The Salt Lake Tribune

Empty chairs outnumbered people -- even as the Salt Lake County Council considered approving its first property tax increase in nearly a decade. Wade Marshall sat alone in his row, leafing through a budget document and wondering aloud whether the county really needs more money when it can Full Story »

With just a handful of residents and a Boy Scout troop looking on, Salt Lake City made a seminal change in its alcohol rules Tuesday, eliminating downtown's two-bar-per-block restriction that has vexed tourists and business travelers for decades. Full Story »

Rocky Mountain Power is urging all customers to limit electricity use while cold temperatures persist. This week's cold snap has strained electricity supplies in the Mountain West, putting the region at risk of power outages, said Rocky Mountain Power spokesman Jeff Hymas. Full Story »

Farmington » Despite slumping sales tax revenue and several new building projects in sight, Davis County will have a balanced budget for 2010. The County Commission unanimously approved a $92. Full Story »

As Utahns from Wendover to Vernal and Tremonton to St. George finished digging out from Tuesday's major snowstorm, the skies cleared and temperatures began to drop. Full Story »

Provo » The state and Utah County may have moved too quickly to seal Nutty Putty Cave, a Utah County Commission candidate believes. Joel Wright, a Cedar Hills attorney, told the Utah County Commission Tuesday that the county and the State Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) Full Story »

Salt Lake County is seeing an increase in a sexually transmitted disease that public health officials once expected to be eradicated. The number of syphilis cases has jumped dramatically during the past decade, from one in 2000 to 33 and counting this year. Full Story »

Chewing gum led to the arrests of four people accused of an aggravated robbery in Murray earlier this month. According to charging documents filed Tuesday in 3rd District Court, two juveniles and two men, ages 21 and 20, allegedly approached a car and brandished a handgun on Dec. Full Story »

A Salt Lake City man is accused of beating his toddler because the child wouldn't eat a vegetable for dinner. The 25-year-old father was charged Tuesday with second-degree felony child abuse in 3rd District Court in connection with repeatedly spanking his 2-year-old boy in early November for Full Story »

Mayors from all over the state -- 61 so far, including Price Democrat Joe Piccolo -- have banded together in support of U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett. "He's always been very interested in our needs and helpful in coming up with solutions," said Mayor Matthew Godfrey, in his 10th year as Ogden's chief Full Story »

Is the idea of health care cooperatives dead in the House and current Senate bill? I continue to see references to health care exchanges in these bills. Full Story »

Washington » Utah Sen. Bob Bennett criticized President Barack Obama on Tuesday for proposing to shift billions of dollars in leftover money from the bailout of Wall Street for a jobs bill. Full Story »

Pointing to the cold weather as a need for affordable housing, low-income advocates are calling on capital city leaders to reopen rooms at State Street's Regis Hotel. Full Story »

A Salt Lake City woman charged with kidnapping a 6-year-old boy, interrogating him with a video camera and forcing him to admit to abusing her child, will serve no additional jail time. Full Story »

A Utah Highway Patrol trooper suffered a broken ankle Tuesday afternoon when a car hit him while he was investigating an accident on Interstate 215 and 5000 South in Taylorsville. Full Story »

Police are looking for a missing West Valley City woman who was last seen Sunday at her home. Capt. Tom McLachlan said Susan and Joshua Powell and their kids were reported missing by family members Monday. Full Story »

Washington » The Senate on Tuesday rejected Sen. Orrin Hatch's attempt to block women from using federal subsidies to buy insurance that covers abortion. Full Story »

Even among Republican faithful, there appears to be support for raising the tobacco tax, according to a poll commissioned by the measure's proponents. Full Story »

The U.S. Energy Department is trying to decide whether it should start shipping depleted uranium that was originally headed to Utah last fall. Federal stimulus money is paying for 15,000 barrels of uranium-enrichment waste from the Savannah River Project in South Carolina to be buried in the Full Story »

Eldorado, Texas » Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott made a surprise appearance Tuesday at the trial of a polygamist group member, taking notes during jury selection but not actively participating in the questioning of potential jurors. Full Story »

A Colorado woman died Monday afternoon when her car rolled several times off of SR-163 near Mexican Hat. Mary Elizabeth Broome, 40, was wearing her seat belt, but the driver's side roof was crushed, killing her. Full Story »

Cedar City » A jury in Cedar City on Tuesday convicted a Beryl man on capital murder charges for fatally shooting two St. George men in his trailer more than two years ago. Full Story »

Salt Lake City's official New Year's Eve celebration will be replaced with a three-day arts festival that will offer triple the amount of activities downtown, officials said Tuesday. Full Story »

A man who is accused of shooting and killing his would-be bride in Indiana may have been spotted in southern Utah. On Nov. 27, Steven Farrell, 57, of Lafayette, Ind. Full Story »

A 15-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting JoJo Lee Brandstatt on a West Valley City golf course earlier this year suffered years of child abuse at the hands of his parents, a juvenile probation officer testified Tuesday. Full Story »