The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Utah Stories. St. George, Utah, and Las Vegas may be worlds apart culturally, but the two share a number of important characteristics when it comes to water conservation: low rainfall, high temperatures, heavy tourism and rapid population growth. Both are also...
Category: News
Utah housing vouchers struggle to meet demand
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with St. George News, The Daily Herald, The Standard Examiner and KSL.com. (Haz clic aquí para leer el texto en español) SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns hoping to access a popular public housing program face long waits and difficulty finding units in...
Did Moab’s police chief fully disclose his history of leaving departments while under investigation for misconduct?
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...
Some of Cox’s Cabinet members don’t disclose siblings’ business connections
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...
After a glitch in child abuse referrals, Utah, Navajo Nation making changes in how they communicate
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. For several months last year, Utah sent reports of suspected child abuse and neglect on the Navajo Nation to outdated email addresses. The communication gap went on for four to five months before anyone noticed, state officials...
Here’s why Trump Jr.’s Utah hunting guide is headed to jail before his trial
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...
Why there aren’t more bus benches on Salt Lake City’s west side
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...
New data tool allows journalists and the public to track ‘wandering cops’ in Utah
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...
State refuses to release conflict-of-interest records for Cox’s cabinet
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...
Utah wildlife officials secretly culled 170 elk from LDS Church ranch land
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...