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🌨️ 29 – 39° Logan | 🌦️ 34 – 45° Salt Lake

⛅ 26 – 45° Manti | ⛅ 31 – 56° Moab

⛅ 31 – 55° Cedar City | ⛅ 36 – 61° St. George

Happy Presidents Day!

Here are the top stories from last week:

Utah just got a shoutout in a Super Bowl commercial

Your dog bit someone who trespassed on your property — are you liable?

DOJ drops lawsuit against Utah over transgender inmate’s rights

Perspective: The Super Bowl slip you might not have noticed and what it reveals about Disney+

Senate confirms RFK Jr. Here’s how Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis voted

JD Vance spoke, then a TV star. A BYU professor was next and suggested a major shift in direction

Analysis: BYU cools off Kansas State with major contributions from its reserves, brilliant first half

Does the U.S. need a task force on anti-Christian bias? Your questions, answered

Kelsey Dallas writes:

President Donald Trump has said he’ll make American Christians safe again.

But are they really under threat?

That’s the question driving the debate on the new Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, which Trump launched with an executive order on Feb. 6.

The order blames former President Joe Biden for rising animosity toward American Christians, then promises to thoroughly protect these people of faith moving forward.

“The task force will work to fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society and to move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide,” Trump wrote in the order.

Read more about what you should know about the task force, which will be part of the federal government for at least the next two years.

As Utah State legend Wayne Estes is honored, his teammate remembers a great friend — and an unwise decision

On Feb. 8, 1965, Utah State basketball legend Wayne Estes played a record-breaking game in the Nelson Fieldhouse. Hours later, he died in an electrocution accident.

Sixty years later, Estes is finally going into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Lee Benson sat down with Estes’ best friend, Del Lyons, to discuss the man behind the legend.

“He confesses to a certain wariness about talking to the media, again, on account of the many interviews he’s done over the past six decades that have resulted in stories that have elevated fiction above fact, sometimes leaving him 'wondering if I was really there,’” Benson writes.

Read more about Wayne Estes’ life, death and legacy.

FROM UTAH BUSINESS

Utah Business 2025 30 Women To Watch

Know a woman who should be celebrated for accomplishing amazing things in Utah? Nominate today!

Utah

Advisory issued as more snow arrives in Utah; avalanche warnings persist (KSL.com)
7-year-old dies in Utah hospital days after Wyoming murder-suicide (ABC4)
Utah bill aims to provide comprehensive cancer screenings to firefighters (KSL-TV)
Wrong-way driver triggers series of collisions on I-15 in southern Utah (KUTV)

The U.S.

The Deseret News Editorial Board: Why Washington and Lincoln still matter this Presidents Day (Deseret News)
At least 9 dead as Eastern U.S. endures flooding with snow and frigid temperatures in the forecast (CBS)

The World

Rwanda-backed rebels occupy a 2nd major city in Congo’s mineral-rich east (The Associated Press)
As U.S. recedes, NATO scrambles to find a new leader (Politico)
Ukraine not invited to U.S.-Russia peace talks, source tells BBC (BBC)

Sports

Dartmouth rugby coach: You can get there from here (Deseret News)
BYU basketball: Cougars displayed their versatility in knocking off red-hot Kansas State (Deseret News)
Utah State basketball succumbs to New Mexico comeback in the pit (KSL Sports)

Faith

‘Greater love’: Apostle says resurrection is literal and universal, calls for Easter emphasis (Deseret News)
Stephen Cranney: More LGBT-identifying people are religious than you might expect (Deseret News)

Health

Why are young women opting to be sterilized? (Deseret News)
Naomi Schaefer Riley: More girls than boys are using fentanyl. What is going on in the lives of these girls? (Deseret News)

🗓️ Events Calendar

We put together a list of events and activities going on around the state of Utah in February. Check it out and let us know if we are missing anything!

Here are some highlights for events in Utah today:

Feb. 17 — David Gray | Eccles Theater
Feb. 7-22 — “The Secret Garden” | Valentine Theater, American Fork
Feb. 15-17 — Bryce Canyon Winter Festival | Bryce Canyon National Park

Check your inbox tomorrow morning for more news from the Beehive State and beyond!

And reply to this email or email newsletters@deseretnews.com to tell us what you think of Utah Today.

Thanks for reading!

— Ariel