Issuu

THE DIGEST

SEPTEMBER 2023 VOL. 1 / NO. 1

Deseret Magazine: How moms became a political force

Church News: Introducing the Brigham Young Papers project

A14

Deseret News: Utah's housing shortage expected to worsen A20

Finding ways to save the Great Salt Lake CONTINUES ON PG. 4

2 DESERET NEWS | SEPTEMBER 2023

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COVER STORY

Utahns are finding ways to share their water rights with the Great Salt Lake Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust helps people like this Weber County farmer help the lake

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The Weber River and Warren Canal wind through Weber County on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. Brad Blanch is a West Weber resident who wants to lease several hundred acre-feet of water to benefit the Great Salt Lake.

By Amy Joi O’Donoghue Deseret News

Brad Blanch lives in the far reaches of western Weber County, where John Deere tractors and other farming equipment rumble down narrow roads past wide-open stretches of crops, pastures, horses and cows. A few minutes away from his barn-style home, he points out the West Weber place where he grew up, rising at 5 a.m. before the start of his high school day to milk cows. He likes to joke with his wife, Deena, that the chemical smell that lingered from his chores is what attracted all the girls to him back in the day. “It just sticks with you,” he said. “You don’t realize it until you get away from it.” He inherited land once owned by his grandfather and over the years has also acquired more property. He now has two parcels of 160 acres and 60 acres.

Blanch said he had this dream — for a moment — of returning to his roots, moving away from North Ogden to settle here and continue in the rural lifestyle of farming. The land has historically been used for farming, with some alfalfa but mostly onions grown as a crop. This year, the land has been idled and the 500-acre feet of water that Blanch owns is sitting unused. He said he’s decided farming is not for him. The water rights he owns are surface rights dating back to 1919 on the lower Weber River that at some point, he will use some of that for a pair subdivisions he plans to develop. In the interim, he contacted the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust to put the water to use. “As all of us have watched the decline of the Great Salt Lake and I do have options to lease the water to other users. But this seemed to be an environmentally friendly and helpful way to put this water to use for the lake,” he said. “I would love to be

able to help the Great Salt Lake. This year has been a great year, but it is not always that way.”

The pressure on the Great Salt Lake

The largest terminal salt water lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth largest in the world, the Great Salt Lake is in duress. The lake hit a new record low in November last year, with its area and volume reduced by half due to years of diversion and drought. Its demise threatens its annual contribution of $1.32 billion to Utah’s economy and threatens 10 million birds that make the lake a resting stop, a place to dine or nest. Its exposed lakebed threatens public health with winds that kick up dust laden with harmful heavy metals. The dust that finds its way to the Wasatch Mountains accelerates snowmelt, CONTINUES ON PG. 6

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6 DESERET NEWS | SEPTEMBER 2023 He added that public interest in helping the Great Salt Lake in this manner has been robust. “It’s been great. Since the moment that the water trust bill passed, our division started receiving calls from people who are interested in selling their water or donating it or leasing it. Some of them obviously are going to be dependent on where they are at,” and how complicated a diversion might be, he said. Both Stireman and Marcelle Shoop, saline lakes program director for the National Audubon Society and executive director of the trust, said there are an ongoing number of negotiations happening with people. The trust officially launched this January, with Shoop saying the list of criteria is complex, but designed to be of most benefit to the Great Salt Lake. “The work of the trust is to bring water transactions to fruition for Great Salt Lake and also to help with restoring and protecting wetlands around Great Salt Lake to benefit the hydrology, the lake and so we’ve had a lot of work in both of those fronts going forward,” she said. “So in terms of prospects, I think we feel very positive about the opportunities out there and what we are seeing. We want to bring those opportunities to a place where they can be implemented.” In Blanch’s case, the benefit of the trust allows him to put his unused water to use so he can hang onto it for the future. When his developments are complete, he expects to still have 350-acre feet of water that could be available to the trust for lease. Wetlands are also a huge component of the health of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem, with the trust recently announcing $10 million that is available to protect or restore wetlands and habitats. “Wetlands associated with Great Salt Lake are essential to the lake’s health and play an important role in connecting water flows and habitats that benefit the hydrology of the lake and the well-being of our communities as we look to the future,” Shoop emphasized. Shoop said eligible applicants include state, local or municipal government entities, tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations. Private landowners, private entities, or institutions of higher education are eligible if working in partnership with a public/ governmental entity or a nonprofit organization. Members of Utah’s congressional delegation have also dipped their toes into the space of saving the Great Salt Lake with a couple of bills that have been introduced and show promise of success.

