The state of Utah has seen its first decline in homelessness in recent state history. The Governor’s Office made the announcement on Tuesday.
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.”
A federal court in Utah last week stopped an attempt from a kratom manufacturer to block the state’s new kratom regulation law.
SALT LAKE CITY — A federal court in Utah last week stopped an attempt from a kratom manufacturer to block the state’s new kratom regulation law. With the challenge rejected, the law went into effect on May 6.
On May 4, U.S. District Judge Howard C. Nielson Jr. denied a request from the Global Kratom Coalition and kratom manufacturer Botanic Tonics LLC to stop enforcement of Utah’s Kratom Regulation Act, according to a release from the Utah Attorney General’s Office.
The law, passed by the state Legislature this year, bans the sale of high-concentration kratom extracts and kratom products mixed with other substances. This includes drinks like Feel Free from Botanic Tonics, which was previously sold across Utah.
“Stores across Utah were selling kratom mixed with other substances, with no real regulation and no real accountability. The Legislature said enough. We defended that decision in court, and we won,” said Attorney General Derek Brown, per a release from his office.
Under the new law, only pure kratom leaf can be purchased in Utah, and it can only be sold in certain shops to people who are 21 or older. The law was sponsored in the Legislature by Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork.
“I’ve personally spoken with multiple individuals who tried Feel Free thinking it was something like a five-hour energy and ended up addicted,” McKell told the Deseret News. “It’s no surprise Botanic Tonics challenged Utah’s new kratom law. They know their product is hurting families, yet continue to promote it anyway.”
In the case, the plaintiffs argued that Utah’s statute is overridden by federal law. The court disagreed with the argument and found that states hold the power to ban specific products within their borders.
“As a state, we will not tolerate products like this getting into the hands of our youth and unsuspecting adults who have no idea the damage it can cause,” McKell wrote. “The courts got it right on this one, and we will continue to legislate if necessary.”
Following their failure in court, the plaintiffs filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit on May 5. The law will remain in effect during the appeal litigation, according to the Utah Attorney General’s Office.
What is kratom?
Kratom comes from Mitragyna speciosa, a tropical tree that grows in Southeast Asia. The leaves are used in a variety of products such as teas, gummies, energy drinks, powders and more.
Based on dosage, the substance can have both sedative and stimulating effects, and some people use it for pain management. Kratom leaf contains two main psychoactive ingredients: 7-hydroxymitragynine, better known as 7-OH, and mitragynine.
As previously reported by the Deseret News, as many as 1 in 8 people who start taking kratom will become dependent on it. This is similar to the number of people who drink alcohol and become addicted, according to the report.
The FDA has not approved kratom for any medical use. Manufacturers, retailers and users say that kratom can be a remedy for everything from pain, cough and depression to diarrhea, addictions and more.
When kratom is sold as high-concentration extracts or in compounds with other substances, there are potency and safety risks. Each state has its own rules and regulations when it comes to regulating kratom. There are also some states such as Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin that have banned the substance altogether.
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.
Guardsman Pass is now open for the summer, and the breathtaking scenic byway is calling your name! Nestled just south of Tri-County Peak, where Summit, Wasatch, and Salt Lake Counties meet, Guardsman …
Guardsman Pass is now open for the summer, and the breathtaking scenic byway is calling your name! Nestled just south of Tri-County Peak, where Summit, Wasatch, and Salt Lake Counties meet, Guardsman …
The bottom line? A Heat Dome will continue to settle over Utah through midweek, bringing widespread well-above average temperatures and dry conditions.
The bottom line? A Heat Dome will continue to settle over Utah through midweek, bringing widespread well-above average temperatures and dry conditions.
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.
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
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.
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.
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)
Eugene bodycam 1
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:
Eugene bodycam 2
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.”
Liban Mohamed is the progressive underdog in the race for a House seat but victory at the state party convention offers grounds for optimism …
Liban Mohamed, a 27-year-old son of Somali immigrants, is headed into a high-stakes Utah Democratic primary in June after narrowly winning the state party convention last month with 51% of the vote in what was seen as an upset for the party’s political establishment.
