Plus, why is Utah advertising its public lands lawsuit across the country?
Good morning! Here are today’s temperatures: 🌤️ 42 – 78° in Logan ⛅️ 50 – 78° in Salt Lake | 💧 15% ⛅️ 61 – 85° in St. George | 💧 30% Are you a fan of podcasts? Or a reader of The Wall Street Journal or The Dispatch? If so, then you may come across an advertisement on a case unique to the Beehive State. Utah has started taking steps to shift ownership of public lands in the state back into the hands of local government, instead of the federal government. 🔎 What that means 70% of Utah's land is owned by the federal government 34% of which has no congressionally defined purpose, with the catchphrase, “let Utah manage Utah land,” while linking to the state’s new “Stand with Utah” website. Read more about Utah's novel approach to advertising the suit. 👋 Gambles here! We are asking for feedback once again. You may have noticed the format and writing style of Utah Today has changed slightly starting this week. We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on it! Please feel free to email me directly at sgambles@deseretnews.com if you have any feedback, frustrations, thoughts or ideas on how we could make this newsletter more tailored to our Deseret News audience and more helpful for understanding what's going on in our lovely state! |
| A broken pelvis and a $10K vet bill: how this Utah family is navigating the gray areas of insurance coverage |
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| | Our resident pet expert and reporter Gabby Peterson worked on a tragic and complicated story this week that centers on a pet owner's worst nightmare. 🐶 A devastating injury: Stella, a beloved 3-year-old mixed-breed dog, was in the driveway when she was struck by a truck driver who had entered the rural Oakley, Summit County, property to perform some maintenance work. 🩺 A pricey vet bill: Stella's pelvis was crushed in the accident, and as a result, Mike and Whitney Weiss were forced to make the decision whether or not to have Stella admitted for orthopedic surgery, which would cost the Weiss' family a total of roughly $10K. This is where it gets murky. Initially, the couple was told the driver's insurance would provide full coverage for the surgery, so they provided the go-ahead for Stella's operation and prepared for a long recovery for the family and for Stella, footing the whopping $10K veterinary bill themselves, planning on receiving compensation for the surgery from the insurance company. ☎️ The call that changed everything: Shortly after the surgery while Stella's wounds and the family spirits were on the mend, Mike received a call from a representative for the insurance company telling him they determined that their driver was not liable for hitting Stella on the Weiss' property. 💵 So who foots the bill in cases like this? It's complicated, and in this case, what happens next is still evolving. 📰 Read more of Gabby's reporting on the topic. |
📣 PSA: If you or anyone you know is aware of a similar situation, we would love to hear from you. You can reach out to sgambles@deseretnews.com. 🤝 Gabby and I are working together on the reporting aspects of the story, so any advice or insight from our resident Utahns or people with connections to Utah would be incredibly helpful. We are planning on following this story as it continues to develop. Thanks for your help! | Here are some highlights from a story by Tad Walch, our resident faith reporter covering The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temple will now house two baptistries instead of 1. It will expand from 13 sealing rooms to 22. More weddings are about to be available at the historic Salt Lake Temple, starting in 2026 🤵♂️🤍👰♀️ The most significant changes involve structural and seismic upgrades to protect this landmark temple for generations. 💬 My favorite quote from the story comes from the managing director of the Church's Special Projects Department, Brent Roberts: 🏡 "When you go into into the temple, you'll feel like you are home in Salt Lake. What will be different is there'll be a lot of different hallways and paths, so you'll have to figure out what the path is, because it won't be the same." ✨Isn't that a beautiful thought?✨ Read more about the renovations, updates and preservations of this iconic architectural and religious Utah landmark. More in Faith 'The most desired book' — Why one particular edition of the Book of Mormon is drawing visitors to libraries across the country (Deseret News) At Chosen Con, Dallas Jenkins describes the purpose of ‘The Chosen’ (Deseret News) How this Latter-day Saint missionary’s experience inspired a highly rated movie (Deseret News) Scott Raines: Billions shall know ‘Brother Joseph’ again (Deseret News) | Health Religion, politics drive Utah's high childhood vaccine exemption rate (Axios) Hazardous chemicals in food packaging can also be found in people (NPR) Entertainment Chase Martin: I’d never been to a haunted house — then I went to Fear Factory. Here’s how it went (Deseret News) Bravo is making a spinoff, of sorts, to ‘Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ (🔒 The Salt Lake Tribune) Business ‘Have you been to Box Elder?’ The business case for Box Elder County, Utah (Utah Business) Mortgage lenders 'inundated' in Utah's tight housing market as Fed cuts rates (Axios) Politics As fighting escalates in the Middle East, Trump pitches himself to Jewish voters (Deseret News) Environment Environmental groups sue Utah Inland Port as 'unconstitutional' (KSL) Southern Utah’s Parade of Gardens hopes to show the beauty of saving water (KUER) Utah This Utah climbing area is first ever listed in the National Register of Historic Places (Deseret News) IOC President Thomas Bach is coming to Utah (Deseret News) U.S. & World FBI agents have boarded vessel managed by company whose cargo ship collapsed Key Bridge (CBS News) Beirut death toll rises as CEO linked to exploding pagers interviewed; Israel strikes Gaza school (NBC News) Sports Utah State is reportedly gaining momentum with the Pac-12 (Deseret News) Caitlin Clark is headed to the WNBA playoffs. Here’s how she transformed the Fever (Deseret News) Highlights, key plays and photos from No. 12 Utah’s 22-19 win over No. 14 Oklahoma State (Deseret News) | Copyright © 2024 Deseret News, All rights reserved. |