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Dakota Mortensen, the ex-boyfriend of Taylor Frankie Paul, the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star, will not be charged in relation to an allegation of domestic violence this year, the Utah city of Draper said.

In a statement, the city announced the city prosecutor’s decision two days after the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against Paul.

“The Draper City Prosecutor reviewed the DA’s findings and, upon further review of the Draper Police case, has declined to file any charges against Taylor Frankie Paul or Dakota Mortensen related to an investigation of domestic assault claims,” the city said.

Mortensen filed a complaint of domestic violence against Paul on Feb. 23, and Paul counter-claimed an assault by him.

“After a thorough investigation by Draper Police, the City Prosecutor has determined that there is insufficient corroborating evidence to support filing criminal charges against either party,” the city said in the statement.

The police department said it “would only pursue the investigation further if additional information is provided that supports the prosecution of either party.”

NBC News has reached out to representatives for Paul for comment.

Mortensen declined to comment when he was reached by phone.

In the incident in February, a friend reported that Paul assaulted Mortensen, according to police records obtained through a Utah public records request.

Mortensen told police that Paul attacked him, grabbed his throat, scratched him and threw objects at him, according to Draper police records. Paul told police that she told Mortensen to leave her home and he refused and that at one point Mortensen grabbed her and hit her head against the dashboard of his vehicle, according to the police documents.

Police said in the documents about the investigation that the city prosecutor “advised that neither Taylor or Dakota are credible witnesses, with both their statements being fraught with inconsistencies.”

Police referred the case to the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, because the couple’s child was home at the time, the city said in Thursday’s statement.

Allegations of domestic violence between the couple made headlines last month when a leaked video from a 2023 incident went viral. The video, posted online by TMZ, appeared to show Paul hurling a chair at Mortensen as he protested.

The couple’s on-and-off relationship was depicted in “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which premiered in 2024. Filming for season five was paused last month, sources have told NBC News.

Paul was to be the centerpiece of season 22 of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” but after the 2023 video was leaked, the network pulled the upcoming season.

Mortensen will be edited out of the upcoming season of “Vanderpump Villa,” a source familiar with the show confirmed to NBC News.

Draper is a city of around 50,000 in Salt Lake and Utah counties, south of Salt Lake City and in the metropolitan area.

SALT LAKE CITY — The man accused of killing Charlie Kirk wants a judge to ban cameras from the courtroom and says live broadcasts of the prosecution are violating his right to a fair trial.

Utah Valley University (UVU) announced on Thursday that author and educator Sharon McMahon will no longer serve as its commencement speaker after widespread backlash to her past comments about Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, following his assassination on the same campus.

“Due to increased safety concerns related to the speaker and in consultation with public safety professionals and Sharon McMahon, Utah Valley University has decided to proceed without a featured commencement speaker for this year’s ceremony,” the school announced.

Days after Kirk was killed, McMahon wrote on X, “Millions of people feel they were harmed, and the murder that was horrific and should never have happened does not magically erase what was said or done.”

Influencer Jake Paul Says Charlie Kirk Would Have Been ‘The Next President’

The now-deleted social media post sent two days after Kirk’s death also included a pair of quotes that many Kirk supporters said were taken out of context.

“It’s important to remember that the incredible tragedy of a public assassination does not erase the harm many experienced from his words, and the ensuing actions his followers took,” McMahon wrote.

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Kirk was killed after being shot in the neck while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. The 31-year-old was participating in a public speaking event sponsored by the campus chapter of Turning Point at the time of his assassination.

The school selecting McMahon as commencement speaker months after the killing emerged as a polarizing issue, with ex-Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz calling it a “horrific choice.”

Alleged Charlie Kirk Assassin Tyler Robinson’s Fingerprints, Palm Print Found Near Rooftop: Report

Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet was “shocked and disappointed” that the school selected McMahon.

“I just felt it was in really bad taste,” Kolvet told Fox News Digital on Wednesday, before McMahon’s speech was canceled.

“It feels cold-hearted,” he continued. “It feels unnecessary, and I really hope that they change course, change direction and pick somebody more suitable for the time.”

Kolvet called it “really disrespectful” to students who are still grieving the loss of Kirk, and to others who are “traumatized” by the horrific killing.

