News on Everything Utah!
Source: Utah News
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The countdown to kickoff continues — we’re just four days away from UTEP opening its 2025 season.
The Miners are packing their bags and heading to Logan, Utah, to take on the Utah State Aggies.
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On Tuesday, UTEP held its first weekly press conference of the season — giving us a game-week update on how the Miners are preparing for their opener.
The UTEP Miners are set to kick off year two under head coach Scotty Walden this Saturday, looking to improve on last season’s 3-9 finish.
They’ll open the 2025 campaign on the road against Utah State in what marks a fresh start for both programs. The Aggies will be led by longtime college football coach Bronco Mendenhall, who makes his debut on the sidelines in Logan. It’s also a milestone year for Utah State, as this will be their final season in the Mountain West before making the move to the Pac-12.
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Historically, UTEP has struggled against the Aggies. The Miners are 0-3 all-time vs. Utah State, and 9-14 overall against Mountain West opponents. But Walden’s squad enters this season with renewed energy and confidence.
“We are playing a very good Utah State football team. This is a team that is going to the Pac-12 next year. This is a Power 4 football team,” UTEP football head coach Scotty Walden said on Tuesday. “I’m sure their budgets are alignment with that. I am sure their NIL is alignment with that. We are going to have our hands full on Saturday, playing a very good football team.”
“It’s game one. We’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time,” UTEP redshirt sophomore quarterback Malachi Nelson said on Tuesday. “I think it’s getting to the point that camp is over and we are rolling into game one tired of going against the same defense over and over and we are ready to play an opponent.”
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Redshirt sophomore quarterback Malachi Nelson is preparing for a major milestone this weekend — his first NCAA start — as UTEP opens the 2025 season on the road against Utah State.
The former five-star recruit and top prospect in the 2023 class transferred to UTEP this past offseason and won the starting job during fall camp.
“It’s just trying to contain the excitement. There’s no nerves or anything like that. I’ve been preparing for this for the past few years of my life,” Nelson said. “I’m blessed and excited for the opportunity. I can’t wait to get out there Saturday.”
The first chess moves of game week have already been played.
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Utah State held its weekly press conference on Monday and released its official depth chart — a document that usually lays out starters and backups by position. But this one came with a twist:
it was completely blank.
That’s right — no names, no positions, and no hints. Just a shell of a depth chart.
“Many of the positions on our team, we have great competition, and those positions actually are accelerating fiercely and fast and I think are showing the most growth. The thinner positions. I’m not going to disclose those yet. The thinner positions, you kind of feel like it might be one play away or one injury away, and then you have to transition to maybe what schemes and strategies you’re playing right to leverage your roster. I don’t intend to give away a competitive advantage yet or to make that known.” Utah State football head coach Bronco Mendenhall said on Monday.
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So how did UTEP respond?
With a little gamesmanship of their own.
The Miners released their own depth chart — and it’s just as empty.
“To their credit, I mean, I think the two-deep [depth chart] is overrated. I don’t look at that one time when they send them anyway,” Walden said. “They don’t send theirs. We don’t send ours. That’s how it works.”
It’s a very football way to keep opponents guessing — and the fans entertained — ahead of Saturday’s game.
UTEP and Utah State will go head-to-head at Maverik Stadium in Logan, Utah on Saturday, Aug. 30. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. MT. The game will air on CBS Sports Network.
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Source: Utah News
By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah is being thrust into a national battle over redistricting because of a court order to redraw its congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections, while President Donald Trump is pushing other Republican-led states to add winnable U.S. House seats for the GOP.
The new district boundaries could make one of Utah’s four congressional seats competitive for Democrats as the party fights to topple the GOP’s slim majority in the House. Nationally, Democrats need to net three seats next year to take control of the chamber.
The current map divides heavily populated Salt Lake County — an island of Democratic support in an otherwise red state — among all four congressional districts. Before the map was adopted in 2021, one district had traded hands between Democrats and Republicans. All have since elected Republicans by wide margins.
Here’s what to know about Utah’s place in the redistricting fight.
