https://washingtonsun.com/utah Utah en-US Wed, 24 Jun 2026 02:29:59 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/democrat-utah-primary-results Christa Dutton Ben McAdams, the former congressman, beat progressive candidates in the red state’s new, solidly blue district. Wed, 24 Jun 2026 02:29:59 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/democrat-utah-primary-results Former Rep. Ben McAdams fended off progressive candidates in Utah’s new 1st Congressional District primary on Tuesday, advancing to a general election contest that heavily favors Democrats.

McAdams, who was one of the most conservative Democrats when he served in the House from 2019 to 2021, is projected to beat Nate Blouin, Liban Mohamed and Michael Farrell, three progressive contenders.

The primary was a proxy battle for Democrats’ larger ideological fight over the electability of moderates versus progressives. And in the nationwide redistricting reshuffle that Republicans have worked to make an advantage, the Utah seat is a bright spot for Democrats. McAdams will face the Republican candidate Riley Owen this fall.

McAdams has styled himself as a pragmatist and during the primary had to defend his record in Congress — including his support of a bill that allowed doctors to refuse to perform abortions because of their personal beliefs in 2019, as well as votes against labor unions and war powers.

His campaign made an effort to focus on progressive victories he fought for, like statewide LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections, Medicaid expansion and environmental protection legislation.

Utah’s 1st Congressional District was drawn into existence by a court-ordered, independent nonpartisan redistricting commission after a state court ruled that the old map illegally diluted Democratic votes in Salt Lake County.

Some Democrats in the district fear that the blue dot won’t be around forever, which made McAdams an even more attractive choice to them because he’d won a toss-up seat in the past.

Jeff Merchant, a former chair of the state’s Democratic Party, voted for McAdams because he could fight for progressive causes in Congress while still being a pragmatic Democrat who would stand a chance of keeping the seat if the lines were to shift again.

“If we elected a strong progressive, they would be there for two years, and then they would be defending a seat that would be almost impossible for a progressive to win in 2028,” he said.
]]> https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/utah-house-race-mcadams-proxy-war-2028 Christa Dutton In Utah’s solidly blue seat, progressives are fighting hard to not send Ben McAdams back to Congress. Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:17:20 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/2026-election/utah-house-race-mcadams-proxy-war-2028 A fight over the future of the Democratic Party is currently playing out in Utah. Yes, Utah.

Eight years ago, Ben McAdams ascended to the House, taking the most conservative-leaning district won by a Democrat that cycle. He lost his seat in 2020 after voting to impeach President Donald Trump. Now, he’s back, running for the House again, in a newly drawn, solidly Democratic district.

This time, McAdams is facing a challenger from his left, and some in the district say he’s too conservative for the Democratic Party — even in a state as reliably red on the national stage as Utah.

“We have literally, by some measures, the most conservative Democrat from his previous term in Congress squaring off against myself, a Bernie Sanders-endorsed candidate who has been called a punk by the Republicans here in Utah, who's gotten my microphone shut off for speaking truth to power on the Senate floor,” Democratic State Sen. Nate Blouin, who is running against McAdams, said. “That is very, very indicative of the state of primaries in the Democratic Party.”

Democrats in safe-blue seats across the country are facing challengers from their left, leaving the Democratic Party to decide which candidates to line up behind as they fight to flip the control of Congress. Rep. Doris Matsui is facing a primary challenge from Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang in California’s 7th District, and Rep. Shri Thanedar is competing against State Rep. Donavan MicKinney in Michigan’s 13th.

The challengers from the left have already suffered losses in some states. In North Carolina, Nida Allam failed to beat Rep. Valerie Foushee, and in Illinois, Kat Abughazaleh lost to Daniel Biss.

The debate is also playing out in more competitive statewide races.

Candidates like Graham Platner, who is running as the consummate outsider against Gov. Janet Mills in Maine’s Senate race, and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Senate race, have garnered attention — and support — in ways that are thwarting establishment thinking.

“There's a real appetite — renewed appetite — for economic populism, like lefty economic populism,” Adam Carlson, a Democratic pollster, said. “Does [the party] lean in and tap into that anger from the base of voters who are dissatisfied with the direction the party is going in, or do they play it safe and go with the more electable, proven candidate that has won in the past?”

The race for Utah’s 1st Congressional District, he said, is one of the “proxy wars” for the upcoming presidential primaries in 2028.

McAdams is polling ahead of Blouin, but both candidates are getting attention from national politicians and organizations.

Where McAdams has won endorsements from the centrist Welcome PAC and New Democrats, Blouin has the backing of members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“Normally, I don't think Bernie would get involved in Utah races,” Carlson said. “But there's such an opportunity here. It’s also symbolic of the roughly two camps’ battle for the soul of the party ahead of 2028.”

McAdams pushed back against the idea of voters having a binary choice between moderates and progressives. The party’s takeaway from 2024 should be that it needs to be a big tent, he said.

“We need to allow districts to elect candidates that reflect their values, whether that's Zohran Mamdani in New York or Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey,” McAdams said. “The label that I would say is I'm solution-oriented, and we'll work with anyone to find common ground and get things done.”

McAdams knows the big tent well. He won a blue state senate seat in 2009, won the mayoral race for Salt Lake County in 2012, outperforming Barack Obama, and ousted former Republican Rep. Mia Love in Utah’s 4th Congressional District in 2018.

“He had to reinvent himself as a moderate to get elected to Congress and to run against Mia Love,” said Quin Monson, a political scientist and former pollster for Love. “I think the truth is, he's quite progressive, but I would call him a pragmatic progressive.”

The electability of the “pragmatic progressive” has been debated in the Democratic Party for more than a decade, in House races and the presidential primaries.

Some in the progressive movement say politics has shifted from that debate.

“We're seeing a shift around the country with Democratic primary voters looking for someone who isn't just a politician who is comfortable taking money from corporate PACs, from billionaires,” Evan Brown, executive director of the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, said. “They're looking for a candidate who has stood with labor, that has stood with pro-choice legislation, that has been willing to take on the corporate class.”

