Juab County • A special response team was called in to deal with hazardous materials after a train derailment.

A Union Pacific mixed-freight train derailed in the area known as Jericho — about 12 miles north and east of the town of Lynndyl in Millard County, according to FOX 13.

One of the cars was leaking propane.

Lt. Travis Kenison with the Juab County Sheriff’s Office said 23 of the 165 cars in the train came off the rails.

One of the cars was on its side and leaking propane.

For more, see FOX 13.

Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune and FOX 13 are content-sharing partners.

The most positive of characterizations might be to say that Saturday night’s AAF game between Salt Lake and San Diego was a defensive struggle.

But you can bet that’s not how it’ll be viewed by either of the head coaches, both noted for their offensive schemes and talents, or likely by the 8,405 people in the stands at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Salt Lake Stallions scored the game’s only touchdown near the end of the first half, converted the required two-point try, and that’s all they needed for an 8-3 victory over the visiting Fleet.

Salt Lake (3-5) moved into a tie in the standings with San Diego (3-5) as a result.

“I’ve been coaching a long time, but I don’t if I’ve seen anything like that,” said Fleet coach Mike Martz, who once parlayed his offensive mindset into a head coaching job with the St. Louis Rams. “We practiced as well as we’ve practiced this week on offense. To come out there and play like that, it boggles my mind.”

The winning side had a similar stance for the game, which featured 264 yards of total offense for visiting San Diego and even less — 250 yards — for the victorious Stallions.

“I think defensively, we’re one of the better teams in the league. We’re real physical up front,” said Salt Lake coach Dennis Erickson, offensive coordinator for several schools before a long stretch of head coaching jobs in college and the NFL.

“Offensively, we were good the first part of the game. Then we had a turnover and kind of played terrible the rest of the way,” Erickson added. “We did not have a good effort at a lot of positions.”

Even the one touchdown play in the game was sort of a scene of discombobulation in football terms.

At the San Diego 2-yard line with 4:18 left in the second quarter, Salt Lake quarterback Josh Woodrum bobbled the snap from center and even went to one knee before managing to hand the ball off to running back Joel Bouagnon.

As he crossed over the goal line, Bouagnon lost control of the ball. But the fumble, after review, was ruled after the ball crossed into the end zone and the touchdown stood. Woodrum then found Jordan Leslie in the back of the end zone for a completion on the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

One offensive series prior to that, the Stallions blew a chance for another touchdown. Woodrum, with a clear path to paydirt on a quarterback sneak, fumbled the ball into the end zone. San Diego’s Ryan Moeller recovered and that ended a 16-play drive that had started at Salt Lake’s own 6.

“I’ve seen it all this year. I mean, I have. I freakin’ wake up at night, when I sleep, but I didn’t think at 72 years old I’d see anything quite like the game today and then the last three or four games,” Erickson said.

The teams combined for six turnovers and, as a result of one, San Diego got possession at the Salt Lake 35 five minutes into the second half. But the Fleet, after immediately moving to the 8 on one pass play, then bogged down and ended up missing a 25 yard field goal try.

“They’re a good team, defensively they’re real good,” said Martz of the Stallions. “But I’m upset at the opportunities we had and we failed to make. I’m upset not making a field goal from the five-yard line.

“I’m upset with guys going the wrong way, dropped balls, this or that. We’re too far into the season for good players to be doing that.”

Dear Ann Cannon • I am a widow in my 60s and I’ve been dating for maybe nine years now. My past three relationships have had bizarre endings. Let’s start with the person I dated for four-and-a-half years. He stayed with me over Valentine’s Day and brought flowers, candy, jewelry and took me to dinner. The next morning I fixed a nice breakfast and he left — never to be seen or heard from again.

Let’s move on to the second Mr. Not Right. He called me every night and told me he loved me (I told him not to say that because I don’t fall in love easily). After no phone calls for two nights, I called him. He said, “I’ve been meaning to call you. Remember how I went to my class reunion? Well, something happened. I saw my high school sweetheart and we just hit it off.” The next day they announced their engagement on Facebook.

And now we come to the last Mr. Wrong. We dated for a year-and-a-half. He took me on trips and always brought goodies when he came to visit. He was always polite, but didn’t like to call me — he was a “texter.” So we got back from a trip (he even took his mother with us.) Everything appeared to be fine, but I didn’t hear anything from him in over a week other than some one-word texts. I tried calling after a week-and-a-half, but no answer. I texted and emailed because I was worried about him. I called his son and he said he had a text and that his father seemed fine. Pretty soon I got this two-line text: “I think we should go our separate ways. I wish you the best. Do not reply.”

So I’m asking you, Ann, have people just lost their minds, backbones and decency? Is it me? Is it too much to expect an explanation or a conversation? I don’t know if I dare trust any man again. I met these men on dating sites. Is this the wrong approach? I’m not a barfly and really don’t go places, other than meetups for dinner to meet people. Do you have an answer?

— Disillusioned Dater

Dear Dater • Wow! I’m sure that if others had these experiences, they’d be disillusioned, too. (And for what it’s worth, I’m guessing there are plenty of men and women out there who have dating horror stories, as well.)

Like the song says, breaking up is hard to do. Always has been. Always will be. But I do think technology has made it easier to people to opt out of relationships without showing up in person. I don’t see things changing much on that front, unfortunately.

OK. Because I haven’t dated since I was 21 years old (and I was never very good at it anyway), I asked Facebook friends for their advice for a woman your age when it comes to dating. Their suggestions follow. (Be forewarned. Most of them involve you getting out of the house a lot more than you may be inclined to.)

1. Volunteer. Even if you don’t meet somebody, you’re doing something worth doing.
2. Go to church. RELAX, EVERYONE! It doesn’t have to be the Mormon church (though it can be!).
3. Join more Meetup groups online and then — you know — get out and meet up!
4. Several people mentioned friends who found significant others in grief support groups.
5. Cook and invite people over to dinner. Tell them to bring friends.
6. Move to Florida where there are more singles over 60 than there are here.
7. If you <i>do </i>decide to try another dating site, have a friend you trust review your dating profile. Have your photograph taken by a professional or a super talented friend.
8. Find a podcast or two that gives tips on dating for seniors.

One friend said, “STAY. SINGLE.” This made me laugh out loud, but I’ll leave that decision up to you. Best of luck!

