Utah News

The NBA regular season schedule was released today. It’s a major milestone in the offseason for the upcoming season. Let’s do a quick analysis of the season and what is coming for the Jazz this season.

Opening Night

The Utah Jazz open the season against the Los Angeles Clippers at home on October 22 at 7:00 ET. They then fly to Sacramento to take on the Kings.

The Jazz’s final game will be against the Lakers. In fact, the Jazz play a lot of teams to end the season that will be playing to win. For a team that will likely be honing in on a losing record to end the season, that could be a big deal.

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National Games

The Utah Jazz will get two national games—one on NBC and one on Peacock. No team in the league has fewer than two national games, so it will be nice to see the Jazz in prime time. We’ll see if they get bumped like they did last season. If Ace Bailey has an exciting rookie year, they likely won’t lose those games, and who knows, they might even earn a new one.

The Clippers will open the 2025-26 season on the road against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 22, two days before their home opener against the Phoenix Suns at the Intuit Dome.

The Clippers, along with the other 29 teams, unveiled their full regular-season schedules on Thursday. After playing at the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 28, the Clippers play at home for six of their following seven games.

Their schedule features 21 nationally televised games and 15 back-to-backs.

Marquee home matchups for the Clippers this season include the Lakers on Dec. 20 and Jan. 22, the Warriors on Jan. 5 and in the regular-season finale on April 12, and the Denver Nuggets on Nov. 12 and Feb. 19. Their two road games against the Lakers are Nov. 25 and Feb. 20 at Crypto.com Arena.

The national TV games include playing the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 4 on NBC/Peacock, the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 26 on Amazon Prime, the New York Knicks on March 9 on Peacock and the Sacramento Kings on March 14 on ESPN.

Four of their back-to-back sets will be at home, eight will be on the road and four are home/road splits. The Clippers also have two miniseries on the road, both back-to-backs: in February in Houston before the All-Star break, and a March visit to the New Orleans Pelicans that caps a stretch of five games in seven days.

The Clippers play 18 games in March, their heaviest load of their season. They will play 15 games each in November and January.

The Clippers’ longest stretch of road games is a seven-game November stretch that begins Nov. 14 in Dallas and includes stops in Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando, Charlotte and Cleveland before concluding with the Nov. 25 game against the Lakers.

The Clippers’ schedule shows just 80 of their 82 games with the other two games determined by their play in the NBA Cup. Those dates will either be part of the tournament’s knockout round or be scheduled against two opponents who also failed to advance.

In what could be an emotional homecoming, guard Norman Powell returns when the Miami Heat visit the Intuit Dome. Powell, a fan favorite during his three seasons in L.A., was traded to Miami in the offseason in a three-team deal that brought forward John Collins to the Clippers.

The Clippers also added center Brook Lopez and guard Bradley Beal and reunited with 12-time All-Star Chris Paul in the offseason to join a veteran lineup of Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Ivica Zubac.

Billing this season as “Locked In”, the Clippers will be looking to improve on last season’s 50-32 regular-season record and first-round playoff exit. The team was ousted by the Denver Nuggets in a hard-fought seven-game series, ending their 2024-25 campaign.

CLIPPERS 2025-26 REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE

All times Pacific

OCTOBER

Oct. 22 – at Utah, 6 p.m.

Oct. 24 – vs. Phoenix, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 26 – vs. Portland, 6 p.m.

Oct. 28 – at Golden State, 8 p.m.

Oct. 31 – vs. New Orleans*, 7:30 p.m.

NOVEMBER

Nov. 3 – vs. Miami, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 4 – vs. Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.

Nov. 6 – at Phoenix, 6 p.m.

Nov. 8 – vs. Phoenix, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 10 – vs. Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 12 – vs. Denver, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 14 – at Dallas*, 5:30 p.m.

Nov. 16 – at Boston, 12:30 p.m.

Nov. 17 – at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.

Nov. 20 – at Orlando, 4 p.m.

Nov. 22 – at Charlotte, 10 a.m.

Nov. 23 – at Cleveland, 3 p.m.

Nov. 25 – at Lakers*, 8 p.m.

Nov. 28 – vs. Memphis*, 7 p.m.

Nov. 29 – vs. Dallas, 7 p.m.

DECEMBER

Dec. 1 – at Miami, 4:30 p.m.

Dec. 3 – at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m.

Dec. 5 – at Memphis, 5 p.m.

Dec. 6 – at Minnesota, 5 p.m.

Dec. 9, 10, 13, 16 – Potential NBA Cup knockout rounds

Dec. 11-12 and 14-15 – Regular-season games TBA (pending NBA Cup results)

Dec. 17 – at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m.

Dec. 20 – vs. Lakers, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 23 – vs. Houston, 8 p.m.

Dec. 26 – at Portland, 7 p.m.

Dec. 28 – vs. Detroit, 6 p.m.