Tyler Robinson Judge Unseals Atf Report In Assassination Of Charlie Kirk

Turning Point USA chapter president at Utah Valley University Caleb Chilcutt called the selection of McMahon a “slap to the face” Monday on “Fox & Friends.”

Kolvet did not immediately respond when asked for comment on the school canceling the commencement speech.

A spokesperson for McMahon declined comment.

Her team previously dismissed the notion that she celebrated Kirk’s death, telling Utah outlets that she “unequivocally condemned the murder of Charlie Kirk, repeatedly and publicly, calling his death a tragedy and stressing that public debate must never be met with violence.”

Tyler Robinson, a Utah man, was arrested on suspicion of killing Kirk and faces seven charges, including aggravated murder. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

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Fox News Digital’s Max Bacall and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report. 

Original article source: Utah Valley University scraps controversial commencement speaker who criticized Charlie Kirk after his murder

Keanu Dawes became the first player from the 2025-26 Utah men’s basketball squad to officially change schools via the transfer portal Thursday, as reports surfaced that the versatile wing committed to Kansas for his senior season.

Dawes, who grew up in the Salt Lake City area, spent the past two seasons with the Runnin’ Utes after starting his collegiate career at Rice. He previously entered the transfer portal following the 2024-25 campaign, though he opted to withdraw his name so he could be part of Alex Jensen’s first season as head coach.

In total, Dawes appeared in 63 games, including 34 starts, across his Utah career, averaging 10.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 24.8 minutes per contest. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony was the first to report his move to the Jayhawks and point out that Dawes will test the NBA draft waters as well.

What Keanu Dawes’ Transfer Decision Means for Utah

Big shoes to fill

Even if Dawes’ departure was expected by some within Utah’s walls for weeks, Thursday’s report confirmed that the Utes not only have to replenish their backcourt depth and reload in the frontcourt; they also have to attempt to replace the rebounding and scoring production the 6-foot-9 wing brought to the table with his athleticism and versatility.

Utah’s first portal addition, Utah Valley transfer Jackson Holcombe, could provide some of the same dribble penetration and aggression that Dawes did, though the former Wolverines guard isn’t the same size-wise (6-foot-7, 207 pounds) and hasn’t proven himself to be the same 3-point threat that Dawes was for Utah in 2025-26. And for what it’s worth, Dawes has more experience at the Big 12 level than the ex-Western Athletic Conference player.

That said, expecting Holcombe to do the same things Dawes did for the Utes isn’t necessarily fair. After all, Dawes recorded 11 double-doubles, including a 22-point, 12-rebound effort against Kansas in February, and finished among the Big 12’s top five rebounders with 8.8 boards per contest. On top of that, he added 12.5 points per game on 54.6% from the field and 31.7% from 3-point range.

If the Utes are to have any chance at snagging a player of Dawes’ caliber in the portal, they better move quickly; several of the top small forwards who entered the portal have committed to new schools, and the price to acquire one could go up as the market begins to dry out.

Another starter heading out the door

Dawes’ Utah exit ensures at least three starters from the 2025-26 squad won’t be on the roster for next season, given Don McHenry and James Okonkwo have both exhausted their eligibility.

Barring a return from Terrence Brown or Seydou Traore, Jensen and company will have an entirely new starting five for the 2026-27 campaign. At this rate, they’re set to lose eight of their top nine scorers to the portal or expiring eligibility. In fact, rising sophomores Obomate Abbey and Lucas Langarita are the only projected returners who logged any minutes this past season.

Utah is expected to bring back Babacar Faye, the 6-foot-9 Western Kentucky transfer who didn’t play in 2025-26 due to injury, for his sixth year of college hoops, giving Jensen and the staff a potential starter to build around.

Utah hasn’t seen the last of Dawes

Assuming he doesn’t pursue the draft waters to their full extent, Dawes will likely see his former team at least once during Big 12 conference play next season.

Utah’s league schedule hasn’t been revealed yet, though based on the fact the Utes and Jayhawks have traded home games in each of the past two seasons, there’s a good chance Dawes will return to the Huntsman Center as a visitor after facing Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse with the Utes just a few months ago.

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Utah lawmakers have voted to stiffen penalties on retailers who chronically overcharge customers.

