Basketball - Utah Jazz news

• Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne describes bluffing his way into Trump’s White House

  02-02-2021 23:43
  
  Bizarre new details are emerging about a meeting between a group of election conspiracy believers — including Patrick Byrne, former CEO of Utah-based Overstock.com — and then-President Donald Trump as they tried to convince him to order troops to intervene in ballot disputes.The details appear in a new long online post by Byrne giving his version of the meeting, and in a long story by the news site Axios.Among the most outlandish is that Byrne, along with attorney Sidney Powell, form
  
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• Intermountain Healthcare has sped up from 14 COVID-19 tests a day to thousands

  02-02-2021 23:38
  
  When Intermountain Healthcare’s central lab started processing COVID-19 tests last March, “we did 14 tests that first day,” said Dr. Sterling Bennett, the lab’s medical director.“Within a few days, we were running 200 tests a day. We went to 2,000 a day by late March,” Bennett said Tuesday. Now, Intermountain can run 7,000 tests a day, Bennett said.“It’s been satisfying, but extremely difficult,” Bennett said during a media teleconference, co
  
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• Utah man charged after allegedly shooting at another driver on I-15

  02-02-2021 23:25
  
  A Salt Lake City man is facing multiple felony charges after he reportedly fired a gun at another driver on Interstate 15 in Lehi.Jesse David Luker, 31, was charged in 3rd District Court with five counts of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; reckless endangerment, a Class A misdemeanor; and discharging a gun from a vehicle, a Class B misdemeanor.According to a probable cause statement, on Jan. 25, Luker was driving his black pickup truck southbound on I-15 between mileposts 285 and 279 w
  
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• BYU-San Diego game postponed

  02-02-2021 23:19
  
  Provo • Tuesday’s game between BYU and San Diego has been postponed due to COVID-19 related issues within the Toreros’ program. It is the second time in as many tries a game between both programs has been postponed this season.The news was made official just hours before tipoff. Chances are the Cougars will not be able to make a last-second change to play Tuesday, as they are already in San Diego and would need to travel.However, as BYU (14-4; 5-2 WCC) was originally set to play
  
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• Pope Francis tells Catholic journalists he has hope for ‘courageous’ U.S. church

  02-02-2021 23:17
  
  Vatican City • Addressing the current challenges of the U.S. Catholic Church, Pope Francis warned against the polarization in the country and the “sins” of the media.“The church in the United States is a church that has been courageous — the history it has and the saints — and has done so much,” Pope Francis said during an impromptu interview with journalists from Catholic News Service on Monday, Feb. 1 at the Vatican.The audience marked the 100 anniversa
  
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• Tribune Editorial: No Utah woman is safe when the Legislature is in session

  02-02-2021 23:00
  
  “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.”― Gideon J. TuckerIf Tucker, a 19th century attorney and journalist who lived in New York, found himself in 21st century Utah, he might alter his famous aphorism to read, “No woman’s life, liberty or body are safe while the Legislature is in session.”The eagerness of certain Utah lawmakers to make life more difficult for women is nothing new, of course, but this year it se
  
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• Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, will step down as CEO

  02-02-2021 22:41
  
  New York • Amazon said Tuesday that Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO later this year, a role he’s had since he founded the company nearly 30 years ago.Amazon said he’ll be replaced in the fall by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazon’s cloud business. Bezos will then become the company’s executive chairman.Bezos founded Amazon as an online bookstore and turned it into a behemoth that sells just about everything. In the process, he became one of the world’s richest peop
  
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• Jamelle Bouie: 10 Republicans (including Mitt Romney) who have compromise exactly backward

  02-02-2021 22:30
  
  In his Inaugural Address, President Joe Biden called for unity, for good faith debate and negotiation over real issues, for both sides of the political spectrum to come together as much as possible to tackle the nation’s challenges.A group of Republicans say they want to play ball. But from the look of their proposal for COVID relief, it doesn’t look like they’re all that serious.On Sunday, 10 Senate Republicans — including Utah’s Mitt Romney — announced their
  
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• Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid named Players of the Month

