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Good morning! Here are today’s temperatures:

🌤️ 57 – 93° in Logan | 💧 10%

🌤️ 72 – 98° in Salt Lake

⛅ 80 – 102° in St. George | 💧 30%

As he eyes a return to the White House, former President Donald Trump is laying out his pitch to Christian voters. His campaign launched a “Believers for Trump” initiative, while he has vowed to “aggressively defend” religious liberty.

Buried in the Republican Party’s new platform, Trump extends another promise: to protect U.S. Christians from anti-Christian persecution.

Read more about Trump’s plans for a task force to investigate “anti-Christian bias.”

Also on our minds:

Utah Senate candidates Curtis and Gleich clash over climate solutions as environmental groups pick sides
Tropical storm Debby hits the Southeast
Why Utahns should care about Bangladesh’s new leader, Muhammad Yunus

Utah executes Taberon Honie by lethal injection

Taberon Honie, who murdered and sexually assaulted Cedar City, Utah, resident Claudia Benn in 1998, was executed in the early minutes of Thursday by lethal injection. The execution was carried out by personnel the Utah Department of Corrections designated, completing a death sentence first given May 20, 1999.

Honie was pronounced dead at 12:25 a.m. Thursday, said Glen Mills, spokesperson for Utah Department of Corrections. This was the first execution carried out in Utah since 2010.

Benn, a member of the Paiute tribe, was a substance abuse counselor, mother and grandmother.

A crowd of about 30 people gathered nearly two miles away, outside the Utah State Correctional Facility on a back road, late Wednesday night. Beginning at 9 p.m. and going past midnight, the crowd — ranging from young children to the elderly — was protesting the execution.

Read more here about Honie’s case and execution. Read more here about the protest held in opposition to the event.

‘What the heck just happened?’: What Kenneth Rooks had to say following his silver medal run

Against all odds, Kenneth Rooks, who burst onto the track scene seemingly out of nowhere only one year ago, won the silver medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Wednesday in Paris.

After running at the back of the pack for much of the race, Rooks took the lead with less than a lap to go and didn’t give it up until the final 80 meters, when defending Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali edged ahead of him en route to another Olympic victory.

El Bakkali, who has now won the last four world championships, including two Olympic Games, produced a time of 8:06.05. Rooks was second in 8:06.41, making him the second-fastest American ever and dropping his personal record by a whopping nine seconds. Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot was third in 8:06.47.

“It was awesome,” Rooks told the Deseret News shortly before he had to report to routine post-race drug testing. “After the race, I was like, what the heck just happened? That was amazing. Incredible. I was just trying to take it all in. I’m super grateful to share this experience with my family, my wife, my in-laws and Coach (Ed) Eyestone.”

Sports

Ranking BYU’s 12 football games in 2024 by order of difficulty (Deseret News)
Here’s how to watch Utah games this year, and what’s changing with move to the Big 12 (Deseret News)
Lauri Markkanen’s extension signals an understanding about the future (Deseret News)

Faith

The story of faith behind the modern Olympics (Deseret News)
‘Festival: A Youth Concert’ worships the Savior through music (Church News)

Health

Hate paper cuts? Avoid this type of paper, scientists say (Deseret News)
What to do if your canine running companion chases wildlife (Deseret News)

Check your inbox tomorrow morning for more news from the Beehive State and beyond!

And reply to this email or email newsletters@deseretnews.com to tell us what you think of Utah Today.

Thanks for reading!

— Ariel

‘What the heck just happened?’: What Kenneth Rooks had to say following his silver medal run

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