Utah
Judge hears arguments in case alleging Utah’s ‘school choice’ program is unconstitutional • Utah News Dispatch
Should Utah’s “school choice” program be allowed to stay put — or is it unconstitutional?
That’s the question that a judge is now weighing after spending several hours listening to oral arguments Thursday.
In the hearing, 3rd District Court Judge Laura Scott grilled attorneys for both the state and for Utah’s largest teacher union, the Utah Education Association, on the complex constitutional questions she must now unravel before issuing a ruling in the case — which she said she expects to hand down sometime in mid-to-late January.
Earlier this year, the Utah Education Association filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Utah Fits All “scholarship program,” which the 2023 Utah Legislature created as an effort to offer “school choice” options by setting up a fund from which eligible K-12 students can receive up to $8,000 for education expenses including private school tuition and fees, homeschooling, tutoring services, testing fees, materials and other expenses.
Utah’s largest teacher union files lawsuit against Utah Fits All school choice voucher program
In 2023, lawmakers appropriated about $42.5 million in ongoing income tax revenue to the program. Then this year they nearly doubled that ongoing funding by adding an additional $40 million. In total, the program uses about $82.5 million in taxpayer funding a year.
That is, if the courts allow it to continue to exist.
In its lawsuit, the Utah Education Association alleges it’s an unconstitutional “voucher” program that diverts money from Utah’s public school system — using income tax dollars that they contend are earmarked under the Utah Constitution for the public education system and should not be funneled to private schools or homeschooling in the form of the Utah Fits All scholarship program.
The Utah Constitution has historically required the state’s income tax revenue be used only for public education, though that constitutional earmark has been loosened twice — once in 1996 to allow income tax revenue to be spent on public higher education, and once in 2020 with voter-approved Amendment G, which opened income tax revenue to be used to “support children and to support individuals with a disability.”
This year the Utah Legislature tried to remove that education earmark completely by putting Amendment A on the Nov. 5 ballot — but that effort failed after a judge voided the question because lawmakers failed to properly publish the proposed constitutional amendment in newspapers across the state.
Attorneys representing state officials, the Alliance for Choice in Education (a group that the Utah State Board of Education chose to administer the program), and parents of students benefiting from the program urged the judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
They argued the Utah Legislature acted within its constitutional constraints when it created the program. They contended that when Amendment G added to the Utah Constitution the word “children” as an allowable use for income tax dollars, that created a “broad” yet “not ambiguous” category that allowed Utah lawmakers to use the revenue for the Utah Fits All scholarship fund.
Attorneys for the Utah Education Association, however, argued that when legislators put Amendment G on the ballot and pitched it to voters, their stated intentions did not include using the funding for private school vouchers. Rather, they argued it was characterized as an effort to narrowly open the revenue up to “social services” for children and people with disabilities.
The judge repeatedly questioned state attorneys about their position, asking for clarity on the state’s interpretation of the Utah Constitution and whether it would allow Utah lawmakers the power to create a “shadow” or “parallel” education system that could funnel public dollars to private schools, which can select students based on religion, political beliefs, family makeup or other criteria. In contrast, Utah’s public school system must be free and open to all.
Arif Panju, an attorney representing parents who intervened in the case to argue in favor of protecting the Utah Fits All program, argued parents have a “fundamental right” to exercise their “school choice” options.
“The mere fact that they can use a private scholarship … does not transform those options into a shadow system,” Panju argued.
But to Scott, that still didn’t answer her question.
“I’m getting a little frustrated,” Scott said, adding that she wasn’t trying to debate school choice but rather she was trying to conduct a constitutional analysis.
Ultimately, state attorneys conceded their position could open the door to a “parallel” or “shadow” system — however, they argued that’s not what is being debated in this case. They argued the Utah Fits All program was funded only after the Utah Legislature appropriately funded its education system, as required by the Utah Constitution (which does not set a specific threshold).
When the hearing’s time ran out at about 4:30 p.m., Scott said she would take the issue under advisement, and she would not be ruling from the bench.
“I’m hopeful for mid-to-late January,” she said, “but I’m not making any promises I won’t take the entirety of the 60 days” that she has to make a decision.
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Utah
Jazz Injury Report Rules Out 7 Players vs. Raptors
The Utah Jazz are set to face off against the Toronto Raptors to kick off their new week for their second of two meetings across this season, where the Jazz in particular have ruled out a total of seven names on their injury report.
Here’s what the injury landscape looks like for the Jazz and Raptors rolling into the night:
Utah Jazz Injury Report
OUT – Isaiah Collier (hamstring)
OUT – Keyonte George (hamstring)
OUT – Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee)
OUT – Walker Kessler (shoulder)
OUT – Lauri Markkanen (hip)
OUT – Jusuf Nurkic (nose)
OUT – Blake Hinson (two-way)
QUESTIONABLE – Cody Williams (shoulder)
It’s much of the same from what the Jazz have been dealing with across the past couple of weeks.
Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen still remain out with their minor injuries that they’ve suffered past the All-Star break, and Walker Kessler, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Jusuf Nurkic remain out for the year with their respective season-ending injuries.
However, the two names that stick out on this injury report against the Raptors in particular are their two first round picks from the 2024 NBA Draft; Isaiah Collier who’s out with a hamstring injury, while Cody Williams is the latest to be among those listed with a shoulder issue.
For Collier, it’s set to be a third-straight game that he’s been out due to what’s been labeled hamstring soreness, and thus leave the Jazz without both their starting and second-string point guard for the night.
