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Photo: Kevin O'Leary posed at Utah governor's desk before data center reveal

The image is unlikely to mollify populist outcry over government ties to the investor class.

News

Kevin O&#x27;Leary, the &quot;Shark Tank&quot; celebrity investor behind the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="massive data center proposed in Box Elder County" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2026/05/04/utah-data-center-kevin-oleary" data-vars-content-id="19d18ea0-8e95-4c51-8330-9ea9f078c487" data-vars-headline="Photo: Kevin O&#x27;Leary posed at Utah governor&#x27;s desk before data center reveal" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2026/05/04/utah-data-center-kevin-oleary" target="_self">massive data center proposed in Box Elder County</a>, sits at Gov. Spencer Cox&#x27;s desk in a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="photo posted by a staffer to LinkedIn" data-vars-click-url="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tylermjennings_as-i-continue-to-talk-to-people-from-around-ugcPost-7415163427448451073-CQvC/" data-vars-content-id="19d18ea0-8e95-4c51-8330-9ea9f078c487" data-vars-headline="Photo: Kevin O&#x27;Leary posed at Utah governor&#x27;s desk before data center reveal" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tylermjennings_as-i-continue-to-talk-to-people-from-around-ugcPost-7415163427448451073-CQvC/" target="_blank">photo posted by a staffer to LinkedIn</a> Jan. 8.Why it matters: That was weeks before the data center, which is projected to more than triple the electricity generated and used in Utah, had been addressed in any public meeting.

Tick bite ER visits soar in western states

Lyme disease is rare in Utah, but ticks also spread other illnesses.

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Tick bites" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/05/ticks-lyme-disease-removal" data-vars-content-id="ed6321f6-ac2d-4054-a455-f5d166285cd6" data-vars-headline="Tick bite ER visits soar in western states" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/05/ticks-lyme-disease-removal" target="_self">Tick bites</a> are sending a record rate of people in western states to the ER this spring, according to new CDC data.Why it matters: &quot;These tiny biters can make you seriously sick,&quot; says Alison Hinckley, epidemiologist with the CDC, in a statement.

SLC convenience store "influencer" accused of swapping underage vape sales for Instagram follows

Police say the owner was arrested just before boarding a plane for a one-way flight to Miami.

A self-styled influencer who frequently poses for photos with stacks of cash and a Lamborghini is suspected of selling vapes and beer to kids in exchange for Instagram follows.The big picture: Undercover agents listened while employees at Saif Al-Fatlawi&#x27;s City Corner convenience stores in Salt Lake and Murray made sales to underage customers that appeared to be as young as middle schoolers, police wrote in arrest documents.

Utah high schoolers protest AI name-readers at graduation

At least one school is keeping its bot announcer despite student objections.

Utah high schoolers are protesting the use of AI to announce students&#x27; names at <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="graduation ceremonies" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/19/college-graduates-ai-commencement-speech" data-vars-content-id="0fa3f2f5-6c1b-46ac-8ee6-5f4acfb0983a" data-vars-headline="Utah high schoolers protest AI name-readers at graduation" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/19/college-graduates-ai-commencement-speech" target="_self">graduation ceremonies</a> this month.Why it matters: The students are joining a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="nationwide mutiny against AI use" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/19/college-graduates-ai-commencement-speech" data-vars-content-id="0fa3f2f5-6c1b-46ac-8ee6-5f4acfb0983a" data-vars-headline="Utah high schoolers protest AI name-readers at graduation" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/19/college-graduates-ai-commencement-speech" target="_self">nationwide mutiny against AI use</a> and mentions at commencement ceremonies.

When Salt Lake's 1st racist housing covenants took shape

First the contracts segregated neighborhoods. Then redlining punished those that weren't white.