Ann Cannon is The Tribune’s advice columnist. Got a question for Ann? Email her at askann@sltrib.com or visit the Ask Ann Cannon page on Facebook.

Apparently, I am supposed to be embarrassed now.

That, at least, is my interpretation of a few strange tweets and emails that have come my way in the week since Attorney General William Barr issued his summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Donald Trump. One individual wrote: “I noticed that you’ve released your bite on Trump’s ankle now that Mueller couldn’t recommend and (sic) indictment.” Another, apparently unable to rise to that level of verbal sophistication, simply sent a bunch of LOLs.

The funny thing is, I’ve actually written very little about the probe into Trump’s ties with Russia — and certainly nothing longing for or anticipating its outcome. But the attempt of a few facts-challenged Trump fans — a tautology, I know — to taunt me over Mueller’s reported inability to prove Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russians in the 2016 election is just part of a larger narrative that has emerged in the past few days. It holds that journalism laid an egg here, producing an epic fail that will haunt it for years.

The charge was leveled, not surprisingly, by Trump, who tweeted that "The Fake News Media has lost tremendous credibility ..."

He was echoed by his spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said, "... the liberal media owe the president and they owe the American people an apology."

He was also echoed by his puppy, Sean Hannity, who promised to "hold the corrupt media accountable for years of misleading the American people!"

If all of that was predictable, many of us were surprised to hear Matt Taibbi, a liberal journalist who has been no friend to the Trump regime, join the chorus, calling this "a death blow for the reputation of the American news media."

Beg pardon, but: Huh? What in the sainted name of Walter Cronkite is he talking about?

I know media failure. I've seen media failure. Uncritically swallowing false WMD claims, that was failure. Giving candidate Trump free air time, that was failure. This was not.

Yes, the coverage produced a few ill-considered chyrons and headlines. Most coverage does. And yes, too, the constant cable news drumbeat of turning points that didn't turn and breaking points that didn't break grew numbing.

But let's get real. Would anyone really argue that in a situation where: a) American intelligence reports a hostile foreign power interfered in a U.S. election to benefit one candidate; b) that candidate publicly implores the hostile power for help; c) his campaign is found to have met with agents of that power; d) the candidate dictates a lie to explain away the meeting; e) the FBI is concerned enough to open a counterintelligence probe, that news media should not investigate as aggressively as possible?

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 didn't produce that much smoke. Failure to investigate would have been journalistic malpractice.

Yet reporters are expected to hang their heads now because an attorney general whose skepticism about the Mueller probe is a matter of public record issues a four-page summary of a 300-plus-page report claiming Mueller found no evidence of collusion? No. If — and it's a big if — that proves true, so be it.

But if it doesn't — or if any of the dozen-plus other investigations still swirling about Trump produces superfluous evidence of his malfeasance — thank God for a free and mostly fearless news media to report on it. That is our sacred charge and, yes, there have been times we failed to live up to it.

This, however, is not one of them.

Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald. lpitts@miamiherald.com

After what has felt like both the shortest and longest six years of my life, I’m concluding my service as a member of Equality Utah’s board of directors, and the occasion has me feeling a sweet mix of nostalgia and pride.

I had no idea the fun, angst, creativity, hope and collaboration I’d experience, let alone the fairly rapid pace of queer change in Utah.

When I joined the board in 2013, we had been dealt powerful blows to legal equality (think California’s Prop 8 and Utah’s Amendment 3) and I was ready to engage in the movement in a new way, as I’d previously worked for the Utah Pride Center.

Politics, though.

And in Utah.

Woof!

The reality was painful. We couldn’t get married, couldn’t get second-parent adoptions, but we could be fired and evicted simply because of who we were or who we loved.

The lives and stories of LGBTQ people couldn’t be discussed openly by teachers in public schools and our transgender siblings lacked vital protections (ahem, and still do).

The state’s hate crimes statute didn’t protect us, conversion therapies were (and still are) widely accepted and practiced, LGBTQ youth homeless rates were sky high, and LGBTQ people could be denied access to public services and goods (still can).

I had to get my bearings on Utah’s political landscape quickly because Equality Utah was running an antidiscrimination bill sponsored by my friend and now current EU board member, former state Sen. Steve Urquhart. The bill would have protected LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing and employment. It made it out of committee (a hurdle we celebrated heartily) but ultimately died. The Kitchen v. Herbert case challenging Utah’s Amendment 3, Utah’s 2004 voter approved measure that specifically excluded same-sex couples from the freedom to marry, was filed that same month, and Utah’s road to marriage equality began to get paved with rainbow bricks.

Looking back, it seems like those pivotal moments foreshadowed a shift in political power that inspired such a momentous trajectory toward equality. I had serendipitously joined the board as Equality Utah was realizing its political strength (which is to say that while I take pride in what might be any small roles I played, the momentum created by my peers and the giants whose shoulders we all stood on are who to laud for what would follow).

Within months, Equality Utah had joined forces with attorneys involved in the Kitchen case, and local and national organizations to form the Freedom to Marry coalition (during which, I had the pleasure of acting as interim executive director while we transitioned from the brilliant Brandie Balken to the dynamic Troy Williams).

By December, Judge Robert Shelby ruled in our favor and I was hitching my wife with my coat and purse slung over my shoulder at the County Building.

And, in early 2014, my (legal!) wife, Elenor, and I joined three other couples and the ACLU of Utah in a lawsuit compelling the governor to recognize the nearly 1,300 same-sex marriages performed in Utah during the brief window it was legal.

A year later in March 2015, the Utah Legislature overwhelming passed Urquhart’s bill, the first antidiscrimination law to add protections for sexual orientation and gender identity in a red state. Watching Gov. Gary Herbert sign our protections into law was a moment I’ll never forget.

Within months, the U.S. Supreme Court granted all Americans the freedom to marry.

Then, when I was roughly 14 YEARS! pregnant with our son, Harvey, in June 2016, we helped rename 20 blocks of 900 South “Harvey Milk Boulevard” in honor of the esteemed LGBTQ icon (you bet I wore a friend-made shirt that said “Harvey’s Milk Boulevard” across the bust).

The following year, and with the help of legal genius and University of Utah law professor Cliff Rosky (who, to be fair, has been instrumental in almost every legal win for LGBTQ equality in our state in the last decade), we urged the state successfully to repeal its outdated and problematic “No Promo Homo” law that kept teachers from discussing LGBTQ people/lives in public schools.