  02-02-2021 22:26
  
  Marc Stein: The NBA has just named Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid as Western and Eastern Conference Player of the Month Utah’s Quin Snyder and Philadelphia’s Doc Rivers are West and East Coach of the Month for December/January
  
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• Utah gymnastics coach Tom Farden wants to put the bull’s-eye back on his team

  02-02-2021 22:15
  
  One of the earliest memories Utah gymnastics coach Tom Farden has of the illustrious program he now guides was in 1992, when the Dayton, Minnesota, native traveled to Minneapolis with his father to watch Utah win its seventh NCAA title.Farden was in high school at the time, but even at the young age he realized he was seeing something special.“I remember thinking it was a sports dynasty,” he said. “Utah had built this huge fanbase and a lot of internal expectations to win and i
  
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• Kip Yost: Is the QAnon cult America’s version of Aum Shinrikyo?

  02-02-2021 22:00
  
  In 1984, a little-known Japanese acupuncturist and yoga instructor named Chizuo Matsumoto arrived back in his home country after training in India. Matsumoto, who was partially blinded from childhood glaucoma, was making barely a subsistence living from his practice, so he decided to start a spiritual movement and took to handing out paper flyers on street corners, inviting people to come meditate with him. Eventually the yogi began preaching an odd mix of Indian mysticism, Hinduism, Christianit
  
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• For the first time, Mike Lee votes for one of Biden’s Cabinet nominees — Pete Buttigieg

  02-02-2021 21:32
  
  The streak is over.Utah Sen. Mike Lee found a Cabinet-level nominee he could support and voted Tuesday to confirm Pete Buttigieg as the new secretary of transportation for President Joe Biden.Lee had been one of just two senators — along with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. — who had opposed all of Biden’s nominees to that point. Lee gave a variety of reasons for his votes, saying he had no overarching philosophical opposition to Biden’s nominees.The Senate voted 86-13 to confirm
  
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• Utah receiver Bryan Thompson enters the transfer portal

  02-02-2021 21:24
  
  The University of Utah lost a veteran wide receiver on Monday afternoon.Bryan Thompson, a redshirt junior who played in all five games in 2020 and 33 for his career, has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, The Salt Lake Tribune has confirmed. 247sports.com was first to report Thompson’s exit from Salt Lake City.With the NCAA having frozen eligibility for fall athletes in the face of the COVID-19, Thompson will again be a redshirt junior in 2021.In 33 career games with the Utes dating back to
  
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• Jordan Clarkson on lopsided loss to Nuggets: We weren't expecting to go 68-4

  02-02-2021 21:24
  
  Eric Walden: Jordan Clarkson, on the Jazz’s mood after Sunday’s defeat: “It’s a loss. I don’t think we were expecting to go 68-4.”
  
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• Utah’s COVID-19 positivity rate is holding steady

  02-02-2021 21:17
  
  Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every weekday morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.The rate of positive COVID-19 tests in Utah held steady at just over 16%, according to the Utah Department of Health. That’s still more than three times the 5% rate that state health officials have said indicates the coronavirus is
  
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• Mike Lee votes for one of Biden’s Cabinet nominees — Pete Buttigieg

  02-02-2021 20:49
  
  The streak is over. Utah Sen. Mike Lee found a Cabinet-level nomineehe could support and voted Monday to confirm Pete Buttigieg as the new secretary of transportation for President Joe Biden.Lee had been one of just two senators — along with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. — who had opposed all of Biden’s nominees to that point. Lee gave a variety of reasons for his votes, saying he hadhe had no overarching philosophical opposition to Biden’s nominees.The Senate voted 86-13 to co
  
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• Hogle Zoo names its new baby zebra — and it’s got Utah flair

  02-02-2021 20:02
  
  Hogle Zoo has named its new baby zebra and, not surprisingly, his keepers have chosen a name that starts with Z.After receiving “thousands” of suggestions from members of the community — including more than 2,600 comments on the Hogle Zoo Facebook page — they selected Zion.“We also love Zion National Park,” said African Savanna keeper Michelle Olandese. “Wherever Zion ends up with the [Species Survival Plan], he’ll have a connection to Utah.”
  