<figure><img alt="A real estate ad from 1919 reads &quot;Only members of the Caucasian race are permitted to buy and hold property.&quot;" height="1768" id="4cc65947-5a33-48a6-9120-b57a90cf54fe" src="https://images.axios.com/HFrfCfT52tjzucWQbdKFcam_yRY=/2026/05/12/1778619957946.png" width="1556"/><figcaption>Part of a 1919 real estate ad from a Sugar House housing development, via the Deseret News. Image: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Utah Digital Newspapers Archive" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=25124477" data-vars-content-id="72c46581-ddfd-4641-b10f-059b24017f96" data-vars-headline="When Salt Lake&#x27;s 1st racist housing covenants took shape" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=25124477" target="_blank">Utah Digital Newspapers Archive</a>, the University of Utah</figcaption></figure>In the early 1910s, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Sugar House" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2026/04/08/sugar-house-hotel-park-project" data-vars-content-id="72c46581-ddfd-4641-b10f-059b24017f96" data-vars-headline="When Salt Lake&#x27;s 1st racist housing covenants took shape" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2026/04/08/sugar-house-hotel-park-project" target="_self">Sugar House</a> was <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="booming" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=2311294" data-vars-content-id="72c46581-ddfd-4641-b10f-059b24017f96" data-vars-headline="When Salt Lake&#x27;s 1st racist housing covenants took shape" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=2311294" target="_blank">booming</a> — and racist. <ul><li>This is <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Old News" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/01/utah-history-story-collection-old-news-powell-bundy-olympics" data-vars-content-id="72c46581-ddfd-4641-b10f-059b24017f96" data-vars-headline="When Salt Lake&#x27;s 1st racist housing covenants took shape" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/01/utah-history-story-collection-old-news-powell-bundy-olympics" target="_self">Old News</a>, where we trace the maps of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Utah&#x27;s past" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/history" data-vars-content-id="72c46581-ddfd-4641-b10f-059b24017f96" data-vars-headline="When Salt Lake&#x27;s 1st racist housing covenants took shape" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/history" target="_self">Utah&#x27;s past</a>.</li></ul>

When an SLC flight was hijacked to Cuba and the world mostly shrugged

Hijackings were a dime a dozen back then.

Fifty-four years ago this week, a Salt Lake man hijacked a flight out of SLC and redirected the plane to Cuba in protest of the Vietnam War.<ul><li>This is <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Old News" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/history" data-vars-content-id="5b96d81f-fd2b-4e4d-a507-c4b0dcda0df2" data-vars-headline="When an SLC flight was hijacked to Cuba and the world mostly shrugged" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/history" target="_self">Old News</a>, where we follow the flight path of Utah&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="past" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/01/utah-history-story-collection-old-news-powell-bundy-olympics" data-vars-content-id="5b96d81f-fd2b-4e4d-a507-c4b0dcda0df2" data-vars-headline="When an SLC flight was hijacked to Cuba and the world mostly shrugged" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/01/utah-history-story-collection-old-news-powell-bundy-olympics" target="_self">past</a>.</li></ul>

When Utah sent a woman to prison for booze during Prohibition

Turned out, Irene Nunley was more of a give-her-an-inch-and-she-takes-a-mile kind of rum runner.

<figure><img alt="An old newspaper headline reads: &quot;WOMAN AGAIN IS TRANSGRESSOR IN THE DOMAIN OF MAN. Conviction of Mrs. Nunley on Liquor Felony Charge First for Daughters of Eve.&quot;" height="1054" id="ca36d012-e8d8-4f91-ac2b-c65839f1db38" src="https://images.axios.com/RwczkteP5h_N6290xkWdc0JTnL0=/2026/04/17/1776460730006.jpg" width="1012"/><figcaption>The Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 25, 1926. Image via <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Utah Digital Newspapers" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=24422345" data-vars-content-id="3015b1e2-6a43-4c01-877a-91520be6bd91" data-vars-headline="When Utah sent a woman to prison for booze during Prohibition" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=24422345" target="_blank">Utah Digital Newspapers</a>, the University of Utah</figcaption></figure>A century ago this month, Utahns launched a fight to free the state&#x27;s first woman sentenced to prison for breaking Prohibition&#x27;s liquor laws.<ul><li>Turned out, Irene Nunley was more of a give-her-an-inch-and-she-takes-a-mile kind of person.</li></ul>

When Utah first glimpsed German concentration camps

One local newspaper called the harrowing descriptions "required reading."

