Mormon bloggers: LDS women share testimonies with readers

A group of 32 Mormon bloggers is creating packets for interested readers explaining what the bloggers believe and why they choose to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Mariel Wangsgard, oneshetwoshe.com

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With The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the national spotlight, people across the country are asking questions — and a group of Mormon bloggers is happy to give answers.

With vintage-style photographs, picture-perfect desserts, fashion tips and family-life anecdotes, Mormon bloggers have attracted the attention of readers far outside the LDS blogosphere.

Last year, Emily Matchar wrote an article on salon.com attempting to explain her fascination with these blogs.

"Their lives are nothing like mine — I'm your standard-issue late-20-something childless over-educated atheist feminist, Yet I'm completely obsessed with their blogs," she wrote. "On an average day, I'll skim through a half-dozen Mormon blogs, looking at Polaroids of dogs in raincoats or kids in bow ties, reading gratitude lists, admiring sewing projects."

Mariel Wangsgard, creator of the Or So She Says... blog, is taking advantage of such interest to answer questions through the "Why Are Your Favorite Bloggers Mormon?" project she launched last week.

The project sends readers a packet of testimonies from 32 LDS bloggers and a free Book of Mormon as a way for readers to better understand Mormons and what they believe. The packets are sent only to interested readers and kept offline to encourage civil discussion, according to Wangsgard.

"I just got to the point where I saw all these people wondering and not getting good answers," Wangsgard said. "I just think people want to know, so we don't have to be so afraid. ... Most of us aren't afraid to say that we're LDS, but it usually stops there. We wanted to stop holding out on our readers."

Three months ago, she began emailing every Mormon blogger she knew, asking if they would be willing to submit a page or two for the packet. Bloggers would then send suggestions of other bloggers she should contact. The number of participants grew from there.

Shawni Pothier, author of the blog 71 Toes, was one of the bloggers recruited to submit a page explaining her experience of being Mormon. For her, the project offered the opportunity to clarify Latter-day Saint beliefs.

"I just feel like there are a lot of misconceptions with our church, so I was just happy that someone was taking a stand," she said. "As mothers, bloggers and Mormons, we have a lot of power to influence what's out there. ... There are some crazy things that people hear, and I just want people to know how much it can bless people's lives."

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562644/Why-your-favorite-bloggers-are-Mormon-LDS-women-share-testimonies-with-readers.html
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Lawmakers make attempt at prohibiting smoking in cars with children

This is a Monday Aug. 25, 1997 file photo of a Chinese man smoking a cigarette while reading to his daughter, under an overpass in Beijing. Second-hand smoke kills more than 600,000 people worldwide every year, according to a new study. In the first analysis of the global impact of second-hand smoking, researchers analyzed data from 2004 for 192 countries. They found 40 percent of children and more than 30 percent of non-smoking men and women regularly breathe in second-hand smoke.

Associated Press

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SALT LAKE CITY — Tyler Adams knows what it is like to nearly suffocate from not being able to breathe.

He and two of his siblings suffer from severe asthma that was exacerbated every time their grandparents, who were heavy smokers, would light up around them.

"That's not a fun thing to go through," the Hunter High School student told the Health and Human Services Interim Committee on Wednesday.

He encouraged lawmakers to support legislation that would prohibit adults from smoking in a vehicle when a child under age 15 is present.

"We are essentially forcing a child to smoke when it is actually illegal for a child to smoke," said Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake City, who is sponsoring the draft bill for a second time. HB89 failed to reach a final vote during the 2011 Legislature.

Lawmakers have attempted to pass similar legislation three times in the past, only to be turned away by those who favor parental rights.

Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem, said he opposes the proposed bill because it "interferes with people's lives" and individual choice.

"Smoking is still a legal activity," Daw said. "It's a filthy habit, and I don't want to be around anyone who smokes, and I certainly don't want them near my children, but it's their right."

Car seats faced the same type of opposition when state leaders first attempted to make using them a law, said Dr. Tom Metcalf, a retired pediatrician and former Utah lawmaker.

"The health of children trumped ideology," Metcalf said, adding that when the law finally passed in 1982, it established only minimal penalties for misuse.

"What the law really did was educate people," he said.

Only a small portion of kids are affected by secondhand smoke in vehicles, Metcalf said, "but they are affected."

Sen. Pat Jones, D-Salt Lake City, supported the proposed legislation and said she hopes that with the new secondhand smoke rule, parents will think twice about smoking at all.

Children are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke, said Dr. Kevin Nelson, a University Hospital pediatrician who founded Pediatricians Against Secondhand Smoke after treating many children with asthma whose parents smoke.

There are more than 250 toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke that lingers in the air — and more than 50 of those are proven to cause cancer, Nelson said.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562762/Lawmakers-making-another-attempt-at-prohibiting-smoking-in-cars-with-children.html
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Parents set poor driving example for teens, with sometimes-dire results

Kellie Wright of West Jordan talks with her daughter, Sara Weymouth, 15, about how to drive an automobile safely.

Tom Smart, Deseret News

Parents are often poor role models when it comes to driving. They text, talk on the phone, speed and even drive while impaired by drugs or alcohol. That's especially bad news because parents are the biggest influence on how kids drive — and crashes are the No. 1 cause of teen death.

A survey of 1,700 high school seniors and juniors nationwide, conducted last year for Liberty Mutual Insurance and Students Against Destructive Decisions, found high correlation between what teens do behind the wheel and what they've watched their parents do.

Two-thirds of teen drivers said their parents "live by different rules" than they tell their teens they expect them to obey. That disconnect can be hazardous, experts said.

"I don't think there's any doubt, whether it's driving or social life in general. They develop bad habits from the parents, with whom they spend 98 percent of the time they're in a car," said Lynn Moncur, the athletic director at Brighton High School who has been teaching driver's education for 26 years. "I'll ask questions. Do your parents look right when they turn right? No."

By the time teens turn 16 and get a license, "Mom and dad are tired of driving them around. They hand over the keys with a 'Be careful, be careful. Do what you're supposed to do,'" Moncur said.

Often, he said, they instead do what they've seen.

A barrage of examples

Kellie Wright is acutely conscious of that as her daughter, Sara Weymouth, watches her more closely even than before. Sara, 15, will get her license this year. And she's soaking up what she sees as she rides with others.

"I try not to talk on the phone when she's in the car," said Wright, of West Jordan.