And just this past legislative session, we witnessed the passing of a new hate crimes bill that includes sexual orientation and gender identity among those it protects.

We’ve had more wins (even just killing anti-LGBTQ bills) and setbacks than I can include, but I look at that list and glow. I have such overwhelming gratitude for witnessing life-changing and life-saving progress with a front-row seat.

If I had to be exhausted of any endeavor, I’d want it to be seeing people transforming our world into a more inclusive and loving place.

I thank Equality Utah for having me, and our state which I trust will courageously face our considerable journey toward justice that is yet to be traveled.

Marina Gomberg is a communications professional and lives in Salt Lake City with her wife, Elenor Gomberg, and their son, Harvey. You can reach Marina at mgomberg@sltrib.com.

There's something weirdly refreshing about the premise of The CW's new series “In the Dark.” It's about a young, blind woman, but it avoids all the blind-person cliches.

Murphy (Perry Mattfield) is obnoxious. She's combative. She smokes. She drinks. She's rude.

“You're not even nice to your own dog,” she's told by a drug dealer in the premiere.

The series opens with Murphy kicking a guy out of bed after they've just had sex. And she resents paying for condoms.

“I wish I didn't like sex so much, because it's a very expensive habit,” she says.

It’s not that there aren’t people like this in the real world. But generally, characters like this aren’t at the center of a network television show.

And, generally, blind TV characters don't act like this. They're usually noble, helpless and/or inspirational. Murphy definitely is not.

Oh, she’s not irredeemable. “In the Dark” revolves around Murphy’s search for a murderer. She stumbles upon the body of Tyson (Thamela Mpumlwana), a teenager who once rescued her from a violent mugger — but by the time police arrive at the scene, the body is gone and nobody believes Murphy’s story.

The inspiration for this drama came when Lori Bernson — a blind inspirational speaker — appeared at a CW staff retreat. Nicholas Weinstock, who partners with Ben Still in Red Hour Productions, contacted writer/producer (and now show-runner) Corinne Kingsbury, “and all I said to her was, ‘Do you think it’s possible to do the most unconventional blind character anyone’s seen, whom you don’t feel sorry for and you don’t pity?’”

Who “you don’t really like so much,” Mattfield added.

Well, it's clearly possible. “In the Dark” premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. on The CW/Channel 30.

The bigger question is whether you can produce a TV series that centers on a thoroughly unlikable blind woman. And, judging by the first three episodes of “In the Dark,” the answer is a resounding — no. Murphy is more of a damaged sweetheart.

She has a heart of gold. Her bad behavior is the result of her not-so-deeply-buried anger about her blindness.

“I don't care about myself, like, at all,” she says. “I think that's pretty obvious.”

Bernson is on board as a consultant; she helps Mattfield, who isn’t blind, portray a character who lost her sight when she was 14. According to Weinstock, the producers auditioned many blind actors but cast Mattfield “because she was the best actor for the role.”

Calle Walton, who is blind, has a supporting role as the daughter of the good-guy police detective (Rich Sommer) who isn’t really investigating Tyson’s disappearance. And one of the writers, Ryan Knighton, also is blind.

The cast includes Derek Webster, Murphy’s supportive father; Kathleen York as her frustrated mother; Brooke Markham as her supportive roommate, a lesbian veterinarian; Casey Diedrick as a potential love interest; and Morgan Krantz as the administrator of the guide dog school her parents mistakenly believed would give her purpose.

By the way, Levi, who plays Murphy's guide dog, Pretzel, isn't a real guide dog. He's an actor.

Weinstock insisted that “In the Dark” is a “big-swing idea,” and that in his 15 years of developing TV shows, such ideas result in “either a good show or a really bad show.”

Three episodes in, “In the Dark” isn't a really bad show. It's also not really good, although it does get better as you watch more.

If only Kingsbury and her team would stop trying so hard to make Murphy seem like a bad girl by emphasizing her sexual behavior, which seems sort of regressive.

Musician Spencer Petersen has lived in Los Angeles for the last few years, but he’s a Utah guy by heart — and by phone.

Petersen’s cellphone number still includes an 801 area code. “I’m a creature of habit,” Petersen said in a recent phone interview. “I’ve had this number for so long. How’s my family going to reach me if I change my number?”

Petersen, a singer-songwriter, and drummer Thomas Carroll created their band on a foundation of the tension between Utah, where both men grew up, and Los Angeles, where they met.

The result is Sego, an indie-pop band that is about to release its second album, “Sego Sucks,” and embark on its first nationwide headlining tour. The album’s April 5 release will be celebrated with a concert at 8 p.m. that night at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo.

The tour, which starts April 26 in Austin, Texas, will come back through Utah for a May 22 show at Kilby Court in Salt Lake City.

When describing Sego, Petersen said, “There’s this annoying conversation: Do we call ourselves an L.A. band, because we’ve been in L.A. a long time? But I still identify as a Utahn. It’s the ever-long tug-of-war. … Obviously, if you travel at all, you’ll find no shortage of trash talk about both Utah and Los Angeles — which is ironic, because I find both places charming and cool.”

The Utah identity is reflected in the band’s name, a reference to the state flower, the sego lily.

Corey Fox, Velour’s owner, heaped praise on Sego, via email.

“Their music is technical, yet accessible. It will ignite the party but at the same time is lyrically full of deep, relevant social commentary,” Fox said. “Also, their unique branding is as dialed in as any band I’ve ever seen. From their music videos, to their poster and album art, to their very fashionable non-fashion.”

Fox credited much of Sego’s uniqueness — including some unusual live staging, from playing on a Mylar-covered set to performing from the four corners of the venue — to Petersen’s and Carroll’s Utah roots.

“Anytime you have a very conservative culture, you also generally have a thriving subculture,” Fox said. “The tension between those two contrasting worlds are bound to inspire creativity. I think that tension was amplified even more when the band members relocated from Utah to L.A.”

Petersen grew up in Mapleton, and Carroll grew up in Springville, and they spent time together in Eyes Lips Eyes, a band in Provo’s music scene — including shows at Velour, following in the footsteps of Imagine Dragons, Neon Trees and The Head and the Heart. Eyes Lips Eyes relocated to L.A. and, “as every band does, we broke up,” Petersen said.

