Friday, October 10, 2003

Tragedy and a 50-state Compact Eleven years ago Edward Hackett incarcerated in Utah State Prison for kidnapping. Earlier this year he was released on parole. Thanks to a 50-state compact which allows parolees to move from state to state, Hackett returned to live with his parents in Vassalboro Maine, with the approval of Maine authorities. Hackett entered a Waterville (Me.) District Court this week to answer chages of the kidnapping and murder of a 21 year old Colby College student. He allegedly abducted the girl in mid September from a College parking lot, drove about a mile, then beat and strangled her. Bangor Daily News 4:08:32 PM

	Friday, September 12, 2003

Sentencing Commission Gets OK from LDS Church to Nix Firing Squad The Utah Sentencing Commission recently asked the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for their support of efforts to eliminate the firing squad as a death penalty option. Sentencing Commission members were concerned that views of some Mormons about blood atonement would cause opposition to the elimination of the option. Salt Lake Tribune Death Penalty Information Center 1:02:42 PM

	Tuesday, June 10, 2003

Utah County Receives SAMSHA Funds The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced a grant of over $300,000 to Utah County to add treatment slots to the drug court to assure service availability. Treatment drug courts provide substance abuse treatment for substance abusing parents and juveniles. [SAMSHA News Release] 2:37:13 PM

	Tuesday, June 03, 2003

Utah joins Federal Voter Registration Plan The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) is conducting an Internet-based registration and voting demonstration for the 2004 election, which will include the state of Utah. The program will provide ease of registration and voting for U.S. citizens overseas. The program is SERVE (Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment. Utah also participated to a limited extent in a similar experiment in 2000. [FVAP] 11:14:16 AM

Internet Gambling Regulation Faces Hurdles Rep. Chris Cannon supports the elimination of internet gambling. But the legislation he supports faces hurdles from a variety of opponents. Internet gambling is not merely shady offshore establishments offering online video poker. Legislation would also affect horse racing and domestic casinos owned by Native Americans. Both of these groups have supports who want exemptions in the bill. Also, the nature of the penalties involved determines whether the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Cannon, would have authority over the bill. Attempts have been made to steer the bill around the Judiciary Committee and preserve the exemptions. Cannon is opposed to any exemptions. [Las Vegas Review-Journal] 10:45:06 AM

	Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Utah Receives Funds for Accessible Voting Utah is eligible to receive $100,000 undeer the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), signed into law by George Bush last year. This Act will enable an applicant for these funds to establish, expand, and improve access to and participation by individuals with the full range of disabillities in the election process. [Oregon's HAVA FAQ] 9:36:54 AM

	Thursday, May 15, 2003

Utah with 808 Millionaires The Children's Defense Fund, recently released a series of state comparisons to promote their position that President Bush's tax cuts would hurt children at the expense of huge tax cuts for millionaires. According to their figures Utah has 808 people who filed their taxes with an adjusted gross income of over a million dollars. That's more millionaires than Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, D.C., Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming. [Children's Defense Fund] 9:17:09 AM

	Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Utah Ranks 18th in High School Graduation Rate A study prepared by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University revealed that 25 - 30 percent of American students do not graduate from high school. Males are 20 - 30 percent more likely to drop out than females. The U S Department of Education has put the national dropout rate at 11 percent. Authors of the CLMS study claimed that the DOE study did not reflect the true rate because many states do not report their dropouts using common data collection and definition standards.Utah ranks 18th in the percentage of 18-year-olds who graduate, with a rate of 76%. The top five are Vermont (92%), Connecticut (88%), Nebraska (86%), Minnesota (85%), and North Dakota (85%). The bottom five are Georgia (59%), South Caroina (60%), Mississippi (60%), Louisiana (63%), Tennessee (63%). [CLMS Report] 9:59:26 AM

	Thursday, May 01, 2003

Gambling Continues to feed States' Coffers; Utah is among few exception Gambling continues to be an appealing source of revenue for states. Even new Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney ran on a platform of bringing in gambling to help state finances. Opponents argue that gambling tends to tax the poor. Only Hawaii, Tennessee and Utah have no form of gambling, although Tennessee is looking at a state lottery. [New York Times] reg Meanwhile, Congress continues to look at regulation of online gambling, and at ways to block its entry into states like Utah. During a hearing on the feasability of regulating such gambling, a representative of MGM Mirage said a resident of Utah could be blocked. It is difficult to see how such a blockage could apply to all online gambling, however, without severely compromising user privacy on the internet. Rep. Chris Cannon appears to support the legalization of internet gambling -- as long as Utah is prohibited from participating. [Casper Star-Tribune] 9:52:06 AM

	Thursday, April 24, 2003

Polygamist Leader criticized Pennsylvania Senator United Apostolic Brethren leader Owen Allred criticized Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum's comments about plural marriage. Santorum included polygamy in his litany of private activities he believes should be banned. His comments came in response to a Supreme Court decision protecting private activity (in this case homosexuality) in Texas. Santorum argues there is no constitutonal right of privacy for polygamy, homosexuality, incest, and adultery. Allred, whose group openly practices polygamy in Bluffdale, agreed with Santorum that there was an erosion of the sacred rights of marriage, but didn't think polygamy fell within the scope of acitivities that should be exempt from constitutional protection. Santorum is facing challenges to his position as chairman of the GOP conference in the senate by those opposed to his views. Although polygamy is against the law in Utah, authorities have not enforced the ban against Allred's group. [Casper Star-Tribune] 9:22:26 AM

	Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Freddie Mac, Bob Bennett announce low-cost housing opportunity Freddie Mac issued a press release yesterday announcing a new effort to make it easier for the Hispanic population of Utah to own homes. Sen. Robert Bennett, Far West Bank, and the Community Development Corporation of Utah joined in the announcement. The program includes aggressive outreach and borrower education along with homeownership initiatives from Salt Lake City and flexible lending from Far West Bank.  Freddie Mac has agreed to purchase the mortages. [Community Development Corporation of Utah] 11:19:08 AM

School Bus fees becoming more popular for cash-strapped schools School districts across the country are looking to charge parents for busing their kids to school. A third of all school districts in Massachusetts, for example, already charge middle- and high-school students. Communities in other states, including Utah, also make parents pay for pupil transportation, with exemptions for the poor. [ABC News] 11:12:05 AM