A judge on Monday ordered Utah’s Republican-controlled Legislature to toss its congressional map and quickly adopt a new one. District Court Judge Dianna Gibson declared the map unlawful because the Legislature had circumvented an independent redistricting commission established by voters to ensure districts don’t deliberately favor a party, a practice known as gerrymandering.
Voters in 2018 narrowly approved a ballot initiative that created the commission to draw boundaries for Utah’s legislative and congressional districts, which the Legislature was required to consider. Lawmakers repealed the initiative in 2020 and replaced it with a law that transformed the commission into an advisory board that they could choose to ignore. The following year, lawmakers disregarded a congressional map proposal from the commission and drew one of their own.
The Utah Supreme Court said the Legislature is extremely limited in changing laws passed by voters and sent the case back to Gibson to decide the map’s fate.
“How district lines are drawn can either safeguard representation and ensure accountability by elected representatives or erode public trust, silence voices and weaken the rule of law,” she wrote in the ruling.
Gibson has given lawmakers until Sept. 24 to adopt a map that complies with voter-approved standards. Voting rights advocates who were involved in the legal challenge can submit alternate proposals. But Republican officials could use appeals to try to run out the clock before a candidate filing deadline in early January to possibly delay adopting new maps until 2028.
The U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely to intervene, and the state Supreme Court may be hesitant to entertain an appeal after it already asked Gibson to decide.
Utah’s four congressional districts currently converge within a couple blocks in the Salt Lake City suburb of Millcreek. A voter could grab a milkshake at the beloved Iceberg Drive Inn and cross into all four districts before it melts.
Lawmakers presented the map as a way for each representative to serve both urban and rural areas. One district spans the entire eastern border of the state and groups vastly different communities, from the winter resort town of Park City, to the urban center of Provo, down to the red rock recreation hub of Moab. Voting rights groups who challenged the map argued it intentionally dilutes the Democratic vote and produces congresspeople who aren’t suited to represent all of their constituents.
The tight deadline for lawmakers to draw new maps could push them to reconsider proposals from the independent redistricting commission that they had ignored after the 2020 census. Those plans create a compact district combining the Democrat-heavy cities of Salt Lake City and Park City, while grouping other cities geographically.
GOP leaders could cut their losses by creating a single left-leaning block, or gamble on creating competitive districts that Republicans will fight to keep.
Registered Republicans overwhelmingly outnumber registered Democrats in the state. But voter registration data doesn’t paint the full picture.
Only about 12.3% of Utah voters are registered Democrats, but more than triple that amount voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. About 29% are unaffiliated, and many voters in the state who hold liberal beliefs choose to register as Republicans to vote in the primaries and have a say in intraparty matters.
That uncertainty may create complications for Republicans as they navigate rapidly redrawing boundaries that shield their seats while complying with stricter standards.
The ruling throws Republicans a curveball in a state where they expected a clean sweep while they’re working to add winnable seats elsewhere. Trump has urged governors to take up mid-decade redistricting ahead of the midterms, when the sitting president’s party tends to lose seats.
In Texas, a plan awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval includes five new districts that would favor Republicans. Ohio Republicans already were scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan, and Indiana, Florida and Missouri may choose to make changes. Some Democrat-led states say they may enter the redistricting arms race, but so far only California has taken action to offset GOP gains in Texas.
The Supreme Court in 2019 ruled that claims of partisan gerrymandering for congressional and legislative districts are outside the purview of federal courts and should be decided by states.
Redistricting typically occurs once a decade after a census. There are no federal restrictions to redrawing districts mid-decade, but some states — more led by Democrats than Republicans — set their own limitations. The Utah redraw may benefit Democrats who have fewer opportunities to gain seats through redistricting.
Originally Published:
Source: Utah News
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Legislature will need to rapidly redraw the state’s congressional boundaries after a judge ruled Monday that the Republican-controlled body circumvented safeguards put in place by voters to ensure districts aren’t drawn to favor any party.
