Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and the Utah Legislature have seen a decrease in voter approval driven by Democratic dissatisfaction, the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found. The …
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and the Utah Legislature have seen a decrease in voter approval driven by Democratic dissatisfaction, the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found. The …
The sound of bagpipes echoed off the marble steps of the state Capitol Saturday morning to honor the 250th anniversary of the …
SALT LAKE CITY — The sound of bagpipes echoed off the marble steps of the state Capitol Saturday.
It was the kind of sound that makes people stop and listen. But this event wasn’t about music.
It was about a gunshot; one that was fired 250 years ago on Lexington Green in Massachusetts, a moment forever known as the “shot heard round the world.”
It was the beginning of the American Revolution and, eventually, the story of how the United States began.
A ceremony at the state Capitol commemorates the 250th anniversary of the “shot heard round the world” on Saturday. (Photo: Ray Boone, KSL-TV)
“This was absolutely the start of the United States,” said Ron Fox, a member of the Utah Chapter of the America 250 Commission and one of the key organizers behind Saturday’s ceremony. “The important thing is that we honor the people who fought, died, and survived the wars to provide our freedoms.”
This year marks the first time Utah has officially recognized April 19 as Patriots’ Day. Gov. Spencer Cox recently signed a resolution making Utah the seventh state in the nation to formally commemorate the date.
Inside the Capitol rotunda, the event continued with speakers, music from the Hope of America Children’s Choir and a glimpse into history itself. On display were rare and authentic documents signed by the nation’s Founding Fathers.
“This is signed by Sam Adams,” said Brent Ashworth, a longtime collector of historical documents who brought pieces from his personal collection to share with the public.
Ashworth, who has been collecting for nearly seven decades, owns letters and documents penned by George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and other iconic figures.
“It brings history alive to me,” Ashworth said. “And I figure with some people, it would make these people look real. Not just names in a book.”
The program also included musket fire from historical reenactment groups and a ceremonial playing of Taps.
Together, the sights and sounds created a reminder of where America began and why remembering matters.
“It’s the old thing, you know?” Fox said. “If you don’t remember it, you’re condemned to repeat it.”
As the nation prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday in 2026, organizers say Friday’s ceremony is just one of several events aimed at bringing American history out of the past and back into the present.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
A look at players from Utah schools who’ve entered the portal during the 2025 spring window and what transfers are committed to local schools.
The NCAA transfer portal has changed the athletic world, particularly in college basketball.
Here is a running list of players from the state of Utah’s seven Division I men’s college basketball programs — Utah, BYU, Utah State, Weber State, Southern Utah, Utah Valley and Utah Tech — who have reportedly entered the portal so far during the spring 2025 window, with Verbal Commits as the primary source unless otherwise noted, as well as transfers who commit to those seven schools.
The list will be updated as players announce their intentions.
Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”
Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.
Immigration and tariff controversies are pulling down Donald Trump’s job approval rating in Utah and the nation. Here is some recent data.
As President Donald Trump nears 100 days in office – a milestone frequently highlighted as when a president’s influence power starts to wane – he is grappling with pushback from the courts to his deportation efforts and economic uncertainty around his trade policies and tariffs.
He is underwater nationally, and some states have reacted poorly to some of his key initiatives. But other states – such as Utah – continue to be staunch supporters of the president.
The multiple challenges will likely continue to be fueling people’s opinions about the president well past the 100-day mark. Here’s a look at what people think of the job he is doing, both at the state and national level:
What is Donald Trump’s job approval in the US?
Most national polls show Trump with negative job approval as he battles with multiple controversies around his presidency. All of these polls closed April 10 or later, capturing initial reactions to the impact of tariffs and some pitched court battles over deportation practices:
Economist/YouGov: 42% approval and 52% disapproval (about 1,500 adults sampled, data released as of April 16).
CNBC: 44% approval and 51% disapproval (1,000 adults surveyed between April 9-13).
CBS News: 47% approval and 53% disapproval (2,410 adults surveyed between April 8-11).
Gallup: 44% approval and 53% disapproval (1,006 adults surveyed between April 1–14).
Rasmussen Reports: 50% approval and 48% disapproval (1,500 likely voters surveyed between April 10-16).
What is Donald Trump’s approval rating in Utah?
There continues to be scant polling data about the president’s performance, but online pollster Civiqs continues to regularly sample the state. Trump had a 57% approval, 39% disapproval rating in Utah surveys through April 16, close to where he has been for weeks.
Drew Linzer, the director of Civiqs, previously told the USA TODAY Network the firm uses advanced and proprietary modeling to develop results from online surveys of around 200 to 250 registered voters daily across the country. Voters in Utah and other states are represented in the sample “proportional to the sizes of those states in the US population.”
What is Trump’s approval rating in other states?
