The Daily Buzz

From the Bear River in the north to the Virgin River in the south, communities throughout Utah are flooding as the state’s record-busting snowpack melts. But as public officials have urged Utahns to prepare by purchasing insurance policies, thousands may not have access to it and few communities participate in a federal program to make it more affordable. Over two dozen Utah municipalities with a...

Utah has the highest rate of teens as part of the workforce and the second-highest rate of teens working in the nation. More than half of Utah teens were part of the state’s labor force in 2021. Learn more: sltrib.com

Fentanyl has made headlines in Utah. From St. George to Summit County, the synthetic opioid has been the “main driver” of increases in drug-related deaths, according to a 2021 report. So what is it and how does the drug get into the state? Read more: sltrib.com

FrontRunner has been serving Utahns for 15 years — but not on Sundays. The Utah Transit Authority’s commuter rail system serves riders from Ogden to Provo, but only operates Monday through Saturday. The train provides service every 30 minutes during peak travel times on weekdays — and every 60 minutes on Saturdays — but the agency does not currently have the infrastructure to run service on Sunday...

Utah got more than $1 billion in several rounds of federal coronavirus funding for K-12 education. But where did the money go? By one count, the state has spent 49.4% of the main funding stream, known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER funds.

Mini “port” proposals keep popping up across Utah, which may signal a shift in strategy and purpose for the Utah Inland Port Authority. To read more, check out https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2023/05/11/it-seems-theyre-hyperdrive-least-9/

Finding an affordable home or apartment in Washington County to rent poses a challenge. According to a recent report, a full-time worker in the county had to earn $20.21 an hour to afford to rent an average two-bedroom apartment without exceeding 30% of their income. But the average hourly income for workers in the area is just $14.19. The waitlist to get into lower-income housing in some complexe...

Utahns are more likely than most Americans to believe there are good financial times ahead but are still uncertain about the economy. Consumer sentiment, which measures attitudes, feelings, values, motivations and behaviors of people within a particular market, rose less than one point between March and April 2023, according to a new report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. Read more: http...

Homeless shelters will now be allowed in most areas of Salt Lake City under an ordinance the City Council passed just hours before a self-imposed deadline to set new regulations was due to expire. Now, homeless shelters will be permitted in all zones except those dedicated to manufacturing. Previously, shelters were allowed in only a few zones. Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/05/05/new...

Some community members are calling for the Salt Lake City School District to consider building a new high school on the west side of the city — where students deal with the distance between neighborhoods like Glendale and east side high schools. But it would come at a high cost while the district is already working on repairs to two older schools.

Utah is just one of nine states that allow swan hunting, and until this year, that included trumpeter swans, considered North America’s largest bird. The trumpeter swans are still struggling to reestablish migratory populations nearly a century after hunters blasted them to near extinction. But now Utah wildlife officials have proposed banning the taking of trumpeter swans. Tundra swans would rema...

Planned Parenthood and other clinics can continue to offer abortions in Utah, at least for now, a district court judge decided Tuesday in the latest development in a case that will determine the future of reproductive options in the Beehive State. Whether a law that bans abortion clinics in Utah goes into effect now depends on a larger question that lies with the state’s highest court as it consid...

Whether the news coming out of Zion National Park over the weekend is good or bad largely depends on a person’s perspective — and whether they have designs on visiting the Southern Utah jewel in the near future. The optimistic takeaway is that the park was less crowded in 2022, when its visitation dropped from a record 5 million visitors the year prior, according to a news release issued by the Na...

As the temperatures warm and snow melts, five waterways in northern Utah are forecast to experience minor flooding over the next few days, according to the National Weather Service. Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/05/01/utahs-record-heat-record-snowpack https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/05/01/five-northern-utah-waterways-see

Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is proposing a reduction in deer tags after a harsh winter devastated the population in the northern counties. The state's deer population is at 335,000, well below the target of 405,000, due to drought and severe winter conditions. Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2023/05/01/utah-reduce-deer-tags-after-winter

Built into the new prison, which opened nearly one year ago, is a four-bed nursery for moms and infants. But as the Department of Corrections tries to get the program off the ground, it’s run into a major roadblock — it wasn’t able to secure funding from the Legislature during this year’s legislative session. The Utah Legislature cited oversight concerns after numerous shortcomings in prison healt...

If you went to a concert in Salt Lake City in the late 2000s, you could probably find the show’s promotional poster, designed by artist Leia Bell, and the band’s latest album on vinyl — all in one building. Located at 221 E. Broadway at the time, Bell’s downtown store and gallery, Signed & Numbered, sat in the basement, with record store Slowtrain just above it. The one-stop spot once well known t...

Robert Gehrke joins the podcast to talk about his latest column, which is a collection of short stories that had been left in his reporter’s notebook. Gehrke gets to the bottom of a fundraiser for Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who the governor appointed as his new energy czar and why a tax lien was taken out against the Utah Republican Party. Today’s episode also marks the beginning of a hiatus for “The...

In this episode, reporter Kolbie Peterson gives listeners an update on how Moab and its residents are faring just days after the historic flash flood that swept through southern Utah. And host Daedan Olander discusses his reporting about a Ukrainian woman who fled to Utah to escape the Russian invasion. However, due to U.S. immigration law, she may not be able to stay.

In this episode, reporter Brian Maffly discusses a particularly controversial mining operation that is proposed for Parleys Canyon. This week, the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining issued a permit for the quarry, but there are still numerous hurdles to clear before the new quarry could begin operating.

In this episode, reporter Emily Anderson Stern talks about the future of abortion access in Utah and why legal battles over the health care practice may continue for years to come.

Archaeologists discovered a group of footprints in the Great Salt Lake Desert earlier this summer. Reporter Anastasia Hufham joins “The Daily Buzz” to discuss her reporting on the footprints — which may be around 12,000 years old — and what they can tell us about Utah’s history.