Dec. 30 – vs. Sacramento, 8 p.m.

JANUARY

Jan. 1 – vs. Utah, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 3 – vs. Boston, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 5 – vs. Golden State, 7 p.m.

Jan. 7 – at New York, 4:30 p.m.

Jan. 9 – at Brooklyn, 4:30 p.m.

Jan. 10 – at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.

Jan. 12 – vs. Charlotte, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 14 – vs. Washington, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 16 – at Toronto, 4:30 p.m.

Jan. 19 – at Washington, noon

Jan. 20 – at Chicago, 5 p.m.

Jan. 22 – vs. Lakers, 7 p.m.

Jan. 25 – vs. Brooklyn, 6 p.m.

Jan. 27 – at Utah, 7 p.m.

Jan. 30 – at Denver, 7 p.m.

FEBRUARY

Feb. 1 – at Phoenix, 5 p.m.

Feb. 2 – vs. Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 4 – vs. Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 6 – at Sacramento, 7 p.m.

Feb. 8 – at Minnesota, noon

Feb. 10 – at Houston, 5 p.m.

Feb. 11 – at Houston, 5 p.m.

Feb. 15 – NBA All-Star Game (at Intuit Dome)

Feb. 19 – vs. Denver, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 20 – at Lakers, 7 p.m.

Feb. 22 – vs. Orlando, 6 p.m.

Feb. 26 – vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m.

MARCH

March 1 – vs. New Orleans, 6 p.m.

March 2 – at Golden State, 7 p.m.

March 4 – vs. Indiana, 7:30 p.m.

March 6 – at San Antonio, 6:30 p.m.

March 7 – at Memphis, 5 p.m.

March 9 – vs. New York, 7 p.m.

March 11 – vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.

March 13 – vs. Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

March 14 – vs. Sacramento, 7:30 p.m.

March 16 – vs. San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.

March 18 – at New Orleans, 5 p.m.

March 19 – at New Orleans, 5 p.m.

March 21 – at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.

March 23 – vs. Milwaukee, 7:30 p.m.

March 25 – vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m.

March 27 – at Indiana, 4 p.m.

March 29 – at Milwaukee, 12:30 p.m.

March 31 – vs. Portland, 8 p.m.

APRIL

April 2 – vs. San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.

April 5 – at Sacramento, 6 p.m.

April 7 – vs. Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

April 8 – vs. Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.

April 10 – at Portland, 7 p.m.

April 12 – vs. Golden State, 5:30 p.m.

* = NBA Cup Group Play game

John Stockton Throws Shade At Utah Jazz: “I Know That There Doesn’t Seem To Be A Mission To Win” originally appeared on Fadeaway World.

The Utah Jazz were among the least impressive teams last season, something that appears to be becoming a trend for the franchise. While tanking is intended to yield positive results in the future, Jazz legend John Stockton seems to have grown frustrated with this approach.

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Stockton addressed this matter on “The Ultimate Assist” when asked whether he was keeping tabs on Utah. He responded:

“I haven’t been tracking them, but I know that there doesn’t seem to be a mission to win. If that’s true, that’s frustrating. Because I think that culture is so hard to come by.”

“I know how hard it was for the Utah Jazz to become a winning organization to begin with, and I came in on the tail end of that. I got to build from that with my teammates. But I wouldn’t give up that fight to win every single game, every single quarter, for anything – for future draft choices, for future anything. Because the future… it moves.”

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During Stockton’s era, Utah was at the peak of its powers. After repeatedly contending for the NBA title and dueling with Michael Jordan‘s Chicago Bulls, the Jazz established themselves as one of the best teams in the league.

Since then, Utah has fallen out of the title picture. Calmly, Stockton provided a scathing indictment of the Jazz’s performance.

After notching the worst record in the Western Conference in the 2024-25 season, it is abundantly clear that the franchise hasn’t made many improvements.

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Instead, the Jazz may have set themselves up for another poor outing next season. After letting Jordan Clarkson walk in free agency, the Jazz also traded a talented young forward in John Collins for supposedly dubious reasons.

With rumors suggesting that Collins’ positive impact on winning games was viewed as a problem for Utah, the decision to trade him only raises more questions about the team’s outlook.

As things stand, the Jazz seem keen on stockpiling draft picks and expiring contracts to help roster construction efforts in the future. However, given the lack of direction, tanking may not help answer their fundamental problems.

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Hence, restructuring the rebuild may become an inevitability that the Jazz will have to come to terms with. To facilitate this, we created a blueprint that would allow Utah to effectively press the reset button on its current venture.

But this is not to say the Jazz can’t be entertaining next season. When looking at the roster, they feature some talented pieces in their ranks.

From high-value assets like Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler to gifted young players like Keyonte George and Ace Bailey, the Jazz possess the necessary tools to create the foundation for the future.

