SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, appeared to fight back tears as it became her turn to cast her vote on HB562 on the Senate floor Wednesday.
The bill sets up a new Utah Fairpark Area Investment and Restoration District that will help oversee major redevelopment planned for the Fairpark neighborhood and forthcoming Power District in Salt Lake City. It also sets up the framework for state funding of a possible Major League Baseball stadium, in a move that ramps up the state’s bid for an expansion team.
“This is going to change completely my community and many lives,” she said, before voting in favor of the measure.
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Escamilla, along with many of her colleagues, believe it’s a home run. The Utah Senate voted 25-4 on Wednesday to approve second substitute HB562, less than 24 hours after the House of Representatives voted 51-21 to advance the bill to the Senate. The bill now heads to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk for final approval.
It follows a resolution that the Legislature passed last month, supporting Utah’s efforts to bring in MLB.
What the bill does
HB562 sets up a few things. Once signed, it would create a new investment district this year, including a board that oversees it. The area is slated for major redevelopment with the creation of the Power District, which was boosted earlier this month by the Larry H. Miller Company’s announcement that it will invest at least $3.5 billion in the area.
Both votes took place after Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, the bill’s sponsor, unveiled final tweaks to the measure, giving a member of the Westside Coalition a seat on a board overseeing the district. The governor will also appoint two members to the board, as will the Fairpark Authority Board and Utah leaders.
However, most of the interest in the bill has been tied to baseball. Salt Lake City is one of multiple cities vying to bring in an MLB expansion team; ESPN reported last week that it appears Utah’s capital and Nashville, Tennessee are currently at the top of the expansion leaderboard.
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The bill would provide up to $900 million in state funds toward a possible MLB stadium, should Utah land an MLB team by mid-2032. A prospective MLB owner, most likely the Miller Company, would cover the rest of the estimated $1.8 billion project, oversee construction and upkeep, and pay the state a $150,000 per month lease to play in the stadium that the state would own.
A conceptual rendering of a Jordan River “riverwalk” by a stadium in the Salt Lake City Power District. (Photo: Larry H. Miller Company)
This part of the bill generated most of the debate on the Senate floor Wednesday. Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake City, said he doesn’t like the “optics of cutting taxes” for a wealthy business while homelessness, child funding, affordable housing and other key issues remain underfunded.
Others have voiced their concerns about the value that a stadium could bring since the bill was introduced. Sports economic experts have produced several studies that show stadiums don’t create much of an economic impact on a community.
But Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, the bill’s Senate sponsor, argues that HB562 isn’t much of a baseball bill. It looks at completely revamping Salt Lake City’s Fairpark neighborhood and west side.
He asserts state funds directed toward the district would essentially be covered by any redevelopment, capturing new sales tax and the increments of property values in an area. The area, he said, doesn’t produce much of either right now since there are many abandoned businesses or state entities in the area. On top of that, the state could generate more from the income tax coming out of any MLB player’s salary, which could go toward repaying the cost of the stadium and district if the state chooses.
The only major statewide tax is a 1.5% increase in car rental taxes that would be triggered if Utah lands an MLB team; however, Fillmore said in-state residents are exempt from this tax as long as they fill out a form proving their residency. Wilcox altered the bill this week, removing a 1.5% statewide increase to the transient room tax that would go toward the project after negative feedback from the hotel industry and lawmakers.
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The bill also guarantees that “Utah” will be included in a future team’s name.
One final vote
It appeared that Utah senators were slightly more welcoming of HB562 than a similar bill setting up a new arena for the Utah Jazz and a possible National Hockey League team in downtown Salt Lake City — even if the body approved both.
Fillmore said HB562 focuses on “meaningful” upgrades to three big state assets: the Utah State Fairpark, the Jordan River and Salt Lake City’s west side, three pieces he believes have been “historically neglected” over time. He noted it only builds on what the Miller Company pledged to invest in the area.
“The economic, social and cultural impact of this investment cannot be overstated,” he said. “As a state and as a capital city, we’ve been looking at ways that we can invest, restore and revitalize these areas.”
Escamilla added that the bill could serve as a “catalyst” for Salt Lake City’s west side communities, something that has never really happened in the area’s history.
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Meanwhile, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, who spoke in favor of the bill when it went through a committee hearing last week, celebrated the bill’s passage. She called it a “major milestone” toward the city’s MLB efforts, in a social media post Wednesday.
“Regardless, what the Millers are going to build will transform the Fairpark and Power District on our City’s Westside,” she wrote. “I’m grateful for our dedicated partners with the (Larry H. Miller Company) and proud of our city’s key seat at the table for the work ahead.”
Cox has until March 21 to sign or veto any bills from this year’s session.
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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com.
SALT LAKE CITY — A groundbreaking documentary — conceived, filmed, and produced entirely by inmates at the Utah State Prison—is giving the public an unprecedented look at life behind bars.