USA TODAY Network reporters continued to find Civiqs data roughly mirroring the results of the 2024 election.
Tennessee: 59% approve and 38% disapprove through April 13.
Indiana: 54% approve and 42% disapprove through April 15.
New York: 36% approve and 61% disapprove through April 15.
Florida: 54% approve and 44% disapprove through April 15.
Is polling important? What can you learn from polls?
It’s important to note that each pollster has their own methodology, with responses gathered online, over the phone, through the mail or in person — with some using a combination of methods. They also draw from different cohorts. Registered and likely voters are more likely to be surveyed near elections, while responses may come from all Americans between elections.
Those variations can make it difficult to compare one poll to another, even from the same pollster at different parts of the political cycle.
The Pew Research Center, which has conducted public opinion polls for more than two decades, says good polls can “give everyone in the population – regardless of their wealth, age, education, race, knowledge of politics or experience with it – an equal voice about the issues of the day.”
Nate Trela covers trending news in Colorado and Utah for the USA TODAY Network.
The Beehive State has the sixth-highest outcome for children born here in 1992 to low-income families. But those Utahns made less than people born in Utah in 1978.
Utahns born into low-income families still have a better chance of making more than their parents than if they were born elsewhere, a new study shows, but those younger Utahns lost ground between generations.
The state looks “very good in terms of economic mobility,” said economist Raj Chetty.
Chetty is the William A. Ackman Professor of Economics at Harvard University and the director of Opportunity Insights, which uses data to study the science of economic opportunity and ways to give children from all backgrounds better chances of succeeding.
He spoke recently at a Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute seminar about upward mobility between generations.
Intergenerational mobility — the idea that you’ll do better than your parents — is core to the American dream, but it’s not guaranteed.
The ability to move up depends largely on where you grow up, according to an analysis by Opportunity Insights and the U.S. Census Bureau.
And though there are still “substantial” divides based on race, Chetty said, there are some “encouraging signs of progress.”
‘Significant’ upward mobility, but not for all
Chetty talked about the Opportunity Atlas, which uses anonymized data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Internal Revenue Service to follow millions of Americans from childhood to adulthood.
It specifically compared average household income, pulled from tax return data, at age 27 for Americans born to low-income families in both 1978 and 1992 to get a localized picture of changing opportunities over time.
After normalizing incomes based on 2023 dollars, the research found upward mobility largely declined for millennials compared to Generation X.
Utah still offers “a significant amount of upward mobility in a single generation,” Chetty said, from parents making the 25th percentile of about $27,000 to kids born in 1992 making an average of about $36,100 at age 27.
That’s the sixth-highest outcome of any state for the 1992 cohort, according to the Opportunity Atlas data.
But it’s an 8.4% drop from the average income of Utahns born in 1978 to low-income parents.
That drop is among the biggest in the nation.
Latino, Black Utahns see a rise
There were some exceptions. In counties where data was available, minorities either saw gains between generations or a smaller drop.
Utahns identifying as Hispanic or Latino and Black born in 1992 saw the largest gains over people born in 1978, though their earnings at 27 were still less than white people born in Utah.
And while children in most of the 21 counties in Utah with enough data available made less between generations, even while making more than their parents, there was a small gain in Sanpete County and a 7.6% gain in Millard County.
On the flip side, counties reliant on employment in coal, oil and other fossil-fuel-related industries – namely Carbon, Duchesne and Uintah counties – saw the biggest drops of at least 20%.
That likely ties to one thing researchers wrote of upward mobility: “Children’s outcomes are shaped by parental employment rates of peers with whom they interact most,” a nontechnical version of the research reads.
Solutions help reduce segregation
Chetty said researchers noticed four other patterns in areas with high economic mobility:
Lower poverty rates.
More family stability.
Better schools at the K-12 level and access to higher education opportunities.
Social capital, or connection across economic classes
He also talked about solutions that have worked elsewhere to improve upward mobility. For example, the use of Housing Choice Vouchers (formerly known as Section 8) is typically clustered in low-mobility neighborhoods, Chetty said.
But social support interventions can help families move to high-mobility neighborhoods.
A program in Seattle helped significantly more families move to better neighborhoods, and children in those families earned at least $200,000 more during their careers.
But moving everyone isn’t scalable, he said, so place-based investments are also important. Revitalizing areas with high rates of poverty or other issues also helps kids interact with people in other economic classes, Chetty said.
He pointed to programs in Berkeley and Atlanta that have led to improved interactions with “folks in surrounding communities.
A third solution is improving access to higher education and workforce training, he said. Children from low-income families are less likely to get a postsecondary education than kids from high-income families, he said, even with the same SAT scores.
“Very few institutions educate low-income children and deliver good outcomes for them,” Chetty said.