Inspiring others Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Brad Blanch looks over a dam on the Weber River in Weber County on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. Blanch is a West Weber resident who wants to lease several hundred acre-feet of water to benefit the Great Salt Lake.

threatening not only a viable runoff but winter recreation, such as Utah’s critical ski industry. An August Water Supply Outlook report released by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service said while the lake has risen about 4.5 feet, it still needs to rise about 7 to 13 more feet to return to “normal.” Aside from the pressure on the Great Salt Lake, the extreme drought that has plagued Utah and the West has crippled some local culinary water supplies and severely threatened others. Some Utah water providers cut irrigators back to half or even quarter turns on their water allotments last summer, enacted time-of-day watering restrictions, and in the midst of searing heat and abysmal snowpack, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox implored residents to pray for rain.

Arriving at solutions

Over the last two years, Utah lawmakers made historic financial investments in the arena of water conservation, allocating nearly $1 billion in a nod to the state’s growing water scarcity problem. One such expenditure was the establishment of the $40 million Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust, ran by The National Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy. Law-

makers also turned Western water law on its head by altering the doctrine of “use it or lose it” to include the Great Salt Lake as a “beneficial use.” Water rights by most owners have to be put to beneficial use in a seven-year time frame, or risk forfeiture to the state. Those uses include municipal, industrial and agricultural applications, but the Great Salt Lake was made a viable use with the passage of HB33 in 2022, which allows the water to be used for instream flows for sovereign lands. The bed of the Great Salt Lake is sovereign land, owned by the state. “What that allows us to do is actually hold water rights for the benefit of Great Salt Lake which was something that previously our division could not hold,” said Ben Stireman, deputy director of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. “It is a good change, but it will take a lot of years to implement properly and have sufficient water rights.” Via the state and the trust, water rights can be leased, for short or long-term durations, it can be donated or it can be purchased outright as a permanent fixture for the lake. Stireman said it is a complicated process and ultimately has to be accomplished through approved change applications with the Utah State engineer.

In March, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced it was donating, on a permanent basis, the equivalent of 20,000 acre-feet of water to the Great Salt Lake. An acre-foot is equal to an acre of water a foot deep. One acre-foot of water equals 325,851 gallons. For perspective, the donation is larger than 15,000 football fields covered by water a foot deep. In 2021, two donations of water rights of approximately 21,000 acre-feet were secured to help the Farmington Bay wildlife area. Multiple partners included the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Rio Tinto Kennecott, Central Utah Water Conservancy District, National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, and Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission. The water will be delivered for 10 years, subject to availability. Shoop said a recent donation by the church been inspiring others to step up. “I think that is an example of what an organization can do that has water rights, and actual wet water rights,” she said. “It did spark a lot of interest when it was first announced and I hope it continues to actually inspire others.” Stireman said he can only see the momentum growing when it comes to these creative ways to get more water to the ailing lake. “I think that our community cares a lot about the Great Salt Lake and obviously in the last two or three years, as the lake has been facing additional challenges, people have really stepped up and started to stand up for the lake and really care about the lake,” he said. “I think people have really kind of changed their mentality about the Great Salt Lake and began to look at it as a big amenity that we have here in Utah.”

