The Daily Spectrum from Saint George, Utah • Page A2

LOCAL NATION THE SPECTRUM DAILY NEWS A2 Saturday, March 2, 2013 Herbert still mulling over a Medicaid expansion helped," said Vinnetta Golphin, a pastor at Granger Community Christian Church in a Salt Lake City suburb. "Three years down the line, maybe things shift. But that's three years of health care that some people don't have." Most of the uninsured who would benefit are working poor, and many are Latinos, supporters say. They say the expansion would also be a boost to the state's economy by creating more jobs in the health care fields. Proponents of expansion question why Utah would turn down the federal funds.

"Is Utah going to stand out like a sore thumb and not take this money for its neediest citizens?" said Sen. Jim Dabakis, R-Salt Lake City. Medicaid expansion would not cost the state anything in the first three years thanks to the federal reimbursement, but by 2021, it would cost the state an estimated $60 million, shown by projections from the Utah office of the legislative fiscal analyst. Rally-goers Jose and Lisa Velarde were on Medicaid for a few months when they moved to Utah from Mexico, where Jose Velarde immigrated from. When their 2-year-old daughter had a heart murmur and had to go to the emergency room, Medicaid helped them stay afloat.

Now they have health insurance, but want to stand up for others who don't. "People deserve to have health insurance," Jose Velarde said. "The government should at least give it a chance for the first three years." By Brady McCombs Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY About 100 people strolled into the lobby of Utah Gov. Gary Herbert's office Friday and piled up colorful paper-link chains meant to represent the state's uninsured that would be covered by Medicaid expansion. "Say yes to Medicaid expansion," the group chanted, standing in a circle around the pile.

The action was the culmination of a rally that began on the steps of the Capitol. The event was organized by the faith-based community and was the latest example of the increasing pressure Herbert is facing to accept the federal government's offer to expand Medicaid. Under the health care overhaul law, the federal government has offered to pick up the full cost of Medicaid expansion in the first three years, and 90 percent over the long haul. Just as Democratic leaders did earlier in the week at a news conference, the participants in Friday's event called Medicaid expansion the "right thing to do." Providing health insurance to more of the state's uninsured is not only the moral decision, but it will also save the state money by getting people out of the emergency room and into doctor's offices, they said. To date, 23 states have announced plans to expand Medicaid.

That list includes eight states led by Republican governors, including Arizona and Nevada. Thirteen states, including Texas and Wyoming, had an Betsy Ogden, center, of Salt Lake City, lays colorful paper-link chains on a Herbert during a rally Friday, rick bowmerap pile at the office of Utah Gov. Gary There's no timeline for its completion, Spendlove said, adding that it's more important that it's done well than quickly. There are an estimated 300,000 uninsured in Utah, about 10 percent of the state's population. It's estimated that about 130,000 of them would initially be covered in Medicaid expansion.

There estimated 225,000 to 250,000 people on Medicaid in Utah. About 20 million uninsured people across the nation would gain health coverage if all the states agree to expand Medicaid, according to the nonpartisan Urban Institute for attribution. Most of them would be STATE NEWS IN BRIEF adults. Some of the indecision in Utah and other states is due to concerns that deficit-burdened Washington may renege on the 90 percent deal. The regular Medicaid match rate is closer to 50 percent, which would mean a significant burden of the costs would shift to the states.

Supporters of Medicaid expansion are sensitive to those concerns, but say the state could set up the expansion so that it could discontinue it if the federal government pulls back the promised funding. It's an approach they refer to as a "circuit breaker." "Every day that they do it, there are people that are being after the Feb. 12 shooting after crashing a stolen pickup into a parked car. A South Salt Lake officer recognized him as the suspect in the still-unexplained shooting. Authorities have said only that Fresques got into an argument before opening fire at a house that was a recent target of a police drug raid.

Authorities say Fresques shot four people, leaving three of them dead. Wild turkeys becoming a pest, lawmakers say SALT LAKE CITY Utah legislators are talking turkey that is, they're looking to curb the growing population of wild turkeys. Officials say Utah has done such a good job reintroducing wild turkeys that they're showing up around residential areas in large numbers and causing a mess. The Deseret News reports that legislation introduced by Rep. Ronda Menlove of Garland would open a second hunt every year for the game birds.

Wild turkeys spend summers nounced they won't expand. The rest, like Utah, have yet to decide. Herbert, a Republican, remains steadfast in his commitment to taking as much time as he needs to ensure his state carefully analyzes the cost-benefit analysis of the expansion. He's set no timeline for a decision. "There are no federal deadlines to make a decision so we will take the time to do this right," said Robert Spendlove, the state's deputy chief of staff for state and federal relations.

The state has paid an outside consulting group to do an analysis on what Medicaid expansion would mean for the state. barring drivers from smoking in the car if they have a passenger younger than 16. Lawmakers approved the measure on a 16-13 vote Friday. It now heads to the governor's desk. The violation would be a secondary offense.

That means an officer couldn't pull someone over for smoking with a child passenger but could enforce the law while stopping a driver for another violation. Violators would get a warning on the first offense and be fined $45 on the second. Supporters say child safety trumps adults' personal freedoms, and secondhand smoke in confined spaces such as a car is an "unacceptable" health threat to children. Bill to create sex education website SALT LAKE CITY Utah lawmakers are moving closer to putting up a sex education website for parents who want to broach the subject with their children. A House committee approved the measure Friday.

mountain 18 holes Cart Lunch Range Balls By Steve Associated Fear Republican Sen. Stuart Reid of Ogden sponsored the bill. He says the website would be a tool for parents who hesitate to talk to their children about sex and sexual health because those parents feel shy or nervous. But some lawmakers are criticizing the bill, saying youngsters could find information on the website that's inappropriate for children. Others say parents don't need it because schools already teach sex education.

