Plus, the West is changing its tone on homelessness. Utah is leading the way.
⛅ 20 – 38° Logan | ⛅ 30 – 41° Salt Lake 🌨️ 20 – 41° Manti | ☀️ 30 – 54° Moab ☀️ 20 – 48° Cedar City | ☀️ 33 – 61° St. George 🌅 Good morning! Zachary Levi, who plays the father (Scott LeRette) in the movie "The Unbreakable Boy," recently spoke with my colleague Margaret Darby about the lessons on family and fatherhood that are central themes to the film. “Scott’s journey that I get to portray in the film is one of someone who is tightly holding on to wanting to control the outcome of his life, whatever he thinks is the perfect life and the expectations of what he thinks that’s supposed to be," Levi said. The movie is about a family navigating the challenges and recognizing the positive aspects of raising a son named Austin who has autism and a rare bone disorder. “(Scott is) brought to his knees in radical acceptance of the life that he’s been given," he said. "And in that seeing the beauty and the gift that his son, Austin, was to him and is to him and to his family, teaching him how to love himself and to love others." The movie shares messages of forgiveness, acceptance, finding joy through difficult circumstances and the importance of strong father figures. It comes out March 21. Read more about "The Unbreakable Boy." |
| The West is changing its approach to homelessness. Utah is leading the way |
|
| | Lawmakers in Utah are now reconsidering a "housing first" policy when it comes to addressing homelessness. A 'housing first' policy In 2015, Utah leaders declared a brief victory over chronic homelessness after a decade of implementing a groundbreaking statewide housing-first model that poured resources into low-barrier housing units, Brigham Tomco reported. Over the subsequent decade, chronic homelessness in Utah — defined as those who have been on the streets for at least a year with mental illness or drug addiction — has nearly quadrupled. “It’s clear what we’ve been doing isn’t working the way we had hoped it would,” Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz said. A trio of legislative bills that are not 'housing first' This legislative session, Utah lawmakers are looking to set new expectations on what tackling the homelessness crisis could look like with three new bills that involve cracking down on drug use and increasing coordination between homeless services to encourage treatment options. Read more about the bills. More in Utah Warnings, advisories issued as incoming storm could cause Utah travel headaches (KSL.com)
ESPN commentator Holly Rowe to deliver commencement address at her alma mater — the University of Utah (Deseret News)
Salt Lake City mayor names corrections head as her choice for city's police chief (KSL.com)
Utah counties received millions to battle the opioid epidemic. Many haven’t spent a dime (KUER)
Utah’s flying future (Utah Business)
Poll: Utahns overwhelmingly support monuments, other public lands (Axios)
Retina Associates of Southern Utah introduces FDA-approved laser treatment for macular degeneration (St George News)
| Jason Swensen writes: Andy Reid. Tony Finau. Ryan Smith. Ashley Hatch. Bryce Harper: Call them Latter-day Saint influencers, movers and shakers, or power brokers in the wide, wide world of sports. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have become increasingly prominent in all corners of athletics — as coaches, competitors, team owners and executives. Some Latter-day Saints — like basketball’s Danny Ainge — have been prominent in the sports pages for decades. And then there are church members such as Olympic medalists Kenneth Rooks or MyKayla Skinner who snagged wide influence and renown with a single, defining athletic performance on a world stage. Here are the top 10 from the list: Ryan Smith Andy Reid Tom Holmoe Kalani Sitake Bryce Harper Kyle Whittingham Tony Finau Gail Miller Fraser Bullock Mark Pope Read more to see the rest of the list. And let us know what you think of the list here. More in Sports As Big Ten, SEC plot future of CFP, what could it mean to the rest of college football? (Deseret News) Down the stretch BYU must continue its physical play (Deseret News) We asked NHL players why they fight. Here’s what they said (Deseret News)
Utah gymnastics’ ALS awareness night holds special meaning (Deseret News) ‘It’ll be a fun last week in the Big 12′: Gavin Petersen looking for ‘max effort’ as Utes close regular season (Deseret News)
McDavid silences American crowd with OT winner in 4 Nations championship game (Deseret News) | Health As the U.S. steps back from global health, what role will China play? (NPR) Food recalls in the US were more widespread – and deadly – in 2024 (CNN) Daily omega-3 supplements and regular exercise may slow aging (Medical News Today) Faith A look back at 100 years of missionary training centers (Church News) Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra traveling to Brazil in 2026 on ‘Songs of Hope’ tour (Church News) Politics Mike Lee pushes to limit judges from blocking Trump’s agenda (Deseret News)
Trump and Musk propose direct payments to Americans from savings achieved (Deseret News)
Senate confirms Kash Patel as FBI director (NBC News)
Poll: Utahns overwhelmingly support monuments, other public lands (Axios) The Nation and the World Three buses explode in Israel as military blocks entry to parts of West Bank (BBC) Israel identifies remains of child hostages but says body Hamas returned was not their mother (The Associated Press)
Drug overdose deaths fall in 2023 for 1st time since pandemic began (ABC News)
| Westlake players douse head coach Nate Carling with water after defeating Lone Peak in a high school boy’s basketball game held at Westlake High School in Saratoga Springs on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. |
🗓️ Events Calendar We put together a calendar list of events and activities going on around the state of Utah during the next month. Check it out and let us know if we are missing anything! Here are some highlights for events in Utah today: Alejandra Guzman | Eccles Theater “Matilda the Musical” | Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City Lerner and Loewe’s “Brigadoon” | Val A. Browning Center for the Performing Arts, Ogden Utah Jazz vs. Oklahoma City Thunder | 7:30 p.m. BYU women’s tennis vs. Utah State | 12 p.m. BYU men’s volleyball vs. Barry University | 7 p.m. U of U gymnastics vs. Denver | 7 p.m. USU women’s gymnastics vs. Boise State | 7 p.m. Utah Tech baseball vs. UC Riverside | 4:05 p.m. |
|
Please reach out to me at sgambles@deseretnews.com if you have any thoughts, feedback or ideas you would like to share! ✨ Cheers ✨ — Gambles |
| Copyright © 2024 Deseret News, All rights reserved. |