This year has shown untested candidates can result in some unusual campaign developments; in Platner’s case, he’s weathered repeated scandals over offensive online posts and a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol that he’s since covered up. In Utah, Blouin is facing a controversy of his own: He had to apologize for past offensive online posts about women and the Church of Latter Day Saints.

“There’s no excuse for these posts — they’re vulgar, stupid, and reflect a version of me in my early twenties that I’m ashamed of and have thankfully evolved past. When a reporter sent me these posts, I was horrified to see my use of language toward women and about a faith that my family, friends, and millions of Utahns practice,” he wrote in a statement.

Unlike Platner, whose popularity has only soared since his scandals, it’s unclear whether Blouin will be able to shake his controversy in the same way.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus and Sen. Bernie Sanders have not pulled their endorsements of him. The Utah Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus endorsed a different candidate in the race.

The caucus “had to think from a strategic standpoint to move forward with a candidate who can withstand tactics of opposition research and mudslinging,” said Mitchell Vice, chair of the state’s Progressive Caucus.

In response, Blouin said: “I'm grateful to the Progressive Caucus for the work they've done, and I think we'll continue to work together in the future, but I think it's a bit of a narrow-minded perspective right now.”

While McAdams' critics point to the more conservative measures he voted for in Congress — including a bill that allowed doctors to refuse to perform abortions due to personal beliefs, as well as voting against labor unions and war powers — his campaign boasts progressive victories: statewide LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections, Medicaid expansion and pro-climate legislation.

If elected to Congress, McAdams said he’d vote to codify Roe into law, support the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and support the war powers resolution introduced by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie.

He also believes that Citizens United should be overturned and big money should be out of politics. But “the reality is you have to win elections if you're going to change the rules,” McAdams said. His individual contributions count for much more of his total fundraising than PAC money, per a recent FEC filing.

McAdams is also leaning in on Trump. He’s been “more overt in directly using more confrontational language about how to deal with the current governing majority in D.C.,” said Darin Self, chair of the Utah County Democratic Party. “Which is a departure from his last campaign where he chose to effectively run against the national Democratic Party.”

Whoever wins Utah’s 1st will be the state’s first Democrat since McAdams was in office and a chance to represent the red state when Democrats may be in the majority.

McAdams does see “an existential moment” at play in the race for Utah Democrats.

“We have to win the seat. We have to protect Prop Four,” he said, referring to the ballot measure that created an independent redistricting commission and allowed for this Democratic-leaning seat to exist in the first place.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/capitol-gains/utah-congressional-delegation-wealth-assets-debt Manuela Silva, Helen Huiskes The state’s six-member delegation includes members of great personal wealth — and some without that much. Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:01:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/capitol-gains/utah-congressional-delegation-wealth-assets-debt Utah boasts two very different types of landscape: the rugged wilderness of red deserts along sloping horizons, and polished suburban neighborhoods surrounding temperate towns along the I-15 corridor.

In a similar way, Utah’s all-Republican congressional delegation represents a tale of two states when it comes to the lawmakers’ personal finances: Three of Utah’s six federal lawmakers have a negative median net worth, while the other three have a median net worth of at least $1 million, according to a NOTUS analysis of the lawmakers’ most recent personal finance disclosures.

While the disclosures paint very different pictures for each lawmaker, those who have a median net worth over $1 million all traded in the stock market. As Congress continues to debate whether its members should be allowed to trade stocks at all, many federal lawmakers continue to buy and sell individual stocks in companies that lobby the government for preferential treatment, hold federal contracts and are subject to the oversight of congressional committees on which lawmakers sit.

https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/xqLNl/3/
There are ethical tools for members to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest between their personal investments and their work. One such tool is known as a qualified blind trust, which is where members of Congress give up management of their assets to an independent third party in an arrangement that’s approved by Congress. Qualified blind trusts don’t require the manager to sell off the stocks inside, meaning lawmakers could still be aware of what stocks they own.

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Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican who has the highest median net worth among Utah delegation members, estimated at more than $12 million, is one of a handful of members in Congress who uses such a trust.

Before entering Congress, Moore had an active stock trading portfolio, and in 2021, he violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act by failing to disclose up to $1.1 million worth of personal stock trades in a timely fashion.

In 2022, he transferred his stocks — including shares of Apple, Alphabet, Boeing, RTX, Johnson & Johnson and Meta, among others — to the blind trust.

“Many members enter Congress with assets and investments, and there are rules and criminal laws in place to guide how those investments are managed and disclosed,” said Madison Weber, a spokesperson for Moore. “Rep. Moore placed his investments in a blind trust during his first term in Congress to avoid even the hint of a conflict of interest. He does not manage his trust, and he works closely with the Ethics Committee to ensure compliance.”

Weber added that Moore’s actual net worth is “markedly lower” than the more than $12 million of his median net worth as calculated by NOTUS, but did not specify how much lower.

Craig Holman, Capitol Hill ethics lobbyist for the watchdog group Public Citizen, told NOTUS that qualified blind trusts used by lawmakers and federal government officials are not actually “blind” because the independent overseer of the trust is not required to sell off the assets inside the trust, and usually does not.

“So the member of Congress is fully aware of the properties that he or she owns that have been placed in the blind trust,” Holman said. “This is sort of a ruse that allows members of Congress to try to claim publicly that they don’t have a conflict of interest because all their assets are in a [blind] trust. But they do have a conflict of interest. They know exactly what those assets are.”

Moore’s other assets, as stated on his financial disclosures, include a residential rental property in Washington, D.C., and college savings accounts for each of his four children. His wife’s assets — all federal lawmakers must disclose certain personal assets and debts for their spouse and dependent children — include partnership income from her family’s real estate investment company.

Sen. John Curtis, who served in the House before entering the Senate in 2025, has a median net worth of $11.5 million, according to NOTUS’ calculations. Curtis reported owning land and several residential and commercial rental properties in Utah, and an ownership stake in companies related to those properties. He also reported owning mutual funds.

Rep. Mike Kennedy, one of two freshman members of the delegation, has a median net worth of more than $1.4 million, according to NOTUS’ calculations.
MikeKennedy (5301x3534, AR: 1.50)Kennedy invests in various stocks, including those of Apple, Microsoft and Cloudflare.

