Craig Neilson: Society

Tragedy and a 50-state Compact

Fri, 10 Oct 2003 22:08:32 GMT

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

Sentencing Commission Gets OK from LDS Church to Nix Firing Squad

Fri, 12 Sep 2003 19:02:42 GMT

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

Utah County Receives SAMSHA Funds

Tue, 10 Jun 2003 20:37:13 GMT

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]

Utah joins Federal Voter Registration Plan

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 17:14:16 GMT

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]

Internet Gambling Regulation Faces Hurdles

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 16:45:06 GMT

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]

Utah Receives Funds for Accessible Voting

Wed, 21 May 2003 15:36:54 GMT

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]

Utah with 808 Millionaires

Thu, 15 May 2003 15:17:09 GMT

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]

Utah Ranks 18th in High School Graduation Rate

Wed, 14 May 2003 15:59:26 GMT

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]

Gambling Continues to feed States' Coffers; Utah is among few exception

Thu, 01 May 2003 15:52:06 GMT

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]

Polygamist Leader criticized Pennsylvania Senator

Thu, 24 Apr 2003 15:22:26 GMT

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]

Freddie Mac, Bob Bennett announce low-cost housing opportunity

Wed, 23 Apr 2003 17:19:08 GMT

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]

School Bus fees becoming more popular for cash-strapped schools

Wed, 23 Apr 2003 17:12:05 GMT

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]

Utah's Share of DOJ Funding Totals Over 59 million for 2002

Tue, 22 Apr 2003 15:39:19 GMT

Utah received $59,486,370 in Justice Department grants in 2002. This included funds for substance abuse prevention, juvenile justice, counter-terrorism, and community policing.
[Office of Justice Programs Press Release]
[Community Policing Funding Breakdown for Utah (and other states) PDF]

Two Utahns win Take Pride in America Awards from Interior Department

Thu, 17 Apr 2003 15:29:27 GMT

Take Pride in America, a national partnership initiative aimed at increasing volunteer service on America's public lands have honored Ray and Juanita Huber of Santa Clara.

BLM Lands in Utah to lose wilderness status

Mon, 14 Apr 2003 16:06:45 GMT

The US Interior Department indicated Friday that it intends to halt all current reviews of Western land holdings for wilderness protection, and will withdraw protected status from about 3 million acres in Utah. The decision comes after Utah sued the Interior department 7 years ago over a reinventory of the lands conducted by then Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. That lawsuit was mostly dismissed, but the state quietly submitted an amended complaint which prompted the current decision. The decision means that Babbit's inventory will be disregarded. Sen. Hatch: Secretary Norton's actions will bring resolution to the illegal activities of the past administration.
[Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]

Utah Court OKs Non-Religious Prayers in Government Functions

Mon, 14 Apr 2003 15:58:44 GMT

The Utah Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit filted in 1999 over the Murray City Council's refusal to allow an unconventional non-religious prayer prior to a city council meeting. Murray City responded by indicating they may eliminate prayers prior to future meetings.
[Utah Supreme Court Opinion]

State Farm Case Reverberates

Fri, 11 Apr 2003 15:33:17 GMT

The Recent Supreme Court decision overturning the huge punitive-damage award by a Utah court is expected to have a major impact on the future of such awards. The Court ruled that a defendant should be punished for the conduct in the case, not for some pattern of unsavory business practices, nor should they be subject to excessive fines simply because they have deep pockets. In addition the Court said it would look askance at awards that exceed a single digit ratio between punitive and compensatory damages. The Utah court has been ordered to reduced the punitive damages by $144 million dollars.[Economist] (fee-based)

Cannon and Immigration

Thu, 10 Apr 2003 17:00:51 GMT

Reps Howard Berman, Lucille Roybal-Allard, and Chris Cannon hold a news conference today at noon to announce the National Week of Action for the DREAM Act and the reintroduction of the Student Adjustment Act, which would enable US - raised immigrant students to attend college and allow many of these students the chance to earn immigration relief.

