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Rogan podcast doesn't paint the full picture of homelessness in SLC

Comedian Shane Gillis said he chased down by "ten homeless guys" when he was starting out in SLC's comedy scene.

Politics

Despite the viral Joe Rogan clip zeroing in on <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Salt Lake City&#x27;s homelessness" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2026/08/07/utah-homelessness-falls-chronic-mental-illness" data-vars-content-id="510bddcf-803b-4079-be61-e92c12b8a880" data-vars-headline="Rogan podcast doesn&#x27;t paint the full picture of homelessness in SLC" 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/2026/08/07/utah-homelessness-falls-chronic-mental-illness" target="_self">Salt Lake City&#x27;s homelessness</a>, new data shows it&#x27;s actually declining.Why it matters: Homelessness is down in Utah for the first time in six years, but <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="barriers to affordable housing" data-vars-click-url="https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2026/07/21/home-prices-salt-lake-county-break-record/" data-vars-content-id="510bddcf-803b-4079-be61-e92c12b8a880" data-vars-headline="Rogan podcast doesn&#x27;t paint the full picture of homelessness in SLC" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2026/07/21/home-prices-salt-lake-county-break-record/" target="_blank">barriers to affordable housing</a> remain.

True crime TV series highlights missing Utah man

News

A Utah missing person case from 2009 is getting another look with the Freeform <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="true crime" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2025/07/15/my-favorite-murder-podcast-to-tour-in-slc" data-vars-content-id="2bcfe0cd-9e59-4f1b-9f87-e69ba8bf8419" data-vars-headline="True crime TV series highlights missing Utah man" 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/2025/07/15/my-favorite-murder-podcast-to-tour-in-slc" target="_self">true crime</a> series &quot;Somebody Knows Something,&quot; streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.Driving the news: A 42-minute <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="episode" data-vars-click-url="https://www.disneyplus.com/play/effca214-e61a-4d19-abf3-d24f0409368a" data-vars-content-id="2bcfe0cd-9e59-4f1b-9f87-e69ba8bf8419" data-vars-headline="True crime TV series highlights missing Utah man" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.disneyplus.com/play/effca214-e61a-4d19-abf3-d24f0409368a" target="_blank">episode</a> released this week reviews the disappearance of then-30-year-old Steve Koecher, a St. George man who was last seen Dec. 13, 2009 on <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="surveillance footage" data-vars-click-url="https://news3lv.com/news/local/the-search-for-man-who-went-missing-in-henderson-in-2009-continues" data-vars-content-id="2bcfe0cd-9e59-4f1b-9f87-e69ba8bf8419" data-vars-headline="True crime TV series highlights missing Utah man" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://news3lv.com/news/local/the-search-for-man-who-went-missing-in-henderson-in-2009-continues" target="_blank">surveillance footage</a> in Henderson, Nevada.

Exclusive: Defense contractors unveil collaborative in Utah

The group could make smaller businesses more competitive in an industry where startups often don't have the resources to wait years for a big government payday.

Aerospace

Utah defense contractor CenCore has launched a coalition of businesses that plan to work together to win defense and intelligence agency contracts.Why it matters: The group — dubbed the Integrated Warfighter Ecosystem (IWE) — could make smaller businesses more competitive in an industry where startups often don&#x27;t have the resources to wait years for a big government payday, CenCore CEO Adam Fife tells Axios.

Inside the U.S.'s 1st Knoops in Salt Lake City

Knoops founder tells Axios that the brand is well-suited in Utah, where its products appeal to people who avoid coffee and alcohol.

