• Former Utah teacher who now leads the National Education Association says Trump is scaring children to tears

    Washington • A former Utah school teacher who is now head of the nation’s largest union said Friday that President Donald Trump is scaring children to tears across the country.Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, said Trump’s comments about Muslims, Mexicans and transgender people have left educators to try to calm students who are frightened for their lives and futures. “We are facing a reckless, irresponsible administration that creates
  • Remembering Utah’s forgotten pioneers who faced an unforgiving foe: mental illness

    Several large sections of the Provo City Cemetery appear vacant. No headstones. No flowers. No memorials to mark the final resting places of nearly 500 early Utah settlers.Those buried here were far from being blessed, honored pioneers. Oh, they braved danger, blazed trails and broke ground, but it wasn’t for the sake of future generations. And, in most cases it was entirely against their will.Those sections of the cemetery that appear unused are the burial grounds for patients — tho
  • AP Exclusive: Miami homeless removed against their will

    Miami • On what is likely the last clear day in Florida before Hurricane Irma’s monster wind and rain, social workers and police officers are giving Miami’s estimated 1,100 homeless people a stark choice: Come willingly to a storm shelter, or be held against their will for a mental health evaluation.With the outer edge of the storm approaching Friday, these officials — backed by a psychiatrist and observed by an Associated Press team — rolled through chillingly empty
  • Troy Gentry of country duo Montgomery Gentry dies in helicopter crash

    Lumberton, N.J • Troy Gentry, one half of the award-winning country music duo Montgomery Gentry, died Friday in a helicopter crash just hours before a concert, according to a statement from the band’s website. He was 50.Authorities said the helicopter crashed in a wooded area while approaching the Flying W Airport in Medford hours before Montgomery Gentry was due to perform at a resort that is also housed at the airport.The band’s website called Gentry’s death “
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  • Benjamin Booker ready to expand his horizons in Salt Lake City

    Benjamin Booker is 28 years old, but a conversation with the punk rock-infused blues singer-songwriter reveals an old-soul wisdom that is at the root of his powerful music. Booker is a Florida native who grew up in the punk rock music scene. After graduating from the University of Florida in Gainesville, he moved to New Orleans and pursued a musical career. He released his sophomore album, “Witness,” in June. The album, which features the unmistakable vocals of gospel singer Mavis St
  • SLC police detail investigation into evidence room employee who failed drug test after exhibiting strange behavior

    The Salt Lake City Police Department on Friday released details of an investigation into a former civilian evidence room employee who failed a drug test.Chief Mike Brown said investigators do not believe any evidence was compromised.The employee, who had been put on leave, no longer works for the department, Brown said during a news conference.This story will be updated.
  • From Main Street bowling alley to thriving community — Rowland Hall celebrates 150th anniversary

    As the successor to Utah’s first non-Mormon day school reaches its 150th anniversary, teacher Nate Kogan is what the Rowland Hall community calls “a lifer.”Having attended the private Salt Lake City school from preschool to 12th grade, Kogan introduces himself to new students each fall by sharing how that 150-year legacy has shaped his life.“I tell them, honestly, that it’s an honor to be able to serve on faculty with colleagues who helped craft my own love of educa
  • Real Salt Lake will be close to full-strength for critical match at Vancouver

    Albert Rusnák stepped onto the pitch with some of the biggest names in the Premier League at storied Wembley Stadium on Monday to represent his country. By Wednesday he had to turn his mind back to MLS.“All of them are great athletes, great players,” the Slovakia national team member said of the English side, “so coming on and playing against them in a game where we haven’t lost by a country mile, you know, we were still in it till the last minute, so that was spec
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  • Yes, there are fans who cheer for BYU and Utah. And they get grief for it. Here’s why they put up with all that smack.

    The week was bookended blue and red.But it wasn’t until Brad Klekas filled up his water bottle at work and began the walk back to his desk that a co-worker at another cubicle did a double take. “You can’t be wearing this polo!” he shouted at Klekas across the floor.Why not? Well, earlier this recent week, Klekas proudly sported a blue Brigham Young University polo shirt. A few days later, he showed up in red, a drum-and-feather logo on his chest. This spawned outrage, deb
  • Southern Utah’s Tuacahn quenches thirst for family-friendly theater

    Ivins •The Tuacahn Amphitheatre that draws more than 285,000 patrons each year is a far cry from the idea behind the arts center when it opened in 1995.With Hyrum Smith financing the project and Douglas Stewart writing a play, the outdoor center at the base of a spectacular redrock formation was envisioned as a place to tell the history of southern Utah.But after seeing the original “Utah!” show once, there was little to keep drawing patrons back. So Tuacahn slowly evolved into
  • Task force considers closer state control of scandal-tainted UTA

