Utah's SandBox Commentators

SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Election Year Barometer: Watch Sens. Dick Lugar & Orrin Hatch"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:12:00 +0000

'scorpio0679' Diary:
"For those who have written-off the TEA party as having lost influence or worse yet, dead, will have their first real test coming up in a few weeks. Not long ago, Orrin Hatch, the long-time senator from Utah, was narrowly prevented from walking away with the GOP nomination when the TEA party prevented him from achieving 60 percent of the vote at the state’s nominating convention. He will now face challenger Dan Liljenquist in a primary election this June. Orrin Hatch is a long-time Washington insider with moderate tendencies who once stated that he wished to punch conservative activists in the mouth and that the TEA party was filled with radical libertarians.

Similarly, Dick Lugar, the 36-year incumbent senator from Indiana, has been in the TEA party’s cross-hairs for a long time. After a conference of 70 TEA party groups declared their unanimous opposition to his re-nomination, conservative Richard Mourdock declared his candidacy to take him on. The most recent indicators suggest that Lugar is at serious risk of losing in the May 8 primary. The Washington Post reports that some Lugar supporters may be bailing on him in the homestretch. Remember that Lugar is the guy that takes money from George Soros, refused to sign a letter supporting the lawsuit against Obamacare, voted to confirm both Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, and has a horrible record on gun rights.

Taking on and defeating entrenched incumbents is nothing new to the TEA party. If, as some claim, the TEA party’s day has come and gone, well-funded establishment moderates like Sens. Lugar and Hatch should easily dispatch their insurgent opponents. On the other hand, if the coming electoral season will be another TEA party bloodbath (ala Fall 2010), these two primaries may well be the warning bells....."
(Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Deseret News "Utah vies for China's outsourcing"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:04:00 +0000

Blaze Bullock:
"When Gov. Gary Herbert went to China in 2011, there were five other governors there, Salt Lake Chamber spokesman Marty Carpenter told KSL.

So clearly, Utah isn't the only state vying for money from China, but it does have some things other states don't. For example, the former governor of Utah was the U.S. Ambassador to China, and Salt Lake City and Beijing have both been home to the Olympics. These give Utah a leg up on the competition, Carpenter told KSL..." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Salt Lake Tribune "Good for Shea"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Lakshmi Johal-Dominguez, Orem:

"Thank you, Pat Shea, for being a truth-teller ("Utah: A beehive of corruption," Opinion, April 21). Last week, I heard Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, give a legislative update, and what a noble spin he gave to the federal land-grab issue.

As a taxpayer, I want a list of the legislators and lobbyists who will make money if this "indefensible legislation" goes through. How many conflicts of interest, wrapped up in patriotism, are involved in this "fantasy claim" of state ownership of RS2477 roads?

I want a published list of the campaign contributions given in exchange for pushing this agenda. Which oil and gas companies will benefit? Which land developers and realtors will benefit? How much secret money will change hands behind closed doors?

How clever and corrupt to have us taxpayers foot the legal bill for a losing proposition! I’m with Shea — we need to get rid of the extremist poison of the connivers, the manipulators and the greedy.

We must elect responsible leaders to serve Utahns in a open and nonpartisan environment. Let’s remove those from office who think they can set up their personal financial kingdoms and "who believe that they alone know the truth of things...." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: CBS "Utah: Chronic homelessness down 9 percent"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:54:00 +0000

(See related stories here and here)

"SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Chronic homelessness continued to drop in Utah despite an overall increase in the homeless population, state officials said Monday.

Overall, there are an estimated 540 chronically homeless people living on Utah's streets, according to an annual population count. That is 9 percent fewer than in 2011 and the seventh year in a row that the number has dropped, said Gordon Walker, director of the Division of Housing and Community Development.

The homeless population did increase by 13 percent, from an estimated 14,351 to 16,642, which Walker said is expected during a weak economy.

But because of the continued reduction in chronic homelessness — when a person has been homeless for more than a year, or multiple times within the past five years — there is more room at housing shelters for those who are temporarily homeless.

Homeless outreach groups have conducted the annual census since 2004. Walker said they do the count on the same night in January, which provides consistency, and have a statistical model that accounts for the homeless they miss...." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Salt Lake Tribune "Utah governor scolds UDOT boss, but backs him "

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:47:00 +0000

Robert Gehrke:
"Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday he supports John Njord, although he criticized the state transportation boss over the way the high-profile reinstatement of a fired employee has been handled.

"He already knows my displeasure," Herbert said during his monthly KUED TV news conference, referring to a meeting he had Wednesday with the Utah Department of Transportation director.

Njord fired employee Denice Graham more than a year ago, accusing her of leaking information about a $1.1 billion contract to rebuild Interstate 15 through Utah County. A judge ordered her reinstated earlier this year, but Graham’s attorneys and UDOT have been at odds over her back wages...."

(Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Newsmax "Rather: Romney Has ‘Good Chance of Beating’ Obama"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:37:00 +0000

Newsmax:
"Former “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather says presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has a 50 percent chance of beating President Barack Obama in November.

“I have no idea what kind of president [former Massachusetts] Gov. Romney will make, but I do think . . . he has a good chance of becoming president,” Rather told Politico. “President Obama is even money at best at this particular time . . . His odds right now are 50/50 in my book.”

Obama performs much better campaigning than as president, said Rather, who is promoting a new book, “Rather Outspoken: My Life In the News.” Obama must recapture his skills of engagement and persuasiveness that served him so well in 2008, if he wants to succeed again, Rather said.

On the subject of 2016, Rather said current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will likely repeat her 2008 attempt for the presidency. “I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t,” he said. “Overnight is a long time in politics. A week is forever, and we’re talking about something four years down the road. But . . . I’d be surprised if she doesn’t make a run in 2016.....” (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Salt Lake Tribune "Huntsman stirs crowd at Envision Utah celebration "

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:32:00 +0000

Cathy Mckitrick:
"Jon Huntsman Jr. may not have excited the Republican base this year as he sought to become his party’s presidential nominee, but among Envision Utah colleagues Monday the popular two-term governor and former U.S. Ambassador to China enjoyed star status.

Huntsman spoke to about 280 people at the 2012 Corporate Friends Breakfast, the kick-off event to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of Envision Utah, a volunteer organization that launched in 1997 to help chart Utah’s future course. In 1999, Huntsman replaced Robert Grow to serve as the organization’s second chairman...." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Fox News Insider "Dad of Firefighter Killed on 9/11 Reacts to Freedom Tower Surpassing Height of Empire State Building"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:24:00 +0000

"Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson, Jr. shared a special interview with viewers on this day that he said brings with it a sense of freshness and opportunity. Lee Ielpi lost his son Jonathan on 9/11 after he came eight miles from Queens, NY to help save fellow New Yorkers after the attacks. Lee is himself a survivor of that fateful day, as well as a Vietnam vet; he also runs the Tribute center near the WTC site. According to Ielpi, words can’t express the meaning for him and others like him of this marked day.

“I think this is an absolutely spectacular day … it shows the resilience of this country of ours,” he said. “It’s rebuilding. It’s revitalizing. It’s bringing back what was taken away from us.”....."
(Watch the interview? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Wausau Daily Herald "Families evicted from Utah storage facility"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:17:00 +0000

"Ed Snoddy, a homeless outreach worker with Volunteers of America since 1995, said he has not personally witnessed people living in storage units. He has worked with many people who live in homeless camps and abandoned buildings.

"This is the first I've heard about it. Personally, on our outreach trips we've never seen it," he told the Deseret News.

Tony Milner is executive director of Family Promise of Salt Lake, a nonprofit agency that provides services and housing to homeless families through a network of churches. More often, people seeking assistance live in their cars, he said.

Rents for storage units are significantly lower than apartments or rooms. A 10-by-10 foot unit rents for about $80 a month.

Cory Milligan, manager of 13th South Self Storage, said finding an apartment or room "is tough once you have bad credit. The economy keeps getting worse. It's probably going to happen more."...."
(Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Salt Lake Tribune "Utah temporary homeless numbers reach all-time high"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:15:00 +0000

Brooke Adams:
"A statewide effort to get chronically homeless people off the streets and into supported housing continues to make progress, but officials on Mondayannounced the number of Utahns who experienced periodic homelessness reached an all-time high this winter.

Volunteers and outreach workers counted 3,052 people in shelters and another 475 on the streets in the statewide Point In Time annual survey that began Jan. 26 and extended over five days to ensure as complete a tally as possible. On an annualized basis, state officials project that 16,642 people experienced an episode of homelessness between January 2011 and January 2012, an increase of 13 percent...."

(Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Power Line "Love is sweeping the country"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:06:00 +0000

Scott Johnson:
"Utah Republicans nominated the impressive Mia Love to run against incumbent Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson in the newly created Fourth Congressional District. John Fund covered the story for NRO. Ms. Love Love, the 37-year-old daughter of Haitian immigrants and the mayor of Saratoga Springs, a community of 18,000 outside Salt Lake City, was the Tea Party candidate in the Republican field for the nomination. Fund writes:

Love’s presence in Congress would certainly shake up the House. I met her at CPAC, the annual conservative conference, where she gave a stirring speech: “According to liberals, I’m not supposed to exist. I know that I am going to be a target for the Left. I have something to say to them: Game On.”