READ MORE: Texas Senate passes redrawn congressional map favoring GOP, sends to governor
The current map, adopted in 2021, divides Salt Lake County — Utah’s population center and a Democratic stronghold — among the state’s four congressional districts, all of which have since elected Republicans by wide margins.
District Court Judge Dianna Gibson made few judgments on the content of the map but declared it unlawful because lawmakers had weakened and ignored an independent commission established by voters to prevent partisan gerrymandering.
“The nature of the violation lies in the Legislature’s refusal to respect the people’s exercise of their constitutional lawmaking power and to honor the people’s right to reform their government,” Gibson said in the ruling.
New maps will need to be drawn quickly, before candidates start filing in early January for the 2026 midterm elections. The ruling gives lawmakers a deadline of Sept. 24 and allows voting rights groups involved in the legal challenge to submit alternate proposals to the court.
But appeals expected from Republican officials could help them run out the clock to possibly delay adopting new maps until 2028.
The ruling creates uncertainty in a state that was thought to be a clean sweep for the GOP as the party is preparing to defend its slim majority in the U.S. House. Nationally, Democrats need to net three seats next year to take control of the chamber. The sitting president’s party tends to lose seats in the midterms, as was the case for President Donald Trump in 2018.
Trump has urged several Republican-led states to add winnable seats for the GOP. In Texas, a plan awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval includes five new districts that would favor Republicans. Ohio Republicans already were scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan, and Indiana, Florida and Missouri may choose to make changes. Some Democrat-led states say they may enter the redistricting arms race, but so far only California has taken action to offset GOP gains in Texas.
WATCH: California legislature approves special election on new congressional map favoring Democrats
The U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely to intervene, and the Utah Supreme Court may be hesitant to entertain an appeal of Monday’s ruling after it had sent the case back to Gibson for her to decide.
The nation’s high court in 2019 ruled that claims of partisan gerrymandering for congressional and legislative districts are outside the purview of federal courts and should be decided by states.
David Reymann, an attorney for the voting rights advocates who challenged the map, called the ruling a “watershed moment” for the voices of Utah voters.
“The Legislature in this state is not king,” Reymann told reporters Monday evening.
Leaders from the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee applauded the ruling as a victory for democracy.
Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said he disagrees with the decision but holds respect for Utah’s judiciary. Meanwhile, the state’s GOP Chairman, Robert Axson, dismissed the ruling as “judicial activism.”
Utah’s Republican legislative leaders, Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz, said in a joint statement that they are disappointed by the ruling and are carefully considering their next steps.
In 2018, voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative that created an independent redistricting commission to draw boundaries for Utah’s legislative and congressional districts, which the Legislature was required to consider. Lawmakers repealed the initiative in 2020 and replaced it with a law that transformed the commission into an advisory board that they could choose to ignore.
The following year, lawmakers disregarded a congressional map proposal from the commission and drew one of their own that carved up Salt Lake County among four reliably Republican districts.
Voting rights advocates sued, arguing the map drawn by lawmakers constituted partisan gerrymandering that favored Republicans. They also said the Legislature violated the rights of voters when it repealed and replaced the 2018 initiative.
The case made its way to the Utah Supreme Court, which ruled that the Legislature cannot change laws approved through ballot initiatives except to reinforce them, or to advance a compelling government interest. The five-member panel sent the case back to Gibson in the lower court to decide whether lawmakers would have to redraw boundaries set as part of a redistricting process that happens every 10 years.
The ruling Monday reinstates the voter-approved redistricting standards that lawmakers had overturned.
Utah was one of four states where voters approved measures designed to reduce partisan gerrymandering in 2018. As in Utah, Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature quickly sought to repeal key provisions. Missouri voters approved the Legislature’s revisions in 2020, before the original plan was ever used. Independent commissions approved by Colorado and Michigan voters remained in place and were used after the 2020 census.
The redistricting measures aren’t the only instances where state lawmakers have altered voter-approved measures.