That could lead to either two-way signee Elijah Harkless getting a starting nod for a second straight game following his elevation against the Philadelphia 76ers, or that spot could go to 10-day signing Kennedy Chandler, who played 35 minutes in that same game for a career-high 19 points in his team debut.
As for Williams, he’s been downgraded to questionable for the action due to shoulder soreness; something that could leave him still able to go before tip-off, but remains to be seen based on how he feels before gametime.
The second-year forward has been on a hot streak as of late. In his past five games, he’s averaged an impressive 19.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.0 assists, shooting 50.0% from the field throughout.
If Williams is out of the mix, it’ll leave their frontcourt a bit more shorthanded from what they’ve been used to across the past couple of weeks, and might lead to even more minutes for guys like 10-day signee Bez Mbeng and two-way big man Oscar Tshiebwe to fill those minutes.
Toronto Raptors Injury Report
OUT – Immanuel Quickley (foot)
OUT – Jakob Poeltl (rest)
QUESTIONABLE – Collin Murray-Boyles (illness)
When it comes to the Raptors, they’ll be without a couple of guys on their roster, Immanuel Quickley who’s slated to miss out due to a foot injury, while Jakob Poeltl won’t be playing for Toronto’s second leg of a back-to-back following their previous battle against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Collin Murray-Boyles, on the other hand, has been upgraded to questionable against the Jazz with an illness after previously being out against the Nuggets over the weekend.
Tip-off between the Jazz and Raptors lands at 9 p.m. MT in the Delta Center, where Toronto will have their chance at a 2-0 series sweep over Utah depending on the results.
Utah
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Utah
Utah chef’s cake didn’t have enough booze, Food Network judges say
After hitting a snag and suffering through what he called “the biggest embarrassment” on national TV, chef Adalberto Diaz managed to narrowly avoid elimination during the premiere episode of Food Network’s “The Ultimate Baking Championship.”
“I’ll make you proud,” Diaz told the judges when the show revealed he would be claiming the final spot in the top 10 and moving forward in the competition.
But during the second episode of the season, the Utah chef behind the Salt Lake City bakery Fillings & Emulsions once again found himself in a far from ideal situation.
Adalberto Diaz faces criticism on ‘The Ultimate Baking Championship’
After an intense first episode that eliminated six of the top pastry chefs from across the country, Diaz found himself in the competition’s top 10.
The first challenge of the episode tasked the remaining bakers with putting a modern twist on a classic dessert. Diaz did OK in this round, creating strawberry shortcake canapés that put him in a three-way tie for fifth place with 11 points out of 20.
But like the premiere episode, things took a turn for the worse during the second challenge.
Diaz and his fellow bakers each had 2.5 hours to create a geometric layered mousse cake. The Utah chef’s specific assignment was to give his cake a tropical and boozy theme — something he said he felt confident about given his Cuban heritage.
The chef went to work creating a blueberry mojito gelée cake with mango mousse, topped off with a chocolate hibiscus flower. He gave it an ocean look with dark blue coloring.
In a blind taste test, celebrity guest judge and pastry chef Amaury Guichon said Diaz’s final product wasn’t the right interpretation for a boozy dessert. There wasn’t enough booze in the cake, both Guichon and judge Duff Goldman said. Guichon also criticized the amount of dark blue coloring Diaz used and said it wasn’t a natural look.
“This cannot be served in a restaurant,” Guichon said.
Diaz, who was watching the judging on a screen in another room, became emotional as he heard the feedback.
He told his fellow pastry chef and competitor Juan Gutierrez that it hurt to get that kind of criticism on the show because as an older competitor, he doesn’t have as much time for improvement in his career as the younger chefs.
“We should be already there,” a visibly upset Diaz told Gutierrez.
After all of the judging, host Jesse Palmer revealed that Diaz was once again among the bottom competitors for the round. And, just like the premiere episode, the Utah chef ended up narrowly avoiding elimination.
Diaz received a 15 out of 30 for his cake, bringing his cumulative score for the episode to 26 points.
Oralia Perez, a pastry chef based in Houston, got eliminated from the competition with a cumulative score of 25.

Now, Diaz moves forward as one of nine remaining chefs competing for $50,000 in “The Ultimate Baking Championship.”
The show airs Monday nights on Food Network, with episodes available for streaming the following day on Discovery+ and HBO Max.
Who is Adalberto Diaz?
Diaz’s colorful macarons and fruit desserts are on display at Fillings & Emulsions in Salt Lake City — which the chef has described as an “eclectic Latin bakery with a French flair.”
“The last 12 years I have invested everything I have, everything, into my pastry shop,” Diaz said during “The Ultimate Baking Championship” premiere episode, which included footage of his new location that features bright murals painted by his brother to highlight their Cuban heritage.
“When I win this competition, it will be a dream come true and that money is gonna go straight into my business and my amazing team of chefs and pastry chefs,” he said during the premiere episode. “I want to make sure that we make it out of these harsh economic times.”
Diaz emigrated from Cuba in 2000 and made a home in Utah, where he quickly began working in the food industry. He worked at a few places around Salt Lake City over the next decade, and earned the American Culinary Federation’s title of Pastry Chef of the Year in 2012. He opened Fillings & Emulsions the following year, as the Deseret News reported.
The chef’s appearance on “The Ultimate Baking Championship” comes on the heels of being nominated as a semifinalist for the prestigious James Beard award for outstanding pastry chef or baker.
“I am part of this community and this community has welcomed me to be part of it, and even bigger, this country welcomed me when I came here, and gave me an opportunity to be more where I am today,” Diaz told the Deseret News last year after his James Beard nomination. “And I wish that opportunity was given to more people because you don’t know how they would change the world.”
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