Author: Jesse

Utah Senate President Stuart Adams warned that if the state fails to respond to a recent court ruling that limited legislative changes to citizen initiatives then Utah could become the next “Petri dish of America.”

Adams predicted that lawmakers will draft language for another constitutional amendment before the 2026 election cycle to work around the Utah Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Legislature’s limited ability to reform citizen ballot initiatives.

“The people in Utah that are elected ought to be making decisions for people in Utah,” Adams, R-Layton, told reporters on Tuesday.

How did we get here?

In July, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that the Utah Constitution prohibits lawmakers from altering the results of citizen-led ballot initiatives that reform the government unless the changes are narrowly tailored to meet a compelling government interest.

In September, the state’s highest court upheld a decision from a 3rd District Court judge that voided “Amendment D,” a ballot initiative crafted by legislative leadership that would have amended the Utah Constitution to allow lawmakers to amend or repeal citizen initiatives in all cases.

But the Utah Legislature is far from ready to cede their ability to amend laws passed via ballot initiative.

Is Utah becoming more like Oregon?

Adams insisted that continuing with the court decision would undermine the state’s republican form of government and would set the state on a path to becoming like California and Oregon.

Adams recounted a conversation he had with the Democratic senate president of Oregon, where a ballot initiative decriminalizing hard drugs wreaked havoc for four years before the legislature stepped in last year with a recriminalization law.

Oregon’s citizen initiative policy made it “the Petri dish of America,” this lawmaker reportedly told Adams. “Every crazy idea in America is passed with an initiative in Oregon,” Adams said.

Citizen initiatives are often driven by activist groups from other states, Adams pointed out. The 2020 Oregon initiative that legalized the possession of all drugs was funded by an organization from New York City.

“Out-of-state companies coming in and running initiatives like that are destroying states,” Adams said.

Another constitutional amendment

Other states have attempted to prohibit foreign influences on ballot initiatives. But these laws have been held up by court challenges on First Amendment grounds, according to Sen. Kirk Cullimore, R-Draper.

Passing this kind of restriction on special interests through a constitutional amendment before all Utah voters could put it on stronger legal footing, Cullimore said.

Voters can only vote on a constitutional amendment during a presidential election year. Adams said he isn’t sure whether the Legislature will pass a bill to place another constitutional amendment on the ballot this session or next.

The last time lawmakers attempted to amend the state Constitution to allow changes to all citizen-led ballot initiatives, the effort was struck down because of misleading language and the failure to adequately advertise the amendment.

“We have served the people well, and I’m just really concerned that out-of-state groups will come in and spend the money and destroy all that we’ve done here,” Adams said.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Connor Ingram made 23 saves and Olli Maatta scored his first goal for the Utah Hockey Club in a 5-2 victory over Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.

Logan Cooley, Barrett Hayton, Matias Maccelli and Clayton Keller also scored to help Utah win its second consecutive home game. Hayton, Josh Doan and Nick Schmaltz each had two assists.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 shots for Winnipeg. Nino Niederreiter and Dylan DeMelo scored in the third period as the Jets avoided their second shutout loss of the season.

Keller headed to the dressing room a minute into the second after a shot from teammate Michael Kesselring deflected high and struck him in the face. Keller returned, with swelling and a cut above his eye, with 4:40 left in the period.

He helped set up Maatta’s drive 40 seconds later that put Utah on the board. Cooley extended the lead on a breakaway with 17.9 seconds remaining in the second.

Hayton and Maccelli each scored early in the third to make it 4-0 before Niederreiter and DeMelo scored 3:16 apart to cut the deficit in half with 8:12 left.

Keller capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 2:05 remaining.

Takeaways

Jets: Played their first road game in January after opening 2025 with eight straight at home.

Utah: Tough defense carried Utah, which allowed one shot on goal over the first 10 minutes and kept Winnipeg off the scoreboard until almost midway through the third period.

Key moment

Maatta and Cooley scored 3:42 apart late in the second to spark an offensive surge for Utah.

Key stat

Utah is averaging 3.8 goals over its last four games.

Up next

Winnipeg visits Colorado on Wednesday, while Utah plays at Minnesota on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah captain Clayton Keller went to the locker room a minute into the second period against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night after a puck struck him the face.

A shot from teammate Michael Kesselring got deflected high and the puck struck Keller. He immediately ripped off his helmet, skated off the ice, and headed straight to the locker room.

Keller eventually returned to the ice with 4:40 left in the second with swelling and a cut above his eye. He assisted on Utah’s first goal of the game 40 seconds later and added an empty-netter late in the 5-2 win over the Jets.

“I got lucky,” said Keller, who sported a dozen stitches and a bruised eyelid following the game. “It didn’t catch my eye. It was so fast, you don’t feel much. But I tried to look through my eye and I knew I could, so I wasn’t really too worried after that.”

