SALT LAKE CITY While they waited for their flight, Drew and Jan Simmons sat in front of the Salt Lake City International Airport s vast plaza windows, gazing out across the massive construction site below.
Drew Simmons said it was like watching a new version of Toy Story, likening the busy dump trucks and excavators looking like miniatures in the distance to Tonka trucks. There s so much to see, Jan Simmons said.
The two have watched the construction from those same windows ever since the massive new airport opened its doors in September as they make the pit stop in Salt Lake City from Twin Falls, Idaho, on their way to Arizona to visit family. They make the trip about every three to four months, and say it s been fun to watch the progress.
SALT LAKE CITY Utah lawmakers in an extraordinary session on Wednesday approved two resolutions to declare support for Utahns Second Amendment rights and support for exploring the possibility of declaring Utah a Second Amendment sanctuary state.
The resolutions, approved separately by the House and Senate, came in response to growing concerns from constituents that the federal government under President Joe Biden s administration would infringe on their Second Amendment rights. There s been significant public outcry, Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, said in a media availability earlier Wednesday afternoon, before the votes. The Legislature is concerned as well.
But when asked by a reporter which federal policies Utah lawmakers are concerned about, Vickers said, right now, admittedly, there are none.
SALT LAKE CITY Though controversy over critical race theory sucked most of the oxygen out of the Utah Legislature s special session on Wednesday, lawmakers acted on a host of other bills including changes to the budget to accept over $1.6 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds.
In the special session called by Gov. Spencer Cox to deal with the budget and pass 22 bills including one to ban school mask requirements this fall except for special circumstances the Utah Legislature approved legislation to initially spend only $571 million of the federal funds funneled to the state by the American Rescue Plan Act, leaving the rest to be spent after more specifics can be ironed out in the 2022 general session in January.
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SALT LAKE CITY Legislators approved two resolutions on Wednesday to urge the Utah State Board of Education to ban what lawmakers consider harmful critical race theory concepts.
The resolutions were approved despite outcry from community activists and educators, who gathered on the Capitol steps to oppose the resolutions earlier Wednesday morning, and despite Democrats walking out of the House chamber in protest.
The controversial resolutions state some concepts contained in critical race theory degrade important societal values and, if introduced in the classrooms, would harm students learning in the public education system. While not encouraging an outright ban of the theory, the resolutions urge the State School Board to ensure certain concepts aren t taught in Utah schools including: