Utah News

SALT LAKE CITY — The state of Utah has seen its first decline in homelessness in recent state history. The Governor’s Office made the announcement on Tuesday.

According to the Governor, Utah’s 2026 Point-in-Time Count (PIT) saw a 1.6% decrease in Utahns experiencing homelessness on a single night.

This year’s PIT count was conducted in January.

“I am hopeful about the changes we are seeing in Utah,” said Gov. Cox. “This year’s reversal in the number of individuals experiencing homelessness on the streets of Utah is the result of sustained legislative investment, strong partnership across state and local governments, and continued work from service providers, advocates, and community stakeholders.”

According to the count, 4,512 Utahns were counted as experiencing homelessness. That is a drop from 4,584 the year before.

Chronic homelessness also saw a decline in Utah over the past year. According to the PIT count, the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness, or being homeless for a long period of time while also living with a disabling condition, fell from 1,233 to 1,151, a 6.7% decrease.

State leaders add that they are encouraged by the drop of unsheltered homeless in the Beehive State. According to the most recent PIT count, the number of people unsheltered fell from 1,046 to 945 in 2026.

Officials say that this is noteworthy given that Code Blue nights (when shelter capacity expands) dropped from 120 in 2025 to just 68 in 2026.

“The 2025 unsheltered count was recorded under significantly more expansive shelter conditions,” the Governor’s office wrote. “This year’s decline occurred with fewer such nights, making it a more durable indicator of system performance.”

ECHO, Utah — After several years of healthy reservoir levels and drought relief across northern Utah, some reservoirs are already beginning to drop following a dry winter and early spring runoff season.

At Echo Reservoir, water levels have fallen to around 62% capacity — a noticeable difference from recent years when many reservoirs across the state were near full heading into summer.

Officials with the Utah Division of State Parks say current reservoir levels are concerning for this point in the water year, and conditions will worsen later this summer.

“For the start of a water year, not necessarily the best place to be,” said Devan Chavez. “But we’re expecting that a lot of our reservoirs, Echo included, to potentially be seeing some of those impacted levels.”

State park officials say lower reservoir levels can eventually create impacts for recreation, including boating access and safety concerns.

“We start seeing boat ramp impacts,” Chavez said. “Start to enter the advisory threshold around 25% and then we traditionally plan on closing the boat ramp once Echo State Park reaches about 15%.”

WATCH: Officials urge voluntary water cuts as drought persists in Utah

Even before ramps close, shrinking water levels can create tighter and more crowded conditions for boaters on the lake.

“Less water means not only the boat ramp might be impacted, but there’s less boatable water for users to enjoy,” Chavez said. “There might be less people that we allow on the lake safely, or you might be a little closer to some people out there.”

For longtime boaters at Echo Reservoir, fluctuating water levels are nothing new.

“The ramp goes pretty far,” said Ryker Schenck. “Last year we got down to the dirt. We were able to put in still.”

But water officials say the concern this year extends beyond recreation. An unusually warm spring caused snowmelt and runoff to arrive earlier than normal, meaning Utah may need to stretch its water supply further into the summer months.

“Because the runoff was so much earlier, because temperatures have gone up so much sooner than normal, we’re going to be using that water a lot longer, which is not good,” said Laura Haskell.

Officials are also encouraging Utahns to conserve water at home, especially outdoors, where more than half of residential water use occurs during the warmer months.

“We use over 50% of our water for the entire year in our yards and landscaping during the summer months,” Haskell said. “Just be really intentional with, you know, does it need water or not?”

State officials say reservoir levels and drought conditions will continue to be closely monitored throughout the summer as Utah enters another challenging water year.

EUGENE, Oregon — A police officer who worked in Salt Lake County for several years has resigned from his position in Oregon after body-worn camera footage caught him making racist remarks while on duty.

Martin Siller was an officer with the West Valley City Police Department from 2014 to 2019. He was also a resource officer at East Hollywood High School, a charter school in West Valley, from 2014-2016 and 2019. He also worked security for the Granite School District in 2015 and 2016, according to Transparent Utah.

The Eugene Police Department released the bodycam footage and said the officer in the videos had resigned on Monday. The department didn’t name the officer; however, The Register Guard newspaper identified him as Siller.

The bodycam footage was timestamped on Jan. 30 of this year. In the first of two released by the department, Siller is listening to a radio talk show, seemingly alone in his patrol vehicle. A voice on the radio says, “What do you do to stand up for your Somali and Latino communities?”

Siller is then heard saying, “F*** the Somali and Latino communities! I’m about the American communities. I’m about America, son!”

VIDEO BELOW (Warning: Contains offensive language)

The second video is from about six hours later. Siller is talking on speakerphone to a friend who appeared to have been a former law enforcement colleague in Salt Lake County.

Siller’s friend, who was not identified, is discussing a vacation to Hawaii. He says, “Well, Hawaii is just…” at which point Siller interrupts and says, “Too many Hawaiians, right?”

Siller later says he wouldn’t go on a cruise because he’s “not gay.”

He and his friend then continue to talk about cruises.

“Which [cruise] do Black people go on?” Siller said. “They can’t swim! You’ve gotta be able to swim if you go.”

SECOND VIDEO:

In a press release on Monday, Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner called Siller’s words “unacceptable,” “wrong” and “disrespectful.”

“I am angry, disappointed, and deeply concerned about the harm this has caused – especially to members of communities who already carry distrust and pain when it comes to law enforcement. Every person in Eugene deserves to be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect, regardless of race, background, or circumstance,” he said in the statement. “When an officer speaks with hate or prejudice, it damages the trust this department works hard to build with the community we serve.

“To the residents of Eugene: we hear your outrage. We hear your disappointment. And we accept the responsibility to do better.”