The congressman, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate against Mitt Romney in 2018, also reported as assets two debts that his political campaign committees owe him: one worth $250,001 to $500,000 from his Kennedy for U.S. Senate campaign, and another of $100,001 to $250,000 from his Mike Kennedy for Utah campaign for the House.

When lawmakers fill out their annual financial disclosures, they report the value of their assets and liabilities in ranges, including open-ended ranges such as “over $50,000,000.” As such, it is impossible to pinpoint an exact net worth.

So to estimate members' net worths, NOTUS used those ranges to calculate the minimum and maximum possible values of their total reported assets and liabilities. NOTUS subtracted each lawmaker’s maximum liabilities from their minimum assets to determine what their net worth could be on the high end, then subtracted minimum liabilities from maximum assets to set the low end. The midpoint between those two numbers is what we're reporting as each lawmaker's estimated median net worth.

The data is invaluable but imperfect. Lawmakers, for example, do not have to report the value of their personal residence, vehicles or personal property such as art that does not generate income. They are also allowed to report the value of pensions and intellectual property as “undetermined.” (Read more about how NOTUS calculated net worth and what’s included and not included here.)

Lawmakers are required to report what stocks they own among their assets.

The other members of Utah’s congressional delegation did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

That includes three lawmakers whose economic outlooks are decidedly down to earth: Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens, as well as Sen. Mike Lee, all had a negative median net worth, at -$20,999, -$158,500 and -$359,499, respectively, according to NOTUS’ analysis.

The lawmakers reported various liabilities such as mortgages. In 2025, Utah ranked fourth-lowest in the country for homes purchased outright, according to the Census Bureau. Utah also consistently ranks in the top 10 most expensive states in which to buy a home.

Lee, the state's senior senator, listed a joint mortgage incurred in 2024 as his singular liability. Maloy listed a car loan in addition to a mortgage as her liabilities.
BurgessOwens (5650x3767, AR: 1.50)Owens, who announced this year that he would be retiring at the end of this term, reported a student loan for his daughter at Syracuse University as a singular but significant liability — a debt valued from $100,001 to $250,000.

Lee ($34,375) and Owens ($195) did both declare earning money from book royalties, one of the few ways members of Congress can make money away from Capitol Hill, where rank-and-file lawmakers earn $174,000 annually.

Owens also declared his NFL pension, which he receives from his 10 seasons playing as a safety for the New York Jets and the former Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. He listed the overall value as “undetermined,” but reported $21,570 in pension income during 2024.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/commodity-futures-trading-commission-prediction-markets-spencer-cox Violet Jira Utah’s Republican governor promised to “use every resource within my disposal as governor” to beat the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in court. Tue, 17 Feb 2026 21:59:13 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/commodity-futures-trading-commission-prediction-markets-spencer-cox The Trump administration wants to shut out states from regulating prediction markets, and some states are already promising to fight back.

After Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Mike Selig announced Tuesday that the federal government will seek exclusive jurisdiction over regulation of prediction markets, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he will continue to fight for the ability to regulate and potentially shut out the growing industry.

“Mike, I appreciate you attempting this with a straight face, but I don’t remember the CFTC having authority over the ‘derivative market’ of LeBron James rebounds,” Cox, a Republican, wrote on X in response to a post from Selig. “These prediction markets you are breathlessly defending are gambling—pure and simple. They are destroying the lives of families and countless Americans, especially young men. They have no place in Utah.”

“Let me be clear, I will use every resource within my disposal as governor of the sovereign state of Utah, and under the Constitution of the United States to beat you in court,” Cox continued.

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Sports betting on platforms, such as DraftKings, is regulated at the state level, and online live sports betting is banned in multiple states, including Utah. But prediction market companies, including Polymarket and Kalshi, where people can similarly win and lose on things like game outcomes, argue that what they offer is distinct from sports betting.

Prediction markets are regulated by the Commodity Exchange Act through the CFTC. States have sued in an attempt to block sports-related event contracts and close what they see as a loophole that enables what is effectively sports betting.

The CFTC is now saying that its authority supersedes state authorities, attempting to clear a path for these platforms to be legal in all 50 states.

“Over the past year, American prediction markets have been hit with an onslaught of state-led litigation,” Selig said in a video announcing the CFTC’s move. “To those who seek to challenge our authority in this space, let me be clear: We will see you in court.”

Salig’s announcement comes days after the CFTC announced the formation of an “Innovation Advisory Committee” made up primarily of crypto and prediction market companies, such as Polymarket, Kalshi, and Coinbase.

The CFTC’s announcement has also drawn scrutiny due to the Trump family’s connections to the prediction markets industry. Donald Trump Jr. 's venture capital firm invested in Polymarket and Trump Jr. is also a strategic advisor to Kalshi. Trump Media & Technology Group announced last year that it would join the prediction market industry, though “Truth Predict” has yet to be rolled out.

Democrats in Congress have also spoken out on the issue recently. Sens. Adam Schiff and Catherine Cortez Masto led roughly two dozen senators last week in urging the CFTC not to weigh in on pending litigation.

Litigation is ongoing in multiple states. A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that sports contracts are unlicensed betting, and ordered Kalshi to suspend operations in the state. Maryland won a similar case that will be heard again by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court later this year. A similar case from Nevada will be heard by a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this year.

Melinda Roth, an expert on prediction and a visiting associate professor of law at Washington and Lee University School of Law, told NOTUS in January that it is likely the Supreme Court will make the final call on whether prediction markets can be regulated by the states.

“The argument is, no, this isn't sports betting,” Roth said. “This is a financial derivative product, and we are regulated by the CFTC, and that preempts the state regulation. And in some states, Kalshi has been successful with that argument. In other states, they have not. … I am of the belief that this will be considered by the Supreme Court.”]]> https://washingtonsun.com/utah/maxwell-frost-man-arrested-alleged-racist-assault-sundance-film-festival-caa Amelia Benavides-Colón “I was assaulted by a man at Sundance Festival who told me that Trump was going to deport me before he punched me in the face,” Frost said. Sun, 25 Jan 2026 22:25:57 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/utah/maxwell-frost-man-arrested-alleged-racist-assault-sundance-film-festival-caa A man was arrested over the weekend after allegedly punching Rep. Maxwell Frost in the face at a Sundance Film Festival party in Park City, Utah.

