A shooting outside a church building in Salt Lake City killed two people and injured six others Wednesday, police said.The shooting took place in the parking lot of a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church.Dozens of people were attending a funeral inside at the time. All the victims were adults.Police said they do not believe the shooter had any animus toward a particular faith.“We don’t believe this was a targeted attack against a religion or anything like that,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said.Police also do not believe the shooting was random. Authorities said no suspect was in custody.Brennan McIntire said he and his wife, Kenna, heard the gunshots from their apartment next to the parking lot while watching TV. He jumped off the couch and ran outside to check on things.“As soon as I came over, I see someone on the ground,” McIntire said. “People are attending to him and crying and arguing.”About 100 law enforcement vehicles were at the scene in the aftermath, and helicopters flew overhead.“This should never have happened outside a place of worship. This should never have happened outside a celebration of life,” Mayor Erin Mendenhall said.The church was cooperating with law enforcement and was grateful for efforts first responders’ efforts, a spokesperson said.“We extend prayers for all who have been impacted by this tragedy and express deep concern that any sacred space intended for worship should be subjected to violence of any kind,” Sam Penrod said in a statement.The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, and about half of Utah’s 3.5 million residents are members of the faith. Churches like the one where the shooting occurred can be found in towns throughout the city and state.The faith has been on heightened alert since four people were killed when a former Marine opened fire in a Michigan church last month and set it ablaze. The FBI found that he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against the church.
SALT LAKE CITY —
A shooting outside a church building in Salt Lake City killed two people and injured six others Wednesday, police said.
The shooting took place in the parking lot of a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church.
Dozens of people were attending a funeral inside at the time. All the victims were adults.
Police said they do not believe the shooter had any animus toward a particular faith.
“We don’t believe this was a targeted attack against a religion or anything like that,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said.
Police also do not believe the shooting was random. Authorities said no suspect was in custody.
Brennan McIntire said he and his wife, Kenna, heard the gunshots from their apartment next to the parking lot while watching TV. He jumped off the couch and ran outside to check on things.
“As soon as I came over, I see someone on the ground,” McIntire said. “People are attending to him and crying and arguing.”
About 100 law enforcement vehicles were at the scene in the aftermath, and helicopters flew overhead.
“This should never have happened outside a place of worship. This should never have happened outside a celebration of life,” Mayor Erin Mendenhall said.
The church was cooperating with law enforcement and was grateful for efforts first responders’ efforts, a spokesperson said.
“We extend prayers for all who have been impacted by this tragedy and express deep concern that any sacred space intended for worship should be subjected to violence of any kind,” Sam Penrod said in a statement.
The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, and about half of Utah’s 3.5 million residents are members of the faith. Churches like the one where the shooting occurred can be found in towns throughout the city and state.
The faith has been on heightened alert since four people were killed when a former Marine opened fire in a Michigan church last month and set it ablaze. The FBI found that he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against the church.
A shooting outside a church in Salt Lake City Wednesday night left at least two people dead and several more wounded, authorities and church officials confirmed.
Salt Lake City police said in a social media post that along with the two people killed, at least six more were wounded. At least three of those injured were in critical condition, police said.
Police respond to a fatal shooting in a parking lot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Jan. 7, 2025.
Rio Giancarlo/The Deseret News via AP
In a statement, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirmed that the shooting occurred outside a church building while a funeral service was being held inside.
“We are aware of a serious incident that occurred outside a Church meetinghouse at 660 North Redwood Road in Salt Lake City tonight as a memorial service was being held in the chapel,” the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wrote on social media. “The Church is cooperating with law enforcement and is grateful for the efforts of first responders.”
The suspect or suspects involved in the shooting remain at large, police said.
The circumstances leading up to the incident were still unclear. The FBI said in a social media post that it was aware of the incident and was offering support to local law enforcement.
Two people are dead and six injured following a shooting at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) meetinghouse in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night, according to local media outlet ABC4.
Newsweek reached out to the Salt Lake City Police Department via phone for comment and left a message.
Glen Mills, Salt Lake City Police Department public information officer, confirmed that a call came in about a shooting at 7:36 p.m. local time, per ABC4. A funeral was taking place and an altercation broke out, Mills says.
Three of the six injured victims are in critical condition and the statuses of the other three are unknown, ABC 4 reports, citing Mills.
Mills says there’s a manhunt underway and the number of potential suspects is still being determined by law enforcement.
ATF Denver posted to X Wednesday night, saying, “BREAKING NEWS @ATF_Denver Salt Lake City Field Office Special Agents are responding to a reported shooting incident in the 600 block of N. Redwood Rd. to assist local law enforcement in their investigation. Please direct all media inquiries to local law enforcement authorities.”
This is a developing story that will be updated with additional information.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A historian’s hunch about what might lie hidden within the walls of a Japanese church in Salt Lake City led congregants to uncover a century-old snapshot of a once vibrant Japantown now fighting for survival.
Elders at the 101-year-old Japanese Church of Christ — one of two remaining buildings in the city’s Japantown — drilled through brick, concrete and rebar to extract a metal box from the building’s cornerstone. Its contents tell the stories of early Japanese immigrants to an area now overtaken by urban sprawl.
A Salt Lake City street sign leads into the city’s Japantown, where the Japanese Church of Christ is one of the few remaining original buildings, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
A Salt Lake City street sign leads into the city’s Japantown, where the Japanese Church of Christ is one of the few remaining original buildings, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Community members got their first look at the artifacts over the weekend, pulling from the box hand-sewn flags, Bibles and local newspapers in both English and Japanese, the church’s articles of incorporation and a sheet of glitter-trimmed paper with the handwritten names of its Sunday school teachers.
“You see the thoughts, the hopes and the faith of people from a community over 100 years ago. What they hoped for is still continuing to happen in the heart of Salt Lake City,” the Rev. Andrew Fleishman said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The Japanese-language Bible had been given to founding member Lois Hide Hashimoto by her mother when she left her home country of Japan for the U.S. in the early 1900s. More than a century later, Hashimoto’s grandchildren, Joy Douglass and Ann Pos, held her Bible for the first time.
A handwritten inscription reads: “To Lois Hide from her mother when she started to America. 20th June, 1906. ‘The Lord is our strength and refuge.’” Also in the box was an English-language Bible placed in the time capsule by their father, a then-13-year-old Eddie Hashimoto.
Joy Hashimoto Douglass holds a Bible donated in 1924 by her father, Eddie Hashimoto, and included in the contents of the Japanese Church of Christ’s 100-year-old time capsule that was recently opened at the University of Utah Marriott Library Preservation Department in Salt Lake City, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Kristin Murphy/The Deseret News via AP)
Joy Hashimoto Douglass holds a Bible donated in 1924 by her father, Eddie Hashimoto, and included in the contents of the Japanese Church of Christ’s 100-year-old time capsule that was recently opened at the University of Utah Marriott Library Preservation Department in Salt Lake City, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Kristin Murphy/The Deseret News via AP)
Members of the Presbyterian church knew their chapel had been dedicated in the fall of 1924 but did not know the exact date, Nov. 2, until they opened the time capsule. It was discovered when Lorraine Crouse, a third-generation member and former historian at the University of Utah, pointed out that time capsules were popular at the time of the church’s construction. A radar scan later confirmed the presence of a trapezoidal box encased in the concrete foundation.
For Lynne Ward, a church elder, seeing the contents evoked childhood memories of walking the streets of a bustling Japantown full of fish markets, hotels, dry cleaners, restaurants and other Japanese-owned businesses. She recalled visiting a market with her mother where the merchant would give her chewy, citrus candies wrapped in edible rice paper that melted in her mouth.
Lynne Ward, Japanese Church of Christ elder and time capsule committee member, uses a magnifying loupe to look at glitter detail on the edge of paper included in the Japanese Church of Christ’s 100-year-old time capsule at the University of Utah Marriott Library Preservation Department in Salt Lake City, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Kristin Murphy/The Deseret News via AP)
Lynne Ward, Japanese Church of Christ elder and time capsule committee member, uses a magnifying loupe to look at glitter detail on the edge of paper included in the Japanese Church of Christ’s 100-year-old time capsule at the University of Utah Marriott Library Preservation Department in Salt Lake City, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (Kristin Murphy/The Deseret News via AP)
Once 90 businesses strong, Salt Lake City’s Japantown formed in the early 1900s when a mining and railroad boom drew thousands of Japanese immigrants to northern Utah. The downtown neighborhood changed dramatically during World War II, when many community leaders were “harassed, detained and sent to internment camps,” according to the Salt Lake City Downtown Alliance.