Confirmation of the Holocaust&#x27;s horrors <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="reached Utah" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=28638292" data-vars-content-id="4e002c55-a633-40aa-87ca-056c771548af" data-vars-headline="When Utah first glimpsed German concentration camps" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=28638292" target="_blank">reached Utah</a> 81 years ago this week, shortly after Allied forces liberated the concentration camp at Ohrdruf.<ul><li>This is <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Old News" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/01/utah-history-story-collection-old-news-powell-bundy-olympics" data-vars-content-id="4e002c55-a633-40aa-87ca-056c771548af" data-vars-headline="When Utah first glimpsed German concentration camps" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/01/utah-history-story-collection-old-news-powell-bundy-olympics" target="_self">Old News</a>, where we reexamine cautionary tales we&#x27;ve heard before.</li></ul>

When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico

The tales of theocratic conquest grew tall as New Mexico sought statehood.

<figure><img alt="An old newspaper headline reads: &quot;THE KINGDOM OF MORMON!&quot; || The Real Purpose of the New Mexico State Bill. || A Prospective Exodus of Mormons from Utah to New Mexico --- A Colossal Job, with Millions in It." height="625" id="cdb9bc3f-93c0-44f0-b3a0-8a1f05e1e850" src="https://images.axios.com/XoqgtvBi2UKr2jQ5Uf122KtYxgc=/2026/03/31/1774989443044.jpg" width="1023"/><figcaption>A front page headline from the New York Sun, April 1, 1876. Image via <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="New York Historic Newspapers" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=sun18760401-01.1.1" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=sun18760401-01.1.1" target="_blank">New York Historic Newspapers</a></figcaption></figure>A century and a half ago, a scantily sourced news report claimed Latter-day Saints planned to convert New Mexico into a religious empire, leading the faithful in Salt Lake to cry &quot;April Fools.&quot;<ul><li>This is <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Old News" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/01/utah-history-story-collection-old-news-powell-bundy-olympics" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/01/utah-history-story-collection-old-news-powell-bundy-olympics" target="_self">Old News</a>, where we try to separate historic fact from fiction.</li></ul>The big picture: Congress was debating statehood for New Mexico in 1876 when an April 1 report in the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="New York Sun alleged" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=sun18760401-01.1.1&amp;e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN----------" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&amp;d=sun18760401-01.1.1&amp;e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN----------" target="_blank">New York Sun alleged</a> that:<ul><li>The territorial governor there was secretly a well-connected Latter-day Saint who was pushing for massive land sales to the church and for statehood at the church&#x27;s behest.</li><li>Brigham Young had suddenly ordered all Mormon men to learn Spanish.</li><li>Once admitted to the union, New Mexico would be devoured by a polygamous swarm and transform into a theocracy.</li></ul>Reality check: New Mexico was <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="heavily Catholic" data-vars-click-url="https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft72900812&amp;chunk.id=d0e1869&amp;toc.depth=1&amp;toc.id=d0e199&amp;brand=ucpress#:~:text=Two%20changes%20in%20the%20pattern,sited%20in%20the%20center%20of" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft72900812&amp;chunk.id=d0e1869&amp;toc.depth=1&amp;toc.id=d0e199&amp;brand=ucpress#:~:text=Two%20changes%20in%20the%20pattern,sited%20in%20the%20center%20of" target="_blank">heavily Catholic</a>, it <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="didn&#x27;t become a state" data-vars-click-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bXAFwNWkYY" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bXAFwNWkYY" target="_blank">didn&#x27;t become a state</a> for decades and its present LDS population <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="hovers around 1%" data-vars-click-url="https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/state/new-mexico/" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/state/new-mexico/" target="_blank">hovers around 1%</a>.Still, the story was a sensation in SLC.<ul><li>Church-aligned publications <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="pointed" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=23765018" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=23765018" target="_blank">pointed</a> to the date and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="said" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=11687843&amp;hl=%22april%20fool%22" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=11687843&amp;hl=%22april%20fool%22" target="_blank">said</a> the &quot;correspondent&quot; had been <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="pranked" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=23764828" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=23764828" target="_blank">pranked</a>.