UTAH

Legislators pass media restrictions for House floor

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah House of Representatives approved new rules on Feb. 28 that limit where members of the press can film and interview lawmakers, following similar action taken by the Utah Senate two weeks earlier.

The rules extend pandemic-era restrictions on when journalists can report from the floors of state legislative chambers.

Journalists covering the Utah Legislature must now ask for permission to interview lawmakers on the floor of the House of Representatives and other restricted areas. TV reporters must ask committee chairs for permission to film speakers and crowds from behind the dais where lawmakers sit in committee hearings.

“I know that sometimes committee members get a little bit nervous from the cameras right behind them because they can see their screens,” Republican Rep. Timothy Hawkes said in a committee hearing about the measure.

Media organizations and journalists covering the Statehouse opposed the rules changes in the Utah House and Senate, arguing that restricting media movements would make it more difficult to cover fast-paced action and make it easier for lawmakers to dodge the press. They said the move reduced transparency – a claim that lawmakers denied.

Utah Media Coalition lobbyist Renae Cowley Laub proposed an alternative, telling lawmakers that credentialed members of the media were working on establishing a formal press corps that could work with lawmakers to refine the rules in a mutually satisfactory way.

She proposed creating a commission with two members of the press and designees from the House, Senate and state legislative officials to govern press rules, similar to the method used in Utah courthouses.

WYOMING

Helicopter goat shoot fells 50 invasive animals

JACKSON – Contractors hired by Grand Teton National Park have killed 50 invasive mountain goats this week in a campaign to protect the park’s herd of native bighorn sheep.

Jeremy Barnum, the park’s chief of staff, told The Jackson Hole News&Guide on Feb. 24 that an “overwhelming majority” of the goats have been removed from the Teton Range. The helicopter shooting operation will continue for several more days.

The goats migrated from Idaho into the Tetons. They are considered a risk to a small herd of native, isolated sheep in the range because they compete for limited high-altitude habitat and carry disease that can threaten the bighorns. The park estimates the bighorn population at about 125.

“The potential risk to the bighorn sheep herd has been dramatically reduced,” Barnum said. “And that’s the end goal.”

Park officials have posted signs at trailheads to alert backcountry skiers about the operation. Helicopter crews are instructed to avoid areas used by skiers or after spotting ski tracks.

Grand Teton park first used helicopter crews in 2020 to shoot the goats but stopped after Gov. Mark Gordon and others asked park officials to let hunters do the job. The mountain goat population was estimated at 100 before removal operations started in 2020.

NEW MEXICO

Rape victim sues city over rape kit backlog

ALBUQUERQUE – A rape survivor is suing the city of Albuquerque over its backlog of untested rape kits, alleging a nearly decade-long delay allowed her rapist to freely attack other women.

The Albuquerque Journal reported Sunday that the victim is asking for unspecified damages in the lawsuit, which was filed in 2nd Judicial District Court.

In the suit, the victim says Albuquerque police discriminated against women and girls by treating violent rapes as a low priority.

When asked to comment on the suit, police spokeswoman Rebecca Atkins pointed to Mayor Tim Keller signing an executive order in 2018 ordering police to make a plan for clearing the backlog.

The victim gave a rape kit in 2010 after reporting being kidnapped, bound and raped at knifepoint. Her kit was not tested until 2018. The evidence linked her rape to Victor Gonzales, 44.

Gonzales was arrested in 2020 on kidnapping and two counts of criminal sexual penetration. He is scheduled to go on trial in June. He was previously charged with multiple attacks on women that occurred between 2010 and 2012.

Raymond Maestas and Sean Beherec, who are representing Gonzales, said there are discrepancies in the lawsuit.

“In this lawsuit, we see big differences in the accuser’s story from what she reported to police initially, and the jury needs to hear this change in story,” the attorneys said in a written statement.

Regulators approve plan to keep coal plant open

ALBUQUERQUE – New Mexico regulators on Feb. 23 approved a plan by the state’s largest electric utility to keep open part of a coal-fired power plant for an extra three months as a way to keep air conditioners humming this summer and reduce the risk of blackouts.

Public Service Co. of New Mexico will keep one unit at the San Juan Generating Station running through September, rather than closing it this summer as planned.

Developers have blamed supply chain problems and the pandemic for delays in the construction of the solar farms and battery storage stations that were supposed to replace the lost capacity once the coal plant shut down.

As PNM tries to avoid a shortage this summer, the utility said challenges remain on ensuring customer needs are met in the summer of 2023 due to regulatory delays related to another case that involves the upcoming expiration of leases for power generated by the Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona.

Environmentalists said during a Feb. 23 briefing that no one could have predicted that the closure of the San Juan power plant and construction of the replacement power would be disrupted by a pandemic. They argued that the delays are short term and should not derail public confidence in New Mexico’s mandates for emissions-free electricity generation within the next two decades.

“Renewable energy plus storage is a solution. It works. There’s nothing that we’re seeing that changes that,” said Jason Marks, a former member of the Public Regulation Commission and an attorney who works with the Sierra Club.

ARIZONA

House OKs GOP bill backing gun businesses

PHOENIX – The Arizona House voted on Feb. 23 to penalize businesses that refuse to do business with firearms companies by barring them from state contracts.

The proposal that passed with only support from majority Republicans drew strong opposition from the banking industry but backing from gun groups and the firearms industry.

The proposal from GOP Rep. Frank Carroll would require companies signing contracts worth more than $100,000 with the state or local governments to certify they won’t refuse to work with firearms-related companies.

Carroll and firearms industry lobbyists said some banks are refusing to do business with firms involved with the firearms industry. They framed it as an issue of banks preventing people from exercising their Second Amendment rights.

But bankers resisted the bill, calling it government overreach for lawmakers to try to force businesses to deal with other companies against their will. Industry lobbyists who testified against the bill also said lawmakers are politicizing an issue that is not present in Arizona.

The 31-28 party-line vote sends the measure to the Senate for consideration.

The legislation follows the shutdown of social media sites popular with extremists, including Gab and Parler, when their web hosts, banks or payment processors refused to continue doing business.

The Arizona bill stands in contrast to efforts in more liberal states to target gun manufacturers.