The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Salt Lake City Weekly and the Moab Sun News. At a Sept. 27, 2022, Moab City Council meeting, then-Chief Jared Garcia introduced his new assistant chief Lex Bell to the council, as well as another detective. It was a standard small...
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Utah News Dispatch. State officials are required to disclose if their “immediate family” are involved in businesses that could receive public funding. Recently obtained records, however, show that some heads of state agencies have interpreted the disclosure rules to mean they...
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. Influential hunting guide Wade Lemon, celebrated for drawing “literally tens of millions of dollars” into Utah’s rural communities and efforts to conserve game herds, was ordered to report this week to a federal prison. The longtime owner...
By Eric S. Peterson and Sydnee Chapman Gonzalez The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with KUER and West View Media. At around 6:30 on a warm August morning, Marlene Ross stood at her bus stop at 600 North and 1400 West on Salt Lake City’s west side. As...
By Eric S. Peterson and Sam Stecklow The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with the Invisible Institute and Salt Lake City Weekly. In September 2019, the Logan City Police Department hired Officer Miguel Deras, who had recently left the University of Utah’s campus police. Police officers move from...
The following story was reported by the Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with KSL.com. SALT LAKE CITY — The people who run Utah’s state agencies are required to disclose possible conflicts of interest. But the governor’s office apparently doesn’t think the public has the right to know what those are. In a highly unusual...
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. A massive gang of elk — with thousands more animals than the land could support — had been growing for years in Morgan and Rich counties. The best solution, the Division of Wildlife Resources decided late last...
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. For years, the state has paid millions to Big Game Forever so the organization could lobby for removing the gray wolf from the list of animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. During that time, the nonprofit...
Want to get involved in your community but don’t know where to start? Start by showing up! There are public meetings all over the state from city council meetings and zoning boards to legislative hearings and more. Join us for a free webinar on Sept. 19 from 12-1 pm to learn how to find meetings...
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with KSL.com SALT LAKE CITY — For the past decade, Drew Mingl helped build Utah’s Open Data Catalog into a model of transparency for state governments across the country. The data portal posted thousands of datasets online in useful formats for all...