Sending kids confusing signals about the dos and don't of driving puts them at risk, experts caution. Worldwide, nearly 1.5 million people are killed each year in vehicle crashes. Nationally, 33,808 people died in traffic fatalities in 2009, the last year for which a complete count is available. In Utah, 233 people died in crashes last year. Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death not only for teens, but for children 4 and older.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765605427/Parents-set-poor-driving-example-for-teens-with-sometimes-dire-results.html
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Top list: NFL players with Utah ties that made the 53-man roster

Published: Wednesday, Sept. 19 2012 11:26 p.m. MDT

Josh Ferrin, Deseret News

Teams in the NFL were forced to cut their rosters to 53 recently. What Utah players made the cut? Here's a list of all the athletes who played football at a Utah college or high school. The list is in no particular order.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/top/953/0/NFL-Steve-Smith-Austin-Collie-and-other-players-with-Utah-ties-that-made-the-53-man-rosters.html
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Utah Utes football: QB Jon Hays to get redemption shot against ASU

Utah Utes quarterback Jon Hays is stripped of the ball as he is tackled by Arizona State Sun Devils linebacker Oliver Aaron as the University of Utah faces Arizona State in NCAA football in Salt Lake City, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011. Utah recovered the fumble.

Ravell Call, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — His first major college start, against Arizona State last year, was not a memorable one for Jon Hays, at least not in a positive way.

Hays, as everyone knows by now, was just a few months removed from not having anywhere to play college ball and had only been part of the Ute team for a matter of weeks when starter Jordan Wynn went down with a season-ending injury. Hays was basically all the Utes had at the quarterback spot.

He started off decently enough, staking the Utes to a 14-10 lead. However five Utah turnovers, including three interceptions from Hays, handed the game to the Sun Devils, who scored 25 unanswered points.

"I was really disappointed with my performance last year against Arizona State — I had three picks," Hays said earlier this week.

Eleven and a half months later, Hays gets another shot at Arizona State, this time in Tempe (Saturday, 8 p.m. MDT), and he says he'll be much more prepared this time around and ready for redemption. "I'm ready to get back down there and play a good Arizona State team."

For Hays, the guy who was headed to Division II Nebraska-Omaha before that school suddenly dropped football, it has been a roller-coaster ride over the past 16 months.

He was picked up by the Utes as an emergency backup in mid-May, found himself thrust into the starting role in the middle of the team's initial Pac-12 season, lost some games and won some games before capping the year with a brilliant come-from-behind victory over Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl.

Yet despite all that, he was basically relegated to fourth string during spring ball as the Utes welcomed Wynn back from an injury and tried to get a close look at highly touted incoming freshmen Travis Wilson and Chase Hansen.

While it was a tough time for Hays, he just kept working hard, trying to keep his head up.

"It's not what happens but how you respond to it," he said. "That's the philosophy I've taken, and it's really helped me out."

Hays said the Ute coaches were always up front about everything and that helped him deal with the situation.

"They've been true to their word," he said. "Any time I've had a question and wanted to know how I stood on this team, they've been brutally honest with me, and I really appreciate that."

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765605387/Utah-Utes-football-QB-Jon-Hays-to-get-redemption-shot-against-ASU.html
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BYU football: Cougars looking for bounce-back victory over Boise State

Utah State kicker Jaron Bentrude (38) warms up prior to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

BOISE — With dreams of an undefeated season dashed last Saturday night at Utah, BYU is now looking to avoid a two-game losing streak.

The Cougars invade Bronco Stadium on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPN) to battle No. 24 Boise State.

Can BYU shake off the disappointment of falling to its arch-rival, and right the ship against the Broncos?

"We don't have a choice, we have to bounce back because as bad as that loss felt, you don't want to experience it again," said linebacker Spencer Hadley. "So you can sit there and mope about it and complain and basically flush your season down the toilet, or you can bounce back and attack this next week like you ought to and turn things around."

A victory against Boise State certainly would be a huge step in the right direction.

"It would be a good confidence-builder. They're a great team," Hadley said. "It would really help us set the tone again, and remind us that we have a lot of football left to play, a lot of great teams on the schedule. Right now, it's Boise State. A win against Boise, I think, would be exactly what we need right now."

For the Cougars to reach their goal of playing in a BCS game, they need to go unbeaten. A perfect season is now off the table, but quarterback Riley Nelson said his team will continue to fight every week.

"It is a magical thing to go undefeated in college football. Very few teams get to do it. Even last year's national champions lost a game. The way college football is playing out, I'd be surprised if there's an undefeated team this year. We'll keep battling. Not all is lost — 12 and 1 is a pretty darn good record and we still got a chance at that. And that's what we're striving for."

What makes Thursday's challenge even tougher is the quick turnaround — BYU has had only two days to prepare for Boise State. Will the Cougars be ready physically and emotionally?

"Physically, I bet eventually we'll get there for Thursday," Nelson said. "You know they are a big, physical team. Utah was a big, physical team. Your bumps and bruises probably won't quite be healed, but the adrenaline kicks in and you do fine. You'd like to be fresh, but it's psychological. It's the fourth week of the season and very few people are fresh now … For (Boise State), it's a short week, too. They're dealing with the same thing we are. Hopefully we can play some good football on Thursday."

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765605393/BYU-football-Cougars-looking-for-bounce-back-victory-over-Boise-State.html
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Paving for I-15 CORE Project causing major delays in Utah County

Lane restrictions on southbound I-15 in Utah County are causing major delays. Crews have narrowed the lanes down to just three, so they can finish pouring concrete, in Pleasant Grove, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2012.

Steve Landeen, Deseret News

OREM — It could be one of the last major disruptions to traffic in Utah County, as crews work to finish the  I-15 CORE Project by the end of the year.

But until then, drivers can expect to see delays.

For the next two weeks, southbound I-15 from 200 South in Lindon to University Parkway in Orem is down to three lanes, while crews finish pouring concrete.

The problem is traffic is bottle-necking and backing up throughout most of the day, especially during the evening commute.

"It's pretty hectic, and there's a lot of detours," said contractor Julian Castillo. "I have to be to a job site on time and with all the detours, it's a headache."

And as for commuters, most of them know exactly where they'll have to slow down due to traffic.

"Every time you are coming through the American Fork area, you get that every time," said Kyle Haskell. "And I'm tired of waiting an hour and a half every day to get from Salt Lake back down to Utah County. I understand it is needed, but I'm tired of it."

The Utah Department of Transportation is aware that the lane closures are adding several minutes to southbound traffic. "We just ask that people plan for some extra travel time, particularly during those morning and evening commute hours," said UDOT spokeswoman Muriel Xochimitl.

She recommends drivers use Geneva Road and State Street as alternate routes.

A few freeway exits opening up soon should help minimize some traffic delays. Half of the 1600 North interchange will be open by the end of the week, and the interchanges at 800 North and Center Street won't require any more major closures. For the latest on the project, go to I15core.utah.gov.

The I-15 CORE Project by Provo River Constructors is now the fastest billion-dollar highway project in U.S. history, according to UDOT. It covers a 24-mile stretch of I-15, from Lehi to Spanish Fork. Crews have added two lanes in each direction. The state originally expected to pay $1.725 billion for the project. Now the final tab is pegged at $1.495 billion.