Not a fixed pie
At some level, Chetty said, officials could be satisfied with Utah offering better opportunities than other places.
At some level, Chetty said, Utah officials could be satisfied that the Beehive State offers better opportunities.
But there’s no guarantee that remains the case, he said.
Chetty stressed that officials choosing to do things to help some people won’t hurt those who already have a good chance at mobility.
“You can create opportunity in one place without taking away from others,” he said, adding it’s not a fixed pie but one that can grow.
Utah Speaker of the House Mike Schultz has personal experience with that. The Hooper resident said he grew up “on the bottom end” but had great mentors and connections.
“There are so many of us in this community who grew up this way, who are these numbers,” Schultz said.
It’s important, he said, to “intermix and integrate” and otherwise create opportunities for people in lower economic classes.
Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.
Now that our kids are grown, my husband and I have found that each one shares different interests with us — including some we don’t share with each other.
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
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There is a rumor swirling around the web right now that the Big Ten is interested in adding Utah as a new member to the league. The rumor started with a message board post and has since been picked up …
Could the Big Ten be looking to expand yet again? There is an interesting rumor out there right now surrounding one school linking up with the league.
There is a rumor swirling around the web right now that the Big Ten is interested in adding Utah as a new member to the league. The rumor started with a message board post and has since been picked up by at least a pair of notable podcasts related to the Big Ten, including Locked on Big Ten.
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Craig Shemon — host of Locked on Big Ten — talked about the thought of Utah joining the Big Ten during an episode on Wednesday where he broke down the rumor. Shemon said the rumor could have some merit to it since Utah does meet a number of the Big Ten checklist items. But he also noted how Utah just joined the Big 12 last year and there would be a number of financial hurdles for the Utes to clear to even consider leaving for the Big Ten.
Shemon added that it seems very unlikely that anything could materialize between the Big Ten and Utah for at least a few years, but down the road it would make sense for the Big Ten to add the Utes when the league is ready to expand again. The full break down from Shemon can be found in the video below:
My Take on Big Ten-Utah Expansion Rumors
This feels like something that probably doesn’t even warrant a post since it started on a message board. But let’s not forget that some of the biggest moves and stories have started with message board posts. So let’s not just instantly dismiss the idea of Utah eventually joining the Big Ten. The key word there being eventually…
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Like Shemon said in his recent podcast episode, this doesn’t seem like a move that is anywhere near close to being done. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Utah was on a shortlist of schools that the Big Ten is targeting in future expansion. It would make sense for the Big Ten to look out west again in its next expansion to help spread its footprint more equally and make travel easier for the other newcomers (USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington).
So for now, I wouldn’t spend too much time looking into this one. But in three or four years, I wouldn’t be surprised it we see Utah joining the Big Ten along with a few other western schools.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page onFacebookto follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
Following record-breaking viewership in 2024 and 2025, ESPN Events’ Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad returns to primetime in 2026 with a championship-caliber NCAA gymnastics lineup.
On the morning of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Semifinals, ESPN announced that the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad will return to the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, in January 2026.
The meet will host two quad meets on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. Session I will air live on ABC at 4 p.m. ET, with Session II slated for primetime on ESPN2 at 8 or 9 p.m.
“We are thrilled to return to Utah for the third annual Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad,” said ESPN Events director Kristen Shaver. The event sponsor states a shared commitment to the competition’s goals.
“Sprouts is on a mission to empower women both on and off the mat, whether it’s fueling performance through nutrition or partnering with organizations who are changing the game in women’s sports,” added Nick Konat, president and COO.
The 2025 edition, held in Oklahoma City, drew national attention as one of the premier regular-season events of the NCAA gymnastics season. It was also one of the most competitive, with all eight participating programs going on to appear in this year’s postseason competition.
Five of those eight teams will compete in today’s national semifinals, with defending National Champion No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 4 Utah, No. 5 UCLA, and No. 8 Michigan State all bidding for a national title. These five will join No. 5 California, No. 9 Kentucky, and 2021 NCAA Champion Michigan on the 2026 roster.
“To have all eight teams make a postseason appearance with five advancing to the National Championship speaks volumes to the stature of this early-season event,” Shaver said. “We believe strongly in the power of women’s sports and are committed to furthering the growth of gymnastics.”
Primetime Production Value
After garnering groundbreaking viewership numbers in its 2024 and 2025 editions, the meet will return to primetime television in 2026. ESPN reports that the first two years of the event stand as the “most-watched live, regular season collegiate gymnastics meets ever” aired on ESPN platforms.
While the meet doesn’t serve as a postseason qualifier, organizers argue its execution sets the event apart from other regular-season meets.
“The teams at ESPN working on the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad treat it as if it were the national championship,” said Hannah McSwain, an Associate Manager for ESPN Events.
