• LDS Church statement seen as supporting efforts to reform liquor laws

The state's hospitality industry is buoyed by an LDS Church statement that suggests a willingness to support responsible changes to portions of Utah liquor laws. The statement posted on the church's Web site earlier this week makes no mention of the industry's push to abolish private club membership fees people must pay before they can buy a drink. But it does acknowledges that a proposed liquor-law reform measure is likely to come before the 2009 Legislature and it suggests that reasonable dialogue is possible.