UDOT officials attribute the cost savings to careful quality-control procedures that assured the lowest possible price on every line item. They also said the project has had a low number of contract change orders.

UDOT promises wide open, gridlock-free traffic will be a reality in as little as two months from now. That's a month earlier than the expected completion date of December. UDOT officials said the contractor is working hard to meet the challenge issued by Gov. Gary Herbert that the construction be completed by Thanksgiving.

"We are 90 percent done now," said Xochimitl, "but we still have a ways to go before the end of the year."

E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562758/Paving-for-I-15-CORE-Project-causing-major-delays-in-Utah-County.html
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More 80 mph speed limits may be coming to Utah's freeways

Motorists drive along an 80 mph section of I-15 south of Nephi on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — The speed limit could zoom up to 80 mph on more sections of Utah freeways under a proposal that's expected to be introduced in the 2013 Legislature.

The plan gained speed after traffic data showed no dramatic increases in speeding or crashes in the 80 mph zones in place in central and southern Utah.

Members of the Legislature's Transportation Interim Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to support expanding the number of freeway sections to give drivers a quicker trip through the state.

The vote came after the committee was told the Utah Department of Transportation may make the higher speed limit permanent on two sections of I-15, between Mills Junction and Scipio, and between Fillmore and Cove Fort.

The department will continue to study the impact of the higher limit on two other sections of I-15 south of the I-70 junction through 2014.

State law limits vehicle speed to 75 mph, or 65 mph in urban areas. But Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, sponsored legislation in 2008 initiating a study of the impact of higher speed limits along a limited portion of I-15.

Dunnigan said he's drafting a bill for next session that allows UDOT to test the 80 mph limit on portions of I-15 to Wendover, as well as sections of both I-15 and I-84 in northern Utah and even parts of I-80.

He told the committee that when he first proposed boosting the speed limit, concerns were raised that drivers would "think they were flying back to the future" and accelerate to up to 100 mph.

"That didn't happen," Dunnigan said. "More people became compliant."

UDOT deputy director Carlos Braceras cited the results of three years of data collection that found driver speed climbed from an average of 83 mph to 85 mph without any speed-related fatalities.

The department's data also shows that the number of nonfatal crashes has dropped along the two sections of I-15 where a permanent speed limit of 80 mph is recommended. 

Only a single serious injury crash was reported from 2009 to 2011 between Fillmore and Cove Fort, but it was not related to speed, according to UDOT. There was one speed-related serious injury crash along I-15 between Mills Junction and Scipio. 

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562731/More-80-mph-speed-limits-may-be-coming-to-Utahs-freeways.html
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Lawmakers continue push for ownership as public lands war gains traction

The state's Public Lands Coordinating Office is working in consultation with a number of experts on the establishment of a public lands commission, which would provide guidance and answers as the state moves forward its demands to have the government cede authority to Utah over the control of federal lands under management of agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management.

Stuart Johnson, Deseret News

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's public lands fight against the federal government is beginning to gather steam on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers were briefed Wednesday about efforts to establish a commission to help navigate policymakers through the fray.

"It's kind of like eating an elephant," said Kathleen Clarke, director of the Public Lands Coordinating Office. "Where do you start?"

Clarke said her office is working in consultation with a number of experts on the establishment of the commission, which would provide guidance and answers as the state moves forward its demands to have the government cede authority to Utah over the control of federal lands.

"It has become very clear to us that this is not just a Utah battle," she told members of the Legislature's Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee.

"It's not just a Republican issue," Clarke added, pointing to the charge led by then-Utah  Gov. Scott Matheson, a Democrat who was among the key players in an American West battle to influence more local control over environmental policies in the 1970s and '80s.

"I think (Matheson) was way ahead of his time," remarked Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, sponsor of last session's HB148, which is setting the stage for this newest fight.

Utah's public policy makers are chafing against the federal government's continued control over an estimated two-thirds of the land in Utah. They assert that ownership locks up millions of dollars in potential revenue because of environmental regulations that hamstring the oil and gas industry, livestock grazing or even timber harvesting.

Federal land ownership in states west of Colorado far eclipses counterparts in the East, for example, because land promised at statehood was not granted, according to the movement.

Ivory's measure to gain those lands is making traction in other Western states because of the pushback over federal ownership. It sets aside money for Utah to sue the federal government if certain lands aren't relinquished, but exempts certain areas such as national parks or congressionally designated wilderness areas.

Clarke, former national director of the Bureau of Land Management, added that concerns over a predicted costly legal battle to come shouldn't act as a deterrent to lawmakers as they move forward.

"Those costs shouldn't be a consideration whether should do this or not," she said. "They balance out."

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562741/Utah-lawmakers-continue-push-for-ownership-as-public-lands-war-gains-traction.html
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Ten $100,000 jobs that people don't think about

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Following is a list of ten unassuming jobs that could earn at least $100,000 each year.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com***url%20here***
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Jimmer Fredette on book tour, remains same humble guy

Sacramento Kings guard Jimmer Fredette, left, shoots under pressure from Los Angeles Clippers guard Randy Foye during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Saturday, April 7, 2012, in Los Angeles.

Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press

You'd think a guy in his early 20s who packed a resume like Jimmer Fredette, who just had a book come out, who was on a coast-to-coast book tour would somehow let it go to his head.

Nope. Jimmer is the same kid that walked out of the gym at Glens Falls, N.Y., half a dozen years ago — a simple, friendly, gracious guy. On Monday, his high school retired his jersey, the only such honor ever given to one of its athletes. Fredette was touched and grateful to represent his community.

The honor took place the first day of his book tour, a published work written by veteran, award-winning sportswriter Pat Forde.

"It was a special moment; it made me feel great," said Fredette of the jersey retirement ceremonies. "It made me realize people back there still follow me and still believe in me and they are people who have helped me a lot."

The book, entitled "The Contract: Jimmer Fredette," is a reflective narrative on the relationship Jimmer had with his older brother T.J., how one reached his dreams and the other — because of a debilitating disease that prevented him from reaching his athletic dreams — devoted his life to his younger brother who became The Jimmer.

The book provides behind-the-scenes insight of the Fredette family, background of his parents Al and Kay and the bloodlines that set the tone for a competitive, athletic atmosphere in the Fredette home.

Forde, who is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also included a chapter on Fredette's LDS faith, carefully explaining his beliefs in a world where Mormons have come under the spotlight from the 2012 presidential race to Broadway.

Fredette made the media rounds this week in Utah upon his return from New York with stops at BYU's campus bookstore and Deseret Book in Orem.

"It's definitely exciting for myself and my family," Fredette said of the book. "To be able to share some stories and things that they haven't heard before is fun. People have heard about me but they haven't heard about things my brother and my parents have gone through, and stories about growing up and living a dream come true."

