⛅ 41 – 69° Logan | ⛅ 49 – 73° Salt Lake

⛅ 37 – 69° Manti | ⛅ 51– 82° Moab

⛅ 43 – 71° Cedar City | ⛅ 53 – 83° St. George

🌅 Good morning!

In an effort to beat the winter blues, a coworker and I have been walking different sections of the Jordan River Parkway about once a week since Novermber. It's been fun to explore different areas and see what they have to offer.

Recently, the Jordan River Parkway got a new addition — it now connects to Millcreek.

The latest addition in Millcreek includes several new picnic tables, a new boat launch site and a small playground.

"All of these river access points have just made this hidden gem into something truly open and accessible to the public," Soren Simonsen, executive director of the Jordan River Commission, told KSL.com.

🥾 Read more about the Jordan River Parkway.

New poll: What do Utahns think of Trump’s plans on Greenland and Canada?

Four days after his inauguration into his second term in the White House, President Donald Trump said, “I would love to see Canada be the 51st state.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained the president is firm on his position of Canada “becoming the 51st state” at a press conference earlier this month, Gitanjali Poonia reported.

What do Utahns think of the idea?

According to a recent poll, a majority of Utahns (68%) at least somewhat oppose the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state.

Jason Perry, director of the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics, said, “Most Utahns see the suggestion of Canada becoming the 51st state as unnecessary and even disruptive to a friendly relationship with an important ally.”

Here are more poll results from a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics survey:

68% of the surveyed voters said they believed the U.S. is creating unnecessary pressure with a close ally like Canada.
32% said they believed it’s a fair goal for the U.S. and Canada.
84% said they were against applying any type of pressure on the North American ally.
58%, said they somewhat or strongly oppose the idea of Greenland becoming a territory of the U.S.

How the University of Utah’s Master of Business Creation is fostering scores of student-entrepreneurs

The University of Utah's Master of Business Creation (MBC) program was started as a first-of-its-kind and has become the launch pad for hundreds of local student-entrepreneurs to grow their startup companies.

The program is part of the university's entrepreneurship program and is ranked among the top 10 in the nation.

As reported by Jason Swensen, highlights of the MBC program include the following:

One-on-one mentorship with veteran entrepreneurs from the community
An evolving curriculum
A community of fellow student-founders that doubles as a remedy for the often lonely world of starting a business

“It’s really practical entrepreneurship at an operationally sophisticated level for people who have companies and want to build and grow them,” the program’s U.S. director, Paul Brown said.

Read more about the entrepreneurship program.

Utah

SLC’s Open Streets event returns in June with a test of Main Street’s potential future (KSL.com)
📸 Photo gallery: Surprise book giveaway delivers a load of smiles as well (Deseret News)
Utah State University: More than a dozen degrees and programs being cut to comply with HB265 (Deseret News)
7 fishing spots in Utah to take your children or grandchildren to this spring and summer (Deseret News)
'Now is the time to define our town on our own terms': Springdale grapples with its identity (St George News)
The economic impact of the relocated Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater (Utah Business)
University of Utah researcher makes TIME100 list (Axios)
Utah launches Adopt the Outdoors program to boost public stewardship statewide (St George News)

Health

Blood pressure and dementia risk share surprising link, study suggests (Fox News)
Colorectal cancer rising in young people: 6 symptoms you shouldn't ignore (Healthline)

Faith

🎧 Podcast: Get to know the newest General Authority Seventies through their testimonies (Church News)
📺 Watch: Carrie Underwood brings viral performance of ‘How Great Thou Art’ to ‘American Idol’ (Deseret News)

The Nation and the World

Are increases in home prices slowing down? (Deseret News)
Could an American pope be waiting in the wings? Experts weigh in (ABC News)
Right-to-repair revolution: Farmers challenge John Deere's control over equipment repair (NBC News)

Sports

Conner Mantz inspired his wife, Kylie, to take up running. Then, she walked on to the BYU track team (Deseret News)
BYU depth chart: Can Cougars’ defense become one of the best in the country in 2025? (Deseret News)
Prized recruit McKay Madsen shares why he knew BYU was the place for him (Deseret News)

🗓️ Events Calendar

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

Here are some highlights for events in Utah today:

Spring Utah Art Market | Four Lemons, Holladay
Washington City Cotton Days | Washington
Sam Fender | Union Event Center

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

✨ Cheers ✨

— Gambles