Earlier this year, Missouri lawmakers repealed a paid sick leave law passed by voters and referred a proposed repeal of an abortion rights amendment to the ballot. In South Dakota, voters approved a public campaign finance system, tightened lobbying laws and created an ethics commission in 2016. Lawmakers repealed and replaced the measure the next year with a narrower government watchdog board and looser limits on lobbyist gifts to public officials.
Associated Press writer David Lieb contributed from Jefferson City, Missouri.
Source: Utah News
WWE and UFC will return to Utah with three upcoming events.
On Tuesday, Smith Entertainment Group and TKO Group Holdings announced the three events, which will be held at the Delta Center.
“We are thrilled that live WWE entertainment and UFC action will return to Utah,” said Chris Barney, president of revenue and commercial strategy at Smith Entertainment Group.
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WWE will be the first to return, with Friday Night SmackDown on Friday, Oct. 31 and Saturday Night’s Main Event on Saturday, Nov. 1.
Wrestler Akira Tozawa goes airborne during his match with Carmelo Hayes during the WWE Monday Night RAW event, Monday, March 6, 2023, in Boston. | Charles Krupa
UFC will head to Utah and the Delta Center in 2026.
“Our expanded partnership with TKO and Smith Entertainment Group offers yet another opportunity to position Utah as a premier destination for key global sports and entertainment events,” said Jeff Robbins, president and CEO of the Utah Sports Commission.
Hosting both “a major WWE event in 2025 and the UFC again in 2026 is a tribute to our growing sports and entertainment ecosystem in Utah, the State of Sport,” Robbins said.
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Three sold-out UFC events have been held at the Delta Center over the last three years: 2022’s UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2; 2023’s UFC 291: Poirier vs. Gaethje 2; and 2024’s UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr.
“In recent years, Salt Lake City and Delta Center have become a top destination to bring exciting, action-packed UFC and WWE events to our fans in Utah, and we’re thrilled to continue that relationship into 2026,” said Peter Dropick, executive vice president of event development and operations for TKO.
UFC announcer Bruce Buffer introduces main card fighters during Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Those three events generated a combined $74.1 million in economic impact for the Salt Lake City region, per the press release. They’re the three highest-grossing Delta Center events, according to SEG.
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“Every TKO event Delta Center has hosted has captivated fans and brought people from across the country into Salt Lake City, creating opportunities to showcase Utah’s world class sports and entertainment landscape,” Barney said.
He said that SEG looks “forward to setting new records together when these incredible experiences take over Delta Center.”
The Delta Center and the skyline in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
More details on ticket sale dates for both the WWE and UFC events, the fight cards, and participating WWE Superstars will be released at a later date.
Registration for the WWE ticket presale is available online now.
VIP experiences for the events will be available through On Location, with more information to come.
Source: Utah News
Salt Lake City — The Utah Legislature will need to rapidly redraw the state’s congressional boundaries after a judge ruled Monday that the Republican-controlled body circumvented safeguards put in place by voters to ensure districts aren’t drawn to favor any party.
The current map, adopted in 2021, divides Salt Lake County — Utah’s population center and a Democratic stronghold — among the state’s four congressional districts, all of which have since elected Republicans by wide margins.
District Court Judge Dianna Gibson made few judgments on the content of the map but declared it unlawful because lawmakers had weakened and ignored an independent commission established by voters to prevent partisan gerrymandering.
“The nature of the violation lies in the Legislature’s refusal to respect the people’s exercise of their constitutional lawmaking power and to honor the people’s right to reform their government,” Gibson said in the ruling.
New maps will need to be drawn quickly, before candidates start filing in early January for the 2026 midterm elections. The ruling gives lawmakers a deadline of Sept. 24 and allows voting rights groups involved in the legal challenge to submit alternate proposals to the court.
But appeals expected from Republican officials could help them run out the clock to possibly delay adopting new maps until 2028.
The ruling creates uncertainty in a state that was thought to be a clean sweep for the GOP as the party is preparing to defend its slim majority in the U.S. House. Nationally, Democrats need to net three seats next year to take control of the chamber. The sitting president’s party tends to lose seats in the midterms, as was the case for President Donald Trump in 2018.
