Author: Jesse

A rapidly growing and still-uncontained fire that’s already destroyed five buildings in eastern Utah is fast approaching the state line with Colorado.

The fire first broke out on Thursday, north of Utah State Route 46 and southeast of Moab, Utah, and could reach Paradox, Colorado, in Montrose County on Sunday. The fire was 8,925 acres with 0% containment Sunday morning, according to Utah Fire Info, a task force comprising state and federal agencies.

“Yesterday, fire behavior increased dramatically on the northern side of the fire perimeter due to very strong, terrain-driven winds through the Hangdog Creek area,” Utah Fire Info wrote on Facebook.

“As the fire burned north into the 2002 Hangdog Fire scar, fire intensity was reduced and helicopters and airtankers were able to effectively drop water and retardant on the flames.  Fire activity on the southern edge was less active and the fire continues to hold north of Highway 46.”  

Over 300 firefighters, 10 fire engines, three helicopters, a plane, and other resources are being used to fight the fire.

Hot, dry, and windy conditions are complicating the efforts, and Montrose County is already experiencing multiple wildfires in the area.

As of noon on Sunday, firefighters were battling the Sowbelly Fire at 2,251 acres, the South Rim Fire at 3,556 acres, the Wright Draw Fire at 160 acres, and the Turner Gulch Fire at 512 acres, all in or near Montrose County. The cause of those Colorado fires was all determined to be from lightning strikes but the cause of the Deer Creek Fire was still under investigation.

You can see a list of active wildfires in the U.S. here.

In 1848, when the newly arrived Mormon pioneers were ready to harvest their first crop necessary for surviving the coming winter, millions of crickets descended on their fields and gardens, threatening the settlers’ survival. The pioneers responded immediately, doing everything in their power to fight the crickets: stomping on them, burying them in trenches and attempting to drive them away with smoke, fire and loud noises. But no matter how many crickets were destroyed, they kept coming in huge black waves.

Then, in what many considered a miracle, tens of thousands of seagulls from the Great Salt Lake descended on the landscape, devouring the invading insects and saving the harvest and the people. Towards the end of his life, church President Joseph F. Smith recalled how pioneers were “literally preserved from starvation by the welcome visits and persistent efforts in the destruction of the devouring hordes by these beautiful winged saviors.”

Since that historic time, Utahns have honored the seagull, erecting a monument to it on Temple Square in 1913 and making it the official state bird in 1955.

By an ironic turn of fate, today, because of the shrinking Great Salt Lake, it is the seagulls as well as the people who are in danger due to water diversion and drought.

The lake has lost two-thirds of its water and more than half of its surface area. A new scientific report predicts that within the next few years, the lake could reach a point of no return. The lake area, which includes 800 square miles of dry, exposed sediment, releases toxic dust laced with arsenic, mercury and other toxins into the air, which is breathed by every creature who lives in the area — and, if nothing is changed, every creature who will live here in the future. That means that our children and grandchildren and the generations who come after them will be victims of what one source has called “an environmental nuclear bomb.”

While some may consider that an exaggeration, consider the following:

• Pollution from the lake is currently causing significant increases in cardiac and lung disease, cancer and other deleterious diseases, as well as increases in premature births and deaths.
• More disturbing is the research predicting that unless the lake is saved, the entire populace living in proximity to the lake will lose an average of more than two years of longevity! Imagine all 2,800,000 people living along and just beyond the Wasatch Front losing an average of two years of life! That equals 5,600,000 lost years or 56,000 centuries of human life!
• The fallout from the present state of the lake is expected to cause billions of dollars in financial losses, including to tourism, tech, ski, health and other industries as well as to property values and population growth.

Put simply, if we don’t act, as the lake continues to dry up, it will increasingly poison our air, shorten our lives, devastate wildlife, negatively impact business and industry, and leave an irreversible scar on the landscape.

What can we do? According to Brigham Daniels, Director of the University of Utah’s Great Salt Lake Project, “The Great Salt Lake is really presenting a question to us: ‘Which future do we want?’ And because its challenges are caused, by and large, by people, we actually have an opportunity to navigate toward human-led solutions.”

Those solutions include water conservation, better water management, increasing water flow, community awareness and perhaps, especially, every citizen becoming engaged in some way, however modest, in helping to solve the problem.

Fortunately, as the seagulls once saved the people, the people now have the opportunity to save the seagulls (and other birds and living creatures) as well as themselves. One important difference: The seagulls saved the people based on instinct; we can actually choose whether to save the seagulls — and ourselves.

The pioneers once saw the gulls as heaven-sent. Perhaps that was true. But miracles don’t happen without faith, and faith without action is not really faith. July 24 is Pioneer Day. Whether you are a descendant of pioneers or not, whether you believe in miracles or not, believe you can make a difference and do something to save a lake whose future is critical to our future.

Jen Larrick didn’t try to hide the disappointment Saturday night, interrupting her postgame media availability to cast her gaze to the other side of TCO Stadium where the Utah United were celebrating their 1-0 victory over her Minnesota Aurora in the USL W League national semifinals.

“It’s hard to watch them dancing right now,” said the first-year Aurora head coach, whose team finished its season 12-1-2 overall.

“We work so hard to go undefeated and it stings when you lose and don’t get a chance again.”

Instead, it is Utah in its inaugural season who will go on to host defending league champion NC Courage U23 — which defeated Asheville City SC 2-1 in Saturday’s other semifinal — in the national title game on July 19.

A goal by Utah’s Ellie Walbruch in extra time at the end of the first half proved the difference, lifting her team to victory before a crowd of 5,607 gathered on a hazy Eagan night in which the poor air quality from Canadian wildfires necessitated regular hydration breaks.