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INDEPTH

All for one How moms became a political force

Deseret Magazine

Mary Alice Hatch shows that political activism in the name of protecting future generations can be a unifier among mothers. By Mya Jaradat Deseret Magazine

Cherri Foytlin didn’t set out to become an activist. She is a mother of six, married to a man who worked on an oil rig in south Louisiana while she worked at a small-town paper, writing features about things like who grew the biggest cauliflower that year. But when the BP oil spill happened in 2010, killing 11 and releasing almost four million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP invited Foytlin, like all of the state’s press, to go out on a tour of the disaster. “It was a little show for us,” she recalls. BP took her and the other journalists out on boats and then-Gov. Bobby Jindal came to speak to the press. “I wanted to talk to somebody who’s a fisherman or a person that has to clean up.” So she went back later on her own. After tooling around a bit, she finally convinced a “big Cajun fisherman” to take her out on

his boat, along with the man’s five-year-old son. As they idled through the blob of oil, the father cried. He’d lost his livelihood; his ability to take care of his family. That night, when she went home, she looked in the mirror “and I remember very clearly saying, ‘Wow, what have I done to contribute to this? How can I change that? And how can I even imagine giving the children a world that’s like this?’” Perhaps without even fully realizing it at that moment, Foytlin became a part of something much bigger: a legacy of American women — and, more specifically, mothers — who have come together for generations to move the needle on social, political and environmental issues that affect us all. We see it in the news cycle every generation. Women in general — and moms, in particular — compose a huge part of the electorate, making the “mom vote” highly sought after. Women were credited with fueling a blue wave in the 2018 midterms. Ahead of the 2022 midterms, Politico called women over 50 the

I remember very clearly saying, ‘wow, what have I done to contribute to this? How can I change that? And how can I even imagine giving the children a world that’s like this?

“most important voting bloc” to the election, explaining that the group is not only the largest bloc of voters but the largest bloc of swing voters. The activism of women, as much as their votes, can impact our country. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America now has a chapter in every state; and the group claims numerous political wins on both the local and federal level, from California’s new law that is intended to stop the spread of unlicensed guns to the Biden administration’s “Safer America Plan.” But the first steps for these big movements that mothers create are often relatively small. For 18 months, Mary Alice Hatch stood by, devastated, as her daughter experienced so much physical pain from a mystery illness that she was, at one point, suicidal. She missed school, social events and some of the most important years of her young life. Desperate for answers, Hatch turned to the Yellow Pages. She found a pain specialist who knew immediately what the problem was: endometriosis. Soon thereafter, Hatch’s daughter had a diagnosis; eventually, she had surgery that led to a recovery. With the right information, the winding and difficult path her family journeyed felt much clearer. But if it was this challenging for a family with the resources to find a way forward, how impossible might it feel for others? Determined to help, Hatch has worked relentlessly to fund endometriosis research and spread awareness of the disease. “We saw an attorney in the D.C. metro area who told us that endometriosis wasn’t on the Department of Defense’s list of diseases,” Hatch recalls. “That’s a massive deal because the list allows federal funds to be allocated to research.” Hatch’s father-in-law, the late Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, reached out to Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Together, they spearheaded a bipartisan effort to get research funding for endometriosis from the Department of Defense. Now, Hatch aspires to create legislation that will make women’s health procedures more accessible. “It’s important for me to say that I couldn’t have done any of this alone,” she says. “No matter what resources you have, you still can’t affect change without a community.” Foytlin has also worked to create a community to affect change. After the oil spill, she hosted a fundraiser in her home, which included the photos Foytlin had taken of the disaster. The proceeds went to help those impacted by the oil spill, including the Cajun fisherman who’d taken her out on his boat. Foytlin and other locals began to coordinate with the Environmental Protection Agency to bring speakers to southern Louisiana to talk about the issues affecting them. The small injustices many people experienced added up to a much larger injustice, she realized, which primarily impacts communities of color. Many rural, poor and minority communities “have some sort of chemical plant or leftovers from bombs and ammunition from the military,” says Foytlin, because “they don’t have the social capital to protect themselves.” The ironically named Rolling Hills “pit,” a landfill near Pensacola’s Wedgewood community — a predominantly Black neighborhood in Escambia County, Florida — is a prime example. Locals reportedly suffer from higher cancer rates than the national average, which locals attributed to the ongoing dumping of various toxic chemicals before, during and since the 2010 BP oil spill. CONTINUES ON PG. 10

