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Utah Public Lands

Hanna Seariac reports: "The highway headed into Price, Utah, has more roadkill on it than moving cars. Through the windy canyons, there is an abandoned, sunken ghost town and periods of time without cellphone reception. Highway 6 may seem out-of-sight and out-of-mind to northern city slickers, but it is one of the routes drug traffickers take to distribute fentanyl and heroin to dealers across the state.

"Price, in the heart of Utah’s Carbon County, is at the crossroads of a growing, deadly drug problem in Utah.

"With a population of just over 8,000 residents, this rural city has seen the devastation of opioid addiction and fentanyl use firsthand. Many residents work blue-collar jobs with a higher potential for on-the-job injuries and the county’s poverty rate exceeds what is typically seen on the Wasatch Front.

"The rate of opioid-related deaths in Carbon County and its two neighboring counties, Grand and Emery, overwhelmingly exceeds the state’s death rate. Utah’s overall rate is 18.3 deaths per 100,000 people, but these counties on the highway from Mexico to Salt Lake City see a death rate of 42.7 per 100,000 people, according to the most recent data on the Utah Department of Health and Human Services from 2021. The rate of opioid prescriptions? It is also higher."

Learn more on how rural Utah is reeling as fentanyl floods the state, and read more about personal stories of fentanyl addiction and redemption in Salt Lake City.

BYU plans to establish a medical school. What will that entail?

Marjorie Cortez writes: "Following the recent announcement by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that it plans to create a medical school at Brigham Young University, there has been intense interest over when the school will accept its first cohort, how long it will take for it to reach full accreditation and how it will differentiate itself from other medical schools nationally.

"The announcement says more details will be announced in the future but it says the medical school’s focus will be 'international health issues affecting members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' and its 'worldwide humanitarian efforts.'

"The BYU medical school will be focused on teaching with research in areas of strategic importance to the church. 'In time the school will draw students from within and outside the United States. The BYU medical school will not create its own hospital or hospital system,' according to the announcement."

Read more on the multi-step process from concept to full accreditation.

More in Education

Meet Utah’s superintendent of the year (Deseret News)

Will Utah's largest school district be split? It will be up to voters in Utah County (Deseret News)

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Stand for Our Land

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Faith

Church announces broadcast to honor President Russell M. Nelson’s 100th birthday on Sept. 9 (Deseret News)

How the Episcopal Church aims to use ‘Cathy,’ a new church-focused AI bot (Deseret News)

Politics

4 candidates, 4 religions (Deseret News)

Jacob Hess: Americans are scared … about different things. Could that somehow help us unite? (Deseret News)

The U.S.

Debby finally moves out of the US, though power outages, some flooding risk remain (The Associated Press)

Uvalde officials release 911 call and records trove related to shooting at Robb Elementary School (CBS News)

The World

At least 100 killed by Israeli strike on a school where thousands were sheltering, officials say (NBC News)

Russia in 'counter-terror' mode over Ukraine attack (BBC News)

Olympics

'An awesome performance': How Conner Mantz and Clayton Young achieved the amazing (Deseret News)

This Latter-day Saint Olympic icon has announced his retirement plans (Deseret News)

Sarah Jane Weaver: The Olympics ‘are all about failure’ — and becoming (Deseret News)

Sports

Which BYU products have the most to prove in the NFL this season? (Deseret News)

How much will Zach Wilson play in Denver Broncos’ preseason game against Indianapolis Colts? (Deseret News)

These players with Utah ties have been named to 2024 college football award watch lists (Deseret News)

A glimpse at the new version of Utah State basketball (Deseret News)