The sudden emergence of an unknown progressive candidate in Utah has exposed a growing divide within the state’s Democratic party, one that mirrors a broader tension across the national party between its moderate establishment and a younger, more progressive wing.
Mohamed defeated former congressman and former Salt Lake county mayor Ben McAdams, a well-funded candidate he will face again on the ballot. In Utah, candidates can reach the primary ballot either by winning the convention or by gathering enough signatures, and all four candidates, including Mohamed, McAdams, state senator Nate Blouin and attorney Michael Farrell, qualified through signatures.
The candidate, who previously worked in public policy at Meta and TikTok, said his rise reflected growing frustration with what many voters see as a failure to represent working-class and immigrant communities. “The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result,” Mohamed said. “Utahns are willing to take a risk on hope over the certainty of the status quo.”
Born in a small town in Utah, he draws parallels between his family’s refugee experience and the history of the state’s Latter-day Saint, or Mormon, community, which has a legacy of religious persecution in America.
“In a lot of ways, many people here see themselves as refugees,” Mohamed said. “So when they see families coming from places like where mine came from, seeking asylum, they have a soft place in their hearts.”
His victory came amid controversy surrounding other candidates in the race. Blouin, once a top contender and a former Bernie Sanders staffer, faced backlash after resurfaced online posts included jokes about sexual assault, slurs and comments denigrating members of the Mormon faith. Blouin has since apologized and told the convention that he is reckoning with his past mistake. Meanwhile, the Salt Lake City council member Eva Lopez Chavez was accused of unwanted sexual advances by multiple people, allegations she has denied. She was eliminated in the first round of voting.
Mohamed’s rise also comes at a pivotal moment in Utah politics after years of legal battle led by the non-partisan group to reinstate Proposition 4, an anti-gerrymandering initiative. The state’s first congressional district was redrawn after the state supreme court struck down Republican-drawn maps in a landmark anti-gerrymandering ruling early this year, creating a more compact, Democratic-leaning seat centered on Salt Lake county that is widely diverse, young and largely progressive-leaning.
“This district is not what most people think,” Mohamed said in a phone interview. “We have 60,000 refugees, 60,000 Muslims, and nearly 120,000 people from the Latinx community.”
His candidacy also reflects broader Democratic momentum nationwide, with many in the Utah Democratic establishment called it another “Mamdani moment”. But despite the convention win, Mohamed remains largely an underdog in Utah. He is still polling in the single digits, while both McAdams and Blouin hold double-digit leads and significant fundraising advantages.
For Mohamed, the decision to run came amid a renewed immigration crackdown under the second Trump administration and a period of heightened tension with Somali communities in the midwest. In Minnesota, federal immigration operations intensified under what officials called Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale enforcement effort that deployed thousands of agents to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area and sparked national outrage after multiple deadly encounters involving federal officers.
Trump had repeatedly targeted Ilhan Omar, the only Somali American member of Congress, amplifying rhetoric that many Somali Americans viewed as hostile. At the same time, online content accusing members of the Somali community of fraud circulated widely by rightwing YouTubers, further fueling tensions. “I had to ask myself, do I stand up and fight back with full strength, knowing it could bring more attention to our district and potentially bring ICE here faster?” he said. “That moment made me realize what this is about. It’s finding a leader hopeful enough to fight when the time is right, but careful enough to do what’s best for the community.”
“I was flooded with more than 40,000 anti-immigrant, Islamophobic messages,” he said. “There were people who were scared, and maybe even shocked, that a 27-year-old Somali American, the son of immigrants, in Utah of all places, would believe he belongs in Congress.”
Despite that response, Mohamed said Utah itself was not the problem, but the state’s politics. “Our politics and our representation are not reflecting the true values we possess,” he said.
With the primary quickly approaching, the candidate is hoping a groundswell of voters will stitch together a winning coalition.
“We have first-time delegates, young people, refugees, immigrants, working-class people, and longtime community members organizing to deliver a huge upset,” he said. “People continue to discount us. But at the end of the day, community prevails. It’s the people who vote, not the dollars you spend.”
