With thanks to our sponsor

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

🌥 56 – 89° in Logan |💧 10% chance

⛈️ 71 – 95° in Salt Lake City |💧 10% chance

⛈️ 74 – 95° in St. George | 💧 40% chance

Have you ever been on one of those dates where it was so weird it becomes a story you tell at parties for the rest of your life? Religion Reporter Kelsey Dallas just reported on one that probably has yours beat. A couple met on a dating app, and decided going out for coffee or mini-golf was boring first-date material, and instead broke into a Hendersonville, Tennessee church, so they could allegedly play the piano. They also took a few souvenirs including four bibles and some drumsticks. Luckily, the church showed some mercy and didn’t press charges. Overall, it sounds like a pretty strange meet cute.

Personally, I’m hoping they get married… at that church specifically.

Tell me: What is the weirdest first date you’ve been on? I’d love to share a few stories with our Utah Today readers!

Also on our minds: Coach Kyle Whittingham’s amazing run on the University of Utah’s football team, life lessons from CNN and MSNBC’s public rebranding and a whistleblower says Twitter has some “egregious deficiencies” in its cybersecurity. 😳

BYU team excavates depictions of 2 biblical heroines in ancient Jewish synagogue

Can you imagine the excitement of a professor and a couple of students upon stumbling on what might be the earliest depictions of the biblical prophetess Deborah and heroine Jael? A BYU professor and several students found on the floor of an ancient synagogue in the Jewish village of Huqoq, just off the Sea of Galilee.

Dive into the exciting discovery here.

The A. Ray Olpin University Union at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City is pictured on Monday, Nov. 18, 2019.

Is a student loan forgiveness announcement coming?

Many college-educated Americans have been waiting on pins and needles for one very big announcement from the Biden administration for several years now — student loan forgiveness. This long-awaited policy could be announced as early as today and could help Democrats secure a majority in the house and Senate for the midterm election, but but the policy does not come without criticism.

According to polling of over 800 registered voters in Utah, only 11% of respondents said they believe all borrowers should be forgiven and 14% agreed with partial loan forgiveness.

What are constituent concerns and how would the student loan forgiveness program work? Read the whole story here.

More in Politics:

How a conservative political group with Utah ties scored a $1.6B donation (Deseret News)
Gov. Cox declares state of emergency in Moab after flooding causes up to $10M damage (KSL)

FROM OUR SPONSOR UTAH SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd

Don't miss your chance to see Utah Shakespeare Festival's wickedly
funny musical Sweeney Todd, now through September 9 in Cedar City.
For tickets and info about this and the Festival’s other productions this
season, visit bard.org or call 800-PLAYTIX.

Perspective:

Perspective: The lessons of MSNBC and CNN (Deseret News)

Education:

It takes a village to support a student — communities supplying students and teachers (Deseret News)
Princeton Review retires ‘Stone-Cold Sober,’ rebrands with BYU still No. 1 (Deseret News)
'We just need the drivers': School districts grapple with staffing shortages (KSL)

Health:

School vaccine waivers are skyrocketing in Utah (Axios)

Technology:

Twitter whistleblower raises alarms on user data, security and more (Deseret News)

Culture:

Why this Egyptian archaeologist is calling for the British Museum to return the Rosetta stone (Deseret News)
Why do the men keep talking about therapy on ‘The Bachelorette’ this season? (Deseret News)

Faith:

Knock, knock. Who’s there? The Jehovah’s Witnesses, at last (Deseret News)
How a Brazilian Latter-day Saint discovered an asteroid and her faith — now she has her sights set on the stars (Deseret News)

Wasatch Front:

Woods Cross company must pay $600K in back wages after Dept. of Labor investigation (FOX13)

Southern Utah:

Woman found dead after being swept away in flash flooding in Zion National Park (St. George News)

The Nation:

Fauci spent a half-century in government service. Here’s a review of his career (Deseret News)
Trump files motion to freeze DOJ investigation of Mar-a-Lago files (Deseret News)

Danny Ainge speaks about his new role as CEO of Utah Jazz Basketball on Dec. 15, 2021. Ainge traded Rudy Gobert to Minnesota earlier this offseason.

Why Stephen A. Smith said ‘We can’t trust Danny Ainge’

The host of ESPN’s morning show “First Take” Stephen A. Smith has some strong feelings about “Trader” Danny Ainge. As the CEO of Utah Jazz Basketball, Ainge has a shrewd businessman who has won almost all of his trades, and he knows he has a strong asset with Donovan Mitchell.

Smith said, “We know that we can’t trust Danny Ainge, and I mean that affectionately and complimentary to him, because he’s an elite executive who has pulled off numerous heists in his career.”

What could Ainge possibly be thinking now? Read the article here.

More in Sports:

A closer look at Kyle Whittingham’s remarkable run, and how it all got started (Deseret News)
Who will champion the cause of college football’s less fortunate (and less populated)? (Deseret News)
The U.S. Open starts Monday. Novak Djokovic’s status is still unclear (Deseret News)

Thanks for reading Utah Today! If you have any comments, questions or suggestions we’d love to hear them — just reply directly to this email or send an email to newsletters@deseretnews.com.

— Kathleen