If you're a teen in Utah looking to get that long-awaited driver's license on a Friday, forget about it.
 
No state employees at the DMV will be around to help you as of Aug. 8. That's because Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is ordering that the vast majority of state employees no longer work on Fridays. Instead, they will be transitioning to working four 10-hour days Monday through Thursday in an effort to reduce energy costs and save commuters money at the gas pump in the midst of a struggling economy.
 
Utah is the first state in the country to implement a mandatory four-day workweek on such a broad level. While some cities and counties throughout the United States have tried similar measures before, other states, such as Alabama and Hawaii, are now wondering whether they should follow Utah's lead.
 
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While health care for all Americans has been a major topic of discussion this presidential election season, one group has gone largely ignored. Some Iraqi interpreters, who served alongside U.S. troops in Iraq, have made their way to this country as refugees with a plight about as dire as could be imagined.
 
They risked their lives to help U.S. soldiers in a hostile environment, yet many of them who have been maimed in the process are now left wondering whether the United States will help them.
 
One of those former interpreters, Diyar al-Bayati, 22, is now adjusting, more like coping, with life in Salt Lake City. Having lost both of his legs in Iraq after a roadside bomb detonated, movement is difficult. His motorized wheelchair was destroyed on the flight to the United States, and he now relies on a manual one to get him around. A steel-and-foam set of prosthetic legs given to him at a hospital in Jordan are too painful to use.
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Barack Obama is targeting the reddest of the red states in his bid for the presidency.
 
The Obama campaign is telling volunteers in Utah that they can expect quite a few paid staffers to arrive here later this summer in an effort to win over what has been the nation's most reliably Republican state in recent years. This move signals Obama's willingness to make McCain potentially put up a fight in what would ordinarily be a landslide victory, and the strategy is indicative of how Obama views the electoral map.
 
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While health care for all Americans has been a major topic of discussion this presidential election season, one group has gone largely ignored. Some Iraqi interpreters, who served alongside U.S. troops in Iraq, have made their way to this country as refugees with a plight about as dire as could be imagined.
 
They risked their lives to help U.S. soldiers in a hostile environment, yet many of them who have been maimed in the process are now left wondering whether the United States will help them.
 
One of those former interpreters, Diyar al-Bayati, 22, is now adjusting, more like coping, with life in Salt Lake City. Having lost both of his legs in Iraq after a roadside bomb detonated, movement is difficult. His motorized wheelchair was destroyed on the flight to the United States, and he now relies on a manual one to get him around. A steel-and-foam set of prosthetic legs given to him at a hospital in Jordan are too painful to use.
 
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When Joseph Demma posted a note about the political ambitions of his boss on his Facebook page last Sunday, he undoubtedly had no idea about the backlash that would result.
 
He may have been kidding – some have called the post "overzealous" – but that is all beside the point now.
 
The ruckus began when Demma, chief of staff to Utah's Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, posted these words: "Joseph Michael Demma's Boss (just re-nominated for Lt. Gov) is now a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010!"
 
Since Demma is connected to several reporters via Facebook, the media quickly picked up on it.
 
The problem for Demma: his boss, Herbert, apparently has no desire to challenge U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, now in his third term. According to the Associated Press, Bennett is in the fundraising process and assembling a campaign staff to run for re-election in 2010.
 
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