Utah’s Office of Energy Development and nuclear startup Valar Atomics signed a memorandum of understanding on May 16.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox recently announced that the state has partnered with a California startup to bring a nuclear test reactor to the state.
What he didn’t mention is that the state and the company, Valar Atomics, are looking into making the nuclear fuel in Utah, too.
According to a memorandum of understanding obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune through a public records request, Utah’s Office of Energy Development and Valar Atomics “may collaborate to evaluate Valar activating a nuclear test reactor… and TRISO fuel fabrication” at the San Rafael Energy Research Center in Emery County.
Tracy Rees, a public information officer for the Utah Office of Energy Development, added that “this is all the documentation we have at this time.”
“Nuclear reactors need fuel to operate, and the U.S. has been safely operating reactors for decades,” she said.
“The [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] has a robust regulatory framework to ensure public and environmental safety,” Rees continued. “One of the reasons it takes so long to deploy nuclear power is the depth and breadth of our country’s regulatory framework. Any nuclear operations in the state will be subject to NRC regulations.”
The memo is dated May 16, though the governor and Valar Atomics CEO Isaiah Taylor did not announce their partnership until May 23. Also on May 23, President Donald Trump issued executive orders directing the U.S. Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to streamline nuclear reactor testing and fast-track the construction of nuclear power plants.
The fuel that could be made in Utah is called TRISO, which stands for tri-structural isotropic, and was first developed in the 1960s. The Department of Energy calls it “the most robust fuel on Earth” for its inherent safety features. The fuel consists of poppy-seed shaped spheres containing uranium, oxygen and carbon wrapped in layers of carbon and silicon carbide — different from the fuel rods used in traditional nuclear reactors.
Rees said the state and Valar “will be conducting research to verify the safety of nuclear technologies. Like other research efforts, there will be testing and retesting to ensure safety and that technologies are performing as expected.”
Several hazards can arise from manufacturing nuclear fuel, according to the NRC, but “the plant workers have a greater chance of being impacted than the public. These facilities generally pose a low risk to the public.”
The World Nuclear Association, which advocates for the nuclear power sector globally, writes that the mishandling of highly radioactive uranium hexafluoride and the incorrect arrangement of materials that make up nuclear fuel can lead to critical accidents.
According to ESPN insider Shams Charania, Cleveland Cavaliers coach and former Jazz assistant Johnnie Bryant is among the two finalists for the Phoenix Suns’ head coaching vacancy. The other, Jordan …
A former member of the Utah Jazz coaching staff could be preparing to land a major head coaching job.
According to ESPN insider Shams Charania, Cleveland Cavaliers coach and former Jazz assistant Johnnie Bryant is among the two finalists for the Phoenix Suns’ head coaching vacancy. The other, Jordan Ott, is also an assistant on the Cavaliers’ staff.
Both are expected to interview with Suns owner, Mat Ishbia, face-to-face in the coming days in the next stage of the process. So far, new Phoenix general manager Brian Gregory has conducted the team’s interviews, starting with a pool of at least a dozen candidates, along with Devin Booker reportedly having a role in the hiring process as well.
Bryant, 39, started his coaching career as a part of the Jazz staff in 2012, remaining on the sidelines until 2020 before departing to join the New York Knicks’ staff. In 2024, he joined the Cavaliers, inevitably being a part of their impressive 60-plus win regular season campaign this past year.
Jan 2, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (right) warms up with assistant coach Johnnie Bryant prior to the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-Imagn Images / Russ Isabella-Imagn Images
Now, following one year after securing his role in Cleveland, Bryant could become the next head coach of the Suns.
However, it could be an uphill battle for Bryant to win over the favor of Ishbia in these next steps, as Ishbia and Ott have some strong ties with one another due to their connection with Michigan State, but it’s hard to see him making the next stage of the interview process if he didn’t have a real opportunity at winning over the job.
Needless to say, keep an eye on Bryant’s name in the coming days as he looks for his chance at landing the first NBA head coaching gig of his young career.