Japantown hung on until the city expanded its massive Salt Palace Convention Center in the 1990s, wiping out most remaining businesses and scattering residents into the suburbs.
Today, all that remains is a couple of street signs, a small Japanese garden and two religious centers — one Presbyterian, one Buddhist — surrounded by sports bars, hotels, the convention center and the home arena for Utah’s professional hockey and basketball teams.
For many church members, the time capsule recalls the history they’re fighting to keep alive as urban development threatens Japantown with extinction. It also documents the resilience of a minority ethnic and faith community in a state where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church, is the largest religious group.
Rev. Andrew Fleishman looks at a century-old time capsule at the Japanese Church of Christ in Salt Lake City, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Rev. Andrew Fleishman looks at a century-old time capsule at the Japanese Church of Christ in Salt Lake City, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
The single-story church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, sits in the midst of a planned sports and entertainment district that promises to bring a modern flare to a rapidly growing downtown.
Developers with the Smith Entertainment Group have vowed to be respectful of the church’s needs as they build up the surrounding area. But church leaders worry the multibillion-dollar project could drive away what’s left of the Japanese community’s local history.
Ward said she left the recent time capsule unveiling feeling empowered to show people that the Japanese community is not only a valuable piece of the city’s past, but also its present.
“Our founding members believed that our community would still be around in 100 years to find that time capsule, and we can believe we’ll be around another hundred more,” she told the AP, noting members are already brainstorming what they might leave in a time capsule of their own.
When confronted with her comment by producers in a confessional, Heather didn’t even remember saying it — before exclaiming, “You can’t use that … delete. Delete!”
Loose lips sink ships … or at least make them a little more interesting … as a tipsy Heather Gay made quite the claim while aboard a boat in Canouan with Captain Jason Chambers.
On Tuesday’s new episode of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, the women chartered a yacht in the Caribbean in what was essentially a crossover event with Below Deck Down Under. It was Heather and Whitney Rose who organized the getaway, explaining they knew Chambers from a previous trip to Australia.
Upon landing on the Grenadines island, the ladies were instantly smitten with the ship’s hunky crew, including the one and only Captain Jason. And while Britani Bateman, in particular, had her eyes set on the Aussie captain, it was Gay who revealed she may have already been there, done that.
As the drinks were flowing on day one of the trip, Gay was seen playing in the water with Chambers, exclaiming at one point, “I’ll ride him like a f–king bronco!”
That was followed by a chat between Heather and Britani, in which the latter expressed playful frustration Gay was “canoodling with Jason.”
“But Jason and I are friends, we have a history, we’ve f–ked around before, there’s nothing there,” she said, shocking Bateman, who asked what she meant. “I’m saying we’re friends, so there’s latitude,” Gay added.
In a confessional, Gay appeared shocked she made the bold claim, clearly not remembering it.
Captain Jason Chambers Reveals What Really Went Down with Lala Kent and RHOM’s Adriana de Moura (Exclusive) – Click image for related story
“I said that?! Serious faced?!” she exclaimed. “You can’t use that. I don’t know why I said that to her. Delete! Delete!”
So far, Chambers hasn’t addressed Gay’s claims, but he did call the women “lovely, all of them,” while speaking with Us Magazine.
“They’re really beautiful people. However, we know what they like when they’re together. You’ll see that. I’ve tried everything to try and break the ice. I brought some yoga and some Zen into it to try and stop it,” he added of the drama, which included a major blowup between Lisa Barlow and her costars. “But I don’t think there’s anything we could have done to calm it down.”
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs Tuesdays on Bravo, while some additional footage from the trip will also air on Below Deck Down Under next year.
Every Bravolebrity Who Wanted a Piece of Below Deck’s Captain Jason Chambers at BravoCon (Exclusive Details) – Click image for related story
Brand new research from WalletHub identifies the best airlines. The report compares the nine largest US airlines, plus two regional carriers based on safety, affordability, and delays in 2024. For overall best airline, Delta Airlines came in 3rd on the list but was considered the most reliable airline. SkyWest Airlines came in 2nd. That’s *** regional carrier serving Delta, American, United, and Alaska for shorter flights. Spirit Airlines came in first, scoring the highest for. Affordability and safety. March and April have seen an uptick in air travel, meaning security checkpoints will be busy. TSA data shows more than 17 million travelers passed through security checkpoints last week, an average of 2.5 million travelers *** day. To help plan your trip, the MyTSA app shows your average security wait times based on the time and day you plan to travel. For day of updates, you can track the status of your flight by downloading the app for your airline or using an app like Flighty. And remember, TSA will begin enforcing real ID on May 7th. So if you don’t have *** real ID yet or an acceptable alternative like *** passport, expect to run into problems at the airport. And even if you do have one, it’s *** good idea to get to the airport *** little early just in case of delays. Reporting in Washington, I’m Amy Lou.
A mysterious object that cracked a windshield on a United Airlines flight, injuring a pilot and forcing an emergency landing, may have been a weather balloon.WindBorne, a California start-up focused on advanced weather forecasting and atmospheric data collection, said in a statement Monday it believes one of its balloons likely hit the plane.United Flight 1093, a Boeing 737 traveling from Denver to Los Angeles, landed safely in Utah Thursday with 134 passengers and six crew members onboard, according to the airline.Air traffic control audio from LiveATC.net showed the pilots remained calm and declared an emergency as they diverted to land at Salt Lake City.The first officer in the cockpit was treated for minor injuries upon the plane’s landing, the Salt Lake City Fire Department said.Windborne said it is cooperating with the NTSB and FAA on their investigation.“We immediately rolled out changes to minimize time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 feet,” the company said. “These changes are already live with immediate effect. Additionally, we are further accelerating our plans to use live flight data to autonomously avoid planes, even if the planes are at a non-standard altitude. We are also actively working on new hardware designs to further reduce impact force magnitude and concentration.”The plane later flew to Rockford, Illinois, where United Airlines performs maintenance on its 737s, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.
SALT LAKE CITY —
A mysterious object that cracked a windshield on a United Airlines flight, injuring a pilot and forcing an emergency landing, may have been a weather balloon.
WindBorne, a California start-up focused on advanced weather forecasting and atmospheric data collection, said in a statement Monday it believes one of its balloons likely hit the plane.
United Flight 1093, a Boeing 737 traveling from Denver to Los Angeles, landed safely in Utah Thursday with 134 passengers and six crew members onboard, according to the airline.
Air traffic control audio from LiveATC.net showed the pilots remained calm and declared an emergency as they diverted to land at Salt Lake City.
The first officer in the cockpit was treated for minor injuries upon the plane’s landing, the Salt Lake City Fire Department said.
Windborne said it is cooperating with the NTSB and FAA on their investigation.
“We immediately rolled out changes to minimize time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 feet,” the company said. “These changes are already live with immediate effect. Additionally, we are further accelerating our plans to use live flight data to autonomously avoid planes, even if the planes are at a non-standard altitude. We are also actively working on new hardware designs to further reduce impact force magnitude and concentration.”
The plane later flew to Rockford, Illinois, where United Airlines performs maintenance on its 737s, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.
Zumper, a national digital marketplace for renters, has published its latest National Rent Report, and rents in Atlanta remain among the top 25 most expensive in the country. One-bedroom and two-bedroom units in the city proper, not to be confused with metro Atlanta, are above the national average despite rents falling over the past 90 days.
Atlanta is 25th on a list that includes the usual suspects, New York City (1st), San Francisco (2nd), Boston (3rd), and Miami (6th).
“National rent prices have now been flat or falling for three straight months, which signals a real shift in the market,” said Zumper’s Crystal Chen, one of the two authors of the report along with Quentin Proctor. “A mix of cooling renter demand, last year’s record wave of new supply, and softer conditions in the job market has taken some heat out of rents.”
Zumper’s National Rent Index revealed that national rent prices were either flat or declining for the third consecutive month. In September, one-bedroom rent units held steady at $1,517 per month, while rents for two-bedroom units dipped 0.2% to $1,894. The good news: Year-over-year, both unit types are down 1%.
An apartment building (left, rear) looms large near Atlanta’s Historic Sweet Auburn District. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
But not in Atlanta—at least not yet. According to Zumper data, one-bedroom units in Atlanta average $1650 per month, while two-bedroom units average $2,010, more than $100 above the national average.
“We’ll likely see prices temper a bit further through the winter if typical seasonality patterns hold true, but with fewer new units being built this year, rent prices will likely increase again as we move into the spring months of 2026,” Chen said.
Those numbers are still better than those in San Francisco, for example, where a one-bedroom unit averages $3,500 and a two-bedroom unit is breaking the $5,000 mark.
