>>Allegations Against New AG

(Salt Lake City, UT) -- The new Utah attorney general is defending himself against an accusation he tried to take money to influence federal authorities. John Swallow says his accuser, quote, "is desperate to do and say anything possible to secure a better deal with federal prosecutors." "The Salt Lake Tribune" reports accuser philanthropist Jeremy Johnson is facing trial for fraud in connection with his Internet company. Democrats in the state are calling for a federal probe. Swallow says he has not been told he's the subject of an FBI investigation.

 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was never involved in an alleged effort to help derail a federal investigation into Utahn Jeremy Johnson’s businesses, his office said Sunday, dismissing Johnson’s claims that he paid money he believed was meant to bribe the Nevada Democrat. “Senator Reid has no knowledge or involvement regarding Mr. Johnson’s case,” his spokeswoman, Kristen Orthman, said in a statement. “These unsubstantiated allegations implying Senator Reid’s involvement are nothing more than innuendo and simply not true.” Reid’s denial marks the first time that his office has responded to Johnson’s accusations since the St. George businessman alleged that Utah’s new attorney general, John Swallow, helped set up a $600,000 payment, intended to enlist Reid to thwart a Federal Trade Commission investigation into Johnson’s I Works company. 

 

>>UTA Urges New Traffic Rules

(Undated) -- The Utah Transit Authority is urging lawmakers to change traffic rules for cars and buses. It wants cars that usually carry fewer people to give the right of way to buses as they merge. The UTA says the change would cut down on congestion and pollution and keep buses running on time. State Senator Karen Mayne says the bus drivers asked for the new law.

>>Suspect In Shootout Says Insurance Company Owes Him

(Ogden, UT) -- A suspect jailed in a shootout during a drug raid at his Ogden home says his insurance company owes him money. Matthew David Steward says his company should pay for repairs to his home after a drug raid and shootout in January of last year. He also says he should be reimbursed for cleanup costs and rent. Steward is in custody charged with killing a strike force agent and trying to kill other officers. The company is denying it owes the claims.

>>Woman Survives Avalanche

(Salt Lake City, UT) -- A woman is alive but injured after she was buried in an avalanche this weekend in the West Porter Fork area of Millcreek Canyon. Elisabeth Malloy wasn't breathing when her skiing partner dug her out and gave her CPR Saturday. She was wearing an avalanche beacon. Malloy was taken to a hospital in Salt Lake and should recover.

>>Bank Employees Killed In Texas Air Crash

(Glory, TX) -- Three men connected to a Utah-based Celtic Bank are dead in a plane crash in Texas. Salt Lake residents Michael Endo and Michael Dale Bradley and pilot Rob Thompson of Saratoga Springs were heading to Austin when their Piper aircraft went down and caught fire about 100 miles north of Dallas near Paris, Texas. Endo was a bank senior vice president, Bradley was the owner of a Realty company working with the bank. The bank hired Thompson as pilot.

NEPHI, Utah – Crews put out a tanker fire along I-15 south of Nephi Sunday night.Officials with the Utah DPS say a call for a rollover and explosion along I-15 near milepost 202 came in at around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. They say a semi was carrying a large trailer and a small trailer filled with gasoline.The smaller trailer caught fire. Hazmat and fire crews from multiple agencies worked to contain the blaze to that trailer and prevent an explosion of the second tank.The cause of the rollover and explosion is unknown. The driver of the semi was not injured.I-15 is closed between Nephi and Scipio. UDOT suggests SR-28 through Gunnison and I-70 or US-50 as an alternate route.

 

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah – Fire crews put out a 2-alarm blaze in Cottonwood Heights on Sunday.
The fire started at a single-family home at 8010 South Royal Lane (2300 East) in Cottonwood Heights just after 4 p.m.
Unified Fire Officials say the fire was sparked by a torch being used to thaw an outside hose bib.

(Moab Utah-Salt Lake Utah)The nation’s first fuel-producing tar sands mine, planned for the wild Book Cliffs in eastern Utah, has gotten a final go-ahead from state regulators.
The Utah Division of Oil Gas and Mining released its decision Friday to allow Alberta-based U.S. Oil Sands to move forward with the first stage of its mine on 213 acres in the arid high country between Vernal and Moab.

“This is not unexpected,” said Cameron Todd, company CEO. “We’ve been working long and hard on this and dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s.”

He added that the project will be a “strong example of environmental performance” and praised the “strong leadership” of Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and other decision-makers.

But John Weisheit, director of the environmental advocacy group Living Rivers, called the decision “arbitrary.” His Moab-based group, which has fought the project not only before the oil and gas board but also before the Utah Water Quality Board, contends the strip mine is a threat to the air and the water, especially the nearby White, Green and Colorado rivers.

“We have another avenue [to fight the mine] and that’s the appeals court,” he said, “and that’s where we’ll go.”