TribTalk

Film festivals aren’t just for grown-ups anymore. For four years running, the Tumbleweeds Film Festival has screened independent and foreign films specifically made for children and youth. Tribune movie critic Sean P. Means joins Jennifer Napier-Pearce to chat about this year’s festival offerings plus the Salt Lake Film Society’s digital news and a preview of new movies coming to a theater near you.

Sure, Stericycle burns medical waste, but it also incinerates trash from international flights and biohazardous evidence from police investigations. Stericycle executive Selin Hoboy and Tribune environmental reporter Brian Maffly join Jennifer Napier-Pearce to discuss exactly what Stericycle does and the controversy surrounding where they do it.

Sweat lodges will continue at the veterans hospital in Salt Lake City. Last month, there was some dispute on how frequently the traditional American Indian ceremonies would be allowed at the facility and who would lead them after a sweat lodge leader abruptly left his VA post. Veterans Cory Navarro and Cal Bench along with Tribune justice reporter Nate Carlisle join Jennifer Napier-Pearce to talk about the controversy and why many veterans adopt the sweat lodge ritual.

Treatment for autism is expensive and many insurance plans won’t cover it. Last year, Utah lawmakers set up a trial "lottery" where 270 children with autism would be provided treatment through Medicaid. This year, a proposal making its way through the Legislature would make the program permanent. Another bill aims to require insurance companies to cover autism treatment. Rep. Ronda Menlove, Jon Owen with Utah Autism Coalition, Kelly Atkinson with Utah Insurance Association and Tribune health reporter Kirsten Stewart join Jennifer Napier-Pearce to discuss the autism lottery and the prospect of requiring insurers to cover treatment for the disorder that affects one in 47 Utah kids.

Adolescence - and all the confusion that comes with bodies, minds and relationships in flux - is bread and butter for young adult novelist Sara Zarr. In her 2009 book "What We Lost," Zarr uses the abduction of a teenage girl to explore the effect the tragedy has on youth in the community as well as deep questions of faith and doubt. Her latest work, "Roomies," takes a more lighthearted approach to youth in transition, focusing on two recent high school grads who are matched to become college roommates and the up-and-down process of becoming friends. Tribune columnist Ann Cannon, book reporter Ellen Fagg Weist and reporter Jennifer Napier-Pearce discuss Zarr's books during the Tribune’s monthly book club, Utah Lit.

Those who support eliminating Utah's caucus system of selecting candidates have been raising funds and collecting signatures for months, planning to take the issue directly to voters. Now the state legislature is poised to undermine the ballot measure long before Election Day with SB54, which incorporates language from the initiative, but also allows political parties to avoid direct primaries if certain conditions are met. Sen. Curt Bramble and Taylor Morgan with Count My Vote join Jennifer Napier-Pearce to talk about the Count My Vote debate and how SB54 changes the conversation.

One consequence of the Affordable Care Act is an option for states to expand Medicaid, which would provide health coverage to 123,000 uninsured Utahns. But it’s just an option, which so far, Republican leaders have snubbed. Instead, House Speaker Becky Lockhart recently unveiled a House plan to create a state-run program that would cover about 54,000 Utahns. But Gov. Gary Herbert called the idea “illogical.” Utah Hospital Association president Greg Bell, Lincoln Nehring of Voices for Utah Children and Tribune health reporter Kirsten Stewart join Jennifer Napier-Pearce to talk about the fate of Medicaid in Utah and if lawmakers will find a compromise.

He has only been in office for a year, but Rep. Chris Stewart has already snagged a spot on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. The post brings influence but also a duty to fundraise for the GOP.

A device for every Utah student. That’s the vision House Speaker Becky Lockhart is promoting, pitching a massive infusion of technology in Utah schools. She says electronics and bandwidth could cost up to $300 million; the Governor’s Education Excellence Commission pegs the cost closer to $750 million. Either way, where does the money come from and are digital tools the best use of the money?

Rumor has it that requirements for Mormon temple weddings may be changing. In Europe and South America, faithful LDS couples can be married civilly and then go to an LDS temple for religious rites, but in North America, couples must wait a year if they have a civil wedding first.