Food and Drink

Knoops, a British cafe serving chocolate-infused drinks, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="opens its first U.S. location" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2026/08/06/knoops-chocolate-first-us-store-opening" data-vars-content-id="184085dd-3f64-44b4-9710-dd1c35891764" data-vars-headline="Inside the U.S.&#x27;s 1st Knoops in Salt Lake City" 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/2026/08/06/knoops-chocolate-first-us-store-opening" target="_self">opens its first U.S. location</a> in Salt Lake City Friday — and Axios got a behind-the-scenes look inside.The big picture: Knoops&#x27; arrival comes as artisan cocoa-based beverages <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="gain steam" data-vars-click-url="https://www.miamiherald.com/living/food-drink/article313138672.html" data-vars-content-id="184085dd-3f64-44b4-9710-dd1c35891764" data-vars-headline="Inside the U.S.&#x27;s 1st Knoops in Salt Lake City" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.miamiherald.com/living/food-drink/article313138672.html" target="_blank">gain steam</a> nationally, fueled by viral social media trends and greater consumer demand for <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="ethically sourced chocolate" data-vars-click-url="https://rawmanticchocolate.com/blogs/rawmantic-chocolate-blog/why-consumers-are-switching-to-artisanal-chocolate?srsltid=AfmBOoqbXIGK-PcA7cuGpftZibFJFRcXBilas1XhQgfHNUnemqaFupnz" data-vars-content-id="184085dd-3f64-44b4-9710-dd1c35891764" data-vars-headline="Inside the U.S.&#x27;s 1st Knoops in Salt Lake City" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://rawmanticchocolate.com/blogs/rawmantic-chocolate-blog/why-consumers-are-switching-to-artisanal-chocolate?srsltid=AfmBOoqbXIGK-PcA7cuGpftZibFJFRcXBilas1XhQgfHNUnemqaFupnz" target="_blank">ethically sourced chocolate</a>.

What it took to get Warren Jeffs into prison

Fifteen years ago, the polygamous prophet who repeatedly eluded the law received a life sentence.

Fifteen years ago today, Warren Jeffs served the first day of his life sentence for sexually assaulting girls aged 12 and 15, who he took among his scores of brides while leader of the nation&#x27;s largest <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="polygamous" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2026/05/19/polygamy-still-defines-utah-in-national-headlines" data-vars-content-id="54ba7f39-99ac-4491-b2f1-f9906a23e6e3" data-vars-headline="What it took to get Warren Jeffs into prison" 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/2026/05/19/polygamy-still-defines-utah-in-national-headlines" target="_self">polygamous</a> <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="sect" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/12/10/samuel-bateman-polygamy-flds-child-abuse-brides-wives" data-vars-content-id="54ba7f39-99ac-4491-b2f1-f9906a23e6e3" data-vars-headline="What it took to get Warren Jeffs into prison" 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/2024/12/10/samuel-bateman-polygamy-flds-child-abuse-brides-wives" target="_self">sect</a>.<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="54ba7f39-99ac-4491-b2f1-f9906a23e6e3" data-vars-headline="What it took to get Warren Jeffs into prison" 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 parse the transcripts of Utah&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="history" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/history" data-vars-content-id="54ba7f39-99ac-4491-b2f1-f9906a23e6e3" data-vars-headline="What it took to get Warren Jeffs into prison" 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">history</a>.</li></ul>

Salt Lake City's first liquor license

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow your favorite tavern might not have $200.