Prison Populations

Mon, 07 Apr 2003 15:56:50 GMT

The US Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics has released mid-year 2002 figures on inmate populations. Utah's inmate population declined 1.6% in 2002 from a year ago, with figures of 5353 vs. 5440.

Senior Medicare Patrol Projects

Mon, 07 Apr 2003 15:44:09 GMT

The Federal Administration on Aging is making up to $175,000 available in Utah for a project to train elderly people to become more alert to health care error, fraud, and abuse. Application Kits and more information are available from the Office of Consumer Choice and Protection in the Administration on Aging.
[Senior Medicare Patrols]

Utah with 4 SARS cases

Fri, 04 Apr 2003 16:13:32 GMT

Utah ranks third in the number of SARS cases reported (4), tied with Hawaii, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Texas. California has reported 24, and New York 16.
[Boston Globe]
[CDC]

Did You Know?

Fri, 04 Apr 2003 16:07:14 GMT

Monday, April 7 marks the 70th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. Utah's vote to repeal was the vote making the required 2/3 majority to enshrine the repeal in the Constitution.

Legacy Highway Supplemental Environmental Impact Study

Wed, 02 Apr 2003 16:17:40 GMT

The Federal Highway Administration and the US Army Corps of Engineers have announced that they are preparing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Study for the proposed Legacy Highway. This is an outgrowth of the court decision in Utahns for Better Transportation et al. v. U S Department of Transportation et al. (305 F, 3d1152). Initial scoping meeting will be held on April 17 at Woods Cross High School, 600 W 2200 S from 4 - 8 pm.
[Federal Register]
[Court Decision]

Weber State University Official on Short List for U. of Louisiana

Mon, 31 Mar 2003 15:53:00 GMT

David Eisler, vice president for academic affairs at Weber State University was one of the finalists for Nicholls State University in Louisiana. The School, part of the U. of Louisiana system will be switching from open admissions to admissions standards in 2005. Eisler demonstrated his ideas for recruiting quality students. He was one of three finalists, from a pool of 49 applicants.
However, Stephen Thompson Hulbert, chancellor of University of Montana-Western was the final choice for the University.
[Times-Picayune]

Utah Government Diary: Ephedra, Anti-Atrocity Act,, Special Session, Bioterrorism, Asbestos

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 15:53:18 GMT

The FDA has announced that warning labels will be placed on every bottle of ephedra sold in the US cautioning users that the herb can cause heart attacks or strokes. The FDA stopped short of banning the herb outright, which was supported by some consumer advocates. The move comes after a Baltimore Oriole pitcher who used ephedra died. Senator Orrin Hatch said the announcement appears to be a reasonable, if long overdue, step in designing science-based rules pertaining to the use of a product about which public concern has been expressed for many, many years. Hatch was one of the authors of the 1994 legislation which limited FDA oversight over products such as ephedra.
[FDA Ephedra Report]
Senator Orrin Hatch, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joins Senator Patrick Leahy and Representatives Mark Foley and Gary Ackerman at a news conference today at 10 AM MST to announce a new version of the Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act, which would oust torturers and war criminals from the US.
[Text of Act]
Governor Leavitt announced Monday that he would call a special session of the Legislature in June to correct a technical error in SB66, which authorized beer tax money to go to law enforcement agencies for drunken driving prevention and prosecution. The privatization of the Worker's Compensation Fund could also be on the agenda.
The Environmental Protection agency has been spraying harmless substances over fields in Oklahoma to test the capability of radar to detect a bioterrorist attack. Similar tests have also been conducted in Utah and Florida.
Asbestos litigation legislation has apparently entered murky waters in the US House. Originally Representatives Chris Cannon and Calvin Dooley united to support legislation supported the the Asbestos Alliance, a group led by the National Association of Manufacturers and the US Chamber of Commerce to limit the cost of litigation for claims of asbestos-related illness. Now it appears that the two are split on the extent of tort reform required in the bill.
[HR1114]