The Florida Democrat said the attack, which reportedly took place at a late-night event hosted by the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), was racially motivated.

“I was assaulted by a man at Sundance Festival who told me that Trump was going to deport me before he punched me in the face,” Frost posted to X. “He was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off. The individual was arrested and I am okay.”

Park City police confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that officers responded to reports of an assault early Saturday morning at High West Saloon.

Police ultimately arrested a suspect identified as 28-year-old Christian Joel Young, and determined that he “unlawfully entered a private party after previously being turned away for not having an invitation. Once inside the saloon, Young assaulted Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost and a female who was attending the private event,” according to a department spokesperson.

In addition to punching Frost, the affidavit filed Sunday alleges he grabbed the shoulder of an unidentified woman who was with Frost and “pushed her out of his way and against the bar,” before being subdued.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a post to X that he was “horrified by the attack.”

“Grateful that he is okay, but appalled that this terrifying assault took place. The perpetrator must be aggressively prosecuted,” Jeffries wrote. “Hate and political violence has no place in our country, and the entire House Democratic Caucus family stands with Maxwell.”

Young, who has a prior misdemeanor conviction, is being held without bail on charges of simple assault, assault on an elected official and aggravated burglary, according to court records. County Judge Richard Mrazik declared Young a “substantial danger” to the community and a flight risk.
]]> https://washingtonsun.com/house/blake-moore-denmark-caucus-cochair Helen Huiskes The Republican said he’s spent the week reassuring Danish officials as President Donald Trump expresses a desire to acquire Greenland. Fri, 09 Jan 2026 19:32:54 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/house/blake-moore-denmark-caucus-cochair When Utah Republican Rep. Blake Moore was asked to be the Republican co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Denmark Caucus, he expected it to be a mellow role in which he could honor his family’s roots.

But now that the U.S.-Denmark relationship is under strain as President Donald Trump repeatedly expresses interest in acquiring Greenland, it has grown into a more significant role.

“I didn't, you know, plan on it being such a Danish-heavy year,” Moore, also the vice chair of the House Republican Conference, told NOTUS.

He said that he and other Denmark-friendly Republicans in Congress have spent the week reassuring Danish officials that there won’t be a military operation in Greenland anytime soon, despite President Donald Trump’s threats to take the island by purchase or force.

“There's no reality, in my opinion, to any type of military action in Greenland,” Moore told NOTUS. “I see no benefit towards a potential [Compact of Free Association], or even I don't see a pathway to a COFA deal, and I don't see any benefit to buying Greenland.”

Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark’s ambassador to the U.S., and Jacob Isbosethsen, head of Greenland representation to the U.S., met with lawmakers from both parties on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday, including Moore.

Moore told NOTUS after his meeting with the officials that he regularly communicates with Sørensen as part of his caucus leadership. He said the diplomats are particularly eager right now to emphasize how they help the U.S.

“They want to highlight thoughts about, ‘Hey, let's just make sure we reiterate all the good that we're doing,’ and how all of those positives far outweigh any of the rhetoric or the commentary that's going on right now,” Moore said of the Danish and Greenlandic representatives.

Since his first term, Trump has expressed interest in buying or invading Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, for its defense capabilities and proximity to Russia and China. He and his allies have doubled down since the military operation in Venezuela to oust its president, Nicólas Maduro, last weekend.

“We need Greenland from a national security situation,” Trump told reporters after the raid. “It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you.”

“And the European Union needs us to have it, and they know that,” Trump added.

Those remarks kicked off a wave of Trump allies trumpeting American expansionism in Greenland, including Matthew Whitaker, ambassador to NATO, and top White House aide Stephen Miller.

In turn, the comments have inflamed relationships abroad. Several European leaders wrote an open letter on Tuesday in support of Greenland and Denmark’s sovereignty, saying Denmark and Greenland were NATO partners and had the sole right to determine their own future.

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, Moore was one of several prominent Republicans clarifying that taking Greenland by force is not on the American agenda, despite what the president says. House Speaker Mike Johnson and multiple senators, including those who met with Sørensen, said this week they do not support military action in Greenland.

“We’re not at war with Greenland. We have no intention of being, we have no reason to be at war with Greenland,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “Everybody knows there’s geopolitical and strategic importance of that landmass, and that’s what everyone has talked about.”

Johnson said the heightened interest in Greenland had more to do with diplomatic relationships, mentioning his home state governor, Jeff Landry, whom Trump recently appointed as a special envoy to Greenland.

Moore told NOTUS that his Republican colleagues are “very in lockstep” with an allied relationship with Denmark and Greenland, as he is.

“The actions, the operation in Venezuela, there is no equivalency to anything related to Denmark and Greenland,” Moore said. “But the fact that they're just getting discussed at the same time is making it more of interest. And you start talking about it, and you get administration officials just continuing down a certain thought path.”

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This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and The Salt Lake Tribune.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/pennsylvania/josh-shapiro-spencer-cox-political-rhetoric Helen Huiskes The high-profile governors traveled to the capital for a discussion that was an increasingly rare scene of bipartisan unity and friendship. Wed, 10 Dec 2025 14:55:55 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/pennsylvania/josh-shapiro-spencer-cox-political-rhetoric Two high-profile governors, Democrat Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Republican Spencer Cox of Utah, traveled to Washington, D.C., to make the case on Tuesday that political leaders need to dial back their rhetoric, including President Donald Trump.

It’s a unique way to build a national message at a moment when partisan political fissures run deep, even if both men — seen as potential candidates for higher office — have previously made this case.

The governors recounted how they bonded after the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah earlier this year, describing it as a pivotal moment in their relationship.