<figure><img alt="An 1853 liquor ordinance printed in an old newspaper" height="2036" id="3b89525f-c31f-4b30-86a3-808636b56688" src="https://images.axios.com/_x4XlgnJ4z_gkWsBT840K4FqmUc=/2026/07/24/1784929768300.png" width="1280"/><figcaption>The Deseret News, July 7, 1853, via Utah Digital Newspapers, the University of Utah</figcaption></figure>Utah is famous for its <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="stringent" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2025/07/31/utah-kids-breweries-bars-beer-garden-family-alcohol-chappell" data-vars-content-id="5b64eef1-87b9-4c8b-85b8-f7c94fdf69bd" data-vars-headline="Salt Lake City&#x27;s first liquor license" 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/2025/07/31/utah-kids-breweries-bars-beer-garden-family-alcohol-chappell" target="_self">stringent</a> <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="alcohol" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/07/11/cocktail-straw-test-ban-utah-alcohol-laws-bartenders" data-vars-content-id="5b64eef1-87b9-4c8b-85b8-f7c94fdf69bd" data-vars-headline="Salt Lake City&#x27;s first liquor license" 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/2024/07/11/cocktail-straw-test-ban-utah-alcohol-laws-bartenders" target="_self">alcohol</a> <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="rules" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2025/09/17/costco-wine-recall-shatter-utah-liquor-laws" data-vars-content-id="5b64eef1-87b9-4c8b-85b8-f7c94fdf69bd" data-vars-headline="Salt Lake City&#x27;s first liquor license" 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/2025/09/17/costco-wine-recall-shatter-utah-liquor-laws" target="_self">rules</a> — and it&#x27;s had a long time to practice. Flashback: Salt Lake City&#x27;s first ordinance requiring licensure for alcohol sales was drafted <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="173 years ago" data-vars-click-url="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=2579501" data-vars-content-id="5b64eef1-87b9-4c8b-85b8-f7c94fdf69bd" data-vars-headline="Salt Lake City&#x27;s first liquor license" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=2579501" target="_blank">173 years ago</a> this month.

SLC has been trying to fix Pioneer Park for more than a century

The central green space has been a black hole of urban planning since the 1800s.

<figure><img alt="A plan for a park playground" height="1738" id="908bacb4-8524-4c7a-a6ca-9782a1967309" src="https://images.axios.com/ZwcvpzqXHxFb_Sq8YAHqfca9XEo=/2026/06/29/1782770905702.png" width="1634"/><figcaption>The original design for Pioneer Park&#x27;s playground, 1910. Image from The Salt Lake Herald-Republican via Utah Digital Newspapers, the University of Utah</figcaption></figure>Much of Pioneer Park is <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="under construction" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2026/02/27/salt-lake-city-breaks-ground-breaking-pioneer-park-revamp-construction" data-vars-content-id="92176b85-cb55-4e35-aa36-2dc20ed460ad" data-vars-headline="SLC has been trying to fix Pioneer Park for more than a century" 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/2026/02/27/salt-lake-city-breaks-ground-breaking-pioneer-park-revamp-construction" target="_self">under construction</a> with improvements city leaders hope will shake the park&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="reputation" data-vars-click-url="https://www.pioneerpark.co/downtown-crisis#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Pioneer%20Park%20Coalition%2C%20public,which%20have%20led%20to%20slowed%20response%20times." data-vars-content-id="92176b85-cb55-4e35-aa36-2dc20ed460ad" data-vars-headline="SLC has been trying to fix Pioneer Park for more than a century" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.pioneerpark.co/downtown-crisis#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Pioneer%20Park%20Coalition%2C%20public,which%20have%20led%20to%20slowed%20response%20times." target="_blank">reputation</a> for crime and blight.The big picture: It&#x27;s a long tradition in Salt Lake City, where leaders have been trying to spruce up Pioneer Park since the 1800s.

America's time capsule features a mostly businesslike Utah

Our contributions are heavy on government and business, light on nature.

Theme park tickets, coins and documents will <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="represent Utah in a national time capsule" data-vars-click-url="https://america250.org/time-capsule/contents/#UT" data-vars-content-id="b71f5d24-3858-4ba1-8998-c6ea664c7c53" data-vars-headline="America&#x27;s time capsule features a mostly businesslike Utah" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://america250.org/time-capsule/contents/#UT" target="_blank">represent Utah in a national time capsule</a> honoring America&#x27;s 250th birthday.The intrigue: Utah&#x27;s contributions barely acknowledge the state&#x27;s iconic landscapes, focusing instead on Republican office-holders and industries like mining and railroads.

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.

History

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Salt Lake City's first liquor license

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