Aurora defender Charley Boone and her teammates were trying to advance to the franchise’s first national championship game appearance since the team’s inaugural season in 2022.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Boone said. “You can almost taste (a berth in the national championship game). But hopefully this is just fuel for next season.”

Utah — which entered play leading the league in goals — controlled the tempo for much of the first half, keeping the pressure on Minnesota goalkeeper Taylor Kane and the Aurora defense.

“I think we started a little junkier than I anticipated,” Larrick said. “We’re used to this home crowd, so usually it rattles the other team a little more than it rattles us. But we were a little off during the first 10 minutes.”

Yet, Aurora forward Ava Westlund started to assert herself as play went on, firing off a shot from just to the left of United goalkeeper Taylor Rath, then breaking free in front of the Utah net before Rath stepped up to make another save.

“I thought those were our best chances of the night,” Larrick said. “On a different day, I think Westy puts at least one of those, if not two, away. But they’re people. They’re humans and she was giving us all she can.”

That meant it was Walbruch who scored first, beating Kane to the ball and driving it into the net to put the United up by a goal at halftime. It marked just the second goal the Aurora had surrendered at home all season.

“I’m not going to lie, it was hard to have that happen right before halftime,” Boone said. “But we tried to use that as fuel going into the (second) half.”

The goal meant the Aurora found themselves trailing, a position in which a team that had allowed just four goals all season entering Saturday’s game, hasn’t found itself in very often.

“It’s definitely a bit of a mental battle,” Boone said. “You go from being level with a team to being below them a little bit, so it’s always in the back of your mind that you have to score. The pressure is on.”

Yet Minnesota did not go quietly, continuing to create opportunities — including three shots that sailed high of the net in extra time. But Boone and company could not find a way to get the ball past Rath.

“We were building,” Boone said. “I think if you gave us another five minutes, we would have created a few more chances for ourselves. We just ran out of time.”

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Rudy Gobert won three Defensive Player of the Year awards with the Jazz.

The Utah Jazz have been called home by a number of NBA legends and great players throughout their 51 seasons in the Association. This list highlights the two players who have won a Defensive Player of the Year award while playing for the Jazz, Mark Eaton and Rudy Gobert, who each won multiple trophies.

Mark Eaton – 1985, 1989

Eaton was a hulking defensive presence for the majority of his 11-year career, which he spent entirely in Utah. The 7-foot-4, 275-pound lefty blocked more than three shots per game in each of his first seven seasons, including four straight with at least 4.1 bpg from 1984 to 1987. Eaton’s career mark of 3.5 blocks a night is an all-time record, and he also holds the all-time records for total blocks (456) and blocks per game in a season (5.56), achieving both feats during the 1984-85 campaign. That same year, he led the league in blocks for a second consecutive season while pulling down the most defensive boards a night (8.8), culminating in the best average rebounds (11.3) of his career.

Originally drafted in 1979 by the Phoenix Suns, Eaton chose to go back to college until he was selected by the Jazz in the fourth round of the 1982 draft. Although not much of a scorer, the big man was one of the greatest shot-blockers in the history of the sport, as he paced the NBA in blocks four times, all of which came in a five-year span. Eaton was also incredibly durable, appearing in all 82 games on five occasions, including 1988-89, when he won his second DPOY award and made his lone All-Star team. He tallied 6.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks that season and was named to his fifth and final All-Defensive team (three first, two second).

Rudy Gobert – 2018, 2019, 2021

The Jazz made Gobert the 27th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, and the Frenchman rewarded them by becoming one of the best defensive anchors over the last decade or so. Gobert has been a walking double-double in addition to his shot-blocking prowess, averaging at least 12.0 points and 10.7 rebounds in each of his last nine seasons. He led the league in blocks (2.6) in 2017 and total rebounding (14.7) in 2022, and he swatted at least two shots per game in eight consecutive seasons (2015-22). Gobert recorded either a 98 or 99 defensive rating for four straight years from 2015 to 2018, and his 101 rating in 2021 was an NBA-best.

Not only did Gobert earn several individual accolades for his defense, but he was also the backbone of some of the stingiest defenses in the three seasons he won DPOY. Utah ranked first in defensive rating in 2018 (103.0), second in 2019 (105.3) and third in 2021 (107.5) with the French Rejection as the last line of protection. The three-time All-Star has been named to eight All-Defensive teams (seven First) and four All-NBA teams (one Second, three Third) throughout his 12-year career. After winning his fourth career DPOY with Minnesota in 2024, Gobert, along with Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo, have each won the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy a record four times.

AI-assisted summary
• President Trump’s immigration enforcement actions have led to a significant increase in arrests, exceeding the daily rate of the past decade.
• Texas, Florida and California have seen the highest number of arrests, with Florida experiencing a 219% increase in daily arrest rates compared to 2024.
• While arrests have risen sharply, the administration’s impact on deportation rates remains to be seen.

As President Donald Trump continues his mission to carry out the biggest mass deportation in history, multiple reports show how much daily immigration enforcement arrests have ballooned nationwide.

The administration has set its sights on deporting 1 million people annually, which would more than double the annual peak set during the Obama administration that helped earn him a critical reputation of “deporter in chief.”

Trump’s directives to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand its deportation efforts have led to widespread protests, more assaults on federal officers and multiple legal battles.

A Reuters analysis of ICE and White House data shows the national daily arrest rate has doubled under the Trump administration compared to the last decade. A New York Times analysis of obtained data shows average daily arrest rates have more than doubled in 38 states compared to the 2024 rate.