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Wholesale egg prices are finally beginning to see a more significant drop, just in time for Easter. It's unclear, though, whether it will show at the checkout stand just yet.

Widespread outbreaks of avian bird flu have decimated U.S. flocks and helped drive wholesale egg prices to a record $8.58 per dozen on Feb. 28. But as of last Friday, prices paid by retail outlets declined to $4.83 per dozen, Art Raymond reported.

Read more about the price of eggs.

Did Utah’s vote-by-mail reform really make elections safer?

Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz said Tuesday the state’s new vote-by-mail process is “a huge step” toward better election security despite the major changes made from the original proposal he supported, Brigham Tomco reported.

Over the course of the session, HB300 underwent a dramatic transformation from initially demanding in-person voting with photo identification to ultimately requiring ballots be turned in along with the last four digits of government ID. The bill also requires voters to renew their request for a mail-in ballot every eight years, after initially opting-in.

“If you look at that bill it’s better than the current system,” Schultz, R-Hooper, said. “But I think we need to spend more time focusing on voter ID. We will keep working on it.”

Here are three key points:

The conservative Heritage Foundation said Utah's HB300 will increase election safety and turnout.
Gov. Spencer Cox is expected to sign the bill replacing signature verification with the last four digits of a state ID.
The Weber County clerk said ID numbers could make it easier for family members to vote fraudulently.

University of Utah to build its first off-campus hospital in West Valley City

The University of Utah received a $75 million donation from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, empowering it to build a new health campus in West Valley City.

The gift “will enable the construction of the university’s first off-campus hospital in its 175-year history,” as well as its largest clinic, according to the university.

Here are some key points about the University of Utah Health campus:

The hospital will anchor the $855 million project.
It will be an 800,000-square-foot University of Utah Health campus.
The project will include a 90-bed hospital and multispeciality outpatient clinics.
It will bring cutting-edge health care to close some of the community's existing health disparities.
It will provide research, job opportunities, training, education and community engagement.

University Health estimates patients from the west side have driven more than 12 million miles a year to be treated at its existing facilities, Lois Collins reported.

“We view this as an educational workforce and health care investment in that community all at once, and we hope that when we look back 10, 15, 20 years from now, we’ll see substantial changes in health outcomes and economic outcomes of the community,” University of Utah President Taylor Randall said.

🗓️ Events Calendar

We put together a calendar list of events and activities going on around the state of Utah during the next month. Check it out and let us know if we are missing anything!

Here are some highlights for events in Utah today:

“Something Rotten Jr.” | Timpanogos Valley Theatre, Heber City
“Prince of Egypt” | Hale Centre Theatre, Sandy
Utah Jazz vs. Washington Wizards | 7 p.m.
U of U men’s tennis vs. UNLV | 11 a.m.
U of U baseball vs. Northern Colorado | 12 p.m.

Please reach out to me at sgambles@deseretnews.com if you have any thoughts, feedback or ideas you would like to share!

✨ Cheers ✨

— Gambles

More in Politics

University of Utah to build its first off-campus hospital in West Valley City

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🗓️ Events Calendar