Trump has urged several Republican-led states to add winnable seats for the GOP. In Texas, a plan awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval includes five new districts that would favor Republicans. Ohio Republicans already were scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan, and Indiana, Florida and Missouri may choose to make changes. Some Democrat-led states say they may enter the redistricting arms race, but so far only California has taken action to offset GOP gains in Texas.
The U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely to intervene, and the Utah Supreme Court may be hesitant to entertain an appeal of Monday’s ruling after it had sent the case back to Gibson for her to decide.
The nation’s high court in 2019 ruled that claims of partisan gerrymandering for congressional and legislative districts are outside the purview of federal courts and should be decided by states.
David Reymann, an attorney for the voting rights advocates who challenged the map, called the ruling a “watershed moment” for the voices of Utah voters.
“The Legislature in this state is not king,” Reymann told reporters Monday evening.
Leaders from the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee applauded the ruling as a victory for democracy.
Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said he disagrees with the decision but holds respect for Utah’s judiciary. Meanwhile, the state’s GOP Chairman, Robert Axson, dismissed the ruling as “judicial activism.”
Utah’s Republican legislative leaders, Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz, said in a joint statement that they are disappointed by the ruling and are carefully considering their next steps.
In 2018, voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative that created an independent redistricting commission to draw boundaries for Utah’s legislative and congressional districts, which the Legislature was required to consider. Lawmakers repealed the initiative in 2020 and replaced it with a law that transformed the commission into an advisory board that they could choose to ignore.
The following year, lawmakers disregarded a congressional map proposal from the commission and drew one of their own that carved up Salt Lake County among four reliably Republican districts.
Voting rights advocates sued, arguing the map drawn by lawmakers constituted partisan gerrymandering that favored Republicans. They also said the Legislature violated the rights of voters when it repealed and replaced the 2018 initiative.
The case made its way to the Utah Supreme Court, which ruled that the Legislature cannot change laws approved through ballot initiatives except to reinforce them, or to advance a compelling government interest. The five-member panel sent the case back to Gibson in the lower court to decide whether lawmakers would have to redraw boundaries set as part of a redistricting process that happens every 10 years.
The ruling Monday reinstates the voter-approved redistricting standards that lawmakers had overturned.
Utah was one of four states where voters approved measures designed to reduce partisan gerrymandering in 2018. As in Utah, Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature quickly sought to repeal key provisions. Missouri voters approved the Legislature’s revisions in 2020, before the original plan was ever used. Independent commissions approved by Colorado and Michigan voters remained in place and were used after the 2020 census.
The redistricting measures aren’t the only instances where state lawmakers have altered voter-approved measures.
Earlier this year, Missouri lawmakers repealed a paid sick leave law passed by voters and referred a proposed repeal of an abortion rights amendment to the ballot. In South Dakota, voters approved a public campaign finance system, tightened lobbying laws and created an ethics commission in 2016. Lawmakers repealed and replaced the measure the next year with a narrower government watchdog board and looser limits on lobbyist gifts to public officials.
Associated Press writer David Lieb contributed from Jefferson City, Missouri.
Source: Utah News
Democrats lauded a Tuesday evening order by a judge in Utah directing the state legislature to quickly draw new congressional maps.
“The Legislature is directed to design and enact a remedial congressional redistricting map in conformity with Proposition 4’s mandatory redistricting standards and requirements,” Judge Dianna M. Gibson wrote in granting summary judgement to a group of plaintiffs who were seeking to invalidate the current congressional maps as designed by the state legislature.
Under Proposition 4, Utah voters in 2018 enacted an independent redistricting process, seeking to end partisan gerrymandering. State lawmakers then effectively invalidated that process by passing a state law in 2020 amending the redistricting act. Gibson gave the legislature until Sept. 24 to draw new lines that comply with the law enacted through Proposition 4.
The new map will likely include at least one Salt Lake City-based district that could offer better political terrain for Democrats.
