Month: May 2025

Jerseys and some stray beer cans darted down from the crowd and onto the ice at Scotiabank Arena.

The Toronto Maple Leafs trailed the Florida Panthers 6-1 in the third period of Game 7 at home. A second-round series they once held a 2-0 lead in got abruptly turned on the Leafs at the will of the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Fans were not shy about showing their disappointment. Boos accompanied the items tossed toward the lackluster action. Sunday marked the seventh consecutive Game-7 loss for Toronto; the team has not made it past the conference semi-finals since 2002.

Amid the unrest, Mitch Marner sat with his head between his legs on the Toronto bench.

Marner’s ninth season with the Maple Leafs failed to have a different ending.

“It’s never easy,” the forward said during his team’s exit interviews. “There’s no words to really put to it. It’s hard. It gets harder.”

It might have been Marner’s final time donning the Toronto jersey, too. The 28-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent come July 1 at noon ET, and signs point to a separation between Marner and the team that drafted him fourth overall in 2015.

Marner is coming off a six-year, $65.4 million contract with a cap hit of $10.9 million per season. With the salary cap projected to increase from this season’s $88 million to $95.5 million for 2025-26, it is expected that Marner will test the market for a deal worth $13 million per year. It would put him just behind Auston Matthews for the highest AAV in the league.

The Utah Mammoth have around $22.31 million of cap space this summer, and they need a high-caliber, top-six scoring forward.

Could Marner land in Salt Lake City? It is not out of the realm of possibility.

“I’ve always loved my time here. I’ve loved being here,” Marner said, in the past tense, of Toronto. “I haven’t processed anything yet. Still so fresh. Losing sucks.”

“It’s so fresh that it’s tough to really think about anything right now about going forward and future-wise. … Next coming weeks, I’ll sit down with my wife and we‘ll start talking and trying to figure out what the next steps are.”

Marner is hitting the open market at his prime. He had 102 points (27 goals, 75 assists) in 81 regular-season games while being one of Toronto’s best defensive forwards. He will likely get calls from the whole league. It is not often that someone of his talent is available. Success in hockey comes from more than one player; Marner, though, could change the complexion of a franchise.

In his cumulative time with Toronto, Marner logged the fifth-most points in Leaf history and the fourth-most assists. It was the postseason, though, that has stained his and the core four’s legacy. During this playoff run, Marner had 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 13 games. He had five points in seven games against the Panthers — only one goal and zero contributions in Game 7.

Could it be the external pressure? Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk gave his take following his team’s series win.

“Sometimes you feel bad for them because they have some unbelievable players and a great team. I was actually saying this last night to some of the guys — if their team was not in Toronto dealing with all the crazy circus stuff outside of it, they would be an unbelievable team,” Tkachuk said on the Spittin Chiclets podcast. “They just have so much to deal with, and I feel bad. We don’t have to deal with that in Florida. I think that’s what makes me and my team so lucky. You almost use that against them — the pressure that these guys have to deal with day in and day out.”

Marner said “there’s pressure everywhere,” but it is no secret that playing the Canadian NHL markets comes with a greater level of scrutiny.

Utah could quiet things down for Marner. A smaller-market team, a fan base that has yet to ever turn on its players and an upward trajectory for success — and hopes for a championship — in the ensuing years as the Mammoth exit the rebuild.

It would be a lot of money to spend for a long term — likely seven years — all tied up in one person. It would be a lot of trust in one guy to become an immediate leader and difference maker. Whether those risks — and salary-cap adjustments — are worth it will be up to general manager Bill Armstrong.

“Ryan [Smith] is definitely, and the ownership group, is capable of making sure that we can pretty much get anything done in the league that we need to get done. But it doesn’t mean that you spend unwisely,” Armstrong said of his team’s approach to the offseason. “Not to say that if there’s a player there that makes sense, that addresses our needs — we‘re going to go after that player.”

If the Mammoth do not win the Marner sweepstakes — or choose not to participate — here are some other unrestricted free agents they could look to target.

Nikolaj Ehlers is a left wing on the Winnipeg Jets who is coming off a seven-year, $42 million contract. The 29-year-old had 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) in 69 regular-season games. Ehlers’ consistency is a strength — he has had 20-plus goal seasons for eight of his 10 years in the NHL. He was a top-six stalwart for the Jets, who was third in points on the team. Ehlers is a finisher, something Utah was missing at times in its inaugural campaign.

The Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser could bring some size and scoring touch, too. The 28-year-old right winger had 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists) in 75 games and stands at 6-foot-1, 208 pounds. Of note, Boeser’s agent Ben Hankinson also represents Nick Bjugstad (who raved about Utah). Boeser’s last contract was three years, $19.95 million with a $6.650 million AAV. This summer is his time to get paid.

“It weighs on me a lot. All I want to do is win,” Boeser said during Vancouver’s exit interviews after it missed the playoffs. “I definitely think that’s going to play a big part — if I do make it [to free agency] — in my decision.”

Sam Bennett (Florida Panthers) and Ryan Donato (Chicago Blackhawks) offer two different looks at center. Bennett, 28, has been a key piece to a Stanley Cup-winning team in Florida. He plays with an edge and had 51 points (25 goals, 26 assists) in 76 games. Bennett’s last contract was four years, $17 million. Donato has been a bright spot on the mightily struggling Blackhawks. The 29-year-old posted 62 points (31 goals, 31 assists) in 80 games and just finished his two-year, $4 million deal. No doubt a cheaper option.

Armstrong was also not hesitant to bring in some older guys last offseason. The balance between the veterans (like Ian Cole, Kevin Stenlund, Olli Määttä, Sergachev) and the young talent (Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Clayton Keller) was one of the Mammoth’s greatest strengths. So, Utah could look to age up through free agency, too.

John Tavares (34), Brock Nelson (33) and Matt Duchene (34) are all experienced centers on the market. Tavares had 74 points (38 goals, 36 assists) in 75 games with Toronto and is closing his seven-year, $77 million contract. Nelson — who was traded from the New York Islanders to the Avalanche at the deadline — had 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists) in 80 games. His last contract was six years, $36 million. Duchene had 82 points (30 goals, 52 assists) in 82 games for the Dallas Stars and was on a one-year, $3 million deal.

There are many directions Utah could go with free agency. Armstrong is taking a balanced approach, though, and thinking big picture instead of making a headlining splash just because his team has the means now.

One college in the state has decided to go beyond what’s required and slash more from its budget than Utah lawmakers have demanded.

Salt Lake Community College is supposed to come up with $5.2 million in reductions under the Legislature’s plan to reduce higher education spending overall by about $60.5 million.

The school announced in a Thursday email to faculty and staff, though, that it found an extra $581,620 that it could trim for a total of $5.8 million.

The college described the additional money as “surplus identified through reductions” and said that while it surpasses HB265’s requirements, it aligns with the school’s “Vision Matrix” — what SLCC calls its strategic plan.

Initially, the school last week said it would push to cut $360,000 more than what’s required, but that number jumped even higher in the updated proposal Thursday.

“In reviewing the language of HB265, SLCC found that, if applied thoughtfully, the bill could further the college’s efforts to fulfill its mission,” school President Greg Peterson wrote last week in the email shared with The Salt Lake Tribune.

SLCC’s strategic plan aims to nearly double its enrollment up to 50,000 students by 2027. It was at 27,400 this fall, data shows. The college also wants to increase degree completion to 50% in two years; it’s at 33% now.

And SLCC is pushing to increase the median earnings of its graduates by $5,000 in the same time frame. At this point, students with a SLCC degree are making about $48,000 annually, according to federal numbers.

Peterson said by looking into what the school could cut and consolidate, it found more areas to save and, hopefully, earn back money from the state to reinvest toward meeting those goals.

The systemwide budget cuts have been pushed by state leaders who say they want to see more efficiency and less “administrative bloat” in the state’s eight public colleges and universities.

The demand under HB265 is that schools reduce majors or programs that have few graduates and lead to lower paying jobs. Lawmakers laid out a way for schools to eventually get the money back — if they show that the funding will be reinvested in high-wage degrees that lead to jobs the state needs.

That task is slightly harder for the state’s two community colleges — SLCC and Snow College — which largely offer certificates and more general associate degrees, meaning they have fewer academic programs in specific fields to cut. Their goal is mostly to graduate students with a two-year degree.

Snow College similarly announced its plans this month, aiming to hit the $1.7 million it’s required to cut. As the smallest public college in the state, with about 5,600 students, President Stacee McIff said the process has been “stressful.”

“The dollar amount was intimidating,” McIff told the college’s board of trustees while presenting on May 5.

At SLCC, Peterson has previously expressed concern about the brief window schools have had to draft their plans. The first version of their proposals was due to the Utah Board of Higher Education this month, with a formal presentation to follow in June. Final approval from the Legislature will come in August and September.