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Should they choose to cultivate their team around this nucleus, Utah could be a much more intriguing side in the coming seasons. Ultimately, it would require the franchise to solidify its plans.

Related: “Threw Me The F**k Off”: Patrick Beverley Finds Out About Karl Malone’s Controversial Off-Court History

This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Aug 14, 2025, where it first appeared.

Utah State’s Fall camp is in full swing as the Aggies prepare for the 2025 season with their season opener against UTEP less than a month out. There are still some questions about the depth chart, especially at receiver and at offensive line, but there are other position groups where the starters are clearer. So, who are the predicted starters and who are the backups that could make a difference and potentially see the field? Let’s get into it!

This article in the series will cover the receiver room.

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Receivers

X Starter: Corey Thompson Jr. (Senior): Corey Thompson Jr. spent two years at UNLV from 2023-2024, appearing in 21 games (7 starts) and catching eight passes for 115 yards and one touchdown. In 2024, Corey Thompson Jr. appeared in 13 games with three starts, catching four passes for 60 yards. Part of the reason that Corey Thompson Jr. was not able to build on his numbers was because of the several skilled receivers that were on the roster for UNLV. While currently battling a shoulder injury, Corey Thompson Jr. should be near a starting role if he can get healthy.

Z Starter: Demick Starling (Senior): This is the third school for Demick Starling, who was at Virginia from 2020-2023, Western Kentucky for 2024, and now Utah State for 2025. At Virginia, Starling appeared in 28 games with four starts and caught 11 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns, also contributing on kickoff with 306 yards. At Western Kentucky, Demick Starling appeared in eight games and caught three passes for 56 yards and no touchdowns. Utah State is the third school for Demick Starling and the last opportunity he has to make a name for himself.

H Starter: Brady Boyd (Senior): Brady Boyd has also been to three different schools in Minnesota, Texas Tech, and Utah State. At Minnesota (2021), Boyd appeared in nine games and caught two passes for 18 yards. At Texas Tech (2022-2024), Boyd appeared in 26 games and had three starts, catching 19 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown. During the 2024 season, Boyd played in 11 games and had one catch for seven yards. This is a Utah State receivers room that lost a lot of production, so there is room for Brady Boyd to step up and make some plays.

Tight End Starter: Broc Lane (Graduate Student): Broc Lane has been with the Aggies since the COVID season in 2020. During his first season, he appeared in six games had finished the 2020 season with two receptions for nine yards. Broc Lane redshirted the 2021 season due to injury but returned for his redshirt freshman season in 2022, where he played in nine games and finished the season with six receptions and a touchdown. During his sophomore season in 2023, Broc Lane started 10 of the 11 games he played in and finished the year with 21 receptions for 208 yards and a touchdown. Last season as a junior, Broc Lane started six of the seven games he played in before missing the rest of the season due to injury. He finished the season with 19 catches for 197 yards and two touchdowns. If he can stay healthy, Broc Lane will have a major impact on this team.

Tight End Backup #1: Josh Sterzer (Graduate Student): Josh Sterzer, like Broc Lane, came to Utah State during the 2020 season, appearing in two games. In 2021, Sterzer played in 13 games and had four receptions for 21 yards. During his sophomore season in 2022, Josh Sterzer started 11 of his 12 games that he played in, and throughout the season, he had 11 receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown. Josh Sterzer redshirted the 2023 season, playing in the final five games of the season due to injury. During his redshirt junior season in 2024, Josh Sterzer appeared in 11 games with six starts and finished the year with 20 receptions for 202 yards and four touchdowns.

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Tight End Backup #2: Chase Tuatagaloa (Junior): Chase Tuatagaloa came to Utah State in 2022, redshirting the season and not appearing in any games. During his redshirt freshman season in 2023, Tuatagaloa appeared in five games and did not record any stats. During his sophomore season in 2024, Tuatagaloa appeared in six games, mostly on special teams, and did not record any stats. A three-star recruit out of Utah (247Sports), Tuatagaloa played for Orem (Utah) High School in 2019 and played for Bingham High School before transferring to Orem. Chase Tuatagaloa played quarterback in high school, and while he may not see much playing time this season, he could be an important player in the position group next season.

Who are some of the other players in competition?

Carlos Orr-Gillespie (Redshirt Freshman): Carlos Orr-Gillespie is a three-star recruit who went to high school at Gatlinburg-Pittman High School in Etowah, Tennessee. During his senior season, he accumulated 730 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns, surpassing his junior year total of 1,035 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Carlos Orr-Gillespie redshirted the 2024 season and is preparing to contribute to the receiver room.

