U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg came to the Utah Capitol Building Friday to announce the PROTECT Act. The PROTECT program will provide funds to maintain and rebuild methods of transportation after extreme weather events.

The program will provide Utah with an estimated $65 million to create better infrastructure and evacuation routes in case of an emergency.

Chris Stewart: Lost in Utah’s national parks? Federal land should have federal funding for search and rescue

Utah's national parks are federally-owned, but the federal government does not fund search and rescue missions in the parks. That financial burden is left to rural communities surrounding the parks.

Read the opinion piece on this issue here.

More in Politics

• Frank Pignanelli & LaVarr Webb: Are Mike Lee and Evan McMullin really this close in the race for U.S. Senate? (Deseret News)
• A candidate for Utah County Clerk says, if elected, he won’t issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples (Salt Lake Tribune 🔒)

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Perspectives

• Jay Evensen: The pandemic isn’t over. Why do we act like it is? (Deseret News)
• Readers' Forum: How to be a citizen diplomat in international relations (Deseret News)

Health

• Younger and healthier? Here’s why you’re going to have to wait for a second COVID-19 booster shot (Deseret News)
• Monkeypox: New York, San Francisco declare their own health emergencies (Deseret News)

Faith

• The startling case of Ridge Alkonis (Deseret News)

Southern Utah

• Popular sandwich chain opens second location in Utah (ABC4)
• ‘This is a great step’: St. George City Council adopts amended water conservation ordinance (St. George News)

Wasatch Front

• Mitt Romney proposal to save the ailing Great Salt Lake moves forward (Deseret News)
• University of Utah announces tuition waiver for Native American students (KSL)

The West

• Western governors aim to harness geothermal ‘heat beneath our feet’ (Deseret News)
• Wildfire plumes growing larger in the West, Utah study finds. Here's why that matters (KSL)

The Nation

• Kentucky flooding kills at least 16. The governor fears casualties could double (Deseret News)
• Unprecedented profit for Exxon, other major oil drillers as prices soared (KSL)

The World

• Dozens of Ukrainian POWs killed in prison shelling (Deseret News)
• Study: Has science found the cure for baldness? (Deseret News)

Entertainment

• The best part of a Josh Groban concert isn’t the singing (Deseret News)
• Why Utah’s viral father-daughter duo sang at the Spiral Jetty (Deseret News)

Pac-12’s George Kliavkoff gets his spotlight, pressure moment over

George Kliavkoff was hired as Pac-12 Conference commissioner just over one year ago. In that time, he saw USC and UCLA leave the Pac-12. The pressure was on for Kliavkoff as he spoke at the Pac-12 NCAA college football media day.

Read about what he said.

New With The:

• BYU Cougars: An ex-Latter-day Saint BYU fan wondered if there was still room for him. Tom Holmoe, Steve Young and others answered (Deseret News)
• Utah Jazz: Former Utah Jazz forward Eric Paschall reportedly has a new team (Deseret News)
• Utah Utes: Utah AD Mark Harlan addresses changes, future of Pac-12 (Deseret News)