Love is perfectly representative of the Tea Party movement. She is smart, engaged and knowledgeable, harking back to first principles to guide us in our way forward. Hear her out in Glenn Reynolds’s InstaVision interview of her for PJTV last month, posted here and on YouTube (below). (I dissent only from her enthusiasm for Ron Paul.)....." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Newsmax "Pete Sessions: Obamacare Has Cost Medicare Budget $500 Billion"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:54:00 +0000

Martin Gould and John Bachman:
"The country has to accept that the Medicare budget has lost $500 billion due to President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, and figure out a way to work around it, Republican Congressional Committee chairman Pete Sessions tells Newsmax.TV.

Unless the Supreme Court rules to overturn the law completely the money will not come back, so Republicans have to make sure the public is aware of the situation – and who is to blame – before the November elections.

“We have the responsibility as policymakers in Washington to deal with the law,” the Texas congressman said in an exclusive interview. “Now that we know the $500 billion, by law, is gone, we have to deal with that....." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Salt Lake Tribune "Utah immigration law could hinge on fate of Arizona’s"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:50:00 +0000

David Montero:
"So now the two sides wait while eight judges sort through the immigration time bomb known simply known as SB1070.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff read the transcripts of Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court hearing on Arizona’s enforcement-only law and said, based on the questioning from the justices, it was difficult to imagine how they wouldn’t uphold provisions of SB1070."........

.......Sandstrom eventually said he didn’t want to do what Arizona did as pressure mounted from the business community, leaders in Utah’s Republican Party and religious groups to avoid passing a copycat of SB1070. "For example, I don’t think it’s practical to check status on every single person on, say, a traffic stop,’ Sandstrom said. "That’s one of the things we negotiated on that bill that I think turned out better than the original language."

So instead of requiring local police to check legal status of people during a lawful stop, Sandstrom’s version only required it be checked on a felony or Class A misdemeanor stop. On other misdemeanors, the check is left to the officer’s discretion..." (Read the article? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Fox 13 "Four rescued from Utah Lake after canoe capsize"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:45:00 +0000

Brittany Green-Miner and Zach Whitney:
"UTAH LAKE – Four people were rescued from Utah Lake Saturday afternoon after their canoe flipped.
Utah Park Rangers and the Utah County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a boat in distress on Utah Lake at around 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Witnesses say a small canoe was out on the water and tipped, throwing two passengers into the 60-degree water.
“
We looked over and we see a canoe tipped over on the side,” said Michael Hoffman, who saw the boat tip. ”Police started coming and everything, so we knew it was an emergency.”

The group was near the shore of the lake and was able to get onto land, though they were in the water for about 45 minutes. One of the teens showed the beginning signs of hypothermia and was hospitalized...."
(Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Times Live "Sundance festival swaps Utah mountains for London"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:34:00 +0000

"Sundance London, a smaller version of the US film festival set up by the actor and director in 1985, will showcase 22 films as well as a string of live music performances at the 02 Arena in southeast London.

"Music and cinema look like they could be the next hybrid," Redford, 75, said at a press conference at the 02.

The star of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid said the London gala would be a "scaled down version of what we do in the mountains in Utah", where Sundance has grown into the United States' biggest independent film festival.

"I was reluctant to see us go out until the time was really right, and it felt like it was," he said.

Sundance London, which runs until Sunday, will host the British premieres of 14 American feature-length movies and 8 short films originally screened at its US sister festival...."
(Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Deseret News "FreedomWorks endorses Mia Love, Dan Liljenquist"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:07:00 +0000

Lisa Riley Roche and Dennis Romboy:
"SALT LAKE CITY — A national tea party organization has endorsed Utah Republicans Mia Love in 4th Congressional District and Dan Liljenquist in the U.S. Senate race.

Meantime, Gov. Gary Herbert declined again Thursday to back Sen. Orrin Hatch, saying he likes both the longtime senator and his primary election opponent Liljenquist.

Though FreedomWorks didn't formally back Liljenquist before the state GOP convention last weekend, it has actively organized opposition to Hatch's re-election campaign for the past year. Liljenquist forced Hatch into a primary runoff, the six-term senator's first since being elected in 1976.

“We have been working with Utah conservatives since last May to elect the strongest and most consistent advocate for conservative economic policy, and Dan has proven himself to be the man for the job," said Russ Walker, FreedomWorks national political director...." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Red State "Mia Love’s (R CAND, UT-04) Saturday convention speech"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:03:00 +0000

SandBoxUtah: ABC News "Mia Love: black, conservative, Mormon, GOP House candidate from Utah"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:59:00 +0000

Chris Moody:
"Amid the crowded field of House candidates across the country in 2012, expect to hear a lot about Mia Love, a Republican who is an African American and a Mormon and who on Saturday defeated a handful of rivals to clinch the party nomination in the campaign for Utah's fourth congressional district. Love is preparing to face incumbent Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson. Victory in November would make her the first black Republican congresswoman in history.