Petersen and Carroll ended up in a warehouse in downtown L.A., writing songs together. “It unintentionally developed into what it is now,” Petersen said. Their first album, “Once Was Lost Now Just Hanging Around,” was released in 2016.

For the second album, “Sego Sucks,” the band expanded to include two new members: Guitarist/keyboardist Brandon McBride, who’s from Salt Lake City, and bassist Alyssa Davey, a native Californian.

Petersen and Carroll used to hire extra musicians for concerts, so having more bandmates permanently “has totally altered our live show,” Petersen said. “It’s amazing what some practice will do.”

Expanding the band, he said, “kind of pushed us into a more rock-ish territory. With more hands on deck, it’s easier to execute bigger sounds.”

The change has been noticed. In the website Consequence of Sound, writer Dan Kaye commented that “the atmospheric art rock of ‘Once Was Lost’ has been solidified into something far more immediate with the additions of Davey and McBride. Angles are more jagged, hooks more raucous, and Petersen’s lyrics are more windingly opinionated and insightful than ever.”

Petersen has played guitar and bass in past bands, but Sego is the first band where he is the lead singer. His style is a sort of speak-singing, and sometimes is compared to Beck, Cake’s John McCrea and LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy.

“I kind of stumbled into it,” Petersen said. “My vocal style has been developing. I’ve leaned toward the lackadaisical. … There’s a bit of a stay-in-your-lane element to it. I’m not out to blow anybody away with my vocal prowess.”

The band rolled out those big sounds and Petersen’s voice on a national stage: SXSW, the annual music, film and tech extravaganza held every March in Austin. Sego played nine shows in four days, and “we kind of made out like bandits,” Petersen said. “Every show seemed to get a little bit bigger.”

The new album is opening up some big ideas. For example, the opening track, “Neon Me Out,” dives into the notion of the culture of “hot takes,” where people on social media seem pressed to have an opinion on everything, all the time.

“When I was growing up, words like ‘brand’ and ‘content’ weren’t in the vernacular of the common man,” Petersen said. “Now it’s household terminology. … I end up feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing. Moving forward, [there are things] that are more complex than I’m qualified to weigh in on. … I think it’s OK that you don’t have to have a strong opinion about everything.”

That opinion-heavy zone is where a band like Sego is forced to live, Petersen said, with artists frequently being harshly critiqued on social media. In fact, it was a mean tweet that produced the name of the new album, “Sego Sucks.”

“It became, at our live shows, a little bit of a battle cry,” Petersen said. “If I say it first, it gets that out of the way. It’s saying, ‘You don’t have to love this. I hope you do, but maybe you don’t.’ And maybe it’s OK not to be loved all the time.”

The original “Sego Sucks” tweet, Petersen said, “was kind of twisted, but it kind of encapsulated everything we were.”

——

Sego goes national

The indie-rock band Sego, led by Utahns Spencer Petersen and Thomas Carroll, will release its second album, “Sego Sucks,” on April 5, before going on its first headlining tour. Two of the shows are in Utah:

• Friday, April 5, 8 p.m., at Velour Live Music Gallery, 135 N. University Ave., Provo. Tickets for the show and record release party are $10, at <a href="http://24tix.com/" target=_blank>24Tix.com</a>.
• Wednesday, May 22, 7 p.m., at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City. Opening act: Uncle Reno. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 on the day of the show, at <a href="http://ticketfly.com/" target=_blank>Ticketfly.com</a>.

What good is the vote of the people if politicians take it upon themselves to change the wording, scope and direction of the bill that was presented to their constituents?

With Proposition 3, this very thing happened. Utahns voted yes on this proposal by 53.32 percent. This law would provide Medicaid health services for persons under the age of 65 who have an income equal to or lower than 138 percent of the federal poverty line.

The pushback from politicians now is focused on the funding. On the face of their argument, this makes sense. Money comes from somewhere and, although we would love to help everyone, sometimes there are not enough resources to do that and we have to be responsible and say no from time to time. However, this is not the case with Prop 3. The federal government would pay for 90 percent of the cost for this health care initiative under the Affordable Care Act.

Sure, there is a possibility of that being repealed. But Utahns cannot sit and wait and do nothing when there is only a possibility of that funding being taken away. If it is taken away, we scrap the bill and start over, but at least we are doing something. The state of Utah will only be responsible for the remaining 10 percent. That remaining 10 percent will be funded by an increase in the state sales tax from 4.70 percent to 4.85 percent. This increase will more than pay for the state of Utah’s share Medicaid expansion.

The question we ask is why would Utah legislators not want to help those in need of health care? Ten percent of the total cost for what we would be getting in any business deal seems like a great deal for the party only paying a mere 10 percent.

The state of Utah has about 150,000 people that fall into what is considered the “coverage gap.” These are families that make more than what Utah currently considers poverty in order to qualify for Medicaid. As Utah residents, we have voted to care for those in need of care. It seems that the people of this state want to invest in human capitol. Why are our legislators rewriting this law? Where are the values of the legislators?

This Medicaid expansion would help many people gain lifesaving health care. In the opposing arguments, it was stated that Utah has already considered those in need and that healthcare for the vulnerable population has already been achieved. This is simply not true! There are still many of our friends, family members and neighbors that do not have adequate healthcare who are left uncovered and vulnerable to sickness and potentially even death.

Bernice Tenort, RNC, BSN, and Azucena Langston, are both master of social work students at the University of Utah. Tenort is also head nurse of labor and delivery at University Hospital.

I am appalled that meetings are even being held to determine what should be taught in our science classes. Are we back in the 1920s with the Scopes Monkey Trial? What about the Flat Earth Society?

I’m offended that someone thinks the Bible and creationism should be taught in school, let alone in a science class.

If this is indicative of today’s school system, I’m not just worried, I’m horrified!

Carl Dillingham, Hurricane

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As a social work graduate student at the University of Utah, and a school counseling intern at an elementary school in Salt Lake City School District, I have become aware of the increased need for mental health services in schools.

In my work with students, children as young as 7 years old are dealing with self-harming behaviors and suicidal thoughts. Children are bombarded with violent, degrading and harmful words and images on a daily basis through YouTube, social media and other media, as well as from their peers. Additionally, they experience cruel cyberbullying through apps such as Snapchat and Instagram.