“In throwing out the current, gerrymandered congressional map, voters in Utah will now have an opportunity to elect leaders that best represent their values, and not have their representation dictated by politicians,” Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement. “This choice is what the current debate in Utah and other states is about — a free and fair midterm election. Donald Trump and House Republicans know they cannot win the midterms based on their abysmal governing record, so they are actively attempting to rig the outcome before a single vote is cast.”
Utah is one of several states, headlined by Texas and California, with active redistricting fights this cycle. All four members of Utah’s current congressional delegation are Republicans.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, criticized the ruling, arguing that it undermines the state legislature’s authority under the state constitution.
“Make no mistake, this decision will make the process of drawing legislative districts in Utah less accountable to voters, not more,” Lee posted on X. “It’ll also result in maps that are far more generous to Democrats, and that’s the whole point.”
“This is yet another example of how ‘independent commissions’ are often used to give the left an unfair, unearned advantage in red states — one they could never otherwise secure,” Lee said.
Source: Utah News
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A judge ordered the Utah legislature on Monday to redraw its congressional maps in time for next year’s midterm elections, finding the state legislature unlawfully gerrymandered its districts in favor of Republicans.
Judge Dianna Gibson said in a 76-page order that the legislature must pass a “remedial congressional map” by the end of September. State lawmakers have already signaled they plan to appeal, meaning the case is likely headed for the Utah Supreme Court and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gibson’s order comes after a fight between two of the country’s largest states, Texas and California, thrust gerrymandering into the national spotlight. Gerrymandering is the practice of changing the boundaries of a congressional district in a state to benefit one political party, which critics say dilutes votes.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about the “Election Rigging Response Act” at a press conference on August 14, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The lawsuit in Utah arose from redistricting changes that began in 2018. Utah voters passed Proposition 4, also known as the “Better Boundaries” initiative, that year to reform the redistricting process and create an independent commission to oversee it.
But the state legislature passed a bill two years later that overrode that measure and stripped the commission of its power by reducing it to an advisory body. Lawmakers then bypassed the commission entirely by drawing congressional maps seen as strongly favoring Republicans.
The new map split Salt Lake City four ways, which voting rights groups, including the League of Women Voters of Utah and the Mormon Women for Ethical Government, alleged illegally broke up the state’s only blue-leaning urban region in violation of the standards set forth by Proposition 4.
TRUMP, ABBOTT VS. NEWSOM: MAD DASH TO REDO CONGRESSIONAL MAPS IN CALIFORNIA, TEXAS
State Capitol Building overlooks Salt Lake City skyline and Wasatch Mountain range with snow, Utah. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Sen. Mike Lee speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations confirmation hearing at Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, warned Monday ahead of Gibson’s ruling that “almost anything promoted as an ‘independent commission’ is often a strategy to give Democrats an edge they can’t win through fair elections.”
“We the people need to halt this trend. To do so, we must first grasp what these independent commissions truly represent,” Lee wrote in a lengthy X post. “In a state like Utah, they’re essentially a mechanism for the left to grab power they can’t get through democratic elections.”
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Utah’s redistricting dispute comes after Texas’ legislature passed new maps this month that give Republicans an advantage in the upcoming midterms. President Donald Trump encouraged the move and celebrated it as a “BIG WIN,” while state Democrats temporarily fled the state in protest over the new map.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, responded to what he said was a Trump-led power grab by advancing a hasty plan to suspend his own state’s map, drawn by an independent commission, and pass a new one in a special election this year to offset Republicans’ gains in Texas. In a press conference, Newsom said Democrats need to “play hardball” to stand a chance against a Republican Party led by Trump. Trump vowed on Monday to sue Newsom over the map.
Source: Utah News
Source: Utah News
Jake Schmitt looked up, droplets from the cool stream dribbling down his chin, and locked eyes with his best friend, Buddy. The 6-year-old German shorthaired pointer also had water dripping from his black snout.
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Schmitt, 34, has been a hunter for most of his life and a hunting guide in Utah for almost a decade. He knew he shouldn’t be drinking from a stream, that his stomach could violently cramp from giardia once the water and parasites worked their way inside. But that was a tomorrow problem. He wasn’t even sure he would make it through the night — or if he would even notice the pain with so much of it already wracking his body.
