PodcastDirectory.com's listings of the KCPW Midday Metro Podcasts

Politics Up Close: Mayor Ralph Becker on Public Safety Complex Proposal

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker makes his monthly visit to our studios. The chorus of voices who are criticizing his plan to build a new police headquarters near to the Main City Library is growing. Has this caused him to re-consider, or is it stay the course? We find out.

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President Barack Obama is demanding a halt to Jewish Settlements in the West Bank, but Israeli politicians say, not so fast. What is the future of U.S. Israeli relations under President Obama, and is there room for peace in the next four years? We talk with University of Utah law professor Amos Guiora.

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With Governor Jon Huntsman set to depart for China within a few months, the governor's seat will be open for a special election in November of 2010. Does Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon have any interest in running? Is he disappointed to see a progressive Republican leader leaving the state? We talk with him.

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Utah Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland is running to keep his job as party chairman. We spoke with Holland's opponent Jeff Bell two weeks ago, who criticized his leadership. Holland responds and makes his case for a third term as chairman.

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Joining Politics Up Close is Republican State Senator Howard Stephenson and attorney Mike Lee with SOS Secret Ballot. We heard last week from the AFL-CIO about why the Employee Free Choice Act is a good thing. Stephenson and Lee tell us why it's not when it comes to the secret ballot. Listen to a conversation with Utah AFL-CIO President Jim Judd in support of the legislation.

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Is a proposal to put the new police headquarters right next to the Salt Lake City Main Library a good idea or not? It's a hot topic that's got some people riled up. We talk with city councilmen J.T. Martin and Luke Garrott, who have opposing viewpoints.

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Economist Russell Roberts tells us why global trade should be expanded during this economic downturn. He'll be in Salt Lake this week for a Zions Bank conference on international trade.

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Jeff Bell is challenging incumbent Wayne Holland to be chairman of the Utah Democratic Party.

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We're joined by Salt Lake County Council Chairman Joe Hatch. He's pushing a proposal that would let the county's employees choose whether they want to be represented by a union, then require the county to negotiate with those unions.

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We have a conversation with Mayor Ralph Becker about his proposal to put a new police headquarters right next to the downtown library, and then a conversation with former Mayor Rocky Anderson about why this idea is all wrong.

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In this excerpt from Friday's Politics Up Close, Jim Judd, President of the Utah AFL-CIO, discusses the controversial Employee Free Choice Act. It's opposed by most of Utah's congressional delegation.

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In this excerpt from KCPW's most recent episode of Politics Up Close, David Clark, Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, defends a new law that has been criticized for failing to prevent former lawmakers from immediately becoming lobbyists.

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Jim Judd is President of the Utah AFL-CIO. He and other labor leaders across the country are hoping Congress passes the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would make it easier to unionize through a process called card check. But it has little or no support from Utah's own congressional delegation, which says it will eliminate the secret ballot. We'll sort out the facts of the legislation.

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Stephen Bloch is Conservation Director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. SUWA isn't happy with Senator Bob Bennett for holding up the confirmation process for two Interior Department Officials. But Senator Bennett says he's looking out for Utah's best interests after Secretary Ken Salazar put a hold on 77 controversial oil and gas lease parcels. We talk with Bloch about Bennett's actions, wilderness, and how he hopes the BLM handles a protest ATV ride this weekend.

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The state legislature recently asked Governor Huntsman to drop the issues of redistricting and legislative ethics from his new commission, which the governor agreed to do. We ask Clark why only the legislature should have the authority to deal with these issues.

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Senator Bob Bennett discusses why he's currently blocking the appointment of a nominee for Deputy Secretary of the Interior. He wants more answers out of Secretary Ken Salazar, who's here in Salt Lake City today.

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Politifact.com researcher and reporter Angie Holan discusses which promises from the campaign trail President Barack Obama has kept, and which he's broken, now that we're past his first 100 days in office.

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Lucinda Roy was chair of the English Department at Virginia Tech when she met Seung-Hui Cho, who later went on to kill 32 people in April 2007 in the worst gun massacre in American history. In this excerpt, she discusses the balance between academic freedom and student safety in light of the tragedy.

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In this excerpt from Friday's Politics Up Close, Clark Aposhian, Chair of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, discusses a bill from this past legislative session that would have only allowed Utah residents to become Utah concealed weapons permit instructors.

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Politics Up Close is joined by Steve Gunn with the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, who shares his concerns about a new law that tells business owners they can't prevent their patrons from carrying a gun in their cars.

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