Suicide is normalized by phrases such as, “Nobody likes you, you should just kill yourself” or, “I hate my life, I just want to die.”

Children often don’t actually want to end their own life, and don’t understand the effects the suggestion has on others, either. But in many cases, children don’t have the vocabulary or emotional insight to effectively communicate how they really feel. By educating children on the impact their words have on others, teaching and practicing empathy, and providing them with the skills to work through their feelings in a healthy way, we empower students with the tools necessary to create kinder, more compassionate schools.

This is why I believe every single elementary, middle and high school needs licensed mental health professionals on site. Students need more than just academic advising and career counseling. They need social-emotional learning and mental health services, as well.

Heidi Kulicke, Millcreek

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The long-awaited Mueller report has been submitted. Its basic findings are a relief to some and disappointment to others, but that's the nature of the political animal. However, inasmuch as the investigation process will undoubtedly continue, one simple request to those intending to pursue this issue. Don't use imagined Martian aliens, or the Seven Dwarfs of Snow White, or the munchkins from “The Wizard of Oz,” as possible involved parties or co-conspirators in whatever new accusations are to be levied. Congress already has the Three Stooges running the process: Pelosi, Schumer and Schiff.

James F. Oshust, Millcreek

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A few years ago federal, state and local taxpayers paid around $100 million dollars for a state-of-the-art new Salt Lake City Library. It was designed by a prestigious international architect and included many innovative features inside and out.

Within those short few years our bumbling, uninspired city politicians somehow managed to transform the library grounds into Utah's largest open-air homeless camp.

Is this an exaggeration? Take a walk through the library park and decide for yourself.

I am reluctant to say it, but it’s time for a Republican mayor of Salt Lake City.

Paul D. Liacopoulos, Salt Lake City

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Now we learn that our esteemed U.S. Sen. Mike Lee is not only a constitutional scholar (self-proclaimed) but is also a stand-up comedian.

Such a brilliant performance he delivered on the Senate floor. Watch out, Stephen Colbert. Get out of the way, Jimmy Kimmel. You guys are amateurs. Lee’s “Let’s deal with climate change by having more babies” routine had me in stitches. I can’t wait for “Saturday Night Live” this week.

What’s truly sad is that educated and intelligent people like Lee can be so clueless on such an important issue.

Jeff Polychronis, Salt Lake City

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After the regular Utah legislative session wraps up, I’m often asked how things went for women and the issues I work on for the YWCA. My generally positive review is sometimes met with confusion and disbelief. So let me explain.

YWCA Utah advocates within three policy areas impacting Utah women and families: empowerment and economic advancement, racial justice and civil rights, and health and safety. This year our top priorities were to facilitate the balance between work and family, advocate for more school services and support for girls of color and other marginalized children, and enhance mental health resources for women across the state. I’m happy to report that the 2019 Legislature showed genuine partnership with the YWCA and our community partners in moving Utah forward to help Utah women, girls and families.

After unanimously supporting a 2018 resolution calling attention to maternal mental health as a serious public health issue (at least one in seven mothers in Utah suffer from depression or anxiety), this year’s Legislature approved funding to increase statewide screening and treatment for women experiencing these challenges during pregnancy and postpartum. Given the budget turmoil that transpired during the last week of the session, this was a huge win.

Progress also continued for women’s health and safety with new state investment and partnerships for critical, life-saving services for women and children experiencing homelessness due to domestic violence. Utah policymakers are increasingly aware of the statewide impact of abuse and are stepping up to be part of the solution.

Thanks to the 2019 Legislature, schools across the state will now be able to apply for ongoing funding to increase children’s access to mental health specialists, social workers and nurses (House Bill 373) and the Utah State Board of Education will create new model policies and a pilot program for student safety and support (House Bill 120). These education policies and programs are critical for girls of color and other vulnerable students and we hope that implementation is inclusive of all community stakeholders.

Progress was made this session — with more work remaining — around empowerment and economic advancement for Utah women and their families. Both SB 110 to increase access to unpaid family and medical leave, and House Bill 333 to consider working parent policies when giving tax breaks to new companies coming into our state, passed first committee hearings unanimously. While neither bill moved any further in the process, we are committed to continuing these important conversations and finding policy approaches that work for both Utah businesses and families.

A bill that did pass with near-unanimous support, and will empower all candidates for public office, including women, was House Bill 129, which allows candidates to use campaign funds to pay for childcare. We appreciate common-sense policy initiatives like this that reduce barriers to women and other underrepresented communities engaging in our political system.

Mental health care, domestic violence, student support and working parent benefits are complex issues with few straightforward solutions. It is critical that we approach them with an open mind, strong data, and a commitment to collaboration. On behalf of the YWCA, I’m proud to bring the voices of Utah women to these conversations as we work toward an even better state for all of us.

More info on all the bills we followed and how they fared at ywcautah.org/billtracker.

Erin Jemison is the director of public policy at YWCA Utah.

State Rep. Phil Lyman is complaining about his payments toward $97,000 of court-ordered restitution being increased from $100 per month to $500 per month. At $100 per month he would never have paid it off in his lifetime.

Adjusting payment based on what he claims his income is would be socialist and unfair to taxpayers.

He should arrange financing to cover it himself. At the current rate for student loans of 5.05 percent, financed over 10 years, payments would be around $1,000 per month.

Edward Mahoney, Sandy

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As “Gotham” barrels toward its series finale, a lot of things are changing. And, we’re promised, we’ll actually see Batman in the last episode of this “Batman” prequel.

One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is the level of violence in the Fox series, in which James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is a cop; Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) is a teenager; and the cast includes young versions of the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman and many more villains.

Shootings, stabbings, beatings, maimings and more are a staple of the series. “The Walking Dead” might be more gruesome, but ... maybe not.

We’ve seen characters burned to death. Disemboweled. Thrown from rooftops. There were all those cops who were murdered, with pigs’ heads placed over the corpses’ heads. Hundreds were killed in an explosion earlier this season. And there was that time when Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett-Smith) scooped out her own eye with a spoon.

“Gotham” airs Thursdays at 7 p.m. MT on Fox/Channel 13. On any number of occasions, I’ve thought — whoa, I can’t believe they got away with that.

“Neither can we,” said director/executive producer Danny Cannon.

There are, quite clearly, no plans to cut back on the violence in the final few episodes. (The finale is scheduled to air April 25.) And nobody on “Gotham” is making any apologies for it.