Here’s a breakdown of what the two colleges are expecting to do.

SLCC cuts positions, programs

Salt Lake Community College has proposed eliminating 50 positions. Of those, 15 are already vacant. The rest, according to Peterson’s email, will come through layoffs and retirements.

Overall, five are administrative positions.

Down the line, the president hopes to add nine new faculty positions with reinvestment funds; the people losing their jobs can apply for those. Most of the people impacted should have been informed by last week.

In his email, Peterson said he appreciates the school’s effort to treat “each impacted employee with respect and care.”

“While this has been a somewhat difficult journey, I am proud that our process has been collaborative, measured and compassionate while keeping in mind the needs of our students,” he wrote.

Peterson presented the overall plan to SLCC’s board of trustees during a closed session Wednesday. The school cited Utah law that allows meetings to be closed while discussing personnel issues.

The board voted to approve the plan, with minor changes, after that private discussion, the school said in an email sent campuswide Thursday.

The proposal also includes cutting 237 courses “that are not directly connected to the requirements of an instructional program,” Peterson said.

And SLCC is reducing certificate and degree offerings down from 195 to 147. That reduction of 48 programs includes 12 that are being consolidated.

The program cuts include associate degrees with a focus in anthropology, history, philosophy and religious studies, sociology, writing studies, accounting, finance, marketing, computer science information systems, fashion merchandising, animation and graphic design.

The school says those have “low enrollment and low completion rates.”

“As a reminder, SLCC does regularly review and modify its academic programs to provide the best learning and post-completion outcomes for our students, and the proposed reinvestment plan reflects similar work,” Peterson said.

The School of Arts, Communication and Media will be entirely eliminated. Its programs will be folded into other schools and departments.

The college’s Grand Theater will remain in operation, even without the art school. But SLCC is permanently closing its long-standing Community Writing Center.

The school said in its message Thursday that it hopes to reinvest money in its technical programs through its Salt Lake Technical College — something the Legislature has pushed — as well as associate degrees in business and health sciences.

Snow College turns to voluntary resignations

McIff said she hopes that the cuts, in the long run, will make Snow operate more efficiently.

The school will release its full plan to faculty after it gets initial approval from the Utah Board of Higher Education, she said.

At this point, the bulk of the money will come through having fewer faculty and staff — but all of the reductions are coming through voluntary retirements, McIff said.

“We have come up with a plan that does not force anyone to leave,” she told the school’s trustees.

There are 25 employees at the college who have opted for voluntary retirement. A few of those positions will need to be filled, but not all of them, added Tim Tingey, the vice president for finance and administrative services. And new hires, he said, tend to start in a lower pay bracket, saving money.

The staff who are leaving will be paid out a severance based on their years of service and salary rate, with a cap that the school did not disclose.

The school will eliminate the position of vice president for external affairs. And it will restructure its athletic director position to include more responsibilities.

Snow College is also discontinuing a handful of “redundant degrees and certificates,” McIff said, but the school has not yet said what is on that list.

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Credit: ExpressVPN

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Unblock Pornhub for free in Utah with ExpressVPN.

Utah native Natalie Quinn is grinding her way to the top of one of the most demanding sports in the world.

Professional road cycling requires years of dedication, training and perseverance to become an elite rider competing at the highest level of the sport. Think Tour de France. Think Olympics. Quinn has her wheels turning toward both.

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Since graduating from Weber High School in Pleasant View, the 23-year-old Quinn has dedicated her life to becoming the best bike rider she can be. That means eat, drink and sleep cycling, typically thousands of miles from home. Her coaches have described her as gutsy and relentless on the road, traits that will also serve her well off the bike as she navigates the twisty route to the top.

Quinn parlayed her victory in the under 23 or U23 category at the U.S. Pro Road National Championship in 2023 into a contract with one of the top American women’s cycling teams on the World Tour.

But her first season with EF-Oatly-Cannondale — the same squad that features surprise 2024 Olympic road race gold medalist Kristen Faulkner — didn’t go as planned. A concussion after a crash early in the year sidelined Quinn for much of the 2024 season.

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This year she signed on with Hess Cycling Team, a team established in 2023 with aspirations to become the first British women’s World Tour team, for 18,000 euros (just over $19,000) a year. But things didn’t go well there, either. Not on the road but everywhere else. Hess had issues with funding, didn’t hold a team camp, failed to pay riders, didn’t start the season on time and lacked registration with Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the sport’s governing body.

