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Bronco Mendenhall is known for a strong defense and uptempo offenses. Will he bring that dynamic to Utah State next year?

Since 2012, the Aggies haven't had much stability at head coach.

Outside of Matt Wells’ six-year tenure leading the program, USU hasn’t had a head coach last for more than three seasons.

USU athletic director Diana Sabau told media at the end of the Aggies' 6-6 season this year that she wants to win.

“Our expectations are we want to be better than .500,” she said.

"Mendenhall is a proven winner at the FBS level of college football with 145 wins in his head coaching career and a winning percentage over .600," Trent Wood writes.

Read more about Mendenhall and what he could bring to his new post at Utah State.

School safety top of mind for West High faculty; keeps Gov. Cox ‘awake’ at night

A crowd of West High School faculty and staff members — along with a student or two — rallied outside the school before and after class Friday, calling for increased security following last month’s shooting of a student in the school’s parking lot.

The demonstrators stood shoulder-to-shoulder, chanting the words emblazoned on a long orange banner that they carried together: “We protect us... Because no one else will.”

Ri Pickle, a language arts teacher at West High, told the Deseret News that the Salt Lake City School District is listening to their safety concerns. Officials from the district have met with the employees to discuss issues.

“They’re willing to work with us.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox shares those same concerns. Cox this week said school safety is what “keeps him awake” at night.

He proposed dedicating $130 million specifically to improve school safety across Utah.

Read more about how a shooting in Nov. prompted teachers to rally for a resource boost to keep students safe and how the governor's proposed budget highlights school safety needs.

Inside DOGE’s introductory meeting with House Republicans

Utah Rep. Blake Moore announced he will head the congressional caucus responsible for getting Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency, or DOGE, initiative off the ground.

What is DOGE?

DOGE is an initiative launched by President-elect Donald Trump to be a task force to address and reform how government programs are managed and funded.

What will Rep. Moore be doing as co-chair of the House DOGE Caucus?

Moore said he will “funnel feedback” directly to Musk and Ramaswamy and serve as a “conduit” for information about lawmakers’ previous efforts to streamline government programs so DOGE doesn’t have to start from scratch.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel on some things,” Moore said. “We just need the wheel of the White House to be willing to address its own administration and agencies.”

What are programs that could be impacted?

During the meeting, Moore said he explained to Musk and Ramaswamy that automatically renewing programs make up 75% of the budget, and sometimes grow by up to 15% a year, and are never voted on.

More in Politics

Rep. Celeste Maloy and Sen. Mike Lee work to hand control of federal lands back to Utah (Deseret News)
Cox rails against ‘stupid’ federal permitting regulations (Deseret News)
Rep. Blake Moore on navigating razor-thin majority margins and uniting the Republican Party (Deseret News)
Americans see each other more harshly than reality justifies, new study demonstrates (Deseret News)

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Health

12 ways to stay healthy this holiday season (KSL)

Faith

Video: Music festival ‘gathers out from among all nations’ (Church News)
Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral: The beauty of faith recounted in stone (Vatican News)
What Bronco Mendenhall told the Church News about the role of faith in his life (Deseret News)

The U.S. & World

Federal appeals court rejects TikTok's bid to overturn US ban (ABC News)
South Korean lawmakers set to vote on president’s impeachment over martial law declaration (NBC News)

Sports

CFP committee failed its mission (Deseret News)
Utah’s balanced effort leads it past College of Charleston, into NCAA tournament’s second round (Deseret News)
Analysis: Why would Mendenhall leave New Mexico for Utah State? (Deseret News)

Entertainment

Everything we know about 'Wicked: Part 2': release date, cast, plot and more (Deseret News)
Lost at sea — Why ‘Moana 2′ fails to capture the magic of its predecessor (Deseret News)

🗓️ Events Calendar

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

Here are some highlights for events in Utah today:

Payson Community Creche | Payson
Moab Holiday Craft Fair | Moab
A Kurt Bestor Christmas | Eccles Theater
2024 Home for the Holidays Music and Dinner Show | Gardner Village
“Crazy for You” | BYU West
Utah hockey at Buffalo Sabres | 11 a.m.
BYU women’s and men’s track and field
U of U men’s basketball vs. St. Mary’s at home | 5 p.m.
USU men’s basketball vs. Utah Tech at home | 7 p.m.
Weber State men’s basketball at North Dakota | 6 p.m.
UVU men’s basketball at James Madison | 2 p.m.
SUU women’s basketball at University of Colorado | 1 p.m.
Utah Tech men’s basketball at USU | 7 p.m.

Please reach out to me at sgambles@deseretnews.com if you have any thoughts, feedback or ideas you would like to share.

Thanks for reading!

✨ Cheers ✨

— Gambles