H1N1, the swine flu, is attacking Utah with a vengeance. Three more people who contracted the virus died in recent weeks, bringing the number of Utah deaths to five, or more than 10 percent of all H1N1 deaths in the country. The numbers of Utahns infected with swine flu has eclipsed those in any neighboring state and infection has expanded to the point that the state health officials have stopped keeping track.
Notch another for the Taser. The allegedly less-than-lethal weapon that zaps targets with 50,000 volts of electricity has claimed another victim. Hurricane Police were trying to subdue a 32-yearold graduate student and expectant father to prevent the man being injured by traffic. Instead, the man was killed instantly. It’s time police reassess when these dangerous weapons should be used. Enough Utahns have died. And no police officer wants to be responsible for killing someone he or she hoped to save.
Utah’s governor, Gary Herbert, piped up during a recent Park City meeting of the Western Governors, Association to question the reality of global warming. Herbert spoke just after U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu warned assembled governors that the climate appeared to be changing faster than once hoped. Another primary meeting topic was water. All western politicians have noticed less of it. Scientists told them climate change was impacting rainfall and snowpack. But Herbert told the group that “the science is not necessarily conclusive.”
Depending on who is telling the story, Utah’s senior U.S. senator, Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, hit, or just missed, a woman in a D.C. crosswalk. Some witnesses say the 75-year-old Hatch struck the pedestrian while driving his Cadillac in the rain. Hatch has denied that. He told the Washington Post he didn’t see the woman, but stopped, apologized and reported the near-miss to the police. So far, no one has been able to locate a police report.
