
Ben Winslow
Fox 13 Reporter
Ben Winslow is FOX 13's reporter on Capitol Hill covering a wide variety of topics including politics, polygamy, vice and courts. He has been in the news business in Utah for more than 20 years now, working in radio, newspaper, television and digital news.
Winslow has received numerous honors for his reporting, including a national Edward R. Murrow award; the Religion Newswriters Association Local TV News Report of the Year; the Utah Broadcaster's Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. Readers of Salt Lake City Weekly and Q Salt Lake have named him their "Best TV news reporter" for many years now.
He co-hosts "Utah Booze News: An Alcohol Policy Podcast," covering the state's often confusing and quirky liquor laws. Winslow is also known for his very active Twitter account keeping Utahns up-to-date on important news.
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SALT LAKE CITY — Governor Spencer Cox's office on Wednesday released an action plan for how the state handles agriculture's water use. Agriculture is the single largest user of water in Utah. "We reco...

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Senate voted unanimously on Monday to support a bill that increases the amount of money to get you to ditch your lawn. Senate Bill 118 , sponsored by Sen. Scott Sandall...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Governor Spencer Cox issued an executive order on Friday raising the Great Salt Lake causeway berm to keep snowpack in the south arm of the lake, propping it up. "The Great Salt Lake...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Legislative leaders have been talking about water conservation and saving the Great Salt Lake, going so far as to declare it "Water Week" on Utah's Capitol Hill. But after a pair of b...

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SALT LAKE CITY — With dozens of bills coming in the Utah State Legislature dealing with water, a small group of lawmakers have formed a special caucus focused on helping the Great Salt Lake. "We're no...

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SALT LAKE CITY — It's "Water Week" in the Utah State Legislature. House and Senate leaders unveiled a series of bills and funding initiatives centered around water conservation and saving the Great Sa...
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SALT LAKE CITY — House and Senate leaders will unveil a series of bills next week aimed at water conservation and the Great Salt Lake. "That will be a big policy and a big funding priority for us," Ho...
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SALT LAKE CITY — A series of bills are being introduced designed to save the Great Salt Lake. At a news conference, the environmental group Utah Rivers Council announced its support for a pending reso...
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SALT LAKE CITY — A state lawmaker is proposing to increase the amount of money to get people to tear out turf they don't really use. Rep. Doug Owens, D-Millcreek, told FOX 13 News he will file a bill...
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SALT LAKE CITY — Governor Spencer Cox said he will not let the Great Salt Lake go dry, pledging new measures to prop it up. "I'm telling people: On my watch we are not allowing the lake to go dry. We...
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SALT LAKE CITY — A group of researchers and environmentalists are calling for an "emergency rescue" by policymakers to save the Great Salt Lake. In a new report issued Thursday, 31 different conservat...
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SALT LAKE CITY — A pair of reports prepared for Governor Spencer Cox's administration and the Utah State Legislature call for increased efforts to save water and protect the Great Salt Lake. On Thursd...

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LAYTON, Utah — The Weber Basin Water Conservancy District has begun sending emergency releases of water into the Great Salt Lake. It's a move designed to help prop up the levels of the rapidly declini...

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TREMONTON, Utah — Charles Holmgren turns on a propane tank and turns on the flame on a nearby burner. He'll leave it going, while he does other things on his Tremonton farm. "Typically, it will run fr...

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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would have dramatically changed how Utahns pay for water will not be advancing in the state legislature this year. On Wednesday, Senate Revenue & Taxation Committee Chair...
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SALT LAKE CITY — As the Great Salt Lake moves closer to ecosystem collapse, the state of Utah is taking steps to try to quickly get more water into it, including paying farmers to stop growing certain...

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SALT LAKE CITY — The levels of the Great Salt Lake have started to stabilize for now, according to a new drought report released by Utah's Department of Natural Resources. "Great Salt Lake levels have...
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SALT LAKE CITY — Governor Spencer Cox has issued a proclamation suspending any new water appropriations in the Bear, Jordan and Weber river basins in an effort to help get more water into the Great Sa...
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LOGAN, Utah — New research and environmental initiatives are under way to offer potential solutions to saving the Great Salt Lake. Dr. Joanna Endter-Wada, a social scientist in Utah State University's...

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SALT LAKE CITY — A new study released by an environmental group claims that 20% more water could be put into the Great Salt Lake if property tax laws were changed to force conservation. The proposed b...

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Sin City's strict water conservation measures might be a good example for Utah to follow in the drought. As part of the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, Fox 13 News traveled to Las Vegas to examine how...

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As the Great Salt Lake continues to decline, water conservation is more urgently needed. But is Utah doing enough? As part of the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, Fox 13 News recently traveled outside t...

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OGDEN, Utah — The idea of a pipeline from the Pacific Ocean to the Great Salt Lake has raised eyebrows and made some snicker. FOX 13 News first reported on the idea in May when the Utah State Legislat...

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OGDEN, Utah — As the Great Salt Lake continues to decline rapidly, state officials warned that Utahns will have to significantly increase water conservation. "We simply need to use less water, but we...

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake has dropped to such a low level, the U.S. Geological Survey's measuring system at the marina no longer works. "Levels are too low for the Saltair Lake Elevation Ga...

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SALT LAKE CITY — A major bill unveiled on Utah's Capitol Hill could dramatically change how water is paid for in the state. The bill was formally presented on Wednesday by Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton,...

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SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Sen. Mitt Romney warned that Utah will likely have to pursue more aggressive water conservation measures in the face of the drought and a shrinking Great Salt Lake. Utah's juni...

