News
Maternal mortality trends are tough to pin down in Utah
The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. spiked in 2021, with deaths disproportionately impacting Black women.
Why it matters: The U.S. still has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world, and previous research has largely attributed that to an outsized prevalence among Black mothers, Axios' Tina Reed reports.
A new brewery for South Salt Lake's fun zone

One of the lounge areas in Chappell Brewery. Photo courtesy of Tim Chappell.
A brewery is the latest addition to the fast-growing entertainment district amid the warehouses of South Salt Lake.
Driving the news: Chappell Brewing hosts its grand opening at noon Friday, with two beers on tap.
December's air travel meltdown was as bad as it seemed
73.8% of domestic flights departed Salt Lake City International on time in December 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Context: That's down from 86.5% in November 2022, a 12.7 percentage point drop, per recently released data from the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
Ski etiquette and Gwyneth Paltrow on trial in Park City

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow looks on before leaving the courtroom on March 21, where she is accused in a lawsuit of crashing into a skier during a 2016 family ski vacation, leaving him with brain damage and four broken ribs. Photo: Rick Bowmer-Pool/Getty Image
A radiologist on Wednesday showed jurors X-rays and brain scans of a retired optometrist who is suing actress Gwyneth Paltrow for a 2016 ski collision he says left him with long-term injuries and brain damage.
Driving the news: The testimony came a day after the trial against Paltrow got underway in a Park City, Utah courtroom. Terry Sanderson, 76, is seeking $300,000 in damages.
Meet BYU's new president

C. Shane Reese. Photo courtesy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Brigham Young University's academic vice president C. Shane Reese will become the new president of the Provo school, operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Kevin Worthen, who was in the role since 2014, will step down in May, church leaders announced Tuesday.
Asked to define "woke," columnist freezes in viral video

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Bethany Mandel, who writes a weekly column for the Deseret News, is under fire after struggling to define "woke" in a TV interview about a book she co-authored that claims "woke indoctrinators" threaten kids' happiness.
What she said: While promoting her book last week on The Hill's daily news show "Rising," host Briahna Joy Gray asked her to define the term "woke," after Mandel said the left is pushing a "woke reimagining" of victimhood.
Utah governor Twitter-fights free speech lawyer over social media law

Screenshot
Gov. Spencer Cox tweeted he "can't wait" for a lawsuit by a digital freedom group that calls Utah's new social media rules for minors unconstitutional.
Driving the news: Ari Cohn, a lawyer for TechFreedom, on Wednesday reposted a February letter from the group to Cox, arguing the governor shouldn't sign bills that force social media users to provide ID showing their age and, for minors, parental consent.
Utah saw "high activity" of white supremacist propaganda in 2022

Members of the Patriot Front in Washington, D.C. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The spread of white supremacist propaganda reached an all-time high in the U.S. last year, up 38% from 2021, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism released earlier this month.
Driving the news: Utah was among the top 10 states with the most activity of propaganda distributed last year, the analysis showed.

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