With thanks to our sponsor

Utah Business

Good morning, Utah Today readers! Here’s today’s forecast:

☀️ 55 – 95° in Logan

☀️ 72 – 101° in Salt Lake City

☀️ 73 – 106° in St. George

Are any of you “Halloween people”? I feel like the world can be divided neatly into three groups:

People who start celebrating Halloween as soon as the weather starts to chill.
People who throw on the opposite jersey of the team they support and call it a “costume.”
People who live the spirit of Halloween all year round.

I ask because a sequel to the classic movie “Hocus Pocus” is in the works. It better be good!

Tell me: How early is too early to start celebrating Halloween? When do you start? Asking for a friend. 🎃

Also on our minds: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev dies at 91, we can all be more charitable in our public discourse, and a Black reverend and former football player for BYU invites us to confront racism head on.

Crumbl CEO gives lawsuit update as #UtahCookieWars continue

The oven is done preheating, and The Great Utah Cookie War has turned the temperature all the way up. Earlier this year, Crumbl filed a lawsuit against Dirty Dough for copyright infringement, and Dirty Dough responded with campaign slogans poking fun at the situation like “Cookies so good, we’re being sued!”

Crumbl CEO Jason McGowan gave an update on the suit this week alleging that Dirty Dough stole trade secrets and documents from their corporate database including recipes, processes, employee training materials and seasonal cookie calendars.

Get more of the details and see Dirty Dough's response here.

President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt forgiveness at the White House, Aug. 24, 2022, in Washington. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona listens at right.

Is Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan good for students?

Currently, Americans have more student debt than at any other time in U.S. History, and Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness plan still leaves many questions up in the air. For example:

Will it increase inflation?
Is it targeting those in need?
How will it affect students going forward?

Collin Leonard’s article explores each question. Read it here.

More in Politics:

Lessons in politics and empathy from one of New York’s elder statesmen (Deseret News)
Biden’s highest approval rating yet: What does this mean for November? (Deseret News)
Poll: Majority of Republicans want to reelect Donald Trump in 2024 (Deseret News)

FROM OUR SPONSOR UTAH BUSINESS

In search of the best companies to work for

Are you proud of where you work? Utah Business is recognizing the
organizations deemed the “best place to work in Utah” by their own
employees. Let your company know so they can register before
nominations close at the end of August.

Perspectives:

Opinion: We can’t afford not to launch Artemis 1 (Deseret News)
Perspective: It’s time for more grace in our public discourse (Deseret News)
Perspective: I’m Black, and I bleed blue. We all need to confront racism (Deseret News)

Health:

What you need to know about the new omicron booster (Deseret News)
988 is getting more calls in Utah, but the lifeline’s shorter number may not be what’s at play (KUER)

Faith:

How cancel culture hurts religious freedom (Deseret News)
Celebrating 3 years of Pope Francis’ hospital ship (Deseret News)
Helping the people behind those bingeable FLDS documentaries (Utah Business)

Northern Utah:

Buckle up: Hot weather and bad air expected for northern Utah this week (Deseret News)

The Wasatch Front:

Former Bluffdale fire chief charged with altering records to give firefighters more pay (KSL)

The Nation:

California passes bill to increase online safety for children. How will it impact the internet? (Deseret News)

The World:

What would a nuclear disaster in Ukraine look like? (Deseret News)
Garland tightens the reins on Justice Dept. employees' political activities (NPR)
Mikhail Gorbachev, last leader of the Soviet Union, dies (Deseret News)

Sports:

The message of gratitude and faith Tony Finau shared at PGA Tour season’s end (Deseret News)
What anonymous NBA personnel said about likelihood of Donovan Mitchell landing in New York (Deseret News)

Thanks for reading Utah Today! If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, we’d love to hear them — just reply to this email or send an email to [email protected].

— Kathleen