Yesterday, the top five Google searches connected to Utah had to do with fire, smog and smoky skies. As you have probably noticed, wildfire smoke from our northwestern neighbors is filling up the Great Basin once again.
According to KSL.com, the haze will linger for the rest of today. "The heaviest levels are reported in northern Utah, Wasatch Front and West Desert areas; however, it may move into parts of central Utah as the concentration dissipates a little."
Luckily, Friday will bring rain and southern winds to the state, clearing up our air, at least for a little while.
Also on our mind: What the Beehive State’s high rate of weekly religious attendance means, Rep. Burgess Owens addressed the cost of higher education at the University of Utah and multiple lawsuits seeking millions continue to hound Utah golfer Tony Finau.
‘Exceptionally high’ support in Utah for spending tax dollars on Olympic facilities
A sizable majority of Utahns support spending tax dollars to maintain and improve the state’s Olympic facilities, according to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll.
Seventy percent of Utahns approve of their taxes being used for the former 2002 Winter Games venues, an expenditure that could end up exceeding more than $140 million, while just 29% disapprove and 2% don’t know.
Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games pointed out, however, that the bid committee has not sought tax dollars. The more than $2.2 billion budget for hosting another Olympics does not include any local or state money, instead relying largely on the sale of sponsorships, broadcast rights and tickets.
The poll was conducted Aug. 7-14 of 803 registered Utah voters by Dan Jones and Associates for the Deseret News and the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.46 percentage points.
Read more about why "fiscally conservative" Utahns are so pro-Olympics.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee has repeatedly asked Glenn Beck to run for president, the talk show host said last week. At first, it was unclear just how serious the request actually was.
“(Lee) said ‘I’m not saying you should run for president because I think you could win,'" Beck told Steve Deace of BlazeTV. "'Somebody needs to articulate where we are and what we face and who we have always been and need to remember who we are.’ He said, ‘We need a storyteller.'”
But Beck went on to say, “I think we have that now,” noting the performances of Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy in the GOP debate the night before in Milwaukee. He’s also been giving air time to the current GOP front-runner, Donald Trump.
Lee confirmed to Deseret News that he’s been urging Beck to run — for even longer than Beck indicated.
“I’ve been talking to Glenn about that since the day I met him more than 13 years ago. I have long appreciated his trust in the American system of government,” he said in a statement.
Read more about other talk show hosts who have been urged to run for office.
More in Politics
Rep. Blake Moore: Next presidential election should focus on ‘energy and tax policy’ (Deseret News)
Rep. Burgess Owens addresses higher ed costs, quality in remarks at University of Utah (Deseret News)
Larry Elder tells us Vivek Ramaswamy stole his debate line on ‘the epidemic of fatherlessness’ (Deseret News)
National Archives confirm when Biden was vice president he used 3 pseudonyms (Deseret News)
FROM OUR SPONSOR CHRISTIAN CENTER OF PARK CITY
The Christian Center of Park City invites you to Hike for Hunger 2023
Join us in the fight against hunger on September 16 from 2-6pm at Park City Mountain Resort! Hike for Hunger raises support for our food pantries. Enjoy beautiful hikes, great food and drinks, family activities, live music and more! Get your tickets now!
Health
More teens are dying due to fentanyl overdose (Deseret News)
Will your drugs get cheaper due to new Medicare policy? (Deseret News)
Faith
What the Beehive State’s high rate of weekly religious attendance means (Deseret News)
Religious parents object to Maryland school district refusing to let kids opt out of storybook time (Deseret News)
Education
Restoring the broken promise of American education (Deseret News)
70% of Utahns oppose giving legacy applicants preference in college admissions (Deseret News)
Salt Lake County
'Pure opportunity': Final demolition of old Utah State Prison underway (KSL)
Woman gets hit, seriously injured by TRAX train (KSL)
Utah and Washington Counties
Angry mountain goats and dogs: A recipe for trauma and tragedy (Deseret News)
Zion National Park to lift fire restrictions ahead of busy Labor Day weekend (KSL)
The West
Can Trump be barred from Ariz. ballot? Secretary of State Fontes says it's open question (Arizona Republic)
Nevada casinos set a single-month revenue record of $1.4B during July (Nevada Independent)
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