Even if the data center isn’t as dreadful as feared — or if it never is actually built — the stench attached to the rushed and secret political process will take a very long time to dissipate, writes …
Even if the data center isn’t as dreadful as feared — or if it never is actually built — the stench attached to the rushed and secret political process will take a very long time to dissipate, writes …
For the third straight game, TCU leaned on pitching depth, timely defense and a bullpen that refused to let Utah back into the weekend. The result was a complete Big 12 sweep and one of the Frogs’ …
TCU baseball did not just win a series this weekend. The Horned Frogs found a formular that can travel into the postseason.
For the third straight game, TCU leaned on pitching depth, timely defense and a bullpen that refused to let Utah back into the weekend. The result was a complete Big 12 sweep and one of the Frogs’ most important momentum-building stretches of the season. Let’s take a look at this Mother’s Day performance.
How TCU’s Bullpen Took Over the Weekend
It was a beautiful performance from the TCU bullpen, which was much needed as Zack James struggled in his start today. The Horned Frogs’ relievers threw 5 2/3 scoreless and dominant innings to help TCU hold on to a 4-3 win over Utah and earn the series sweep. The victory marks the ninth straight win at Lupton Stadium.
Like yesterday, the Utes struck first, jumping out to an early lead in the second inning with a pair of runs on four hits. However, with runners on the corners and one out, Zack James locked in and was able to limit the damage with a critical strikeout for out number two. He then got a ground ball to end the inning.
The Frogs would not be stopped for long, as Chase Brunson led off the bottom half of the inning with a base hit. He then advanced and moved to third on a Nolan Traeger double. The Frogs would then take advantage with the bases loaded and only one out. Jack Bell was able to work the count and earn a walk to cut the lead in half. Then Preston Gamster delivered a base hit to tie the game at two.
The Frogs nearly added more damage in the inning, but a very impressive diving catch on Colton Griffin’s line drive resulted in a sacrifice fly as Noah Franco scored to give the Frogs a 3-2 lead.
Then we headed to the third, where both teams traded runs. Utah tied the game at three in the third with a leadoff home run. That would be it for the Utes in the inning. However, the Frogs struck again as Sawyer Strosnider led off with a double in the bottom of the frame. Chase Brunson also managed to get on base, and he and Strosnider executed a perfect double steal, putting them both in scoring position. Then Rob Liddington’s grounder drove in Strosnider, giving the Frogs a 4-3 lead.
The Horned Frog defense was everywhere in this game and came up big in the next two innings as they turned an inning-ending double play. Then Nate Stern came in and shut Utah down. He entered after a one-out walk and got the double play to get out of the inning. Stern then got into a bind in the fifth with the bases loaded and only one out due to three walks. Again, Stern came up big and escaped on another double-play ball. Stern pitched 2.2 innings, allowing no runs, no hits, three walks, and two strikeouts.
The Frogs would then turn to Mason Brassfield, who was lights out again, keeping Utah scoreless. He threw two innings, allowing no hits, no runs, one walk, and one strikeout. Utah had no answers despite being down only one run late in the game.
And finally, the Horned Frogs turned to their closer, Tanner Sagosupe, who earned his second save of the series, allowing no hits, no runs, no walks, and one strikeout. The duo of Mason Brassfield and Tanner Sandridge allowed just one baserunner over the final three innings to earn the win. Sagouspe retired all three batters he faced to capture his fifth save of the year.
It was an all-around great game and series for the Frogs, and they are trending in the right direction. The question remains: can they stay consistent?
Next Up For The Frogs
With the sweep, TCU baseball improves to 32-18 overall and 16-11 in Big 12 play, putting the Horned Frogs in position to make a late push up the conference standings.
Now comes the real test
TCU heads to Morgantown for its final regular-season road series against ranked West Virginia, a team currently sitting near the top of the Big 12 standings after taking a series from Kansas this weekend. The Frogs have not won a series in Morgantown since 2021.
If TCU’s bullpen continues pitching the way it did against Utah, the Horned Frogs may suddenly become one of the more dangerous teams entering the postseason.
Game 1 is scheduled for Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
Follow along with fellow Frogs on the fan forum at KillerFrogs.com
