Utah

Inside Voices: The perspectives you read most in 2024

Published

2 years ago

December 21, 2024

Inside Voices: The perspectives you read most in 2024

Happy Saturday, and welcome to Inside Voices, a weekly newsletter that features a collection of ideas, perspectives and solutions from across Utah — without any of the vitriol or yelling that’s become all too common on other platforms. Subscribe here.

Happy Saturday, friends. As we approach the end of the year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for subscribing to Inside Voices and reading along each week. My hope was to create a forum for opinions you won’t find elsewhere and to share your own experience without any of the vitriol or yelling that’s become all too common on other platforms.

I’m especially grateful to those of you who have shared your perspectives, analyses and ideas. To celebrate that, I’d like to take a look back at some of The Salt Lake Tribune’s most read Voices pieces from 2024:

LDS women should join me in skipping church on Sunday | Kierstyn Kremer Howes
If Ryan Smith can’t afford his own entertainment district, I have no choice but to assume he is poor | Brian Higgins
‘Heretic’ brings back scary, suffocating memories of my LDS mission | Beth Adams
After three decades of being a Utah Jazz fan, I can’t do it anymore | Bryan Griffith
Christ put his trust in women, why won’t more LDS men? | Rosemary Card
Glen Canyon Dam has created a world of mud | David Marston
The Utah Jazz need to stop giving Karl Malone a platform | Ben Dowsett
For millennial women like me, LDS garments carry a complicated symbolism | Annie Mangelson
Natalie Cline bullied our child, and she should be impeached | Al and Rachel van der Beek
Weber State is embracing change in our approach to serving students. As its leader, I welcome scrutiny. | Brad Mortensen
I grew up in Park City, and I don’t recognize the place it’s become | Fletcher Keyes
Utah, it’s OK to go outside without winning | Brian Higgins
As a parent, I hated sending my kids to school so early. As a sleep researcher, I know how damaging it is. | Wendy Troxel
It’s time to step away | Paul Huntsman
I’ll be at my LDS church this weekend, pushing for change | Amy Watkins Jensen
Why Utah teachers say they’re leaving the profession | Tribune Readers
After six weeks on SLC public transit, I can’t give up my car quite yet | Elise Armand
I’m a Latter-day Saint and a horror expert. Here’s what ‘Heretic’ gets right — and where it went wrong. | Michaelbrent Collings
I’m in Oslo. But I see a big case of Stockholm syndrome in Salt Lake City. | George Pyle
As a former Republican senator in Utah, I’m embarrassed | Stuart C. Reid
Ogden has a rare piece of history. It shouldn’t sit around and gather dust. | Dana Parker
My LDS family adopted an American Indian child in the 1970s. It was wrong, and the church should apologize. | Thomas DeVere Wolsey
The University of Utah can’t ignore us — its staff and faculty — forever | Kristina Lynae
It’s time for Utah chefs to get off their gas | Victoria N. Stafford and Edwin R. Stafford
Liquor store refrigerators boldly usher Salt Lake beer-lovers into the mid-20th century | Brian Higgins

Thanks for sharing and for reading! If you’re interested in contributing an op-ed or Letter to the Editor in 2025, please take a look at our guidelines — which include several helpful prompts — and reach out to me at sweber@sltrib.com.

Utah Voices

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune)
CEOs and their families check out what organizers are calling the world’s largest cardboard fort at the Gateway, during the official launch on Thursday, August 6. The rooms of the fort are dedicated to educate visitors on how to build mental wellness. According to the press release nearly 40% of people say their company has not even asked them how theyÕre doing since the pandemic began, making these people nearly 40% more likely to experience a decrease in mental health. Utah ranks 48 out of 51 for its high prevalence of mental illness and low access to care, according to Mental Health America and in 2019, we had the 5th highest suicide rate in the nation. The fort, called Òroom HereÓ will officially open to the public on Friday, August 7 from Noon to 8 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020.

The following excerpts come from op-eds recently published in The Tribune.

Health insurance

“Too often, we’ve seen treatment denied because patients aren’t deemed ‘depressed enough’ by insurance standards, yet as I sit across from them, I see them suffering to the point of suicidal ideation,” writes Utah psychiatrist Alex Mageno. Read more.

Housing

“Utah has the space to provide support for the unhoused and suburban communities have a chance to lead this charge,” writes Chandler Whitlock, a master’s student at the University of Utah. “Society thrives when we support each other. We can utilize existing resources to support one of our community’s most vulnerable populations.” Read more.

Education

“In an era where people are concerned about controversial groups and bad actors infiltrating education, shared governance gives a name and a face to the people who are influencing education at the local level,” writes Utah teacher Sarah Nichols. “Parents consistently express trust for their child’s teacher and their own local schools. Removing teachers from the decision-making process will only weaken community influence on public education.” Read more.

Diversity, equity and inclusion

“The legislators who presented HB261 said that student clubs were to remain untouched, but this did not happen. Instead, this ‘anti-discrimination’ law has undercut some of the most important anti-discrimination organizations in the state,” writes Michael Lee Wood and Jacob S. Rugh at BYU. “We believe the Utah Legislature can correct their mistake and stay true to the aims of anti-discrimination, rooting out racism and interracial support by repealing HB261 in the next legislative session.” Read more.

Transgender rights

“Anti-trans laws are being proposed and passed almost every day in America. Federal lawmakers are condoning and/or encouraging violence against us. As a teacher and a trans person, my livelihood is in jeopardy,” writes Kiley Campbell. “My question would be: What does de-escalation do to help any of this?” Read more.