</li><li>The church-critical press <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="defended" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=29671734" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=29671734" target="_blank">defended</a> the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="report" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=29671737" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=29671737" target="_blank">report</a> and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="warned" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=12973598" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=12973598" target="_blank">warned</a> the nation to be wary of Young&#x27;s power grabs.</li></ul>Context: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Deadly persecution" data-vars-click-url="https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/mormon.asp" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/mormon.asp" target="_blank">Deadly persecution</a> existed in living memory for many Latter-day Saints, and anti-Mormon <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="hysteria" data-vars-click-url="https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/6/article/506313/pdf#:~:text=In%20doing%20so%2C%20Fluhman%20argues,and%20American%20religion%20broadly%20conceived." data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/6/article/506313/pdf#:~:text=In%20doing%20so%2C%20Fluhman%20argues,and%20American%20religion%20broadly%20conceived." target="_blank">hysteria</a> was <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="rampant" data-vars-click-url="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/rac.2012.22.2.163" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/rac.2012.22.2.163" target="_blank">rampant</a>.<ul><li>Meanwhile, much of the country viewed Young as a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="powerful and ambitious theocrat" data-vars-click-url="https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/federal-authority-versus-polygamic-theocracy-james-b-mckean-and-the-mormons-1870-1875/" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/federal-authority-versus-polygamic-theocracy-james-b-mckean-and-the-mormons-1870-1875/" target="_blank">powerful and ambitious theocrat</a>.</li></ul>Zoom out: The national media ran with the story — all the way to fantasyland.In May, the San Francisco Chronicle <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="reported" data-vars-click-url="https://www.newspapers.com/image/1236450045/" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.newspapers.com/image/1236450045/" target="_blank">reported</a> that Young had picked New Mexico as the saints&#x27; new Zion because his &quot;prophetic eye&quot; had divined that the Great Salt Lake would soon spill its shores and submerge SLC.<ul><li>A week later, the Detroit Free Press &quot;<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="transcribed" data-vars-click-url="https://freep.newspapers.com/image/1048532765" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://freep.newspapers.com/image/1048532765" target="_blank">transcribed</a>&quot; an interview in which Young himself purportedly said that after five years, the &quot;Salt Lake Valley will be one vast ocean and Salt Lake City a city in the ocean.&quot;</li></ul>The intrigue: This theory was based on a claim that salt deposits would soon clog a rumored underground outlet for the lake&#x27;s water — <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="which itself became a nationwide April Fool&#x27;s joke" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/04/01/april-fool-fake-news-great-salt-lake-outlet" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/04/01/april-fool-fake-news-great-salt-lake-outlet" target="_self">which itself became a nationwide April Fool&#x27;s joke</a>.What they said: The Salt Lake Herald tried to deflect the gossip, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="claiming" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=11697655" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=11697655" target="_blank">claiming</a> in jest that Satan had actually told the Mormons to build 50,000 hot air balloons to fly to the North Pole, where they would find the 10 lost tribes of Israel.The other side: The church&#x27;s defenders <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="downplayed" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=2622359" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=2622359" target="_blank">downplayed</a> its efforts to expand, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="including" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=23764983" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=23764983" target="_blank">including</a> in New Mexico, more forcefully than was ultimately <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="accurate" data-vars-click-url="https://collections.lib.utah.edu/dl_files/93/ec/93ec8d09a6a5fac089ee40ce62b88d6197d7c0a1.pdf" data-vars-content-id="7e1fda95-0199-48d9-90b7-90080609f201" data-vars-headline="When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://collections.lib.utah.edu/dl_files/93/ec/93ec8d09a6a5fac089ee40ce62b88d6197d7c0a1.pdf" target="_blank">accurate</a>.<ul><li>Yes, but: That narrative was less absurd than the one much of the national media was peddling.</li></ul>The bottom line: Even on April Fool&#x27;s Day, people will believe what they want.

