Plus, kids are getting propositioned in virtual reality, and right now it’s legal
⛅ 19 – 37° Logan | ⛅ 29 – 43° Salt Lake ⛅ 19 – 43° Manti | ⛅ 36 – 56° Moab ⛅ 25 – 49° Cedar City | ⛅ 40 – 61° St. George 🌅 Good morning! Super Bowl weekend is here. And outside of cheering for the Chiefs or the Eagles or even Taylor Swift (for some of us), there's another game worth tuning in to on Sunday. The Puppy Bowl takes place at noon MST and highlights friendly competition to promote pet adoption. It will feature puppies trying to cross the goal line with a toy in their mouth, a kitty halftime show, a “Lombarky” Trophy, a most valuable puppy award, the Underdog award and the Krypto Super Play award, Holly Richardson writes. Read more about the Puppy Bowl. |
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| The debate about whether Utah residents are to be called Utahns vs. Utahans could soon be put to rest. A bill has recently been introduced to formalize the spelling to "Utahn" — a word that has never been formalized before. Here are some reactions to the spelling that reporter Caitlin Keith got from some "Utahns" at the Capitol Building: Raymon Burton, who was at the Capitol with his nonprofit One Refugee on Thursday, laughed when asked how Utahn should be spelled. “Should be spelled, or is spelled?” he responded. When told about the bill that would officialize the spelling, Grace Jeppson, who thinks its spelled with the extra “A,” said, “Where are they doing this? I’m going to go stop them.” “Oh, I’m a native Utahn, it only has the ‘N,’ no extra ‘A,'" said Kate Bradshaw, a lobbyist working at the Capitol. Read more about the bill. More in Utah ‘Quick-moving’ storm could produce much-needed snow across Utah’s mountains (KSL) Maverik continues eastward expansion as it rebrands more of former rival’s locations (KSL) Southwest Utah’s record dry winter is setting off alarm bells for the snowpack (KUER)
Salt Lake's rising air pollution threat: Wildfire smoke and dementia (Axios)
Play it safe: Utah police to enforce DUI crackdown on Super Bowl Sunday (St George News)
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| A new bill seeks to address and criminalize some of the hidden dangers of virtual reality for kids. In Utah, it is a felony for an adult to reach out to a minor via text to meet up for sexual relations. But if the adult propositions a minor in virtual reality, that isn’t illegal, Emma Pitts reported. “Many mistakenly believe that because something happens in the digital space, it isn’t real or harmful, but for a child, these experiences are psychologically damaging,” Rep. Verona Mauga, D-Salt Lake County, said. HB358 creates the following criminal offenses: Using virtual reality to participate in sexual activity with a child. Requesting sexually explicit conduct from an individual who is in custody. Read more about the bill trying to address gaps in the law. |
Health Flu cases rise again, while COVID takes a back seat (NPR) Simple ways you can cut down on processed foods (Healthline) Faith From Italy to India — learn about the new leaders of these 16 missions (Church News) ‘Do your best’ when working to make inspired choices, says Young Women general presidency (Church News) Who is Paula White-Cain? Trump's Pick to Lead White House Faith Office (Newsweek) Politics Senate moves ahead with own budget legislation as negotiations stall in the House (Deseret News) Kids are getting propositioned in virtual reality, and right now it’s legal (Deseret News)
Utah lawmaker pushes to expose financial ties between universities and foreign adversaries (Deseret News)
Jay Evensen: Should Utah have runoff elections? (Deseret News)
The Nation and the World U.S. job growth slumps in January but unemployment ticks down (Deseret News) Search still going in Alaska for overdue plane that had a 'rapid loss' of elevation and speed (NBC News)
Cross-country storm set to bring more snow to Northeast (ABC News) Hamas names next hostages to be released (BBC)
Sports When it comes to the GOAT, Andy Reid is climbing the chart (Deseret News) A former BYU Cougar could be featured in a new docuseries (Deseret News) Nike hires BYU’s Diljeet Taylor as coach (Deseret News) Takeaways from the Utah Jazz at Phoenix (Deseret News) |
🗓️ Events Calendar We put together a calendar list of events and activities going on around the state of Utah during the next month. Check it out and let us know if we are missing anything! Here are some highlights for events in Utah today: Winter Market by Farmers Market Ogden Salt Lake Winter Roundup | Downtown Salt Lake City Guster | Eccles Theater “The Spongebob Musical: Youth Edition” | Egyptian Theatre, Park City BYU women’s tennis vs. Idaho State | 11 a.m. BYU men’s volleyball vs. UC Santa Barbara | 7 p.m. U of U women’s basketball vs. UCF | 1:30 p.m. USU women’s basketball vs. Fresno State | 2 p.m. Weber State men’s basketball vs. Idaho State | 7 p.m. UVU men’s basketball vs. Tarleton State | 2 p.m. SUU men’s basketball vs. Abilene Christian University | 6:30 p.m. Utah Tech baseball vs. Utah Tech Alumni Game | 12:05 p.m. |
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Please reach out to me at sgambles@deseretnews.com if you have any thoughts, feedback or ideas you would like to share! ✨ Cheers ✨ — Gambles |
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