Nearly 240 anti-LGBTQ bills filed in 2022 so far, with most targeting trans people

The annual number of anti-LGBTQ bills filed has skyrocketed over the past several years, from 41 bills in 2018 to 238 bills in less than three months of 2022. State lawmakers have proposed a record 238 bills that would limit the rights of LGBTQ Americans this year — or more than three per day —

Republican party calls January 6 attack ‘legitimate political discourse’

Party censures Cheney and Kinzinger, the only Republicans on the Capitol attack House panel, as Pence says ‘Trump is wrong’ In an extraordinary move, the Republican party officially said Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat and the deadly attack on the US Capitol were “legitimate political discourse”. A leading Democrat on the

Book banning? Parent email prompts Utah district to pull these titles from high school libraries

Removal appears to violate district’s own policies Copies of at least nine book titles have been removed from libraries at four high schools in the Canyons School District — all in response to an email from a parent who expressed concerns about the titles she said she learned about through social media videos. The removal

California’s largest fire torches homes as blazes lash West

Flames racing through rugged terrain in Northern California destroyed multiple homes Saturday as the state’s largest wildfire intensified and numerous other blazes battered the U.S. West. The Dixie fire, which started July 14, had already leveled over a dozen houses and other structures when it tore through the tiny community of Indian Falls after dark.

Hate Crime Case Against College Student Who Stomped on ‘Back the Blue’ Sign ‘Makes No Sense,’ ACLU Says

19-year-old Lauren Gibson was charged with a hate crime for stomping on a “Back the Blue” pro-police sign. She now faces a year behind bars or a fine of up to $2,500. According to reports, Gibson was traveling with friends from a camping spot in Panguitch, Utah, en route to California. One of Gibson’s friends was pulled over by a Garfield

Hoover Dam Reservoir Dips to Record Low, in Sign of Extreme Western U.S. Drought

The reservoir created by Hoover Dam, an engineering marvel that symbolized the American ascendance of the 20th Century, has sunk to its lowest level ever, underscoring the gravity of the extreme drought across the U.S. West. The surface elevation of Lake Mead along the Arizona-Nevada border fell to 1,071.56 feet above sea level, dipping below

Drought-stricken Nevada enacts ban on ‘non-functional’ grass

In Sin City, one thing that will soon become unforgivable is useless grass. A new Nevada law will outlaw about 31 percent of the grass in the Las Vegas area in an effort to conserve water amid a drought that’s drying up the region’s primary water source: the Colorado River. Other cities and states around

The next political battleground: school boards

The debate over coronavirus precautions and school reopening has fueled a surge of new candidates for school boards across the country. Why it matters: What was traditionally a nonpartisan, hyper-local role is now at center of a swirling national political debate. Conservative and progressive parents have clashed over when and how to reopen classrooms — and

Bid to censure Mitt Romney for Trump impeachment votes fails

Utah Republicans booed Sen. Mitt Romney but ultimately rejected a motion to censure him Saturday for his votes at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trials. The measure narrowly failed, 798 to 711, in a vote by delegates to the state GOP convention, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Romney drew heavy boos when he came to the

Former police officer who texted ‘we stormed the Capitol’ arrested

Michael Lee Hardin of Salt Lake City texted photo of himself smiling next to Abraham Lincoln statue, Justice Department records show A former Salt Lake City police officer was arrested after federal law enforcement discovered he allegedly sent text messages admitting he “stormed” the US Capitol on 6 January and posed for a photograph next to a