Lee Benson writes:

High achieving people of Polynesian descent will be front and center the weekend of March 13-14 at the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium for the Utah-based PolyStrong Leadership Foundation’s annual summit and gala.

Film director David Derrick (“Moana 2”) will be there, as will Col. Stanley Ulualofaiga Snow, the U.S. Navy’s first Samoan fighter pilot; and leadership coach Sui Lang L. Panoke, as well as Utah Valley University vice president Kyle Reyes — all setting the stage for this year’s PolyStrong lifetime achievement award honoree: swimming and surfing champion Duke Kahanamoku, whose legend has only grown since his death in 1968.

The director of the Duke Kahanamoku Foundation will fly in from Hawaii to receive the award, along with several of the Olympic champion’s Hawaiian relatives. Also front and center will be Isaac Halasima, the Tongan film director whose 2021 documentary about Kahanamoku’s life, “Waterman,” was nominated for an Emmy.

By the time the praising of all these Pacific Islander trailblazers is finished — and the stage is turned over to the Grammy-nominated Polynesian band The Jets to kick off the luau — it will appear that the sky is the limit for anyone with Polynesian heritage.

And that, says Frank Tusieseina, is why they hold these galas every year.

“We want our young people to know that they can be anything they want to be,” he says, “and the only way to do that is if they see what others are doing and accomplishing, people who look just like them. If we can get our young Polynesian people to get a vision that the world is truly their oyster it can change their mindset. They begin to realize, hey, I could be a programmer, I could be an attorney, I could be an engineer, I could be a CEO. And once that light comes on, we can give them the tools to get there, which starts with education.”

Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola controversy

Kevin Lind writes:

To float above the canyons, the rivers, the teetering ridgelines leading to mountain peaks — it’s a magical experience for passengers. And out of harm’s way — for the most part — when it comes to mountain travel. Gondolas aren’t at risk for avalanches or black ice or backed-up traffic.

This is one of several reasons Utah’s Department of Transportation is building a gondola to take passengers up Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains.

But this wouldn’t be any gondola. When constructed, it will be the world’s longest — nearly one-and-a-half times longer than the current title holder in Serbia (which stretches over five miles itself). The official reasoning for constructing this gondola is to alleviate congested traffic — and the resulting emissions — that pile up nearly every weekend in the winter on the one road leading in and out of the canyon.

However, that’s not the entire picture. From a bird’s-eye view, certain aspects of the gondola project aren’t as simple as they first seem. The roughly $700 million endeavor would be funded by taxpayers, but the gondola will service two private businesses (Alta and Snowbird resorts) during the winter months (aka ski season).

No stops will be made for passengers to access trailheads and public lands. Then there’s the threat to the conservation of public lands. The 22 towers (stretching as high as 262 feet) that carry the gondola will forever change the protected public lands of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Those opposing the gondola claim that visible towers will redefine the view of the canyon, recreation areas will be destroyed, and access to public lands will be more limited than before.

Utah

'Superhuman hands': University of Utah researchers develop game-changing retinal surgery robot (KSL.com)

Early warmup this week with more wet weather on the way (ABC4)

Records dating back to 1800s show southern Utah is drier than it's ever been (Fox 13)

Total lunar eclipse to light up Southern Utah sky (St George News)

Here's how a group of UVU students is addressing Wasatch County's affordable housing crisis (KSL.com)

Health

Avoid muscle strain, fatigue while nurturing your Southern Utah garden (St George News)

Faith

During time of unprecedented temple construction, President Holland joins Elder and Sister Andersen to talk about temple covenants, family history (Deseret News)

How churches can better help those struggling with pornography (Church News)

Politics

Republicans can only lose 1 vote to avoid government shutdown — can they stick together? (Deseret News)

Longer prison sentences, new parental rights, immigration changes — and, yes, it’s ‘Utahns’ — after 2025 session (Deseret News)

Trump wants to see more than just a minerals deal to restart aid and intel to Ukraine (NBC News)

The Nation and the World

Pope thanks volunteers for "miracle of tenderness" as his doctors share positive health update (CBS News)

UN urges Syria to act fast to protect people as hundreds of civilians killed (BBC)

Sports

Takeaways from the Jazz at Philadelphia 76ers (Deseret News)

What Kevin Young said following No. 23 BYU’s win over Utah (Deseret News)

A look ahead to BYU and the Big 12 tournament (Deseret News)

RSL gives up 2 stoppage time goals in 3-1 home loss to San Diego FC (KSL.com)