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Utah Board of Education rejects 'Soviet policy goals' in resolution to remove DEI

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Utah Board of Education rejects 'Soviet policy goals' in resolution to remove DEI


SALT LAKE CITY — At the monthly Utah State Board of Education meeting, a resolution directing removal of DEI in Utah schools drew all the attention.

Utah has already outlawed DEI practices in government organizations as well as public schools, but five board members sponsored a resolution that was on Thursday’s agenda.

One of the five, Christina Boggess who represents District 8, said she got on board when she began receiving complaints of non-compliance to the law.

“There are what we would call an affinity group or a racial group in one of our schools. I personally received 5 complaints about it where in if you are not of a certain ethnicity, you are not allowed to participate,” said Boggess. “And there’s multiple complaints that it’s still occurring today, which is part of what radical DEI advocates.”

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Before the board voted the resolution down 10 to 4, board member Joseph Kerry wondered if the board wasn’t wasting its time.

“I always thought resolutions were: ‘in a year, I am gonna lose weight, I am gonna get to the gym.’ This is like saying I am making a resolution that you’re gonna lose weight, and you’re gonna go to the gym, and I think when we do that, we have to use our rule-making authority, not our resolution ability,” said Kerry.

Jeanetta Williams, President of the NAACP Salt Lake Branch & Tri-State Conference of Idaho, Nevada and Utah submitted a letter to the board urging them to reject the resolution.

She couldn’t understand why there were references to the former Soviet Union in the text, and said the resolution missed the mark.

“It just doesn’t make sense because if there’s one or two schools that’s not fully compliant, then they need to find out what is that they’re not complying with and try to go in and maybe talk to those different schools,” said Williams.

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Yet, despite the push back, Boggess said, she doesn’t plan on throwing in the towel.

“I think it’s important that our students are able to engage and have access to a discrimination free education. I think that’s important, so I am going to continue to work on an advanced policy in line with that vision, where we have equal opportunity for all students.”





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Utah

Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president

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Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president


Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.



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Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods

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Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods


BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.

After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.

Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.

“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.

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An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.

Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.





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Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months

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Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months


EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.

Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.

Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.

“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”

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When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.

An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.

In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.

Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.

Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.

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In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.

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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