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AM News Brief: E-Prescriptions, Officer Involved Shooting & Hospital Penalties

Photo of prescription pill bottles
KUER File Photo
Monday, the Utah House Health and Human Services committee recommended a bill to help combat overdose deaths. This story and more in the Tuesday morning news brief.

Tuesday morning, Feb. 4, 2020

State

Considering Statewide Rail System

High-speed trains from Salt Lake to Provo, Ogden and Zion National Park? It could be a reality under a Republican-sponsored bill at the Utah Legislature. Sen. Jake Anderegg, R-Lehi, introduced the bill Monday, which would require the Utah Department of Transportation to develop a “statewide comprehensive rail plan,” which he says is aimed at improving transit access, frequency and reliability. Read the full story. — Nicole Nixon

Combating Prescription Fraud

Monday, the Utah House Health and Human Services committee recommended a bill to help combat overdose deaths. It would require doctors to issue prescriptions for controlled substances electronically. Democratic Rep. Suzanne Harrison introduced the bill and said it would combat fraud and forgery that is more likely to happen with paper prescription pads. Twenty-five other states have passed bills requiring e-prescribing of controlled substances. The bill passed unanimously in the meeting, and will now be sent to the House floor. — Jessica Lowell

Editor's Note: Rep. Suzanne Harrison is a member of KUER’s advisory board.

Northern Utah

McAdams Rakes In Donations

The race for Utah’s 4th Congressional District, currently represented by the state’s lone Democrat, remains deeply lopsided when it comes to campaign donations, according to the latest filings with the Federal Elections Commission. Incumbent Rep. Ben McAdams raised about $900,000 in the last three months of 2019, roughly 10 times as much as his most well-funded competitors: Republicans Kathleen Anderson and Kim Coleman. Read the full story. — Sonja Hutson

Monday Snow Beats 84-Year Record

On Monday, Salt Lake City International Airport saw record 24-hour snow with 8.6 inches, breaking the old record of 1936 by more than an inch and a half. Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service Salt Lake City office noted the temperature at the airport was 11 degrees at 5 a.m., the coldest mark since last February. And Utah Highway Patrol tallied more than 300 crashes Monday, roughly two-thirds of which occurred in Salt Lake County. — Diane Maggipinto

Name Released In Millcreek Officer Involved Shooting

The man reportedly shot by police yesterday in Millcreek has been identified. Fifty-six year old Marc Dominic Neal was killed after Unified Police were called to his property during a dispute with his mother, who also lives in the Evergreen Avenue home. Officers found Neal holding a gun and the department's public information officer says police spent several minutes trying to convince him to drop the gun. Six UPD officers are now on administrative leave and West Valley police are investigating. — Diane Maggipinto

Region

Hospital Penalties

Nearly 40 hospitals in the Mountain West are being penalized for having high rates of infections or complications from hospital stays. The government penalizes the 25% of U.S. hospitals with the highest rates of infections and complications by lowering their Medicare reimbursements 1%. Six Utah hospitals will be penalized for high injury and complication rates this year. Castleview Hospital in Price is the only one that received penalties all of the last six years. LDS Hospital in Salt Lake was penalized every year but one. — Madelyn Beck, Mountain West News Bureau

Honoring Navajo Code Talker Joe Vandever Sr.

Flags on the Navajo Nation are at half-staff to honor a revered Navajo Code Talker who died in New Mexico last week. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez ordered all flags lowered through Thursday as a tribute to Joe Vandever Sr. Vandever was 96. He was among hundreds of Navajos who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, transmitting messages using a code based on the Navajo language. — Associated Press

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