It had been hours — four? Eight? Schmitt wasn’t sure — since his Polaris Ranger had tumbled down a hillside deep in the Uinta Mountains. In the rollover, he shattered both ankles, two ribs and his leg. By the time they reached the river, he and Buddy had been crawling down a rutted logging road, both on all fours, for so long that while the reinforced patches on the knees of Schmitt’s hunting pants remained intact, the skin on his kneecaps was shredded and bleeding. He needed this respite. He could see Buddy needed it, too.
“We looked at each other, and I was like, ‘Dude, this water is so good.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, can we just take a minute? This water is really good,’” Schmitt recalled. “And I was like, ‘We can take five minutes, Buddy. I’m so sorry.’”
Schmitt had gotten them into this — what would end up being an 11-hour slog to his truck and another 40-minute drive to help. What got them out, he said, was Buddy.
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The Salt Lake Tribune shares the story of how Schmitt and Buddy made it through the night after a crash in the Utah wilderness.
Before he moved to Ogden in 2022, Schmitt made an annual pilgrimage from his home in Buffalo, New York, out West to Montana, Canada or Utah every August to subcontract for four months as a hunting guide. And he always brought Buddy, who had been Schmitt’s sidekick since he was 8 weeks old.
With another hunting season around the corner, the pair took a Sunday drive toward Whitney Reservoir, deep into the Uinta Mountains, to scout for big game. It was July 20, and the trip was going well. Schmitt had rescued an elk fawn from a bear trap and also spotted a large buck. Trying to get a better look at the buck, Schmitt steered his Ranger onto a trail about four miles into the forest that he said he’s “been on a million times.”
Map demonstrating the distance between the UTV crash site and Oakley Diner. – Christopher Cherrington // The Salt Lake Tribune
Quickly, though, he realized the trail had become unsafe over the winter. He decided to backtrack and shifted the Ranger into reverse. Before he even put his foot on the accelerator, Schmitt felt the back end start to slip down the incline.
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“I knew it was going to flip, and I tried to jump out,” Schmitt said. “And upon trying to jump out, it started to roll, and it took my body with it.”
Schmitt believes the machine rolled over twice before it spit him out a quarter of the way down the steep hill. It rolled about 15 more times before coming to a rest in a heap in a dry creek bed. The frame was contorted. The roof had been ripped off. The tires were flung dozens of feet away.
Buddy had been inside a crate in the back of the Ranger. The crate was nowhere to be seen. But there Buddy was, standing in front of Schmitt, wagging his stubby tail, not a scratch on him.
Schmitt hadn’t been so fortunate.
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He didn’t know the extent of his injuries, but when he put weight on his right leg to stand, his ankle popped and he collapsed back to the ground. Then he looked at his left leg and couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing: His foot was folded back and his lower leg was skewed at a strange angle.
Even on healthy legs, it would have been difficult to stand on the incline. In his state, it would be impossible. So, Schmitt opted to roll down to the wreckage instead. Along the way, he hoped he would spot his satellite phone, or his radio or his cellphone, or at very least the gun he carried to scare away bears — anything he could use to signal for help.
“I had everything you could imagine,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter when it just gets flung off of you.”
The one usable thing he found? A small roll of duct tape. Through the tumult, it remained stuck inside the Ranger’s center console.
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Schmitt sized up his situation: “I have no communication. I’m screwed. I’m going to have to drag myself out, as painful as that is.”
First, though, he had to set his broken leg.
Schmitt wasn’t just some tourist lost in the woods. His years of guiding and backcountry exploration had left him uniquely qualified to deal with his perilous predicament.
He was so familiar with the old road that he knew he had to make six stream crossings before he would reach his truck. He knew to drink only from the most rapidly moving sections of those streams to mitigate the chances of contracting giardia. And, he had experience with self-administered wilderness first aid.