His quick return and toughness shifted momentum in Utah’s favor and led to a second straight home victory to cap a seven-game homestand.

“Coming back without hesitation, without a doubt in his head — that was great,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said.

Keller has 10 goals and 20 assists over his last 22 games. He had a goal and three assists in Utah’s 4-2 win over St. Louis on Saturday, matching his NHL career high with four points. Keller leads the expansion club in points (50) and assists (34) this season.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Frostbite is more than just feeling cold when you are outdoors during the winter. It is a condition that will cause more problems than a pair of gloves can correct.

The University of Utah Hospital, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Mayo Clinic and other medical centers warn that frostbite can affect any area of the body, but hands, feet, nose, ears, and any other extremities that have been exposed to cold temperatures are at a greater risk for the injury. After a long period of time in the cold, tissue in the body can start to freeze, causing frostbite.

Chances are, you have experienced the first stage of the condition, referred to as frostnip: numbness in your fingers, for example, and/or tingling and pain and redness where the exposure took place. If you have ever had the pain and tingling feeling after the numbness goes away, you also have experienced the first stage.

The hope is, however, not to experience stages 1 through 4, which include blisters, tissue damage and amputations. Covering up and keeping warm can help keep these stages at bay, according to medical professionals.

“I feel like a lot of people forget about frostbite in the winter. We go off skiing and enjoy our time,” said Dr. Giavonni Lewis, medical director for the University of Utah Burn Center, where frostbite cases are typically treated. “What we tend to recommend is for everyone to bundle up as much as possible.”

Lewis spoke to reporters regarding the dangers of frostbite on Friday morning, where she and Dr. Irma Fleming, a surgeon in the University of Utah Hospital Burn Center, spoke of the ways one gets frostbite, as well as how to be aware of the symptoms and know who is at risk

More about frostbite:

Symptoms

• Pain, tingling, burning, numbness or aching.

• Skin that is paler than normal, cold and hard.

• Redness or pain.

• A white or grayish-yellow skin area.

• Skin that feels abnormally firm or waxy.

• Blisters in the first 24 hours.

While frostbite can affect any part of the body, it most commonly affects:

If you or someone you know experience any symptoms, contact your doctor immediately.

Source: University of Utah Hospital and the Mayo Clinic

While people accustomed to cold weather may practice putting on hats, gloves, scarves and thermal pants when they leave the house in the winter, those new to the cold weather may have the biggest problems, Lewis said. Those bright, sunny days can be deceiving to people from other parts of the country who equate sunshine and blue skies with warmer weather and less covering up of appendages.

The population with the highest risk for frostbite, however, are not skiing tourists or new Utah transplants but those living in homelessness.

At the moment, every shelter in Salt Lake County is at capacity, but during “code blue” warnings, when the temperature is expected to be 18 degrees Fahrenheit or below — including wind chill — for at least two hours, capacity for the homeless can expand, said Tricia Davis Winter, director of the Office of Homeless Services.

State law also requires that efforts are made to speak with anyone living unsheltered in the county about the dangers of the decreasing temperatures and the ability to stay indoors during the code blue warning. While it may seem difficult to reach everyone, experienced outreach teams, websites, social services agency staff and shelter employees and volunteers speak to as many people as possible about the code blue, Davis Winter said.

Although expectations of 18 degrees can trigger a code blue message, doctors note that their medical reporting highlights 32 degrees as the potential frostbite temperature. Fleming spoke of the complexities with that: If someone is wet while in the wintry outdoors, including in the feet, the temperature does not need to reach the freezing point. Higher temperatures can also invite frostbite if one is cold and sweating, she said.

She strongly suggests that if you or anyone you know — children included — suspect frostbite, contact a medical professional so they can take a look at it and determine treatment.

“Lucky for us, we support five states, so even if you’re not here in the Salt Lake area … we can always give pointers about care,” Fleming said.

Inside a sporting complex just off of West Temple in South Salt Lake, laughter and the thud of soccer cleats engulf the space.

“Block her, block her!” yelled #SheBelongs head coach Marli Berg. Throughout the hourlong practice, her soccer buddy Knox — her baby boy, just a few months old — was propped on her hip.

It’s been a year and a half since #SheBelongs – a Utah girls soccer team where half of the players are refugees – embarked through three continents to compete against local refugee soccer clubs.

Now, an all-new group of girls are preparing for a similar trip in June, for the organization’s Global Cup in Madrid against other developing #SheBelongs teams from Washington, D.C., India, Germany and Japan.

Practices, usually held on Friday or Saturday, all start the same – technical exercises disguised as icebreakers to get through the “quiet” between the 15-to-18-year-old girls, Berg said.