“When that very dark day happened in my state, the first call I got was from this governor,” Cox said of Shapiro at the National Cathedral, where an audience gathered in the drafty congregation space. “He gave me some advice that changed what I was going to say when I stepped in front of the camera for the first time, and he told me to speak with moral clarity and to speak from the heart.”

Shapiro praised Cox’s rhetoric in the wake of the assassination.

“I never looked to myself to be any sort of expert on violence, or frankly, needing to engage in a national conversation about political violence until I saw Spencer Cox, in the wake of the killing of Charlie Kirk, handle that matter the way that he did,” Shapiro said.

It made for an increasingly rare scene of bipartisan unity, and even friendship, especially given the dark cloud of political violence hanging over the country and their lives.

Are either of these officials planning to take that civility message into a presidential campaign?

They both laughed.

“One of us is not,” Cox said.

When the moderator asked about a “unity ticket,” Shapiro reached out his hand to Cox for a handshake, amid cheers from the audience.

Both spoke about how political violence, like the shootings of the Minnesota lawmakers in June that resulted in the death of a former Minnesota House speaker and her husband, have changed the roles they are now in.

“It's harder for us to come on stage like this. Even though we do have amazing security and we appreciate that it's there, it's always in the back of your mind, right?” Cox said.

Shapiro — a centrist Democrat who was considered as a potential running mate for former Vice President Kamala Harris last year — described the emotional aftermath of the arson attack that targeted his family’s home in April. Cox said he received a threat as recently as a few days ago.

Each governor had criticism for their own party.

Shapiro denounced people from the “political left” who celebrated or justified acts of political violence, including the killing of a health insurance CEO a year ago, though those sentiments were confined to extreme corners of the internet rather than the political mainstream. He reserved some of his sharpest criticism for Trump.

“I'm going to say it, and I realize that it may not be popular with some in this room,” Shapiro said. “When you're a governor, when you're a president of the United States, you are looked to for that moral clarity, and we have a president of the United States right now that fails that test on a daily basis.”

Cox said Trump employs “divisive rhetoric,” but added that Trump called him in September to thank him for his leadership after Kirk was shot.

“I'm not trying to play down his divisive rhetoric at all. I'm not going to do that at all,” Cox said. “But I'm going to say this. If we think that a president of the United States or a governor is going to change where we are right now, we're fooling ourselves.”

Cox also had broader criticism: “I'm just here to tell you that neither party is interested in addressing that marked failure right now,” he said of the distrust Americans have in politics.

Shapiro made it clear that a leader’s response to political violence and willingness to turn down the political temperature with their own rhetoric is the first essential step to moving on from a divisive, violent era.

“We need to begin by saying that all leaders must condemn all political violence,” Shapiro said, to applause. “We need bold leaders to stand up and recognize violence is not OK to change policy. What is imperative is that we engage in more democracy building. That we vote, that we engage with lawmakers and force them into positions where they actually solve our problems.”

As the governors spoke, they were periodically interrupted by protesters who were escorted out of the building. (It was unclear what specifically they were protesting.)

Cox acknowledged the interruption by arguing that the tone of debate among elected officials is often a “reflection” of the people.

“This idea that we feel it's OK to scream and interrupt and howl — we've given a pass to this type of boorish behavior for far too long, and this is what we get,” Cox said. “If we want to change what's happening in Washington, D.C., we, the people, have to decide that this is not who we are.”

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This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS, Spotlight PA and The Salt Lake Tribune.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/climate-environment/rfk-maha-cloud-seeding-weather-modification-utah Margaret Manto, Addy Baird Weather modification practices like cloud seeding have become a target of conspiracy theories and political attacks. A different story is playing out in the American West. Thu, 13 Nov 2025 10:40:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/climate-environment/rfk-maha-cloud-seeding-weather-modification-utah Inside a Salt Lake City warehouse, a group of men are controlling the weather.

As the team of drone pilots and environmental specialists — employees of the cloud seeding company Rainmaker — spray chemicals into the sky to induce snow, a small crowd, including one of Utah’s top environmental officials, watches carefully.

The process of cloud seeding, a long-studied method of artificially inducing precipitation, has been creating rain and snow in Utah since the 1950s. But in the era of President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Health Again” movement, weather modification has become a target of conspiracy theories and political attacks.

In September, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene held a hearing titled "Playing God with the Weather — a Disastrous Forecast.” She is also pushing legislation to heavily fine and potentially jail anyone conducting “weather modification” activities. Her bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Thomas Massie, Tim Burchett and Tony Wied.

“Modern attempts at weather control don't appeal to divinity,” Greene said in her opening statement. “Instead, they use technology to put chemicals in the sky.”

But in Utah, cloud seeding is just about the water.

“Utah’s the second driest state in the country,” U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy, one of Greene’s Republican colleagues, said in an interview at Rainmaker’s event launching this year’s cloud seeding season, which the company billed as “the largest cloud seeding program in modern American history.”

“We’re always looking for ways to have better water policy and be more innovative,” Maloy said.

She added, “Look, every new idea gets pushed back, and some ideas are great and some of them aren’t. The only way to find out is to show up and learn and listen and try things. Utah has been innovative and forward-looking on this, and I’m really excited that the state is.”

Cloud seeding is not new, nor is its basic premise — dispersing substances like silver iodide into already-existing clouds to induce condensation and precipitation — particularly complicated. Nevertheless, it’s drawn criticism from some who claim that the chemicals are used at high enough levels to be dangerous to people, or that the government is purposely engineering the weather to harm specific communities, despite no evidence to support either theory.

In particular, the MAHA movement has made “geoengineering” one of its key issues.

In April, Kennedy was asked how to stop “stratospheric aerosol injections” — a reference to some weather modification practices — on “The Dr. Phil Podcast.”

“I’m going to do everything in my power to stop it,” Kennedy said.

Across the country, some states have begun to introduce anti-weather-modification legislation. Florida passed a geoengineering ban in April 2025 that prohibits cloud seeding. Montana banned certain geoengineering practices in March, but stopped short of cloud seeding for water resource management.

