SALT LAKE CITY — A prediction market is suing Utah over plans to regulate proposition betting that it says would run afoul of federal regulations.

Kalshi is a New York-based prediction market that allows users to place “event contracts” on future outcomes and earn a payout if they are correct. Those transactions are regulated through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the company said Utah has plans to prevent the company from offering contracts in the state and asked the courts to block any enforcement that “interferes with the operation and function of plaintiffs’ futures market.”

“Plaintiff KalshiEX LLC believes the governor of Utah and the Attorney General’s Office of Utah will imminently bring an enforcement action against Kalshi with the intent to prevent Kalshi from offering event contracts for trading on its federally regulated exchange,” the complaint states. “Defendants have repeatedly represented that they believe Kalshi is operating unlawfully under Utah anti-gambling laws.”

The lawsuit points to a couple of posts from Gov. Spencer Cox and an op-ed written by Attorney General Derek Brown in the Deseret News on Sunday. After Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig announced that his agency would “defend its exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets last week, Cox took to X calling the markets “gambling — pure and simple.”

“They are destroying the lives of families and countless Americans, especially young men,” he wrote. “They have no place in Utah. Let me be clear, I will use every resource within my disposal as governor of the sovereign state of Utah, and under the Constitution of the United States to beat you in court.”

He followed that up last Thursday, saying Utah is “ready to defend our laws in court and protect Utahns from companies that drive addiction, isolation and serious financial harm.”

In his op-ed, Brown argued that prediction markets are “the newest iteration of gambling” and said he didn’t see a difference between betting and trading futures.

“Although traditional sports betting apps are illegal under Utah law, these platforms argue that they merely allow users to hedge their risk,” he wrote. “But what is the real risk to hedge when you are simply predicting whether LeBron James will score more or less than another player? It’s simply a bet, dressed up in different clothing.”

The lawsuit also comes as the state Legislature is advancing a bill that would clarify that proposition betting — or betting placed on specific players or events during games — falls under the state’s definition of gambling, which is prohibited by the Utah Constitution. HB243 has passed the House and a Senate committee and is awaiting consideration on the Senate floor.

But Kalshi says its contracts are lawful thanks to a carveout in Utah’s anti-gambling laws that allows for “lawful business.” Its lawsuit claims Kalshi’s attorneys made “multiple attempts” to contact Brown about potential action against the company but were “met with silence, even though the Utah AG had previously been willing to communicate with counsel.”

Asked about the lawsuit on Tuesday, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he is “standing with the governor on this one.”

SALT LAKE CITY — The world’s largest steam engine will spend a little more time in its old home than initially advertised.

Union Pacific on Tuesday unveiled dozens of more stops that the Big Boy No. 4014 will make across the West between March 29 and April 24, including three extra stops in Utah.

The historic 133-foot-long, 1.1-million-pound locomotive will make stops in Morgan and Salt Lake City on April 2, as it moves west toward California. It will pass by Morgan again on April 20, following its two-day display in Ogden, which was announced last month.

All of the Utah stops are part of a transcontinental tour that Union Pacific is putting on in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. It’s the first time that the train will make a cross-country tour, and it will be by “No. 1776 — America250” and another commemorative locomotive.

Big Boy No. 4014 is the only remaining Big Boy locomotive that remains in operation of the 25 that were built in the 1940s to help haul heavy freight loads through the Wasatch Mountains. Seven others are still in existence but are retired.

It last made a stop in Utah during a Western tour in 2024. Spectators are urged to remain at least 25 feet from all railroad tracks, including drones, when the train rolls through the state in April. Drivers are also urged not to pace the train for a better view.

EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah (KUTV) — The Utah Department of Transportation has planned a major groundbreaking for what it calls the first east-west expressway corridor in Utah County.

The plan is to build a six-lane freeway to connect I-15 and Mountainview Corridor, with three lanes in each direction and making 2100 N a frontage road on both sides.

“You almost hate to see it grow, but when it does grow, you like to see reasonable solutions for people’s problems,” said Michael Crofts, resident of Lehi.

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Drivers in northern Utah County are no strangers to the 2100 N congestion come rush hour.

“‘Cause one of the big things is that not a lot of jobs are out in Saratoga and Eagle Mountain,” Crofts said. “They’re out here in the East and this part of the valley or North and there does need to be a better way for people to get around.”

To ease traffic flow in the area, UDOT is planning to put the new expressway in the patch of grass between where 2100 N runs now.

“This is one of our biggest projects this year,” said John Gleason, public relations director for UDOT.

It’s about a three-mile segment and will cost roughly $621 million dollars. It will include two bridges—at 3600 W and 2300 W—and have freeway-to-freeway interchanges, so traffic won’t have to stop.

“Right now, there’s not a lot of great options East-West out there; and so by building this freeway, you’re going to improve not only the East-West connection, but you’re going to alleviate some of the traffic on the North-South roads there as well,” Gleason said.

2100 N will stay open during construction, according to UDOT.

“Any short-term issues that you have with construction, we’re hoping that that payoff is going to be great things for everybody that lives and works out in the area,” Gleason said.

“It’s kind of a bittersweet thing because it does feel almost overcrowded, but at the same time it’s one of those, well, but if we build better infrastructure, will it feel less crowded?” Crofts said. “But the bitter part is that they’re like, oh, our little tight-knit community is suddenly grown into a city.”

The groundbreaking is scheduled for March 18th, and UDOT estimates they’ll be building the expressway through late 2028.

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