Braden Pegan (Junior): Braden Pegan spent the last few seasons at UCLA (2022-2024) and appeared in 13 games with one start. With the Bruins, Pegan caught one pass for seven yards against Cal in 2023, and Pegan also started in the LA Bowl against Boise State. Pegan had a lot of success in high school, grabbing 72 receptions for 971 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Kahanu Davis (Redshirt Senior): Kahanu Davis came to Utah State in 2023 as a redshirt junior and had two receptions for 14 yards against Iowa in his only start of the year. During the 2024 season, Davis appeared in eight games as the team’s punt returner as he returned 12 punts for 96 yards. At Southwestern College, Kahanu Davis caught 25 passes for 498 yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore and played quarterback during the last four games of his freshman year in addition to rushing for 71 yards on 33 carries and had 11 receptions for 85 yards. Davis brings experience that could be useful this season.

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Jackson Olsen (Sophomore): Jackson Olsen, a three-star recruit out of the state of Utah, caught 25 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns before injury his senior season. During his junior season, Olsen had 63 receptions for 1,125 yards and 23 touchdowns and returned four kickoffs for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Olsen could turn into a key returner on special teams for Utah State as well. Jackson Olsen redshirted the 2023 season with the Aggies and, in 2024, made his debut against Hawaii and also played against San Diego State, recording no statistics.

Ty Olsen (True Freshman): Ty Olsen, according to 247Sports, is a three-star recruit out of San Diego who spent his senior season at Lincoln High School and caught 53 passes for 903 yards and 12 touchdowns. Before Lincoln High School, Olsen played at Del Norte High School for three years and, as a junior, had 74 catches for 1,262 yards and 15 touchdowns. As a sophomore, Olsen caught 74 passes for 1,296 yards and 16 touchdowns, and as a freshman, he caught 38 passes for 658 yards and eight touchdowns. Ty Olsen had a very successful high school career and will look to make an immediate impact for the Aggies.

Cade Baker (Redshirt Sophomore): Cade Baker comes out of Lone Peak High in Highland, Utah, and spent his redshirt freshman season at Saddleback College in California, appearing in two games before injury kept him out for the rest of the year. Before injury, Baker caught five passes for 53 yards and one touchdown in 2024. Cade Baker did not play during the 2023 season, redshirting at Golden West College in California and Utah after serving his two-year LDS mission.

• According to an article published in The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah state Senate President J. Stuart Adams inspired a change in state law that reduced the penalty for cases in which an 18-year-old still enrolled in high school has “consensual” sex with a 13-year-old.

• At the time the law was changed, Adams reportedly had an 18-year-old relative facing charges of child rape for having sex with a 13-year-old. Although Snopes couldn’t independently confirm Adams’ relationship to the individual, he didn’t deny the individual was related to him in public interviews about the case.

• Some social media posts claimed that the change “loosened” the age of sexual consent, which is inaccurate — the age of consent in Utah was and still is 18, and the law only altered the charge for the criminal act.

• The law wasn’t retroactive, meaning Adams’ relative still faced the original charges of child rape, not a reduced charge. However, the judge, prosecutor and defense attorney in Adams’ relative’s case reportedly all agreed that the legislative change did impact how the charges were resolved in the relative’s plea deal.

On Aug. 2, 2025, The Salt Lake Tribune published an article, titled, “Utah’s Senate president prompted law change that helped a teen charged with child rape.” The article claimed that state Senate President J. Stuart Adams, a Republican, made the initial suggestion that led to a recent change in Utah’s child rape penalty, and that Adams had an 18-year-old relative charged with child rape who was indirectly helped by the law’s change.

The claim went viral on social media, and Snopes readers wrote in and searched the site asking for more information about it. As part of researching this story, we reached out to Adams and the senator who introduced the bill, Kirk Cullimore. We also contacted the journalist who wrote the Salt Lake Tribune article. At the time of publishing, we had not heard back from any of them.

Clear information was somewhat difficult to find, as the allegation stemmed solely from the Salt Lake Tribune article. The paper also elected to not publish the name or gender of Adams’ purported 18-year-old relative, meaning that Snopes could not independently confirm Adams’ relationship to the individual. As a result, there isn’t enough information to include a rating on this article.

However, some versions of the claim shared on social media inaccurately reported the situation. Here’s what we do know:

The change lessened a penalty but ‘age of consent’ law didn’t change

Some social media posts described the legislation as a change in “age of consent law.” However, that’s somewhat misleading.

A statement from Adams available on the Utah Senate website pointed this out:

Contrary to fabricated and baseless claims, the law is not retroactive, does not alter the legal age of consent and does not apply to incidents of rape, aggravated sexual assault or offenses involving force, coercion or threats.

The age of sexual consent in Utah is 18. Under state law, any child under the age of 14 cannot legally consent to any form of sexual activity. Any adult having sex with a child under the age of 14 is committing a first-degree felony punishable by a minimum of 25 years in prison and must register as a sex offender. (Teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 can legally consent in some, but not all, circumstances, according to The Salt Lake Tribune).