    The scandal-tarnished Utah Transit Authority could come under closer state control under changes being discussed by a legislative task force studying possible transportation reforms.One scenario discussed by a subcommittee on Friday would have the state take over the now-independent UTA — and essentially make it a state division answerable to a new state secretary of transportation. Maryland uses such a system to govern its separate transit, highways and ports departments.Another option wo
  • Holly Richardson: You never know when today will be ‘The day before’

    “Mom, the smoke detector is going off and it’s not dinner.” Those were the words my teenage daughter said to me when I answered the phone in May 2005. My husband and I were taking a different daughter out on a birthday date and hadn’t even been gone for 20 minutes.By the time we got back home, fire trucks were in front of the house and smoke was coming out of the top of our second story. Everyone was out safely, including the two little boys that had been in the bathtub.
  • It's a 'great thing' to deal with Democrats, Trump now says

    Washington • Frustrated with his own party’s leaders in Congress, President Donald Trump talked up his suddenly cozier relationship with Democrats on Thursday, raising the prospect of new deals on government spending and even posting one of his tweets at their behest.“I think that’s a great thing for our country,” Trump said, describing his new and “different relationship” with Democrats.In public, Republican leaders glossed over the striking turn of even
  • Moab Music Festival celebrates a century of Leonard Bernstein

    As the centennial of Leonard Bernstein’s birth approaches in August 2018, Michael Barrett is doing what he can to keep the great American composer-conductor-pianist’s memory alive.“It’s bittersweet for me. There’s a whole generation that has grown up in his absence,” said Barrett, who was Bernstein’s assistant and rehearsal pianist for seven years, up until the legendary maestro‘s death in 1990, and has been a musical adviser to the Bernstein famil
  • Monson: Utah will beat BYU, again, because Provo is not Hollywood

    Utah will beat BYU for the seventh straight time on Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium, and for the 12th time in 15 games.Why?You know the answer.Talent.It’s not that complicated. Of all the reasons to go one way or the other in predicting a rivalry game, with so much emotion and investment pouring in from both sides, the team with the better players is the best thing to count on, maybe the only thing.What? In looking for victory, you gonna go with first- or second-hand emotions? Wit
  • Military history on display during annual Wendover air show on Saturday

    The Historic Wendover Airfield will host its annual air show Saturday that includes aviation and military history exhibits.In addition to a number of aerial performances, the Historic Wendover Air Show will feature modern and vintage aircraft, military displays, and participation by groups including the Utah Military Vehicle Club. The Arizona Ground Crew WWII Living Historians will have barracks and engine shop exhibits. And there will be base tours, a flight simulator, and visits to the Norden
  • Kragthorpe: BYU will stop Utes' run in the rivalry, because we're not living in the 1950s

    Fairly soon after getting the football for the first time Saturday night, the BYU Cougars will face a fourth-down situation. That means the drive will have lasted longer than their first possession of each of the last two meetings with Utah.And then Jonny Linehan actually will punt the ball, an improvement of his strategy in the fourth quarter last weekend vs. LSU.That’s the critical phase of the Cougars’ effort to stage a mild upset in Provo. Yes, mild. The pick of BYU to break the
  • Death toll rises to 35 in powerful Mexico earthquake

    Mexico City • One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded in Mexico struck off the country’s southern coast, toppling hundreds of buildings, triggering tsunami evacuations and sending panicked people fleeing into the streets in the middle of the night. At least 35 people were reported killed.The quake that hit minutes before midnight Thursday was strong enough to cause buildings to sway violently in the capital city more than 650 miles (1,000 kilometers) away. As beds banged ag
  • In new book, Hillary Clinton takes a swipe at Utah's Jason Chaffetz, a ‘wannabe Javert’

    Washington • On Inauguration Day, then-Rep. Jason Chaffetz earned a social-media rebuke for posting a picture showing him shaking hands with Hillary Clinton, noting he was “so pleased she is not the president.” “I thanked her for her service and wished her luck,” the Utah Republican wrote on Instagram. “The investigation continues.” The Twitterverse thought Chaffetz, then head of the House Oversight Committee, was being petty and insulting on a day when
  • Vigil planned for chickens killed in egg-farm fire