Quinn left the team, as did others. She landed with Cynisca Cycling, an American squad dedicated to development of female cyclists with invites to three World Tour races in Europe this year and goals to secure more in 2026, including the Tour de France Femmes.

Because she joined the team after the season started, it doesn’t have money in its budget to pay her. Fortunately, her parents continue to support her financially. Quinn spent the past few weeks living with a former teammate in Rhode Island to train — typically alone — for the upcoming 2025 USA Cycling National Championships this weekend in West Virginia.

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There’s no easy road to becoming a professional cyclist on the world’s biggest stage. It’s even bumpier for women given the constant financial uncertainty, teams folding, races being canceled, minimal pay, pressure for results and long, sometimes lonely days in the saddle. Every ride seems like a job interview. “That’s definitely how it feels in the women’s field,” Quinn said.

So why does she stick with it?

“Sometimes I ask myself that same question. I really do just love it. It’s hard to even contemplate letting it go, especially when I feel like I’m just so close,” Quinn said. “This part of the process from what I understand and what I’m hoping is true, that this is the hardest part. And if I can just get over this last little bit, maybe it’ll get a little easier. It’s a hard sport not to love once you become a part of it.”

Fighting for equity

Americans, though, haven’t fallen in love with professional road cycling, women’s or men’s. Other than the Tour de France, road racing doesn’t get much run on U.S. television. Some major races, including the Tour of California and Tour of Utah, which staged men’s and women’s races, fell by the wayside.

Women’s pro cycling, particularly, faces a number of challenges. There are fewer races for women compared to men and women’s events are traditionally shorter in distance. Salaries and prize money have been and continue to be lower for women.

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Lauren LeClaire, team director for Massachusetts-based CCB p/b Levine Law Group Women’s Cycling, a U23 developmental program, recalls that when she competed a decade ago, “the guys were racing for $1,000 and the girls for a prize pack of socks.”

It’s not that disparate now, but the wage gap still exists. Robin Farina, a former pro cyclist, U.S. road race champion and 2012 Olympian, called salary equity the biggest challenge in women’s cycling. Farina is the general manager of Cynisca Cycling, the team Quinn now rides for.

In 2022, the National Cycling League launched with some big-name backing, including NBA stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. Its unique approach put men and women on the same team. Notably, the league offered equal pay and exposure for both genders and a headline-grabbing $1 million prize purse.

But the NCL ceased operations in 2024 with no apparent plans for revival.

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“People really try to do things in America to make cycling more appealing,” Quinn said. “Maybe people aren’t very good at it but I felt with NCL somebody was at least trying.”

Internationally, UCI has made some progress for World Tour riders, the top tier of professional road cycling.

In 2020, it introduced a minimum salary for women’s World Tour teams, which has gradually increased in the past five years. Standard contracts now allow maternity leave for up to three months at full salary. But those rules don’t apply to lower level pro teams.

Making of a World Tour rider

Coming from an admittedly biased mom’s point of view, Julie Quinn says her daughter — the oldest of two girls in the family — was always protective and loyal. She described her as “super smart” with an “old spirit.” She got along with adults at a young age. Some of her best friends from elementary through high school were teachers.

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Quinn grew up in Ogden Valley ski racing but decided to give it up when she got to high school because of the travel it would require as well as having to do online school. She and her dad noticed the high school mountain biking trailer in a grocery store parking lot one day. They waited until someone came back and asked how Quinn could join the team. She made the podium in her first race as a sophomore. She excelled throughout high school and moved to Boulder, Colorado, after graduation in 2020 to continue developing. She really didn’t start road racing until she got to Fort Lewis College, which has a varsity cycling program, a year later.

She has been on skinny tires ever since.

In 2023, Quinn joined CCB p/b Levine Law Group Women’s Cycling, a longstanding U.S. program dedicated to a women’s U23 development team. In addition to cycling, it requires every athlete to pursue or complete a post-secondary education. The team sends riders to dozens of competitions, including European UCI races and Belgian “kermesses,” 90km to 140km lap races in villages and narrow farm roads where young riders cut their teeth.

“It really teaches you how to bike race because you can’t just fix mistakes you make in the race by your athleticism,” Quinn said. “I can’t think of many top pros who didn’t spend at least a fair amount of time kermesse racing before they moved up to the World Tour races.”

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It was while riding for CCB that Quinn won the U23 U.S. road championship, a victory that helped launch her pro career. She’s now training for the U.S. championships coming up this week in Charleston, West Virginia. She rides mostly on her own with prescribed workouts from her coach that put her on the bike around four hours a day.