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10 DESERET NEWS | SEPTEMBER 2023 Foytlin went on to partner with other Native American women to co-found the L’eau Est La Vie (Water is Life) camp in hopes of preventing the Bayou Bridge Pipeline from being built on the land. “As a mom, don’t I have a duty — a moral directive — to get involved?” Mothers are often at the forefront of activism both in the United States and internationally, says Danielle Poe, the University of Dayton’s dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and author of the book “Maternal Activism: The Ethical Ambiguity Faced by Mothers Confronting Injustice.” “I can’t think of any culture that doesn’t have a special respect for mothers,” she says, explaining that maternal activism works for a wide range of reasons in a variety of settings: authorities are less likely to use violence against moms and, because everyone has a mother, they’re highly relatable. Mary Harris Jones — who later became known as “Mother Jones” — led millions of workers in the late 1800s to demand fair labor laws. Jones protested on behalf of labor rights and against child labor across the country — even spending time in Utah and Colorado to do so. This movement led to riots and a federal holiday we all now know and observe on the first Monday of every September. Mothers were also instrumental in gaining American women the right to vote. The suffrage movement was effective, in part, because it played on the idea of “women’s role as nurturers and a belief in women’s moral superiority,” according to the Library of Congress, using both as “arguments to convince the American public that women should have the right to vote.” This emotional reasoning wove its way through the generations. In 1973, Carolista Baum stood in the path of a moving bulldozer to stop it from destroying the Jockey’s Ridge sand dunes — the tallest sand dune system on the Atlantic Coast. The landmark, which is 7,000 years old, was threatened by the development of condominiums at the time. But the impetus

for Baum’s activism wasn’t to control corporate development. It was much simpler: Her three children loved climbing and exploring the dunes, and she didn’t want them, or other children, to lose that opportunity. After Baum’s 1973 protest, the dunes were declared a national natural landmark and, in 1975, it became a state park, guaranteeing its preservation for generations to come. This legacy has led to larger mother-led organizations that have become some of the most politically effective groups in American history. Mothers Against Drunk Driving is a perfect example, Poe says. The organization was founded in 1980 by Candace Lightner after her daughter was killed by a drunken driver. It quickly grew into a large nonprofit organization that is funded in a variety of ways, including individual contributions, government grants and corporate donations. The organization successfully advocated for higher drinking ages in all 50 states. MADD was also instrumental in getting stricter drunken driving laws passed throughout the country. A recent success is the inclusion of a device in all new cars that will prevent people from driving drunk, a provision included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in November 2021. Relinquishing the activist title and centering one’s identity as a mother — intentionally or not — is often a powerful tactic that ultimately makes these women more sympathetic, Poe explains. Mothers, says Poe, are “uniquely positioned to be witnesses to loss. … Whenwe hear their loss, it also brings to light social issues and harms that we otherwise don’t see.” In the beginning, Foytlin didn’t think of herself as an activist, though she later came to embrace the label. And while she and other activists weren’t successful in their attempt to stop the Bayou Bridge oil pipeline from being built in Louisiana, Foytlin believes her work has made a lasting impact on the world. “When you stand up — when people witness your courage and your mission and your focus and your passion — it’s not a failure.”

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Today, Foytlin is focused on training the next generation of activists, namely her own children. Two of her daughters are currently in college, one majoring in environmental science and the other in filmmaking — a powerful medium for raising awareness and bringing about change. During her journey to create better access to health care options for people experiencing endometriosis, Hatch has also found how important it is to use the opportunities one has to create opportunity for many. “For anyone who feels passionate about an issue or feels a need for change, don’t give up,” she says. “You don’t have to feel alone. Find an organization, call them up and ask, ‘What can I do?’” From her experience, Hatch has found that a path will open up from asking that question. And often, it’s a path that can leave the world better for the next generation. “We won’t create the perfect world for them,” Foytlin resolves. “But we can give them a chance to create their own. And that’s where my goal is: to create those steps so that they can carry the light forward.” This story appears in the March issue of Deseret Magazine. Learn more about how to subscribe at Deseret.com/magazine.