The film, Breaking Chains, follows six incarcerated men and women as they confront their pasts, reflect on their choices, and work toward rebuilding their lives.
The Utah Department of Corrections collaborated with the One Kind Act a Day initiative to secure funding and equipment for the inmates. The result is a raw, emotional film that highlights a little‑known educational program operating inside the prison.
The documentary opens with a stark confession from participant Casey Vanderhoef.
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“When I was incarcerated in 2021, I had no more answers,” Vanderhoef says in the film. “I knew I was broken in a way I couldn’t fix.”
Vanderhoef, now living in a halfway house as he completes his sentence, says revisiting his past on camera wasn’t easy.
“There are certainly regretful decisions—and sometimes embarrassing ones—that are definitely part of my story,” he explains.
The project was coordinated from outside the prison by filmmaker and educator Bo Landin, who says the decision to have inmates interview one another created a level of honesty he didn’t expect.
“It’s authentic. It’s raw. It’s emotional,” Landin says. He admits he became emotional himself while transcribing the conversations. “I think it’s important because it is their voice. They are telling us a story.”
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The program began with roughly 18 to 20 students learning the fundamentals of filmmaking, storytelling, and production.
The One Kind Act a Day initiative—created by philanthropist Khosrow Semnani—donated the professional equipment used to make the documentary. The Semnani Family Foundation will now support an ongoing media program integrated into the prison’s career‑training and productive‑time initiatives. Semnani hopes the effort encourages compassion in a place where it can be hard to find.
“Human nature is born with kindness,” Semnani says. “But in prison, it’s not there.”
For Vanderhoef, the experience has been transformative.
“As I look back at the mistakes that were made, I have some regret and embarrassment,” he says. “But I have a lot more gratitude.”
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Semnani says he recently spoke with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi about expanding the program nationally, potentially bringing similar opportunities to prisons across the country.
Breaking Chains debuted at the Utah International Film Festival and won the Audience Choice Award. Landin now hopes to promote it at film festivals worldwide in hopes of getting it in theaters for the public to see.
Nina Dobrev‘s bathrobe photo has fans checking in from Park City, Utah, during Sundance weekend. She posted it 18 hours ago, tagged Park City, and wrote, “Final Sundance in Park City, Utah? bittersweet doesn’t begin to describe it…” Nina’s carousel from the Sundance Film Festival reads like downtime between screenings. The post shows about 480.8K likes and 888 comments.
Nina Dobrev shares a bathrobe photo from Utah during Sundance Film Festival
Have a look at Nina Dobrev in a bathrobe:
Photo Credit: Nina Dobrev Instagram
The “Vampire Diaries” alum wears a plush white hotel robe, loosely cinched at the waist. It falls open at the neckline. Her hair looks half-done, pinned up at the crown, with loose lengths down.
The warm bathroom lighting highlights marble counters and polished wood doors. The photos also landed after she discussed recovering from a dirt bike injury. Fans replied fast, with one writing, “Such a cutie,” another said, “Gorgeous,” and a third added, “THE DIVA”.
The killings took place in a region exempt from federal gray wolf protections.
(Dawn Villella |AP) A gray wolf is pictured in 2004 in Minnesota. Utah officials recently killed three wolves after they were seen near livestock in Cache County.
In a rural stretch of southwestern Cache County, state officials killed three wolves earlier this month after the animals were spotted near livestock, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources confirmed Tuesday.
The wolves were shot Jan. 9 by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, said DWR spokesperson Faith Jolley, a move allowed because the animals were found in a small corner of northeastern Utah exempt from federal gray wolf protections.
The region, which lies mostly east of Interstate 15 and extends roughly as far south as Ogden, is considered part of the greater Yellowstone region, where the predator is in recovery. It is the only part of Utah where the state is allowed to manage wolves.
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(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Across the rest of the state, the animal is considered an endangered species. It’s illegal to hunt, harass, trap, shoot or harm them without permission from the federal government.
Jolley said state law directs DWR to prevent wolves from breeding in the delisted area. While the animals were not considered a pack, she said they were believed to be traveling together.
“Lethal removals ensure they don’t establish breeding populations in Utah,” Jolley wrote in a text message.
Caroline Hargraves, a spokesperson for the state agriculture department, said the wolves were found near Avon, a small census-designated community in Cache County of about 500 residents, surrounded mostly by farmland.
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Utah leaders have long been hostile to wolves for preying on livestock and thwarting hunters. The state has doled out millions in taxpayer dollars in an effort to get gray wolves removed from the federal endangered species list.
Most confirmed wolf sightings in Utah have involved lone wolves, Jolley said, though small groups have been documented on a few occasions since the first confirmed sighting in 2002.
During the past year, she said, a handful of lone wolves have migrated into Utah from Wyoming and Colorado.
Wolves from Wyoming and Idaho have made their way into Utah at least 21 times since 2004, according to DWR. In September, the agency said it was aware of at least one lone male wolf present in the state.
