Access Utah

During the first half of Access Utah, Sheri Quinn talks with author Christine Geery about her first book, "A Heart Full of Hope." In the book, she tells the stories of what she calls her "ordinary life." Each story reveals the extraordinary experiences many of us can relate to but oftentimes overlook.

How do we control health care costs, reduce the numbers of uninsured Utahns, ensure high quality health care, and provide for a sound economy? Governor Herbert and Utah legislators are grappling with those questions and deciding how to implement the Affordable Care Act and whether to expand Medicaid.

The U. S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments later this month on a challenge to California’s Proposition 8, narrowly approved by voters in 2008. The amendment to the state’s constitution states that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The Utah Pride Center and 26 other groups recently filed a brief with court urging the justices to declare that gay and lesbian couples have the right to marry. Last month the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints along with other churches and groups filed a brief supporting traditional marriage.

The recent suicide of Utah junior high school student, David Phan, has focused attention on bullying. Other recent teen suicides have prompted action at the Utah legislature.

We’ll try to find a good balance among many competing uses of our limited water supply on Monday’s Access Utah. We’ll preview the Bear River Basin Forum, sponsored by the Bear River Watershed Council.

The federal budget sequester, which was supposed to be a poison pill that would motivate Democrats and Republicans to come up with a compromise, may go into effect on Friday. Thursday we’ll examine possible effects on Utah’s budget and economy.

Wednesday we’ll take a break from current affairs and politics for an Access Utah tradition: a program of great Bossa Nova and Samba music from the USU Performance Hall. We’ll preview the annual “Evening in Brazil” event, which happens on Friday at the Riverwoods Conference Center in Logan.

Many Utahns are getting frustrated with what they see as slow and ineffective progress toward solving our air pollution problem.

"Makers: Voices of Utah Women" is a new documentary which premieres February 26 on KUED. According to the producers, the film “tells the story of the women’s movement in Utah through the firsthand accounts of leaders and activists who fought to alter the social fabric of the state. It was a time when women were learning to speak up and speak out. A time when women had different visions of what equality meant. A time when the voices of Utah women would finally be heard.”

Host Sheri Quinn presents a one-hour special report about the history of Utah's mental health system called "The State of the Utah's Health." Changes have taken place over the last couple of years to overhaul what mental health industry experts call an outdated system that does not work and is currently in crisis.