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FAMOUS IN UTAH

Why a Salt Lake company owns the ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign Young Electric Sign Company of Salt Lake City is the owner and caretaker of arguably the most famous ‘welcome to’ sign in the world

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Jeffrey Young, executive vice president at YESCO, holds a photograph of the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign that his company owns at YESCO in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.

By Lee Benson Deseret News

It is 8:45 on a weekday morning in Las Vegas and vehicles, including two tour buses that just released their passengers, have filled most of the parking spots. Up ahead, there’s a line of people waiting to have their picture taken next to the attraction. What’s all the fuss about? Is it a celebrity sighting? Somebody giving away Raiders tickets? David Copperfield’s duck got loose? Nope. None of the above. The big draw is what has arguably become the most famous city-entrance sign in the world, maybe the most famous sign, period: “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada.” Apparently, like a lot of things in Las Vegas, this goes on day and night — throngs of tourists capturing their visit with a pho-

to that proves they were here. Also, unlike a lot of things in Las Vegas, it’s free. •

•

Jeff Young can personally attest to the sign’s perpetual popularity. Jeff is executive vice president and trustee of the Young Electric Sign Company, or YESCO — the company born and bred in Utah that owns and maintains the sign. “It has become a huge draw. We’re the caretakers of an icon,” he says. “Owning it is a great honor for us, for the family, for the organization.” The story of how a Utah company wound up with the “Fabulous Las Vegas” sign dates back to the company’s founder, a pioneer immigrant named Thomas Young — Jeff’s grandfather

— who opened his sign company in Ogden in 1920 and started doing business in Las Vegas in 1932. His timing was fortuitous because of two recent developments: 1) The use of neon lights in sign-making was just picking up steam, and 2) Nevada’s legalization of gambling in 1931. To the world, Las Vegas was about to become Sin City; to Thomas Young: Sign City. Gambling joints and the hotels they were attached to wanted bright lights and big, bold signs, and Young knew how to make them. His first contract in Vegas was with the Boulder Club in 1932. He continued to supply the growing town with neon signs throughout the Great Depression and World War II, after which he opened a branch of the company in Las Vegas in 1945. That’s when Vegas lit up, literally, with Thomas Young leading the way, building signs at the Stardust, the Mint, the Silver Slipper, the Golden Nugget, the Sahara, and so on and so forth. As his grandson Jeff says, “If you talk about Vegas and early hotels, it would be hard to find one we didn’t build.” (The same is true today; the company’s imprint is everywhere in the city; the Bellagio, the Aria, New York-New York, the Venetian, the 272-foot LED sign on the Palms, the Hard Rock Cafe guitar, all theirs, to name just a few.) As the company grew in the ’50s and ’60s, YESCO began to acquire other smaller sign companies, and their signs, including one called Western Neon in 1964. Western Neon owned the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. It had been designed in 1959 by one of its employees, Betty Willis. The modest 25-foot sign cost $4,000 to build and was erected beyond the Las Vegas city limits on the south, in the direction of California. The nearest buildings were at least a mile away. There were no traffic jams. As time went on, the sign stayed put and the city grew to meet it. Now, the Mandalay Bay Hotel is just a stone’s throw away and Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders’ new home (also home to a lot of YESCO signs), is just across the freeway. Through the years, more and more people kept risking their lives to cross traffic and take pictures by the sign, until the city made the sign an island in the median and erected a parking lot with 12 parking spaces in 2008. In 2012 they added 21 more; in 2015 another 21, and two slots for tour buses. There’s also a traffic light so pedestrians can safely cross Las Vegas Boulevard. In 2009, the sign was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. YESCO might own it — the company gets lease payments and maintenance fees from Clark County — but it can’t move it. What happened in Vegas stays in Vegas. The sign isn’t copyrighted, which is why it can be found on refrigerator magnets, key chains, T-shirts, placemats, coffee mugs and anything else a logo can be applied to or stamped on. But YESCO has trademarked the sign, to make sure competitors don’t use its image. And it’s placed its own logo on the famous sign. YESCO can be seen in smaller letters near the bottom of the sign. “Literally thousands of people every day see our logo on that sign,” says Jeff Young. If they can find a parking spot.