Fredette said he has tried to put basketball in perspective and still thinks of himself as that chubby kid who begged to play in pickup games with older kids. He hopes with all that has happened in his life, his national player of the year honors in college and getting drafted with the 10th overall pick in the NBA Draft, that he's been able to remain the same.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765605304/Jimmer-Fredette-on-book-tour-remains-same-humble-guy.html
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Vivint's $5,000 to $2 billion journey from security to solar

Provo-based home security and automation company Vivint will be entering a deal with Blackstone Group LP, valuing the company at $2 billion. But what led the company to its success? The following is a timeline showing the company's milestones before the deal was announced on Tuesday. To read more about the deal with Blackstone, click here.

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/top/980/0/Vivints-5000-to-2-billion-journey-from-security-to-solar.html
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Utah lawmakers balking at governor's alcohol commission nominee

Assistant manager George Pence arranges the alcohol at a state liquor store in Salt Lake City, May 27, 2010.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers are balking at one of Gov. Gary Herbert's nominees to the expanded state alcohol commission because she is a member of his cabinet.

Herbert nominated state Department of Commerce Executive Director Francine Giani to the seven-member board last month. She was scheduled for a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday but her name was not on the agenda.

Sen. John Valentine, chairman of the Senate Business and Labor Confirmation Committee, said lawmakers have concerns about the head of one state department serving on the commission of another department.

"It just really, really confuses the lines of authority back to the governor," the Orem Republican said.

The committee did confirm Salvador Petilos as the new executive director of the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control on Wednesday. He goes before the full Senate later Wednesday. He previously worked as the deputy director of the state Department of Administrative Services.

Valentine said the resistance to Giani is not a reflection of her or her abilities. "It's not the person. It's the position," he said.

As the result of several scathing audits show mismanagement and possible criminal behavior, the Legislature restructured the DABC this year. It made the executive director directly accountable to the governor and expanded the liquor commission from five members to seven.

The commission is set up to be an independent body, Valentine said. Having a cabinet member on the board "muddies the waters so much that it becomes too much of a closed system," he said. "The lines get really blurred."

Valentine said he understands the governor wants some eyes and ears on the commission as well as someone with institutional knowledge.

Giani has worked in state government in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years. She has directed the commerce department since 2005. Herbert appointed her as interim director of DABC last fall as part of an effort to clean up the beleaguered agency. She served until June when the governor tabbed Petilos.

Valentine said Herbert might have to decide whether he wants Giani on the alcohol commission or continuing as commerce department director.

He said he has talked to the governor about his concerns but they haven't reached a resolution at this point.

E-mail: romboy@desnews.com Twitter: dennisromboy

20 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562709/Utah-lawmakers-balking-at-governors-alcohol-commission-nominee.html
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Makers, takers, and Mitt Romney's 47 percent comment

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to the American Legion National Convention on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012 in Indianapolis. When Romney commented at a fundraiser that 47 percent of voters were locked into Obama because they pay no income taxes, some commentators dug into the numbers and debated the merits of his claim.

Evan Vucci, Associated Press

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When Romney suggested at a fundraiser that 47 percent of the voters pay no income tax and thus, with no skin in the game, are not open to persuasion on government spending or lower taxes, the firestorm that followed was to be expected.

The 47 percent, Romney had said, are those who "are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to take care of them, who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it."

"Here is the sneering plutocrat," wrote Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine, "fully in thrall to a series of pernicious myths that are at the heart of the mania that has seized his party. He believes that market incomes in the United States are a perfect reflection of merit."

"Thurston Howell Romney" headlined David Brooks at the New York Times, adding that "as a description of America today, Romney's comment is a country-club fantasy. It's what self-satisfied millionaires say to each other. It reinforces every negative view people have about Romney."

These are, of course, only a small sample of the multitude of expected responses from the expected directions.

Republicans, meanwhile, were divided. Bill Kristol at the Weekly Standard called the comments "arrogant and stupid." He also noted the obvious parallel to Barack Obama's famous "bitter clinger" comment in 2008, also at an "off-the-record" fundraiser.

"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest," Obama had said of people in failing communities and long-term unemployment, "And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Kristol questioned the merits of Romney's claim, noting that many who don't pay income taxes still support Romney. These include, Kristol argued, "seniors (who might well) believe they are entitled to heath care," a position Romney agrees with), as well as many lower-income Americans (including men and women serving in the military) who think conservative policies are better for the country even if they're not getting a tax cut under the Romney plan."

The Wall Street Journal, as one might expect, broke out the numbers, relying on a study by the Tax Policy Center.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562693/Makers-takers-and-Mitt-Romneys-47-percent-comment.html
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08.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Social well-being of tween girls negatively affected by use of social media

Social media use and media multitasking often have a negative effect on the social well-being and communication skills of girls from age 8 through 12.

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Social media use and media multitasking often have a negative effect on the social well-being and communication skills of girls from age 8 through 12, according to a study conducted at Stanford University in March of this year.

More than 3,000 tween girls responded to an online survey sponsored by Discovery Girls magazine during the summer of 2010. Among the major findings from those responses, one of the biggest was the negative socioemotional outcomes from communicating online and media multitasking.

"Face-to-face communication and online communication are not interchangeable," according to the researchers. On the other hand of physical communication, "face-to-face communication was positively associated with feelings of social success (and) was consistently associated with a range of positive socioemotional outcomes."

No matter the type of media — video, video games, music listening, emailing, posting on social media sites, texting/instantly messaging, and talking on the phone and video chatting were all included as media — negative correlations were drawn between media usage and social well-being.

A final result of the survey and study is that "the more time 8- to 12-year-old girls say they spend online, the less happy they are," KJ Dell'Antonia said in an article about parenting for the New York Times. "That is surely not what those girls wanted or expected when they begged for custody of Mom's old laptop."

Dell'Antonia points out the suggestion from the researchers that girls need to experience everything that comes from face-to-face communication, "such as learning to read body language, and subtle facial and verbal cues."

To help those kids who may turn to media more than personal interaction, and for kids in general, Clifford Nass told the Stanford Report, that it is necessary for them to be "actively looking and listening to the people they are with, instead of being buried in front of their smart phones."

Nass, a communications professor, was one of the researchers along with education professor Roy Pea, to head the study.

Seven hours was the approximate time for media use each day, while the approximate time for face-to-face interactions was two hours for participants. They media multitasked with an average of 2.4 media devices.

It was discovered that 31 percent of 8- to 10-year-olds have a cellphone in a Kaiser Family foundation study, reported the Pew Research Internet & American Life Project, which attests to the devices kids and young teens have access to.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562692/Social-well-being-of-tween-girls-negatively-affected-by-use-of-social-media.html
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07.39 | 0 komentar | Read More

New Christian gospel indicates Jesus may have had a wife

This Sept. 5, 2012 photo released by Harvard University shows a fourth century fragment of papyrus that divinity professor Karen L. King says is the only existing ancient text that quotes Jesus explicitly referring to having a wife. King, an expert in the history of Christianity, says the text contains a dialogue in which Jesus refers to "my wife," whom he identified as Mary. King says the fragment of Coptic script is a copy of a gospel, probably written in Greek in the second century.

