Also: A Utah bill that restricts DEI advances after emotional hearing
Good morning! Here are today’s temperatures: Logan: 25 - 38° ⛅ | 30% 💧 ⚠️ Salt Lake City: 33 - 42° ⛅ | 10% 💧 ⚠️ St. George: 33 - 57° ☀️ ⚠️ Winter Weather Advisory The Sundance Film Festival starts today and runs through Jan. 28. If you're a film enthusiast or a local just trying to survive, Meg Walter has advice for how to enjoy or ignore the festival. Also on our mind: Utah's social media laws may change due to legal challenges, Biden unveiled an ambitious solar plan for the West and a Golden State Warriors coach died in Salt Lake. |
| A rural Idaho town is at the center of ‘Napoleon Dynamite.’ 20 years later, it still feels the impact |
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| | Encircled by rolling farmland and craggy terrain, the city of Preston, Idaho, may seem like the quintessential American rural town. It’s just a few miles north of the Utah-Idaho border and was the filming location of the movie “Napoleon Dynamite.” It wasn’t seasoned auteurs who scouted out this small city and developed the film, but a pair of budding filmmakers. Director Jared Hess graduated from Preston High in 1997 before heading to Brigham Young University. There he met his wife Jerusha and they teamed up to create a semi-autobiographical flick about a lanky, awkward teenager who has trouble fitting in. “We were hungry. We were desperate to just eat. We just put everything into that script,” Jerusha Hess said last week on a panel discussion with the Utah Film Commission. She explained that they had a $200,000 budget, which sounds like a lot, but in the movie business, it’s just peanuts. Casting their classmate Jon Heder as the eponymous character and gathering extras from the city of Preston, “Napoleon Dynamite” was born. |
Read more about the making of "Napoleon Dynamite." |
| A bill that would ban certain diversity, equity and inclusion practices in Utah public institutions advanced from committee for a floor vote in the House after an extended hearing that included hours of emotional debate. The bill, HB261, titled “Equal Opportunity Initiatives” aims to outlaw DEI trainings, requirements, programs and offices at public universities, schools “or any other institution of the state” that engages in what the legislation calls “prohibited discriminatory practices.” Read more about the committee hearing. More in Politics: Amid legal challenges, Utah’s unique social media laws may change. Here’s how (Deseret News) Sen. Mitt Romney says some voters are ‘out of touch with reality’ over Donald Trump support (Deseret News) The difference 1 word in a Utah law could make for victims of AI generated pornography (Deseret News) Sandall’s sovereignty bill aims to guard Utah from federal ‘overreach’ (Deseret News) | FROM OUR SPONSOR MYLIO PHOTOS Collect and Protect a Lifetime of Memories Are your family's precious memories scattered across different devices? Mylio Photos brings them together, offering peace of mind with a secure, cloud-free, easy-to-use library. Experience the joy of having all your family photos and videos accessible anytime and preserved for future generations. | Health Cancer cases are up, deaths are down — but some cancers are killing younger adults (Deseret News) How often do doctors say you should change your bedsheets? (Deseret News) Faith First Presidency announces changes to Presidency of the Seventy (Church News) 1931 Canada census is now digitized and text-searchable. Here’s where you can access it (Church News) Opinion Spencer Cox: The governor makes his case for getting cellphones out of the classroom (Deseret News) The Deseret News Editorial Board: Utah’s Legislature is known for many things, but people should appreciate its fiscal management more (Deseret News) Utah Man claims Syracuse treatment center failed to report his abuse in lawsuit (KSL) Animal sanctuary needs hay to help feed animals, keep them warm (KSL) Washington City woman told to pay $3,956 or get arrested. Here’s what happened next (St. George News) Emily Bell McCormick: 1 in 7 kids experiences sexual abuse in Utah before age 18. The Safe Child Project wants to help them (Deseret News) The West Biden unveils ambitious solar plan for the West (Deseret News) Police discover severed human hand in homicide suspect’s pocket (Deseret News) The Nation Assisted living costs vary nationwide: As prices rise, assisted living is becoming affordable only for the wealthy (Deseret News) ‘A tsunami of disinformation’: OpenAI moves to blunt AI-driven election meddling (Deseret News) The World White House designates Houthis as terrorist organization (Deseret News) What’s behind China’s population decline? (Deseret News) | If NFL coaches and general managers are so smart, then why don’t they pay attention to what Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers just pulled off? Love played zero games as a rookie. He was the backup quarterback for zero games. Over the next two seasons he saw spot duty in nine games and started one. After three years in the league, he had thrown just 83 passes in the NFL. You know what happened next. Aaron Rodgers was shipped to the moribund New York Jets, like his predecessor (Brett Favre), and the Packers made Love the starter for the 2023 season. After a so-so start, he caught fire at midseason and ever since then he has been the best quarterback on the planet. Last Sunday the former Utah State star performed calmly and brilliantly in the Packers’ win over the heavily favored Dallas Cowboys on the road to put them into this week’s divisional round. Read more about why Jordan Love spent three years on the sideline. More in Sports: A Golden State Warriors coach has died in Salt Lake (Deseret News) Dallin Hall elevating his game in Big 12 play (Deseret News) Skiing in Europe seems cheaper than in the U.S. — but is it really? (Deseret News) Utah State’s defensive staff is being remade. Who’s in and who’s out? (Deseret News) | American Fork’s Tiger Cuff falls onto Lehi’s Jace John at Lehi High School on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News Read more about the game. |
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