  Medical cannabis pharmacies in Utah sell products containing Delta-8 THC — despite federal warnings of serious health risks. The Utah Inland Port Authority creates a new entity to issue bonds — over objections from two of its own board members. Southwest Utah sees a surge in COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations as vaccination rates remain low. And the names of hundreds […]

Behind The Headlines – KCPW

Oath Keepers, COVID surge, medical cannabis and port bonds

President Joe Biden will take action in the near future to restore Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante national monuments. Iron County water managers seek to tap aquifers in Beaver County’s Pine Valley to fuel growth in Cedar City. And a lawsuit aims to topple Utah’s cash-based bail system. At 9 a.m. on Friday, Salt Lake Tribune […]

Expansion of Utah’s national monuments, water for Cedar City and debating cash bail

Federal legislation aims to save saline lakes in the West, including the Great Salt Lake. The Utah Inland Port Authority looked into a secretive rail-rehabilitation proposal that sought to transport Western-mined coal to the California coast. And a retiring food writer reflects on her four decades of newspaper work. At 9 a.m. on Friday, Salt Lake Tribune reporters Leia Larsen, […]

Great Salt Lake’s future, coal intrigue, and a food writer’s farewell

A Salt Lake Tribune analysis shows Utah police disproportionately shoot at racial and ethnic minorities. Childhood polio survivors say that the unknown long-term effects of COVID-19 should concern us. And Utahns use more water than any Western state. Reforming the water-rate structure, experts say, could help. At 9 a.m. on Friday, Tribune reporters Paighten Harkins and […]

Police shootings of minorities, lessons from polio, and Utah’s water use

School coronavirus cases go undercounted as some parents refuse to report to Utah health officials. The Utah Inland Port pursues a new funding stream for a train-to-truck facility. And Salt Lake City’s mayor puts foothills trail construction on hold to consider charting a different path. At 9 a.m. on Friday, Salt Lake Tribune reporters Leia Larsen and […]

Undercounted school COVID cases, inland port’s rail plan, and trails debate

Utah lawmakers say they’ll try again to abolish capital punishment even as a county prosecutor says he’s already done pursuing the death penalty. Developers want to “fix” Utah Lake by building massive islands on it, but experts warn the project would do more harm than good. And, in a newly surfaced video, Utah Senate President […]

Killing the death penalty, ‘fixing’ Utah Lake, and Donovan Mitchell vs. Stuart Adams

The U.S. Department of Education launches an investigation into Utah’s law preventing schools from enacting mask mandates. Health officials hope personal stories — like that of a Vernal woman who got COVID-19 after declining a vaccine — will help change minds. Gov. Spencer Cox questions the effectiveness of masks, contradicting health care professionals. And what […]

School masks, vaccine resistance, and stadium safety

Latter-day Saint apostle Jeffrey R. Holland criticizes BYU faculty members and students who challenge the faith’s teachings on same-sex marriage. A Utah school board member draws fire for posting a message critical of LGBTQ students. And research points to a likely burial site of Paiute children who attended an Indigenous boarding school in Utah. At […]

Paiute burials, Holland’s BYU talk and embattled school board member

Salt Lake City’s mayor pursues a mask order for schools to slow the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. History packets falsely asserting that “most slaves were generally treated kindly” in the United States get pulled from a Utah learning center. And a first-ever water shortage is declared for the Colorado River, casting doubt […]

Masks in schools, misleading history lesson and Colorado River woes

In a 6-3 party-line vote, the Salt Lake County Council votes to overturn the public health school mask order issued by county health director Dr. Angela Dunn. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issues a new call to its members to wear masks and get vaccinated. And the latest census figures cement Utah’s […]

SLCO mask health order reversal, LDS Church mask (and vaccine) endorsement, and new census figures

Devastating rainstorms don’t spell an end to Utah’s extreme drought. A Utah County official turns to a Facebook group to drum up anti-mask public comments. And some Utah payday lenders benefited from COVID-19 bailout funds — then turned around and sued people who couldn’t afford to make payments. At 9 a.m. on Friday, Salt Lake […]

Deluge, drought, anti-maskers and payday lenders

A new proposal seeks to provide a conservation-minded alternative to the controversial $1.8 billion Lake Powell pipeline. Members of the Indigenous-led organization Utah Diné Bikéyah ask to assist in a federal review of Native American boarding schools. And how Utah athletes are faring at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. At 9 a.m. on Friday, Salt […]

Utah’s Olympians, Lake Powell pipeline and Native American boarding schools

Garfield County prosecutors charge a woman with a hate crime for destroying a “Back the Blue” sign. Murray pays $152,000 to settle a lawsuit by a woman who says she was pulled over because of her skin color. And a Salt Lake Tribune/FRONTLINE investigation examines Utah officers involved in multiple police shootings. At 9 a.m. on Friday, Salt Lake Tribune […]

An alleged ‘Back the Blue’ hate crime, a bias settlement and police shootings

How the data on women’s equality in Utah has — and hasn’t — changed through the years. Gov. Spencer Cox joins President Joe Biden’s Council of Governors, upping his bipartisan ties. And with the Delta variant taking over in the Beehive State, what do you need to know? At 9 a.m. on Friday, Salt Lake Tribune reporters Matt Canham, Becky Jacobs and […]

Women’s equality in Utah, Spencer Cox’s bipartisan play, and the rising Delta variant

State and local leaders plead with Utahns not to light personal fireworks as an extreme drought persists and the promise of a terrible wildfire season looms. A Utah woman sues her landlord after getting evicted for allegedly breaching her contract by “voicing suicidal thoughts.” And Utah’s poet laureate marks a moment in history with a poem about vaccines, hope and […]

Fireworks plea, eviction dispute and vaccines in verse

From its politics to its public lands to polygamy, Utah has always been fertile ground for news. Here on KCPW, The Salt Lake Tribune presents a fresh way for Utahns to process the headlines. Behind the Headlines, a live weekly broadcast, examines the week’s top local stories through the eyes of reporters on the beat.

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Behind The Headlines – KCPW

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