In 2017, the Utah legislature created exceptions to that law for cases where two youths, one of whom was either 12 or 13 years old, “mutually consented” to the sexual activity. The exceptions, which reduce the criminal charges based on the ages of the two participants, cannot be applied to situations involving “rape,” “object rape,” “forcible sodomy,” “aggravated sexual assault,” [or] incest.”

Those exception charges, in order of lowest severity to highest severity, are:

• Class C misdemeanor: any 12- and 13-year-old with each other, or a 14-year-old with a 13-year-old

• Class B misdemeanor: a 17-year-old with a 14- or 15-year-old, or a 15-year-old with a 13-year-old

• Class A misdemeanor: a 16-year-old with a 13-year-old, or a 14- or 15-year-old with a 12-year-old.

• Third-degree felony: a 17-year-old with a 12- or 13-year-old, or a 16-year-old with a 12-year-old.

The provision in S.B. 213 that Adams supposedly influenced extended the third-degree felony charge to include cases in which an 18-year-old still enrolled in high school and 13-year-old had mutually consensual sex.

The change, therefore, did not alter consent laws — the age of consent in Utah is still 18. Children under the age of 14 still cannot legally consent, meaning that a teen under the age of 18 who has sex with a 13-year-old is still doing something the state deems illegal.

The case against Adams’ relative

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, an 18-year-old relative of Adams was charged with having sex with a 13-year-old. Since the individual was a legal adult, the state charged the defendant with two counts of child rape and two counts of child sodomy, all of which are first-degree felonies.

The article claimed that “plea bargain negotiations were at an impasse” in the case when the law was changed. Sen. Kirk Cullimore, who introduced the legislation that changed the law, told the newspaper that Adams explained the charges against the relative and asked Cullimore to look into the law.

Reportedly, Cullimore consulted several criminal lawyers about changing the law, including Cara Tangaro, the attorney defending Adams’ relative. According to Cullimore, Tangaro told him that the prosecutor in Adams’ relative’s case was not “consider[ing] the circumstances and offer[ing] pleas.”

So he asked her what the ideal scenario would be. Cullimore claimed that Tangaro drafted the language that would allow for the lower-level felony charge, and that neither he nor Adams intended for the law to retroactively apply to the case against Adams’ relative.

Adams said in a statement to the Tribune that he “did not request the legislation and did not intervene or give input on the drafting of the bill.” Voting records showed that he did not vote on the bill except to adopt an amendment introduced in the House that did not affect the aforementioned change. 

The bill did not apply retroactively, meaning that the 18-year-old did not face the fully reduced charge once the bill was signed into law. 

However, the judge, prosecutor and defense attorney all agreed that the legislative change did impact how the charges were resolved, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The parties reached a plea deal that required the 18-year-old to plead guilty to aggravated assault (a second-degree felony) and three counts of sexual battery (a class A misdemeanor) instead of the two child rape and child sodomy charges.

Crucially, those reduced charges did not require the 18-year-old to register as a sex offender, which the article reported was a sticking point for the prosecutors. The judge “ordered the teen to serve four years on probation, complete sex offender treatment, pay a $1,500 fine and perform 120 hours of community service,” according to the article. 

Sources:

Criminal Penalties. https://www.utcourts.gov/en/self-help/case-categories/criminal-justice/penalties.html. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.

“GOP Lawmaker Changes Law to Help Relative Facing Child Rape Charges.” The New Republic. The New Republic, https://newrepublic.com/post/198855/republican-lawmaker-consent-child-rape-law-relative-charges. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.

“Here’s What Utah Law Says about Minors Having Sex and When They Can Consent.” The Salt Lake Tribune, https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2025/08/04/heres-what-utah-law-says-about/. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.

KUTV, Jared Turner. “Utah Senate Leader Denies Influencing Law for Family amid Resignation Calls.” KUTV, 9 Aug. 2025, https://kutv.com/news/politics/utah-senate-leader-denies-influencing-law-for-family-amid-resignation-calls.

President J. Stuart Adams Addresses False Information | Utah Senate. https://senate.utah.gov/president-j-stuart-adams-addresses-false-information/. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.

SB0213. https://le.utah.gov/~2024/bills/static/SB0213.html. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.

Senator | Utah Senate. https://senate.utah.gov/sen/CULLIKA/. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.

—. https://senate.utah.gov/sen/ADAMSJS/. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.

Utah Code Section 76-5-401.3. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title76/Chapter5/76-5-S401.3.html. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.

Utah Code Section 76-5-402.1. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title76/Chapter5/76-5-S402.1.html. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.

“Utah’s Senate President Prompted Law Change That Helped a Teen Charged with Child Rape.” The Salt Lake Tribune, https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2025/08/02/utah-senate-pres-stuart-adams/. Accessed 11 Aug. 2025.

