equator. Jim Salmon, a 70-year-old retired scientist, accomplished his seven year goal to make it around the world last week, riding on biking trails and St. George city streets.

All he had was his mountain bike, tennis shoes, broken chains and popped tires. Salmon said he considers himself a slow rider, however, he averaged 300 miles a month.  

“It’s interesting. It was fun, but it was tedious," Salmon said.

While the American people take one day a year to celebrate the lives and sacrifices of veterans, one U.S. group has veteran interests as a daily focus.

The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve is a U.S. agency that has assisted veterans with employment needs since 1972, contributing over 230,000 service hours last year alone.  In the 2012 fiscal year, the ESRG influenced over 160,000 employers and approximately 480,000 service members.

BYU Professor of neuroscience, Dr. John Kauwe, gave a presentation Thursday at Utah State University on Alzheimer’s disease for the Cache County Caregivers Coalition.

Kauwe said the disease comes from built up plaque as well as tangles in the neuron endings of the brain which make it hard for neurons to interact with one another.

Earlier this year, one city in Iron County passed a 113 percent increase in the city's portion of property taxes. Although the tax has since been rescinded, ripples from the tax controversy coursed through Nov. 5 municipal elections.

Two pro-tax increase incumbents were beaten by two anti-tax increase challengers in Enoch on Election Day. New City Councilman Steve Johnson said there are still more changes that need to be made.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is sending $2.3 million to three Utah health centers as a part of the Affordable Care Act.

Community Health Centers, Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah Partners for Health in Magna and Wayne Community Health Centers in Bicknell will each receive more than $700,000 in grant money from the federal government.

According to the DHHS, health centers play an important role in providing health care in communities were many people lack health insurance.