Harvard University, Karen L. King, Associated Press

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A fourth century fragment of papyrus that contains the statement: "Jesus said to them, 'My wife,'" suggests some early Christians believed Jesus was married.

But the author of a paper on the new find says the ancient document about the size of a business card does not validate the marital status of Jesus.

"This fragment, this new piece of papyrus evidence, does not prove that (Jesus) was married, nor does it prove that he was not married. The earliest reliable historical tradition is completely silent on that. So we're in the same position we were before it was found. We don't know if he was married or not," said Harvard divinity professor Karen L. King in a conference call with reporters.

King told Harvard Magazine this new "Gospel of Jesus's Wife" is too old — like others dated to the second century that make the claim Jesus was celibate — to provide reliable historical evidence of Jesus' marital status.

"But the fragment does suggest that 150 years or so after Jesus's birth, Christians were already taking positions on such questions. Significantly, this new text pushes the date at which some Christians were asserting that Jesus was married back to a time contemporaneous with the earliest assertions that he was celibate," the magazine stated.

The provenance of the papyrus is unclear. Huffington Post reported that the owner who showed it to King found it in 1997 in a collection of papyri that he acquired from the previous owner, who was German. The papyri included a handwritten German description that had the name of a now-deceased professor of Egyptology in Berlin who called the fragment a "sole example" of a document that claims Jesus was married.

King was skeptical of its authenticity when the anonymous collector first approached her in 2010. The next year, King put the papyrus, sandwiched between two pieces of glass, in her purse and took it to New York City where she and AnneMarie Luijendijk, a papyrologist and scholar of New Testament and Early Christianity at Princeton, met with Roger Bagnall, director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University, and one of the world's two or three leading papyrologists.

"She and Luijendijk left Bagnall's office believing the fragment was real. Rather than taking the subway as she had planned, they hailed a taxi. ('The fragment deserves a cab,'" she recalls thinking.)," Harvard Magazine reported.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562689/New-Christian-gospel-indicates-Jesus-may-have-had-a-wife.html
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07.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mitt Romney refocuses as President Barack Obama decries 'victim' claim

President Barack Obama talks with David Letterman on the set of the "Late Show With David Letterman" at the Ed Sullivan Theater, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012, in New York.

Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are moving the presidential campaign back to familiar ground, grappling over the proper role of government in a debate where clumsy, seemingly dismissive statements have made both men susceptible to caricature.

Romney on Tuesday sought to recover from an unguarded comments caught on video, as some wary Republicans watched for signs of lost ground. But in a race virtually unaffected by surprise developments or bad economic news, the contest appeared destined to remain close.

Still, Obama ridiculed Romney's claim — made at a secretly recorded fundraiser in May — that nearly half of Americans believe they are victims and entitled to a range of government support and that as a candidate he doesn't feel a need to worry about them.

"If you want to be president, you have to work for everyone, not just for some," Obama said in an appearance on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Romney's running mate, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, called Romney's comments "obviously inarticulate."

Romney, for his part, did not apologize for the assertion, though he said it was "not elegantly stated."

Elegant or not, Democrats seized on the remark to build on their image of Romney as out of touch.

With early and absentee voting beginning in a number of states, both sides hoped to lock in votes long before Election Day. With the first of three presidential debates scheduled for Oct. 3, the two camps were looking to secure any advantage as Obama's post-convention polling advantage seemed to be ebbing. Obama planned a rare full day at the White House Wednesday; Romney scheduled a fundraiser in Atlanta and two appearances in Miami, including a candidate forum with the Spanish-language TV network Univision.

Romney did not back away from his central thesis that Obama has created a culture of dependency. In an interview Tuesday with Fox News he declared that the idea of government redistributing income is an "entirely foreign concept," even though popular and well-established federal programs like Social Security and Medicare rely on taxes from one group to pay for the benefits of others.

If anyone understands how one's own words can ricochet badly it is Obama. In July, campaigning in Virginia, Obama made the case for government's role in helping small businesses prosper.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765605196/Mitt-Romney-refocuses-as-President-Barack-Obama-decries-victim-claim.html
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Why reading by third grade is critical, help children to meet that deadline

Reading Specialist DeAnne Wilie works with second graders Alejandro Flores and Olivia Baarsma at Hillsdale Elementary School in West Valley City on Friday, January 20, 2012.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

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SALT LAKE CITY — Literacy specialist Kathy Callister has helped two generations of struggling readers in her 20 years of teaching at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary, a small school in the mountain village of Hesperus, Colo.

As a Title I school, Fort Lewis Mesa has a high proportion of students from low-income families. That means Callister's students are statistically at risk for low reading proficiency a problem linked with failure to finish high school and a lifetime of reduced opportunities.

Each week, Callister spends time with each grade's lagging readers at her school, applying research-based interventions to boost skills. She works with the school's teachers to improve their reading instruction, too. A particular emphasis is ensuring that kids read well by the end of third grade.

"Things change in third grade," Callister said. "Kids are not just learning fundamentals of reading. They are reading for meaning and to learn. If kids are struggling to decode the words, they don't get much meaning from the text and don't learn what they need to know."

Third-grade battlefield

Nationally, 85 percent of children from low-income families failed to reach proficiency levels by fourth grade on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Improving reading proficiency is seen as imperative to keeping the U.S. competitive in the global marketplace, and third grade is where the battle is being fought hardest.

Creating proficient readers by the end of third grade is considered so important that several states have enacted policies requiring third-graders with low scores to repeat the grade with extra coaching in reading. However, researchers and teachers haven't reached consensus about whether grade retention has long-term benefits.

Retention might even be counterproductive. Massive evidence shows that "retained students achieve at lower levels, are more likely to drop out of high school, and have worse social-emotional outcomes than superficially similar students who are promoted," according to a new study from the Brookings Institute.

However, the Brookings study goes on to say that previous research on retention might have an inherent flaw.

"The disappointing outcomes of retained students may well reflect the reasons they were held back in the first place rather than the consequences of being retained," the study said.

Factors in poor reading

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765605188/Why-reading-by-third-grade-is-critical-and-what-can-be-done-to-help-children-meet-that-deadline.html
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23.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

BYU's Braden Hansen grew up to become one big, talented athlete

BYU offensive lineman Braden Hansen, a three-year starter, looks upfield as he prepares to throw a block in last Saturday's game against Utah.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

This is the story of the Kid Across the Street, the boy I watched grow up — and up and up and up — to became a starting guard on the BYU football team and a two-year member of the Outland Trophy Watch List. This does not surprise me at all, partly because I saw what Braden Hansen did to my mailbox.