“The honest part of it is it’s not for everybody. If you can’t handle long hours by yourself, then this isn’t the sport for you. I enjoy it for the most part. Most people that do it, the solitude of training is often actually a benefit less than a detriment,” Quinn said.

Only one person can win a bike race. But in road racing it takes a team to get that rider to the finish line. Typically, four to six teammates help the leader, including drafting, shielding from other riders, delivering water bottles and nutrition while sacrificing their own chance to win.

Quinn loves the team aspect of the sport. She enjoys having and executing a plan where everyone does their job. It’s those protective and loyal instincts that her mother described in action.

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“It’s a really good feeling to work towards a goal. People have their individual roles in a race but all together it means that a result happens,” she said. “It’s a really beautiful part of the sport.”

Tapping the potential

Farina said she’d been scouting Quinn for a couple of years before she joined Cynsica — the only UCI development team left in the U.S. — this season.

“I think she’s a talent,” Farina said. Quinn, she said, is young and maturing in the sport but is smart and a rider who understands tactics and reads races well and has the potential to be a leader.

LeClaire, her team manager when Quinn rode for CCB, said she’s filled with grit and toughness, “absolute fearlessness” and is “unrelenting” in her efforts. There’s no doubt she’s going places, LeClaire said.

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Quinn said it’s hard to not believe she can make it when others around her believe she can.

“I’m an athlete at heart. It would be a bit of a lie if I said I don’t enjoy being good at something,” Quinn said. “I enjoy the specific challenges of cycling, especially road racing. Road racing is so dynamic. There’s so many variables that can lead to somebody winning or losing that aren’t just related to how hard they can pedal.”

Looking for exposure

Named for a Spartan chariot racehorse trainer who became the first female Olympic champion in 396 B.C., Cynisca Cycling aims to help U.S. women compete not only in the U.S. but at the toughest races in Europe.

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“Our goal is really to bring young Americans on, nurture them and give them support so they can flourish,” Farina said.

Farina and several other women riders were on the forefront of trying to bring equity to the sport when they created the Women’s Cycling Association in 2012. They urged race promoters to offer equal prize purses and pushed for more television time. While the organization no longer exists, she said it set the foundation for the changes happening today. It’s hard to put a percentage on it, she said, but the gap is closing.

“Are we where we should be? Maybe,” Farina said. “It’s a tough question because all it takes is a couple of sponsors to come in and we could be in the same place with men’s cycling.”

Perhaps the areas where the women’s peloton struggles the most is with sponsorship dollars and media coverage.

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“We need more exposure. We need to tell the story a little more. We need our riders to be out in the media. So that people can go, ‘Wow, that’s a really cool story. I want to follow her and I want to be a fan,’” Farina said.

Faulkner’s unexpected win in Paris last summer and then joining Chloe Dygert, Jennifer Valente and Lily Williams for the first-ever U.S. gold in women’s team pursuit a few days later momentarily created excitement around American cycling. But did it give the sport a major shot in the arm in the U.S.?

“I should hope so,” LeClaire said, before adding “maybe, maybe not.”

“Anything that gets strong female athletes into the spotlight is a positive thing for us. The more Americans that are in the spotlight in sport the better for us. That’s all upward momentum,” she said.

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The gold medals, she said, were the product of hard work and USA Cycling’s strong support of top level riders. The next question, though, is how to get that momentum to trickle down to fuel the pipeline for the next generation of riders, LeClaire said.

Last November, the Hellman Foundation, a longtime contributor to American cycling, donated $2.5 million to the USA Cycling Foundation to boost resources and support for women. The grant includes a $1.5 million endowment to establish the Women’s Cycling Fund, aimed at sustaining women’s high-performance programs through 2043. That includes developing cyclists for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles and beyond.

LeClaire said women’s racing is at a difficult point in the U.S. While women’s races have had their biggest fields the past couple years, there are fewer events for them to compete in. “We’re short races,” she said.

Attracting sponsors

Also, LeClaire said the logistics of running an American team is more complicated and expensive than a European team based on geography. U.S. teams have to criss-cross the country, paying for everything from gas to hotels to entry fees. As a result, there are fewer and fewer larger, well-supported teams based in the U.S. It’s actually cheaper for teams to compete in Europe.

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Funding is a constant challenge for U.S. cycling teams. LeClaire said it’s a 24/7 battle, causing sleepless nights and stressed out phone calls about retaining and recruiting sponsors. Nowadays, she said companies often back one or two riders instead of a team. “It’s a lighter lift,” LeClaire said.