“Well, violence should be violent,” Cannon said. “I think violence is only bad when you desensitize yourself to it.”

And the gruesome content on “Gotham,” he said, is “a really theatrical, operatic violence.”

“The way we treat violence on the show [is] kind of like you’re watching the violence of ‘Richard III’ or the ‘Game of Thrones’ time period,” Cannon said. “It’s an otherworldly thing, but it’s all character driven.”

Ben McKenzie, who stars as Jim Gordon, was in complete agreement about that. He pointed to the Season 4 episode “The Demon’s Head,” which he wrote himself. In that episode, 16-year-old Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) became friends with a younger boy, and witnessed his death.

“The young boy had to die violently, brutally, in front of Bruce,” McKenzie said. “His throat was slashed in front of Bruce by Ra’s al Ghul (Alexander Siddig).

“It was quite gruesome, and we had to shoot many different versions of it ... to make sure that what made air was acceptable to the powers that be,” he said.

What’s important, McKenzie said, “more than the violence, is what Bruce is going through. Bruce is seeing ... a true innocent murdered brutally in front of him. And this hardens his resolve against Ra’s.”

What McKenzie has learned as a writer is that “you only have certain tools from your toolkit when you’re on network TV.” And while sex is verboten, violence is OK. “God forbid, you can’t show a breast,” he said.

Clearly, the “Gotham” producers have been given wide latitude by both their studio, Warner Bros., and by Fox. But there have been times when they have “pulled back” of their own accord, according to executive producer John Stephens. He recalled a Season 2 episode when the Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) and Butch (Drew Powell) were torturing a guitarist by cutting off his fingers.

“You don’t even really see it, but the sound of those fingers hitting this metal pail was so awful,” he said. “And we were sitting in the editing room going, ‘We can’t. That’s too many fingers.’ We took one finger out, and Fox said, ‘Maybe two fingers.’”

That was “one of the few times” network executives stepped in and asked for the violence to be dialed back.

“I think we edited ourselves even more,” Cannon said. “It was just to show that these guys were ruthless.”

By the way, McKenzie also wrote the series finale, titled “The Beginning.” It flashes forward 10 years, and, yes, we will see Bruce Wayne don the costume and the cape. Sort of.

Seventeen-year-old Mazouz is 5-foot-10, and the “Batman suit is for someone who is 6-4,” Stephens said. “And yet the face that you see under the cowl is 100 percent David Mazouz’s face. And we’ll hear David’s voice as well in his own Batman-y growl.”

“Which I learned from Ben McKenzie, by the way,” Mazouz said.

Colorado’s gotten the upper hand on Utah. Again. Not concerning water rights or outdoor recreation, but common sense.

On March 15, Colorado’s governor signed the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPV) into law. In doing so, he kept Colorado from suffering Utah’s fate: Being snubbed by candidates every presidential election cycle, because why spend precious time and money in a state you’re sure to win or lose?

Because Colorado’s voters can’t make up their minds during presidential elections (voting majority Republican one cycle, Democratic another), they have candidates crawling all over the place, spending money and making promises. But demographics in Colorado have been gradually shifting toward the liberal end of the political spectrum. That means candidates will lose interest in them too, because just like Utah, why go there if you’re sure to win or lose.

By joining NPV now, Colorado is assuring that its conservative side (and every other side) will always be relevant. Once NPV member states equal the 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency, it won’t matter what state voters live in. Whatever their party affiliation, instead of their votes being tallied only within their state borders (as currently happens due to state-winner-take-all laws), their votes will be added to all the others of the same political affiliation nationwide.

When that happens, every vote in Utah will be as powerful as every vote in Florida.

On that first election night after reaching the 270 threshold, NPV states agree to hold off awarding their electors until the number of votes counted nationwide is so overwhelmingly in favor of one candidate, the remaining votes won’t be sufficient to change the outcome. Then, NPV states will designate electors from the party of the nationwide, not the statewide, winner and, in a squeaker, even Hawaii could make a difference. No more turning off the TV and going to bed after Florida is called.

Colorado adds nine electoral votes to the Compact. Delaware and New Mexico have also passed NPV and are expecting their governors’ signatures. That’s 189 down and 81 to go on the path to 270.

Utah could add another six. That may not sound like much, but Utah could be the NPV enactment heard around the country – the first truly conservative state to enact such a common sense policy. Republican legislators in Utah who have supported NPV know this, but opponents? Not so much. So here’s the crash course:

• NPV seeks to do what winner-take-all (the law in 48 states that gives all of a state’s electoral votes to the winner in that state) did in the 1800s, replace one state law with another. No Constitutional amendment required.
• Voter engagement, registration and turnout (of all party affiliations) go up when voters feel their ballots are relevant as currently happens in battleground states.
• It’s the candidate (not the party) that matters. In 2004 George W. Bush won the popular vote by carrying the 38 smaller states. U.S. census data shows populations in rural areas equal those in metro areas. Adding it’s cheaper to campaign in lower-density areas, and rural America simply can’t be ignored.
• Neither the Electoral College nor the popular vote favors either party. Again in 2004, if John Kerry had won another 56,000 votes in Ohio, he would have won the electoral vote, even though Bush won the nationwide popular vote by a familiar number: 3 million.
• Every presidential campaign in our nation’s history would’ve been different (possibly with different results) under a nationwide popular vote. National parties would have been forced to pick candidates who appealed to a broader swath of the nation, not just battleground states.
• Winner-take-all puts a bull’s eye on every battleground state, signaling to bad actors that “this is the place” for election meddling, because a relatively small number of disputed votes (537 in Florida 2000 and 115 in Hawaii 1960) can affect the outcome of an entire election.

A national popular vote for president is coming. (Oregon and Nevada are on track, too.) Colorado made the common-sense decision to keep its political future nationally relevant by guarantying every single one of its voters will be too.

When will Utah have the common sense to do the same?

Bunnie Keen grew up in Idaho, attended college in Utah and invites all fellow Utahns to go to nationalpopularvote.com and learn about how to make Utah and all other states equally relevant in presidential elections.

Our democracy is broken. The average American’s voice is muffled – in many cases, silenced. The voices of ordinary Americans cannot be heard above the overpowering voices of the wealthy. Over the past few decades, our system turned into a plutocracy, or rule of the wealthy, and the American people are growing frustrated with a status quo that leaves them voiceless, powerless, and disadvantaged.