Utah schools Superintendent Martell Menlove says the bill could be a key tool for parents who opt out of in-school sex education for their teens. Suspect charged in triple homicide at drug house SALT LAKE CITY The 25-year-old suspect in a triple homicide at a drug house in Midvale has been formally charged with murder. Prosecutors charged David Fresques in 3rd District Court on Friday with three counts of aggravated murder and one of attempted murder. Fresques was arrested days of sequester's pinch spreads throughout the military community EC LDS Church releases new edition of scriptures SALT LAKE CITY The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released a new edition of its English-language scriptures that's been eight years in the making. The church says the new edition being released in digital formats includes revised study aids, adjustments to chapter and section headings, new photos and updated maps.

It also has spelling adjustments, such as changing "sted-fast" to "steadfast," and corrections to punctuation typos. A print version of the new edition is set for release in August 2013. The church's scriptures include the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. The last update to the English language versions was completed in 1981. Utah Senate OKs ban on smoking in car with kids SALT LAKE CITY The Utah Senate has approved legislation 'Sky Jo Ann Monson Team Member of The Quarter St.

George Store Jo Ann is asking all the time what she can do to help, yet she accomplishes more work in any given day than anyone we know. She has such a tremendous work ethic and a willingness to do what it takes to get the job done. She is consistently the top sales person in the company for all departments because of her awesome reputation and loyal clientele. Jo Ann has an awesome eye with her decorating abilities. Customers seek her out and are willing to wait for her.

She loves to turn people's houses into their home. We thank Jo Ann again for all she does for the Boulevard and our guests and are proud to recognize her as the Team Member of the 1st Quarter 201 3. Boulevard St. George Store 435-986-3100 fe Good After March in the mountains to brood and feed. Winter snow drives them down to into neighborhoods and onto farms.

Rep. Gage Froerer of Hunts-ville says it was unusual to see wild turkeys in Ogden Valley 10 years ago. Now he says it's common to see more than 100 of the birds strutting across town. CenturyLink lost $200k in inmate collect call scam CLEARFIELD Authorities say a phone company lost at least $200,000 after two Davis County jail inmates' collect calls were billed to bogus accounts. The Salt Lake Tribune reports seven people were charged Friday in the alleged scheme that spanned three years.

They face charges of identity fraud, communications fraud and a pattern of unlawful activity. Clearfield Police Sgt. Kyle Jeffries says the defendants set up CenturyLink accounts using other people's personal information so the inmates could make collect calls, which can cost several dollars per minute. Associated Press care, he's now looking for part-time construction work to help pay the bills, even if it means working seven days a week. "We basically put the American Dream on hold," Do said.

Preparing for a worst-case scenario, Navy officials have plans to force mandatory furloughs on roughly 186,000 civilian employees across the country. People like Huntley and Do would lose 22 paid days between April and October, or roughly 20 percent of their pay. Shipyards from coast to coast have outlined cost-cutting plans to delay huge maintenance contracts on nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. Huge network Polling suggests that some Americans are still unaware of the looming cuts, known in Washington speak as a "sequester," but the debate is well-known to federal employees and the huge network of businesses, contractors and communities that serve Navy shipyards and military bases. Virtually every nearby restaurant, grocery store or car dealer is aware of the looming cuts.

Plli Phone Scan For Mobile Tee Times Any Day 11 AM 31,2013 of Congress' inability to resolve another budget stalemate. Orsom "Butch" Huntley, 63, a shipyard employee for three decades, is already living paycheck to paycheck while caring for his terminally ill wife. "Congress doesn't look at the individual. They just look at the bottom line. And it just really makes it tough to think we're just a number to them," Huntley, a computer engineer, said this week in a restaurant outside the shipyard gate.

"It's going to be totally devastating." Peoples Press KITTERY, Maine They don't care which side caused Washington's latest crisis. Five hundred miles from Capitol Hill, the men and women of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are worrying about paying rent, searching for new jobs and caring for sick loved ones. Almost the entire workforce, a community of more than 5,000 along the Maine and New Hampshire seacoast, is preparing to lose the equivalent of a month's pay because mm Overview The fear is consuming military communities as the nation braces for budget cuts designed to be so painful they would compel Congress to find better ways to cut the federal deficit. President Barack Obama and governors from across the nation have intensified calls for compromise in recent days to meet Friday's deadline. Defense officials warn of diminished military readiness as the cuts begin to bite.

Economists warn of damage to a delicate economic recovery. And federal officials warn of travel delays, slashed preschool access and closed national parks. But in small towns whose economies are deeply tied to the military, there is a human effect that breeds anger and fear. 'American Dream' Across the table from Huntley, facilities engineer Kevin Do explains that he and his wife, also a shipyard employee, already have delayed plans to buy their first home because of uncertainty created by Washington. With a 4-year-old son in day 'oulanqevie levv presents- Sunday Brunch Every Sunday 1 1 am till 3pm at 1 lam, noon, 1pm and 2pm Brunch Price $12.99 Per Person Seatings Bring price this ad to receive our special offer introductory of buy one brunch and get the 2nd at 50 off.

Valid Sunday, 3rd March 2013 only! To reserve your seating call c435-233-8466v3.