“Some of them have never played soccer before,” Berg said, noting that the team had just started training in September. These icebreakers, she said, “[push] them a little.”

“Especially if that’s the first thing we do and we’re a little awkward,” said Aroosa Khurram, 16, with a laugh. “It can get us to open up.”

Madyson Fuimaono was the first of her teammates to arrive at a recent Friday evening practice, already wearing her turquoise cleats. It’s her fourth year on a club team, Fuimaono said, adding that she joined #SheBelongs not only to grow her athletic skills but to create “connections.”

“To be able to just come together over a game,” Fuimaono said, “it’s like being able to see [that], in the world, we can just come together with a simple thing like soccer.”

The best part of practice comes in the last half hour, said Berg, where the teens “just play.”

“The minute you put a soccer ball out here, look how much more energy and life came out,” she said, watching from the bleachers as the girls scrimmage.

Berg said her love for soccer began when she was 4, when her parents put her in the sport to burn off her “100 mile per hour” energy. “Nothing’s changed,” Berg said, who splits her time among three soccer teams – Utah Avalanche Soccer Club, SLCC’s Women’s Soccer and Refugee Soccer (#SheBelongs’ parent organization).

“Without a doubt,” Berg said, #SheBelongs has been the highlight of her coaching career.

“Obviously, soccer is my passion. It’s my love,” Berg said, but “seeing their success,” from their first day to their last, has made the experience “just so fun.”

“Let me [be] the minuscule, minuscule part of their path,” said Berg. “Dust on [their] way to success.”

‘A second family anywhere I go’

It was a rainy July in Auckland, New Zealand, when the #SheBelongs team huddled at a local park’s soccer field. Still reeling from a match loss in Tokyo, the players listened to Berg as she, through her routine pep talk, cracked jokes.

Aliyah Bugingo, one of the gathered players, said she remembers that moment whenever she looks at her Instagram – a photo that captures her “favorite” game is pinned on her profile.

“I realized in that moment … that I have a second family anywhere I go,” said Bugingo, 18.

Months later, on the field at Taylorsville High for her first high-school soccer practice, she said the atmosphere felt off. Bugingo said she remembered thinking, “this is not my team.”

As a player for the inaugural #SheBelongs team, Bugingo spent two weeks traveling through San Francisco, Australia, Tokyo and Auckland. Before the trip, engagements with media and state officials, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, filled her time.

The bond that grew between Bugingo and the 21 other players is one she said she’s not sure she will experience again.

“I always knew that I had a sister on my side of me,” said Bugingo, her “closest” friends made while on the team.

For Khurram, who left Pakistan as a refugee and has lived in Utah since 2017, the team signals belonging.

Khurram gestured towards her teammates at a recent December practice, and said, “here, I feel like everyone can get together, no matter their background.”

Those feelings were furthered, she said, at a recent holiday party, where each player brought food from their culture. Khurram said she and her mom brought store-bought samosas, which were an instant hit with everyone.

“It’s just a big family,” she said. “Even though we haven’t known each other for so long.”

Bugingo was a year old when her family left the Democratic Republic of Congo for Ethiopia. When she was 8, she moved to Utah, a place where she didn’t feel “in tune” with her own refugee community.

Joining the #SheBelongs team was the first time, she said, she felt like she didn’t have to change to fit in.

“Going to school, making friends was really hard because I didn’t feel like I belonged in any kind of way — because either my English was not really good, or I didn’t understand their culture,” Bugingo said. “I had to change myself – physically and mentally – to fit the aesthetic of a Utah student.”

Besides wearing the team’s apparel “24/7,” Bugingo said she has sought for others not to “feel the same type of pain.”

“I carry that with me,” said Bugingo of the program’s message. “To make everybody feel [like they] belong.”

A note to readers • To help pay for the #SheBelongs Global Cup, the group is selling 12 prints from Salt Lake Tribune political cartoonist Pat Bagley, featuring an image of education advocate and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai. The prints, each signed by Bagley and Yousafzai, can be purchased at the group’s website, shebelongs.org/malala.

The 265th edition of the BYU-Utah basketball rivalry had its share of heroes from the team wearing red.

Thanks to the efforts of Ezra Ausar, Lawson Lovering and Hunter Erickson — and key contributions from other Runnin’ Utes — Utah was able to win a 73-72 thriller in overtime on Saturday night at the Huntsman Center.

It was a game where free-throw shooting ended up being a primary factor, and one where Utah’s identity it has forged during a three-game winning streak — attacking the paint — played out in its favor.

While the Utes went 17 of 32 from the free-throw line, far from the type of efficiency Utah would like to see from the line, that was much better than BYU’s 4 of 10 shooting from the charity stripe.