Old News: The fire-breathing rags of Station No. 2

The 2015 fire led to lawsuits and caused a half-million dollars in damage.

Eleven years ago this week, a four-alarm fire caused <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="a half-million dollars" data-vars-click-url="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2025/08/06/appeals-court-turns-down-slc/" data-vars-content-id="7edbdf1d-93ef-42ac-8b02-105a14a1016f" data-vars-headline="Old News: The fire-breathing rags of Station No. 2" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2025/08/06/appeals-court-turns-down-slc/" target="_blank">a half-million dollars</a> worth of damage at a Salt Lake City fire station.The intrigue: The fire ignited in a pile of greasy rags.

Why the Challenger disaster haunts the collective memory

Millions of kids tuned in and ended up watching death on live TV.

If you weren&#x27;t around in 1986, the significance of the Challenger disaster in the collective memory of your elders may elude you.<ul><li>To bridge the generation gap, I&#x27;ll try to set the scene for you. <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="How do you do, fellow kids" data-vars-click-url="https://youtu.be/fiOMbqPHFwo?si=Of5CvMakn2Yw8v1k&amp;t=23" data-vars-content-id="8e6e95b3-6d74-4a6d-9a36-89e3ba44577c" data-vars-headline="Why the Challenger disaster haunts the collective memory" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://youtu.be/fiOMbqPHFwo?si=Of5CvMakn2Yw8v1k&amp;t=23" target="_blank">How do you do, fellow kids</a>?</li></ul>

How the Challenger tragedy became a decision-making parable

The shuttle explosion 40 years ago changed how we assess risk, build things and work together.

Forty years ago this week, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch, shocking viewers around the world — and making Utah&#x27;s burgeoning aerospace industry an object of national scrutiny.The intrigue: The explosion was caused by faulty O-rings made by a Utah company — whose employees had tried desperately to stop the shuttle launch.

The unpredictable politics of Utah's ballot measures

The GOP could benefit from pre-empting a potentially popular ballot measure.

Republican lawmakers say their sudden plan to repeal their own ban on collective bargaining for public employees is meant to &quot;reset the discussion.&quot; But history suggests it could also deliver a political boost.<ul><li>This is <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Old News" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/01/utah-history-story-collection-old-news-powell-bundy-olympics" data-vars-content-id="7ecd4a70-f963-4660-8144-48961ba1a8f1" data-vars-headline="The unpredictable politics of Utah&#x27;s ballot measures" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/01/utah-history-story-collection-old-news-powell-bundy-olympics" target="_self">Old News</a>, where we look to the recent past to make sense of the near future.</li></ul>

Mr. Robinson's opus

Murray residents gather each December to sing the carols of William Robinson, who started teaching music there in 1907.