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“If you don’t know how to literally drag yourself out at the end of the day, then probably don’t go out there,” Schmitt said, “because you’re going to die.”
Schmitt knew he needed to survive, even if only to make sure Buddy made it out alive. He found a straight piece of metal that had broken off the Ranger, scooted over to it and set his broken leg on top of it. Then, he pulled.
“I was way more scared to lose my leg than to rebreak that back,” Schmitt said of his rationalization for putting himself through that pain. “I was terrified.”
He created a splint with a mostly straight and sturdy stick and affixed it to the side of his leg with his belt and, of course, the duct tape.
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By then, the sun had begun to set. So Schmitt called Buddy over and switched on the walnut-sized light on his collar. With just a crescent moon overhead, it would be their only light source for the next 10 hours as they lurched through the dark forest.
It didn’t take long for the adrenaline to wear off. Shock, fatigue and disorientation took its place.
Schmitt started the long journey to his truck by scooching backward, using his arms to drag his body down the road. Later, spooked by animal sounds he heard in the forest, he turned onto his belly and, with a rock in each hand for protection against the gravel and the wildlife, began to crawl. His ankle flopped helplessly behind him, and he could feel the bone shards grinding against one another. Ahead of him, Buddy zigzagged back and forth, picking up scents on the wind.
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Their progress was glacial. At the second stream crossing, Schmitt convinced himself it was the fifth one. When a bend in the road jogged his memory, Schmitt broke down; they still had so far to travel.
They stopped often. Sometimes sleep would overtake Schmitt, but he would always be jolted back awake by the sensation of Buddy’s black nose nudging his head. When Schmitt felt like he just couldn’t go on, Buddy would lie down on the road 20 feet ahead of him. Compelled by the dog’s forlorn look, Schmitt would find the energy to scoot over to comfort his friend.
“I would pet him, and then he’d go 20 feet more,” Schmitt recalled. “And now I know he was just helping me, step by step.”
When daylight broke the next morning, Schmitt called it the “worst sunrise I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” It meant he hadn’t been crawling for three or four hours, like he’d thought, but closer to 10. The adrenaline kicked in, though, when the sunlight illuminated his truck in the distance.
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Thankfully, he’d left his keys inside it.
Yenni Saiz was putting yard games out in front of the Oakley Diner, as the 19-year-old waitress usually does to prepare for the 8 a.m. breakfast crowd, when the mud-colored Toyota pulled up next to her. The man inside rolled down his window, and Saiz grew nervous.
“You can tell he was in pain,” said Saiz, a Weber State student and Oakley resident, “and he had scratches on his face. He had a dog in the back seat, too.”
Schmitt had driven his broken body and best friend more than half an hour to the diner, the nearest place he thought might be open so early. He asked Saiz to call 911 and relayed to her the details of his ordeal and his injuries. Four minutes later, paramedics were on the scene.
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Schmitt was loaded into an ambulance bound for Park City Hospital. Buddy had to stay behind. But the Oakley Fire Station kept him until Schmitt’s mom flew in the next day from New York to collect him.
Schmitt spent a week in the hospital while doctors inserted a rod in his broken leg and gave his ribs time to heal. On his final day, the nurses gave Schmitt’s mom, Mel Lenz, who is also a nurse, the go-ahead to bring Buddy to the hospital. The dog could barely be restrained from climbing into bed with Schmitt.
“He cried. I cried,” Schmitt said. “It was pretty wild.”
Both are back at home in Ogden now. Schmitt, who is uninsured, is trying to distract himself from his mounting medical bills by managing his welding fabrication company and committing himself to his physical therapy. His ambitious goal is to be guiding again by early September.
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As for Buddy, he has all the bones — and all the cool, clean water — a dog could want. And, Schmitt said, he always will.
“He’s the little man that got me out of there for sure,” Schmitt said. “If he wasn’t there, I probably wouldn’t have made it mentally, spiritually.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Schmitt pay for medical expenses and loss of equipment. To date, the fund had received more than $29,000 in donations.
This story was produced by The Salt Lake Tribune and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
Source: Utah News