According to somebody named "Deseret News Staff," (more about that in a moment), the crass attempt by Energy Solutions CEO Steve Creamer to bribe the state into allowing his company to import foreign radioactive waste is dying on the vine.

If you haven't seen Creamer's treacly and endless ad campaign ads in recent weeks that attempt to extort a deal from the Utah Legislature, you've been under a big boulder. Creamer is asking for a law to allow a teeny-weeny 4.3 acres at Energy Solutions West Desert dump site open to imported waste from other states and nations. In exchange, Creamer promises to put millions of dollars of ES revenue toward vital state needs (namely, education) for 10 years. [image-x]

Until now, the only thing standing between Creamer and his dream to toxify our state has been Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who adamantly promises to veto the bill should it pass.

But "Deseret News Staff" reports the bill may not muster enough votes to go anywhere. Most notably, Creamer's plan would require a restructuring of the Northwest Compact, which oversees how a number of states handle disposal of nuclear waste. Members of the anti-nuke group HEAL Utah have said that under the Compact, a change to satisfy Creamer's level of greed would open the state up to waste from all over the place.

Now, about that "Deseret News Staff." That's not a new reporter. It's actually a cluster of DN state Capitol beat reporters, who today withdrew their individual bylines in protest of publisher Joe Cannon's drive to turn their newspaper into a complete Mormon niche publication. In the newspaper biz, pulling a byline is a time-honored tradition when a reporter fundamentally disagrees with a publisher or editor. According to some DN reporters, they are gradually being forced into writing their pieces with a certain ecclesiastical "tone." And that goes beyond the writing for the DN-sponsored Mormon Times. It's a pretty serious revolt when it comes to pulling bylines. If you are a media junkie, stay tuned. It could get interesting.