A Brooklyn-born Mormon convert, Love is a marathon-running mother of three and the daughter of Haitian immigrants who came to the United States with $10 in their pockets, she says. Her mother cleaned houses and worked as a nurse at a retirement home while her father worked for a painting company, toiled as a janitor at a Catholic school and drove a school bus to support their growing family.

"I am a product of that hard work," she said in an interview with Yahoo News, "a product of the American dream."..." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Salon "Beware the Romney boys"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:53:00 +0000

(Photo Credit: iStockphoto/gmnicholas/Salon/Benjamin Wheelock)

Sarah Laskow:
"If Barack Obama beats Mitt Romney in November, the political prospects of the Romney boys will take a hit, as well. But if their dad wins, whatever ambitions Tagg and Josh have will get a boost. And there will still be time enough for Matt, Craig or Ben to decide to give politics a try. Given how American dynasties work, “the odds are very great that at least one of them is going to go into the family business at some time,” says Hess...." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: CBS News "Utah leaders back ski lift connection"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:47:00 +0000

"SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce is organizing a coalition to push for a ski lift that would connect two Utah resorts if Congress goes along with a sale of national forest land.

The chamber is enlisting notable Utah figures who say it's the start of something big — the first lift connection among the cluster of Wasatch resorts. Together they could make for North America's largest skiing complex.

Jake Garn — former U.S. senator, Navy pilot and astronaut — says a gondola connecting the Canyons and Solitude resorts would allow people to ski both sides of the Wasatch mountains without driving around.

The LIFT UTAH coalition was announced Tuesday as 40 backcountry skiers and environmentalists stood outside the Salt Lake chamber to protest the development of high alpine terrain where the snow piles deep....." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Market Watch Intrepid Potash, Inc. Announces BLM Approval of the HB Solar Solution Mine Project and Commencement of Construction"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:43:00 +0000

"Intrepid Potash, Inc. announced today that on March 19, 2012, the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") issued its Record of Decision ("ROD") approving the HB Solar Solution mine near Carlsbad, New Mexico and, with the BLM's approval, Intrepid immediately commenced construction activities on the project. The ROD became final this month.

Intrepid's Executive Chairman of the Board, Bob Jornayvaz, stated, "We are very pleased to have begun construction of our HB project after more than three years of the BLM's careful review and study of the project's environmental impacts. This project is a game changer for Intrepid that will allow us to capitalize on our solution mining and solar evaporation expertise that we have developed from our current operations in Moab and Wendover, Utah. The HB Solar Solution mine will be one of the lower-cost potash mines in North America with cash costs estimated to be between $60 and $80 per ton, improving our overall cost profile and margin opportunity. We also expect the mine to increase our potash production by approximately twenty-five percent." Mr. Jornayvaz continued, "The tremendous support for the project from the Carlsbad community; local, state, and federal government; and the oil and gas operators in the area was integral to our successful navigation of the Environmental Impact Statement process required by the National Environmental Policy Act. The ROD validates that the project meets the requirements for balanced management of public lands."..." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Salt Lake Tribune "Utah sues over bird refuge boundaries "

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:38:00 +0000

Judy Fahys:
"A decades-old quarrel about the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge has landed in court.

The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands is suing the U.S. Interior Department, along with its agencies, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management, in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City on the question of where state land ends and federal land begins at the 83-year-old refuge on the Great Salt Lake...." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Salt Lake Tribune "Utah extends public comment period for refinery expansion"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:31:00 +0000

Judy Fahys:
"State regulators have again extended the public comment period for Tesoro’s proposed refinery expansion.

On Monday, the Utah Division of Air Quality said it was extending the deadline to June 7 — partly to accommodate critics who have a beef with the Salt Lake City plant’s expansion and who will be required to pursue their concerns in a new appeals system that begins May 8. The comment period was originally set to end in March...." (Read more? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: Salt Lake Tribune "News roundup: Huntsman compares the GOP to China"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:40:00 +0000

"Huntsman compares GOP to China. Hatch's political turn-around. Utah's new political rock star.

Happy Tuesday. It wasn't that long ago that Jon Huntsman ran for the Republican presidential nomination, now the former Utah governor is becoming one of the party's greatest antagonists, recently comparing it to communist China. [WaPost] [ChiTrib] [DNews]..." (Read more Political Cornflakes? Click title)

SandBoxUtah: First Coast News "Mormons, the Presidency and Joe Lieberman"

noreply@blogger.com (SandBoxBlogs) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:37:00 +0000