    Erda, Utah • Animal rights activists are planning vigils this weekend to honor the lives of more than 100,000 chickens that were killed when egg farm caught fire in Tooele County.Authorities say an electrical or mechanical problem with manure-handling equipment sparked the Tuesday-morning blaze at Fassio Egg Farms in Erda, west of Salt Lake City.The animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere said in a news release Friday that they want to raise awareness about the fire. They have vigils p
  • Pope visits former Colombia war zone to preach forgiveness

    Villavicencio, Colombia • Pope Francis traveled Friday to an area once besieged by leftist rebels to pray with victims of Colombia’s long conflict and urge them to overcome their grief by forgiving their former assailants.At an open-air Mass in the central city of Villavincencio, Francis praised those who had resisted “the understandable temptation for vengeance” and instead sought out peace. He said their choice in no way legitimized the injustices they suffered, but rath
  • As Ken Burns' 'Vietnam War' prepares to air, a look at how the conflict ripped the nation’s religious fabric

    In the 1960s, the relatively new medium of television brought the war in Southeast Asia into living rooms across the United States like never before. And, this month, TV is once again at the center of the story as filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick present “The Vietnam War,” a 10-part, 18-hour series on the Public Broadcasting Service.America is about to the relive the horror and deep divisions spawned by the U.S. war in Vietnam — convulsions that also tore apart the nation&r
  • Utah-BYU: Cougars stumble into rivalry game, while favored Utes look to extend streak

    Provo • Winless against rival Utah since 2009, BYU was supposed to finally break through this year. That’s how the thinking went in the offseason among those who favor blue in the state’s most intense college football rivalry.The Cougars have been eagerly awaiting the Utes’ first visit since in four years to LaVell Edwards Stadium, and the quarterback who engineered a spirited comeback that fell just short in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl matchup, junior Tanner Mangum, returns w
  • Westminster College president to retire

    Westminster College President Stephen Morgan announced Friday he will retire at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.Morgan, 63, became the private Salt Lake City college’s 18th president in 2015, but has served at the institution for 37 years. A spokesperson for the college’s board of trustees said it will launch a nationwide search to replace him, with a successor expected to be in place by the summer of 2018.“Working together as a community, we have made Westminster a better
  • Uintah Fire: All evacuations lifted, crews dousing hot spots and monitoring burned areas

    If not for some firefighters still keeping a wary watch on still-smouldering patches of the blackened foothills at the mouth of Weber Canyon, the Uintah Fire would be history.
    Fire Information Officer Kim Osborn said Friday that there had been no growth beyond the 619 acres noted Wednesday, and all 900 evacuees were back home — except for three homeowners who lost their abodes to the flames on Tuesday, the fire’s first day.
    The specific cause of the fire remained under investigation,
  • Scott D. Pierce: HBO’s ‘The Deuce’ is all about porn, but the intent is not to titillate

    HBO’s new series “The Deuce” is about pornography, but the intent was not to make something pornographic. It is to porn what “The Wire” was to drugs — it’s about the industry, not the morality. “I’m much less interested in whether porn is good or bad in a moral sense,” said David Simon, the creator/executive producer of both series. “I was never interested as much in the morality of whether drugs are good or bad in ‘The Wir
  • State money will pay for public defenders to represent those arrested in Operation Rio Grande

    Utah’s Indigent Defense Commission will help foot the bill for additional public defenders needed for those arrested in Operation Rio Grande, the Commission announced Friday.Salt Lake County was awarded more than $368,000 to hire two new public defenders to represent those who have been charged with crimes as part of local and state officials’ efforts to reduce lawlessness around Salt Lake City’s downtown homeless shelter. The money will be reimbursed to the county quarterly ov
  • Financial technology company AvidXchange gets Utah tax credit

    The state’s embrace of the financial-technology industry expanded Friday when the Governor’s Office of Economic Development gave North Carolina-based AvidXchange a $359,247 post performance tax credit rebate to expand its Utah operations and add a projected 218 jobs over the next five years.AvidXchange moved into the Utah market in 2015 when it purchased Piracle, Inc. and retained all of its local employees. Company CEO Michael Praeger said the company has expanded its business since
  • In football rivalry, Utah and BYU take turns streaking

    Nothing lasts forever in sports, but it can feel that way sometimes — especially for a team on the wrong end of a winning streak in a rivalry.Beginning with the University of Utah’s early domination in the football series that began in 1922, the competition has been characterized by lengthy runs for each program. With occasional ties mixed in, BYU had won only twice as of 1965, when Cougar coach Tommy Hudspeth broke through. LaVell Edwards, his successor, then had winning streaks of
  • Chef Alice Waters’ memoir tells tales of her youth and loves

    Berkeley, Calif. • There’s something you need to know about Alice Waters, the celebrated chef who changed the way America eats.She grew up eating frozen peas, frozen fish sticks and canned fruit salad for dinner. To complete this incongruous picture, Waters adds, “I grew up with iceberg lettuce and Wishbone dressing.”Waters and her restaurant Chez Panisse are credited with pioneering the farm-to-table movement and introducing mesclun to the masses. But she didn’t sta
  • George Pyle: Tribune letter goes viral. In a good way.

