Plus, weathering Ukrainian air raids in a bunker with Utah Senate President Stuart Adams.
Good morning. Today’s temperatures: Logan: 38 - 60° 🌦️ | 20% 💧 | ⚠️ Salt Lake City: 47 - 65° 🌦️ | 20% 💧 | ⚠️ St. George: 52 - 69° ⛅ | 10% 💧 ⚠️ Flood Watch For the first time ever, scientists have observed a star swallowing a planet whole. Researchers say this gives us a look into what could eventually happen to our own planet. But don't worry, that won't be for another 5 billion years. Also on our mind: How and where Americans seek divine connection, the beauty industry’s impact on side hustle culture and a closer look at Mark Pope’s track record in the transfer portal. |
| Unplanted crops and dying cattle: Agriculture braces for the toll of a long winter |
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| | After years of extreme drought, farmers' prayers were finally answered —the water came, and a lot of it. But now farmers across Utah, particularly in the north, are struggling to salvage a growing season stunted by cold weather and threatened by record flooding. Ron Gibson, president of the Utah Farm Bureau, paints a grim picture of the problem Utah farmers are facing: Delayed planting No planting Calves dying off due to cold temperatures and a March that saw 250% of normal precipitation “We are going to have a lot of ground where we will be lucky if we get any crop in this year,” Gibson said. “It really depends on how this runoff comes off. Right now, it is pretty scary.” On Thursday, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food announced it was helping ranchers impacted by extreme flooding along the Bear River, which passes by Logan and Brigham City. The agency estimates 20 to 30 ranches along the Bear River have been impacted by flooding, resulting in the evacuation of cattle to avoid the rising waters. The ranchers are expected to incur additional feed costs of $18,000 to $25,000 per ranch and transportation costs of $2,500 to $5,000 to relocate cattle, according to the agency. Additional costs stem from having to divert water and create high ground for cattle to stand on. And as the weather warms, the snowmelt and resulting runoff will continue to move more rapidly and more intensely. |
Read more about what farmers in northern Utah are saying and how they plan to make the most of a water-soaked season. |
| Deseret News Executive Editor Doug Wilks, reporter Katie McKellar and photojournalist Scott Winterton are traveling with Utah’s trade and humanitarian delegation to Ukraine. We join them on the second in a series of reports (read the first dispatch here). Wilks writes: Think high-octane Amber Alert and you’ll know what the 2023 version of an air raid warning sounds like. “Security Alert: Heightened Threat of Missile Attacks, Including in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast,” reads the alert from the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. We were told by embassy officials the day before to take the warnings seriously. Many of the residents here have grown somewhat numb to the sirens because of the excellent performance of the area’s missile defense system. And indeed, earlier that day a 4:30 p.m. raid didn’t stop pedestrians or even the government meeting the Utah delegation was engaged in. Life goes on. Notifications continued to ping the delegations' phones throughout the night: 2:17 a.m.: “Three UAVs moving at 150kph from north of Chernihiv to Kyiv.” 2:34 a.m.: “High probability of alarm in the Cherkasy region in the near future. UAVs coming in from the south.” 3:06 a.m.: “Both in Odessa and in Kyiv, the enemy is trying to launch its UAVs from the water. In Odessa from the sea, in Kyiv from the Dnipro and reservoirs.” Utah Senate President Stuart Adams entered the shelter area sometime in the early morning. He wasn’t the only one wearing a baseball cap; you get out of bed, put on some clothes and come. “I wonder if the citizens of Utah really know what the rest of the world is dealing with,” he said, noting trips to Israel and now Ukraine. ”Do you stand by and not help? Not engage?” He turns to the Deseret News and said, “You being here helps to expose that bubble we’re in and what the rest of the world is doing.” Read more about the Utah delegation's harrowing stay in a Ukrainian bomb shelter. More in Politics Poll: Utah Gov. Cox gaining popularity among conservatives, liberal approval rating slips (Deseret News) Brad Wilson: What Washington could learn from America’s brightest star (Deseret News) Mitt Romney presses White House for China policy while administration extends olive branch (Deseret News) | FROM DESERET NEWS MARATHON Chase 53 Years of Tradition — Run Utah's Oldest Road Race This Pioneer Day Experience tradition on July 24th while racing down the historic pioneer route into Salt Lake Valley and through the Days of ‘47 Parade in the Deseret News Marathon. Full marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K are available. Prices increase on May 12th. | Health FDA approves the first RSV vaccine, making history (Deseret News) Are your kids victims of unhealthy food marketing? (Deseret News) Faith A new survey explores how and where Americans seek divine connection — and who they pray for (Deseret News) The relationship between religion and the coronation, explained (Deseret News) Business The beauty industry’s impact on side hustle culture (Deseret News) McDonald’s franchises revealed to employ more than 300 minors, including 2 10-year-olds (Deseret News) Tech FTC wants to ban Facebook from profiting on your kids’ data (Deseret News) White House convenes rally with Google, Microsoft, ChatGPT creators to discuss safety of AI systems (Deseret News) Education Nation’s Report Card revealed 8th graders’ scores have dropped in history and civics (Deseret News) Cox celebrates 8 new education laws including full-day kindergarten bill, school safety requirements (KSL) The West To combat violent crime, Salt Lake City is doing it like Dallas (Salt Lake Tribune 🔒) Metro Phoenix now has world's largest self-driving car service zone after Waymo expansion (Arizona Republic) The Nation Leah Libresco Sargeant: What do working mothers want, and why can’t employers give it to them? (Deseret News) Four Proud Boys Are Found Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy (Wall Street Journal 🔒) The World Arthur Cyr: The importance of the ‘American Pie’-singing South Korean president (Deseret News) US denies masterminding Moscow drone attack (BBC) Culture Ed Sheeran speaks out after winning copyright trial (Deseret News) What compels us to document ourselves and the lives we live? (Deseret News) Sports A closer look at Mark Pope’s track record in the transfer portal (Deseret News) Transfer portal circus hits BYU with Lauren Gustin, Kody Epps drama (Deseret News) |
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