DESERET NEWS | SEPTEMBER 2023

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DID YOU KNOW

Historians introduce the Brigham Young Papers project and 1st volume of journals People will learn and understand more about the 1st territorial governor of Utah and 2nd president of the church through his journals, editor and historian says What are the Brigham Young Papers?

Similar to the Joseph Smith Papers, the objective of the Brigham Young Papers project is to collect, document and make available his papers, facilitating biographical research, writing and publications about his life and world. One significant difference between the two is that President Young lived longer and produced thousands more documents that still exist today. “Joseph was manageable, but it took us more than 20 years [with church resources],” Esplin said. The church is supportive of the Brigham Young Papers but could not devote the same resources to a project that would likely span many decades, Esplin said. In 2017, the Brigham Young Center Foundation was created as a nonprofit organization to tackle the project with several seasoned historians and scholars on its board and staff, most of whom have years of experience with the Joseph Smith Papers. The main source of funding comes from John D. Esplin and Jan Quan Esplin, Ronald Esplin’s son and daughter-in-law. John Esplin is a member of the Brigham Young Foundation Board. “This exists with outside donations,” Ronald Esplin said. “We have cooperation and coordination from the Church, which is essential because the Church owns the documents.”

Brigham Young’s journals

Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Pages of the earliest journal entries written by Brigham Young. Left, an entry from April 9, 1832. The entry on the right is dated April 30, 1833.

By Trent Toone Church News

Brigham Young felt the gospel fire and missionary spirit begin to blaze within him as he sat wet following his baptism and ordination to the office of elder in the newly organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 14, 1832. “I wanted to thunder and roar out the gospel to the nations,” he said years later. The feeling “burned in my bones like fire pent up. ... Nothing would satisfy me but to cry abroad in the world, what the Lord was doing in the latter-days. ... I had to go out and preach, lest my bones should consume within me.” Many know the general details of what Brigham Young went on to do after his conversion — serving missions, becoming an apostle and the second president of the church, guiding thousands of Latter-day Saints to the Great Salt Lake Valley, colo-

nizing the West and serving a U.S. presidential appointment as Utah territorial governor from 1850 to 1857. What few know are the day-to-day details of President Young’s life. That will change in the coming years as The Brigham Young Center produces the Brigham Young Papers, beginning with “The Brigham Young Journals, Vol. 1, April 1832 to Feb. 1846.” While it appears to come on the heels of the now-completed Joseph Smith Papers, the Brigham Young Papers project actually launched five years ago. The plan is to make the bulk of Brigham’s documents available online, with a small subset published in print, including journals, letters and personal writings. The first volume of the journals series focuses on Brigham’s life before coming to Utah, said Ronald K. Esplin, director of the Brigham Young Papers project and general editor of the Brigham Young Journals.

The project begins with Brigham Young’s journals, edited by historians Dean C. Jessee, Brent M. Rogers, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat and Andrew H. Hedges. “The Brigham Young Journals: Vol. 1, April 1832 to Feb. 1846” is the first of four volumes in the journal series. Released in August, the new volume presents President Young’s pre-Utah journals, which include three written in his own hand (1832–45) and his Nauvoo, Illinois, office journal kept by clerks (1844–46). These records offer glimpses into President Young’s life and ministry as well as key moments in early Church history. “You will see things about Brigham Young that you do not really think about — how much he misses his family, how desperately devoted he is to Joseph Smith, how many missions he serves and how many sacrifices he makes,” Dirkmaat said. An entry dated Jan. 24, 1845, reads: “I inquired of the Lord whether we should stay here and finish the [Nauvoo] temple. The answer is we should.” The footnote explains: “Finishing the temple had been a high priority for Young and the Twelve since 8 August 1844, one they stressed repeatedly. The day before this ritual prayer, Young learned of (and noted in his journal) an increased prospect of violence as former Latter-day Saints sought to stir up enemies to stop them from finishing the temple. This threat likely formed the backdrop for seeking renewed confirmation.” Mob violence drove Latter-day Saints out of Nauvoo in 1846.

