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☀️ 56 – 96° Logan | 🌤️ 71 – 97° Salt Lake | 🌤️ 61 – 89° Manti

⛅ 75 – 97° Moab | 🌦️ 60 – 88° Cedar City | ⛅ 76 – 96° St. George

Good morning!

How bad are Utah drivers?

For those of us who live (and drive) here, we may be tempted to bash each other’s driving skills. But Lois M. Collins recommends that we take a deep breath and count our blessings next time we get frustrated on I-15.

“It could be a lot worse,” she reports. “You could live in South Carolina or Mississippi, where a new study reports that drivers are not as courteous or friendly as they are in the Beehive State.”

The study ranks Utah as the 7th least road-raging state. Idaho has the friendliest drivers, while South Carolina has the least friendly.

Read more about the best and worst states for driving — and the reality of road rage across the country.

Also on our minds:

Why did a giant sculpture of Elon Musk’s head show up at a Utah national park?
Where are the most new homes being built in the U.S.?
What’s next for Attorney General Pam Bondi?

How BYU benefits from the upheaval in the business of college sports: A comprehensive guide

The BYU athletic department budget has doubled in less than a decade during the greatest era of disruption of college sports in history, Tad Walch reports.

BYU’s success comes in the midst of a college sports revolution, including:

The transfer portal, which lets players freely move from school to school.
The Supreme Court’s confirmation that schools could boost the scholarship benefits they provide to student-athletes.
Payments for the use of student-athletes’ name, image and likeness (NIL).

And on July 1, college athletic departments began to directly share a fifth of their revenue with student-athletes.

So, how did some of these changes end up benefitting BYU?

Read more about the financial state of BYU sports and the dawn of a new era in the college sports business.

President Eyring, Gov. Cox among dignitaries celebrating completion of University of Utah’s Applied Science Project

Jason Swensen writes:

While still a young man, President Henry B. Eyring was challenged by his father — the renowned chemist Henry Eyring — to explore the hard sciences in college.

“He said that we would need that foundation to be effective in the rapidly changing world,” recalled President Eyring at Wednesday’s ceremony at the University of Utah celebrating the completion of the school’s Applied Science Project.

Folks across the University of Utah campus — and throughout the state — are certain that all who study, teach and conduct scientific research at the school are being prepared to make similar contributions in the global science community.

Wednesday’s ribbon cutting ceremony marked the official completion of the $97 million Applied Science Project — which combines the newly built L.S. Skaggs Applied Science Building with the renovated historic William Stewart Building and the Crocker Science Center.

Together, the three facilities form the Crocker Science Complex — a 275,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art locale for scientific study and research.

Read more about the new complex and the future of the university.

Join us for the 55th Annual Deseret News Marathon

Join us for this year’s Deseret News Marathon, Utah’s longest-operating marathon! Runners will race down historic Emigration Canyon into the Salt Lake Valley, finishing in front of thousands of adoring fans along the Days of ’47 Parade route. Sign up today at run.deseret.com!

Perspective

The Deseret News Editorial Board: Trump’s decision to rearm Ukraine is a correct one (Deseret News)
Jennifer Graham: How a hedge-fund manager wound up in the GOP cage fights (Deseret News)

Family

Naomi Schaefer Riley: Do babies belong with drug-addicted mothers? New Mexico has a change of heart (Deseret News)
Have You Seen This? 16 inmates reunited with children at father-daughter dance (KSL.com)

Politics

Bondi facing mounting criticism from the right, still backed by Trump (Deseret News)
Republicans and Democrats battle to own the rhetoric on Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ (Deseret News)
Trump weighs firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell amid tariff frustration (Deseret News)

The Nation

Where are the most new homes being built in the U.S.? (Deseret News)
Following torrential rain and flash flooding, a heat advisory is issued in the New York City area (Deseret News)

The World

Tensions rise as Israel conducts strikes against the Syrian capital (Deseret News)
U.S. ambassador makes an unprecedented visit to Netanyahu's trial (Axios)

Sports

Finally the full-time starting QB, how does Bryson Barnes feel about Utah State ahead of 2025 season? (Deseret News)
The Utah Mammoth’s schedule is here. Here are some key dates (Deseret News)
Branden Carlson’s 2025 Summer League debut had this Hall of Famer questioning why he wasn’t drafted (Deseret News)
Here’s where Trevin Knell will continue his basketball career (Deseret News)

🗓️ Events Calendar

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

Here are some highlights for events in Utah today:

July 17 — Syracuse Farmers Market | 1891 W. 1700 S.
July 17 — Bountiful Farmers Market | Bountiful Town Square
July 12–19 — American Fork Steel Days | American Fork
July 11–19 — Draper Days | Draper

Check your inbox tomorrow morning for more news from the Beehive State and beyond!

And reply to this email or email [email protected] to tell us what you think of Utah Today.

Thanks for reading!

— Ariel