Years ago, the kids in our neighborhood were playing a pickup game of football in my yard — I was permanent Q-Bee and the only one not wearing full pads and a helmet. I don't remember much about the game, but I do remember this: Braden crashed into my mailbox. I should note that my mailbox, which stands in the "end zone," is made of bricks and is about four feet tall and two feet wide. When Braden crashed into it, of course my first and only concern was for the mailbox. Was it OK? Did the big kid damage it? Did he knock some mortar loose?

It was fine.

Oh, and so was Braden.

If I were a college recruiter, I would have recruited Braden solely on the basis of that mailbox crash. Or this: I once saw him finish a fast break in a high school basketball game. Even if I hadn't seen him play a down of football, I would have signed him on the spot. People who are 6-foot-6 and 275 pounds should not be able to run up the court with guards and finish with a delicate, kiss-the-glass, finger-roll layup.

He has started every game for three straight years at BYU — 43 and counting, which puts him on pace to tie Matt Reynolds' school record of 52. He's 6-foot-6 and some change, 305 pounds — after slimming down from 330. He's getting calls from agents wanting to sign him after the season in preparation for the NFL Draft. Braden won't say much about it, but he did drop a one-game-at-a-time line on me. After the season-opener against Washington State, his father Lowell was on the sideline and peeked over the shoulder of an NFL scout who was taking notes. He saw Braden's name at the top of the list.

Everyone always knew Braden was going someplace in football. They just wanted him to get there fast and leave their kids alone. In little league, he was already so big and strong that parents from opposing teams accused Braden's team of cheating — Braden couldn't possibly be the same age as the other kids. This led to horrible arguments. Lowell responded by bringing his son's birth certificate to games. But it didn't help matters when Braden broke the arm of the opposing quarterbacks three times in one season.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765605122/BYU-football-Gentle-giant-Braden-Hansen-grew-up-to-become-one-big-talented-athlete.html
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22.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mother forgives man who killed her son, tells him to 'go forward'

Esteban Saidi's brother Erick Saidi (left) and sister weep in court as they listen to Ricky Angilau as he expresses his remorse for killing their brother. Ricky Angilau, who was 16-years-old when he fired into a crowd during a fight, killing an onlooker, was sentenced to up to 5 years in prison before 3rd District Judge William Barrett on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. Angilau was charged as a juvenile for shooting and killing a Kearns High classmate, 16-year-old Esteban Saidi, on Jan. 21, 2009.

Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — Esteban Saidi was not a gang member. He was just a 16-year-old kid who had gathered with several of his Kearns High School classmates to watch a fight.

Neither he nor anyone else had any way of knowing that he would die doing so.

"My brother was my hero," Erick Saidi said Tuesday. "I looked up to him. ... I thought nothing would be able to harm him. You could say he was Superman to me." 

Ricky Angilau, 19, was also just a 16-year-old kid when he fired the gun that killed Saidi.

"Youth today seem to do a lot of things out of the spur of the moment — anger, that type of stuff," said Saidi's mother, Patricia Salceda-Garcia. "It's not that easy to just take a weapon and do whatever you want in the spur of the moment, because not only do you destroy one life, you destroy the lives of all the people around you."

But the mother later asked to speak a second time and offered to forgive the boy who shot her son.

The courtroom was awash in tears Tuesday as Angilau was ordered to serve up to five years in prison for manslaughter, a third-degree felony. Though he was originally charged with murder, a first-degree felony, the charge was reduced as part of a plea agreement.

Angilau took some time to compose himself before addressing the court and Saidi's family. Over and over again, he apologized for what he had done.

"I'm ready to face whatever consequences I've got to face," he said. "I'm sorry. I wish I could take it all back. ... This has been stressful on me. I deserve it. I know I can't fix anything with my words. I can stand here and say sorry as much as I want to and it won't fix anything. I just want to let the Saidi family know I mean to make amends."

The shooting occurred following a fistfight between Angilau and another Kearns High student on Jan. 21, 2009. Angilau, who had taken a gun to school, fired it into the air after the fight, causing a crowd that had gathered to flee. He then fired two additional shots in the direction of the crowd, but witnesses said the shots were aimed more up in the air than at any specific person.

Still, Saidi was hit and killed.

"It's very clear he did not intend to shoot or kill or injure the victim in this case," defense attorney Ron Yengich said. "(But) there was a death and that death needs and requires a punishment."

Despite initial reports that the shooting may have been gang-related, prosecutor Patricia Cassell clarified that Saidi was not a member of any gang.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562677/Mother-forgives-man-who-killed-her-son-tells-him-to-go-forward.html
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Catholic Bishop John C. Wester urges interfaith love, understanding

Catholic Bishop Wester greets UVU students following his presentation on interfaith Tuesday.

Joe Walker

OREM — Speaking to a group of nearly 1,000 young Mormons at Utah Valley University's LDS Institute of Religion, the Most Reverend John C. Wester, Catholic bishop of Salt Lake City, said he believes "that we in Utah can be a model of how our faiths can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with one another in honoring each other's traditions and in standing for good."

"I believe that here in Utah, more than any other state, religions and faith are honored and respected," Bishop Wester told the interfaith devotional audience, which included University President Matthew Holland, Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the LDS Church's Presidency of the Seventy and Elder Steven Lund of the Seventy. "Although all of us occasionally struggle with how we relate to each other within the context of our frame of reference, what we're doing here today is the kind of thing that will help us be open to the way God acts in our lives and in our different religions."

The interfaith devotional, which was sponsored by the Orem Institute and the Latter-day Saint Student Association Interfaith Committee, was open to the entire university community, the vast majority of which are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Bishop Wester said he saw it as "a wonderful sign of the ongoing collaboration and friendship" between Utah Catholics and Mormons, and an indication of "our mutual desire to stand shoulder-to-shoulder as we give witness to Jesus Christ as his disciples."

"At a time when there are so many who are at odds with each other over religion, what we are doing here today is extremely important in my view," Bishop Wester said. "Learning about each other — how we are different, and how we are alike — is an important step that must be taken before the marathon of interfaith relations can be run."

And that is precisely what Bishop Wester did for most of the time allotted to him during the devotional. He introduced his mostly Mormon audience to the Catholic Church, giving them a glimpse of what it means to be Catholic even though, he said, "it is difficult to summarize my faith."

"The fundamental principle of Catholic belief is that we are created to be one with God forever," Bishop Wester said. "The whole thrust of life is to move into God's heavenly kingdom. We must never lose sight of that priority."

Catholics, he said, are called upon to live their beliefs.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562681/Catholic-Bishop-John-C-Wester-urges-interfaith-love-understanding.html
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20.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Provo-based Vivint to be acquired by Blackstone in $2 bln transaction

Vivint Inc., the Provo-based solar, security and home automation company, will be acquired by global investment firm Blackstone Group LP, valuing the company around $2 billion and making it one of the biggest deals in Utah history.

