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🌨️ 21 – 39° Logan | ⛅ 29 – 45° Salt Lake

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⛅ 22 – 52° Cedar City | ⛅ 34 – 60° St. George

🌅 Good morning!

Utah has a history of movies being filmed in our lovely state.

And five more films, including Martin McDonagh's latest thriller "Wild Horse Nine," were approved by the Utah Film Commission to be filmed here.

The productions are projected to generate $12.6 million and 400 jobs, KSL.com reported.

"Utah's vast, cinematic landscapes and striking quality of light make it the perfect setting for 'Wild Horse Nine,'" said producer Anita Overland. "Beyond its scenery, Utah's highly skilled and professional crew base made the decision to film here an easy one. We look forward to bringing 'Wild Horse Nine' to life in this extraordinary setting."

The films slated to be filmed here include:

"Wild Horse Nine"
"Zeus"
"(Saint) Peter"
"Christmas on Duty" from Hallmark
"Home Turf" from Hallmark

🎥 Read more about the new films being filmed in Utah.

Gov. Cox wants Utah to build toward safe, beneficial advanced nuclear reactors

Gov. Spencer Cox spoke Tuesday about how he wants Utah to position itself as a key player in the future of nuclear energy in the United States.

“We are here because of your commitment to the future of this country and our world — making our world a better place," he said to a group of experts in the field of nuclear energy at The Advanced Reactors Summit XII and Technology Trailblazers. "It’s a commitment that we in Utah share with you, and I firmly believe that we have a window of opportunity unlike anything we’ve seen, at least in my lifetime, which is very quickly approaching 50 years.”

Here are three key points:

Strategic investment in nuclear energy: The state wants to form a nuclear energy consortium and Cox has proposed $20 million in spending to foster development of the energy source, Amy Joi O'Donoghue reported.
Regulatory and economic approach: Cox also highlighted the need to reform regulatory frameworks to enable efficient nuclear reactor development while still prioritizing safety.
Collaboration: Utah has formed partnerships with Idaho and Wyoming and is working with the Idaho National Laboratory, establishing itself as a "first mover" in nuclear innovation.

“If we don’t act now, we risk falling behind the rest of the world, especially China, who is rapidly expanding its nuclear energy capacity, and if we don’t match that ambition with our own energy investors, we could lose our competitive edge," Cox said. "The United States was once a global leader in nuclear energy innovation and deployment. We built reactors quickly, safely and at scale, especially in the 1960s and 1970s."

Read more about what Cox said about nuclear energy.

University of Utah President Taylor Randall speaks at Ensign College devotional

Seeking a sort of "spiritual grit" comes down to three critical attributes: courage, patience and gratitude, University of Utah President Taylor Randall told students at an Ensign College devotional.

Randall has had a busy few weeks. He has been absorbing calls from the Utah Legislature to reallocate state funding at his school — even while monitoring movements out of Washington, D.C., that could, again, dramatically alter federal financial support for medical research, Jason Swensen reported.

But on Tuesday, the University of Utah’s 17th president addressed his Ensign College devotional audience as, primarily, a Latter-day Saint.

Here are four quotes from his address:

On being a Latter-day Saint: “If you don’t mind today, I’d rather speak to you as ‘Brother Randall’, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am very proud of my membership in this church. It has sustained me. The gospel principles mean so much to me in my life. They mean so much to my family."
On courage: “To me, the exercise of courage is required at every critical decision point in life.”
On patience: The uncomfortable times “between questions and answers,” he added, “are moments for us to choose whether we will use faith to believe in a loving Heavenly Father. It’s a time to grow. It’s a time to show our spiritual grit.”
On gratitude: "In the end, being grateful allowed me to see that a loving Heavenly Father understood what my family needed to thrive. It taught me that gratitude can refocus priorities and bring clarity to questions."

Politics

Senate committee debates Utah open records law (Deseret News)
Utah House panel advances bill for colleges to directly pay athletes (Deseret News)
Former Utah congressional candidate takes on new role at the Pentagon (Deseret News)
Federal judge thwarts Democratic bid to restrain Elon Musk's DOGE authority (Deseret News)

The Nation and the World

Death toll in Kentucky storms rises to 14 as state braces for another round of winter weather (NBC News)
Russia won't accept Nato troops in Ukraine, Lavrov says after talks with US (BBC)
What we know about the Toronto plane crash (NPR)

Sports

Takeaways from BYU's blowout win against No. 23 Kansas at home (Deseret News)
‘A total gut punch’: BYU players recall their pick-sixes — and the impact of such plays (Deseret News)

🗓️ 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:

Phantogram | Union Event Center
“Anastasia” | Snow College Performing Arts, Ephraim
“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” | Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, Salt Lake City
USU women’s basketball vs. Air Force | 11 a.m.
USU men’s basketball vs. San Jose State | 7 p.m.
UVU women’s basketball vs. Utah Tech | 6 p.m.
SUU women’s basketball vs. Abilene Christian University | 6:30 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

More in Utah

University of Utah President Taylor Randall speaks at Ensign College devotional

Politics

🗓️ Events Calendar