Rents in the mountain region are down. For example, one-bedroom units in Salt Lake City are down 11% year-over-year. Desert cities such as Las Vegas (-3.3%) and Phoenix (-3.8%) have also seen rent prices fall.
Do not run from contempt; run toward it at full speed with your love.
Those were the words Professor Arthur C. Brooks delivered to a room of Deseret News staff and supporters, ahead of receiving the Deseret News Civic Charity Award on Wednesday.
The Deseret News reached its 175th birthday in June, and celebrated the milestone on Wednesday night with a gala in Salt Lake City.
Special guests at the gala included President Dallin H. Oaks, the First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sister Kristen Oaks, Utah’s first lady Abby Cox, President and CEO of Deseret Management Jeff Simpson and many other distinguished religious, civic, and political leaders.
President and CEO of Deseret Management Jeff Simpson presents Arthur Brooks with the Deseret News Civic Charity Award at the Deseret News’ 175th anniversary celebration at The Commercial Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Brooks on politics, faith, hope and Utah
Brooks is a Harvard professor, a bestselling author and a self-described fan of Utah. Addressing his audience Wednesday night, Brooks said his work and ideas on happiness and love are synchronous with Utah.
On Sept. 10, Brooks happened to touch down in Salt Lake City just after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot. He quoted Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Russell M. Nelson who said in 2002, “Hatred among brothers and neighbors has now reduced sacred cities to sites of sorrow.”
President Nelson’s quote was delivered over two decades ago, and now hatred (especially political hatred) seems so much more rampant, Brooks said, calling the words “prophetic.”
How does America recover from this?
Brooks said he believes American politics is fueled by something more than anger and more than disgust. It has become infused by a combination of the two: contempt.
Contempt “is the conviction of the utter worthlessness of another human being. And that’s what American politics has become today,” Brooks said.
Much like a dysfunctional marriage, political parties are riddled with those who feel contempt for those on the other side of the political divide, and perceive their foes as worthless. The contempt is “almost like a physical attack,” Brooks said. “It’s a terrible thing. And that’s exactly how we treat each other in politics in America today.”
The solution to this contempt, Brooks believes, is learning to love our enemies again.
Arthur Brooks, Harvard University professor and New York Times bestselling author, speaks at the Deseret News’ 175th anniversary celebration at The Commercial Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Being more “civil” and more “tolerant” is not the answer. “That’s not the right standard for us,” he said. “That’s not the ancient standard on which you built your church and we built ours.” Brooks is a devout Catholic.
Then Brooks quoted Jesus Christ as recorded in Matthew chapter five, verse 44. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” he said.
“Are you strong enough for that? Are we strong enough for that?” he asked. “That’s the medicine we need. That’s the only thing that’s going to bring our country back together again.”
“We need people dedicated across the gospel of Jesus Christ who are going to do that and do it in public and do it with the means of communication, just like the Deseret News,” Brooks said.
Brooks gives a three-part homework assignment
Sarah Jane Weaver, Deseret News editor, moderates a panel discussion with Arthur Brooks and University of Utah President Taylor Randall at the Deseret News’ 175th anniversary celebration at The Commercial Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
To give people a game plan on how to love their enemies, Brooks laid out three steps.
First, “Stop being used and stop being monetized,” Brooks said. “When we hate for political reasons, somebody’s profiting, and it’s not us.”
Second, go out and find contention, and then “go running toward it with your body,” he said. Brooks then quoted Helaman from the Book of Mormon. “And as many as were convinced did lay down their weapons of war and also their hatred. And that’s how peace was made,” Brooks said.
Finally, Brooks urged his listeners to show gratitude for being American and evaluate how they are showing that gratitude.
Reflecting on the Deseret News’ reporting on Charlie Kirk
Before Brooks’ remarks, Deseret News Executive Editor Doug Wilks and Publisher Burke Olsen spoke at the event.
Wilks took a moment to explain how the newspaper was uniquely able to report on Charlie Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University, on Sept. 10.
Two reporters were on the ground at the event, and seconds after the shot struck Kirk, they wrapped their arms around each other and prayed.
Wilks explained that later that evening on Sept. 10, he asked them how they had the presence of mind to pray for Kirk and his family. Emma Pitts responded, “I didn’t want him to die in that car.”
“There is no better explanation than that comment to tell you about the example and the effort of our staff to do it correctly, to do it right,” Wilks said.
“What we do at the Deseret News is a reflection of who we are, and we try to do that every single day,” he said.
Wilks also thanked Abby Cox for her and Gov. Spencer Cox’s leadership after the shooting.
Utah first lady Abby Cox took a leap forward Wednesday in her mission to transform Utah’s foster care systems — but continued success in boosting foster care depends on Utah communities, she said.
Utah’s first lady, in partnership with Utah Foster Care, hosted a joint press conference Wednesday to announce the statewide launch of Care Communities for foster families.
Care Communities is a program which builds volunteer groups of eight to 10 people who together surround a single foster family and provide support where it is needed, such as making meals, doing laundry and babysitting.
“When this idea of care communities was realized, and I started thinking about it, I thought, ‘If there is one place on earth that this can be done statewide, it would be right here in the state of Utah,’” Cox said during her remarks Wednesday.
Care Communities was launched as a pilot program two years ago, with the aim to provide foster families with more stability, give foster children a stronger foundation and reduce burnout in foster parents, so they can stick to fostering for longer periods.
Through the pilot program, nearly 300 Utah adults have stepped up to volunteer for Care Communities, creating 23 Care Communities in Utah.
The goal, Abby Cox told the Deseret News, is to build 60 more of these communities in the next year. She hopes every foster family in Utah who wants support from a care community will receive it.
Utah first lady Abby Cox speaks during the launch of Care Communities, a program to support foster families, at the Governor’s Mansion in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
“This concept of Care Communities is really inherent to where we are and who we are as Utahns,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said during his remarks. He added that results from the Care Communities pilot program have been “overwhelmingly positive.”
He continued, “This idea that we could be the first state with families waiting for kids, instead of kids waiting for families, was something that truly felt like a rallying cry.”
The impact of Care Communities
Janelle McGinty, care team leader with Utah Foster Care, speaks during the launch of Care Communities, a program to support foster families, at the Governor’s Mansion in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
When Janelle McGinty joined Care Communities as a care team leader for a foster family, she recalled feeling “inadequate.”
McGinty added that, at first, she felt skeptical as to how much of an impact she could have on a foster family through occasional babysitting, dropping off a meal or helping with extra housework.
“But I quickly learned how much those simple acts really mattered,” McGinty said. “Babysitting gave the parents a chance to catch their breath, (a chance to get) a meal on a busy night, (it) gave them relief. After a long day, helping with housework reminded them that they weren’t carrying the load alone.”
She continued, “The most meaningful part about Care Communities is that through the act of lifting others, we are lifted ourselves.”
Gina Philips, the director of communications at Utah Foster Care, offered a similar sentiment.
She said “simple acts of service” such as taking foster kids to dance class or sports practice, providing meals and offering support to foster parents — even just going on walks with them — has made a “huge difference” in the success of the foster program.
The relationships that come from this program, Philips added, are another “beautiful” result of the community-based program.
“The relationships that are built, they’re real,” she said. “These are real people, real relationships, real children who need help and who need support.”
Faith groups rally around Care Communities
The Rev. Natan Sautter, Cottonwood Presbyterian pastor, foster parent and adoptive parent, speaks during the launch of Care Communities, a program to support foster families, at the Governor’s Mansion in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
The interfaith community in Utah also stepped in to be part of the Care Communities program.
Representing the support from Utah’s interfaith community on Wednesday was Elder Derek Miller, an Area Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a member of the Care Community advisory board, as well as the Rev. Nathan Sautter, pastor of Cottonwood Presbyterian, who is both an adoptive parent and foster parent.
Elder Miller said he felt both humble and proud to be involved with the Care Communities program. As someone who has seen firsthand how the program operates, Miller said he is proud of its “amazing” work and humbled to play a role in it.
Miller added that he admires how the program has brought “people of goodwill together from different faiths around a shared and noble purpose.”
“I’m so delighted that the work of care communities is expanding, expanding across faiths, neighborhoods and our entire state,” he added. “This kind of service doesn’t just help those in need, it helps all of us, the giver and the receiver, and ultimately, it helps us to be the kind of people we want to be, compassionate and kind.”
For the Rev. Sautter, Care Communities has made an impact in his daily life. As a parent to foster children, Sautter has been on the receiving end of the support offered by Care Communities.
