UTAH

Mormon president surprises with transformative first year

SALT LAKE CITY – At 94, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has proved a far more vigorous and transformative figure than scholars expected when he took office a year ago, pushing through a flurry of surprising changes on such matters as LGBTQ members and the name of the faith.

Russell M. Nelson made his biggest move yet earlier this month when he rescinded rules banning baptisms for children of gay parents and branding same-sex couples apostates subject to excommunication. Those 2015 policies had generated widespread backlash.

He has also launched a campaign calling on people to stop using the shorthand names “Mormon” and “LDS,” severed the faith’s ties with the Boy Scouts of America after a century, shortened Sunday worship by an hour and revised a sacred temple ceremony to give women a more prominent role.

Nelson hasn’t altered church doctrine but has approved changes that scholars say seem designed to improve the religious experience for an increasingly global membership.

Nelson has also been uncommonly open about the church’s belief that presidents are living prophets who receive revelations from God. That, too, has set him apart from most of his predecessors, scholars say.

In explaining his decision to urge people to stop using nicknames for the faith, Nelson said that the Lord impressed upon him the importance of the full name and that leaving it out was “a major victory for Satan.”

He then changed the name of the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and renamed church websites, social media accounts and employee email addresses to strip out “Mormon” and “LDS.”

IDAHO

Wildlife groups want bear-spray rule in grizzly country

A coalition of environmental and animal welfare groups are petitioning Idaho officials asking them to require hunters in grizzly bear habitat to carry bear spray.

The petition, backed by the Humane Society of the United States, the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Watersheds Project and several other groups, claims conflicts between hunters and grizzly bears are on the rise. Requiring hunters to carry non-lethal bear spray could reduce the incidence of fatalities and injuries for both humans and bears, the groups argue.

The petition asks Idaho’s Fish and Game Commission to adopt “a proven, common-sense approach that will benefit both hunters and grizzly bears.” A similar petition was sent to Wyoming’s Fish and Game Commission.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game already recommends carrying bear spray in grizzly territory, but it’s not mandatory.

Last fall, an Idaho man was attacked by a grizzly while bow hunting in Montana. He survived, but said he was unable to use his bear spray in time to deter the animal. His hunting partner later deployed bear spray, inadvertently misting the spray on both men.

NEW MEXICO

AG: Sheriffs must enforce gun control law

SANTA FE – New Mexico’s attorney general says law enforcement agencies must enforce a new law expanding background checks to nearly all private gun sales and that they could be liable for damage claims if they don’t.

Attorney General Hector Balderas issued the warning in a letter sent to police chiefs and county sheriffs. The law will take effect July 1.

Numerous county sheriffs opposed the legislation when it was being considered by the Democratic-led Legislature, but it was approved by lawmakers and then signed by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on March 8.

Critics argued the expanded background checks and other gun control measures would be difficult to enforce and do little to address gun violence, and at least 26 county commissions approved so-called Second Amendment sanctuary ordinances in opposition.

Supporters said the law will make it harder for criminals or others prohibited from having a weapon to obtain a gun.

The president of the New Mexico Sheriffs’ Association said Balderas’ letter was premature because the law hasn’t taken effect and because law enforcement officers have discretion in how they enforce laws.

The law will require a background check before nearly any gun sale, including between two individuals. There will be exceptions for sales between two close family members and between law enforcement officers.

The attorney general said he knows sheriffs and police chiefs have discretion over how to run their agencies, but he said personal political opinions “do not absolve us of our duty to enforce validly enacted laws.”

NORTH DAKOTA

Governor signs bill banning common abortion procedure

BISMARCK – North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation on April 10 that makes it a crime for a doctor performing a second-trimester abortion to use instruments such as clamps, scissors and forceps to remove the fetus from the womb.

The bill that passed easily in the GOP-led Legislature last month outlaws the abortion practice known as dilation and evacuation – the most commonly used procedure in second-trimester abortions, according to the New York-based Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research organization.

The bill uses the non-medical term “human dismemberment abortion” and is graphic in describing the procedure.

Except in cases of an emergency, doctors performing the procedure would be charged with a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The measure says the woman having the abortion would not face charges.

Abortion-rights groups argue that banning the procedure is unconstitutional because it interferes with private medical decisions.

The bill’s primary sponsor, Republican Rep. Luke Simons, a rancher with five children, said the practice is wrong, and another supporter, Republican Rep. Jeff Hoverson, a pastor with six children, called the measure “a no-brainer” and said he “can’t imagine anyone not being pleased about it.”

State Health Department data shows the procedure has not been reported in North Dakota since 2015, when eight such abortions were performed.

The abortion measure was the second signed by Burgum. Last month, he signed a bill that requires abortion providers to tell women undergoing drug-induced abortions that it’s possible they could still have a live birth if they change their mind.

Opponents say there is no medically accepted evidence that a drug-induced abortion can be interrupted.

OKLAHOMA

To-go beers set to return to state golf courses, marinas

OKLAHOMA CITY – Golfers in Oklahoma will again be allowed to take beer or wine onto the course.

Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed a bill that closes a loophole in a voter-approved law that took effect Oct. 1 allowing the sale of strong beer in the state. That law allowed beer and wine to be drunk only on the premises of where they were sold, prohibiting golfers from taking it to go from the clubhouse.

The bill also makes exceptions to allow boaters to take alcohol from marinas.

Businesses must obtain an as-yet-undeveloped permit for sales before beer can be taken on the course.

The Oklahoman has reported that the change was among priorities for officials in Oklahoma City, where there are five municipal golf courses.