    I’m old enough to remember when to hear that something had ”gone viral” was a frightening expression. It meant the rapid spread of disease and death. You know. Like a virus.Now, of course, it means that something has really caught the attention of a great many people over Twitter, Facebook and other pipes of the internet. That it is being shared from one person to another, one circle of friends to another, picked up over and over in a way that no one did, or could have, pl
  • The U.S. West had a snowy winter, so why the fiery summer?

    Denver • Acrid yellow smoke clogs the skies of major Western U.S. cities, a human-caused fire in the Columbia River Gorge rains ash on Portland, Oregon, and a century-old backcountry chalet burns to the ground in Montana’s Glacier National Park.Wildfires are chewing across dried-out Western forests and grassland, putting 2017 on track to be among the worst fire seasons in a decade.A snowy winter across much of the West raised hopes that 2017 wouldn’t be a dried-out, fire-prone y
  • Commentary: Choosing ethical medical treatments as the options narrow

    My path to the Egress from my brain cancer may be a bit shorter than I’d hoped even a few weeks ago. But I figure I can still complain about the way some human research makes me feel like a rat in a cage.I’ve known a lot about the value of research in medicine. Even back when I was a college student, I knew more than a few people who used critters to test possibilities. I don’t have a moral objection to research on rats. But people as the target? I can still handle a “yik
  • Locked on Jazz for September 8th - @Lockedonsports talks about @vivintarena & the draft lottery process. Listen:… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

    Locked on Jazz for September 8th - @Lockedonsports talks about @vivintarena & the draft lottery process.Listen:… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  • State gives Pluralsight a $21.5 million incentive to expand in Utah

    State officials have offered Pluralsight a $21.5 million state tax incentive to relocate its headquarters from Farmington to “a much larger home south of Salt Lake City,” one capable of holding nearly 2,500 additional employees.The Governor’s Office of Economic Development board approved the incentive to help the homegrown, digital technology-education company locate a site for and build a new center of operations, a projected $372 million investment.“What began in Utah w
  • September weather will make or break Utah’s water prospects; forecasters aren’t optimistic

    Utah’s water reserves are still holding up thanks to last winter’s spectacular snowpack, but if September continues the more recent trend, the state could start losing ground.Annual precipitation totals — meteorologists begin the water year in October — remain within normal ranges in Utah, according to the monthly Climate and Water Report from the Natural Resources Conservation Service.But that’s only due to ample snowpack that fell over the winter. The past few mon
  • U.N.: ‘Alarming number’ of 270,000 Rohingya in Myanmar exodus

    Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh • The U.N. said Friday that an “alarming number” of 270,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled violence in Myanmar by crossing into Bangladesh in the last two weeks.The new figure confirmed Friday by U.N. Refugee Agency spokeswoman Vivian Tan is much higher than the 164,000 the agency had previously estimated had arrived since Aug. 25.“This is an alarming number,” Tan said. “The existing camps are full to the capacity. There is a lot of pr
  • [KSL] - Recapping Ricky Rubio's Eurobasket competition so far

    ...step toward making him more of a scoring threat. This is something that the Jazz's coaching staff has expressed some confidence in improving, however. The de ...
  • Let's fight to change this number. #5ForTheFight ✋ https://t.co/h3fxE65vQl

    Let's fight to change this number. #5ForTheFight ✋ https://t.co/h3fxE65vQl
    Let's fight to change this number. #5ForTheFight ✋ https://t.co/h3fxE65vQl
  • [SB Nation: SLC Dunk] - The Downbeat: Hammer the Over

    ... a lot of Jody’s content. He may not be a Pulitzer waiting to happen, but all Jazz fans living in Utah know about Jody. Like Larry H. Miller, he didn’t just do ...
  • Mexico hit by one of strongest quakes ever, at least 32 dead

    Mexico City • One of the most powerful earthquakes ever to strike Mexico has hit off its southern Pacific coast, killing at least 32 people, toppling houses, government offices and businesses while sending panicked people into the streets more than 650 miles (1,000 kilometers) away.The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake hit off Chiapas state near the Guatemalan border with a magnitude of 8.1 — slightly stronger than the magnitude 8 quake of 1985 that killed thousands and
  • Utah State Fair opens for the 162nd time with classic carnival rides, sweet treats, adorable piglets (with video!) and much more

