Roger McDonough

More than 200 protestors gathered on Saturday to denounce Utah’s so-called “Ag-Gag” law. The law, which was signed by Governor Herbert in 2012, prohibits unauthorized filming or photography at agricultural facilities. This weekend’s protest was organized after charges were filed – and then dropped –  against a woman who filmed activities at a slaughterhouse in Draper.

A new agreement between the state of Utah and federal regulators means that Utah will have two health insurance marketplaces – one for individuals run by the federal government and one for small businesses run by the state through its existing “Avenue H” online health exchange.“We think other states might want to consider following the example we’re setting here and finding a fourth way, which we think for a variety of reasons provides a better option,” Gov. Herbert said. Listen to the full story here. 

A coalition of environmental and community organizations are asking the Utah Department of Transportation to reevaluate their proposal for the West Davis Corridor, a 24-mile highway that would skirt the Great Salt Lake to the north of the Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area.

Tim Wagner is from the Utah Sierra Club and said that a draft plan by the Utah Department of Transportation to build a 4-lane highway along the banks of the Great Salt Lake is misguided.

Late last month, the US Interior Department finalized a new set of rules pertaining to Oil Shale and Tar Sands development on federal lands.

A new ruling by the Department of the Interior means that 680,000 acres of BLM land in the west will be available for leasing for research and development of oil shale, and nearly 130,000 acres will be opened up for testing tar sands production in Utah.

Those numbers are much lower than first planned, when rules on oil shale and tar sands leases were crafted in the waning days of the Bush Administration.

Governor Gary Herbert is close to making a decision on whether to sign an agreement that would authorize the construction of a pipeline from the Snake Valley in Utah’s West Desert to Las Vegas Nevada. But activists say signing the agreement could spell environmental doom.

Hundreds of civil rights advocates gathered at Salt Lake City’s library square on Monday night for a candlelight vigil and rally in advance of the US Supreme Court’s hearings on the issue of gay marriage this week. KCPW’s Roger McDonough reports.

The legislature hurried to address a problem with Utah law that could have a bearing on ongoing investigations into alleged ethics violations by Utah Attorney General John Swallow.

Among the more than 200 bills considered by the Utah legislature on its final day was a newcomer. Senate Bill 289 sought to fix a problem with the law that gives the state Attorney General the power to investigate himself in cases of ethics violations.

A bill that would put state gun laws above federal laws passed out of committee on Monday, after key provisions were amended to soften the legislation's language.