A similar effort to prohibit “the release of chemicals or substances from an aircraft for the purpose of weather geoengineering” even made its way through the Utah state Senate earlier this year, though the bill, as passed, explicitly exempted cloud seeding practices and never got a vote on the House floor.

Bills seeking to restrict geoengineering have also been introduced in New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont.

Utah’s two Republican senators are also split on the issue. While Sen. John Curtis says whether or not to use cloud seeding is Utah’s decision, “and I support them if that’s what they want to do,” Sen. Mike Lee has said, “Putting the government in charge of the weather is never going to end well.”

But Utah’s highest-ranking natural resource official disagrees.

Cloud seeding has a champion in Joel Ferry, the Department of Natural Resources director and a former member of the state Legislature. Ferry has pushed for the strategy for years — to the point that some in the state, as Rainmaker officials and Ferry himself noted at the event, refer to cloud seeding as “Ferry dust.” During an interview at Rainmaker’s event, he pushed back against conspiracy theories about the work.

“We look at the facts and we recognize that cloud seeding, the way that we do it, is actually quite beneficial for the environment,” Ferry said. “One thing that we’re really good at in Utah is looking at the science, analyzing the data and coming up with informed decisions, as opposed to just going with conspiracy theories or whatever the hype of the day is.”

Ferry noted that cloud seeding “has been happening for decades” and that he sees Rainmaker’s work as “just doing it in a more advanced way to help us get the results that we want, where we want them, when we want them and how we want them.”Ferry said he didn’t want to discount concerns and wants to ensure the state has data and research to validate its cloud seeding efforts.

“This is a really critical part of how Utah continues to thrive and survive for the future,” he said. “Water is at the center of that.”

In 2023, the Utah Legislature made a major investment in the program, earmarking $12 million in one-time funding and an additional $5 million in ongoing spending. Earlier this year, it allocated an additional $3 million in one-time funding for the Bear River Basin Cloud Seeding Program, the project helping to fund Rainmaker’s work.

And it’s not just state officials who still see the benefits of cloud seeding.

Dan Anderson, a corn, alfalfa and cattle farmer in Fillmore, Utah, said he sees the practice as vital for the future of farming, as the aquifer in his valley is shrinking.

“Anyone that actually takes the time to look into it knows that it has some validity to it,” Anderson said during an interview at the Rainmaker event. “No one wants to waste their money, but I think the technology supports it, and I’m excited.”

Rainmaker CEO Augustus Doricko doesn’t think Kennedy always differentiates between cloud seeding and other conspiracy topics like solar radiation modification and so-called chemtrails. Whether that’s a “rhetorical tactic or earnest enough,” he compares Kennedy’s language to saying “planes are deliberately trying to kill everybody with, like, mRNA vaccine nanobots.”

Meeting political decision-makers where they are could be as straightforward as pointing out ways in which cloud seeding is in alignment with some of the Trump administration’s other priorities, like the MAHA movement’s push for more sustainable agriculture and fewer environmental toxins, said Rainmaker’s head of operations, Parker Cardwell.

“Our mission is to create soil that is more arable, farmland that’s more viable, communities that are more flourishing,” Cardwell said. “So that's kind of what we're shooting for anyways.”

“You do not have to investigate hard to find how the aridification of the Great Salt Lake or the Salton Sea is causing chronic respiratory issues for the populations around,” Doricko said. “You don’t have to look very hard to find how either persistent smog or wildfire particulates are causing issues.”

But Doricko is careful not to typecast Rainmaker as belonging to any particular political movement.

“There's so many companies that have decided to become ‘Trump companies,’ and it definitely expedites their interfacing with the White House, but it seems like a long-term bad strategy to do that, just from a corporate perspective,” he said.

The states that most rely on cloud seeding — Colorado, Idaho, Utah, California, Texas — could hardly be characterized as a political monolith, Doricko added.

“That is the most politically diverse group in the country, and they're all in favor of cloud seeding,” he said.

Utah has a long history of cloud seeding — with renewed and major investments in recent years — and is a supportive place to develop new cloud seeding technologies, Rainmaker’s head of engineering, Jackson Schultz, said: “They’ve never strayed away from continuing to invest in it.”

To some, that might look like a political statement. But for Anderson, as a farmer, the reality is much more straightforward: “People need to realize that without water, there’s no farms. Without farms, there’s no food.”

“In the West, we need to try or utilize anything we can to improve our situation,” he said.

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This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and The Salt Lake Tribune.

Correction: This story has been updated to clarify that Augustus Doricko was referring to the Salton Sea.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/utah/utah-judge-congressional-map-democrats Robert Gehrke The map submitted by Republicans “does not comply with Utah law,” Judge Dianna Gibson wrote. Tue, 11 Nov 2025 16:33:56 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/utah/utah-judge-congressional-map-democrats This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and The Salt Lake Tribune.
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A Utah judge rejected new congressional boundaries proposed by Republican legislators late Monday night, instead choosing a map that will create a heavily Democratic-leaning district in Salt Lake County and shake up Utah’s political landscape.

Utah’s redistricting process has taken on heightened national significance since Republicans hold a narrow majority in the U.S. House, and as red and blue states have begun the process of shoring up congressional districts for their own advantage.

Utah Republicans have already said they plan to keep up the legal fight, which could include filing an appeal, and some lawmakers have gone as far as floating judicial impeachment.

This win for Democrats follows voters approving new congressional district lines in California earlier this month, where Democrats are also hoping to gain up to five seats.

“In short, [the Legislature’s map] does not comply with Utah law,” the judge, Dianna Gibson, wrote in her ruling. “Because the Lieutenant Governor’s November 10, 2025, deadline for a map to be finalized is upon us, the Court bears the unwelcome obligation to ensure that a lawful map is in place, which the Court discharges by adopting” a map submitted by the plaintiffs in the yearslong lawsuit.

The map Gibson selected makes a district of the northern portion of Salt Lake County, and splits Utah County into eastern and western districts, ultimately creating a district that truly favors Democrats for the first time in a quarter century.

Gibson’s decision is a watershed moment in a legal battle that has stretched nearly four years since the Legislature’s repeal of Proposition 4 — also known as the Better Boundaries initiative, adopted by voters in 2018.