FORT WORTH, TX – APRIL 15: The crowd watches the action during the Division I Women’s Gymnastics … More Championship held at Dickies Arena on April 15, 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Andy Hancock/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
NCAA Photos via Getty Images
“From the podium and the equipment the athletes compete on to the on-air broadcast featuring our postseason talent – we aim for the event to have a postseason feel at the beginning of the season.”
Upon launching the event and gymnastics as a new sports category for ESPN Events in 2024, McSwain says the team’s first year was “a learning experience” as they familiarized themselves with the sport.
“We familiarized ourselves with the sport, including the nuance, precision, and passion,” she attests. “We work with our experienced production team, hire two meet directors with more than 40 years combined experience, and seek input from the participating schools to ensure we are building the best event for these athletes.”
Growth of the Sport Takes Center Stage
The event’s organizers key that the meet’s success is part of a greater pattern in women’s gymnastics and women’s athletics – one that will play out at this week’s championship.
“We’ve seen with a lot of growth sports, especially women’s sports,” said Mallory Kenny, Director of Programming. “If you create a consistent programming strategy – such as SEC Network’s Friday Night Heights – and find new ways to showcase the stories of these incredible athletes, fans will not only come to watch, but they are likely to return.”
Kenny and the ESPN events team have the data to support their commitment to growing the sport. “In only three years, we have nearly doubled the programming hours of women’s gymnastics across our platforms, making the sport more accessible to more fans.” As for ESPN’s winning strategy, Kenny credits the commitment to outreach and accessibility for fans.
Our production team and commentators do a great job of making these events accessible to both the die-hard gymnastics fan and the casual gymnastics fan who may be tuning in for the first time,” she adds.
“Through our new NCAA media rights agreement and our relationship with our conference partners, we have a lot more options in terms of new events and new storytelling opportunities within this sport.” ESPN’s original content series, Game On, directly responds to these budding opportunities.
Broadcast Innovation And Upgrades
AUBURN, ALABAMA – FEBRUARY 2: (EDITORS NOTE: This is an in-camera multiple exposure image) Anna Hill … More of the Auburn Tigers warming up on the vault at Neville Arena on February 2, 2024 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Stew Milne/Getty Images)
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“One of the keys to further expansion of women’s gymnastics coverage is expanding our audience and connecting with younger fans through marquee events, enhanced production, and activating across our digital and social platforms,” Kenny says.
This Saturday’s ABC broadcast of the national championship is a prime example – and it’s just the beginning. Amanda Gifford, ESPN’s Senior Vice President of Production, attested to the meticulous execution of Thursday’s semifinals and Saturday’s finals.
ESPN is “always looking to raise the bar in our presentation,” Gifford shares. “We think there are a lot of opportunities regarding innovation with gymnastics.” In 2024, the ESPN events team debuted a new scoring tower to display results, dubbed a “game changer” by coaches, media, and fans.
This weekend’s broadcast will introduce a new feature designed to highlight the gymnasts’ explosive power and technique: 4-dimensional replay, available for vault and uneven bars.
“Each apparatus has 30 cameras surrounding it and will help us display the true athleticism and dynamic performances of these gymnasts,” Gifford says.
The new addition to 2025’s broadcast is one of many steps intended to increase accessibility and enjoyment for viewers. For new viewers, “gymnastics is challenging,” Gifford and her team admit.
“It’s on us to educate the viewer and find ways to make understanding the sport as easy as watching it. As the sport continues to grow, and we find new ways to make gymnastics accessible and available, we have to continue to evolve in our storytelling and presentation.”
Gymnastics coverage has come a long way, and ESPN’s work is no exception. Gifford tells me that witnessing the sport’s progress has been “special.”
“We’ve gone from a small number of live televised meets to more than 70 – aided by the launches of both SEC Network and ACC Network – and grown our coverage to include multiple conference championships, NCAA regionals, a pre-championship preview show on ABC, ESPN Events’ creation of the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, and more,” she shares.
The team that works on this sport is so passionate about gymnastics,” she adds. “Some are lifelong fans, former gymnasts or dancers, or have just grown to love the sport over the years they’ve worked on it at ESPN. Coming in new to the sport this year, the energy of the ESPN team behind the scenes is exciting to be part of, and I think that translates to our coverage.”
How To Tune In: Fort Worth and Beyond
Fans can witness the innovation for themselves, beginning with the two national semifinals on Thursday, April 17, broadcast live on ESPN2. The National Championship, dubbed ‘The Four On The Floor,” will be broadcast live on ABC on Saturday, April 19. Detailed scheduling and streaming can be found here.
Full details regarding timing and commentary for the 2026 Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate quad will be announced at a later date, with tickets going on sale this Fall. Fans eager to book their trips can secure pre-sale access by signing up for the event mailing list at www.sproutscollegiatequad.com/tickets.