Things weren’t always this bad. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission effectively boxed millions of Americans out of the political process by declaring that monetary expenditures are protected as free speech. In doing so, the court elevated the role of the wealthy in how, and by whom, our country is governed, making “one person, one vote” far from our current reality. Fortunately, the American people are catching on.

Two-thirds of Americans recognize that large donors have much greater political influence than the average voter, suggesting that most voters understand how political spending warps our democratic system. In response, many Democratic 2020 hopefuls are refusing to accept super PAC money, proving that some candidates are confronting the problem and avoiding monied special interests. Despite powerful political spending, public opinion still influences those seeking elected office. But a system allowing political candidates and elected officials to opt in or out of eschewing high-dollar donations means bad actors still benefit from our corrupt campaign finance laws. That’s why we need actual reform on the books.

This Congressional session, House Democrats introduced HR 1, the For The People Act, to address money in politics in a number of innovative and necessary ways. Reforms include mandated disclosure of corporate political spending, public databases of political ad disclosure requests, and most importantly instituting a new matching-fund program for House candidates who agree to accept only small-dollar donations, revamping the public financing system for presidential candidates. (A matching-fund program for Senate candidates would have to originate in that chamber.)

For small donations (under $200) to House candidates, the federal government would match the donation 6:1 (e.g., you give $20 to Candidate A, the federal government gives $120 to Candidate A), making small contributions go further, thereby reducing reliance on wealthy donors.

These changes are critical steps towards returning voting power to citizens and making running for elected office a realistic possibility for ordinary Americans. Historically, and especially in recent years, the political field has been populated with wealthy Americans who can afford to be candidates, and bereft of average Americans committed to public service. Publicly financed elections encourage a diverse crop of candidates from a wide array of backgrounds.

These candidates’ differences will inform their positions, leading to a system where our elected officials look and think more like their constituents. For evidence of those benefits, one need look no further than current House Democrats, many of whom funded their campaigns without super PACs or corporate donations. More nurses, teachers, women and minorities in office than ever before means policy will be crafted with wider perspectives — not just special interests — in mind.

Ultimately, we must create a system where no people or organizations have disproportionate influence in our elections because of the size of their bank accounts. Elected officials shouldn’t be able to insulate themselves from their constituents’ needs and demands by virtue of the backing of wealthy benefactors or corporate interests. With HR 1, the For The People Act, America can realize these values and return the power where it belongs: in the hands of the people.

Jonathan M. Ruga and Scott F. Young are members of the Patriotic Millionaires, a nonprofit group which focuses on promoting public policy solutions that encourage political equality, guarantee a sustaining wage for working Americans and ensure that wealthy individuals and corporations pay their fair share of taxes. They are both the co-founders and executive management of Sentry Financial Corporation, Salt Lake City.

This storm-filled winter, the skiing in Utah’s Cottonwood canyons was spectacular.

That’s if you could get there, and you forgot about the hours you spent inching out of the canyon behind a serpentine line of red tail lights after a truncated day on the slopes.

Beyond the epic powder days that left near-record snow totals, the 2018-19 ski season at Alta and Snowbird may be remembered as well for its traffic. A drive in or out of Little Cottonwood Canyon, which normally takes 20 minutes, would take two or more hours anytime snowfall coincided with a weekend or holiday, highlighting the need for the transportation plan currently underway by the Utah Department of Transportation.

Crowding this winter certainly had a lot to do with generous snowpack that blessed skiers with powder day after powder day. But industry observers believe other factors are in play for the crush of cars in Little and Big Cottonwood canyons, where parking lots routinely filled by 10 a.m. and parked vehicles lined the highway for a mile or more.

The rise of multiresort passes, especially Alterra’s Ikon Pass that debuted last year, reordered how destination skiers visit Utah resorts in ways that put more cars in the already jammed canyons east of Salt Lake City.

In short, the passes that are filling up resort chairlifts are driving up canyon traffic.

“People are now coming on vacation, and they intend to visit multiple resorts. They are renting cars and traveling between resorts even if they are staying on the mountain,” said Mike Maughan, general manager at Alta Ski Area. “We see a fair amount of traffic between Big and Little Cottonwood canyons.”

This traffic increasingly includes visitors who exacerbate the congestion by sliding their rental cars off the highway. A few of these accidents can add hours of commute time for thousands of homebound skiers.

Skiing Utah’s famed light powder at a Wasatch ski area undeniably remains a sublime recreational experience, but the driving is not nearly as fun as it used to be, according Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah and the state’s top ski industry marketer.

“Getting from where you are staying to where you are skiing can be Third World. It feels like Mumbai sometimes,” Rafferty said. “I’m blown away by the passion of people for what they will do to ski there.”

A ‘war zone’

On powder days, Rafferty and nearly every other Alta and Snowbird skier not staying on the mountain, spent more time in cars than on the skis.

Alta’s skier visits have mushroomed by 25 percent in the past 15 years and are expected to top 500,000 this year, according to Maughan.

“While the ski areas have adjusted to accommodate growth on their mountains," Maughan said, “the road and parking capacities are the same as they were 15 years ago.”

He would like to see more parking and road improvements, but others argue the canyons don’t need more pavement, which could simply lead to more cars.

Carl Fisher, executive director of Save Our Canyons, likens the efforts to keep Little Cottonwood open to a “war zone.”

“There’s a plow truck with wings that can plow the road in one swoop. …. You have military ammunition flying over head. You have Gazex exploders, there are flashes, bangs and booms and the sun isn’t even up,” he said in a panel discussion recently at the University of Utah’s Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment.

The canyon is crammed with machinery to keep the road safe from avalanches with more installations on the way, all to get people to a place Salt Lake City taps for its drinking water.

“You are topping out on a climb up some of the best granite in the country … and you are looking down the barrel of an exploding device. It’s a little jarring,” Fisher said. “Is that the experience we want to leave for future generations?”

Catch a ‘RIDE’

Increased use of public transit, ride-sharing and road tolls — measures that encourage people to leave their cars out of the canyons — are expected to play a big role in whatever emerges from the UDOT-led planning process.