Cynisca has attracted big-name cycling industry partners Specialized, Shimano and Pearl iZumi. And one of its selling points is its chateau in the south of France with a course for training and promoting cycling in the region. It also serves as a place for its sponsors to hold corporate getaways and team-building retreats.

Farina reasons that a business could pay a mint for a short TV ad during the Summer Games or back a team for the next three years, building brand awareness and integrity with “massive” exposure in Europe.

“Even a midsize company could come in and own women’s cycling for not a lot of money and then run it all the way through the L.A. Olympics and have the exposure through the Olympics,” she said.

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The fight for equal media coverage, including live broadcasts of entire women’s races — not just the last few kilometers — is crucial to the sport.

“That’s the piece that teams can go back to our sponsors and go, ‘Look, here’s what we did, here’s the value we created,” LeClaire said.

Cynisca is a UCI continental team, meaning it’s a tier below a World Tour team that competes at the biggest races such as the Tour de France. Farina wants to make the leap to the top level next year. She has a simple formula to make it happen: “I’d like to find a $5 million sponsor. That’s really it.”

Of course, she said the team needs talent, too. And Quinn just might be one of those talented riders to help lift American cycling.

A key link to the Granary District’s past is now just a pile of bricks.

The historic Utah Pickle Company building was toppled this week. Constructed in 1894, it sat about a block west from what is now Fisher Brewing and was supposed to be preserved, according to a March deal between developer Blaser Ventures and Salt Lake City’s Community Redevelopment Agency.

Through the deal, Blaser Ventures was to receive $6 million in tax reimbursements on its real estate development project, known as “Pickle & Hide,” planned for the site at 739 S. 400 West.

The project calls for a public plaza, some affordable housing and restaurant space — incorporating both the pickle building, which the deal required Blaser Ventures to preserve, and the neighboring Bissinger Company Hides edifice.

But crews were tearing down the dilapidated pickle building as early as Wednesday, as shown in photos shared by The Granary District Alliance, a nonprofit group of neighborhood business owners and residents who advocate for thoughtful growth.

“We are deeply saddened to hear about the demolition of the beloved Utah Pickle Company building today,” the group wrote on Instagram. “… We are hopeful that the integrity of the Granary can be preserved for the future.”

On Thursday, Blaser Ventures’ president Brandon Blaser said the firm plans to rebuild the former pickle company warehouse on the same footprint “utilizing significant portions of the original material.”

The reconstruction will include 30% of the old facade’s bricks, 50% of the foundation, some wood beams and columns, and parts of its cornice moulding — all in a way that “closely replicates the original building’s scale, shape, and architectural character,” according to a company statement.

In an Instagram comment, Salt Lake City Council member Eva López Chávez explained why the building needed to be rebuilt.

“The analysis showed the sandstone foundation needed to be replaced,” López Chávez wrote in response to the Granary District Alliance’s post.

Blaser Ventures confirmed Thursday afternoon that the pickle building had been damaged in the 2020 earthquake that struck the Salt Lake Valley, structural analysis showed.

“It became clear that the pickle building could not stand on its own and did not meet safety requirements,” Gretchen Milliken, Blaser Ventures’ planning director, said in a statement. “It was a last-resort decision that we did not take lightly.”

In another Instagram comment, López Chávez added that she fears other remaining buildings “will also show similar seismic determinations,” so the city could see more demolitions. She added that Utah’s capital has “very few historic areas left that must be preserved without rebuild.”

Work has already begun on the Bissinger building next door, where an addition will hold the project’s planned apartment units. That property’s facade and other parts of its exterior will be preserved, according to the March agreement.

The simple two-story, red-brick Utah Pickle Company building was first managed by the Grant family, including Heber J. Grant, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There, they operated a soap company.

By 1911, the Mount Pickle Company was running its operation inside instead. The building sported a large yellow Utah Pickle Company sign on its roof for decades.

In 2017, Salt Lake City won a $50,000 grant to help preserve both buildings. At the time, local creative agency Ori Media and photography studio Studio Elevn planned to turn the pickle building into a studio and event space for artists.

Whether the new project will still receive tax reimbursements is up in the air now that demolition is underway and the agreement has yet to be executed, according to redevelopment agency spokesperson Tauni Barker.

“That step could impact the CRA’s next actions, including a slowing of the contract process and, possibly, eligibility for funding,” she said. “At this time, the outcome is unclear, but we’ll continue evaluating the situation as more information becomes available.”