“Fostering is probably the hardest work I’ve ever done. … It’s also the most rewarding and the thing that I’m probably most proud of in my life,” Sautter said. “But my wife and I couldn’t have done it without our Care Community. I don’t know how we would have made it.”
Sautter said the community that has supported his family during the fostering program has become like an “extended family” to them, as they have shown his children how deeply they are loved.
He also highlighted how programs like Care Communities provide the support necessary to create brighter futures in the lives of vulnerable children, like those in the foster program.
“It stops cycles of poverty, of violence, of neglect, of addiction,” he said. “It chooses to disrupt those cycles in the lives of children.”
How to become part of a Care Community
Tami Carson, Care Communities director at Utah Foster Care, speaks during the launch of Care Communities, a program to support foster families, at the Governor’s Mansion in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
There are a few simple steps to becoming part of a Care Community.
First, go to Utah’s Foster Care website, where it will have all the information needed to get started. Second, reach out to your local congregation and let them know you are interested in joining a Care Community — they will help match you with a family in your area.
Once you are assigned to a family, Care Community provides robust training on how care team members can aid these families as well as a broader understanding of foster care, the first lady told the Deseret News.
“We tell our kids to go out and change the world. That is not right. Our kids need to go out and change their neighborhood,” Abby Cox said. “Each one of us has an opportunity to be a doer. … To change what is going on in the world right now, to change the fear and the anger and the skepticism about somebody that’s different from us — this is the answer today.”
Authorities in Utah say two men have been arrested on suspicion of placing an incendiary device under a news media vehicle in Salt Lake City. The bomb didn’t go off.Police and fire department bomb squads responded Friday when a suspicious device was found under the vehicle parked near an occupied building.Investigators determined the bomb “had been lit but failed to function as designed,” according to court records cited by KUTV.The FBI identified two suspects and served a search warrant at a home in the Magna neighborhood west of the city’s downtown. Two men, ages 58 and 31, were arrested and could face charges related to weapons possession and threats of terrorism, KTVX reported Sunday.Neighboring homes were evacuated during the search, which turned up explosives and “explosive-related components,” firearms, illegal narcotics and other paraphernalia, court records say. Authorities say they also found at least two devices that turned out to be hoax weapons of mass destruction.There was no information about a possible motive and the relationship between the two suspects wasn’t immediately known.News media have descended on Salt Lake City following last week’s assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
SALT LAKE CITY —
Authorities in Utah say two men have been arrested on suspicion of placing an incendiary device under a news media vehicle in Salt Lake City. The bomb didn’t go off.
Police and fire department bomb squads responded Friday when a suspicious device was found under the vehicle parked near an occupied building.
Investigators determined the bomb “had been lit but failed to function as designed,” according to court records cited by KUTV.
The FBI identified two suspects and served a search warrant at a home in the Magna neighborhood west of the city’s downtown. Two men, ages 58 and 31, were arrested and could face charges related to weapons possession and threats of terrorism, KTVX reported Sunday.
Neighboring homes were evacuated during the search, which turned up explosives and “explosive-related components,” firearms, illegal narcotics and other paraphernalia, court records say. Authorities say they also found at least two devices that turned out to be hoax weapons of mass destruction.
There was no information about a possible motive and the relationship between the two suspects wasn’t immediately known.
News media have descended on Salt Lake City following last week’s assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
If you squint, the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective, strategically located on the 900 South bike corridor in Salt Lake City, looks like any other successful bike shop: sales floor packed with a large variety of bikes and plenty of customers milling about; repair shop full of techs working on derailleurs and cranks; parts section with everything from pedals to forks to chains to wheels.
But look closer and you realize this is no ordinary bike shop. Because nothing in here is new.
Everything is donated. The bikes and the gear, every bit of it, used to belong to someone else. Last year, the Bicycle Collective collected 5,379 donated bikes. That’s over 100 bikes on average a week. Once the bikes are refurbished, they go on sale for a significantly reduced price, or they’re given away — to refugees, homeless people, inmates just getting out of jail, people coming out of substance abuse treatment, families with less than moderate income, anyone in genuine need where a bicycle could help improve their circumstances.
This entire operation is a tribute to what can happen when you mix good-hearted people with a good cause and good leadership.
“It’s a very satisfying and gratifying place to work,” says Donna McAleer, the collective’s executive director. “None of this happens without contributions from many, many people. That is the ecosystem here.”
Donna McAleer, executive director of the Bike Collective, poses for photos outside the business in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Donna doesn’t say so, but the Bicycle Collective’s exponential growth has come in the 6½ years since she arrived as executive director.
For years, the collective was just getting by in a rented space on State Street. Then the board of directors did two things that paved the way for a brighter future:
First, they bought some land on 900 South so they could own their own building and better control their circumstances.
Second, they hired Donna. It was her responsibility to raise the money to construct the building and get the organization in a financially stable position.
Donna McAleer, executive director of the Bike Collective, talks with mechanic Thomas Kennedy McDonagh in the pro shop at the business in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
It was a big ask, but Donna has never been one to shy away from a challenge. This is a person who, shortly after moving to Utah, decided to try out for the Olympic women’s bobsled team after one run down the track; and who, even though a Democrat hadn’t come close to winning in 32 years, ran against former nine-time Rep. Rob Bishop in the heavily-Republican 1st Congressional District — twice.
She nearly made the Olympic team, finishing fourth in the U.S. trials for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, and she won the Democratic Party’s congressional primaries in both 2012 and 2014 before losing to Bishop in the general election.
Haley Fries works on fixing her tire in the workshop at the Bicycle Collective in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
“Like Wayne Gretzky said, ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,’” says Donna. “Both those experiences reinforced my desire of wanting to have an impact in the community.”
She was working as an executive for another company in 2018 when she saw the posting for a new director at the Bicycle Collective.
Being involved in a nonprofit again — she’d earlier headed a health care charity in Park City — appealed to her. She decided to apply.
Bike forks sit on the sales floor at the Bike Collective in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
You can imagine the look on the board members’ faces when they saw Donna’s resume: graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where she was on the tennis and ski teams and graduated in organizational dynamics and leadership; first lieutenant in the U.S. Army; MBA from the University of Virginia; previous experience as CEO of a health care nonprofit … and former bobsled athlete and two-time major party congressional candidate.
Anyway, she got the job.
A patron returns a bicycle after taking it for a test drive at the Bicycle Collective in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
It took five years to secure the funding to complete what is officially the “Kahlert Community Bicycle Resource Center” (thanks to a generous $1 million donation from the Kahlert Foundation) located at 325 W. 900 South in Salt Lake City. The grand opening was held in May 2024. That same year, Donna was named CEO of the Year by Utah Business Magazine.
Donna’s affection for the 19,000-square-foot facility is obvious when she conducts an impromptu tour. She shows off the showroom floor, where ready-to-ride commuter specials are priced at around $350. She shows off the vintage section, where collectors can purchase classic bicycles that have been donated to the cause. She shows off the community bike shop, where do-it-yourselfers can rent bench time and work on their own bikes. She shows off the room where volunteers conduct free bike repair classes in the evening.
A tool bench sits in the pro shop at the Bike Collective in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
She stops to make a point when she gets to the bin where they sell used bicycle tubes.
“Used tubes are our most frequently purchased product,” she says. “We sell them for a dollar. And when you see somebody literally taking out every penny they have to buy a tube, it’s very reflective — you realize there’s a really high need in this community.”
Every day, as bicycles roll in and roll right back out, the Bicycle Collective is helping fill part of that need by giving people the mobility to go places. To donate, shop or volunteer, go to bicyclecollective.org.
Xander Knecht purchases a refurbished bicycle at the Bicycle Collective in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — Two men were arrested after police found an explosive device under a news media vehicle on Friday.
Adeeb Nasir, 58, and Adil Justice Ahmed Nasir, 31, were both arrested for investigation of manufacturing or possessing a weapon of mass destruction, threat of terrorism, attempted aggravated arson, and possessing or removing incendiary items and their parts, according to a police booking affidavit.
The Salt Lake City Police Department Bomb Squad and the Unified Fire Authority Arson/Bomb Squad responded to a suspicious device on Friday in Salt Lake City.
Police say they found the device placed under a news media vehicle parked next to an occupied building and determined it to be a real explosive device. It “had been lit but failed to function as designed,” according to the affidavit.
The document did not give an address for the building, nor did it have information on what bomb experts did to defuse the device.
The two suspects were located in Magna after the FBI assumed primary jurisdiction. Agents served a federal search warrant at the residence of the suspects on Saturday, police documents indicate.
Inside, authorities found both suspects, “two hoax weapons of mass destruction,” two firearms and illegal narcotics, according to the documents.
