Good morning, Utah Today readers! Here’s today’s forecast:

⛅ 11 – 32° in Logan

🌥️ 24 – 36° in Salt Lake City | ❄️ 30% chance

🌧️ 39 – 51° in St. George | 💧 50% chance

Is anyone else here a bit of a chocolate fiend? 👋 Then this Weekly Recipe Wednesday is for you.

My editor, Ginny Romney, is a bit of a chocolate connoisseur. She’s the kind of chocolate lover who can taste all the overtones and undertones and could basically teach a course on the subject.

On her blog, she wrote about how to bake with chocolate and what to keep in mind when choosing the right kind for your baking projects. She also shared her family recipe for a chocolate cream pie that I will definitely be trying this holiday season. She used Solstice Chocolate (a Utah brand!) to make it, which apparently made all the difference!

Tell me: Do you have any good recipes you want to share? Reply to this email with your recipes, and it might appear in a future issue of Utah Today!

Also on our minds: See who’s running for RNC leadership, how to stay safe in an avalanche and is this in-game feature a gateway to gambling?

The Latter-day Saint auteur behind ‘Mitt’ and ‘Last Chance U’

Filmmaker Greg Whiteley has an intuition when it comes to creating reality content that resonates and a gift for getting his subjects to shine. Whiteley is a BYU grad and the filmmaker who created “Mitt,” the documentary following Sen. Romney’s decision to run for president in 2008 and 2012, as well as acclaimed series like “Cheer” and “Last Chance U.”

Whiteley originally wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a lawyer until he caught the filmmaking bug.

What changed? Read the full story here.

Poll: Gov. Spencer Cox’s approval rating is inching up

A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found Gov. Spencer Cox's approval ratings have slightly increased since April. The previous poll found that 58% approved and 31% disapproved of the governor's performance. The new poll found:

63.1% approve — 23% strongly approve and 40.1% somewhat approve.
30% disapprove — 19% somewhat disapprove and 10.9% strongly disapprove.

“Gov. Cox has been working hard to strengthen Utah families, to keep our economy strong and to ensure we all can enjoy a high quality of life now and far into the future,” the governor's spokesperson, Jennifer Napier-Pierce, said. “We’re grateful that the majority of Utahns see those efforts and support his vision.”

How does he compare to his predecessors and what is responsible for his approval rating? Read the full story here.

Business:

Employees are not empathetic toward their cash-rich bosses (Utah Business)
When did Etsy become a dropshipping marketplace? (Utah Business)
Vivint Smart Home sold to Houston-based NRG Energy for $2.8 billion (KSL)

Technology:

Report: Elon Musk’s Neuralink under federal probe over animal testing (Deseret News)
Are in-game ‘loot boxes’ a gambling gateway for children? (Deseret News)

The Courts:

Black Santa, the KKK and why Justice Samuel Alito is facing calls to leave the Supreme Court (Deseret News)

The Holidays:

Candace Cameron Bure: Does her Great American Family movie live up to her best Hallmark movies? (Deseret News)
C.S. Lewis has a different take on Christmas. Here’s what he had to say (Deseret News)
Perspective: When it comes to the Giving Machines, let’s be the born-again version of Scrooge (Deseret News)

Health:

Add this serious brain challenge to the health woes linked to ultra-processed foods (Deseret News)
Narcan maker says anti-opioid nasal spray will soon be available over the counter (CBS News)

Entertainment:

‘Cheers’ actress Kirstie Alley dies at 71. Here’s a look back at her career (Deseret News)

Faith:

When are churches busiest during the holiday season? (Hint: It’s not on Christmas) (Deseret News)

Wasatch Front:

Provo mayor says 4-day workweek works for city employees (KSL)

The West:

Will time run out on Romney’s bill to fund research to save the Great Salt Lake? (KUER)
Utah's recent storms have already led to dozens of avalanches. Here's how to stay safe (KSL)

The World:

Ukraine strikes back with drone attacks on Russian airfields (Deseret News)

Sports:

IOC delays decision on 2030 Winter Games again. What’s next for Salt Lake City’s Olympic bid? (Deseret News)
Dalton Schultz on his Utah roots, his big brother role with the Cowboys, and becoming a father (Deseret News)
BYU assistant Ed Lamb announced as next head football coach at Northern Colorado (Deseret News)
‘We’ll do what’s best for the room’: What’s in store for Utah’s quarterbacks? (Deseret News)

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!

— Kathleen

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