• What was widely interpreted as a slap at state archaeologist Kevin Jones and staff, HB308, originally would have removed the state historic preservation officer from the Division of State History and placed the work in the Division of Wildlife Resources. Wildlife Resources Acting Director Miles Moretti severely criticized the archaeologists, but supporters of the archaeologists said they were simply advising agencies how to comply with protection laws.

The bill was amended and the version that passed the House called for an interim committee to study where the archaeologists should go — as long as they were removed from the state history division. In the waning hours of the session, HB308 was pending in the Senate.

• HCR7, a concurrent resolution strongly urging the federal government not to resume nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site, passed the Legislature. It notes that "many Utahns and many other citizens living downwind of those tests suffered as a result of being 'active participants'. . . . A resumption of nuclear testing at the federal government's Nevada Test Site would mean a return to the mistakes and miscalculations of the past that have marred many Utahns."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com