Utah
Ron DeSantis’ Utah fade included pingpong loss, David Wells snub
Last year, Ron DeSantis arguably was strongest as a presidential candidate in Utah for a short period of time, a reality that did not last.
How did DeSantis go from a candidate keynoting a speech in the Spring to Utah Republicans — one that included some of his first stump remarks about the just signed six-week abortion ban and constitutional carry legislation, along with a bizarre assertion that Florida was the “Utah of the Southeast” — to a final fade there that mirrored collapses elsewhere on the GOP Primary map?
The answer, per the Deseret News, seems to be his failure to personally connect with some of the biggest players in the Beehive State. DeSantis failed the test when it came to a friendly game of pingpong and an autographed baseball from a turn-of-the-century hurler for the New York Yankees.
DeSantis apparently was reluctant to play a game of table tennis with billionaire Scott Keller, with staff saying he didn’t have time before DeSantis finally agreed to play, and lost.
Keller’s take?
“He wasn’t all that happy to play, especially after I beat him.”
Another friendly gesture likewise was rebuffed, another source told the Utah paper of record.
“Don Peay, the founder of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, knew DeSantis was a former collegiate baseball player, and he secured a signed ball by ex-Major League pitcher David Wells to present to DeSantis as a gift. When Peay offered it to DeSantis, he was met by a blank stare,” the Deseret News noted.
“He didn’t even say thank you. Presidential politics is all about connecting with people. I knew then he couldn’t be President,” Peay said.
In isolation, these gaffes may seem like more humorous stories of the sort that have dogged the Governor, whose interpersonal skills have been a matter of constant discussion.
But given the Governor’s identification with “Red Sox Nation,” an affinity birthed and nurtured through his seven year stint in the Ivy League, he seemingly would have been more interested in a signed ball from a pitcher who had a 15-win year with his historically favorite team in 2005.
But what’s clear is that the Governor squandered opportunities in Utah, where Deseret reports he had no interest in endorsements from “woke Republicans” like U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney and Gov. Spencer Cox. Meanwhile, the decidedly “unwoke” U.S. Sen. Mike Lee ended up endorsing Donald Trump before the Governor left the 2024 race.
Polling in April around the time of his Utah trip showed DeSantis leading Trump in a head-to-head race, an advantage affirmed with a 25-point win in a straw poll. Yet just months later, he was at 15%, with Trump doubling his support and Nikki Haley statistically tied with DeSantis.
Would pingpong diplomacy and a simulation of happiness over a retired hurler’s autograph have helped?
What’s clear from the Utah dispatch: They wouldn’t have made things worse.
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SALT LAKE CITY — A California man in Utah, as part of his duties with the National Guard, is accused of trying to solicit sex from a young teenager.
Joshua Ruben Rodriguez, 29, of Fresno, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with attempted rape of a child, a first-degree felony, and enticement of a minor, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began when an agent with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation posed as a 13-year-old girl on a “popular social media site … in an attempt to locate and apprehend adults attempting to have sexual contact with children,” according to charging documents.
On April 16, Rodriguez sent the agent a message — believing he was talking to a teen girl — that stated, “I’ll be direct with you, I would like to get to know you and (have sex with) your mind into a daze to where you feel like a woman,” according to charging documents.
When the “girl” asked if he had a problem with her age, Rodriguez replied, “I don’t have a problem with your age,” the charges state.
The agent told Rodriguez to meet at an apartment complex in Salt Lake County where the girl lived, claiming her mother would be gone. When Rodriguez arrived, he was taken into custody, the charges state.
“(Rodriguez) does not have ties to Utah. He is a resident of Fresno, California. (He) was in town as part of his military service with the California National Guard,” prosecutors stated in charging documents while requesting he be held without bail pending trial.
ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — One person was hospitalized at the St. George Regional Hospital after a car rolled and caught fire just south of the Utah-Arizona border.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department in Arizona said its crews responded to the crash near the Black Rock Road exit – roughly two miles south of the state border – on Sunday night.
Upon arrival, crews put out the car fire and found the driver had left the scene. A single occupant, who was able to get out of the car on their own, was transported to the hospital by a Beaver Dam ambulance.
MORE | Crashes
Their condition has not been publicly released.
Details on what led to the crash and the condition of the driver were not immediately available.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department said law enforcement investigated the scene.
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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz missed out on the NBA Playoffs, but still scored a big win thanks to a coin flip.
In Monday’s tiebreaker coin flip to determine who had the fourth-worst record in the league last season, the Jazz came out winners over the Sacramento Kings, who had the same 22-60 record.
Had the Jazz lost the coin flip, they would have been fifth in NBA Draft Lottery odds. Only the worst four teams are guaranteed to remain within the top eight of the lottery.
If Utah had fallen to fifth, there would have been the chance they could have dropped out of the top 8 teams in the lottery, and owed the draft pick to Oklahoma City, which was top-8 protected in a previous trade.
The Jazz now have an 11.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 10.
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