At the tender age of 35, recently elected President Buu Nygren is the youngest-ever leader of the Navajo Nation. In fact, his entire campaign was predicated on firsts. His vice president is the first woman to serve as either president or vice president, and he is the first Utah-born leader of the Diné since Chief Manuelito in the 19th century.

“There’s never been a person like myself, as young as I am, in this position,” he told Deseret Magazine. “But I don’t think there’s ever been someone with the same experience in this position, either.”

Looking back, how’d we do handling the pandemic? These leaders give Utah high marks

Three years ago, a virus that originated 6,873 miles from Utah turned our lives upside down. But how did Utah’s leaders, lawmakers and policymakers do? Lee Benson spoke with state Sen. Stuart Adams, Dr. Angela Dunn and Dr. Leisha Nolen about how we did.

What they said:

• Sen. Stuart Adams said, “In every analysis of what was done, taking into account the three key factors of mortality rate, the economy and education, Utah has come out on top.”
• Dr. Angela Dunn said the pandemic “highlighted the close dependence between health care and the economy. We learned to put those two together.”
• Dr. Leisha Nolen noted the 27% of the state that remains unvaccinated saying, “That means we still have people vulnerable. In the last 28 days, statistics show that people unvaccinated are five times more likely to die from COVID than those fully vaccinated and nine times more than those with an updated COVID booster.”

So were our efforts a success? Read more here.

More in Politics:

• Name calling: Which political labels help, and which ones hurt? (Deseret News)
• Perspective: BYU — the most politically balanced university in America? (Deseret News)

Selection Sunday:

• Utah women’s basketball team earns No. 2 seed, will host first- and second-round NCAA tournament games (Deseret News)
• Utah State earns No. 10 seed, will play Missouri in NCAA tournament (Deseret News)
• Southern Utah a No. 14 seed in first-ever women’s NCAA tournament appearance, will play No. 3 Notre Dame (Deseret News)

Food:

• Best fried chicken in Utah (Deseret News)

Business:

• Utah among 18 states where it's cheaper to build than buy a home (KSL)
• Major gas leaks in the Uinta Basin are contributing to waste and pollution (Utah Business)

Faith:

• New BYU study shows one way adolescents can develop healthy identity and why it matters (Church News)
• 20 years on, Elizabeth Smart focuses on a life ‘I feel passionate about’ (KUER)

Salt Lake County:

• Woman who started Sandy apartment complex fire was trying to go viral, charges say (KSL)

Juab County:

• Fatal crash near Santaquin shuts down southbound I-15 (KSL)

Washington County:

• St. George Police searching for drive-by shooting suspects near Riverside Drive (KSL)

The World:

• These BYU professors dug 'trench after trench' in Mexican desert in search of ancient artifacts (KSL)
• ‘My heart is aching,’ says one Utahn with family back home in Turkey (KUER)

Sports:

• BYU football players feel shift in conditioning in spring practice (Deseret News)
• Utah Royals set for 2024 return as NWSL officially awards RSL ownership an expansion franchise (Deseret News)
• 3 Utah collegians claim 4th-place finishes in NCAA indoor track championships (Deseret News)