With thanks to our sponsor

🌤️ 12 – 34° Logan | 🌤️ 22 – 39° Salt Lake

🌤️ 13 – 41° Manti | ⛅ 29 – 54° Moab

☀️ 20 – 49° Cedar City | ☀️ 34 – 61° St. George

Good morning! Here are last week’s top stories:

‘It’s a shock’: Utah Senate leaders respond to Trump funding freeze

This Utah park reclaimed the top spot as national park visitation rallied in 2024

Who vandalized this iconic southern Utah petroglyph?

Is it a crime to be in the country illegally? We answer your questions

Teens sound off on proposed law to prohibit cellphones in classrooms

A former BYU Cougar could be featured in a new docuseries

Often imitated, never duplicated: Why there’s no one quite like Andy Reid

He’s a defense lawyer and a lobbyist — a ‘tough row to hoe’ on Capitol Hill

Both lobbyists and defense attorneys tend to get a bad rap, but Steve Burton is willing to do both in order to stick up for others.

Burton is a defense lawyer and lobbyist with the Utah Defense Attorney Association, which works to make sure both sides of an argument are heard.

“There’s always tons of people from the law and order and prosecutorial side of things to speak up and hardly anybody from the defense side,” Burton told Lee Benson. “The power of the government is so strong that defense attorneys try to do anything they can to create some kind of balance.”

Read more about Burton and his organization’s work.

The Eagles praised God after their win. A new survey shows how sports fans feel about it

Kelsey Dallas writes:

Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni turned a Super Bowl-sized spotlight on God on Sunday just moments after his team sealed a 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

“God’s blessed us very much. He gave us all the talents to be here, so first and foremost thanks to him,” Sirianni said.

Most sports fans appreciate those kinds of comments from athletes, according to a new survey on faith and sports from Pinkston and Sports Spectrum.

Researchers found that 56% of U.S. adults who watch sports at least a few times per month are “very” or “somewhat” supportive of athletes using their platform to talk about their religious beliefs or other spiritual issues.

Just 12% said they were unsupportive.

Read more about how people feel about religious athletes.

Relive the glory: BYU’s championship season

This is more than a look back; it’s a tribute to the spirit and passion of the Cougar community. Step back in time and celebrate the legendary moments of BYU’s epic 1984 National Championship season! Order your copy and relive the championship journey with us. Celebrate the past, inspire the future.

Utah

Utah just got a shoutout in a Super Bowl commercial (Deseret News)
Millcreek art show spotlights Wasatch Front-inspired pieces (KSL)
Recent rain causes ‘aesthetics issue’ with water in Davis, Weber counties (KSL)
Souper Bowl of Caring: Jordan District makes remarkabe progress tackling hunger (KUTV)
Thousands of bird carcasses are washing up on the shores of the Great Salt Lake — Here’s why. (ABC4)

Politics

Jennifer Graham: Can Donald Trump keep up this pace? And should he? (Deseret News)
3 highlights from Trump’s interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier (Deseret News)

The U.S. & World

Court grants request to block detained Venezuelan immigrants from being sent to Guantanamo (The Associated Press)
Israel troops withdraw from corridor that split Gaza in two (BBC)
Trump’s next round of tariffs—25% on steel and aluminum—won’t be so easily averted (The Wall Street Journal)
NOAA told to search grant programs for climate-related terms (Axios)

Sports

Utah native Britain Covey earns Super Bowl ring as Eagles shut down Chiefs’ chance at three-peat (Deseret News)
This BYU legend is back at the Super Bowl in New Orleans (Deseret News)
Should the NBA trade deadline be moved? (Deseret News)
BYU must avoid potholes to stay in the Big 12 race (Deseret News)
Utah Hockey Club takes down league-leading Capitals in shootout (Deseret News)

Food

Egg shortage got you down? Here’s a guide to backyard chickens in Utah (Deseret News)
Super Bowl food fight: Philly cheesesteak vs. KC barbecue (Axios Salt Lake City)

🗓️ 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. 10 — BYU women’s tennis vs. Memphis | 12 p.m.
Feb. 10 — SUU women’s gymnastics vs. USU | 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 5-10 — “The Play That Goes Wrong (High School Edition)” | Mountain Crest High School, Hyrum

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

The Eagles praised God after their win. A new survey shows how sports fans feel about it

More in Faith

Relive the glory: BYU’s championship season

Sports

Food

🗓️ Events Calendar