Planners recently revised a “scoping” document, announcing a public comment period through May 3 and an open house April 9 at the Cottonwood Heights City Hall. Over the summer and fall, the agency will refine its alternatives that will be expanded to address avalanche control, trailhead parking and congestion in the Sandy neighborhood near the canyon’s mouth. A draft environmental impact statement will be released late this year or early next year.

Ridership on Utah Transit Authority’s ski buses has climbed sharply since the 2016-2017 winter, when the agency consolidated canyon bus routes from eight to three and boosted frequency to 15 minutes during peak hours. But this winter, ridership in the two Cottonwood canyons took a dip from nearly 3,000 riders on an average Saturday to about 2,400.

The typical riders are resort employees or some resort pass holders who catch the bus for free, UDOT’s scoping document states. According to a Ski Utah survey, about 7 percent of ski area visitors use public transit, while 78 percent ride personal or rental vehicles. The rest are overnight guests or arrive in shuttle vans.

Snowbird recently deployed a cellphone app that encourages its skiers to ride-share.

“We are using what resources we have at Snowbird to influence people. We think that comes down to time, money and powder,” the resort’s sustainability director Hilary Arens told the Central Wasatch Commission several weeks ago. VIP parking spots are reserved for car poolers, who are eligible for prizes and discounts.

The resort’s new app, called RIDE — an acronym for “reducing individual driving for the environment” — has been downloaded 2,000 times and had resulted in 808 ride-shares at the time of her presentation.

“You can find others to carpool with, search for friends or whomever is riding up the canyon,” Arens said. “We are excited about making it scalable so other resorts can use it as well.”

Have pass, will drive?

Alta’s Maughan and Ski Utah’s Rafferty would like to see lifts added that allow skiers to travel betweens canyons and over the Wasatch Divide to the Park City resorts.

This move would not only link the Central Wasatch resorts but also enable visitors to travel between these destinations without driving. Past proposals have gotten shelved in the face of opposition from backcountry enthusiasts, but ski industry leaders believe the traffic crisis could lead to a renewed look.

“Is it going to solve the problems?” Rafferty asked. “No, but it might help in a lot of different ways.”

Alta has been conducting informal surveys of drivers parking in the Albion lot, and Maughan was surprised to learn that nearly a third were in rental cars. An equal portion had made the 42-mile drive from Park City.

Rafferty agrees the multi-resort passes, such as the Ikon, Mountain Collective and Epic, have changed the way skiers select where they ski, not only resort by resort but also state by state.

If skiers have trouble getting up Little or Big Cottonwood canyon, they can now make a 40-minute detour to Snowbasin or Deer Valley. Rafferty said Snowbasin, a Mountain Collective member, increases its staffing on days Little Cottonwood is closed for avalanche control because resort operators know a lot of would-be Alta skiers are heading their way.

Launched last year by the Alterra Mountain Co., the Ikon is good at 38 resorts, including all four Cottonwood canyon destinations and Deer Valley. Ikon grants the holder unlimited access at Solitude and 13 other resorts, plus seven days at Deer Valley and Brighton, and seven days combined at Alta and Snowbird — all for $949 for adults ages 23 and older. A more restrictive “base pass” is available for $300 less.

Ikon has proved itself a tough competitor to the Mountain Collective, the first major multi-resort pass that Alta helped launch eight years ago and now appears to be fading away as member resorts skip to other passes. Ikon, in its second year, accounted for about 10 percent of Alta’s skier visits this winter, Maughan said.

But how much has it lifted Alta skier visits? That’s a harder number to pin down, but Maughan figures about 3 percent or 4 percent.

The impact on traffic, on the other hand, may be far beyond that.

Considering the current pressures on the natural world, it is often harder and more confusing to talk about the natural world than one may believe. There are many questions that arise, yet the answers are different for everyone, which makes this discussion difficult but interesting. Within this discussion are the questions of who gets to do what with the land and the resources, who has access to it, and who is lacking access to it.

Growing up in the West, I have been exposed to public lands that are wild, healthy and seemingly endless, that provide amazing recreation in an array of forms. These public lands have become a part of me and, until recently, I was unaware of the vast amount of protected lands that are in jeopardy.

Ultimately, public lands are available for all to use, yet in specific areas there are restrictions ensuring the prolonged safety of the environment. Often, these public lands found across the United States are held to federal levels of protection in differing degrees. When these lands are federally managed, individual states are required to maintain the level of protection mandated by the federal government. As the natural world feels increasing stress from various factors, it is important the areas currently protected under federal law remain protected.

Unfortunately, on Feb. 28, the state of Utah petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to turn a federal rule protecting 4 million acres of national forests in Utah into a watered-down protection plan as pieced together by Gov. Gary Herbert. As a college student in an environmental studies program, I am concerned, because this decision is not for the betterment of the land, the people of Utah, nor recreation.

Federal protections are in place to protect the forests, allow recreation and provide unaltered, high-quality ecosystems for all. If these protected and roadless areas lose protection, they will greatly change. The 4 million acres of National Forest Roadless Areas are vital to Utah and to the Western United States. Decreasing the levels of protection puts these places in jeopardy of being altered. It is a disgrace that Herbert is rushing this process without seeking input from the general public.

Herbert wants to change the Federal Roadless Rule into a Utah-specific rule allowing him to develop and extract the forests, as they will no longer be federally protected. This transition will endanger the health of ecosystems that bring beauty and recreation in Utah forests that have been protected by the federal Roadless Rule since 2001. I find it ignorant and barbaric that the governor wants to decrease the amount of federally protected land in this state. These lands provide locals and tourists with incomparable adventure, pleasure and places to feel small in our natural world. Additionally, they aid in maintaining a healthy and diverse ecosystem. The loss of protection and the addition of road construction will lead to the demise of many areas.

The simple fact is this issue not being covered enough. Why hasn’t there been public comments? Why are the people accessing roadless areas in Weber and Salt Lake County not publicly informed? This and first-hand experience make me believe that the governor’s office is pushing this petition discreetly, and likely with ulterior motives. I have to stand my ground to protect these public lands because they are worth so much more than money.

Say no to Herbert, and say yes to the current Federal Roadless Rule and the pristine ecosystems it protects. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you enjoy doing, if this rule is changed it will be a tragic loss.

Tanner Josey, was born and raised in Hailey, Idaho, and is now a senior at Westminster College, Salt Lake City, majoring in environmental humanities with a minor in outdoor education and leadership.