Utah State Legislature
Alexis Hilbelink, at her home in Salt Lake City on Thursday, May 20, 2021. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Thursday that a Unified police officer was legally justified in shooting Alexis's husband, Matthew Hilbelink, who was suicidal and who had pointed a gun at an officer. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
DA: Police shooting suicidal man justified, raises questions

By Jessica Miller May. 22, 2021 08:00 AM EDT

Lawmakers are shown in the House Chamber during a special session at the State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
Utah lawmakers pass school mask mandate prohibition

By Sophia Eppolito May. 19, 2021 07:36 PM EDT

FILE - The Utah House of Representatives work on the House floor on March 5, 2021, in Salt Lake City. Utah lawmakers have voted to require every cellphone and tablet sold there to automatically block pornography, the conservative state's most recent move targeting online porn and one that critics call a significant intrusion on free speech. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Utah campaign against porn marches on with phone filter plan

By Lindsay Whitehurst And Sophia Eppolito Mar. 16, 2021 02:51 PM EDT

Republican Senate President Stuart Adams looks on from the Senate floor Friday night, March 5, 2021, in Salt Lake City. The Utah Legislature is wrapping up its business for the year Friday evening. Lawmakers have already tackled a number of issues this year during a session that was conducted partially remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Utah Legislature wrapping up business for the year

By Lindsay Whitehurst And Sophia Eppolito Mar. 04, 2021 11:02 PM EST

Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, left, is sworn by Dan Hemmert, director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, during the first day of the 2021 general legislative session in the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (Kristin Murphy/The Deseret News via AP)
Utah lawmakers have extra $1.4 billion to spend this year

By Bryan Schott Feb. 20, 2021 08:00 AM EST

22 Utah legislative staffers given early vaccine access

Feb. 09, 2021 11:04 AM EST
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah House has said about two dozen Utah legislative staffers were placed on the priority list to receive COVID-19 vaccinations ahead...

Sophie Corroon, a sophomore at the University of Washington, poses for a photo on the school's campus Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Seattle. Corroon helped work on proposed legislation in her home state of Utah to allow students to take mental health days to lessen stigma and help reduce youth suicide. Lawmakers in Utah and Arizona have proposed bills that would add "mental or behavioral" health to the list of excused absences for students. Similar legislation has passed in Oregon, Maine, Colorado and Virginia in the last two years. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Lawmakers push mental health days for kids amid pandemic

By Sophia Eppolito Jan. 30, 2021 11:38 AM EST

Lawmakers test positive for virus, activists target meeting

Jan. 25, 2021 05:58 PM EST
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Two Utah lawmakers tested positive for COVID-19, the same day a few anti-mask activists briefly shut down a legislative hearing. ...

Members of the House of Representatives are partitioned by plexiglass as the Utah State Legislature opens the 2021 legislative session at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
Utah Legislature opens amid pandemic, protest concerns

By Sophia Eppolito And Lindsay Whitehurst Jan. 19, 2021 03:27 PM EST

4th Congressional District Republican candidate Burgess Owens, right and Democratic Utah Congressman Ben McAdams bump elbows following a debate on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, in Salt Lake City. (Kristin Murphy/ Deseret News, via AP, Pool)
Closely-watched race in suburban Utah hits debate stage

By Lindsay Whitehurst Oct. 12, 2020 10:57 PM EDT

Students walk into Liberty Elementary School during the first day of class Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Murray, Utah. Murray City School District opened its doors offering its 6,300 students a choice among in-person learning, hybrid instruction and distance learning. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Utah teachers 'nervous' about lack of PPE as schools reopen

Aug. 18, 2020 01:31 PM EDT

Lawmaker shares how COVID-19 caught her family ‘off guard’

By Katie Mckellar Jul. 22, 2020 06:23 PM EDT
RIVERTON, Utah (AP) — When Rep. Candice Pierucci and her family sat down to have a small Sunday dinner with a close relative last week, she said they took...

FILE - Republican Sen. Jerry Stevenson looks on during a Senate news conference at the Utah State Capitol on March 7, 2018, in Salt Lake City. Companies owned by three Republican Utah legislators have received up to $2.7 million as part of the $600 billion-plus federal rescue package meant to keep small businesses afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Treasury Department data. The data released Monday, July 6, 2020, shows companies owned by House Speaker Brad Wilson, Sen. Stevenson and Rep. Mike Schultz received loans. There is no evidence that these lawmakers or their businesses received special treatment. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Companies owned by Utah lawmakers receive loans, data shows

By Sophia Eppolito Jul. 07, 2020 02:30 PM EDT

Longest-serving member of Utah Legislature concedes primary

Jul. 01, 2020 06:20 PM EDT
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The longest-serving member of the Utah Legislature has been ousted, months after sponsoring a controversial tax-overhaul bill. ...

House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, looks on during the Utah Legislature's special session Thursday, June 18, 2020, at the Utah state Capitol, in Salt Lake City. Utah lawmakers have voted during a special session to ban knee-to-neck chokeholds similar to the one used in the death of George Floyd. The measure approved Thursday, June 18, 2020, stops short of criminalizing the use of all chokehold methods. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Utah lawmakers approve budget, increase school spending

Jun. 19, 2020 02:12 PM EDT

House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, looks on during the Utah Legislature's special session Thursday, June 18, 2020, at the Utah state Capitol, in Salt Lake City. Utah lawmakers have voted during a special session to ban knee-to-neck chokeholds similar to the one used in the death of George Floyd. The measure approved Thursday, June 18, 2020, stops short of criminalizing the use of all chokehold methods. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Utah passes bill banning use of knee-to-neck chokeholds

By Sophia Eppolito Jun. 18, 2020 05:59 PM EDT

In this Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, photo, Republican Senate President Stuart Adams speaks during a news conference at the Utah State Capitol, in Salt Lake City. Income tax money can only be used for education in Utah, but lawmakers are now introducing a complex proposal to change that in hopes of shoring up the state's shrinking sales-tax base. The plan would allow income tax money to be used for things like the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage to children whose families are low income but earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, said Adams. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
New unemployment claims slowing in Utah as state reopens

By Brady Mccombs And Lindsay Whitehurst Jun. 04, 2020 11:36 AM EDT

Utah GOP congressional candidates focus on virus, protests

By Sophia Eppolito Jun. 01, 2020 06:26 PM EDT
The Republican contenders to challenge Utah’s lone congressional Democrat differed at a debate Monday on whether a hardline conservative or a more centrist...

The Utah State Capitol is shown during the Utah Legislature's virtual special session Thursday, April 16, 2020, in Salt Lake City. In a historical, first-ever virtual special session, the Utah House voted to pass several bills seeking to respond to the global coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Utah OKs holding primary entirely by mail amid coronavirus

By Lindsay Whitehurst Apr. 16, 2020 06:08 PM EDT