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THE WEST DESERT, Utah — It looks a bit like a mirage in the desert expanse. A pump house, built in the 1980s at a time when the Great Salt Lake was at a record high, is still maintained and ready to r...
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LAKESIDE, Utah — Crews have completed efforts to raise a berm by four feet in an "emergency surgery" effort to balance the salinity of the shrinking Great Salt Lake. "It was critical," Eric Dixon, the...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Water conservation measures have helped keep Utah's drought situation from getting worse, state officials told a legislative panel on Wednesday. At a briefing before the Utah State Le...
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SALT LAKE CITY — All of northern Utah faces risk from dust storms laced with arsenic and other chemicals from a shrinking Great Salt Lake, a scientist warned a panel of lawmakers on Tuesday night. "Th...

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ST. GEORGE, Utah — Wilson and Kari Jimenez are thrilled with how their yard looks. "We still have a little bit of grass here, but we plan to eliminate the rest of that and continue with the desert lan...

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SALT LAKE CITY — A special blend of grasses that uses less water and still looks good has proven to be such a hit, other communities want it. "It’s been an incredible hit," said Dr. Kelly Kopp, a prof...
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SALT LAKE CITY — An environmental group is pushing for the Great Salt Lake to be treated like a sovereign entity worthy of its own legal rights. "We believe Great Salt Lake should have a right to flou...
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LOGAN, Utah — Governor Spencer Cox said more money will be needed to expand water conservation measures and save the Great Salt Lake. At a forum on Thursday hosted at Utah State University's Janet Qui...
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SALT LAKE CITY — A group met with some Utah lawmakers and representatives of the governor's office to pitch an idea of a pipeline from the Pacific Ocean to the Great Salt Lake. International Water Hol...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Saving the Great Salt Lake will be his "top priority" in office, the new head of Utah's Department of Natural Resources said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Friday. "Right now,...

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SALT LAKE CITY — The grass in the small park on the corner of Concord Street and California Avenue looks and feels just like any other lawn. But the specially-created blend of grass called " SLC Turf...

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FARMINGTON BAY, Utah — As the airboats moved through the marshes, hundreds of birds took flight. Senator Mitt Romney marveled at them. "You fly by this area on commercial aircraft and you look down, y...
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SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake County Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution calling for action to save the Great Salt Lake. The resolution, sponsored by Council member Richard Snelgrove,...
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SALT LAKE CITY — The last boats have been pulled from the Great Salt Lake Marina. FOX 13 News documented cranes lifting the remaining boats out on Wednesday. It is a result of the Great Salt Lake cont...
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FARMINGTON BAY, Utah — The powerful Speaker of Utah's House of Representatives is planning more legislation to help save the rapidly shrinking Great Salt Lake. "The lake? The lake’s struggling right n...
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SALT LAKE CITY — Governor Spencer Cox said more action will be taken to help save the Great Salt Lake, which continues to drop to new lows. "Should we have started earlier? Probably. But we are where...
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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake has dropped to a new historic low, FOX 13 News has confirmed. The imperiled lake has dropped to 4,190.1, below last year's record low of 4,190.2 feet. "It’s come a...
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RIVERTON, Utah — A bill designed to change how Utahns pay for water in their property tax bills is advancing on Utah's Capitol Hill. Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, is proposing a major change in how prop...
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Tech conserves water, but also costs a lot of money TREMONTON, Utah — Colton Russon can control the irrigation system with his phone. The Tremonton farmer has installed a series of automated irrigatio...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Members of Utah's congressional delegation have introduced a bill that seeks to get more water into the Great Salt Lake. The bill could include a pipeline to get more water into the s...
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WEST JORDAN, Utah — The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District is asking all of its customers to cut their water use by at least 10%. That's both indoor and outdoor use. "We’re not seeing the snowpa...
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SALT LAKE CITY — Recent wind storms that hit the Wasatch Front brought dust from the West Desert and Great Salt Lake into communities, state officials said. Time-lapse videos (below) from FOX 13 News...
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Environmental groups get $40m to secure water SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake may be weeks away from hitting its new historic low. The lake could to drop over the next three to four weeks, Laura...
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More dust storms could blow into the Wasatch Front as a result of increasingly exposed lake bed, state leaders are warning. FARMINGTON BAY, Utah — More dust storms could blow into the Wasatch Front as...
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A legislative commission is floating the idea of a pipeline to bring water from the Pacific Ocean into the Great Salt Lake. SALT LAKE CITY — A legislative commission is floating the idea of a pipeline...

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WASHINGTON CITY, Utah — Outside the Washington City Cemetery and a nearby athletic field, city crews are removing turf. "We've identified areas throughout the city that we have deemed as non-functiona...
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WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Outside City Hall, some patches of grass look a little different than others. Look closely, and you'll see it's not real grass. West Valley City replaced some lawn around City...
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{youtube}2W_S-pYqK7M{/youtube} SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake is projected to drop another two feet to hit a new historic low this year, state officials warned on Tuesday. During a briefing to t...
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{youtube}hJ8b3n4TUHI{/youtube} SALT LAKE CITY — The projection that the Great Salt Lake may hit a new record low this year is pressuring Utah political leaders to do more to protect the massive water...

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The shrinking Great Salt Lake could create more problems, with animals migrating in search of new food sources. ANTELOPE ISLAND, Utah — The shrinking Great Salt Lake could create more problems, with a...

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah National Guard dropped three Blackhawk helicopters on Capitol Hill to pick up lawmakers, taking them on an aerial tour of the shrinking Great Salt Lake. FOX 13 News accompani...

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah National Guard will fly dozens of lawmakers over the Great Salt Lake so they can see first-hand how far it has shrunk, FOX 13 News has learned. Rep. Doug Owens, D-Millcreek,...
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