The number of homeless Utahns surged to its highest level ever in 2025 as state leadership continues to debate how to balance enhanced law enforcement and increased funding for an expanded shelter system.

Nearly 4,600 Utahns were recorded as homeless during the annual 2025 Point-in-Time Count conducted the final weekend of January, representing an 18% increase from 2024 and the largest number on record.

“We had a huge increase in homelessness,” State Homeless Coordinator Wayne Niederhauser told the Deseret News. “But we’ve been effective in responding to it.”

The sobering news comes as the nation also reaches record rates of homelessness. On Monday, President Donald Trump federalized the Washington, D.C., police department at least in part in an effort to crack down on the city’s homeless encampments.

At the end of July, Trump issued an executive order overturning the government’s “housing first” approach to homelessness and instructing agencies to remove obstacles for states to place homeless individuals into long-term institutional care if they pose a risk to themselves or others.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox lauded the move, ordering the Utah Homeless Services Board, which includes Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, to “fulfill the President’s executive order and uphold public safety” in a letter joined by Utah Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz.

In Utah, nearly half of the increase in homelessness was driven by growth in the chronically homeless population — defined as those who have spent at least a year on the streets with a disability, mental illness or drug addiction.

The total number of Utahns experiencing chronic homelessness increased by 36% since 2024, from 906 to 1,233. The number of homeless children increased by 12%, from 589 to 662. And the number of homeless seniors over 64 increased by 42% from 251 to 356.

There is a “silver lining” in the data, according to Niederhauser: 95% of the increase was among homeless individuals in shelters — a reversal from the year before when 82% of the growth in homelessness was unsheltered.

This is an indication the state’s investment in winter emergency shelters is helping keep Utahns off the street, according to Niederhauser. But the overall increase — the largest jump in recent memory — points to the need for a new approach.

Why did homelessness shoot up?

Utah’s record amount of homelessness in 2025 increased the per capita rate to 13 per 10,000 people compared to the previous rate of around 10 or 11 per 10,000. This is still significantly below the national average of 23.

In its annual report published Wednesday, the Utah Office of Homeless Services attributed the rise in homelessness to a rapidly growing population that has outpaced the supply of affordable housing and access to behavioral health services.

The increase also follows an unprecedented spike in fentanyl being trafficked through the state. Between 2020 and 2024, the quantity of fentanyl seized in Utah increased 95-fold — with interdictions in 2025 nearly overtaking the prior year’s record before May.

“The data is clear. There is an overlap between the drugs, the transient-related crime and violent crime,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd told the Deseret News. “There is a connection to those things.”

Around two-thirds of Utah’s homeless population lives in the Salt Lake City area, according to the Office of Homeless Services.

On Wednesday, Redd and Mendenhall held a press conference outside City Hall to send a message to the governor and legislative leadership about where responsibility lies for the growing problem.

Wednesday’s report “should be heard as a battle cry,” Mendenhall said, spurring action at the Utah Capitol to fully fund services and shelter space to prevent homelessness, encourage treatment and keep Utahns off of the streets.

“We need our state leaders to prioritize the resources to get this done,” Mendenhall said. “So to Gov Cox, President Adams and Speaker Schultz, I’m calling on our state leadership to create a sea change that we need to address an issue that impacts all Utahns and just increased by 18%.”

In December, Cox; Adams, R-Layton; and Schultz, R-Hooper; sent a strongly worded letter to Mendenhall that called for the city to find solutions to “eliminate crime and restore public safety” or have the Legislature step in.

Mendenhall subsequently provided a public safety plan with 27 recommendations that revolved around remaking city law enforcement and another 23 requests relying on state partners to help close the gap in homeless beds and the criminal justice system.

Since Redd has taken over as police chief, the department has taken “enforcement as far as we can,” answering a record number of 911 calls with a record number of yearly arrests, contributing to a 16-year-low in crime, Mendenhall said.

The largest obstacle to changing “the trajectory of homelessness in Utah,” Mendenhall said, isn’t Salt Lake’s willingness to crack down on crime, it’s the Legislature’s commitment to invest in long-term solutions, like funding the so-called “transformative campus” touted by Cox and lawmakers.

“I’m extremely concerned by the lack of forward momentum from legislative leaders,” Mendenhall said. “Salt Lake City is making good on our part, but the reality is, this is a humanitarian crisis, this is not something that we can police our way out of.”

State leaders push back on Mendenhall

Cox, Adams and Schultz pushed back against Mendenhall on Wednesday. Since Utah’s homeless numbers began climbing in 2020, the state has invested more than $266 million on addressing homelessness, they said.

This level of direct state investment is rare; most states delegate homelessness policy to cities and counties. Cox, Adams and Schultz said the Utah Governor’s Office and Legislature remain committed to helping municipal and private-sector partners “find real solutions.”