For her part, Milliken said the company believes the updated reconstruction plans for the pickle building uphold “the spirit of that commitment.” Blaser Ventures plans to complete construction on the development project by the end of 2026.

Blaser Ventures also acquired iconic concert venue Kilby Court — just east of this property — last year, where it plans to build a public walkway through to the venue in the future.

The Orlando Pride have looked shaky in recent weeks, losing to the Kansas City Current last weekend and dropping down the league standings. They have a chance to get right this weekend with a road trip against a languishing foe.

Third-place Orlando (5-3-1, 16 points) travels to take on the Utah Royals (1-6-2, 5 points) on Friday night in search of a much-needed win.

“At this point, after winning a championship last year, you’re going to get everyone’s best game,” Orlando defender Carson Pickett said. “We just have to continue to be us and play how we know how to play and break teams down.”

Orlando’s defense was its strength last season, but it has struggled in the previous five matches. The Pride have not kept a clean sheet since a 1-0 victory over Seattle Reign FC on April 12. Leaking goals at the back has hurt the Pride, and they have lost three of their past five matches.

The good news for Orlando is that Utah is only scoring an average of 0.78 goals per match. The Royals have only scored seven times in nine matches, and no player has scored more than one goal this season. It is the perfect opportunity for Orlando to earn a clean sheet and rebuild confidence.

However, Orlando has also been lacking in attack. The Pride have only scored four goals in their past five games, with three of them coming in the 3-2 victory over Angel City FC. Marta (3G, 1A) and Barbra Banda (4G, 1A) lead the team in scoring, and they will be looking to take advantage of a Utah defense that has allowed 16 goals this season.

“I think we can do better in the final third, finishing,” Pickett continued. “The momentum’s there, we haven’t been outplayed or anything, we’ve had most of the possession in every game. [We need to] just continue to do what we know best and get the result no matter where we’re at.”

Up next …

Orlando at Utah

WHEN: Friday, 9:30 p.m.

TV: NWSL+

Molly Hart has been named Utah’s next state superintendent.

Hart, from Sandy, currently sits on the Utah State Board of Education. Her appointment late Wednesday followed a three-hour public interview session, where the board pressed both her and another finalist on everything from how they would work to close student-achievement gaps to their thoughts on navigating the leadership role in a politically charged climate.

After, board members convened for another more than three hours in a closed session. When they emerged at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, they voted on a motion to appoint Hart.

The vote passed 12-2, with Emily Green and Christina Christina Boggess opposed. As a candidate for the position and the board’s 15th member, Hart did not participate.

“Education is the promise we make to the future,” Hart said in a statement late Wednesday. “As I step into this role, my mission is clear: to ensure every child in Utah, no matter their background or circumstance, has access to an excellent education. That work begins with listening — to students, to educators, to families — and building a system where every voice matters and every student can thrive.”

Apart from her USBE role, Hart currently works as executive director of Summit Academy, a K-12 charter in Bluffdale. She has more than 20 years of education experience, ranging from teacher to principal, according to a news release. She earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Valdosta State University in Georgia and has received the Utah PTA Outstanding School Administrator Award.

Hart won her second bid for the District 7 USBE seat — which covers the southeast portion of Salt Lake County — last November. She defeated Democratic challenger John Arthur with 52% of the vote.

She succeeds Sydnee Dickson, Utah’s current state superintendent, who announced in January that she plans to resign at the end of June. Dickson has been overseeing Utah’s public K-12 education system for the last nine years.

Hart will officially begin her duties June 2, allowing for a period of overlap with Dickson to ensure a smooth transition, USBE officials previously told The Salt Lake Tribune.

During the interview process Wednesday, Hart was asked about holding USBE employees accountable and managing the demands of the Legislature, among other questions.

Hart emphasized the importance of setting clear expectations, providing consistent feedback and maintaining high standards. She discussed the need for better compliance and accountability within USBE, particularly when it comes to school construction after a legislative audit released Tuesday found the board has failed to fulfill its oversight responsibilities.

She also argued that improving student achievement should focus on individual student needs.

“[It’s] important that every student in Utah gets an opportunity for a high, high quality education,” Hart told the board Wednesday afternoon. “I want an education system that is excellent.”

Hart was in the running for the position Wednesday alongside L. Ben Dalton, who has served as the superintendent of Kane County School District since 2016. The two were selected as finalists last week among 22 applicants for the position.

