Griffin will join Beth Launiere and crew as the Utes prepare to pick up where they left off last season making their 19^th NCAA appearance, and finishing the year ranked No. 17 in the country. Griffin spent the past two seasons with Utah’s beach volleyball program before making the move to indoor.

“We’re so excited to have Langley join the Utah Volleyball Indoor program,” said Launiere. “She is a tremendous athlete and competitor which allowed her to be one of the best beach players in the country. These attributes, as well as her over skill set gained from playing beach will transfer well back into the indoor game, where she began playing the sport of volleyball.”

The 6-foot talent proved to be a commodity early in her beach volleyball career as a freshman, tallying 18 wins for an overall record of 18-16 with her partner Katie McAlister. Throughout the 2024 season, Griffin helped the potent pair post win streaks of six, five, and four through various matches. She also aided in giving the Utes their first top-20 win in program history over No. 19 Arizona going 19-21, 21-16, and 15-13 against the Wildcats.

Griffin’s dominance continued in her sophomore year, helping Utah to their best season in program history, winning 35 of her matches for a 23-11-1 final record that included an eight-match win streak with partner Bella Vezzani and 3-0 victory over Arizona in the Big 12 Tournament to move on to the semifinal round.

Before coming to Utah, Griffin was a standout athlete at Peninsula High School in Tacoma, Washington where she excelled as an outside hitter/opposite hitter for her indoor volleyball team, lettering all four years of her high school career. Additionally, Griffin earned league MVP and first team all-state honors in both her senior and junior years in 2022 and 2021.

Griffin was also a standout on her track and field team as a three-time letter winner in the high jump, pole vault, and the 4×200 meter race, and placed third in her district for the 4×200 and high jump.

Griffin is slated to join the Utes as a pin attacker in 2025.
 

The company historically doesn’t confirm new stores until they’re about to open.

Another Trader Joe’s grocery store likely is coming to Utah.

Utah’s liquor commission, in its monthly meeting Thursday, approved an off-premises beer retailer license for a Trader Joe’s in Holladay.

The new store will be located at 1895 E. Rodeo Walk Drive, according to its liquor license application, said Michelle Schmitt, spokesperson for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services.

The location is part of a development being built on the site of the former Cottonwood Mall, which was demolished in 2008.

What’s not known is when the new store will open. The company historically does not confirm or deny rumors of new store locations, and only announces openings shortly before they happen.

Nakia Rohde, a spokesperson for Trader Joe’s, said in a statement that “at this time, we do not have a location confirmed in Holladay.”

Rohde’s statement said that the company is “actively looking at hundreds of neighborhoods across the country as we hope to open more new neighborhood stores each year.”

The statement is nearly identical to one Rohde issued in December, after the mayor of Riverdale announced that a Trader Joe’s store was coming to that Weber County town this summer. The opening date for that store is not listed yet on the company’s website.

The last Trader Joe’s store to open in Utah was in Sugar House last October. The grocery chain also has stores in Cottonwood Heights, Draper, Orem and near downtown Salt Lake City. The Riverdale and Holladay locations would bring the total of the company’s Utah stores to seven.

SALT LAKE CITY — Ever heard of an air economizer? It’s something some HVAC systems have, and a recent study The University of Utah found in certain conditions these systems could impact indoor air quality.

“We get different kinds of pollution events here, especially wildfire smoke, winter time inversions and dust,” said Kerry Kelly, Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering At The University Of Utah

The College of Engineering teamed up with facilities management to put their research into action throughout Salt Lake City’s campus. “We spend about 80% of our time indoors, we find that wildfire smoke has the biggest impact on indoor air quality,” said Kelly.

Kelly explained that one of the key takeaways was the type of HVAC system that impacts indoor air quality. “Something called an air economizer we found that under certain conditions those can really dry in a lot of wildfire smoke,” said Kelly.

She explained what an air economizer does: “It’s more common on commercial buildings and it’s a really good strategy that can be really efficient. So, for example, you know it’s kind of hot here in the summer but at 3 o’clock in the morning the temperature is beautiful so at 3 o’clock in the morning, it can pull in more outdoor air because you spent a lot less energy conditioning.”

She explained it’s a good way to save energy, but not so great if it’s bringing in pollution.

So, what can you do then? “Particular matter sensors are pretty good. I mean it gives you a relative indication of what your indoor air quality,” said Kelly.

She also uses portable air filters, which you can find just about anywhere. “They can be really effective but if you decide to do one of these portable air filters, make sure that you only get air filtration. You just want a simple filtration device,” said Kelly.