DENVER—Today the United States Senate voted to confirm Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior Department. Zinke served as U.S. Representative from Montana from 2015 through 2017.
The Center for Western Priorities issued the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala following the vote:
“Ryan Zinke has said he wants to follow in the footsteps of Teddy Roosevelt, arguably our greatest conservation president. As Interior Secretary, he’ll have a chance to put those words to action. Starting on day one at the Interior Department we’ll see which Ryan Zinke shows up: the one who voted to grease the skids for selling our national public lands or the one with a backbone to stand up to some of Congress’ very worst instincts.
"Some in Congress are already asking Secretary Zinke and the Trump administration to eliminate one of our newest national monuments from the map. We’ll be watching closely to see whether Secretary Zinke lives up to the legacy of Teddy Roosevelt, or simply caters to campaign donors.”
A former Navy SEAL, Ryan Zinke is an avid sportsman who is a self-proclaimed opponent of selling or otherwise disposing of U.S. public lands. In 2016, Zinke resigned as a delegate from the Republican National Convention over an anti-public lands platform plank. During his confirmation hearing, Zinke said he was “absolutely against transfer or sale of public land.”
However, in 2017, he voted for a House rules package that included a provision valuing public lands at $0, an accounting gimmick making it easier to pass legislation disposing of public lands into state and private.
For more information, visit westernpriorities.org. To speak with an expert on public lands, contact Aaron Weiss at 720-279-0019 or aaron@westernpriorities.org.
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The Center for Western Priorities is a conservation policy and advocacy organization focused on land and energy issues across the American West.
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Cat named Robin Hood shot with arrow, $5,000 reward offered
Humane Society of Utah adds reward for the arrest in cat shooting case
The Humane Society of Utah (HSU) announced that it is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for shooting a 4-year-old orange tabby cat named Robin Hood in the Millcreek, Utah area. The HSU hopes the reward assists the Salt Lake County Animal Services in obtaining information required to identify and charge the responsible assailant.
Robin Hood was found by a Millcreek resident Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, in the area of 1300 East and 3300 South.
According to a statement by the Salt Lake County Animal Services, the cat was found with a Crosman pistol bolt lodged in his neck and wounds on the face caused by a shot from a pellet gun.
“The fact that this cat suffered for several days with these unwarranted injuries is both gruesome and heartbreaking,” said Deann Shepherd, HSU representative. “Torturous acts of violence against our companion animals in inexcusable and the person responsible needs to be held accountable. We hope this reward offers an incentive for someone to come forward with information.”
Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact Salt Lake County Animal Services at 801-743-7045.
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About the Humane Society of Utah
The Humane Society of Utah is dedicated to the elimination of pain, fear and suffering in all animals. Since 1960, the HSU has been sheltering abandoned animals, fighting cruelty and neglect, and creating an environment of respect, responsibility, and compassion for all animals across our state. HSU is an open-admissions shelter, meaning that our doors are always open for any animal that we can legally accept. We work hard to ensure that every healthy and treatable pet that enters our facility will be placed into a loving home. The Humane Society of Utah is a 501(c)(3) private nonprofit organization. We receive no tax dollars or government funding. HSU is funded by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses and foundations. Read more about the HSU online at www.utahhumane.org.
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SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, USA, March 1, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Shannon Connor Phillips, MD, MPH, has been named as Intermountain Healthcare’s Chief Patient Safety and Experience Officer. In this role, Dr. Phillips will work collaboratively with other Intermountain leaders to continually improve outcomes, safety, and the patient experience.
Dr. Phillips comes to Intermountain from Cleveland Clinic, where she is a physician lead in the Office of Clinical Transformation. She also served as Associate Chief Quality Officer and previously as the organization’s first Patient Safety Officer. In addition, she is on the National Quality Forum Expert Panel on Common Formats, a group focused on development of a national standard and repository for patient safety events. Dr. Phillips is recognized nationally and internationally for her expertise and leadership in safety, quality improvement, and culture in healthcare.
Dr. Phillips is a pediatrician and pediatric hospitalist with an interest in children with special healthcare needs. She joined Cleveland Clinic in 2004 to develop and lead a pediatric hospitalist medicine program and served as the first Cleveland Clinic Director of Pediatric Hospital Medicine. Previously, Dr. Phillips served at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indiana and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Dr. Phillips earned her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York and her undergraduate degree from Emory College in Atlanta. She completed a pediatric internship and residency at George Washington University Children’s National Medical Center, in Washington, D.C. In addition, she earned a Master of Public Health degree at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University.
Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, 185 clinics, a Medical Group with about 1,500 employed physicians and advanced practitioners, a health plans group called SelectHealth, and other medical services. Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare through high quality and sustainable costs. For more information about Intermountain, visit www.intermountainhealthcare.org
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Friends of the Earth Statement on Trump Address
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tonight Donald Trump is giving an address just hours after signing an executive order to gut the Clean Water Rule.
Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica offered the following statement before Trump’s address:
Trump is putting our government in the hands of big corporations and no industry has gotten a bigger slice than Big Oil. Trump put the head of the world’s largest oil company in charge of our foreign policy and placed a climate denier at the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency to erode it from within. He has approved dirty pipelines and he is rolling back protections for clean air and safe water.
Since he took office, Trump has led an assault against public health on behalf of his billionaire buddies. Trump might not feel the impacts, cloistered away in Trump Towers, Mar-a-Lago and the White House, but everyday Americans will. The mounting pollution will increase asthma, lung disease and cancer in low-income communities and communities of color. As Trump gives his address tonight, we must remember the millions of Americans Trump is sacrificing to corporate corruption.
For real-time quotes, Friends of the Earth Senior Political Strategist Ben Schreiber will be live tweeting the address tonight.
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Friends of the Earth fights to create a more healthy and just world. Our current campaigns focus on promoting clean energy and solutions to climate change, ensuring the food we eat and products we use are safe and sustainable, and protecting marine ecosystems and the people who live and work near them.
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