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Utah anti-gerrymandering repeal effort loses more support

Retracted signatures in another district shows how GOP lawmakers made ballot initiatives difficult.

News

A defeated GOP effort to effectively legalize gerrymandering in Utah has missed <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="another" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2026/03/26/utah-gerrymandering-prop-4-repeal-fails" data-vars-content-id="c3294ab8-bb3b-4dcf-9f5d-9c0e525a1907" data-vars-headline="Utah anti-gerrymandering repeal effort loses more support" 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/2026/03/26/utah-gerrymandering-prop-4-repeal-fails" target="_self">another</a> petition requirement.Why it matters: Republican lawmakers may have flummoxed themselves by making citizen initiatives harder to enact in recent years — an effort that the GOP has <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="undertaken nationwide" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/us/politics/republicans-citizen-initiatives.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZVA.qFoW.1pP0CkU1d1ac&amp;smid=nytcore-ios-share" data-vars-content-id="c3294ab8-bb3b-4dcf-9f5d-9c0e525a1907" data-vars-headline="Utah anti-gerrymandering repeal effort loses more support" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/us/politics/republicans-citizen-initiatives.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZVA.qFoW.1pP0CkU1d1ac&amp;smid=nytcore-ios-share" target="_blank">undertaken nationwide</a>.

St. George's growth surge outshines Salt Lake City

St. George, long known as a retirement town, is among the fastest growing U.S. metros.

St. George, long known as a quiet retirement haven and tourist hotspot in southern Utah, is having a moment.The big picture: It was the only metro area in the West to make the top 10 fastest-growing regions in the country, according to new census data.

How to navigate Utah's surrogacy laws

In a national patchwork of laws, Utah enforces surrogacy agreements— but with multiple restrictions.

Health

Without a federal law, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="surrogacy in the U.S. is governed by a patchwork" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/29/surrogacy-state-law-different" data-vars-content-id="8ef7a184-7fd4-4acd-9926-5c490698353d" data-vars-headline="How to navigate Utah&#x27;s surrogacy laws" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/29/surrogacy-state-law-different" target="_self">surrogacy in the U.S. is governed by a patchwork</a> of state regulations.Why it matters: As more Americans turn to surrogacy to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="build their families" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/02/future-of-fertility-demographics" data-vars-content-id="8ef7a184-7fd4-4acd-9926-5c490698353d" data-vars-headline="How to navigate Utah&#x27;s surrogacy laws" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/02/future-of-fertility-demographics" target="_self">build their families</a>, varied local rules can determine everything from whether agreements are legally binding to who is recognized as a parent at birth.

KRCL breaks ground on community hub

The renovated space will transform the grassroots station into a public-facing space for emerging musicians and listeners.

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="KRCL" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/11/22/krcl-federal-grant-award-community-radio-station-anniversary" data-vars-content-id="9790afe8-e057-4066-971d-336002d32742" data-vars-headline="KRCL breaks ground on community hub" 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/2024/11/22/krcl-federal-grant-award-community-radio-station-anniversary" target="_self">KRCL</a> is launching a $7 million overhaul to transform the longtime radio station into a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="new community hub" data-vars-click-url="https://krcl.org/nextgeneration/" data-vars-content-id="9790afe8-e057-4066-971d-336002d32742" data-vars-headline="KRCL breaks ground on community hub" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://krcl.org/nextgeneration/" target="_blank">new community hub</a> on the west side.Why it matters: The renovation will expand the grassroots station, founded in 1979, into a public-facing space for emerging musicians and listeners, bringing new energy to an area that&#x27;s historically seen less investment.

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>

When charity turkey raffles got caught in Prohibition's gambling crackdown

In the 1920s, Johnny Law put its foot down on this decades-old Thanksgiving game.

History

<figure><img alt="A 1922 cartoon about turkey raffles in the Ogden Standard Examiner." height="1508" id="2b7977b1-0cde-4690-815a-a5602a6e82fd" src="https://images.axios.com/bWH5QuLX6ZpUr_ml1SvUqzzUwtE=/2025/11/18/1763504486068.png" width="1592"/><figcaption>A 1922 cartoon in the Ogden Standard Examiner. Photo via Utah Digital Newspapers Archives, the University of Utah</figcaption></figure>A century ago this week, Salt Lake City law enforcement promised a trip to the hoosegow if any charity, church, fraternal club or saloon strayed into Utah&#x27;s darkest corner of vice: Turkey raffles.<ul><li>This is Old News, where we scan the police blotter of Utah&#x27;s past.</li></ul>

The quiet plans that became Hill Air Force Base

Rampant isolationism didn't stop big military investments.

When Hill Air Force Base opened 85 years ago this month, Utahns didn&#x27;t know how crucial the new military installation would become.<ul><li>This is Old News, where we strap on our aviator hats, pull down our goggles and go off into the wild blue yonder of the past.</li></ul>

How Juanita Brooks' history of the Mountain Meadows Massacre changed Mormon views of the past

75 years ago, a revolutionary history book exposed who was to blame for the 120 deaths of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Seventy-five years ago this month, a new book drastically changed how Latter-day Saints viewed their own history: Juanita Brooks&#x27; &quot;The Mountain Meadows Massacre.&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="a4d5517a-95d5-4402-b950-89ce0665f662" data-vars-headline="How Juanita Brooks&#x27; history of the Mountain Meadows Massacre changed Mormon views of the past" 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 recount the history of Utah history.</li></ul>Why it mattered: It was the first historical work that offered convincing evidence that the Mormon Militia had slain 120 California-bound settlers in a 19th-century attack long blamed primarily on Indigenous people in southern Utah.