News | Alliance for a Better Utah

Press Release: Better Utah statement on community activist arrests

4 Comments / Accountability/Transparency, Issues, News, Press Releases / Better Utah

PRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 5, 2020 Salt Lake City, UT – Last night, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that protesters Madalena McNeil and Martin Oliveros were arrested and charged with first degree felonies with a gang enhancement for their involvement in protests against the Salt Lake County DA’s office. The charges could be punishable […]

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Press Release: Better Utah calls for external investigation into Cottonwood Heights Police Department response to peaceful protests

1 Comment / Accountability/Transparency, Issues, News, Press Releases / Better Utah

PRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 3, 2020 Salt Lake City, UT – Yesterday, the Cottonwood Heights Police Department, along with other local police departments, responded to a peaceful protest that ended in protestors being pepper-sprayed and detained. Cottonwood Heights City Councilwoman, Tali Bruce, was in attendance at the protest and had to seek medical treatment

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Press Release: Better Utah comment on Trump vote-by-mail tweet

Accountability/Transparency, Elections and Voting Rights, Issues, News, Press Releases / Better Utah

PRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 30, 2020 Salt Lake City, UT – Earlier today, President Donald Trump tweeted, “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly,

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Katie Matheson: Parents should not face pandemic alone

Accountability/Transparency, Better Utah in the News, Education, Healthcare, Issues, News, Op-Eds / Better Utah

This article originally appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune. Read it in its entirety here. I’m a parent. And like many parents, I often struggle to know what is best for my kids. That comes with the territory of parenting regardless of global events, but is especially true during a pandemic. My latest challenge — knowing whether or not to send my kid to in-person school

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Press Release: Better Utah calls on Piute County Commissioner to resign

Accountability/Transparency, Issues, News, Press Releases / Better Utah

PRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2020 Salt Lake City, UT – Yesterday, Piute County Commissioner, Darin Bushman, compared Governor Herbert to Hitler and a mask order in Salt Lake County to Hitler Germany on Twitter. Chase Thomas, Alliance for a Better Utah’s executive director, issued the following statement: “Utah is a place for everyone.

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Press Release: Better Utah calls on Herbert to pull out National Guard

2 Comments / Issues, News, Press Releases / Better Utah

PRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 3, 2020 Salt Lake City, UT – Today, Alliance for a Better Utah called for the recall of the Utah National Guard presence in Salt Lake City. Earlier on Wednesday, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall lifted the city’s nightly curfew after days of peaceful protests following the murder of

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Romney criticizes Trump clearing out peaceful protesters to make way for photo op

Accountability/Transparency, Better Utah in the News, Issues, News / Better Utah

This article originally appeared in the Deseret News. Read it in its entirety here. SALT LAKE CITY — Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney met Wednesday with Utah National Guard soldiers deployed to Washington, D.C., to help deal with protests over the death of a black man in police custody, as a left-leaning group in Utah urged the governor to call the troops home. Also Wednesday,

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Kaysville City Council issues censure letter for Mayor Katie Witt over her push for public concert amid pandemic

Accountability/Transparency, Better Utah in the News, Healthcare, Issues, News / Better Utah

This article originally appeared in the Deseret News. Read it in its entirety here. KAYSVILLE — The Kaysville City Council released a letter of censure Wednesday aimed at Mayor Katie Witt expressing deep concerns for her support of a public concert despite health directives and asking her to resign. The letter is on the agenda for Thursday’s City Council meeting, when the censure will be put

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Utah’s no-bid COVID-19 buys spur some lawmakers to seek checks on spending power

Accountability/Transparency, Better Utah in the News, Healthcare, Issues, News, Taxes / Better Utah

This article originally appeared in the Deseret News. Read it in its entirety here. SALT LAKE CITY — Frustrated by certain multimillion-dollar, no-bid purchases and contracts that state officials have executed as part of their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a pair of lawmakers are drafting legislation to bring more transparency and checks to the state’s emergency procurement powers. Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Sandy, and Rep. Suzanne

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Utah should seek to develop federal lands near cities, argues a former lawmaker

Accountability/Transparency, Better Utah in the News, Issues, News, Taxes / Better Utah

This article originally appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune. Read it in its entirety here. Utah officials now have a $700,000 tool that they hope will demonstrate the federal government is paying the state a “minuscule fraction” of what it’s due for its public lands. On Friday, a tech firm called Geomancer unveiled the software that Utah lawmakers bought to help them understand the value of the land

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