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Kevin O’Leary defends his Utah data center project: ‘Think about the number of jobs’

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Kevin O’Leary defends his Utah data center project: ‘Think about the number of jobs’


Many Americans don’t like the AI data centers popping up in their communities, though Kevin O’Leary thinks that’s because they don’t fully understand them.

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O’Leary, the venture capitalist and “Shark Tank” investor who recently starred as a villainous businessman in “Marty Supreme,” said Americans have misconceptions about data centers and their environmental impact.

“It’s understanding the concerns of people, but at the same time, think about the number of jobs,” O’Leary said in a post on X on Friday.

Addressing environmental worries, O’Leary noted that he graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in environmental studies.

“When a group comes to me and says, ‘Look, I have concerns about water, I have concerns about air, I have concerns about wildlife,’ I totally get it,” O’Leary said.

O’Leary has clashed with residents in Box Elder County, Utah, over a new AI data center he’s backing on a 40,000-acre campus.

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County commissioners approved the project, which is also backed by Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority, on Monday despite the community opposition. O’Leary said, without providing evidence, that the criticism mainly came from “professional protesters” who were “paid by somebody.”

One major concern for residents about the data center — dubbed the Stratos Project — is that it could strain the water supply. Data centers can use millions of gallons of water each day. Increased utility bills, noise, and a drop in quality of life are also points of contention.

O’Leary said the public misunderstands the impact of data centers because they were “poorly represented” in the past, and that the technology powering them has “advanced dramatically.” He said data centers don’t use as much water as they once did and can use a closed-loop system to avoid evaporation. Data centers can also rely on air-cooled turbines as an alternative to managing the temperature of the computer arrays, he said.

A fact sheet published by Box Elder County said the project won’t divert water from the nearby Great Salt Lake, agriculture, or homes. It also says that Stratos won’t increase electricity prices or taxes.

Many residents, however, are not so sure. The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Thursday that an application to divert water from the Salt Wells Spring stream, near the Great Salt Lake and long used by a local ranch for irrigation, was rescinded after nearly thousands of Utah residents lodged complaints.

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“At some point, understanding the value of sustainability, water and air rights, indigenous rights, and making sure the constituencies understand what you’re doing is going to be more valuable than the equity you raise,” O’Leary said on X.

Anjney Midha, a Stanford University adjunct lecturer who appeared on the “Access” podcast this week, would agree with that sentiment. He said that listening to local communities and being transparent about the intentions and impacts of data centers are essential to making them work.

“My view is that if it’s not legible to the public that these data centers and the infrastructure required to unblock this kind of frontier technology progress are serving their benefit, then it’s not going to work out,” Midha said.

In a subsequent post on X on Friday, O’Leary said his project would be “totally transparent.”

“We want it to be the shining example of how you do this,” he said.

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Utah Jazz Reacts: Who should the Jazz draft?

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Utah Jazz Reacts: Who should the Jazz draft?


The NBA Draft is less than a week away, and the Utah Jazz have a big decision to make. What’s difficult for the Jazz is that there isn’t an obvious choice between some incredible prospects at the top of the draft: AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cam Boozer. Obviously, everything depends on what the Washington Wizards decide to do with their pick. But with all the smoke screens we’ve seen, it’s not clear who will be available to the Jazz.

That’s where you come in. If you were the Utah Jazz and you had the chance to choose between AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cam Boozer, who would you choose?

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Jazz fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.



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Utah first lady Abby Cox optimistic about legislative moves to strengthen child literacy

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Utah first lady Abby Cox optimistic about legislative moves to strengthen child literacy


SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is no stranger to discourse surrounding early child literacy.

While the Beehive State generally performs higher than other states in terms of proficiency measures, its leaders still recognize — especially post-COVID — that it’s a real issue that demands serious solutions.

A legislative audit released Tuesday said Utah school teachers and administrators should focus enhanced attention not only on third-graders, the traditional benchmark for early literacy, but also on first-graders, where data starts spotting early literacy challenges in young students.

Then, Utah first lady Abby Cox on Wednesday added to that discussion, speaking with Utah education and policy leaders about the need to meet the literacy crisis head-on and ways Utah has worked to do just that.

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“We’re not in the best place that we can be, and we’re a little ahead of the national average; we always have been, but that still isn’t great. We’re in a moment where everybody’s starting to realize this … business community, educators, all of us coming together to realize there’s an issue here,” Cox said.

She mentioned the passage of SB241 during the 2026 legislative session, which committed $25.6 million to literacy coaching, increased the statewide goal to have 80% of third-graders reading at grade-level by 2030 and includes an intervention measure requiring struggling third-graders to repeat the grade — “except in cases of certain good cause exemption.”

“I know we can get 97-plus percent of our kiddos reading on grade level by third grade. We can do this,” Cox said.

