This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Where, oh where did Ken Ivory go?

The Republican legislator from West Jordan has disappeared from the website of Federalism in Action (FIA), a South Carolina group affiliated with organizations funded by the Koch brothers and other donors pushing right-wing causes.

He left his job as head of the American Lands Council (ALC), a group he co-founded, that pushes for transfer of federally controlled lands to state and local government, to join the FIA in February and head its Free the Lands initiative.

The job change came amid increased scrutiny about Ivory's role at the ALC and his $135,000 salary, which came from dues payments by local governments joining the group.

He was replaced as ALC's paid CEO by Montana state Sen. Jennifer Fielder, whose Senate staffer, William Macon Richardson, had to resign after Montana media disclosed he registered as a lobbyist for ALC while working in the Senate.

Ivory was listed on the FIA's website as one of its executives until recently, when his name dropped off. The West Jordan Republican did not respond to an email and text message seeking comment about his apparent departure. FIA's executive vice president, Jonathan Haines, also did not respond to an email.

Soon after joining FIA, Ivory began posting essays on its site promoting the idea of shifting public lands from federal to state control and urging the support of candidates who back that cause.

His latest conflict-of-interest form, filed when he registered to run for re-election, says he is employed as an attorney with the Stratton Law Group, headed by Rep. Keven Stratton, R-Orem, co-chairman of the Legislature's Commission for the Stewardship of Public Lands, the panel pushing to force the feds to turn over 31 million acres in Utah to the state.

Hard to break old habits? • The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a South Salt Lake police officer's decision to search a man for drugs without probable cause has spawned nationwide concerns.

Critics, including The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board, worry the green light given by the justices for cops to stop and search people for no reason could erode the constitutional protections against illegal search and seizure.

The 2006 arrest of Edward Strieff, who was busted for possessing a small amount of methamphetamine, was not the first time South Salt Lake's finest had stopped someone without probable cause.

Two years before the Strieff case, a South Salt Lake officer stopped, harassed and eventually arrested Tanya Ortega de Chamberlin, who had done nothing wrong.

Ortega de Chamberlin, a photographer, was standing on a public sidewalk near 3000 South Main when the officer approached her, demanding that she give him her name, date of birth and Social Security number and tell him whether she had a driver license.

Ortega de Chamberlin gave her name, but told the officer she was not required to provide the other information. She was cuffed and cited for allegedly interfering with or obstructing an officer by refusing to give information.

The charges eventually were dropped. She won a $9,000 settlement after suing the department for violating her civil rights.

Shedding more light • Problems keep piling up for the new prison site the Legislature selected near the Great Salt Lake.

First, it will cost millions just to stabilize the soil before construction even begins. Then, concerns recently arose about possible toxic dust storms caused by the shrinking lake.

Now, there's a new worry.

The National Audubon Society is launching its "Lights Out" campaign, asking cities to reduce excess lighting at night when many birds migrate. Such light, the group warns, can disorient the birds and cause many to die.

The new prison, with all of its lights, would sit in the path of one of the world's most important migratory bird flyways, and next to the Great Salt Lake, where vital nesting takes place, says Larry Kershaw, spokesman for the "Lights Out" campaign.

"Instead of Salt Lake City and surrounding areas complying with the Lights Out campaign to assist the migrating birds," Kershaw said, "we will be lighting them up, causing unnecessary death of birds."