The overhaul to city law enforcement under Redd has been an encouraging sign, the leaders said. Mendenhall agreed the city and state must work closer together to address homelessness concerns before the Salt Lake City Temple open house in 2027 and the Olympic Winter Games in 2034.

“The city needs to stay focused on its core responsibility of protecting its citizens, keeping streets safe and clean and making our capital a place Utahns can be proud of and visitors want to experience,” Cox, Adams and Schultz said.

“We urge Mayor Mendenhall to turn down the politics and keep working with us to find practical and lasting solutions to this complex issue. Our citizens expect results, not finger-pointing.”

During the 2025 legislative session, Utah lawmakers approved, and Cox signed into law, $3.9 million in ongoing funding to launch a second family shelter in Salt Lake County, $5.5 million in one-time funding to expand emergency cold-weather shelter operations statewide and $16.7 million to shore up public resources in shelter cities.

Will lawmakers fund the planned shelter?

The session prior, the Legislature appropriated $25 million to buy land and construct the future backbone of the state’s homelessness response: a 30-acre campus with 1,200-1,600 beds and an integrated system of treatment resources and recovery programs on site.

Niederhauser said they are still investigating several potential properties for the campus. But many of them, including an area near the Salt Lake City Airport that the Legislature made available for eminent domain, require wetland studies that will take several more weeks to apply for, and several months to complete through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The priority for Niederhauser’s office going into the 2026 legislative session is appropriations to fully fund the construction of the facility because the $25 million they received “isn’t going to be sufficient to do it all,” Niederhauser said.

But Niederhauser said they won’t put “$25-50 million of infrastructure on the ground” until the Legislature has decided whether it is willing to set aside the necessary annual funding to make the campus functional, “which is going to be a very large number.”

It currently costs the state $15-$20 million to fund the shelter beds that are available, Niederhauser said. And a campus that is actually intended to model operations like Haven For Hope homelessness campus in San Antonio, Texas, could cost twice that much every year.

“We’re obviously going to need to have additional funding for the campus, and that’ll be a high priority for us,” Niederhauser said. “That would probably be our focus.”

In the meantime before the campus is completed, Niederhauser said the Legislature can appropriate funding to keep the 1,100 winter beds available past April so providers aren’t forced to release “hundreds of additional people to sleep on the street” each spring.

A man accused of faking his death and fleeing to the United Kingdom to avoid rape charges faced an alleged victim in court Monday as a jury trial in Utah began.

The man known in the US as Nicholas Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, is accused of sexually assaulting two women in Utah in 2008. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors are trying the cases separately, with the first set in Salt Lake County.

Rossi, 38, was arrested in Scotland in 2021 — a year after he was reported dead — when he was recognized at a Glasgow hospital while receiving treatment for COVID-19. He lost an extradition appeal after claiming he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight who had never set foot on American soil and was being framed.

Prosecutors say they have identified at least a dozen aliases Rossi used over the years to evade capture.

Rossi appeared in court in a wheelchair, wearing a suit and tie and using an oxygen tank. The alleged victim identified him from the witness stand, saying he’s “a little bit heavier, a little bit older” but mostly looks the same.

District Judge Barry Lawrence helped clarify for the jury some of the twists and turns of the case, explaining that different people may refer to Rossi by different names. The defense and prosecution agreed it’s factual that Rossi was in Utah in 2008 and had a relationship that year with the woman who testified.

Prosecutors painted a picture of an intelligent man who used his charm to take advantage of a vulnerable young woman. He raped her when she pushed back against his attempts to control her, said Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Brandon Simmons.

The woman, who the judge asked not be identified publicly, described a whirlwind relationship with Rossi that began in November 2008 while she was recovering from a traumatic brain injury. The two began dating after she responded to a personal ad Rossi posted on Craigslist and were engaged within about two weeks.

The woman described being asked to pay for their dates, cover Rossi’s rent so he wouldn’t be evicted from his apartment and take on debt to buy their engagement rings.

“I was a little bit more of a timid person back then, and so it was harder for me to stand up for myself,” she said.

The relationship spiraled quickly after their engagement, with Rossi “becoming controlling and saying mean things to me,” she testified. The couple got into a fight in which Rossi pounded on her car and used his body to block her from pulling out of the parking garage. She finally let him inside and drove him home but said she had no plans of continuing a relationship.

She agreed to go into his house to talk, but he instead pushed her onto his bed, held her down and “forced me to have sex with him,” she testified. The woman described lying still, paralyzed with fear.

Dismissive comments from her parents convinced her not to go to the police at the time, she said. She did, however, try to bring Rossi to small claims court over the engagement rings but dropped the case.

Rossi’s lawyers sought to convince the jury that the alleged victim built up years of resentment after Rossi made her foot the bill for everything in their monthlong relationship, and accused him of rape to get back at him a decade later when she saw him in the news.

Rossi will also stand trial in September for another rape charge in Utah County.