The Boston Celtics front office just got smaller, with assistant general manager Austin Ainge reportedly taking the open President of Basketball Operations gig for the Utah Jazz. The Celtics exec will …
The Boston Celtics front office just got smaller, with assistant general manager Austin Ainge reportedly taking the open President of Basketball Operations gig for the Utah Jazz. The Celtics exec will reunite with his father Danny, who, after a playing career in Boston got him a pair of titles, would later return as an executive himself, stepping down from the role in Boston in favor of current Celtics president Brad Stevens before taking on his current role as Jazz CEO.
Per the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach, the move came about in a hurry, with no replacement currently planned to join the Celtics’ front office, now helmed by Stevens, vice president of basketball operations Mike Zarren, and assistant general manager Dave Lewin. “They’re family to me,” Ainge said. “The amount of hours we spent, I’ll miss everything. But I’ll still talk to them all the time, just like I do with other people that have left in the past.”
“Nobody’s dying, but I’ll definitely miss working with them every day because they’re friends and also because they’re good,” he added. “They’re really good. The Celtics are in good hands.”
As for working with his father again, the younger Ainge was enthusiastic, noting “we worked for 14 years together in Boston and had a lot of fun and success. It’ll be fun to do it again.”
The Utah Jazz have hired Austin Ainge, son of Danny Ainge, as the President of Basketball Operations for the Utah Jazz. The Jazz held an introductory press conference today, where Ryan Smith sat down …
The Utah Jazz have hired Austin Ainge, son of Danny Ainge, as the President of Basketball Operations for the Utah Jazz.
The Jazz held an introductory press conference today, where Ryan Smith sat down with Austin Ainge as they took questions from the media.
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The press conference was an interesting one, in part because I’m not sure many people were expecting this change. Many of the questions centered on his role within the team. It appears he is the primary decision-maker moving forward (but then Ryan has to approve his decisions, so take that as you will).
It’s an interesting change and will make this offseason especially interesting, especially when you consider the quote that came next.
When asked whether the Jazz will be tanking or manipulating lineups to lose games Ainge replied, “You won’t see that this year.”
It’s a quote that lit up Jazz fans online. Maybe the Jazz are going to do what they can to win right away? Ryan Smith’s body language is interesting with his smirk as the question was answered. Things will certainly be different now, the question is how different. It’s not like before when Dennis Lindsey was put out to pasture. Danny Ainge is still there. He’ll certainly have input, but it appears Austin Ainge is completely in charge of the Jazz’s strategy/direction. There’s also the question of what is Justin Zanik’s input or is he mearly just managing the team in terms of contracts, facilities, and other front office staff? Maybe it’s as simple as that.
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The question now is, how does the team move forward? Perhaps Ryan Smith and company are chomping at the bit to be in the same boat as non-tanking teams like the Chicago Bulls, the Sacramento Kings, and the Phoenix Suns. That certainly seemed the hope as the Jazz wasted two years floundering in the delusion of thinking they were anything more than a late lottery team. Or maybe they’d like to double down on contract and trade choices like sending a pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder to move off Derrick Favors’ contract? You know, the one that could go to the Thunder in a loaded upcoming NBA draft if the Jazz don’t fall to the bottom 8? Or contracts like the one they gave to Jordan Clarkson they’ve been unable to trade for the last three seasons. Or the near-max they just gave to Lauri Markkanen, making him even harder to move. I haven’t even mentioned the big game hunting hopes the Jazz had last offseason when they allegedly went all in on Mikal Bridges, then were hopeful to sign Paul George. Although, in fairness, Paul George, who was not good last year, did shoot better than Lauri Markkanen at 35% from three (Markkanen, whose primary skill is three-point shooting, shot 34% from three while making max money).
We’ll see how things go, but there is some attention to detail that needs added to this front office. The Jazz can enter this offseason and do things the right way by actually leaning into their youth movement, building them as a cohesive unit, and letting them develop together. Or they can continue this route of musical chairs with veterans who should never have received contracts in the first place.
One last thing, the funniest part of this, if the Jazz do start trying to make win-now trades, is that there likely won’t be one there. This is one of the most barren free-agent classes ever. The trade market will be crazy, and Utah would be smart to become a seller. They could reap the rewards by taking advantage of other visionless teams making mistakes. It may happen that way whether the Jazz like it or not.