She also emphasized the need to get “attention-sucking machines,” AKA cellphones, out of classrooms — something top lawmakers in the state have made strides to emphasize.

July 1 will mark the start of a new Utah law ushered in with the passage of SB69 that essentially places a bell-to-bell ban on cellphones at Utah’s K-12 public schools, unless a school or district opts for a looser policy.

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The latest piece of legislation was built upon a similar bill passed during the 2025 session that set a default policy barring students from using their phones during class time.

Despite those restrictions, many lawmakers and educators argued they didn’t go far enough, which led to SB69.

“I don’t think we all know enough about how wonderful this is going to be,” Cox said, adding that data has shown library book checkouts have skyrocketed in schools that have instituted daylong cellphone ban policies.

“I talked to a principal who, after the first day of going bell-to-bell, walked into his high school lunch room, thinking there was a fight, because there was all this chaos and noise … and it was just (students) communicating with each other, playing cards, bringing little games,” Cox said. “It was just beautiful to see, and I think we’re going to see an incredible resurgence as we implement this statewide.”

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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Here’s why Bosnia-Herzegovina fans in Utah are living a ‘dream’ during the World Cup

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Here’s why Bosnia-Herzegovina fans in Utah are living a ‘dream’ during the World Cup


The nation’s soccer team practiced in front of fans this week at Real Salt Lake’s stadium in Sandy.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fans cheer as Bosnia-Herzegovina players practice for the World Cup during an open training session at America First Field in Sandy on Monday.

The majority of the Bosnians living in Utah did not leave for the Wasatch Front under favorable circumstances.

The Bosnian War in the mid-1990s brought more than 100,000 refugees to the United States, with thousands settling in Salt Lake City.

Thirty years later, however, a moment of celebration brought thousands of Bosnian-Americans together with the arrival of their country’s soccer team in Utah.

Blue and white jerseys flooded the plaza and stands of Real Salt Lake’s Sandy stadium on Monday to watch Bosnia-Herzegovina’s soccer team, which has made Utah its home base in between World Cup games.

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(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Bosnia-Herzegovina players practice for the World Cup during an open training session at America First Field in Sandy on Monday.

“It was like a dream,” Anel Alagic, who was born in Bosnia but raised in Salt Lake, said. “That we qualified for the World Cup was crazy, but then they told us that the home base would never be here in Salt Lake. It’s surreal.”

The festivities extended beyond the field, as well, with several vendors and volunteers serving Bosnian food and drinks, including its signature coffee from the world’s largest coffee pot, which was made in Bosnia.

The pot is traveling with the national team, heading to Los Angeles on Thursday for a match against Switzerland and then to Seattle for Bosnia’s June 24 match against Qatar.

A dream just to qualify

Bosnia has qualified for the World Cup just twice since declaring its independence in 1992, with the first time coming in Brazil in 2014. This year’s team qualified in dramatic fashion, defeating four-time World Cup champion Italy on penalty kicks.

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The Bosnian fans are not taking their team’s presence in the World Cup for granted, with a viral video showing thousands marching in Toronto before the first game and 40,000 to 50,000 expected to be in attendance in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Two Bosnian restaurants in Salt Lake, Cafe on Main and Old Bridge Cafe, will both be closing their doors on Thursday to make the trek to California in support of their country.

And it’s not just people born in Bosnia jumping on the bandwagon, with Cafe on Main saying several Americans showed up in Bosnia jerseys to watch the opening game at the restaurant last week in a packed house.

“I’ve invited a lot of my co-workers and friends that typically don’t even watch soccer,” Alagic said of Bosnia World Cup fever catching on, thanks to events like the open training session. “I was like, ‘We’re having this event. Show out.’ I’ve seen a lot of people here, so it’s cool.”

Bringing people together

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fans cheer as Bosnia-Herzegovina players practice for the World Cup during an open training session at America First Field in Sandy on Monday.

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“Because of the war, our community is all over the world,” said RSL goalkeeper coach Mirza Harambasic, who is Bosnian. “It’s especially strong in the United States, and it’s strong here in Salt Lake City. So obviously everyone is so excited, so happy to be here, so happy to support.”

Harambasic was born in Bosnia and, like many others, came to the U.S. in the ‘90s. He helped coordinate Monday’s event and was confident in Salt Lake’s ability to accommodate the soccer needs of a World Cup team.

“When you talk about an environment to be successful, I don’t think there are many better places in the United States,” Harambasic said. “As far as city, lifestyle, training at elevation, and then obviously the facilities that RSL provides.”

With the first two games in Bosnia’s Group B ending in 1-1 draws, the top two spots are still very much up for the taking, giving fans just enough hope that the country can advance beyond the World Cup group stage for the first time in its history.

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