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• Exclusive: ‘Utah Politics’ podcast interview with Sen. Mitt Romney

  02-02-2021 19:43
  
  Sen. Mitt Romney called his two-hour meeting with President Joe Biden on Monday evening “quite impressive,” but he says the two sides are still very far apart on the size and scope of another COVID-19 relief package from the federal government. In an exclusive interview on the “Utah Politics” podcast, Romney said he hopes that Republicans in Congress can find common ground with the new Biden administration, but he knows that any agreement will be hard to come by.“At
  
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• Utah gymnastics coach Tom Farden wants to put the bullseye back on his team

  02-02-2021 19:11
  
  One of the earliest memories Utah gymnastics coach Tom Farden has of the illustrious program he now guides was in 1992, when the Dayton, Minnesota native traveled to Minneapolis with his father to watch Utah win its seventh NCAA title.Farden was in high school at the time, but even at the young age he realized he was seeing something special.“I remember thinking it was a sports dynasty,” he said. “Utah had built this huge fanbase and a lot of internal expectations to win and it
  
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• Lawrence J. Leigh: Has Mike Lee’s constitutional leftopia gotten worse?

  02-02-2021 19:00
  
  In a previous commentary, I noted that Utah’s Sen. Mike Lee suffers from constitutional leftopia, an affliction causing near blindness to constitutional issues on the left side of the political spectrum. Judging from the press release explaining his recent Senate vote to dismiss the House’s Impeachment without trial, Lee’s condition has gone downhill.  According to Lee, trying Donald J. Trump would be unconstitutional because “the result would not only be proble
  
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• The University of Utah’s new chief safety officer is leaving after a year in the post

  02-02-2021 18:31
  
  The first-ever chief safety officer at the University of Utah — hired to reform and rebuild the campus police department — is stepping down now after a year in the post.Marlon Lynch announced in a letter Tuesday that he has accepted a new job overseeing public safety at Michigan State University, his alma mater.“It is with mixed emotions I leave Utah,” he wrote. “This new opportunity was unexpected, and my decision was not an easy one to make.”Lynch came to th
  
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• Rice-Eccles Stadium construction project remains on time for July finish; Dumke expansion fundraising still ongoing

  02-02-2021 18:13
  
  The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it plenty of difficult moments to the University of Utah athletic department, but one silver lining is construction of the Ken Garff Performance Zone.The ongoing $80 million project in the south end zone of Rice-Eccles Stadium, $17 million of which came from the Garff family, was expedited late in the summer after the Pac-12 temporarily postponed its football season to at least the winter. Even before things were expedited, Utes athletic director Mark Harla
  
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• Abby Lee Hood: Rediscovering the progressive roots of the ‘hillbillies’

  02-02-2021 18:13
  
  Nashville — I can’t remember the first time I heard the word “redneck,” but when I was growing up in Middle Tennessee it was usually spoken with pride — tossed around at the bluegrass festivals I went to. My grandfather would pick guitar, and I’d play fiddle, usually in a circle of old-timers under a shade tree at the Summertown Bluegrass Reunion.I lived on a small farm in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., about 80 miles south of here. Like a lot of families, we had a few
  
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• Expect snow on Wednesday — and maybe again on Friday

  02-02-2021 16:22
  
  After a bit more almost spring-like weather in northern Utah, winter will be making a comeback.According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in the Salt Lake City area will reach about 50 degrees on Tuesday, and there’s a 20% chance of rain on Tuesday night with a low of 34. But after a high near 40 on Wednesday morning, temperatures will drop to about 32 by 1 p.m. as a storm blows in.There’s a 90% chance of snow on Wednesday afternoon, with accumulations of 1-3 inches poss
  
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• Robert Gehrke: What should Utah do with this school board member with backward, harmful views?

