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Wildflowers and native grasses set down roots, coming back year after year. By remaining green, they act as a deterrent for the spread of fires.

The research: Phil Allen, a Brigham Young University professor, has made it his life’s work to study wildflowers — how to grow them, where to grow them and their behavior when it comes to slowing wildfires. He has also devoted his career to looking at cheat grass behavior, Amy Joi O'Donoghue reported.

What he says: “So the one way the flowers reduce the wildfire is they stay green longer during the summer, and with their green nature, they’re not going to burn the same way,” he said.

“The second way they reduce the wildfire potential is, unlike cheat grass that forms a very dense carpet of vegetation that is all ready to burn, the native plants, because of limited resources — including water and nutrients — they spread themselves out, so they are not ready to burn. That’s true of the foothills all up and down the Wasatch Front."

Gov. Cox calls Trump the only one who can fix immigration

Gov. Spencer Cox still believes President Donald Trump is the only person capable of fixing what he called America’s broken immigration policy. In fact, he called it a “very, very broken system,” Emma Pitts reported.

Now that the border is considered secure, Cox believes it’s time to come up with bipartisan solutions to address immigration in the U.S.

Under the Trump administration, monthly arrests of unauthorized immigrants by Immigration and Customs (ICE) in western states, including in Utah, have nearly tripled.

Here are three things Cox had to say about some of the major immigration issues facing Utah today.

On the previous administration's handling of immigration:

“I just can’t underscore enough how awful it was, the Biden administration allowing millions of undocumented immigrants, some of them with very nefarious purposes ... pouring across the southern border with no friction whatsoever,” he said.

On Utah's relationship with ICE:

“We’ve always made it clear that we have to follow the law and the Constitution,” Cox said. “This really is about, again, enforcing the law and doing it in a way that protects citizens here in the state, trying to get the worst offenders off the streets. ... I know there’s a lot of fear out there, a lot of misinformation, and we want to do everything we can to help people understand that we will do this the right way.”

On wanting immigration in America to look more like Ellis Island:

“Where it’s orderly, where we set limits, where we decide, as a country, Congress decides, or the states decide how many people we’re going to let in and for what purposes, and then we follow through with it,” he added. “If we had a system like that, immigration would be a non-issue today.”

Read more about what Cox said about immigration.

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Utah

‘The evidence is on the ground’: UTA touts transit economic benefits in new campaign (KSL.com)

Salt Lake City reports 'progress' in improving public safety, but violent crime is up (KSL.com)

Photo gallery: Hot dogs, kids and fishing a great combo (Deseret News)

Utah County OKs plans to bolster cooperation with immigration officials despite opposition (KSL.com)

Why digging weeds for 10 hours feels like ‘vacation’ with the Utah Conservation Corps (KUER 90.1)

How the Shivwits Band is redefining tribal business (Utah Business)

SLC's new Kura Revolving Sushi Bar will challenge your self-control (Axios)

How Southern Utah woodrats adapted to consume a toxic plant (St George News)

Breeze Airways to resume flights between Provo and Las Vegas, 4 additional routes also added (Daily Herald)

Fire crews make progress against Buckboard Fire near Idaho-Utah border (Cache Valley Daily)

Health

As measles cases climb, can those opposed to vaccines reduce risks? (Deseret News)

These 3 exercises may help with insomnia, new study finds (CNN)

Faith

Church of Jesus Christ releases names of youth, drivers from Lesotho killed in tragic accident (Deseret News)

Memories of faith and growth: The Church Office Building turns 50 (Church News)

Politics

Senate approves $9 billion in DOGE cuts, including to PBS, NPR despite some GOP objections (Deseret News)

The White House says government funding doesn’t need to be bipartisan. The math says otherwise (Deseret News)

Curtis talks Ukraine and Waltz with Jake Tapper (Utah Policy)

The Nation and the World

Wildfires scorch North America as crews battle flames (BBC)

Scott Condie: How much are continuing tariff threats impacting U.S. inflation? (Deseret News)

Ukraine targets Moscow as Russia reports shooting down more than 140 drones (ABC News)

Sports

Could Lander Barton, Smith Snowden follow in Sione Vaki’s path this season? (Deseret News)

Big 12 team preview: Can Baylor take the next step toward conference contention? (Deseret News)

Grand Canyon’s loss leads to BYU’s gain in offseason haul (Deseret News)

U.S. Ski Teams lead youth mentorship day at Utah Olympic Park (The Park Record)

A Utah soccer athlete is repping the U.S. Space Force in NCAA play — in a new uniform (Deseret News)

Bronco Mendenhall on Utah State football (Deseret News)

Photo of the week by Rio Giancarlo

Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna (8) reacts after the final whistle of a game against the Houston Dynamo at America First Field in Sandy on Saturday, July 12, 2025.