Last year, the state Supreme Court ruled that legislators violated Utahns’ constitutional right to make law through the initiative process when they gutted Proposition 4 and sent the case back to Gibson for further proceedings.

In an August opinion, Gibson said “Proposition 4 is the law in Utah,” and the boundaries used in the 2022 and 2024 congressional elections did not comply with the law. She barred them from being used in the 2026 elections and required new maps to be prepared.

Republican legislators redrew the boundaries “under protest,” sending an option to the court that would have created four districts favoring Republicans, as well as a set of three statistical tests they said the judge had to use to determine if the map unduly favored the GOP.

Experts hired by the Legislature asserted that the map lawmakers approved passed those tests and that the two maps submitted by the plaintiffs failed.

The plaintiffs — the League of Women Voters, Mormon Women for Ethical Government and a handful of Utah voters — argued that the tests mandated by the Legislature were well known to be a poor measurement in a state like Utah and, taken together, would weed out maps with competitive districts and ensure that maps with four safe Republican districts would pass.

They also argued it was a backdoor attempt by GOP lawmakers to circumvent Proposition 4 and that it unlawfully limited Gibson’s discretion.

Gibson agreed, rejecting the Legislature’s constraints and opting to appraise the options in, as she put it, a more “holistic” manner.

The judge also noted that the map submitted by the Legislature was drawn while partisan data was displayed, which was expressly prohibited by Proposition 4.

That led her to choose the first of the two maps submitted by the plaintiffs, which she said “better satisfies the redistricting standards and requirements contained in Proposition 4.”

“In order to ensure that Utahns cast ballots under a congressional map that is equally apportioned under both federal and state constitutional requirements and that otherwise complies with Utah’s law on redistricting in Proposition 4, this Court must now choose a congressional map by the November 10, 2025, deadline,” Gibson wrote. “The Court’s ruling on which congressional map will be adopted is not based on any policy. Rather, it will be based on the law.”

State Rep. Candice Pierucci, a Republican who was the co-chair of the Legislature’s redistricting committee, called Gibson’s ruling a “clear example of judicial activism.”

Pierucci said that Gibson “decided that her personal opinion outweighs Utah’s Constitution and the will of the people,” and despite the Legislature’s efforts to comply with her orders, it “turns out, she was orchestrating it from the start.”

Legislative Democrats, meanwhile, said that they “feel a deep sense of hope and relief” after Gibson’s ruling and called it “a win for every Utahn.”

The map Gibson chose is the type that is often referred to as a “doughnut hole” design, with a compact district covering the northern portion of Salt Lake County, including Salt Lake City, and extending south to West Jordan, but not including Sandy.

There is a separate northern Utah district, another in the central-western portion of the state, and a large district that encompasses the eastern and southern counties.

Of the three options before Gibson, it is, by far, the most favorable to a Democratic hopeful.

An analysis by The Salt Lake Tribune found that, based on recent election results, the district concentrated in Salt Lake County would favor Democrats by more than 17 percentage points, while the other three would be dominated by Republicans by at least 2-to-1 margins.

It has been 25 years since a Utah congressional map has included a district that favors a Democrat.

Even before Gibson had chosen a map, Democratic hopefuls were jockeying for position.

Former Rep. Ben McAdams, who served one term in the House of Representatives, sent an invitation to a campaign launch party to be held Nov. 13.

“Shhh. It’s a secret … Utah’s worst-kept secret,” the invitation said at the top.

State Sen. Kathleen Riebe, a Democrat, has said she is exploring a potential bid. Others are also said to be interested.

It is unclear which seats they might seek. It also remains to be seen which seats the four current Republican members of Congress might pursue.

Federal House members are not required to live in the district they represent.

Gibson’s decision is likely not the final word in the battle over Utah’s congressional boundaries.

During the special session in which the Legislature adopted its new map, state Sen. Brady Brammer, a Republican, said it would be “malfeasance” — a term used in law as one of the justifications for impeaching a judge — for Gibson to not pick a map drawn by the Legislature.

And state House Speaker Mike Schultz said the Constitution gives the Legislature the power to create boundaries, “and we will adamantly defend that to whatever means necessary.”

Shortly after the ruling Monday night, Republican state Rep. Matt MacPherson, posted on social media that he had opened a bill file to initiate an impeachment of Gibson for a “gross abuse of power, violating the separation of powers and failing to uphold her oath of office to the Utah Constitution.”

Republican legislative leaders have previously said Gibson overstepped her judicial authority when she forced lawmakers to redraw the congressional boundaries and that they would appeal to the Utah Supreme Court and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court.

And the Utah Republican Party has filed to gather signatures for an initiative seeking to repeal Proposition 4 entirely. If they gather around 141,000 valid signatures and meet the initiative requirements, the repeal vote will go on the 2026 ballot, but it would not affect the map used for that election.

The party had announced its plans to gather signatures for a referendum repealing the Legislature-approved map — which, if successful, could have kept it from being used in 2026 — but the party abandoned that effort. That push would have been moot now, because Gibson rejected the Legislature’s submission.

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson had previously told the court that Nov. 10 was the latest that a map could be adopted in order for county clerks to make the necessary preparations to administer the election.

After the ruling, Henderson posted on social media that she would “comply with Judge Gibson’s order” and begin implementing the map selected by the judge “unless otherwise ordered by an appeals court.”
]]> https://washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/shutdown-forest-service Helen Huiskes The Trump administration was already overhauling the agency. The shutdown is spreading agency staff even thinner. Thu, 06 Nov 2025 10:13:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/shutdown-forest-service The hiking trails most Forest Service rangers work on feel far removed from the politics that play out in Washington, D.C. But they’re now a high-stakes political arena in the second Trump administration, as it has sought to downsize and decentralize the agency.

Waves of budget cuts, layoffs and buyouts in the last year have decimated the U.S. Forest Service, but the shutdown is testing its staff on a whole new level. The forests, along with national parks, remain open to the public, meaning recreational employees and visitor center staff are still cleaning bathrooms, answering phone calls, and handing out maps. Four weeks into a government shutdown, those that are left are still working – and many have yet to see a paycheck.