The suspects said that the devices were real when asked about them, and police documents stated that law enforcement then evacuated the residence to “initiate disposal procedures.” Nearby residences were also evacuated.
Police requested that the suspects be held without bail to prevent further threats to the public.
The FBI seized evidence related to the explosive devices from the Salt Lake City scene and evidence of other crimes, according to the affidavit. That evidence included firearms, explosives and related components, illegal narcotics and electronic devices, the document says.
The nation’s spotlight shined on Utah this week when it became the site of one of the most public political assassinations in U.S. history.
On Wednesday, Charlie Kirk, a well-known conservative youth organizer, was shot to death in front of a crowd of 3,000 at Utah Valley University, with videos quickly circulating across the country and around the globe.
The horrific murder of Kirk, who left behind his wife, Erika, and two children under 4, embodied the spiraling political polarization that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has used his platform to call out and condemn for the past four years.
“My whole hope is that this is a catalyst to help us find that off-ramp that we desperately need,” Cox said in an interview with the Deseret News on Friday. “And I think Utah is showing the way.”
What did Gov. Cox say about Charlie Kirk?
As chair of the National Governors Association from 2023 to 2024, Cox led a “Disagree Better” initiative modeling healthy dialogue between members of opposing political parties. If the nation did not turn down the rhetorical temperature, Cox warned, political violence would increase.
With the eyes and ears of the nation focused on him at multiple press conferences this week where he took center stage, Cox highlighted Kirk’s focus on the free exchange of ideas and forgiving enemies, while also urging Americans to avoid the “cancer” of social media, to engage in debates with respect and to “stop hating our fellow Americans.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox speaks during a press conference while joined by FBI Director Kash Patel and other local and federal law enforcement and government officials in the Pope Science Building on the campus of UVU in Orem on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
The 2nd-term governor, whoreceivedpraisefromacrossthepoliticalspectrum for his messages, framed the tragic episode as a “watershed” moment for the country’s political system that would determine whether the U.S. would reach “the end of a dark chapter” or start “the beginning of a darker” one.
“All eyes are on Utah. This is also an opportunity to show the country a way through this,” Cox told the Deseret News. “And that way is through kindness and service to our neighbors and building our communities, and I think honoring the things that (Kirk) stood for — which are passionate debate, free speech, a competition of ideas — that go back to the very founding of our nation.”
What is Disagree Better doing now?
On Friday, the newly formed Disagree Better nonprofit group, with Cox as its chair, made its debut by directing an event at the Utah Capitol Building to show that Utah’s response to the assassination of Kirk has the potential to help prevent future political violence.
Disagree Better executive director Marianne Viray gathered with representatives from Brigham Young University’s Wheatley Institute, and other national bridge-building initiatives like Braver Angels, the Dignity Index and Living Room Conversations, whose leadership reside in Utah.
Marianne Viray, of Disagree Better, speaks at a Utah Bridge Builders press conference where local and national leaders respond to the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
At the press conference, which was sponsored by Mormon Women for Ethical Government, Viray announced the launch of a new website, TurnToward.us, that Disagree Better’s coalition of partners put together in response to the assassination of Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA.
“Disagree better was absolutely made to be able to respond to this moment,” Viray told the Deseret News. “This tragic event of this week in Utah has elevated this message and reaching more people than it had previously.”
The new website features one dozen resources intended to help people navigate the vitriolic political environment, including lessons on building relationships with those with whom they disagree and workshops on how to find common ground with others.
Rising acceptance of political violence
Much of the reaction to Kirk’s death on social media does not point to decreasing partisan animosity. Hundreds of posts from apparently left-leaning accounts have been found celebrating the assassination of Kirk as a perceived political enemy.
Others from the right have declared that what happened to Kirk should lead to greater aggression against their ideological foes. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, who considered Kirk a close political ally, said on Thursday “we just have to beat the hell” out of “radical left lunatics.”
In his interview with the Deseret News, Cox called Trump’s response “very normal” and “how most people are feeling.” The alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Washington County, did, in fact, appear to have been motivated by “a radical left ideology” that had “engulfed” him, Cox said.
These two mugshots released by the FBI show Tyler Robinson. | FBI
But the president has also indicated his desire to deescalate the nation’s recent streak of political violence, Cox said. Cox pointed out that Trump was the first person to call him after his Friday press conference to thank him for his words and to reemphasize Kirk’s message of nonviolence
However, at least portions of the country appear to becoming less interested in the message Cox has to offer.
A FIRE poll released on Tuesday found that a record one-third of college students now say that resorting to violence to stop a campus speech is acceptable — even if only rarely.
On Thursday, a YouGov poll found an astonishing partisan disparity in response to whether individuals thought it was acceptable for a person “to be happy about the death of a public figure they oppose.”
Of the nearly 4,000 respondents, 77% of Republicans said it is “always unacceptable” to be happy about the death of a public figure they oppose, compared to just 38% of Democrats who felt the same way.
At Friday’s event, the former leader of Utah Young Republicans, Zac Wilson, and current leader of Utah Young Democrats, Jack Davis, led by example in showing their peers how to cross partisan divides.
Jack Davis, of Young Democrats, center, looks at Zac Wilson, of Young Republicans, right, at a Utah Bridge Builders press conference where local and national leaders respond to the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
The duo, who met as BYU students, committed to get lunch together and invest in a real friendship, despite disagreeing on almost all issues, because they agreed on one important issue: ensuring that political violence does not “take root here” and erode the “fundamental right” of free expression in Utah.
A UVU student, who was a member of Braver Angels, and two BYU students, who started the “Peacemaker Project,” joined other college students at the event, saying that Wednesday’s assassination had convinced them to redouble their efforts to make campuses a place where peaceful debate can thrive.
Is Utah prepared to respond?
Each speaker at the event, including Governing Group PAC founder Becky Edwards, and Dignity Index co-founder Tami Pyfer, said Utah was uniquely position to lead the nation after tragedy struck the Beehive State.
Marianne Viray, of Disagree Better, right, embraces Byron Russell, a founding investor and board member of Redemption Bank, left, at a Utah Bridge Builders press conference where local and national leaders respond to the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
In his remarks on Friday, Cox said he had prayed that Kirk’s murderer was not a member of the Utah community, known for its unparalleled levels of social capital, charitable giving, volunteer service and religious attendance.
“I thought it would make it easier on us, if we could just say, hey, we don’t do that here,” Cox told the nation. “But it did happen here, and it was one of us.”
The fact that Kirk’s murder at the hands of a fellow Utahn felt so personal for so many Utahns is actually evidence of how strong the perception of Utah community is, according to Paul Edwards, the director of BYU’s Wheatley Institute.
Utah is unique in preserving its sense of community into the 21st century, Edwards said, and now is a time for introspection into how the state can encourage young people to see political opponents as “a person to be engaged” instead of “an object to be eradicated.”
Patrick Mason, who holds the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, also attended the event, after joining other attendees in penning a Deseret News op-ed.
He said Utah’s unique heritage as a place settled by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bound together by their love of faith, family and freedom is well-suited to respond to the events of Wednesday that rocked Utah communities.
People listen as Jason Preston, of We Are The People Utah, speaks at a vigil for Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA who was fatally shot during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, at City Center Park in Orem on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
“No community anywhere in the United States is immune from the forces of polarization,” Mason told the Deseret News. “The question is not immunity, but resilience. Can we actually respond to when the virus of hate … comes in to our community? Can we produce enough antibodies in order to overtake it?”
The political assassination that occurred in Orem, Utah is the sad fulfillment of what experts said was coming if the nation’s political discourse continued to worsen, Cox told the Deseret News.
According to Cox, polarization must be addressed at the individual level. It will take more than one group, or one leader to initiate a lasting shift, and concerned citizens should not wait for an indication from a certain elected official to change their behavior, Cox said.
“As we’re celebrating 250 years, I think there really is this opportunity to remind us who we are,” Cox said. “It’s certainly an opportunity for all peacemakers in this country.”
People leave candles beneath a photo of Charlie Kirk at a vigil for Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA who was fatally shot during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, at City Center Park in Orem on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Rep. Burgess Owens and fellow Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., joined with a number of local stakeholders Friday to discuss how Utahns will benefit from the Working Families Tax Cut Act.
Part of the discussion, held at MACU offices in Sandy, focused on ways the legislation will benefit Utahns, including no tax on tips and no tax on overtime provisions, as well as a boost in support for school choice. Stakeholders involved in the roundtable included think tank members, members of business associations and leaders of private school systems.
According to Owens, who is Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee chairman, the legislation is the largest tax cut in the history of the U.S.
