The Utah State Aggies just grabbed a statement win.

Through four games under new head coach Jerrod Calhoun, the Utah State Aggies had looked impressive, averaging exactly 104 points per game and a margin of victory of exactly 40 points in four wins.

The thing was, the Aggies didn’t play any team that is expected to be near their level, as Alcorn State, Westminster and Montana all play in lesser conferences than the Mountain West and Charlotte was picked to finish eighth in the 13-team AAC, which is considered about on par with the MW.

Finally on Friday night, Utah State faced a team in the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten that not only was more its equal, but was thought to be better, and accordingly was considered a comfortable favorite.

With the contest being played on a neutral floor in Kansas City, Utah State kept things close for the first 28 minutes or so and then used a surge to take the lead partway through the second half and held on down the stretch to claim the 77-69 victory and move to 5-0 on the season.

With the loss, an Iowa team that is considered to be a potential NCAA Tournament squad moved to 5-1 on the campaign.

The Aggies got off to a nice start and led for most of the first 10 minutes of the game. Things were pretty even throughout most of the rest of the first half, though Iowa put together a little run and led by four at halftime.

At the 12:52 mark of the second half the Hawkeyes went up by four on a dunk from leading scorer Payton Sandfort, but the Aggies responded with a 9-0 run over the next 3:42 to go up by five, 58-53.

Things stayed close for the next few minutes but Iowa never got closer than a point and Utah State created some distance, largely behind Mason Falslev and Karson Templin.

A dunk from Central Arkansas transfer Tucker Anderson with 54 seconds to play quelled any remaining chance the Hawkeyes had at a comeback after they had cut the deficit from seven to four on a 3 by Brock Harding.

Falslev led all scorers with 25 points and finished with a double-double, as he added 12 rebounds to go along with three assists, two steals and a block.

Ian Martinez added 13 points and Anderson finished with 10. That pair stuffed the stat sheet, combining for 11 rebounds, eight steals, seven assists, and two blocks.

Team-wise, things were rather even statistically except for rebounds and fast break points. The Aggies outrebounded the Hawkeyes 47-31 and scored 21 fast break points compared to just four for Iowa.

Next up for Utah State is a Thanksgiving Day game against St. Bonaventure at Disney World.

TAYLORSVILLE — Four new cases of avian flu outbreaks have been reported in Utah, affecting three Piute County turkey facilities, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food said in a press release.

“Between November 10 to 19, 2024, three turkey farms in Piute County totaling 107,800 turkeys and one backyard flock of 253 birds in Salt Lake County were confirmed positive for HPAI,” the department said. “Though the overall risk to public health remains low, HPAI is a serious disease, requiring rapid response, including depopulation of affected flocks as it is highly contagious and fatal to poultry.”

There are currently five poultry farms in Utah under quarantine, according to the department.

“In the backyard flock because it’s so deadly, all but 33 birds died. All the turkeys are being depopulated because it’s highly contagious,” said Caroline Hargraves with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.

Officials said affected birds were depopulated within 24 hours of the reported outbreaks, and that impacts on food supply are expected to be limited.

“State and federal personnel are on-site to ensure all requirements for disinfection and proper disposal are followed,” the department said.

Officials said that poultry owners should “practice strong biosecurity and monitor flocks for signs of illness.”

The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food asked poultry owners to report sick birds to the State Veterinarian’s Office at statevet@utah.gov. They also said that people interacting with sick birds should take special precautions including using personal protective equipment.

Displayed at the Utah Pride Center is a quilt panel honoring Michael Spence, also known as the drag queen Tracy Ross. This display helped me connect the recent news of Donald Trump’s reelection with a reminder of a past defined by marginalization and a future where hard-won rights are again at risk.

During his first term, the Trump administration worked to undermine LGBTQ+ protections. I fear a second Trump administration will roll back rights for LGBTQ+ citizens, particularly for transgender individuals.

But we have been here before. By the 1980s, few states recognized hate crimes against LGBTQ+ individuals. Homosexuality — or sodomy — was criminalized, and many states enacted policies to block lesbian and gay educators from public schools or discussing their private lives at work. Protections in housing and employment in Utah were only won in 2015.

Today, we face a similar fight, though we now have the historical context and resources to help us resist.

Reflecting on Michael Spence’s life and legacy led me back to Utah’s response during the AIDS crisis. Utah did not begin recording cases of HIV/AIDS until 1983 with Robert Michael Painter and one other person. After about six years of deflecting the problem, President Ronald Reagan helped Congress pass its first substantive federal funding with the AIDS Service Demonstration Grants — of which Utah received $6.4 million for research — and then with the CARE Act, named after Ryan White in 1990. While much of the nation exhorted condemnations and cautionary tales about AIDS, I have found no comments on the epidemic from Governors Scott Matheson or Norman Bangerter. Meanwhile, Utah Bureau of Epidemiology Director Craig Nichols refused to connect advocacy groups considered to be too centered on gay and lesbian rights with federal grant funds. Utahns with AIDS were left on their own and could only rely on the state to count them as a statistic to report.

The lack of government support galvanized Utah’s lesbian and gay community to step up to meet the crisis. In 1985, Dr. Patty Reagan founded the Salt Lake AIDS Foundation (now the Utah AIDS Foundation). Other groups, like the People With AIDS Coalition; AIDS Project Utah; Gay and Lesbian Community Center and Clinic; and ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) worked to support and educate the public. Tensions often rose between leaders and volunteers, with overlapping missions and limited resources, thus creating friction. Yet, the efforts of activists like Dave Sharpton and Sheldon Spears, mobilized a community determined to survive. Sharpton, along with others, founded Horizon House, a sanctuary for those with HIV/AIDS who had nowhere else to go.

Utah’s first public memorial event was a 1989 candlelight vigil that began at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral and passed Temple Square before ending at the Salt Palace, where an enormous section of the National AIDS Memorial Quilt was displayed. Religious and civic leaders joined this event, marking a significant moment of public solidarity and inspiring the first Pride march two years later. Another vigil, in 1990, took place in Memory Grove, where hundreds gathered to honor lives lost. These memorials provided a rare, public space for grieving and solidarity amid the ongoing crisis and the humanization of public health statistics. Now annual fundraisers, marathons and walk-a-thons are held across the state.

In my research, I have so far found names for only 366 Utahns who died from AIDS — many who were born and raised in Utah, but were far from home in their last days. Today, the AIDS Memorial Quilt remains a testament to lives cut short and our chosen community’s resilience, standing as both a memorial and a reminder of how far we’ve come.

In the face of a familiar future, I recall the strength that Utah’s lesbian and gay community displayed during the AIDS crisis. While we have come a long way, the familiar challenges ahead require a unified response. Utah’s LGBTQ+ community now has more tools than ever: social media, massive fundraising resources and effective grassroots organizing. The COVID-19 pandemic also strengthened our sense of community and readiness.

As an historian of LGBTQ+ Utah, I am inspired by the strength, unity and resilience that our community has shown throughout history. We have confronted adversity before, from organizing during the AIDS crisis to advocating for marriage equality and nondiscrimination protections — and we can do it again.

Randell Hoffman (he/they) is a historian, preservationist and quilter committed to making history accessible and relevant to diverse communities. As an independent researcher of Utah’s LGBTQ+ history, Randy focuses on amplifying overlooked narratives and fostering spaces where historical preservation intersects with community empowerment.

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