This is all new, it’s the beginning of another new era of Jazz basketball … again. I’m guessing this move didn’t happen overnight. I also think that Austin Ainge understands how to build a basketball team, and I’m always willing to give the new guy a chance. I justhope this sinking feeling that the Jazz are going to give a pick to the Thunder in a loaded draft because of impatience. Time will tell this offseason, but there’s a lot on the line for the Jazz’s new CEO.
Austin Ainge is the Utah Jazz’s new president of basketball operations, the team announced Monday. While he is the son of Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge, team owner Ryan Smith wanted to make sure everyone …
Austin Ainge is the Utah Jazz’s new president of basketball operations, the team announced Monday.
While he is the son of Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge, team owner Ryan Smith wanted to make sure everyone understood that this was not some nepo baby hire. (Quote via Andy Larson of the Salt Lake Tribune.)
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“Austin will be running the program. He’s got final recommendation to myself on any decisions that need to be made. I think it’s the job of both Justin (Zanik, Jazz GM) and Danny and myself to kind of plug into him.”
Austin Ainge spent 17 years with the Celtics, working in various basketball-related positions, and has been the team’s assistant general manager for the past six years. He earned a ring with them in 2024.
Ainge takes over a very different franchise in a very different position in Utah. The Jazz are rebuilding, and while they have some interesting young talent — including Isaiah Collier, Keyonte George, Kyle Filipowski, and Walker Kessler — they are a long way from being a playoff team. Utah had the worst record in the NBA last season, but fell to the No. 5 pick in the draft lottery. This roster also features some solid veterans who could draw trade interest this offseason, such as Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, and Collin Sexton. Ainge was diplomatic when asked how far the Jazz are from the playoffs.
“You know, it’ll just depend on how these guys develop and what other moves we make, right? It’s a hard thing to predict. I think it’s fair to say we got a lot of work to do.”
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However, when asked about tanking he was more direct.
“You won’t see that this year… If you look at the playoffs and look at all the best players in the NBA, and how many of them went No. 1 — it’s better to have number one, but there’s a lot of other stars that came from all over the draft … it’s not the only way to do it.”
Utah may not tank, but in a ridiculously deep West where very likely at least 13 teams will go in thinking playoffs-or-bust, it could be another rough year for Jazz fans. It’s a fan base accustomed to some level of success, dating back to the Jerry Sloan-coached Malone/Stockton teams, through the Donovan Mitchell/Rudy Gobert era. It’s a fan base that wants to believe.
It just needs a reason to hold on to hope. The Jazz have a strong player development history and a well-respected coach in the recently extended Will Hardy, but they need that player to anchor their future around. It’s now up to the younger Ainge to find that guy.
The former BYU guard has spent the past 17 years as a Boston Celtics executive, including six years as the Celtics’ assistant general manager.
Austin Ainge is following his father from the Boston Celtics to the Utah Jazz.
Ainge, a former BYU basketball standout from 2002-07, was named the Jazz’s president of basketball operations Monday morning.
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He spent the previous 17 years with the Celtics organization in a variety of roles, most recently as the team’s assistant general manager for the past six years.
Ainge will reunite with his father Danny Ainge, who has been the Jazz’s CEO since December 2021 and had previously been a Celtics executive for nearly two decades.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Austin Ainge as our new president of basketball operations,” Jazz co-owner Ryan Smith said in a statement. “Austin is one of the brightest minds in the NBA — his 17 years with the Celtics have given him incredible insight into every part of an organization.
“I’ve known Austin for 15 years, and I’ve watched him grow into an accomplished, innovative, and strategic basketball executive who’s ready to lead this organization.”
“This is an incredible opportunity to lead Utah Jazz basketball operations,” Ainge said in a statement. ”I couldn’t be more excited about the bright future of this organization. I look forward to partnering with Ryan and Ashley Smith and our other leaders within the Utah Jazz and will utilize my experience over the last 17 years building a championship-caliber organization.
“I have lived this my whole life, constantly studying teams, talent, chemistry and the selflessness necessary to win. I look forward to bringing that to Utah and am excited to give Jazz fans a lot to cheer about as we build our program back up.”
