With thanks to

⛅ 28 – 39° Logan | ⛅ 33 – 44° Salt Lake

⛅ 23 – 42° Manti | ☀️ 33 – 52° Moab

☀️ 25 – 48° Cedar City | ☀️ 38 – 61° St. George

Good morning!

Since entering office, President Donald Trump has signed executive orders to safeguard gas stoves, plastic straws and gas-powered vehicles.

Trump’s other energy and environmental goals go beyond personal choice for U.S. residents, including domestic mining expansion and public lands revision. Here in Utah, the third largest producer of uranium in the United States, these moves will have a direct effect.

Read more about how the landscape of energy will change in Utah and the nation under Trump.

Also on our minds:

Basketball showdown: Is BYU catching Kansas at the right time?
No fatalities in Delta Air Lines crash in Toronto with 80 people onboard
The official release dates for ‘The Chosen’ Season 5

Crime, banning cellphones, tax cuts: What to expect in the second half of Utah’s legislative session

We are now halfway through the 2025 legislative session. Utah’s elected representatives have split their attention between surprise controversies, political hot topics and planning for the long term for the Beehive State.

Since the 45-day session began on Jan. 21, some of the hottest topics have included:

A public unions bill that flooded news coverage and filled the Capitol rotunda with angry school teachers, police officers and firefighters
Conservative priorities related to immigration, throwing out dozens of proposals to heighten criminal penalties
Bills aiming to reform mail-in voting and make other changes to Utah elections

“But below the hum of the legislation grabbing headlines, lawmakers have been plugging away on bills, often years in the making, that would pave the way for big changes to how the state addresses homelessness, higher education and energy as Utah prepares to welcome the world for the 2034 Olympic Winter Games,” Brigham Tomco writes.

Read more about the biggest stories of the 2025 legislative session that you will want to follow.

Transparency at risk? Utah lawmakers consider revamp of public records law

Lois M. Collins, Dennis Romboy and Art Raymond write:

March 10, 2011, was like no other final day of the Utah Legislature’s annual session. Hundreds of Utahns streamed into the Capitol in the waning hours before adjournment singing, chanting and banging drums as they marched in protest around the rotunda. Liberals, conservatives and everyone in between united in outrage over an 11th-hour bill on the fast-track to pass before the clock struck midnight.

No negotiation, no amendments, no debate.

What was this legislation that struck a nerve so deep that it brought people of all political stripes together?

Lawmakers’ attempt to gut Utah’s premier sunshine law — the Government Records Access and Management Act, or GRAMA.

Passed in 1991, the law provides the public with the right to access information maintained by governmental entities in Utah while also setting forth guidelines for managing and restricting access to certain sensitive or private information.

Read more about how legislative proposals could significantly alter Utah's public records law.

Utah Business 2025 30 Women To Watch

Know a woman who should be celebrated for accomplishing amazing things in Utah? Nominate today!

Politics

Thomas B. Griffith: Why we should support the federal judiciary — the crown jewel of our democratic republic — as they wrestle with major issues (Deseret News)
Judge expected to rule in 24 hours in case that aims to sharply curtail Musk's DOGE (Reuters)
Department of Education warns schools to cut DEI policies or lose funding (Axios)

The U.S.

What is a polar vortex? U.S. gets a taste of the Arctic this week (The Associated Press)
A fired national park ranger lost his dream job. He says the public is losing more (NPR)

The World

Delta Air Lines plane flips during landing; 18 injured, including 1 child: Live updates (USA Today)
Trump stuns Europe with opening Ukraine-Russia gambit (The Hill)

Sports

Analysis: Jazz are still searching for young players who can be a part of their future core (Deseret News)
Gabe Madsen’s record-breaking moment ‘one I’ll remember for a long time’ (Deseret News)
Keyonte George, Rising Stars outshined by NBA All-Stars (Deseret News)
BYU basketball: Cougars approaching No. 23 Kansas’ visit in ‘businesslike’ fashion (Deseret News)

Faith

Pioneers of Chile: Early Latter-day Saints tell stories of faith and reflect on Church growth over decades (Church News)
Here are the official release dates for ‘The Chosen’ Season 5 (Deseret News)

Perspective

The wonder and wisdom of fairy tales (Deseret News)
Reflections on service and sacrifice in the FBI (Deseret News)

🗓️ Events Calendar

We put together a list of events and activities going on around the state of Utah in February. Check it out and let us know if we are missing anything!

Here are some highlights for events in Utah today:

Feb. 18 — U of U women’s basketball vs. Oklahoma State | 7 p.m.
Feb. 18 — BYU men’s basketball vs. Kansas | 7 p.m.
Feb. 13-28 — “Barefoot in the Park” | Covey Center for the Arts, Provo
Feb. 14-22 — “The Secret Garden” | Randall L. Jones Theatre - Southern Utah University, Cedar City

Check your inbox tomorrow morning for more news from the Beehive State and beyond!

And reply to this email or email newsletters@deseretnews.com to tell us what you think of Utah Today.

Thanks for reading!

— Ariel