"Having Blackstone behind us supercharges our ability to continue growing the company and the technology and services we will roll out over the next few years" including international expansion, home health care and solar, Todd Pedersen, chief executive officer of Vivint, said in a telephone interview.

The company's history is a long story in the making since Pedersen and Keith Nellesen started it in 1992. Two years later, they were offered $1.2 million by The ServiceMaster Co., but Pedersen turned it down.

"I was sick to my stomach two days afterwards," Pedersen said. "I don't know how I turned it down, but I did. But back then I thought we could become a $10 million company. Honestly, the $2 billion number probably started hitting my head two years ago. Now, our sights are much higher than that."

Blackstone will replace Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Jupiter Parners LLC and Salt Lake City-based Petersen Partners, who combined own about 50 percent. The private equity firm is also purchasing portions from Vivint management. The investment firm will own 75 percent of the company while the other 25 percent will remain with management. Those numbers are subject to change, Pedersen said. The deal will be finalized by the end of the year, he said.

"Our investors have been in it for six years," Pedersen said. "This is a tremendous upside run in their equity that we've created for them, so this is an unbelievable exit for them."

Pedersen, Vivint's CEO, will stay on with the company after the acquisition and for "as many years as they will allow me."

"I'm still young," Pedersen, 43, who has a wife and five children, said. "I think I still have another 17 years in me."

Pedersen, who owns more than 25 percent, will be selling half of his share in Vivint to Blackstone.

Though the company is being acquired, Vivint's management team and operations will stay in Utah, Pedersen said.

Vivint, which employs about 7,000 people, has been working with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup to find a buyer since earlier this month. The company plans to add another 1,200 to 1,500 employees by the end of 2013, Pedersen said.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562664/Provo-based-Vivint-acquired-by-Blackstone-for-more-than-2-billion.html
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Scott Howell, Sen. Orrin Hatch in war of words over age

SALT LAKE CITY — Democratic Senate candidate Scott Howell offered Sen. Orrin Hatch a lesson in LDS Church leadership hierarchy in an escalating war of words over the six-term Republican's age.

The 58-year-old retired IBM executive has several times during the campaign made an issue of the fact that Hatch is 78 and has served 36 years. He has emphatically pointed out that Hatch would be 84 at the end of a seventh term.

Most recently Howell sent out a fundraising email saying, "Look, Orrin Hatch is not a bad guy. But he's an old guy. … We cannot risk the possibility of an 80-year-old man taking office, only to retire or die before his term is through."

Hatch campaign manager Dave Hansen called the email "offensive." In an interview with a Salt Lake City TV station, Hansen said the LDS Church "has some people who are not exactly youth who are doing a magnificent job of running this organization."

On Tuesday, the Howell campaign sent out a press release saying the Hatch camp needs a reminder that LDS general authorities are "released" at age 70, and there are only a select 15 men that "exceed that limit."

"If the Hatch campaign is equating Sen. Hatch's service with a divine calling from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they're more confused than I imagined," said Howell, a former Utah Senate minority leader.

According to the LDS Church's website, "members of the First Quorum of the Seventy are called to serve until the age of 70, at which time they are given emeritus status (similar to being released). Members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy typically serve for three to five years; after this time, they are released."

Howell went on to say bishops in the LDS Church are typically called for five years of service and stake presidents usually no more than 10 years.

"Apostles and prophets in the church are called for life — not public servants," he said. "If Orrin or his campaign believes he is or should be part of that group, they are truly misguided.

"We do not elect senators for life. I would hope the good senator would not be equating 36 years as a career politician with that of a general authority in the (LDS) Church. If that's the case, we've got much bigger concerns than policy differences and years of service to be worried about," Howell said.

Later Tuesday, Hansen said "Scott's original comments indicating Sen. Hatch might die in office were offensive and the worst form of campaigning I have ever seen."

"To continue to discuss this would be a waste of the voters' time and an insult to their intelligence," he said.

According to the Senate Historical Office, the average age of senators in the current Congress is 61.5 years old. Hatch is one of 19 senators in their 70s. Three others — Hawaii Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, as well as Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey — are in their 80s.

About 13 percent of the nation is over age 65, about the same as the percentage of seniors in Utah, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Contributing: The Associated Press

E-mail: romboy@desnews.com

Twitter: dennisromboy

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562675/Howell-Hatch-in-war-of-words-over-age.html
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Smoke lingers in the air, prompts pollution advisories

Jeff Bertot runs above the University of Utah. Bad air quality along the Wasatch front Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — A unique weather situation has blanketed most of the state with murky, smoke-filled, grey air.

And while most of it isn't coming from Utah's wildfires, the high pressure lurking above the Beehive State is sucking smoke from a handful of fires burning out of control in neighboring Idaho.

Unlike a typical winter inversion, where bad air tends to linger over Utah's valleys, the current situation is much thicker.

"You can't go to Park City and get away from it," KSL meteorologist Kevin Eubank said.

Eubank said the smoky air will stick around the rest of the week, as no major weather events are set to roll through to clear it out. A northern flow will stick around until at least Friday and possibly Saturday, he said, with westerly winds expected to arrive Sunday.

"It'll take something strong to clear it all out," Eubank said.

A handful of human- and lightning-caused fires are burning in central and western Idaho, some of which have spread across hundreds of thousands of acres and aren't expected to be contained until mid- or late-October, according to the U.S. Forest Service's Active Fire Mapping Program.

Unhealthy air quality levels have been reported for areas surrounding Salmon, Idaho, while air in much of the rest of the Gem State remains moderate.

In addition to poor visibility and downright ugly aesthetics, the dense, dirty air in Utah prompted the Utah Department of Environmental Quality to issue pollution advisories Tuesday. Increasing particulate levels means those with respiratory or heart diseases, children and the elderly, must limit their exposure.

"You breathe this in, and it makes you tighten up," said University Hospital emergency room physician Dr. Troy Madsen. "The other thing I'm seeing is that people just get very congested, eyes are watery, and it makes it just that much more difficult to exercise."

Madsen said more patients are visiting the emergency room, as poor air quality impacts symptoms of asthma and emphysema.

Air quality is at "red" alert levels throughout much of northern Utah — in Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Tooele, Weber, Cache and Box Elder counties. A "yellow" action level was posted for Uintah County, and Washington County remains "green."

In red areas, the Department of Environmental Quality recommends avoiding heavy or prolonged exertion outdoors for sensitive people and reduced exertion for everyone else. Individuals are asked to drive as little as possible during "red" and "yellow" days because cars contribute significantly to the area's pollution, according to department spokeswoman Donna Spangler.

With the lingering pollution, air conditions will remain unhealthy until wind or rains clear it out, she said.

