UTAH

Sailors rejoice after wet winter raises Great Salt Lake – for now

ON THE GREAT SALT LAKE – After years of sailboats being hoisted out of the shrinking Great Salt Lake amid fears they might not return, sailors are back this summer. That’s thanks to an abnormally wet winter that has raised the lake 6 feet from last November’s historic low.

Sailors are just one group whose enjoyment of the lake is imperiled by climate change, drought and diversion of water to cities and farms.

Hundreds of sailboats were hoisted out of the shrinking Great Salt Lake as water levels plummeted in recent years, leaving docks along the lake’s parched southern shore caked with dried mud.

But it’s not clear it will last.

If the great lake resumes its decline, it could mean collapse of the ecosystem. Without enough water flowing to the lake, the reefs that nurture species such as brine fly and shrimp will be decimated, in turn affecting the larger species that feed on them, including pelicans and other migratory birds. And every bit of exposed lakebed means more arsenic-laced dust available for wind to pick up and carry to nearby homes, schools and office parks.

For now, Derby and other sailors are relishing the opportunity to unfurl their sails and reconnect with friends over crisp breezes and corny jokes.

“It’s so nice, it’s beautiful,” said Atkin, looking up at the sails. “You feel the power of the wind a little bit, how bad can it be?”

THE WEST

Senators seek to expand nuclear fallout compensation program

ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. senators from New Mexico and Idaho are making another push to expand the federal government’s compensation program for people exposed to radiation following uranium mining and nuclear testing carried out during the Cold War.

Downwinders who live near the New Mexico site where the world’s first atomic bomb was tested in 1945 as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II also would be among those added to the list.

The legislation would amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to include eligible residents in areas affected by fallout in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah and the territory of Guam.

Democrat Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Republican Mike Crapo of Idaho announced on July 6 that they were reintroducing the bill in the Senate after previous attempts to expand the program stalled.

Supporters say the clock is ticking as more people are diagnosed with cancers that they say are connected to exposure.

Advocates have been trying for years to bring awareness to the lingering effects of nuclear fallout surrounding the Trinity Site in southern New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation, where millions of tons of uranium ore were extracted over decades to support U.S. nuclear activities.

The reintroduction of the legislation preceded the 78th anniversary of the Trinity Test in New Mexico on July 16 and comes as the federal government prepares to ramp up production of the plutonium pits used to trigger nuclear weapons.

An estimated $80 million is needed for the compensation trust fund for the 2024 fiscal year that began July 1, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

MONTANA

TikTok, content creators ask judge to block app ban

TikTok Inc. and a group of five content creators who are suing the state of Montana over its first-in-the-nation law to ban the video sharing app are now asking a federal judge to block implementation of the law while the case moves through the courts and before it takes effect in January.

The separate requests for preliminary injunctions were filed on July 5 in federal court in Missoula. The cases challenging the law were filed in May and have since been consolidated by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen had the bill drafted over concerns – shared by the FBI and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken – that the app, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, could be used to allow the Chinese government to access information on U.S. citizens or push pro-Beijing misinformation that could influence the public. TikTok has said none of this has ever happened.

The motions for injunctions argue that the ban is an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights and that the state has no authority to regulate foreign affairs.

TikTok has safeguards to moderate content and protect minors, and would not share information with China, the company has argued. But critics have pointed to China’s 2017 national intelligence law that compels companies to cooperate with the country’s governments for state intelligence work.

More than half the U.S. states, including Montana, and the federal government have banned TikTok from government-owned devices.

As of June 1, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte also prohibited the use of any social media apps tied to foreign adversaries on state equipment and for state businesses. Among the apps he listed are WeChat, whose parent company is headquartered in China; and Telegram Messenger, which was founded in Russia.

WYOMING

Suspect in abortion clinic burning reaches plea deal

CHEYENNE – A college student who authorities say admitted setting fire to a building slated to become Wyoming’s only full-service abortion clinic has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, federal court documents showed on July 10.

Details of the proposed plea deal for Lorna Roxanne Green weren’t available to the public pending a judge’s approval of the agreement.

Green, 22, pleaded not guilty to an arson charge in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne in June. Green faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The plea agreement means Green could avoid going to trial, set for July 24.

Reached by phone, Green’s attorney, Ryan Semerad, declined to comment on the plea agreement. Federal prosecutors did not immediately return an email message seeking comment Monday.

Green told investigators she opposed abortion and was experiencing anxiety and having nightmares over the Wellspring Health Access clinic that was to open in Casper, Wyoming, last year, so she decided to burn it, according to court documents.

Investigators say Green broke a window at the clinic, filled aluminum baking pans with gasoline and set it ablaze on May 25, 2022. The clinic, which had drawn anti-abortion protesters, was scheduled to open a few weeks later but was not able to begin seeing patients until April because of the fire damage.

The facility is Wyoming’s only dedicated clinic in at least a decade to offer surgical abortions. It also offers abortion pills and women’s health care, the clinic says.

?NEW MEXICO

Virgin Galactic plans next commercial flight to edge of space

ALBUQUERQUE – Virgin Galactic is aiming for early August for its next flight to the edge of space, a trip that is expected to include the first of many ticket holders who have been waiting years for their chance at weightlessness aboard the company’s rocket-powered plane.

The company announced on July 13 that the window for the commercial flight from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico will open Aug. 10.

Virgin Galactic confirmed that three private passengers will be on the flight. The plane has room for six – two Virgin Galactic pilots and four passengers.

The flight will mark Virgin Galactic’s third this year.

Virgin Galactic has been working for more than a decade to send paying passengers on short space hops and in 2021 finally won the federal government’s approval. Founder Richard Branson joined Virgin Galactic employees for the first flight that summer.

Once the plane reaches its highest point, passengers can unstrap from their seats, float around the cabin for a few minutes and take in views of the Earth. Then they strap in for the glide back down to the runway.