Here’s a roundup of news from Colorado’s neighbor states.

Mormon church backs deal to allow medical marijuana in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – The Mormon church has joined lawmakers, the governor and advocates to back a deal that would legalize medical marijuana in conservative Utah after months of fierce debate.

The compromise comes as people prepare to vote in November on an insurgent medical marijuana ballot initiative that held its ground despite opposition from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Gov. Gary Herbert said he’ll call lawmakers into a special session after the midterm election to pass the compromise into law regardless of how the initiative fares. If it passes, it will be revised under the terms of the deal. It if fails, the Legislature would consider a law under the new framework.

The agreement in such a conservative state underscores the nation’s changing attitude toward marijuana. Medical use now is legal in more than 30 states and also is on the November ballot in Missouri. Legalization of recreational marijuana goes before voters in Michigan and North Dakota. If passed, it will be a first for a Midwestern state.

The Utah-based Mormon faith had opposed the ballot proposal over fears it could lead to more broad use, but ranking global leader Jack Gerard said they’re “thrilled” to be a part of the effort to “alleviate human pain and suffering.”

Smoking marijuana would not be allowed under the ballot proposal. It instead allows edible forms, lotions or electronic cigarettes.

While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposed the ballot measure, leaders also made first-ever public statement supporting the use of medical marijuana if prescribed by a doctor and dispensed by a pharmacy. The church’s positions carry outsized sway in its home state.

The faith had long frowned upon medical marijuana use because of a key church health code called the “Word of Wisdom,” which prohibits coffee as well as alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs.

Independent women a key in outcome of Senate race

HELENA, Montana – A key factor in deciding the outcome of Montana’s high-profile U.S. Senate race will be whether independent women who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 will stick with the president and Republicans again this year, political observers said.

Hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots were mailed Oct. 12 in Montana, where U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is fighting to keep his seat. Tester is one of 10 Democratic senators up for re-election in states won by Trump in 2016. The Montana race has tightened in recent weeks after a half-dozen rallies by the president, his eldest son and Vice President Mike Pence in support of the Republican candidate, Matt Rosendale.

Women in particular seem to be highly motivated to vote this year, and volunteerism among women for both parties appears to be up compared to past midterm elections, according to recent Associated Press interviews with candidates, party leaders, advocacy groups and political scientists.

Election Day will cap a period that has seen a record number of women run for office, renewed activism over Trump’s administration and the advent of the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. In Montana, an estimated 10,000 people filled Helena’s streets for the 2017 women’s march and former state legislator Kathleen Williams defeated two better-funded male candidates to win the Democratic U.S. House primary.

Williams, who is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte in November’s election for the state’s sole House seat, said in a recent interview that she believes many women who voted for Trump in 2016 dislike the lack of civility coming from the White House and now regret their role in giving the president a 20-point win over Hillary Clinton in Montana.

Women also are concerned about how the Trump administration’s policies will affect health care, affordable childcare and education, and the potential threat that Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s addition to the Supreme Court poses for abortion rights, said Ella Smith, program director for the group Montana Women Vote.

If women who already leaned to the political left seem eager to vote this year, that enthusiasm appears to have been matched by conservative women in the wake of the accusations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh, said David Parker, a political science professor at Montana State University.

Shirley Herrin, the president of the Lewis and Clark Republican Women, said enthusiasm by Republican women has increased, not waned, since 2016 and that her 86-member group has grown this election cycle by 17.

NORTH DAKOTA

State honors agent who tried to shield Kennedys

BISMARCK, North Dakota – The Secret Service agent who used his body to shield first lady Jacqueline Kennedy the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated will receive the highest honor bestowed by his home state of North Dakota.

Former agent Clint Hill will receive the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award during a future ceremony, Gov. Doug Burgum announced.

Hill was in the Dallas motorcade as a member of the first lady’s detail Nov. 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was shot and killed. He leaped onto the back of the presidential limousine to shield the Kennedys from any additional shots. The Treasury Department, which oversaw the Secret Service until 2003, honored him with its highest award for bravery a month after the attack.

Hill, 86, served in the Secret Service from 1958 to 1975 – a span that covered the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford administrations.

“His exemplary record of service at the highest level of national security continues to inspire pride and respect among North Dakotans, and we are deeply grateful for his lifetime of service,” Burgum said in a statement.

Hill was born in Larimore, in eastern North Dakota, and now splits his time between Virginia and California, according to his spokeswoman.

“It is an honor to be recognized by your home state, and North Dakota has always been my home,” Hill said in a statement. “Growing up in North Dakota, the values of hard work, dedication, integrity and the importance of public service instilled in me by my family and community served me well throughout my career.”

Hill will be the 44th recipient of the award, which honor the former president who ranched and hunted in North Dakota. Some others who have received it include bandleader Lawrence Welk, New York Yankees slugger Roger Maris, NBA player and coach Phil Jackson, western author Louis L’Amour, singer and actress Peggy Lee, newsman Eric Sevareid and former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

Pair caught hauling pot through state are imprisoned

KEARNEY, Nebraska – Two people caught hauling marijuana through Nebraska have been imprisoned.

Buffalo County District Court records say 49-year-old Charlie Red, of Sedalia, Colorado, and 30-year-old Damaisy De La Caridad Rodriguez, of Miami, Florida, were sentenced last week after both had pleaded no contest to felony possession for sale. Red was given five to 10 years and Caridad Rodriguez was given one to three years.

Authorities say a motorist saw and then picked up a package that fell from a flatbed trailer being pulled by a pickup truck on Interstate 80 on Jan. 19.

The pickup soon stopped on the interstate shoulder, and Red and Caridad Rodriguez eventually were met by a Nebraska state trooper. The trooper then discovered a false compartment on the bottom of the trailer.

The marijuana found totaled around 122 pounds, with an estimated street value of $366,000.

Ruling upholds penalties for failing to produce records

SANTA FE – A court decision says New Mexico public agencies can be ordered to pay daily penalties of up to $100 for making incomplete or inadequate responses to request for public records.

The Court of Appeals’ decision earlier this month overturns a District Court judge’s ruling that an animal welfare activist who requested records wasn’t entitled to damages after the Attorney General’s Office initially failed to turn over hundreds of emails.

The Court of Appeals said the penalty is needed to provide an incentive for public bodies to properly respond to records requests.

The case now returns to District Court for further consideration.

A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said the agency was reviewing its options.