The geothermal gamble: Fervo’s bold bid to disrupt clean energy
Fervo Energy’s geothermal drilling rig is pictured Monday, May 12, 2025, in Beaver County, Utah. Fervo has drilled over 75% of the wells for Phase I of the development. Industrial geothermal energy has been used for nearly two centuries. It‘s not a new concept, but in the United States, it‘s taken a backseat to other renewable energy sources like wind and hydropower. One company is trying to change that. Founded in 2017, Texas-based Fervo Energy is making groundbreaking moves in the clean energy landscape, and they’re doing it in Utah’s...
Water in the arid West and how Sen. John Curtis wants to shore up needs
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has already issued an emergency drought declaration for 17 of the state’s 29 counties. In southern Utah, the Virgin River is a shadow of itself and it is only May with the summer heat still left to come. Sens. John Curtis, R-Utah and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., on Tuesday introduced the Restoring WIFIA Eligibility Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation aimed at strengthening water quality and storage infrastructure across the western United States. Companion legislation has been introduced in the House. A map released this month by the U.S....
Mega-tariffs rolled back for 90 days following U.S.-China trade talks
Workers load coal on trucks at a coal yard port on the Yangtze River in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Sunday, April 20, 2025. A tit-for-tat trade war that led to 145% tariffs on many Chinese import goods and a 125% rate on U.S. exports to the Asian powerhouse is on hold for the moment following high-level talks in Switzerland over the weekend. In an agreement announced Monday, both countries will roll back reciprocal tariffs to a 10% rate for a 90-day period beginning Wednesday. Other, sector-specific U.S. trade levies...
Utah's fickle nature when it comes to weather and snowpack
Josh, last name withheld, walks to work after early morning rain in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. Utah’s snowpack, which reached its peak late in March, suffered rapid depletion in April in most basins in the state to well-below normal precipitation. This culminates in a spring runoff that does not spin a good outcome. “Resultingly, the water supply forecasts issued in this report predict substantially lower runoff volumes than those from last month,” according to the latest Utah Water Supply Outlook report issued this week by the...
Here's a look at the first Chinese import goods subject to Trump's 145% tariff
A container ship sails off a port in Qingdao in east China's Shandong province on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. On the cusp of U.S.-China trade talks scheduled to take place this weekend in Switzerland, President Donald Trump took to social media Friday morning with a suggestion that he’s OK with lowering the levy on Chinese goods. The trade banter comes as the first freight ships carrying Chinese goods subject to the current 145% tariff arrive at U.S. ports. “80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.,” Trump posted...
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman return for 'Practical Magic 2'
Nicole Kidman attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" exhibition on Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. The spell has been cast and it’s bringing Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman back together to reprise their roles as the witchy sisters, Gillian Owens and Sally Owens, in “Practical Magic 2.” On Tuesday, May 6, Warner Bros. Pictures announced the expected release date for the “Practical Magic” sequel with a video that features a witch-like incantation. “Tooth of wolf...
Liam Payne left behind $32.3 million estate and no will. His former partner named estate administrator
Former “One Direction” star Liam Payne, who died in October, left behind an estate worth $32.3 million and had no will written before his death. Cheryl Tweedy, Payne’s former partner and mother of his 8-year-old son, and music industry lawyer Richard Bray were selected as co-administrators of the estate, reported The Guardian. Payne and Tweedy, former member of the pop group Girls Aloud, never married but were partners for over two years. According to the law, in the case someone dies without a will, the estate is inherited by the...
Golden Globes add new award category: Best Podcast
A general view of atmosphere at the 82nd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. The world’s top podcasters — such as Joe Rogan (“The Joe Rogan Experience”), Theo Von (“This Past Weekend”) and Alex Cooper (“Call Her Daddy”) — might rub shoulders with the finest television and movie actors at the next Golden Globes. On Wednesday, the Golden Globes announced a new award category: best podcast. Organizers said the decision reflects the Globes’ “unwavering commitment to providing a platform to the...
Salt Lake City approves 3 new flags to get around Utah's ban on Pride flags
Salt Lake City adopted three new city flags Tuesday, an effort to circumvent a new Utah law that effectively banned flying LGBTQ Pride and other flags at public buildings in the state.
Mayor Erin Mendenhall, a Democrat, presented the proposal to the City Council, which adopted it at its meeting Tuesday night. It incorporates the city's flag into designs celebrating Juneteenth, LGBTQ rights and trans rights.
The woman who invented Mother's Day — and then fought to destroy it
Janessa makes a Mother's Day card during sixth-grade art at Guadalupe School in Salt Lake City, Thursday, May 5, 2016. Mother‘s Day, a holiday celebrated worldwide, will land on May 11 this year. The holiday is meant to honor motherhood, but the establishment of the day was anything but simple. What should it mean? How should it be observed? Behind the flowers and cards lies a history tangled with activism, grief and the question of how to properly honor the women who have sacrificed so much for their children. The...