“The real benefit of this bill is that it impacts everyone,” said Melva Sine, the CEO and president of the Utah Restaurant Association.
“It gives us all more discretionary income so that we can enjoy the services, whether it’s a private school, whether it’s going out and enjoying your favorite restaurant more often, whatever that might be, this provides discretionary income for us all to enjoy using the services and the things that are available in our communities,” she added.
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, visits the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
What Rep. Burgess Owens said about the Working Families Tax Cut Act
“This act, which was passed recently, is a true miracle,” Owens said. “We’re recognizing the folks who made our country what it is. It’s our working class, middle class. It’s those who go out every single day, and they dream big, and all they want is just an opportunity to not only work hard, but hold on to what they have.”
Pointing out that this is the largest tax cut in the country’s history, Owens said it will amount to $5 trillion over the next 10 years and is equal to an average of 15% tax cuts for Americans.
The congressman also highlighted the new investment accounts for newborns included in the legislation, sharing how this will help contribute to fiscal responsibility education.
Owens also said that this legislation is Congress recognizing that what they do is “truly at the front edge of our country’s freedom, our culture, our ability to educate our kids, ability to let them go out and have a good career, build their families, dream big, and a place of safety.”
How no tax on tips will impact Utahns
During the roundtable, Owens asked Sine to share how the no tax on tips provision will affect Utahns, specifically restaurant workers.
Server Brennan Feller prepares curbside pickup orders at Market Street Grill in Cottonwood Heights on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News
Sine shared that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of restaurant workers in Utah dropped from 111,000 to 63,000. There are now 123,000 restaurant employees in Utah, but they are still working on building that number.
“Anything that can come along that can help incentivize these people to want to work, because our industry is an industry of work, you have to love work, you have to love hard work, you have to love people, and so this bill has helped us to entertain and create more job opportunities,” Sine said.
She added that not only will this help incentivize people to join the industry, it will also help tipped employees to make more money.
Walberg, who is Education and Workforce Committee chairman, said that when he goes to restaurants, he will write on the receipt, “I love no tax on tips,” which will lead to a discussion with the waiter or waitress about the provision.
“It was more than just the money for them, it was the fact that they were appreciated to be tipped, but also they could make more. They could choose how to make more, and they wouldn’t be just the hourly employee in some of their minds. They were entrepreneurs. They were independent workers,” the congressman said.
How no tax on overtime will impact Utahns
Casey Hill, state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses in Utah, was asked to share how the no tax on overtime provision of the bill will impact Utah’s businesses and employees.
“If you think about the individuals who are typically earning or working overtime, those are typically some of your highest-producing, hardest-working individuals, and to further incentivize them to work and to engage more, take more of their hard-earned dollars home is significant for our employers,” Hill said.
He said that 99% of the state’s employers have less than 500 employees, making Utah a “small business driven state,” meaning that “anything that impacts in a positive way small businesses will impact Utah in a significantly positive way.”
This tax relief will go directly to individuals, allowing them to reinvest that into the economy in a number of ways.
Hill also pointed out that many people talked about how giving tax dollars back to citizens is a loss of revenue for the state or federal government. He said that in most cases that revenue actually goes up because spending and investing increases.
The suspect in the Charlie Kirk assassination has been captured, President Donald Trump said Friday in an announcement representing a significant breakthrough in the investigation into a targeted killing that raised fresh alarms about political violence in the United States.Live video above: Officials address arrest in shooting death of Charlie Kirk“With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump announced in a live interview on Fox News Channel. He said a minister also involved with law enforcement turned the suspect in to authorities.“Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said.The suspect in custody in connection with Kirk’s killing is a 22-year-old from Utah, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Authorities have identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.The FBI and the Justice Department did not immediately comment, but a news conference in Utah, where the killing took place on a college campus this week, was planned for later Friday. News of the arrest came hours after the FBI and state officials had pleaded for public help by releasing additional photographs of the suspect, a move that seemed to indicate that law enforcement was uncertain of the person’s whereabouts.Kirk was killed by a single shot in what police said was a targeted attack and Utah’s governor called a political assassination. Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA, based in Arizona.Authorities recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the scene of the shooting and had said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into the nearby woods afterward.Kirk had been speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of Wednesday’s shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead hours later.“He wanted to help young people, and he didn’t deserve this,” Trump said Friday. “He was really a good person.”Federal investigators and state officials on Thursday had released photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was shot as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at the university in Orem.More than 7,000 leads and tips had poured in, officials said. Authorities have yet to publicly name the suspect or cite a motive in the killing, the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States.Grisly video shared onlineThe attack, carried out in broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.The videos show Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk reaches up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.The shooter, who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a college-age appearance, fired one shot from the rooftop, according to authorities. Video released Thursday showed the person then walking through the grass and across the street before disappearing.“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, visited with Kirk’s family Thursday in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and the 2024 election.“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”Kirk’s casket was flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Phoenix, where his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based. Trump told reporters he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral. Details have not been announced.Kirk was taking questions about gun violenceKirk became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.One such provocative exchange played out immediately before the shooting as Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence.The debate hosted by Turning Point at the Sorensen Center on campus was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”The event generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”Attendees barricaded themselves in classroomsSome attendees who bolted after the gunshot rushed into two classrooms full of students. They used tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbed an electric pencil sharpener and wrapped the cord tightly around the door handle, then tied the sharpener to a chair leg.On campus Thursday, the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly used at his events — “PROVE ME WRONG” — stood, disheveled.Kathleen Murphy, a longtime resident who lives near the campus, said she has been staying inside with her door locked.“With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry,” Murphy said.Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack, which unfolded during a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.
OREM, Utah —
The suspect in the Charlie Kirk assassination has been captured, President Donald Trump said Friday in an announcement representing a significant breakthrough in the investigation into a targeted killing that raised fresh alarms about political violence in the United States.
Live video above: Officials address arrest in shooting death of Charlie Kirk
“With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump announced in a live interview on Fox News Channel. He said a minister also involved with law enforcement turned the suspect in to authorities.
“Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said.
The suspect in custody in connection with Kirk’s killing is a 22-year-old from Utah, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Authorities have identified the suspect as Tyler Robinson, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The FBI and the Justice Department did not immediately comment, but a news conference in Utah, where the killing took place on a college campus this week, was planned for later Friday. News of the arrest came hours after the FBI and state officials had pleaded for public help by releasing additional photographs of the suspect, a move that seemed to indicate that law enforcement was uncertain of the person’s whereabouts.
Kirk was killed by a single shot in what police said was a targeted attack and Utah’s governor called a political assassination. Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA, based in Arizona.
Authorities recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the scene of the shooting and had said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into the nearby woods afterward.
Kirk had been speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of Wednesday’s shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead hours later.
“He wanted to help young people, and he didn’t deserve this,” Trump said Friday. “He was really a good person.”
Federal investigators and state officials on Thursday had released photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was shot as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at the university in Orem.
More than 7,000 leads and tips had poured in, officials said. Authorities have yet to publicly name the suspect or cite a motive in the killing, the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States.
Grisly video shared online
The attack, carried out in broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.
The videos show Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk reaches up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.
The shooter, who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a college-age appearance, fired one shot from the rooftop, according to authorities. Video released Thursday showed the person then walking through the grass and across the street before disappearing.
“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.
Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, visited with Kirk’s family Thursday in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and the 2024 election.
“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”
Kirk’s casket was flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Phoenix, where his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based. Trump told reporters he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral. Details have not been announced.
Kirk was taking questions about gun violence
Kirk became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.
One such provocative exchange played out immediately before the shooting as Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence.
The debate hosted by Turning Point at the Sorensen Center on campus was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”
The event generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
Attendees barricaded themselves in classrooms
Some attendees who bolted after the gunshot rushed into two classrooms full of students. They used tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbed an electric pencil sharpener and wrapped the cord tightly around the door handle, then tied the sharpener to a chair leg.
On campus Thursday, the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly used at his events — “PROVE ME WRONG” — stood, disheveled.
Kathleen Murphy, a longtime resident who lives near the campus, said she has been staying inside with her door locked.
“With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry,” Murphy said.
Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack, which unfolded during a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.