The 43-year-old Austin Ainge, who grew up Gilbert, Arizona, spent one season at Southern Utah as an assistant coach following his career at BYU, then jumped into the NBA executive world as a scout for Boston.
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That led to being named the head coach of the Celtics’ G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, for two seasons from 2009-11.
Ainge also previously served as the Celtics’ director of scouting and player personnel and has helped assemble rosters in Boston that have included stars such as Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, while being instrumental in trades that netted players like Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White.
“Austin is experienced, forward-thinking, and laser-focused on building a championship-caliber program. He has been instrumental in every aspect of building great teams — from scouting the best players to constructing a winning roster,” Smith said.
“In this new role leading the Jazz front office, Austin’s ability to identify great talent, scout, and partner with Danny, Justin, and Will and the rest of the front office team will be key. Hiring Austin couldn’t be coming at a better time as we build up as an organization towards our ultimate goal of championship-level basketball.”
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Jazz general manager Justin Zanik will remain in his current role with Ainge’s addition, ESPN reported, as the two will work together.
“Austin is one of the most respected executives in the NBA because of his basketball prowess, experience, and work ethic and I am excited to partner with him on our shared goal of success for the Utah Jazz,” Zanik said in a statement. “Once again, Ryan and Ashley illustrate their commitment to Utah as they strive to build the best franchise in the NBA.”
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) is congratulated by Celtics Assistant General Manager Austin Ainge, center, after scoring a basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Monday, March 29, 2021, in Boston. At left is Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge, Austin’s father. | Charles Krupa
The N.H.L.’s newest hockey team unveiled its official name and mascot: an extinct behemoth with fossils at the American Museum of Natural History. Two players made a pilgrimage.
The N.H.L.’s newest hockey team unveiled its official name and mascot: an extinct behemoth with fossils at the American Museum of Natural History. Two players made a pilgrimage.
In early May, the N.H.L.’s newest team, a year-old Salt Lake City-based franchise provisionally known as the Utah Hockey Club, unveiled its official name and mascot, after considering such options as Black Diamonds, Blast, Blizzard, Canyons, Caribou, Freeze, Frost, Fury, Glaciers, Hive, Ice, Mountaineers, Outlaws, Powder, Squall, Swarm, Venom, and Yeti. Behold: the Utah Mammoth. Skepticism ensued in some quarters (“Are they collectively one mammoth? Like imagine if it was Pittsburgh Penguin,” a Tampa Bay Lightning fan, Chef Boyardipshit, posted on X), but excitement abounded elsewhere, including among paleontologists and mammalogists. (Utah is rich with mammoth fossils.) After the announcement, the Mammoth forward Alex Kerfoot, age thirty, and defenseman Sean Durzi, age twenty-six, travelled to New York City. They showed off their new Mammoth gear on the NHL Network, at a Knicks playoff game, and at the American Museum of Natural History, where they communed with the fossils of their new namesake. Durzi and Kerfoot are both dark-haired, affable, and Canadian. En route to the mammoth exhibit, after getting lightly heckled by a museumgoer in a NASA hat, they were wowed in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs. “I love the museum!” Durzi said, taking a picture of a T. rex skull. “So cool.”
Kerfoot admired a sixty-four-foot skeleton of an Apatosaurus—what laypeople might call a Brontosaurus. “This thing’s huge, eh?” he said.
Durzi turned around. “This was walking the earth at one point,” he said. “Are you kidding me?”
“How many humans, do you think, to take down one of those guys?” Kerfoot asked.
“I don’t even want to—I like these guys,” Durzi said. Hypothetically? “Uh, depends. If it was me? Probably just me.”
“If it was me, it would be probably ten thousand,” Kerfoot said.
“Thirty thousand,” Durzi said.
At the Paul and Irma Milstein Hall of Advanced Mammals, Durzi and Kerfoot met Ross MacPhee, an A.M.N.H. mammalogist emeritus originally from Edmonton. “You didn’t like the dinosaurs, did you?” MacPhee asked, with a specialist’s disdain for other specialties.
“No, no, of course not,” Durzi said. “We’re ready to see the mammoth.”