Rossi grew up in foster homes in Rhode Island and had returned to the state before allegedly faking his death. An obituary published online claimed he died on Feb. 29, 2020, of late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. State police, along with Rossi’s former lawyer and a former foster family, cast doubt on whether he was dead. A year later, hospital staff in Scotland recognized his tattoos from an Interpol notice and alerted authorities. He was extradited to Utah in January 2024.

“This case is like an old puzzle from the thrift store,” said MacKenzie Potter, one of Rossi’s attorneys. “It’s 13 years old, not all the pieces are there, some pieces are from a different puzzle. And when you start going through everything, you’re not going to get a complete picture.”

Prosecutors pushed back, saying that if any “puzzle pieces” are missing, it’s because Rossi’s attorneys fought to have some evidence dismissed.

The “American Ninja Warrior” announcers never tire of saying it: Kai Beckstrand, a teenager from St. George, Utah, is one of the most formidable competitors on the show.

So far, throughout his Season 17 runs, the 19-year-old has been called “the ninja to beat” and “the fastest ninja on the planet.”

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He’s a favorite to win it all, and Monday night continued to make a strong case for that outcome.

Kai Beckstrand dominates in first round of ‘ANW’ finals

Sixty ninjas — including Kai and his younger brother, Luke — are competing in the Season 17 finals, which started Aug. 4 and continued Monday night.

In a new format, the show divided the 60 competitors into groups of four based on their runtimes. Ninjas in each group have to face off against each other in a series of one-on-one races. After everyone in a group has run against each other, the two competitors with the most wins advance to the next round.

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The new format plays to Kai Beckstrand’s advantage.

“Speed’s always been my favorite thing,” he previously told the Deseret News.

Beckstrand’s group Monday night included “ANW” veterans like 40-year-old Jessie Graff, a stuntwoman who has been on the show for 11 seasons; and Donovan Metoyer, the “Classy Ninja” who typically runs in formalwear.

The teenager won every race in his bracket — and completed each of his three runs in under a minute.

He finished his last race, against five-time competitor Isabella Folsom, in a staggering 44:09 — marking, by a tenth of a second, the new fastest time of all the competitors on that specific course (so far).

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With his dominant performance, Beckstrand is guaranteed a top seed in the next round of the finals. Moving forward, he joins his brother Luke — who last week had a come-from-behind win to keep his season alive.

The brothers recently spoke with the Deseret News about their dominating runs this season — and how being some of the fastest ninjas on the show affects their rivalry.

‘We’re always pushing each other’

As two of the speediest ninjas this season, Kai and Luke Beckstrand have been each other’s toughest competitors.

They delivered the two fastest times of their episode during the show’s first round: Kai completed the course in 52.90 seconds, and Luke came in just slightly behind with a time of 54.92 seconds.

During the semifinals, it looked like Kai would again secure the fastest time of the night.

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But when the 19-year-old reached the Invisible Ladder — an obstacle that requires hanging onto two rings and hoisting yourself up 30 feet to the buzzer — it proved to be a big demand for his 180-pound body.

He still managed to hit the buzzer in roughly 3 minutes and 45 seconds — an impressive feat, but not the fastest time of the night.

Instead, that distinction went to Luke, who, with a little more gas in his tank, navigated all 10 obstacles in 3 minutes and 12 seconds — more than 30 seconds ahead of his older brother.

“I knew I could beat it, but I didn’t know that I would beat it by 30 seconds,” Luke Beckstrand previously said. “That was a big amount of time, but I just stayed smooth through all the obstacles, didn’t take as much of a break, and I was just chasing down that time.”

For the second time in a row, the brothers secured the two fastest times of their episode — this time, though, the top spot went to Luke.

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That back and forth dynamic plays out regularly behind the scenes at their family’s gym, The Grip, in St. George.

At the gym — where they coach and inspire kids who hope to someday compete on their level — the brothers regularly work on their strength and speed as they build familiarity and comfort with obstacles they could potentially come across on the show.

They frequently try to outdo their own times — and each other.

“In training, we’re always pushing each other,” Kai Beckstrand said. “If he gets a faster time than me, I’ll run that course again, beat his time. He’ll go back, beat my time again. So it just goes back and forth.”

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The brothers are constantly motivating each other at home, and that intensifies when they’re in the spotlight on a competitive show like “American Ninja Warrior.”

“Watching him get the fastest time, it’s a little bittersweet,” Kai Beckstrand previously said of his younger brother beating his time in the semifinals by more than 30 seconds. “I want him to do as good as possible, and if that is going faster than me, then that’s the case. So it definitely pushed me in training to kind of get more efficient with my obstacles.

“But I mean, overall, just looking up at him on top, I couldn’t be more proud of him,” he continued. “He’s my training partner, and we go back and forth all the time. So can’t really be too mad about it.

“It’s just a testament to how hard we’re putting in the work.”