Scores of singers are gathering in Murray this week to honor a beloved schoolteacher whom the community has celebrated for more than a century.The big picture: The Robinson Carols Sing-Along is an annual tribute to William Robinson, a Murray music teacher who, starting in 1907, walked from one end of the district to the other, leading each school in Christmas concerts and sing-alongs.The intrigue: For more than 30 years, Robinson taught arrangements of Christmas songs he learned in Derbyshire, England, where he was born in the 1870s.<ul><li>They became a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="unique Murray oral tradition" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=23461216" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=23461216" target="_blank">unique Murray oral tradition</a>, passed from <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="generation" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/2209253259098811/" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/2209253259098811/" target="_blank">generation</a> to generation — until they were so ubiquitous in the Salt Lake suburb that many residents were <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="surprised" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/7368707549819997/?comment_id=7368801633143922" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/7368707549819997/?comment_id=7368801633143922" target="_blank">surprised</a> to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="learn" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/7368707549819997/?comment_id=9154394997917901" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/7368707549819997/?comment_id=9154394997917901" target="_blank">learn</a> they <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="weren&#x27;t" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1353271358030343/?comment_id=1400669619957183" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1353271358030343/?comment_id=1400669619957183" target="_blank">weren&#x27;t</a> familiar <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="holiday" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1764040273620114/?comment_id=1764208340269974&amp;reply_comment_id=1771485186208956" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1764040273620114/?comment_id=1764208340269974&amp;reply_comment_id=1771485186208956" target="_blank">holiday</a> standards <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="anywhere else" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1353271358030343/?comment_id=1400704853286993" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1353271358030343/?comment_id=1400704853286993" target="_blank">anywhere else</a>.</li></ul>Case in point: Ethel Bradford, a longtime columnist for the Murray Eagle, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="wrote" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=23461216" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=23461216" target="_blank">wrote</a> in 1963 that she learned Robinson&#x27;s &quot;Chime and Carol&quot; from her older siblings before attending school in another district.<ul><li>&quot;Each year I hopefully listened and waited for the song to be once more sung but never heard it again. In fact, I began to wonder where in the world I had learned it myself!&quot;</li><li>It wasn&#x27;t until Ethel had children of her own — enrolled in a Murray school — that she again heard the familiar lyrics.</li><li>&quot;It was a long time before I could listen or try to sing them without tears coming and my voice choking. ... I was a child again in my mother&#x27;s kitchen,&quot; she wrote.</li></ul><figure><img alt="A man holds a baby while singing and smiling in a crowded theater " height="2073" id="a2fafcee-ab76-464f-8edd-be4b0fcedf61" src="https://images.axios.com/kY1RYu3f16w7o5qKBiu8MLpkib4=/2025/12/02/1764653025365.jpg" width="3685"/><figcaption>Alan Black and his son Steve sing to Alan&#x27;s great-granddaughter Eden at Murray&#x27;s town sing-along Monday, making her the family&#x27;s fourth generation to learn the carols. Photo: Erin Alberty/Axios</figcaption></figure>Catch up quick: Murray students <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="sang" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1353271358030343/" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1353271358030343/" target="_blank">sang</a> the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="carols" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1353271358030343/?comment_id=1354149227942556" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1353271358030343/?comment_id=1354149227942556" target="_blank">carols</a> for <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="decades" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1090249130999235/" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1090249130999235/" target="_blank">decades</a> after Robinson retired.<ul><li>Eight years <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="ago" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1353271358030343/?comment_id=1398158073541671" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/murraymems/posts/1353271358030343/?comment_id=1398158073541671" target="_blank">ago</a>, former students and descendants of Mr. Robinson revived his carols in the sing-alongs, which became popular, all-ages affairs.</li></ul>Driving the news: This year, the old-timey tradition has a new home in the recently renovated historic Murray Theater — which opened in 1938, two years before Robinson retired, and reopened in September.<ul><li>Demand for tickets was so high that the city arts department planned two this year.</li><li>Monday night&#x27;s show was sold out, but you can still <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="reserve seats" data-vars-click-url="https://www.showpass.com/robinson-carols-sing-along-3/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOa6GBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFOVzhzM1FPcjVyN2NpMUh5c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHthbZTskMZdMWC2ZT9kFH3PrbbiCtFZJyPvN3xD_q7dlQ6WA0dy-J_crjpP4_aem_9HTKrcAdV94AifIb_hCmDg" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.showpass.com/robinson-carols-sing-along-3/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOa6GBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFOVzhzM1FPcjVyN2NpMUh5c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHthbZTskMZdMWC2ZT9kFH3PrbbiCtFZJyPvN3xD_q7dlQ6WA0dy-J_crjpP4_aem_9HTKrcAdV94AifIb_hCmDg" target="_blank">reserve seats</a> for 6:30pm Friday.</li></ul>The latest: Kids at Horizon Elementary are learning one of Robinson&#x27;s carols for their holiday program later this month.The bottom line: Teaching has gotten so difficult that many are <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="leaving the profession" data-vars-click-url="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/overview-teacher-shortages-2025-factsheet" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/overview-teacher-shortages-2025-factsheet" target="_blank">leaving the profession</a> — with music and art instructors particularly <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="vulnerable" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/799538373499977/posts/24869031786123966/" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/799538373499977/posts/24869031786123966/" target="_blank">vulnerable</a> to funding <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="cuts" data-vars-click-url="https://ksltv.com/education-schools/many-utah-after-school-programs-to-end-due-to-federal-funding-cuts/798479/" data-vars-content-id="1061cbeb-c7e7-4aaf-9dea-f0cd51e5fe95" data-vars-headline="Mr. Robinson&#x27;s opus" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://ksltv.com/education-schools/many-utah-after-school-programs-to-end-due-to-federal-funding-cuts/798479/" target="_blank">cuts</a>. <ul><li>It&#x27;s moving to see how one can make difference for more than 100 years.</li></ul><figure><img alt="A 1918 photo of a high school girls choir with their instructor." height="4898" id="46ed4481-12c3-49f5-8fa1-9e60ecb70434" src="https://images.axios.com/qs6BRy9-PocsHAjL_8htKvrJXZk=/2025/12/02/1764653096769.jpg" width="6103"/><figcaption>Murray High School girls choir, 1918, with director William Robinson at center. Photo: Courtesy of Murray Museum</figcaption></figure>

History

When Salt Lake's 1st racist housing covenants took shape

When an SLC flight was hijacked to Cuba and the world mostly shrugged

When Utah sent a woman to prison for booze during Prohibition

When Utah first glimpsed German concentration camps

When the national media claimed Mormons would take over New Mexico