Thursday is Pioneer Day and Pie 'n' Beer Day — Utah's time to party, with or without bonnets.

• Here's what's planned:

Pioneer Day

🤠 Days of '47 Rodeo: 5pm Today-Saturday, Utah State Fairpark. Drone show and fireworks nightly.

• Tickets start at $22, but there's live music, animals and other pioneer festivities in the free Frontier Fun Zone.

🏃‍♀️ Marathon: Runners start in Emigration Canyon at 5:30am Thursday and follow the parade route, with shorter races beginning later.

• Registration costs vary by race — or cheer from the curb for free.

🪅 Parade: 9am Thursday, South Temple and State to Liberty Park.

• Go deeper: A photo history of Utah's impressive and bizarre Pioneer Day floats

⏳ This is the Place: Historical reenactments and old-timey entertainment start at 10:30am Thursday.

• Tickets: $16.95 for kids, $22.95 for adults. Some discounts available.

💡 SLC drone show: 10pm Thursday, Liberty Park

Pie 'n' Beer Day

🥧 The official festival pairs 21 breweries with 21 bakeries from 2-9pm Thursday at the old Smith's Ballpark.

• Admission: $5, free for kids 12 and younger. $30 "Pie pass" covers six pairings. Root beer and ginger ale available, along with non-pie food trucks onsite.

🍻 Many bars and breweries are hosting their own parties Thursday, including:

• Chappell Brewing's festival
• Second Summit Hard Cider's drink-in-hand pickleball tourney
• 2 Row
• Crossroads
• Flanker
• The Bruce
• Canyons Edge Pub

🥤 Pie and Root Beer Day: Free pie and root beer floats with cornhole and line dancing.

• 6-9pm Thursday, Millcreek Common

🤣 Pie-N-Beer Day Comedy Extravaganza: Pies, drinks and standup, 7pm Thursday, the Clubhouse.

• Tickets start at $24.21

🧠 Utah-themed bar trivia: Show how well you know your state at three games Thursday.

• 7pm, Boomerangs
• 7:30pm, Fiddler's and Bar à Vin

Wait, there's more

🪶 Uniting Communities Powwow: Free admission, noon-5pm Thursday, Liberty Park

🎡 Butlerville Days: A carnival and food trucks kick off Cottonwood Heights' annual three-day festival at 4pm Thursday at Butler Park.

Take a buddy

A new transportation study showcases Salt Lake County's overwhelming reliance on cars.

Why it matters: Walking and biking can be healthier alternatives, and communities designed for people rather than cars can have less air pollution, better neighborhood connectivity and other benefits.

By the numbers: Just 1 in 10 trips in Salt Lake County was taken by foot or bicycle in 2023, per a study by StreetLight, a transportation data firm.

• The vast majority (90%) were by car, compared with 9% on foot and 1% by bike.

Between the lines: Salt Lake City's unusually wide streets can discourage walking and biking by promoting high vehicle speeds, lengthening the time it takes to cross a road and reducing pedestrian safety.

Zoom in: StreetLight ranked all continental U.S. counties with at least 150 people per square mile by their share of trips taken via "active transportation" — walking and biking — compared to car.

Caveat: Public transit trips aren't included in the report.

Reality check: Vehicles are dominant in most of the U.S., with active transportation accounting for fewer than 10% of trips in over two-thirds of the counties analyzed.

What's next: Salt Lake City's bike infrastructure is slowly improving.

• A new bikeway on 300 West — between 400 South and 900 South — is expected to be completed this fall.

Read more

🏈 Former BYU quarterback, Jake Retzlaff, reportedly plans to enroll at Tulane University. (ESPN)

• He faced a seven-game suspension after admitting to having pre-marital sex, a violation of BYU's honor code. This came to light after a woman filed a now-dismissed civil lawsuit in May, accusing him of sexual assault.
• Retzlaff denied the allegations.

🤖 State Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, is slated to co-chair a national task force on AI policy. (Utah News Dispatch)

🥤 Costco stores throughout the state are switching from Pepsi to Coca-Cola products at their soda machines. (Salt Lake Tribune)

After a tech CEO was captured canoodling with his personnel officer on the jumbotron at a Coldplay concert last week, parodies of the viral moment have popped up nationwide — including in Utah.

Catch up quick: Andy Byron, CEO of Astronomer, resigned last week after a "kiss cam" caught him snuggling with his chief people officer Kristin Cabot during a concert in Massachusetts.

• Video of the screen shows Byron ducking out of frame as Cabot covers her face and turns around as they realize they're on camera.

Zoom in: Not to be outdone by the "Phillie Phanatic" mascots, soccer fans at America First Field in Sandy re-enacted the couple's failed evasion as the camera scanned the crowd to strains of Coldplay's "Viva la Vida."

Meanwhile, UVU's wolverine mascot took to Instagram to warn students, "Don't cheat in school."

• Orem police reminded would-be thieves and vandals that it's hard to stay off-camera nowadays.

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You tell us: Share any traditions for the annual holiday, and we may include them in our July 24 newsletter.

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