    Here are photos and a video from opening day Thursday of the Utah State Fair. The 162nd run of the fair continues through Sept. 17 at the Utah State Fairpark in Salt Lake City. For ticket information and schedules, visit www.UtahStateFair.com.Among the highlights this year:Big Top Circus Spectacular starring Bello Nock! of ”America’s Got Talent” fame.West Coast Lumberjack ShowPRCA RodeoMonster Truck Insanity TourLOCASH concert“Day of Wreck-oning” Demolition Der
  • Metal band Epica is out to prove that the Netherlands’ music scene has a lot to offer

    Coen Janssen, a native of the Netherlands, is doing his best to talk up his home country’s musical bona fides, with limited success.“You must have heard of Within Temptation. …”“You must have heard The Gathering. …”“Maybe Gorefest. …”“You’ve probably heard of Nightwish — their singer is from Holland, as well.”“These EDM DJs are amongst the best in the world. …”The thing is, if not for Golden
  • Mormon church expresses sorrow, support in wake of massive Mexican quake

    The LDS Church expressed its sorrow and support for victims of a massive 8.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico’s southern Pacific coast early Friday morning.
    Eric Hawkins, speaking for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the quake was all the more shocking, coming so closely in the wake of the deadly Hurricane Harvey-related catastrophe in Texas, and just days ahead of expectations of massive damage from Hurricane Irma expected to hammer Florida this weekend.“
  • BYU-Utah: Which running back had the best game? How about QB? A look at the top performances by unit in the rivalry's history

    There have been a ton of memorable games over the course of the BYU-Utah rivalry. We even took a look at five of those games that deserve more recognition.So in keeping in the spirit of preparation for the latest chapter in the BYU vs. Utah rivalry, here is a look back at the best performances by each unit over the history of the rivalry.Offensive line
    BYU in 1996 • Larry Moore, a guard who would play eight seasons in the NFL, anchored a line that paved the way for BYU’s 366 yards rus
  • Prep football: Pick 6 — Six games to watch in Week 4

    Skyridge at Viewmont, 7 p.m.
    The Falcons have rolled in their first three games, outscoring opponents 143-18. The defense posted a shutout against Roy in Week 3. Viewmont, which also boasts a 3-0 record, has been leaning on the ground game to move the ball. Senior running back Cameron Brown has rushed for 355 yards and three scores to lead the way. He’s added three catches for 17 yards and a TD. The teams didn’t face each other last year, Skyridge’s inaugural campaign, but with
  • Utah forecast: Wildfire danger in state’s north and west deserts; flood risks high in the south

    Utah’s weekend weather forecast calls for just too much rain in southern Utah, and not near enough for the state’s northern and central forests, rangelands and deserts.
    On Friday, the National Weather Service issued a “Red Flag” wildfire warning for the Wasatch Front from Logan south through Salt Lake City, Provo and Nephi. That advisory, kicking in at noon and running through midnight, also included the Great Salt Lake and western deserts.
    While the potential for dry lig
  • ‘There’s always help’: Utah football player goes public about his depression, wins praise from his dad, Coach Whittingham

    Alex Whittingham sometimes laughs at the irony of his diploma.The Utes’ long snapper graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.“The way the brain works always interested me,” he said.For the longest time, though, Whittingham struggled to understand his own.There were years of pain and anguish as he dealt with the effects of anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). “Fighting through a storm cloud” is how he described it. And th
  • Mexico hit by one of biggest quakes ever, 15 killed

    Mexico City • One of the most powerful earthquakes ever to strike Mexico has hit off its southern Pacific coast, killing at least 15 people, toppling houses and businesses and sending panicked people into the streets more than 650 miles (1,000 kilometers) away.The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake hit off Chiapas state near the Guatemalan border with a magnitude of 8.1 — slightly stronger than the magnitude 8 quake of 1985 that killed thousands and devastated large parts of M
  • Feds set to ‘lop and scatter’ trees near Price to improve sage grouse habitat

    The Bureau of Land Management is poised to begin thinning pinyon and juniper trees over a large area in the coal-mining country west of Price.The public has until Sept. 20 to submit comment on the proposed 77,000-acre project, designed to reduce fire danger and improve habitat for greater sage grouse on a mix of public, state and private lands around and south of Gordon Creek.Designed in partnership with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, the BLM’s “North Springs Habitat Enhanc

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