Many of the people most familiar with the workings of the agency are warning that this shutdown may push its workers past their wherewithal.

“A lot of these places where people work for the Forest Service are not very affordable on a government salary,” Matthew Brossard, a California-based representative for the Forest Service union. “So they have to live an hour-plus drive from where they work. Now you’re talking gas, vehicle maintenance, rent, food, all these normal expenses that they can’t make because they’re being told they have to work without pay.”

“Everything’s going out, but nothing’s coming in,” Brossard said. “The people that are out cleaning the restrooms and everything, they don’t make a lot of money. You’re telling them they have to come to work every single day and not get a paycheck.”

Sources told NOTUS that as of this week, some employees who were previously exempted and working with pay have now been shifted to an excepted classification, meaning they are now also working without pay.

Even before the shutdown, the Forest Service workforce was down by about 15% after thousands of employees took buyouts or were laid off earlier in the year.

Still, the work has to continue to meet seasonal deadlines. The agency, housed under the Department of Agriculture, is responsible for approximately 193 million acres of forest in the country. As the weather cools and rainfall begins, foresters in Montana are starting prescribed burns. In California, where fire season can last all year, crews are standing ready to respond when a red flag warning means fires might still crop up. In Oregon, increased logging and timber sales directed by a March executive order are chugging along.

“I don’t want people to stop working because that means people get hurt,” a former Oregon-based employee said of the shutdown. “The other side of that is it is bitterly unfair and unjust to continue to put the workers in the position that they’re in, and really having people not being hurt falling on their plate, to hold the line.”

Jeff Parker, CEO of nonprofit Northwest Youth Corps, works closely with the Forest Service in Washington, Oregon and Idaho by coordinating corps of young people every season to work alongside the Forest Service, filling in gaps in the federal workforce. In a typical year, his teams camp for weeks at a time in the backcountry, taking direction from Forest Service experts about what needs to be done. They clear out acres of invasive plants, clean up campgrounds, redirect water off of trails so they don’t erode, and remove fallen trees.

Parker said during the shutdown, on top of gaping holes in the Forest Service from employees leaving, many staff members have been redirected to the administration’s two main forest priorities: wildfire management and timber production. But that means tasks going undone elsewhere.

“There’s a lot of work that’s not getting done,” Parker said. “For example, work that we would normally do around the recreation stuff, the trails, the campgrounds, we’re not getting that work done, the invasive weeds, unless there’s a wildfire component to it, which sometimes there is, but mostly not. That’s not getting done.”

“What would normally be happening is we would be doing a ton of grants and agreements work to prepare for 2026, and there are not enough people to do it right now,” Parker said. “There’s nobody to do it during the shutdown.”

Current staffing shortages could have a knock-on effect for next year. Jason Robertson, a former regional director in Colorado, said this time of year is usually when forests prepare to hire seasonal workers and contractors for the following spring, but he expects those processes to be delayed, or stalled entirely, with fewer staff on the job.

“So what’s going to happen between now and next April, when you need boots on the ground, actually working out in the field?” Robertson said. “I really don’t know.”

The U.S. Forest Service and USDA did not respond to a request for comment.

When it comes to federally-owned land, many Americans think first of the national parks, managed by the Interior Department, which get almost double the number of visitors as the forest system does, according to 2022 data published by the Forest Service. But the forest system contains much more land, and it’s designated as “multiple use” land under the law, meaning it’s used for timber production, grazing, wildlife and fish habitation, and more alongside recreation.

Senators from western states, where most of the federally-owned forest land is located, told NOTUS they hadn’t heard of any serious effects of the shutdown on the forests yet. That doesn’t mean it won’t get to that point.

“I haven’t heard anything that rises to the level of emergency,” said Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, where 11.3 million acres of federal forests are. “But that’s not to say that bad things aren't happening.”

National parks have also received national attention during the government shutdown, as they’re one of the more tangible effects of a shutdown’s early days.

Republican Sen. John Curtis said he’s heard “probably more concerns” about the national parks in his state of Utah than its 8.2 million acres of forests during the shutdown, but that the shutdown “impacts all of it.”

“So, let’s end the shutdown,” Curtis added.

On the ground in the forests, the shutdown is just the latest crunch on a system that was already decimated since February.

On top of the field work that’s missing, the Department of Agriculture, which houses the Forest Service, is starting a massive reorganization over the next year. While that’s ongoing, as USFS announced to staff and Hill offices in October, it will consolidate the regional managers across its nine regions, creating wider realms of jurisdiction for fewer regional chiefs.

As President Donald Trump swept into office and began downsizing the federal government, the Forest Service workforce only got smaller. Around 3,400 Forest Service employees were fired in February, which some now call “the Valentine’s Day Massacre.” Some were quickly rehired, but morale has taken a hit. Some 3,500 employees took the second round of the government-wide deferred resignation program in April.

The former employee based in Oregon who asked not to be named as she is still looking for a job told NOTUS that even before Trump’s downsizing, the USFS was severely understaffed. Congress cut its budget in 2024, and many temporary workers who spend summers working on trail crews and in other roles were told their jobs wouldn’t exist the next year.

“People were already doing multiple jobs,” the former employee said. “People were already critically underpaid for the job they were doing. People were already being asked more than what people should be asked to do. And then when the Trump administration came in, it made everything look like, I don't know, a tea party.”

Several employees who left cited morale and a change in the spirit of the work as their reasoning – or a new fear of job loss down the line.

“I just said, you know, ‘I'm going to take the DRP 2.0 because it’s no way to live,’” said Gregg Bafundo, a former park ranger. “It was heartbreaking. It still is heartbreaking. My uniforms are still hanging in the closet with this hope that, you know, maybe I’ll go back.”

“There were many times when I was doing something in the woods where I thought to myself, this might be it,” Bafundo said. “I might burn up here. I might fall off a cliff to go protect a stranger. And now my coworkers are thinking, is it worth it? And I don’t think we ever questioned that before.”

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This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and The Salt Lake Tribune.]]>