Plus, Utah population tops 3.5 million, but growth rate is down slightly.
🌨️ 30 – 43° Logan | 🌧️ 37 – 46° Salt Lake 🌨️ 30 – 42° Manti | ⛅ 36 – 52° Moab 🌨️ 31 – 44° Cedar City | 🌧️ 39 – 51° St. George ❤️ Happy Valentine's Day! Utah's population hit a new high last year. It topped 3.5 million in 2024. Natural growth — the balancing of births to deaths — and migration were about equally responsible for the population increase, Lois Collins reported. The numbers reveal the population has stabilized into a more normal pattern compared to what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic — a time when more migration than natural increase was a major factor in the rapid growth. “Honestly, we’ve been anticipating slowing growth for a while,” Emily Harris, senior demographer at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute told the Deseret News. “When I look at the numbers now, they look very similar to what we were estimating in terms of raw numbers kind of pre-pandemic. So it feels like we are on the other side of the pandemic fully now.” Read more about Utah's population growth. |
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| The battle for Utah’s public lands |
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| Utah has a significant amount of public lands within its borders — the second-most federally owned land in the entire country at approximately 64.9%. The state's argument The state is arguing that the land isn't being used effectively and could be better managed at the state level. The Supreme Court has refused to hear the case, but the state continues to seek legal solutions that would put land ownership under the state. Are there opponents to giving the state more control of the land? The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance filed a response lawsuit last December accusing Utah's state leaders of violating Article Three of the Utah Constitution in their bid for the lands. Article Three states that the people of Utah will “forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands within (its) boundaries” in favor of the U.S. government, Emma Pitts reported. Read more about the case. More in Utah Winter storm warnings issued across Utah ahead of incoming atmospheric river (KSL.com) St. George really (really) loves its paved trails. The numbers don’t lie (KUER) Utah’s nanosilicon solution (Utah Business)
'The city is doing fabulous': St. George mayor delivers 2025 State of the City address (St George News) Alpine School District board hears proposed names for new Eagle Mountain middle school (Daily Herald) Box Elder and two other counties have new cases of avian flu (Cache Valley Daily) |
| On Thursday, Spencer F. Eccles, 90, was honored with the MountainWest Capital Network’s Entrepreneur of the Year award and celebrated by family, friends, state officials and colleagues from a wide array of arenas including business, academia and philanthropy at an event in downtown Salt Lake City, Art Raymond reported. Here are some quotes about the titan of Utah business: Gov. Spencer Cox: “Inevitably I get to a point in that conversation when I talk about people who are not a part of government. I realized very quickly that the difference between Utah and my fellow governor’s states ... is they don’t have Spencer F. Eccles, or people like him, who are constantly giving back to make our state a better place.” University of Utah President Taylor Randall: “Spencer Fox Eccles is a builder of individuals, he is a builder of organizations and, finally, we all know and the reason we are here today is Spencer is a builder of our community. You can go anywhere in the state and see arts organizations or nonprofits that are building our community because of the generosity of the Eccles Foundation." His son Spencer P. Eccles: “Business is in his DNA. That’s an anchor for everything he’s done and, in many ways, it’s stemmed from being an Alpine ski racer. It taught him hard work, grit and competition, learning through success and learning through failures.” Read more about Spencer F. Eccles. More in Politics Lawmakers tap brakes on call for universal free school meals for Utah kids (Deseret News) Senate confirms RFK Jr. Here’s how Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis voted (Deseret News)
Utah lawmaker pushes to undo Biden-era rule allowing U.S. Forest Service to enforce state laws (Deseret News)
Sen. Mike Lee wants to make it easier for Trump to cut the size and cost of government (Deseret News)
Lawmakers want to make it easier to donate to Utah Food Bank. Here’s how (Deseret News)
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Health Do you need a measles booster? Here’s what experts say (CNN) Can blood test predict this pregnancy complication? (Deseret News) CDC reports highest number of flu cases in 15 years. Here's how to protect yourself (Healthline) Faith Primary service initiative an important invitation and sacred opportunity for children (Church News) ‘This Little Light of Mine’ and other hymns added to Church of Jesus Christ hymn book (Deseret News) The Nation and the World An atmospheric river is coming to California. It could bring risks of debris flows (NPR)
Valentine's Day display of northern lights will be visible in these US states (ABC News)
Zelensky says no peace deal without Ukraine involvement (BBC)
Sports Why revenue sharing will shrink some of the best college teams in the country (Deseret News) How much will BYU’s offensive personnel change in 2025? (Deseret News)
Steve Young shares what stood out to him about Tom Holmoe (Deseret News) High school drill team: Utah Coaches Association 2025 all-state teams (Deseret News)
💘 Valentine's Day 15 of the best Valentine’s Day dinner deals (Deseret News) The best TV shows to watch on Valentine's Day (Deseret News) Photo gallery: A busy behind the scenes look at Harmons floral department (Deseret News) Brian Willoughby and Jason Carroll: Virtual valentines and simulated soulmates won’t give you what you really need (Deseret News)
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🗓️ 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: Kanab Balloons and Tunes Roundup Symphony of Love | Eccles Theater “The Secret Garden” | Randall L. Jones Theatre - Southern Utah University, Cedar City “Matilda the Musical” | Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City BYU women’s gymnastics vs. West Virginia | 7 p.m. Weber State men’s tennis vs. San Diego State | 11:30 a.m. UVU wrestling vs. Northern Colorado | 7 p.m. SUU women’s gymnastics vs. Stanford University | 6:30 p.m. Utah Tech baseball vs. Northern Colorado | 4:05 p.m. |
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Please reach out to me at sgambles@deseretnews.com if you have any thoughts, feedback or ideas you would like to share! ✨ Cheers ✨ — Gambles |
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