“I can Photoshop the other brides out.”
Cartoon by Jeremy Nguyen
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“The dinosaurs are smaller than I thought, eh?” Kerfoot said.
The Mammuthus skeleton was mighty, too: nearly fourteen feet tall, flamboyantly curved tusks, femurs the size of hockey sticks. Durzi and Kerfoot beheld it. “In hockey, you want to have a little bit of fierceness as your emblem,” Kerfoot said. Mammuthus fit the bill: “That is what you want in a mascot.” We might imagine big mammals like the mammoth as “being a little bit of a slower animal, which isn’t great for hockey,” he went on. “But we learned yesterday that they can run up to about twenty-five miles per hour, which is almost as fast as Durz.”
“A little bit quicker than me, I would say,” Durz demurred.
MacPhee had a quibble. “That’s over a very short distance,” he said. But N.H.L. players, it was pointed out, take quick shifts, averaging forty seconds.
Since the Trump Administration’s fifty-first-state hullabaloo began, many Canadians, including Mike Myers and Prime Minister Mark Carney, have adopted a hockey term, “Elbows up”—basically, “Back off, buster”—as a rallying cry. The Utah Mammoth, in an unrelated development, chose “Tusks Up” as its slogan. When would Mammuthus have put its tusks up? “In breeding season,” MacPhee said. “Males undergo—these guys wouldn’t know anything about this—there’s hormonal changes. They go nuts, basically. And fighting is part of it.” Quite fitting. He added, “The tusks are also used for digging for water—anything that a shovel at the front of your face could be good for.”
Some hockey teams have incorporated sound effects into their celebratory goal-horn noise—a cannon blast for the Columbus Blue Jackets, a cat’s yowl for the Florida Panthers. Whether trumpeting mammoth noises might join them is “above our pay grade,” Durzi said. MacPhee added that elephants, surely including these extinct varieties, have a huge repertoire of noises, such as “chirp-like sounds”—also fitting for hockey, in which chirping, a.k.a. insulting one’s opponent, is a sport in itself.
Unlike most hockey players, Mammuthus was an herbivore. Dentally, MacPhee said, the mammal grew replacement teeth, back to front, throughout its life. Modern elephants can live sixty or seventy years this way, he said: “They never run out of tooth.”
“We could use that,” Durzi said.
Durzi and Kerfoot had arrived in New York knowing little about mammoths, but that had changed. “Kerf just gave you ‘Mammoths for Really, Really Dumb Dummies,’ ” Durzi chirped. Before they left, he looked up at Mammuthus one more time. “It’s what we are, and, when we’re explaining it to people, we have knowledge about it now,” he said. “Now it’s kind of a part of us.”♦
Utah Valley’s historic run through the NCAA Baseball Tournament came to an end Sunday with a heartbreaking 11-inning 7-6 loss to Cal Poly. Zach Daudet hit a solo home run to lead off the 11th inning …
EUGENE, Ore. (ABC4 Sports) – Utah Valley’s historic run through the NCAA Baseball Tournament came to an end Sunday with a heartbreaking 11-inning 7-6 loss to Cal Poly.
Zach Daudet hit a solo home run to lead off the 11th inning to give the Mustangs the victory. Utah Valley went 1-2 in the NCAA Tournament, earning its first ever postseason win over #12 Oregon on Friday.
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“I feel like this game kind of summed up what our season is,” said UVU head coach Nate Rasmussen. “A bunch of guys getting punched in the mouth and having to come back in and just a lot of toughness. Really proud of the group.”
“I just feel like we were never out of it,” said UVU reliever Cooper Littledike. “That’s just kind of how I saw it. I honestly thought we were still in it. We were one swing away. We were one at bat away one. Just one moment away.”
The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but the Wolverines responded by loading the bases following walks to Joseph Barnhardt and Luke Iverson, along with a single from Jayden Smith. Landon Frei launched a grand slam to left field to put UVU ahead 4-1.
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Cal Poly answered with five runs in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim a 6-4 lead. Cooper Littledike entered in the inning and ended the inning for Utah Valley.