President Donald Trump said Friday that the suspect in the Charlie Kirk killing has been captured.“With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump announced in a live interview on Fox News Channel on Friday morning.Trump said a minister who is also involved with law enforcement turned in the suspect to authorities.“Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said.Kirk was killed by a single shot Wednesday in what police said was a targeted attack and Utah’s governor called a political assassination. Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA and was a close ally of Trump.Authorities recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the scene and had said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into the woods after the shooting.Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of the shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead hours later.Federal investigators and state officials on Thursday had released photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was shot as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at Utah Valley University in Orem.More than 7,000 leads and tips had poured in, officials said. Authorities have yet to publicly name the suspect or cite a motive in the killing, the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States.Grisly video shared onlineThe attack, carried out in broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.The videos show Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk reaches up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.The shooter, who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a college-age appearance, fired one shot from the rooftop, according to authorities. Video released Thursday showed the person then walking through the grass and across the street before disappearing.“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, visited with Kirk’s family Thursday in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and the 2024 election.“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”Kirk’s casket was flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Phoenix, where his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based. Trump told reporters he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral. Details have not been announced.Kirk was taking questions about gun violenceKirk became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.One such provocative exchange played out immediately before the shooting as Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence.The debate hosted by Turning Point at the Sorensen Center on campus was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”The event generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”Attendees barricaded themselves in classroomsSome attendees who bolted after the gunshot rushed into two classrooms full of students. They used tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbed an electric pencil sharpener and wrapped the cord tightly around the door handle, then tied the sharpener to a chair leg.On campus Thursday, the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly used at his events — “PROVE ME WRONG” — stood, disheveled.Kathleen Murphy, a longtime resident who lives near the campus, said she has been staying inside with her door locked.“With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry,” Murphy said.Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack, which unfolded during a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.
President Donald Trump said Friday that the suspect in the Charlie Kirk killing has been captured.
“With a high degree of certainty, we have him,” Trump announced in a live interview on Fox News Channel on Friday morning.
Trump said a minister who is also involved with law enforcement turned in the suspect to authorities.
“Somebody that was very close to him said, ‘Hmm, that’s him,’” Trump said.
Kirk was killed by a single shot Wednesday in what police said was a targeted attack and Utah’s governor called a political assassination. Kirk co-founded the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA and was a close ally of Trump.
Authorities recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle near the scene and had said the shooter jumped off a roof and vanished into the woods after the shooting.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point at Utah Valley University at the time of the shooting. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead hours later.
Federal investigators and state officials on Thursday had released photos and a video of the person they believe is responsible. Kirk was shot as he spoke to a crowd gathered in a courtyard at Utah Valley University in Orem.
More than 7,000 leads and tips had poured in, officials said. Authorities have yet to publicly name the suspect or cite a motive in the killing, the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States.
Grisly video shared online
The attack, carried out in broad daylight as Kirk spoke about social issues, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.
The videos show Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk reaches up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.
The shooter, who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a college-age appearance, fired one shot from the rooftop, according to authorities. Video released Thursday showed the person then walking through the grass and across the street before disappearing.
“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.
Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, visited with Kirk’s family Thursday in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and the 2024 election.
“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”
Kirk’s casket was flown aboard Air Force Two from Utah to Phoenix, where his nonprofit political youth organization, Turning Point USA, is based. Trump told reporters he plans to attend Kirk’s funeral. Details have not been announced.
Kirk was taking questions about gun violence
Kirk became a powerful political force among young Republicans and was a fixture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.
One such provocative exchange played out immediately before the shooting as Kirk was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence.
The debate hosted by Turning Point at the Sorensen Center on campus was billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”
The event generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
Attendees barricaded themselves in classrooms
Some attendees who bolted after the gunshot rushed into two classrooms full of students. They used tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbed an electric pencil sharpener and wrapped the cord tightly around the door handle, then tied the sharpener to a chair leg.
On campus Thursday, the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly used at his events — “PROVE ME WRONG” — stood, disheveled.
Kathleen Murphy, a longtime resident who lives near the campus, said she has been staying inside with her door locked.
“With the shooter not being caught yet, it was a worry,” Murphy said.
Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the attack, which unfolded during a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.
It’s also the same year that Salt Lake City last updated its community plan for the Avenues, one of its oldest and most distinct neighborhoods. But to borrow a line from “Blues Brothers,” a film released just seven years before the plan: “Times have changed, you know what I mean?”
Salt Lake City is now looking to do a new act, as city planners seek to create a document that aligns with more recently approved city plans and the current needs of Utah’s fast-growing capital. They briefed members of the Salt Lake City Historical Landmarks Commission about their intent to update its oldest neighborhood plan on Thursday, following a similar meeting with the Salt Lake City Planning Commission last week.
The ultimate goal is to craft a new vision for the partially historic neighborhood that the City Council may adopt next year. It will ultimately outline “land use and growth-related policies” used to guide future zoning, transportation, housing and other key growth issues, per the city.
“Because each neighborhood and community within Salt Lake City is unique, each community will help carry out the vision in its own unique way,” said Amy Thompson, a planning manager for Salt Lake City, as she presented the project on Thursday, adding that “common themes” from the Avenues process will be used to shape the new plan.
Current state of the Avenues
A little more than 16,500 residents called the Avenues home during the last census, representing nearly a tenth of the city’s population in 2020. Single-family homes account for approximately 42% of the housing within the roughly 3,000-acre neighborhood, slightly above apartments at 39%. The rest is tied to townhomes, condominiums, duplexes and accessory dwelling units, according to the city.
Yet, almost half of the neighborhood’s buildings were constructed before 1920, and there has been relatively little new development since a slight uptick between the 1940s and 1960s, which could be why its master plan hasn’t been touched in nearly four decades.
Most of the neighborhood from South Temple to 7th Avenue, from the Salt Lake City Cemetery to City Creek Canyon, is included within three local and national historic districts, which were awarded at about the time building slowed down. Many of its buildings are so old that they predate the original zoning adopted in 1927, Thompson said.
This graph shows new structures built in the Avenues neighborhood per decade from 1850 to now. Most structures were built before 1980, as many parts of the neighborhood received local and national historical designations. | Salt Lake City Planning Division
As the first part in updating the 1987 document, city planners analyzed trends, conducted surveys and met with residents to collect data about the neighborhood’s existing conditions.
They found that South Temple, 11th, 3rd and 2nd avenues, as well as B, E, I and Virginia streets are the heaviest-used roads, some of which are mitigated by three Utah Transit Authority bus routes that cover parts of the lower Avenues. All residents were found to be within a 15-minute walk from one of 10 parks in the area, as well.
Residents valued their neighborhood’s historic character, and 95% of over 200 people surveyed in the first rounds of engagement said they’d rate the area’s quality of life as good or very good, said Rylee Hall, a principal planner for Salt Lake City.
The future of the Avenues
Housing cost and availability were found to be among the top neighborhood issues, matching citywide concerns. Transportation safety and access, including having little bicycle infrastructure, were also common themes in the initial surveys, as was a lack of neighborhood-serving businesses and amenities. The future of LDS Hospital was also brought up frequently, as Intermountain Health explores the construction of a new “urban” hospital downtown.
All of this spilled into a desire for more adaptive reuse, mixed-use and other housing types in certain parts of the neighborhoods to address housing needs, which can be challenging to piece together because of historic overlay requirements and the popularity of the neighborhood’s history.
“Most survey respondents want more housing throughout the neighborhood, but compatibility of the new development was greatly emphasized,” Hall said.
Homes in the Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City are pictured on Thursday, March 27. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Small cafes, restaurants and retail spaces are already tucked into the neighborhood, but residents said they’d like to see more. Respondents were split as to where they’d like to see it, but 3rd Avenue and E Street were two of the more popular picks. They also asked for better maintenance and upkeep of parks, as well as improved shaded areas, lighting and play structures.
Planners are now on the second phase of the process, which is collecting feedback for “big ideas.” They’re conducting open houses, interviews and other public engagement work, which will include having a presence at the annual Avenues Street Fair on Sept. 13.
Some “initial concepts” will be displayed at the neighborhood event, Thompson said.
All of the information collected in the first two phases will be pieced together in a master plan that outlines future goals. A final vision is expected to be released by spring 2026, where it will go through more public feedback stages before it’s voted on by the City Council.
On a typical early Friday afternoon, Highland High School senior Carmen LeCluyse would still be in class — wrapping up her academic week and maybe thinking about some weekend R&R.
But for LeCluyse and scores of her Highland classmates — along with legions of youth across the nation — these are not typical days.
LeCluyse and approximately 150 other Highland High students staged a walkout Friday to call for increased gun safety at schools.
Students participate in a nationwide “walkout” to demand stronger gun laws at Highland High School in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
After gathering outside the school entrance, the teen activists marched to neighboring Sugar House Park to stage their rally. More than a dozen students seized opportunities to climb atop a park bench and, with bullhorn in hand, demand increased protection from gun violence in their schools.