"We're not getting any weather pattern to clear it out, and so it just makes it worse," Spangler said.

More information is available online at www.cleanair.utah.gov.

E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com

Twitter: wendyleonards

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562663/Smoke-lingers-in-the-air-prompts-pollution-advisories.html
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BYU football: BYU vs. Boise State from an insider's perspective

Dave Southorn covers Boise State football for Idaho Press-Tribune. We asked Southorn five questions to gain better insight into BYU's opponent this Thurs.

1. What has led to Boise State's amazing success over the last decade? What makes Chris Peterson such a great football coach?

It certainly has been a combination of a few things, but most namely support from the school, strong recruiting and continuity in the coaching staff. Chris Petersen has been here since 2001, so the offensive scheme has been the same, and he's been able to keep his staff fairly consistent. Petersen is simply a great leader. He listens to his players, is relentless in learning all he can about his opponents and from other teams, and he knows how to adjust based on his personnel and where football is heading. All that, and he simply enjoys being in Boise, which means there is often little fear in the program he'll bolt to somewhere "bigger."

2. BYU and Boise State struck an amazing 12-year agreement to play each other in football. How do fans, players and coaches feel about a budding rivalry with BYU? The fans are very excited about Thursday's game. Not only is it because a good opponent is coming into Bronco Stadium (sometimes a rarity), but it's a team that has a pretty good following here with the sizeable LDS population in the Treasure Valley. The players get pretty excited about rivalry games — and especially with Idaho, Nevada and Fresno State off the schedule in the future — BYU is a great candidate for a rival. Coach Petersen has been less keen on it, but mainly because he'd prefer to have slightly less challenging nonconference games.

3. Boise State lost a lot of talent to the NFL draft following last season. How is it addressing those losses — particularly the losses of Doug Martin and Kellen Moore? That's been the biggest overarching question mark on the team is how they'll replace so much talent (six draft picks, plus Moore and their top receiver). They have a very capable back in sixth-year senior DJ Harper, who actually was named the starter over Martin in 2009 before a season-ending injury. Joe Southwick worked behind Moore for three years, and he knows the offense. He showed some nice glimpses Saturday (304 yards), but has been picked off in the end zone in both games. Petersen is confident with more in-game snaps his decision-making will improve.

18 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562616/BYU-football-BYU-vs-Boise-State-from-an-insiders-perspective.html
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16.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mitt Romney tries to stem damage from new controversy

Mitt Romney greets Boy Scouts from Salt Lake City Troop 315 as he arrives in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012.

Ravell Call, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — His campaign at a crossroads, Mitt Romney said Tuesday the federal government should not "take from some to give to the others" as he sought to deflect a wave of criticism over recent remarks dismissive of nearly half of all Americans.

The former Massachusetts governor neither disavowed nor apologized for the comments he made in a videotape that surfaced on Monday. In it, he said 47 percent of Americans don't pay income taxes and believe they are victims entitled to government help, adding that his job as a candidate is "not to worry about those people."

He spoke as at least two Republican Senate candidates pointedly disagreed with the man at the top of their ticket, and as GOP officials openly debated the impact of a series of recent controversies on the party's chances to capture the White House from Barack Obama.

Obama's White House piled on, seven weeks before Election Day. "When you're president of the United States, you are president of all the people, not just the people who voted for you," said press secretary Jay Carney. He added that Obama "deeply believes that we're in this together."

Romney seemed to say otherwise in the video, made last May, in which he told donors at a fundraiser that 47 percent of Americans "believe the government has a responsibility to care for them ... believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that's an entitlement." He said, "I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

In a Tuesday interview on Fox, the network of choice for conservatives, Romney said he wasn't writing off any part of a deeply divided electorate in a close race for the White House, including seniors who are among those who often pay no taxes. Instead, he repeatedly sought to reframe his remarks as a philosophical difference of opinion between himself and Obama.

"I'm not going to get" votes from Americans who believe government's job is to redistribute wealth," he said, adding that was something Obama believes in.

"I know there's a divide in the country about that view. I know some believe government should take from some to give to the others. ... I think that's an entirely foreign concept."

He also said he wants to be president so he can help hard-pressed Americans find work and earn enough so they become income taxpayers.

18 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765605027/Mitt-Romney-tries-to-stem-damage-from-new-controversy.html
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Mitt Romney collects $2 million during quick Utah fundraising stop

Mitt Romney greets Boy Scouts from Salt Lake City Troop 315 as he arrives in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012.

Ravell Call, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrived in Utah Tuesday for a few hours of fundraising, collecting about $2 million during what will likely be his last visit to the state before the November election.

Romney told an overflow crowd at a $1,000-a-plate luncheon in the Grand America Hotel ballroom that President Barack Obama supports redistribution, a "government centered America where government takes more and more and gives to those who believe that they need that help."

The former leader of the 2002 Winter Olympics was applauded for saying most Americans "don't believe that the role of government is to try and guide our economy. But instead, government is to get out of the way and let free people pursuing their dreams create the kind of enterprises that put people to work."

Americans, he said during a speech that lasted for more than 30 minutes, don't apologize for success. "That's what will get our economy going. We just can't allow America to be a place where it's easier to get a government subsidy than it is to get a job."

Romney thanked Utahns for their "extraordinary" financial help with his campaign and then asked that they reach out to voters in the so-called swing states that could go either Republican or Democratic in the presidential race.

"I think I'm probably going to do OK in Utah," he said, noting he usually asks for help getting out the vote at fundraisers in other states. Polls have shown strong support for Romney in Utah, a state that hasn't been won by a Democratic presidential candidate since the 1960s.

Before the luncheon attended by some 1,100 people, Romney met with several dozen supporters who paid $25,000 each to attend a VIP reception. A number of would-be luncheon guests were turned away at the door because the event was oversold.

Before Tuesday, Utahns had given $4.8 million to Romney's campaign since he announced his second presidential bid last June, according to the Federal Elections Commission.

The campaign allowed Romney's airport arrival to be covered by the media, but he did not acknowledge reporters or make any public comment other than greeting members of a Boy Scout troop from Cottonwood Heights who met his plane.

Matthew Spurrier, 16, said Romney asked the Scouts their names and had a few of them recite the Scout Oath. Spurrier said he was nervous but managed to remember the words.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562643/Romney-collects-2-million-during-quick-Utah-fundraising-stop.html
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Walmart predicts top 20 hot toys for Christmas this year

Walmart surveyed 1,000 children, ages 3-13, and their parents to decide what the hottest 20 toys of the holidays will be. "As the largest seller of toys in the U.S., we know what parents are looking for," said Anne Marie Kehoe, vice president of toys, Walmart U.S., in a written statement. The toys below are expected to be the most sought-after gifts for kids.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/top/979/0/Walmart-predicts-top-20-hot-toys-for-Christmas.html
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