To fill Hart’s soon-to-be vacant seat, Gov. Spencer Cox will need to appoint a successor from the same political party as Hart, according to Utah code.

Because Hart is a Republican, the Republican Party’s state central committee will submit three names for the governor to choose from to fill the vacancy, USBE officials said. The appointed person will then serve the remainder of Hart’s term, which runs through 2028.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s northern half landed an average snowpack this winter, which helped ease some parts of the region out of a drought that had formed the summer before.

That wasn’t the case in central and southern Utah, which account for more than 40% of the state that is either in severe or extreme drought. However, the near-record-low snowpack in some parts of the state could help draw in monsoonal moisture this summer, potentially easing the drought and some associated impacts, such as wildfire risk.

Despite these differing trends, both northern and southern Utah could be in for an active fire season this summer, said Basil Newmerzhycky, a meteorologist for Great Basin Predictive Services, which helps forecast risk in the state.

“(We’re) definitely looking at a really good potential for a much busier fire season than we’ve had the last two or three years,” he said, standing in front of maps projecting Utah’s expected fire danger over the next three months taped to the side of a firetruck.

This possibility is why state leaders gathered alongside local, state and federal firefighters Tuesday to address the upcoming fire season ahead of the unofficial start of summer.

“I worry that we’ve gotten a little complacent when it comes to — as a public — when it comes to fire danger,” said Gov. Spencer Cox. “We’ve been pretty fortunate the past five years. … That being said, I’m not convinced that’s going to continue — at least the piece of us getting lucky with Mother Nature.”

Utah’s fire outlook

Utah’s fire outlook hasn’t changed much in recent weeks. Fire potential is normal statewide, but southern Utah risks are expected to increase to above-normal by June, as mid- and high-elevation areas that received some precipitation this winter dry out. Newmerzhycky estimates many of those areas could dry out by the first week of June, depending on how many late-season storms form.

Those conditions could last through July across south-central Utah before potentially dropping back to normal statewide by August, according to Great Basin Predictive Services.

Fire risk could drop back to normal because long-range outlooks favor summer monsoon returning to the region by the second half of meteorological summer.

Experts point out there is often a correlation between poor snowpack and productive monsoons, which would benefit southern and central Utah should that come to fruition this summer. However, Newmerzhycky cautioned that more cold and wet storms like the one that passed through the region this weekend could disrupt monsoon timing.

“It’s actually a mixed blessing. It’s good in the short term, but that kind of weather pattern eventually leads to a potential delay of the monsoonal formation,” he said of the recent storm activity. “If we get one or two more cold fronts, some showers and cool temperatures … through the end of May and early June, that could delay the onset of the monsoon.”

It’s even possible that the state could lose out on monsoon moisture, as it did in 2020, something that he calls the “nonsoon.”

Conditions aren’t as dire in northern Utah because of the snowpack, but long-range outlooks suggest parts of the region could miss out on the monsoonal moisture. While it’s not enough for above-normal conditions to emerge, Newmerzhycky added that fires can still consume “tens of thousands of acres” even when conditions are normal in July and August.

“It looks like the way things are staged, everybody gets a little bit — starting with the south and progressively going to the north,” he said, summing up the outlook.

Preparing for a potentially ‘busier’ season

Utah’s wildfire season is off to a slow start. There have been 157 wildfires that scorched 1,086 acres of land since the year began, according to data collected by state and federal firefighting agencies. It follows a few consecutive seasons of less-active fire seasons, largely because firefighters have been able to extinguish most fires before they reached 10 acres.

That’s the good news. The bad news? State and federal land managers say there are plenty of “carryover fuels” from the past two years of productive winters, before this winter’s mixed bag, that they are concerned about.

Most of this year’s largest fires to date are prescribed burns, which were conducted on top of other offseason projects seeking to reduce the state’s fire risks.

“Our crews are still fighting fires, just not the ones that have not started yet,” said Chris Delaney, state fire management officer for the Bureau of Land Management.

However, firefighting agencies are concerned that 86% of this year’s fires to date were determined to be human-caused. They’re calling on people to take steps to reduce human-caused fires as outdoor recreation picks up beginning Memorial Day weekend.

The governor also issued an executive order to prepare for the potentially active season before it starts. Despite federal cuts, he said he expects the state to be “fully staffed” when it comes to fighting fires, while a report that his order calls for will help outline ways to prevent the same types of catastrophic fires that ravaged California in January.

“It really is, ‘Hey, let’s look at everything. Let’s imagine the worst-case scenario and prepare for that,’” Cox said.