In a way, Ausar, Lovering and Erickson all had their own free-throw stories to tell from the Utah victory, and it was spurred by their ability to help the Utes win the battle in the paint against the Cougars.

“That’s the glass half empty,” Utah coach Craig Smith said, of the high number of free throws the team missed. “The glass half full is at least we got to the free throw line 32 times, and we made 17.

“Two weeks ago, there was no chance we’re going to make 17 free throws in a game because we wouldn’t get fouled. But we’re playing a different brand now. We’re getting to the line more, we’re attacking more. We’re just playing with way more force, and it’s big boy basketball. And that was a big boy basketball win.”

Ausar, Lovering and Erickson led that “big boy basketball” mentality against BYU.

Ezra Ausar

Ausar had easily his most impactful game as a Ute, scoring a season-high 26 points, just two of his career-high of 28 last season when he was at East Carolina.

The 6-foot-8 junior forward shot 11 of 15 from the floor, as well as 4 of 8 from the free-throw line.

He also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

After scoring two points in the first half, Ausar had 21 in the second half and three more in overtime.

He scored 12 of those points alone during a 16-4 run where Utah turned a 35-27 deficit into a 43-39 lead.

Ausar scored on a wide-open dunk in the final minute of regulation when Gabe Madsen drove then kicked to Ausar for the slam. That play gave Utah a 63-62 lead.

He rebounded a BYU miss on the next possession and was fouled, then hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it a two-point game.

The Cougars responded with a short jumper from Fousseyni Traore, forcing overtime.

Ausar then scored Utah’s first three points of the extra session.

In the final minute of overtime, with Utah trailing by one, he poked the ball away from Richie Saunders, and that led to a possession where Hunter Erickson was fouled, then hit two free throws to give the Utes the lead back.

It’s also an encouraging sign given the context of Utah’s two wins last week. In the Utes’ 73-65 victory over TCU on Wednesday, fellow forward Keanu Dawes scored 16 points and had two critical defensive plays in the final minute — one a block, and another a steal — as Utah held off a TCU comeback.

Lawson Lovering

The 7-foot Lovering was a physical force for Utah in the paint, setting the tone inside from the get-go.

When Utah went on a 16-4 run early in the second half, he had four points in that stretch and also proved to be a menace on the defensive end.

Lovering ended the night with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

It’s the latest in an impressive run of games for the senior big man, who’s been integral in each of Utah’s games during its three-game win streak.

The only negative in his game Saturday night was his free-throw shooting — Lovering was 5 of 11 as BYU employed a Hack-a-Shaq philosophy, daring him to make the Cougars pay from the free-throw line.

The idea worked more than it didn’t — that included Lovering missing two free throws in overtime, and on the year, he’s shooting 42.6% from the line.

Lovering, though, was still a handful for BYU to deal with, and he played much of the second half and overtime with four fouls without fouling out — a sign of learning from the center.

Hunter Erickson

Erickson, the former BYU guard whose college career has taken him from Provo to a year at Salt Lake Community College to now two seasons at Utah, came up in several clutch moments for the Utes against his former team.

His first points of the game came on a 3-pointer with 9:39 left in regulation, and was a direct response to a BYU 3-pointer moments earlier. That play gave Utah a 53-48 lead.

Then in overtime, Erickson was as assertive as he’s been all year.

When Utah was struggling to score in overtime as it clanked several free throws, Erickson drilled a 3-pointer with 2:08 on the clock that made it a 70-70 game. He confidently stepped back and made the shot with BYU’s Dallin Hall on defense.

Then in the final minute, Erickson again was assertive, scoring the Utes’ final three points, all from the free-throw line.

First, he was fouled with 47 seconds left and Utah trailing by two.

Erickson made the first shot from the charity stripe, but with the chance to tie the game, he airballed the second attempt.

That was his first free-throw miss since mid-November — Erickson is an 87.5% free throw shooter this year, on 16 attempts.

Erickson, though, got the chance for redemption.

After Ausar forced a turnover, Utah again had possession and the chance to take the lead. Erickson again drove into the lane and was fouled.

This time, he nailed both free throws.

Erickson finished the night with nine points, two assists, one steal and a rebound while playing 23 minutes.

What’s next

Utah will be tested again this week with a trip to No. 10 Houston on Tuesday, followed by a home matchup against No. 25 Baylor.

The Cougars narrowly avoided an upset against UCF on Saturday, while the Bears were knocked off at home by TCU on Sunday.

A side note from Baylor’s loss: TCU, which Utah beat on the road last Wednesday, rose to No. 73 in the NET NCAA rankings by beating the Bears.

The Utes’ win on the road over the Horned Frogs now qualifies, at least for the moment, now qualifies as a Quad 1 win.