Share Your Perspective

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday December 17, 2024.

I’m gathering predictions ahead of the new year. What do you see happening — or what would you like to see happen — in Utah in 2025?

From Bagley’s Desk

I’m always looking for unique perspectives, ideas and solutions that move our state forward. Learn more about our guidelines for an op-ed, guest essay, letter to the editor and more here, and drop me a note at voices@sltrib.com.

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Utah

‘2.5 minutes of terror’: Passengers sue Delta, alleging crew flew into dangerous weather despite warnings, injuring dozens

Published

6 hours ago

June 27, 2026

Press Room

‘2.5 minutes of terror’: Passengers sue Delta, alleging crew flew into dangerous weather despite warnings, injuring dozens

Twenty passengers allege the airline ignored repeated weather warnings before the flight hit severe turbulence that sent dozens of people to hospitals

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A Delta airplane travels down the runway at Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City last March. Passengers on a Delta flight last July are suing the airline over injuries suffered because of violent turbulence.

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Utah

Utah, Salt Lake County awarded grants for community cleanup

Published

16 hours ago

June 26, 2026

Press Room

Utah, Salt Lake County awarded grants for community cleanup

SALT LAKE CITY — The Environmental Protection Agency awarded Utah and Salt Lake County a total of $3.5 million in grants to assess potentially polluted properties for eventual cleanup and redevelopment.

The agency announced a $2 million grant to Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality and $1.5 million to Salt Lake County to conduct environmental assessments and inventory brownfield sites for cleanup. Brownfields are sites that may be difficult to redevelop or expand because of “the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant,” according to the agency.

“These brownfields grants will help Utah communities clean up contaminated sites and unlock opportunities for redevelopment and investment,” EPA Regional Administrator Cyrus Western said in a news release announcing the grants earlier this week. “By transforming underused properties into community assets, EPA is helping create healthier neighborhoods and stronger local economies.”

The two grants awarded to Utah and Salt Lake County are among more than $248 million awarded to nearly 200 communities nationwide for brownfield assessment and cleanup. Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality plans to focus the resources on several areas in Ogden, Heber City and Fillmore, among others, according to Bill Rees, who leads Utah’s brownfield cleanup program.

“What we do is work to secure the funding and then begin to reach out to our communities across the state, say, ‘Listen, there’s opportunity to do some assessment work in your community if you’re interested,’ and then work with our rural partners, work with our urban partners to see if there are sites that will fit that bill,” he told KSL.

The state has received similar grants in the past, and Rees said the money can help local governments determine what to do with ailing properties such as old schools, hospitals or private property that have gone to waste.

“Is there asbestos in it, or is there hazardous material in it? Or could there be something that’s impacting the soil or the groundwater, and a policymaker needs to make a decision?” asked Rees. “Knowledge allows you to make good decisions.”

The $1.5 million awarded to Salt Lake County is the largest brownfields assessment grant the county has ever received, according to a county press release.

“This grant is a real win for our communities,” said Mayor Jenny Wilson. “This funding will let us do vital environmental work on a larger scale and in more neighborhoods. It reflects exactly the kind of partnership between local and federal government that gets results for residents.”

The county grant funds will be used to help create cleanup plans in three areas, including a vehicle storage yard in Salt Lake City’s Ballpark Neighborhood, a 4.26-acre vacant lot in Millcreek and a small commercial building in Magna that was damaged during an earthquake in March 2020, according to the EPA.

Contributing: Don Brinkherhoff

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Utah

Utah weather conditions trigger historic red flag warning as wildfires rage in state

Published

1 day ago

June 26, 2026

Press Room

Utah weather conditions trigger historic red flag warning as wildfires rage in state

The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City issued red flag warning Friday morning as emergency workers continued to battle one of the state’s largest wildfires in its history.

The red flag warning, issued when critical fire warnings are occurring or imminent, was to be in place through midnight Saturday.

“This is the FIRST Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warning issued in NWS Salt Lake City history. This is an exceptionally rare event,” the federal agency said in its warning.

A map of the area under the warning covered much of central and southwest Utah, with an area of the southwest, central and southern mountains also outlined as “particularly dangerous red flag.”

Close-up aerial video showing large billowing flames and massive plumes of smoke surrounding mountains in Eureka, Utah, on June 24, 2026. — Large billowing flames and massive plumes of smoke surrounded mountains in Eureka, Utah, on June 24.Courtesy Jefe Lobo

The particularly dangerous area includes the Cottonwood Fire, near the town of Beaver, which started Monday and had grown to covering almost nearly 71,000 acres by Thursday, 15 News reported. The fire forced evacuations.

The NWS warned that gusty winds and dry conditions would lead to rapid fire growth.

Utah also was dealing with the Iron Fire, which started June 19, and nearly destroyed the town of Eureka. The fire was about 27% contained Friday morning.

The fire danger led Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to issue executive order restricting fireworks statewide during the July 4 holiday, which marks the nation’s 250th birthday this year. The ban is in effect through July 5.

“Nothing about this decision was easy,” Cox said in a statement issued by his office Thursday.

“This is unlike anything we’ve seen in recent memory. We’re seeing fires spread farther and faster under conditions that defy historical expectations” Jamie Barnes, Utah state forester and director of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, added in the statement.

Cox allowed cities and local communities to set aside areas where fireworks could be safely used. The city of Provo announced it would enforce a citywide prohibition on fireworks and would not designate a safe area for fireworks.

“This year is different,” Provo Mayor Marsha Judkins said in a statement. “The wildfire danger facing our community is real, and protecting lives, homes, and our natural spaces must come first.”

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