Dominic Longo II trimmed the deficit to 6-5 in the sixth with a solo home run to right field on the first pitch from Chris Downs. In the seventh, Iverson worked his third walk of the game and later scored on Smith’s double down the left-field line, tying the game at 6-6.
In the bottom of the ninth, Cal Poly put runners on first and second with one out, but Alan Huerta got Nate Castellon to fly out. Carston Herman entered with three of the next four batters being left-handed hitters and recorded the final out to force extra innings.
UVU put the go-ahead run on first in the 10th when Longo II walked, but failed to execute a bunt before a pair of flyouts and a caught stealing ended the threat.
Herman struck out the final two batters of the 10th, and after UVU went down in order in the top of the 11th, Daudet homered to right-center to send Cal Poly to the regional final against Arizona.
“Just being a part of this group, the culture change was unbelievable this year,” said Smith. “Something super special, and this was by far the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball in my life.”
“It might feel really, really bad right now, but these guys have a ton to be proud of,” Rasmussen said.
This was Utah Valley’s second NCAA Tournament appearance, and first since 2016 when the Wolverines went 0-2.
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The Wolverines finish 33-29, winning their first WAC Tournament title since 2016.
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Orem native Paxton Schultz recalls his first MLB appearance, and the people in his life who made his baseball journey come true.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Paxton Schultz’s big-league debut on April 20, against Seattle was a bit unconventional as he was summoned from the minors with a simple mission — help preserve a depleted Toronto bullpen against the Mariners following a 12-inning loss the previous night.
Schultz, 27, an Orem, Utah, native who played collegiately at Utah Valley University, did exactly that, allowing just two hits over 4 1/3 innings and striking out eight, tying a major league record for most strikeouts in a debut by a reliever.
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“Everything happened pretty quick. It was 8 o’clock at night (the night before) with Syracuse, our Triple-A team and the manager called me and let me know I would be heading to Toronto,” Schultz said. “Drove to Buffalo, stayed at my apartment there. A car came at 7 o’clock in the morning and picked us up, drove us to Toronto.
“Those are some of the most influential people of my life. I owe so much to them, the sacrifices and all they’ve done for me to be able to be in this position today, I can’t thank them enough.”
Toronto pitcher Paxton Schultz on his family
“Once they told me I was activated, I had a pretty good idea that I was going to be in the game. Second inning rolled around and our starter was in trouble, when I heard that phone ring I just knew. I had all the confidence in the world, especially getting my debut, something you dream of forever. Everything was clicking for me that day, a lot of success.”
And as far as his tying a big-league record, he had no idea until after he’d thrown his final pitch of the day.
“I had no clue about that. I was out there trying to give the team length and help the bullpen for the next series,” Schultz said. “After the game they told me you’d tied a Major League record. That was pretty cool to realize and take it all in.”
From the Beehive State to the Bigs
A 14th-round pick by Milwaukee in 2019, he was traded by the Brewers to the Blue Jays in 2021 and after about six years in the minors, which included a brief stint in Australia, he realized his lifelong dream, the seeds of which were sown early in the Beehive State.
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“Yeah, born and raised in Orem. That’s where I started playing baseball from T-ball all the way through high school,” Schultz said. “Definitely fortunate enough to stay close to home and have that support system until I got drafted and into pro ball.”
Orem’s Paxton Schultz pitches against Olympus, Tuesday, April 7, 2015, in Orem. | Tom Smart, Deseret News
He does remember unique challenges accompanying baseball in a cold-weather state, differences he first noticed during travel ball.
“We would go out of state and play teams from Arizona and Nevada. You could tell they were more polished and could play year-round,” Schultz said. “But I feel like there were some benefits to being able to take a step back. Taking a break to go play football or basketball, that gives you a chance to refine your athleticism. I feel like it helps a lot.”
Taking pride in Utah strides
Schultz takes immense pride in representing Utah each time he takes the mound, but he’s also encouraged to see more players from his state getting drafted and entering pro ball.
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“When I first got into pro ball, there weren’t a lot of guys and looking at it now, it’s cool to see how many more guys (with Utah ties) have been drafted from bigger universities and are playing,” he said. “I feel like the game is growing there and it’s been awesome to be part of that and be one of the few that have made it. It’s something I’ll take great pride in always and be there to help whoever comes up next trying to do it.”
