Access Utah

Every seven seconds someone in the world is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Today on Access Utah, Author Patti Kerr joins Sheri Quinn to discuss her personal journey with caring for a family member with Alzheimer's disease. She offers practical advice for caregivers. 

We're spending our time discussing the outdoors Thursday on Access Utah. First on the program we discuss the aspen trees on Monroe Mountain in Central Utah.  Elk, cattle and sheep arrived in the '80s and eat the shoots of young aspen stands. If the trend continues, there may not be any new trees, and the area could be taken over by sagebrush. Ranchers, environmentalists, State and Federal workers are all gathering to find ways to help the trees.

Ambassador Peter Tomsen was the special envoy to Afghan resistance leaders from 1989 to 1992 under President George H.W. Bush. He's the author of The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers in addition to being a guest on the Daily Show with John Stewart. Tom Williams will go for a more in-depth interview with Tomsen on Wednesday's Access Utah. 

A report released by the Annie E. casey Foundation Wednesday shows 16 percent of children in Utah live below the federal poverty threshold. The 2012 Kids Count Data Book analyses the well-being of children across the nation using indicators such as education, health, economic well-being and community. 

 We have Utah Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck on to talk about the political process and child poverty, we have Terry Haven and Karen Crompton from Voices for Utah Children to discuss the report and what it means for Utah. 

Monday I met with Utah State University Extension Horticulturist Jerry Goodspeed to discuss shrubbery. What shrubs are drought-safe? What shrubs need lots of attention or virtually no attention? 

The greater Sage Grouse is symbol of conservation across the western United States.  There are only about 200,000 of these birds left in the wild and states where this iconic sage grouse inhabit are all collaborating on a conservation plan, Utah included.  Today on the program, Sheri Quinn talks to wildlife biologist Allison Jones about the greater sage grouse and efforts in Utah to protect it.

On Access Utah we discuss the book, "Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Let to Economic Armageddon" about how the economic collapse happened. We talk to co-author and journalist Gretchen Morgenson about the background of the book, and look  toward the future.  At the end of the hour, Jennifer Pemberton tells us about celebrating Pioneer Day for the first time. 

On Wednesday we re-broadcast a show played earlier in 2012, about homelessness in Utah. Guests include Pamela Atkinson, a leading advocate for Utah's Homeless, and Leon Anderson a Utah State University professor of Sociology and Social Work. 

Tom Williams discusses how to approach the topic, the fatality rate, and the homeless themselves. 

Tuesday's Access Utah is overtaken by extreme weather as The Backstory takes over the airwaves. 

The History Guys talk about the first time Americans received disaster relief from the federal government, rain-making, and of course, weather. 

In 1946 General Electric tried their hand at weather modification, and could create snow. But they canceled the program. "General Electric got scared. Because when you control the weather, there's no such thing as an act of God. When something goes wrong, you're to blame. "

Utah State University Extension Soil Specialist Grant Cardon joins Bryan Earl to discuss why you can't grow blueberries and other plants you've seen back east. On Access Utah Monday we'll talk about why the soil is so alkaline, cover crops, and have the latest Wild about Utah.