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For about a decade, Disney has steadily released one live-action remake movie every year, such as “Cinderella” in 2015 and “The Little Mermaid” in 2023. In 2025, that pace speeds up with multiple live-action releases and several in the works.

Disney will close out 2024 with the release of a live-action prequel, “Mufasa: The Lion King,” and will open 2025 with the long-awaited release of “Snow White.” That pace keeps up throughout 2025 and will continue in oncoming years.

🎥 Read more about the live-action remake trend.

Tell me: Do you like the live-action remakes?

I think I would like them a lot more if Disney didn't rely so much on green screens and computer generated imagery — focus more on the story! But I'm interested to see what you think.

This year, Utah finally got another Winter Games. Here are 10 more Olympic moments from 2024

After more than a decade of bidding, Utah was awarded the 2034 Winter Games this year.

The long-awaited decision came on July 24, a day of special significance to Utahns because it marks the entry of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. A pre-dawn crowd already gathered in downtown Salt Lake City in anticipation of the annual Pioneer Day parade celebrated the International Olympic Committee’s vote that was held in Paris.

While the excitement of that day isn’t going to be forgotten anytime soon in Utah, there were many more Olympic-related moments in 2024 impacting the state, both before and after the announcement that Utah will once again welcome the world, after successfully hosting the 2002 Winter Games.

Read our list of 10 Olympic moments from 2024 that are worth remembering.

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Can’t buy a home in this market? Build your own with your neighbors' help

Self-Help Homes is a program that completes affordable housing projects by facilitating loans and providing training so people can build their own houses.

For nearly a year, Matt and Hailey Deeds have driven back and forth between Nephi and Lehi almost daily to spend 35 hours per week building their home: framing the walls, installing baseboards, painting the interior and completing thousands of other tasks.

Community home building

Hailey and Matt don’t just work on their own house — they also contribute time to build their neighbors’ homes. Self-Help Homes is a community effort, with each unit in the program assigned to a group of about 8–10 other families and individuals. The groups work together, starting their block from the ground up, and no one moves into their home until each house in the group has been completed.

“It does take a village,” Hailey said. “If anything, that’s what building a house and having a kid has taught me. You can’t do anything without people in your corner.”

Read more about how aspiring Utah homeowners are turning to programs like Self-Help Homes, which help people build their own neighborhoods one house at a time.

More in Utah

Here’s how Utah’s license plate rules are changing in 2025 (KUER)
How Utah’s HB80 incentivizes cybersecurity (Utah Business)
FBI offers reward in fatal shooting of 7-year-old boy in Four Corners region (St George News)
Park City dog park renamed for boy who made it happen (The Park Record)
Mayor and council member address Logan's homeless situation (Cache Valley Daily)
Man saves his brother caught in Logan Valley avalanche (KSL)

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Health

Is the Risk From Bird Flu Rising? (U.S. News)
When kindness becomes a habit, it improves our health (NPR)

Faith

‘Some Christmases are different,’ President Freeman tells missionaries at Provo MTC on Christmas Eve (Church News)
Mario Lopez 'not ashamed' of his faith as he builds more 'spiritual muscle' in Hollywood (Fox News)

Politics

The Utah bros that made Trump viral (Deseret News)
China banned sale of these minerals to the U.S. It matters to all of us (Deseret News)
Biden signs 50 bills into law on Christmas Eve (CBS News)

The Nation and the World

Dozens dead as passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan (ABC News)
Squeezed by high prices, a growing number of Americans find shelter in long-term motels (NBC News)
Bald eagle officially declared US national bird after 250 years (BBC)
Utah County fire crew deployed to California for assistance after summer blaze (Daily Herald)

Sports

Reese Ross has turned up her game by exemplifying the Utah basketball culture (Deseret News)
36 years ago against Colorado, Ty Detmer earned the trophy, but Jason Chaffetz won the game (Deseret News)
USU's new head-football coach addresses community stakeholders (Herald Journal)

🗓️ Events Calendar

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

Here are some highlights for events in Utah today:

A Utah Chanukah Celebration | Salt Lake City
A Magical Cirque Christmas | Eccles Theater
Utah Jazz at Portland Trail Blazers | 8 p.m.

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

✨ Cheers ✨

— Gambles