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Sens. Lee and Romney make a power play for Utah and the West

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Sens. Lee and Romney make a power play for Utah and the West


Republican lawmakers in the West say they want states to control more of their own land, rather than Washington, D.C., officials, especially as the state’s residents are deprived of benefits they would get if it was under state ownership.

Sen. Mike Lee along with Sen. Mitt Romney and Utah Reps. John Curtis, Celeste Maloy, Blake Moore, Burgess Owens and Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman submitted a friend of the court brief to support Utah’s case before the U.S. Supreme Court as the state hopes to take control of 18.5 million acres of unappropriated land.

The public land Utah wants to bring back under state control doesn’t include national parks, national monuments and national forests — much of it is desert scape or farm lands, not necessarily the photo-worthy landscapes some people think of when they hear the term public lands.

The federal government oversees 70% of the state’s land, and rules can change on how that land can be used depending on who is in charge of the White House. In the brief, lawmakers said they submitted it not only because it is a constitutional issue, but because they wanted to begin reversing harms Utah and the West have experienced from federal government control over their lands.

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Lee said in a statement to the Deseret News that the vast control of Utah land by the federal government “has increasingly limited what Utahns can do in their backyard.”

“This has to change, and I am proud to stand with Utah families — along with our entire congressional delegation — urging the Supreme Court to allow this case to move,” Lee continued.

In Romney’s statement to the Deseret News, he noted Utah has “one of the highest percentages of its land owned by the federal government.”

“Whether or not the federal government can continue to indefinitely control more than 18 million acres of this land—which is currently unappropriated—should be considered,” said Romney. “Public lands are best managed by those closest to them.”

Frustrated over the lack of local control over the land, state lawmakers in Utah decided to go straight to the Supreme Court, to address some of the harms they see to the state’s resident. Federal agencies can impact the livelihoods of Utahns by saying how much access farmers have to land for grazing, which roads Utahns can use or where campers can set up their tents.

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The state hired former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement and seasoned Supreme Court advocate Erin Murphy to argue the case. The suit argues the federal government makes money off Utah’s lands through commercial filmmaking and grazing and the state loses out on that revenue.

But more than that, Utah said the federal government’s control of the land was unconstitutional — and that the feds would not budge when asked to return unappropriated land to the state. Unappropriated land is land held by the Bureau of Land Management that isn’t reserved for a designated purpose.

Who gets to control the land?

There are a couple of core questions the lawsuit wants the Supreme Court to rule on. Should states or the federal government have sovereignty or control over these lands? And, is it fair for people living in the state to face changing rules on how the land is used?

In their brief, Lee, Romney and the representatives made the case the Supreme Court should give Utah control over unappropriated land. They noted Utah’s lawsuit came after state leaders repeatedly requested the federal government give up these lands — only to be repeatedly ignored.

It’s a uniquely western phenomenon to have more than half of the land in a state controlled by the federal government. According to Ballotpedia, most states East of the Mississippi have well below 10% of their land owned by the federal government, but in the West that number is much higher. The lawmakers say this puts the state on unequal footing with other states in the U.S.

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Nearly half of the land the federal government owns in Utah is used either for profit or is just held, said the group of politicians in the brief. It isn’t used under a specific constitutional power. But because Utah doesn’t own the land, the state can’t tax or regulate it.

This means the federal government denies Utah basic powers other states have over their land, the brief says. This is unique to Utah and nine other Western states that also have a lot of land owned by the federal government.

“By allocating control over one-third of Utah’s land to the BLM (Bureau of Land Management), the United States altogether denies Utah ownership over that land,” said the brief. This reduces equality with other states and “imposes second-class status” onto Utah and other Western states.

Utah and Western states can’t manage lands within their own boundaries in ways that would lead to the flourishing of citizens, the brief says.

The brief raises another issue — the president’s control over state lands. To the frustration of local citizens, presidents have expanded the size of national monuments without input from local residents. Former President Bill Clinton designated Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument without stepping foot on Utah soil. The area was going to be used for coal mining and people in the surrounding area experienced economic hardship because of the monument designation.

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Presidents can step in and declare land monuments or not because of the Antiquities Act. It’s a law which the brief said has allowed presidents to vastly expand monuments and landmarks without limit.

“The President should not have more control over Utah’s land than the people of Utah or their elected representatives,” said the brief. The Supreme Court’s ruling on Utah’s lawsuit could end up resolving some existing legal issues involving the Antiquities Act.

The brief does raise some of the issues local residents have faced because of the federal control of land.

In Panguitch, a charming town that’s the seat of Garfield County, local sawmill workers faced unemployment when the amount of timber the mill was allowed to take out of the national forests was whittled down. Even as one of the main industries that kept the town booming was shut down in 1996, state and federal lawmakers could do nothing about it.

SUWA response to Utah lawsuit

But opponents to the state’s lawsuit see it as corrosive to conservation. Shortly after Utah filed its suit, team members at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance stopped by the Deseret News for an on the record editorial board meeting.

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During the meeting Steve Bloch, the group’s legal director, said the state was emboldened by the 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court and that’s why they didn’t go to federal district court.

Putting up a map of the lands owned by the federal government in Utah (highlighting the unappropriated lands), Bloch said the term is used for PR to make people think the land isn’t special. He doesn’t think Utah could actually afford to take over the land anyway.