The new state law, which takes effect on 6 May, was introduced in direct response to a Guardian investigation of pricing practices at two national chains, Dollar General and Family Dollar, according to an official who oversees the state’s price-accuracy inspections.

Both dollar-store chains target cost-conscious families, yet their stores often post one price on the shelf and ring up a higher price at the register.

The investigation, published in December, found that Dollar General stores failed more than 4,300 government price-accuracy inspections in 23 states between 2022 and 2025. The smaller Family Dollar chain failed more than 2,100 price-accuracy inspections in 20 states during the same period.

Among the biggest offenders was a Family Dollar store in Provo, Utah, a city of 115,000 people that is home to Brigham Young University. According to state records, the store failed 28 pricing inspections in the four-year span. During one visit, an inspector discovered overcharges for 48% of the items she tested, including baked beans, Ivory soap, frozen pizza and disposable diapers.

State representative Candice Pierucci, who sponsored the Utah bill, singled out the Provo store and its 48% overcharge rate when she introduced the legislation on the House floor in February. The Republican lawmaker noted that shoppers do not always notice overcharges.

“If you’re like me, once you get to checkout, at that point I’m wrangling two kiddos and I’m not really checking what the amount is,” Pierucci said. “I just assume they’re being honest with the prices listed.”

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After the Guardian published its article, legislators contacted the Utah department of agriculture and food to ask if there was some way to prevent these repeated overcharges, said Miland Kofford, who heads the agency’s weights-and-measures program.

Utah has the nation’s largest average household size, which Kofford said makes residents sensitive to rising costs. “With inflation and price of everything going up,” he said, “big families are trying to budget their money the best they can.”

Kofford, whose program conducts price-accuracy inspections, had an idea for how to pressure retailers into compliance.

Historically, civil penalties for repeat offenders in Utah topped out at $5,000 per failed price-accuracy inspection. Companies tended to pay those fines without complaint, Kofford said.

But in March 2025, Family Dollar missed a payment deadline for one of the failures at the Provo store with the flawed track record. As a result, the fine automatically increased. “Soon as it doubled to $10,000, we got calls from corporate saying, ‘What’s going on? We can’t be paying $10,000,’” Kofford told the Guardian. “And all of a sudden, they changed managers down there.”

Kofford realized that $10,000 was the pain point – the threshold that catches the attention of company executives. As a result, the new law imposes a $10,000 fine per failed inspection starting with the sixth violation. It passed with bipartisan support. In addition to dollar stores, the increased penalties also apply to supermarkets, box stores and other retailers.

Family Dollar did not respond to questions about the failed inspections and the Utah law. The company told the Guardian in a statement in November that “we take customer trust seriously and are committed to ensuring pricing accuracy across our stores.” Dollar General told the Guardian at the time that it was “committed to providing customers with accurate prices on items purchased in our stores, and we are disappointed any time we fail to deliver on this commitment”.

• Jocelyn C Zuckerman contributed to this story

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah has been ranked the number one state in the nation for economic outlook for the 19th year in a row.

On Wednesday morning, the American Legislative Exchange Council released the 19th edition of Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, an annual report that assesses all 50 state’s economic outlook and performance. Utah was ranked number one.

“I’m proud that Utah has once again been named the No. 1 state in the nation for economic outlook for the 19th year in a row,” said Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams. “This recognition reflects years of forward-thinking decisions focused on economic growth and building an environment where the next generation can succeed.”

Adams also said that Utah is the second-best state for teachers and fourth best state for education. Additionally, the state’s median income for households is $55,000, with income tax dropping over the last six years.

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According to the report, Utah has been the top-ranked state for Economic Outlook for 19 years in a row due to its pension reform and property tax reform. New York has ranked 50th since 2014.

‘Rich States, Poor States’ rankings. Courtesy: American Legislative Exchange Council

“Utah has been named the No. 1 state in the nation for economic outlook for the 19th consecutive year,” posted Governor Spencer J. Cox (R-UT) on X. “Unlike rankings that look backward, this one measures the policies most likely to support opportunity in the years ahead. Utah has remained at the top since the index began.”

In order to create the report, authors observe 15 economic policy variables, including taxes, debt, and free market policies. The ranking details states’ individual performances over the past 10 years.

More information on the report can be found online.

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