  02-02-2021 14:12
  
  It took less than a month for the Utah State Board of Education to have its own Marjorie Taylor Greene problem.Greene is the Georgia congresswoman who is facing calls for expulsion or censure for trafficking in Trump electoral lies and deluded QAnon conspiracy theories — like questioning whether the Parkland, Fla., school massacre was staged and supporting the execution of prominent Democrats.The school board’s smaller-scale version involves Natalie Cline, a backward-thinking ultra-c
  
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• What changes to The Tribune’s e-edition mean for you

  02-02-2021 14:00
  
  Beginning today, the e-edition, or digital replica of the printed paper, is available to subscribers only.And this week, as we recognize and respond to feedback from our loyal readers, we will offer the e-edition seven days a week. This means the e-edition is now available on Saturdays as well.Here is what these changes mean for you:As a digital-only subscriber you will continue to have unlimited access to everything on sltrib.com, the e-edition and the app. However, you may need to login the ne
  
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• Robert Kirby: Why we’re such suckers for conspiracy theories

  02-02-2021 14:00
  
  The first conspiracy theory I ever recognized as such came courtesy of my friend Leon’s Uncle Mike.We were isolated around a campfire in the dark. The conversation drifted from why no one had shot a deer yet to the distinct possibility that space creatures wandered the stars above us.Mike assured us that there were such things as Martians, flying saucers and hideous life forms that prowled the night sky looking to turn human skulls into coffee mugs.Being a serious skeptic even at age 10, I
  
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• Letter: The virus may be the planet’s response to us

  02-02-2021 14:00
  
  As I am a 76 year old senior, like most others on this planet earth I have been concerned over COVID-19 for the past year and doing everything reasonably possible to avoid infection. I reflected on the extensive worldwide efforts to contain the virus and somehow had an epiphany as to what is really happening.My thoughts reflected all the issues and events possibly relating the virus and our environment, global warming and climate change. I have long expressed (as published in my 2015 editorial)
  
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• Letter: Schools, choices and privilege: Before complaining, it’s good to put oneself in other people’s shoes

  02-02-2021 14:00
  
  As a teacher in the SLC School District, I was interested in the story published on Jan. 29 by Julie Jag concerning Utah’s school choice policy. I recognize this past year has been difficult for all of us, each in our own way. Yet, while complaining about taking children to multiple different schools outside of the district, this mother has failed to see beyond her own nose.Over the past year, some students have worked full time jobs to provide for their family members while attending onli
  
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• Letter: Let’s all be GOP

  02-02-2021 14:00
  
  In response to the article, “Lawmaker looks to restrict switching of political parties,” my proposal is this: Since Utah is run by a supermajority Republican government, all registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters should change their voter registration to GOP, including new voters. Making the state a supermajority of one party with no need to restrict voters’ right to switch parties, and leaving them free to vote in any election they see fit (since the Democratic Party has
  
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• Letter: If this is the “soul of America,” count me out

  02-02-2021 14:00
  
  I have just heard a news report that Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz actually chartered a plane to go to Wyoming to harass Liz Cheney for her support for sanity following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He says, " The GOP is in a battle for the soul of America.”I would have to argue, “What soul?”  Can an American possess a soul and still condone decorating the nation’s sacred Capitol with human excrement and attacking Capitol police just doing their jobs (some left with gr
  
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• Letter: Another voting alternative exists -- Approval Voting -- and we should try it first

  02-02-2021 14:00
  
  As the Utah legislative session gets underway, one of the largest discussions centers around alternative voting. There is a push to pass Ranked Choice Voting as the sole voting method in Utah after some cities and parties have used RCV under the current pilot program. However, we should not be so quick to commit to this overhaul. Ranked Choice Voting happens to also be the only alternative method we’ve tried and, because of this, it would be hard to attribute any amount of success to RCV a
  
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• Marilyn Manson denies Evan Rachel Wood’s abuse allegations

  02-02-2021 05:41
  
  Los Angeles • Rocker Marilyn Manson was dropped by his record label on Monday after actor Evan Rachel Wood accused her ex-fiancé of sexual and other physical abuse, alleging she was “manipulated into submission” during their relationship.Manson called the allegations “horrible distortions of reality.”Wood, who stars on HBO’s “Westworld,” had spoken frequently in recent years about being abused in a relationship but did not name the person unt
  