“This is just an unserious approach,” said Bloch. “This is anti-federal rhetoric.” He added he thought it was “throwing red meat at some part of the electorate in Utah who’s animated by this.”

SUWA may see it as anti-federal rhetoric, but Utah politicians say this suit has been a long-time coming after trying to work with the federal government for years.

“We’ve been asking for 50 years,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox when announcing the suit. “And not only are they not willing to negotiate or help on this at all, it’s the exact opposite. It’s not only ‘no,’ but, ‘hell no, and we’re going to close more of your roads and make it harder.”

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas


CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.

LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.

Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.

The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.

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MORE | Murder-Suicide

Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.

10:33 a.m. — Call 1

After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.

Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.

“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”

11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3

As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.

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“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”

11:26 a.m. — Call 4

Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.

“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”

She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.

Police indicated officers were on the way.

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2:26 p.m. — Call 5

Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.

Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.

“They found a note on the door.”

2:35 p.m. — Call 6

Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.

“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”

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A dispatcher responded:

“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”

2:36 p.m. — Call 7

Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:

“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”

2:39 p.m. — Call 8

Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.

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“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”

He repeats the details he knows for the second time.

3:13 p.m. — Call 9

Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.

“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”

Dispatch responded:

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“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”

4:05 p.m. — Call 10

More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.

“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”

The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.

Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.

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The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.

5:23 p.m. — Call 11

Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.

“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”

She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.

Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference

Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.

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The investigation remains ongoing.

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Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing

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Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing


AI glasses could allow you to get answers, snap photos, access audio and take phone calls—and now a proposal moving through the legislature would ban the glasses from Utah school classrooms.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kizzy Guyton Murphy, a mother who accompanied her child’s class on a field trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday. “You can’t see inside what the student is looking at, and it’s just grounds for cheating.”

Mom Tristan Davies Seamons also sees trouble with AI glasses.

“I don’t think they should have any more technology in schools than they currently have,” she said.

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Her twin daughters, fourth graders Finley and Grayson, don’t have cell phones yet.

“Not until we’re like 14,” said Grayson, adding they do have Chromebooks in school.

2News sent questions to the Utah State Board of Education:

  • Does it have reports of students using AI glasses?
  • Does it see cheating and privacy as major concerns?
  • Does it support a ban from classrooms?

Matt Winters, USBE AI specialist, said the board has not received reports from school districts of students with AI glasses.

“Local Education Agencies (school districts) have local control over these decisions based on current law and code,” said Winters. “The Board has not taken a position on AI glasses.

MORE | Utah State Legislature:

Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.

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“I think it should be up to the teachers,” said Briauna Later, another mother who is all for preventing cheating, but senses a ban could leave administrators with tired eyes.

“It’s one more thing for the administration to have to keep track of,” said Later.

The proposal, HB 42, passed the House and cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.

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Kalshi sues Utah over efforts to stop prop betting in the state

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Kalshi sues Utah over efforts to stop prop betting in the state


SALT LAKE CITY — A prediction market is suing Utah over plans to regulate proposition betting that it says would run afoul of federal regulations.

Kalshi is a New York-based prediction market that allows users to place “event contracts” on future outcomes and earn a payout if they are correct. Those transactions are regulated through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the company said Utah has plans to prevent the company from offering contracts in the state and asked the courts to block any enforcement that “interferes with the operation and function of plaintiffs’ futures market.”

“Plaintiff KalshiEX LLC believes the governor of Utah and the Attorney General’s Office of Utah will imminently bring an enforcement action against Kalshi with the intent to prevent Kalshi from offering event contracts for trading on its federally regulated exchange,” the complaint states. “Defendants have repeatedly represented that they believe Kalshi is operating unlawfully under Utah anti-gambling laws.”

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The lawsuit points to a couple of posts from Gov. Spencer Cox and an op-ed written by Attorney General Derek Brown in the Deseret News on Sunday. After Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig announced that his agency would “defend its exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets last week, Cox took to X calling the markets “gambling — pure and simple.”

“They are destroying the lives of families and countless Americans, especially young men,” he wrote. “They have no place in Utah. Let me be clear, I will use every resource within my disposal as governor of the sovereign state of Utah, and under the Constitution of the United States to beat you in court.”

He followed that up last Thursday, saying Utah is “ready to defend our laws in court and protect Utahns from companies that drive addiction, isolation and serious financial harm.”

In his op-ed, Brown argued that prediction markets are “the newest iteration of gambling” and said he didn’t see a difference between betting and trading futures.

“Although traditional sports betting apps are illegal under Utah law, these platforms argue that they merely allow users to hedge their risk,” he wrote. “But what is the real risk to hedge when you are simply predicting whether LeBron James will score more or less than another player? It’s simply a bet, dressed up in different clothing.”

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The lawsuit also comes as the state Legislature is advancing a bill that would clarify that proposition betting — or betting placed on specific players or events during games — falls under the state’s definition of gambling, which is prohibited by the Utah Constitution. HB243 has passed the House and a Senate committee and is awaiting consideration on the Senate floor.

But Kalshi says its contracts are lawful thanks to a carveout in Utah’s anti-gambling laws that allows for “lawful business.” Its lawsuit claims Kalshi’s attorneys made “multiple attempts” to contact Brown about potential action against the company but were “met with silence, even though the Utah AG had previously been willing to communicate with counsel.”

Asked about the lawsuit on Tuesday, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he is “standing with the governor on this one.”

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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