The three members of the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission the Summit County Commission reappointed to additional three-year terms include: Claudia McMullin, Kathy Kinsman and Jeff Smith.
Street-level ATV bill gets nod
Senate Bill 181 would make it legal to operate some all terrain vehicles on roads.
To be street legal ATVs must have headlights, taillights and a light to illuminate the registration plate, according to SB 181.
Reflectors and brake lights are required on the rear as are amber turn signals on each side of the front and back of the machines.
Street-legal ATVS are equipped with horns, rearview mirrors and an emission control system in accordance with state law, the legislation states.
Retrofitting an ATV to make it street legal could cost $900, according to Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds.
Lawmakers passed SB 181, which makes ATVs legal on certain two-lane roadways. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. still must sign the bill before it becomes a law.
ATV operators must comply with the same requirements as motorcyclists. ATVs would be subject to safety inspections at the time they are registered with the state.
Lawmakers revamp driving cards
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will likely sign a bill clarifying that illegal immigrants cannot use Utah driving privilege cards as identification.
House Bill 171 would prohibit using the driving cards as legal proof of age to purchase alcohol, prescriptions or firearms, according to the bill.
Several years ago the state began issuing driving privilege cards to illegal immigrants when their driver licenses were revoked. A move to repeal the privilege cards failed this year when the Senate opposed controversial legislation sponsored by Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden.
More animals to be killed
Moose and elk could be hunted in Utah in greater numbers in 2008.
“We need to increase the number of permits so more bulls can be taken and we can get the herds in their age objectives,” said Division of Wildlife Resources Big Game Coordinator Anis Aoude about Utah’s elk population. “That’s good news for hunters. It means we can offer more elk-hunting permits for this fall’s hunt, and still provide quality bulls for hunters to take.”
The number of bull elk permits issued this year could increase by 357 from 2007. About 92 more pronghorn antelope could be killed and 33 more moose could be hunted in 2008.
Bison hunting permits could increase from 145 to 172 and wildlife officials could increase the number of permits for hunting Rocky Mountain goats, according to a DWR press release.
Drug coverage for seniors
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, recommends the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services do more to improve the appeals process for beneficiaries seeking coverage for a drug not included in their plan.
“When we rewrote the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, it was very important to me that beneficiaries have a choice of plans that offered prescription drugs at an affordable price,” Hatch said in a press release. “We included an appeals process in the law so that if a specific drug was not covered by a plan, there was a mechanism in place to help beneficiaries get the drugs that they need.”
The confusing appeals process must be made “more user friendly for beneficiaries,” Hatch added.
Under the new benefit, beneficiaries can ask for coverage of prescriptions restricted under the plan through a process known as a coverage determination, and can appeal that decision if they are denied, the press release states.