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Paxton Schultz throws a pitch during game against the Texas Rangers, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. | Ronaldo Bolaños, Associated Press
Thus far, Schultz has made five appearances with the Jays, including one start as Toronto’s opener for a May 28 win in Texas. That evening, he pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing one hit and striking out four as the Jays prevailed thanks to Bo Bichette’s first career pinch-hit homer in the eighth to take two of three from the Rangers.
Schultz’s manager, John Schneider, had a simple rationale for giving the Orem native the start.
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“He has that available length, has pitches that can combat righties and lefties. When you’re looking to navigate multiple innings with one guy, you’ve got to have multiple pitches and he has that,” Schneider said pregame.
And when asked what quality Schultz has brought most to his bullpen thus far, Schneider immediately cited length.
“Better stuff than what we thought. We got a quick look at him in spring training, he’s got a really good demeanor, knows where he needs to execute his pitches and he’s done a really good job since he’s been here,” Schneider said. “Him executing whether it’s a cutter at the top of the zone, changeup below, he’s got some pitches and when he’s executing, he’s pretty good.”
A whirlwind debut
Like many big-league debuts, his was a whirlwind, happening so quickly that friends and family couldn’t make it to Toronto in time to see him pitch in the big leagues for the first time in person. However, after he didn’t pitch in the ensuing series in Houston, his supporters made it to New York to see him make his second appearance on April 27.
Toronto Blue Jays’ Paxton Schultz pitches during the third inning against the New York Yankees, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in New York. Some 20 family members and friends made their way to the Big Apple that day to see Schultz make his second MLB appearance. | Pamela Smith, Associated Press
“They all met me in New York at Yankee Stadium and got to see me throw there, which was awesome. I had about 20 family and friends there,” Schultz said. “They all got to congratulate me in person, so that was special. That is what it’s all about (sharing the journey with the people who helped you along the way), especially having my wife and daughter there, it was huge and my dad and my mom were there.
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“Those are some of the most influential people of my life. I owe so much to them, the sacrifices and all they’ve done for me to be able to be in this position today, I can’t thank them enough.”
Schultz is a rookie and among his rookie duties are to lug a bag of snacks to and from the bullpen and ensure it’s well-stocked, a small price to pay for reaching The Show and realizing a lifelong dream.
“After being told that was going to be it for the day (in my debut), I was able to sit in the dugout for a couple of innings, just look around and take it all in,” Schultz said. “That’s when it really set in that, wow, this is something I’ve been chasing my whole life and to finally be here and perform pretty well was special for me.”
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Paxton Schultz warms up before a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. | Phelan M. Ebenhack, Associated Press
Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.
In the southeastern Utah desert famous for red rock arches and canyon labyrinths, the long-dormant uranium mining industry is looking to revive under President Donald Trump.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In the southeastern Utah desert famous for red rock arches and canyon labyrinths, the long-dormant uranium mining industry is looking to revive under President Donald Trump.
Hundreds of abandoned uranium mines dot the West’s arid landscapes, hazardous reminders of the promise and peril of nuclear power during the Cold War. Now, one mine that the Trump administration fast-tracked for regulatory approval could reopen for the first time since the 1980s.
Normally it would have taken months, if not years, for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to review plans to reopen a project like Anfield Energy’s Velvet-Wood mine 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Moab. But the bureau’s regulators green-lit the project in just 11 days under a “national energy emergency” Trump has declared that allows expedited environmental reviews for energy projects.
More permits and approvals will be needed, plus site work to get the mine operating again. And the price of uranium would have to rise enough to make domestic production financially sustainable. If that happens, it would mean revival — and jobs — to an industry that locally has been moribund since the Ronald Reagan era.
“President Trump has made it clear that our energy security is national security,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in announcing the fast-tracking policy in April. “These emergency procedures reflect our unwavering commitment to protecting both.”
More fast approvals appear likely. Trump’s order also applies to oil, gas, coal, biofuel and hydropower projects — but not renewable energy — on federal lands.