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• Utah State Prison allows inmates to connect with loved ones via video calls

  02-02-2021 05:05
  
  Inmates can now visit with their loved ones via video calls, the Utah State Prison announced Monday.Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Utah Department of Corrections is not allowing in-person visits. The prison initially stopped in-person visits in March.Video visiting is available in most prison housing units, but is unavailable for inmates in restricted Uinta housing. The department says it’s working to make video visits available at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnis
  
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• Petition to remove Utah school board member cites comments about LGBTQ students, Black Lives Matter

  02-02-2021 03:43
  
  Some Utah parents and teachers are calling for the removal of a conservative state school board member for posting comments they consider racist, homophobic and uniformed.In one of the Facebook posts they point to, Natalie Cline calls LGBTQ students “gender-confused.” In another, she says educators were learning how to “indoctrinate your children” at a conference this month at the Utah Pride Center about accepting all identities in the classroom.She also referred to the B
  
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• Man pleads guilty to 2017 stabbing on reservation

  02-02-2021 03:25
  
  A man has pleaded guilty in the 2017 stabbing death of another man on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation.Deland Cornpeach, 20, of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of assault on a federal officer, according to a news release from the Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office.Cornpeach was arrested in June 2017 in connection with the stabbing death of Eli Ray Poowegup, a member of the Ute Indian Tribe.According to the Utah U.S. Attorne
  
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• Mitt Romney says Biden shows ‘genuine interest’ in working with GOP on pandemic aid package

  02-02-2021 03:24
  
  After a longer-than-expected two-hour meeting Monday with President Joe Biden, Sen. Mitt Romney said the president “has genuine interest in working with” Republicans to close a gap on their competing proposals for a pandemic aid package.“It was not just a check-the-box meeting,” Romney said in a call with Utah reporters. “We had a full airing of our different points of view and a direction by the president to continue our discussions.”Biden is pushing for a $1
  
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• Utah Jazz will increase Vivint Arena capacity to 3,902 beginning Tuesday

  02-02-2021 01:49
  
  The Utah Jazz were already among only a handful of teams allowing fans to attend games this season. On Monday evening, the organization announced that fan attendance at games is set to increase.Beginning with Tuesday night’s game at Vivint Arena against the Detroit Pistons, the Jazz will open the upper bowl for “socially distanced pod seating,” which will increase overall game capacity to 3,902 per game.The Jazz had previously been allowing a maximum of 1,500 fans in the lower
  
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• Registration fees in Utah for electric, hybrid cars may soon skyrocket to highest in the nation

  02-02-2021 01:45
  
  Owners of electric and hybrid vehicles may soon face up to a five-fold increase in Utah registration fees — making them the highest in America — which critics say will hurt sales and harm efforts to reduce air pollution.That comes as the House Transportation Committee on Monday advanced HB209 on 6-4 vote, which would increase the fees. The bill now goes to the full House.Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, Senate sponsor of the bill, who handled the presentation of it for an ailing Re
  
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• YWCA having damage assessed after SLC building vandalized

  02-02-2021 01:39
  
  A vandal smashed windows and threw computers on the floor at the YWCA in Salt Lake City on Thursday, and the organization is assessing the damage.The nonprofit’s 101-year-old administration building at 322 E. 300 South was attacked by a person who used a shovel to break down the front door, according to Chief Development Officer Pamela Carlston. She said the person broke multiple windows, which will be boarded up in the near future, and destroyed desks.Salt Lake City police Sgt. Keith Horr
  
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• In wake of Banjo controversy, auditor warns against expansive state deals with firms collecting personal data

  02-02-2021 01:05
  
  The Utah state auditor’s office may have delivered a final blow to Banjo, a Park City-based surveillance tech company, when it released a series of recommendations Monday.Banjo became a nationwide public controversy nearly a year ago when news emerged that Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes had signed a controversial data-sharing contract with the company, then persuaded other law enforcement to jump on board as well. Now the auditor is out with some guidelines calling on governments to limi
  
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