Several others carried signs reading: “We deserve more than thoughts & prayers,” “Will I be next?” and “Stop gun violence.”
Friday’s Highland High student rally was one of many student walkouts happening simultaneously across the country as part of a nationwide effort organized by the gun violence prevention movement Students Demand Action.
Friday’s actions were prompted, in part, by last week’s Minnesota school shooting.
The attention-grabbing school walkouts are vital because gun violence in schools affects “literally everyone,” said LeCluyse, who helped organize the Highland High rally.
“I don’t know a single person who hasn’t been in a lockdown during their life,” she told the Deseret News while leading the student march to the park.
Students participate in a nationwide “walkout” to demand stronger gun laws at Highland High School in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
“It’s something that affects every aspect of our daily lives. And I think following the school shooting last week, it’s just really important to tell people that we’ve had enough of this.
“This isn’t the future that we want to grow up in. We deserve better.”
LeCluyse added she learned about the nationwide Students Demand Action effort just a few days ago. So organizing Friday’s rally “has been hectic” — spreading the word via word of mouth and social media and posting flyers.
“So it’s great to see these people here — especially with how quickly we put it all together.”
While school shootings such as the recent one in Minnesota often leave people flummoxed as they search for solutions, LeCluyse countered that other countries have more aggressively regulated access to firearms, particularly assault-style weapons.
Highland High School students participate in a nationwide “walkout” to demand stronger gun laws at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
“I think we see those solutions in other countries … but do we actually have the commitment to put them in place here and protect our kids?”
After congregating on the north end of Sugar House Park, a long line of student protesters took turns standing atop a park bench, issuing their own personal calls to action.
“We need more mental health (resources) in our schools, but we’re being ignored,” said one student. “We need to use our voices and stand up for what is right. We do not deserve to die in a place where we’re supposed to be protected.”
Said another female student: “We should not be threatened with death every day in school.”
“Every day I worry that I will go to school and not come back,” added another teen. “I worry that I’m not going to see my friends again.
“I should be stressed about tests — so why do I have to worry about dying?”
A young man spoke of recent policies in Wyoming loosening gun regulations on school grounds.
“Politicians,” he said, “are not doing anything to stop this.”
Highland High senior Macie Robbins said she joined Friday’s walkout out of concern for her younger friends and relatives who will be attending school for several more years.
“They don’t deserve to have to fear going to class.”
The threat of school gun violence has been Robbins’ reality throughout her K-12 school years. “Even when I was in kindergarten, we were doing drills on active shooters entering the school,” she said.
“Even though they were drills, we were still taught, at a young age, that we need to hide in cubbies or hide under our desks or hide in corners and lock all the doors in the schools.”
Robbins added she hopes more can be done to acknowledge and address mental health issues, especially for young people — even while lessening access to firearms.
Nationwide school walkouts
Highland High School junior Shila Sudbury speaks to a group of her classmates as students nationwide participated in a “walkout” to demand stronger gun laws in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Highland High School students participate in a nationwide “walkout” to demand stronger gun laws at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Highland High School student Scarlet Van Slooten participates in a nationwide “walkout” to demand stronger gun laws in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Highland High School students participate in a nationwide “walkout” to demand stronger gun laws in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Students participate in a nationwide “walkout” to demand stronger gun laws at Highland High School in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Students participate in a nationwide “walkout” to demand stronger gun laws at Highland High School in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
The Highland High School rally was one of more than 250 coordinated school walkouts Friday across the country, according to Students Demand Action.
“We shouldn’t have to stage national protests just to be heard, but that’s exactly what we did — more than 250 times over — across the country today,” said Timberlyn Mazeikis, a gun violence survivor from the school shooting at Michigan State University in 2023 and Students Demand Action volunteer from Minnesota.
“Thoughts and prayers won’t save us. Our generation deserves to grow up and live without the fear of bullets flying through our hallways. We’re demanding state and federal lawmakers ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines now.”
Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action, said Friday’s walkouts across the country are youth exercises in courage.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Salt Lake City was formally awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics following a Wednesday vote by the International Olympic Committee in Paris, which gives Utah its second Games after hosting in 2002.
A watch party was planned at 3 a.m. local time – 11 a.m. in Paris – to celebrate the announcement. Large crowds were expected at the event that coincides with a state holiday marking the date Mormon pioneers discovered the Salt Lake Valley in northern Utah. Olympic fanatics were already starting to gather downtown and pitch tents before sunset Tuesday.
Salt Lake City was the lone contender the Olympic committee was considering for 2034. Climate change and high operational costs have reduced the number of cities willing and able to welcome the Winter Games. Utah has capitalized on low interest elsewhere, pitching itself to Olympic officials as an enthusiastic repeat host if the committee goes forward with a proposed permanent rotation of Winter Olympic cities. Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi had said Salt Lake City would be a prime candidate for such a plan.
Local leaders had their sights set on hosting multiple times even before Salt Lake City welcomed its first Games, bid team spokesperson Tom Kelly said. Remnants of the 2002 Games are nestled throughout the city and have kept the Olympic fever alive for more than two decades. Organizers of the 2034 Games touted that enduring enthusiasm throughout the selection process and showed visiting Olympic officials how they have preserved the venues used in 2002.
In their final presentation to the Olympic committee Wednesday morning, the bid team was expected to outline its plan for one of the most compact layouts in Olympic history, with all venues within a one-hour drive of the athletes village on the University of Utah campus. The plan requires no new permanent construction, with all 13 venues already in place and each having played a role when the city first hosted.
For Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, securing the bid was central to his goal of cementing the state as North America’s winter sports capital. He and other local leaders were in Paris for the bid presentation, while many winter Olympians stayed in town to train and join in the festivities.
American freestyle skier Christopher Lillis, a gold medalist at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, said the 2034 games would be a dream come true for young people with Olympic aspirations. Salt Lake City has grown a lot since 2010, when Lillis said his family started visiting, and it’s become more expensive. Lillis has been training at nearby Utah Olympic Park and said the sports facilities in the area are “top notch.”
Matthew Lindon, a 45-year resident of the ski resort community of Park City, Utah, where many events would be held, said the city has expanded considerably since he arrived.
“With the 2002 Olympics, the motto was, ‘The world is welcome here.’ And really what happened was we brought Utah to the world, and now we’re a world-class destination skiing resort,” he said.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Salt Lake City was formally awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics following a Wednesday vote by the International Olympic Committee in Paris, which gives Utah its second Games after hosting in 2002.
A watch party was planned at 3 a.m. local time – 11 a.m. in Paris – to celebrate the announcement. Large crowds were expected at the event that coincides with a state holiday marking the date Mormon pioneers discovered the Salt Lake Valley in northern Utah. Olympic fanatics were already starting to gather downtown and pitch tents before sunset Tuesday.
Salt Lake City was the lone contender the Olympic committee was considering for 2034. Climate change and high operational costs have reduced the number of cities willing and able to welcome the Winter Games. Utah has capitalized on low interest elsewhere, pitching itself to Olympic officials as an enthusiastic repeat host if the committee goes forward with a proposed permanent rotation of Winter Olympic cities. Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi had said Salt Lake City would be a prime candidate for such a plan.
Local leaders had their sights set on hosting multiple times even before Salt Lake City welcomed its first Games, bid team spokesperson Tom Kelly said. Remnants of the 2002 Games are nestled throughout the city and have kept the Olympic fever alive for more than two decades. Organizers of the 2034 Games touted that enduring enthusiasm throughout the selection process and showed visiting Olympic officials how they have preserved the venues used in 2002.
In their final presentation to the Olympic committee Wednesday morning, the bid team was expected to outline its plan for one of the most compact layouts in Olympic history, with all venues within a one-hour drive of the athletes village on the University of Utah campus. The plan requires no new permanent construction, with all 13 venues already in place and each having played a role when the city first hosted.
For Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, securing the bid was central to his goal of cementing the state as North America’s winter sports capital. He and other local leaders were in Paris for the bid presentation, while many winter Olympians stayed in town to train and join in the festivities.
American freestyle skier Christopher Lillis, a gold medalist at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, said the 2034 games would be a dream come true for young people with Olympic aspirations. Salt Lake City has grown a lot since 2010, when Lillis said his family started visiting, and it’s become more expensive. Lillis has been training at nearby Utah Olympic Park and said the sports facilities in the area are “top notch.”
Matthew Lindon, a 45-year resident of the ski resort community of Park City, Utah, where many events would be held, said the city has expanded considerably since he arrived.
“With the 2002 Olympics, the motto was, ‘The world is welcome here.’ And really what happened was we brought Utah to the world, and now we’re a world-class destination skiing resort,” he said.