Conditions are ripe for more U.S. uranium mining
Global uranium prices are double what they were at a low point seven years ago and, for the past year, the U.S. has banned uranium imports from Russia due to that country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
More domestic mining would address a major imbalance. The U.S. imports about 98% of the uranium it uses to generate 30% of the world’s nuclear energy. More than two-thirds of U.S. imports come from the world’s top three uranium-mining countries: Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan.
Less government regulation won’t spur more U.S. uranium mining by itself. The market matters. And while spot-market prices are up from several years ago, they’re down about a third from their recent high in early 2024.
While some new uranium mining and processing projects have been announced, their number falls far short of a surge. That suggests prices need to rise — and stay there — for a true industry revival, said John Uhrie, a former uranium executive who now works in the cement industry.
“Until the price goes up dramatically, you’re not going to be able to actually put these places into operation,” Uhrie said. “You need significant capital on the ground.”
Still, the industry is showing new life in the Southwest.
Anfield Energy, a Canadian company, also looks to reopen the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill in southern Utah near Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. It closed in the early 1980s. A uranium mill turns raw ore into yellowcake, a powdery substance later processed elsewhere into nuclear fuel.
Anfield officials did not return messages seeking comment on plans to reopen the mill and the Velvet-Wood mine.
Energy Fuels, another Canadian company which ranks as the top U.S. uranium miner, opened the Pinyon Plain mine about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Grand Canyon in late 2023.
And just off U.S. 191 in southeastern Utah is a hub of the industry, Uranium Fuels’ White Mesa mill, the country’s only uranium mill still in operation.
In Moab, uranium has a long — and mixed — legacy
These days, Moab is a desert tourism hot spot bustling with outdoor enthusiasts. But the town of 5,200 has a deeper history with uranium. Nods to Moab’s post-World War II mining heyday can been spotted around town — the Atomic Hair Salon isn’t just named for its blowout hairstyles.
The biggest reminder is the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action project, a 480-acre (194-hectare) site just outside town. The decades-long, $1 billion U.S. Department of Energy effort to haul off toxic tailings that were leaching into the Colorado River upstream from the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead should wrap up within five more years.
That mill’s polluting legacy makes some Moab residents wary of restarting uranium mining and processing, especially after the Trump administration cut short their ability to weigh in on the Velvet-Wood mine plans.
“This was a process I would have been involved in,” said Sarah Fields, director of the local group Uranium Watch. “They provided no opportunity for the public to say, ‘You need to look at this, you need to look at that.’”
Grand Canyon Trust, a group critical of the Pinyon Plain mine as a danger to groundwater, points out that the U.S. nuclear industry isn’t at risk of losing access to uranium.
“This is all being done under the assumption there is some energy emergency and that is just not true,” said Amber Reimondo, the group’s energy director.
Supply and demand will decide uranium mining’s future
Hundreds of miles to the north, other nuclear energy projects point to the U.S. industry’s future.
With Bill Gates’ support, TerraPower is building a 345-megawatt sodium-cooled fast reactor outside Kemmerer in western Wyoming that could, in theory, meet demand for carbon-free power at lower costs and with less construction time than conventional reactor units.
Meanwhile, about 40% of uranium mined in the U.S. in 2024 came from four Wyoming “in-situ” mines that use wells to dissolve uranium in underground deposits and pump it to the surface without having to dig big holes or send miners underground. Similar mines in Texas and Nebraska and stockpiled ore processed at White Mesa accounted for the rest.
None — as yet — came from mines in Utah.
Powering electric cars and computing technology will require more electricity in the years ahead. Nuclear power offers a zero-carbon, round-the-clock option.
Meeting the demand for nuclear fuel domestically is another matter. With prices higher, almost 700,000 pounds of yellowcake was produced in the U.S. in 2024 — up more than a dozen-fold from the year before but still far short of the 32 million pounds imported into the U.S.
Even if mining increases, it’s not clear that U.S. capacity to turn the ore into fuel would keep pace, said Uhrie, the former uranium mining executive.
“Re-establishing a viable uranium industry from soup to nuts — meaning from mining through processing to yellow cake production, to conversion, to enrichment to produce nuclear fuel — remains a huge lift,” Uhrie said.
Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming.
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