From Paul Dail:
For better or worse – and it kinda depends on the day – Utah is my home, at least for now. And I’m a firm believer in change that starts locally. For this to happen, a community needs to know what’s going on not only in their neighborhood but also in the state and nation, especially if it trickles down into their home. Or if it fails to do so.
You can read the following three excerpts (with links to full articles) or find Paul Dail’s complete portfolio at pauldail.contently.com.
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Utahns support concealed carry on college campuses
ST. GEORGE — The hot-button topic of concealed weapons made news again in June with a federal appeals court ruling allowing significant restrictions on who can obtain concealed-carry permits. However, while this ruling affects the question of how a concealed-carry permit is obtained, a poll conducted in Utah at approximately the same time as the ruling addressed the question of where. According to the poll, a majority of Utahns support current state laws allowing people to carry weapons on college campuses.
The poll – commissioned by UtahPolicy.com and conducted by Dan Jones & Associates – asked registered Utah voters the following:
In Utah, adults who can legally own a handgun or rifle can bring it on to a public college campus, whether they are a student, faculty member, or not. Do you favor or oppose the gun carry laws on Utah college campuses?
The poll reported that the majority of Utahns – 56 percent – stated they either “strongly” or “somewhat” favored current laws …
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Trump budget threatens Southern Utah county associations of governments
ST. GEORGE — On March 16, President Trump released his proposed budget blueprint. In the included “President’s Message” to Congress, Trump said, “We have made tough choices that have been put off for too long.” If enacted, one of these tough choices could be the elimination of funding to county government associations that help facilitate programs such as job training, aging services, maintaining public lands and small business financing, among others.
The Five County Association of Governments is one of these associations. Formally established in 1972, the Five County AOG serves 37 Southern Utah municipalities, five countywide school districts and the jurisdictions of Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane and Washington counties. …
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Washington County receives ‘F’ for ozone levels, ‘A’ for particle pollution
ST. GEORGE — The American Lung Association recently released its 2016 “State of the Air” report, which analyzes the two most widespread outdoor air pollutants: ozone pollution and particle pollution. While the report shows a trend of improvement in air quality nationwide, Washington County received a grade “F” for ozone pollution, a drop of two grades from the 2015 report. The county received an “A,” however, for short-term particle pollution.
The State of the Air report examines data for counties in the U.S. where measuring equipment for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencies Air Quality System — formerly the Aerometric Information Retrieval System, or AIRS — is available.
The 2016 report contains data collected from the years 2012-2014. According to the methodology section of the report, the American Lung Association uses three years of data for the same reason as the EPA …
Paul D. Dail 