CONTINUES ON PG. 16

DESERET NEWS | SEPTEMBER 2023

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You will see things about Brigham Young that you do not really think about. - Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, Brigham Young Papers historian

Unique glimpses into Brigham Young’s daily life

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

An image of Brigham Young during his years as the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The importance of family is one theme that emerged for Rogers as he worked on this first volume of the journals. Before leading the Church from 1844 to 1877, President Young served several missions, which often required him to leave his family under difficult circumstances, including sick family members and babies days after birth. Readers will see “an interesting family network and connection” in the journals with “glimpses of his love and devotion,” Rogers said, and “how much he thinks about them and even dreams about them and wants to make sure they are OK.” The journals offer insight into the life of an early Latter-day Saint missionary and the earliest missionary efforts of the Quorum of the Twelve. “That’s when you get some of Brigham’s most in-depth writing,” Rogers said.

DESERET NEWS | SEPTEMBER 2023

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UTAH HOUSING

‘Fading dream’: Utah’s housing shortage expected to worsen Weaker economic environment will further weigh on Utah’s housing market, but not enough to budge affordability, report says kic said. And that goes for the rest of the country, too. “August will likely go down as the most unaffordable housing market in our nation’s history.” Finalizing this year’s report was no easy task for Wood and Eskic, especially because of the difficulty in making predictions amid today’s volatile mortgage rate environment. Eskic put it this way in a recent interview with the Deseret News: “It’s a really uncomfortable year.” He turned to Wood, who was also on the Zoom call, and asked, “How many times did we change our forecast within like a three- or four-week period? Like almost every other day.” Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Wood chuckled. “The forecast is New single family homes under construction in the South Jordan area of the Salt Lake Valley on so subject to change,” he said. Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. “It’s been such a volatile market,” Eskic said. “And I feel like everybody feels this way nationally.” By Katie McKellar Although Utah’s housing market fundamentals remain generDeseret News ally “strong,” the researchers prediction that its stubborn housing shortage is likely to increase heading into 2024 will strain After the COVID-19 pandemic stirred “unmatched volatility” in aspiring homebuyers. High interest rates did spur a market conthe Utah housing market — joining the Great Recession “as one of traction and a price correction, but not enough to make homes those unique moments” in the state’s history — the aftereffects are more affordable for many priced-out Utahns. Mortgage rates spelling trouble for its real estate market and home affordability. are expected to taper slightly in 2024 but remain relatively high. “The Great Recession produced 16 consecutive quarters of Meanwhile, home prices are also expected to increase next year. declining housing prices, while the pandemic produced the The word “crash” did not appear in this year’s report, signaling shortest and steepest homebuilding expansion and contraction what Utah housing experts have been saying all along. While the on record.” pandemic housing rush did bring an unseen level of volatility and That’s what Utah’s leading housing experts wrote in a new re“whiplash” to homebuilders, they’re still not predicting a 2008port titled the “State of the State’s Housing Market.” Jim Wood like crash due to the state’s generally strong economy, its continand Dejan Eskic, researchers at the University of Utah’s Kem ued growth and a housing shortage that’s now poised to grow. C. Gardner Policy Institute, published the report Wednesday. However, “demographic and economic growth are forecast They looked back on the wild pandemic years, while also looking to slow slightly in 2023 and 2024,” the researchers wrote. “Net ahead to what’s next. in-migration will likely edge lower due to high housing costs, One of the report’s biggest takeaways is the state’s housing fewer remote workers, and slower job growth. Employment shortage is about to get worse. The national housing market corgrowth will fall around 2%, the lowest level since the Great Rerection underway now is likely to have lasting impacts on the cession (except for the pandemic year of 2020).” Utah housing market by erasing recent years’ progress on closOverall, “A weaker economic environment will add to Utah’s ing the gap between the state’s growth and the number of new homebuilding and real estate challenges.” residential units being built. Top takeaways from the report That means the housing shortage is likely to persist for “the reUtah’s 10-year homebuilding and real estate boom came to mainder of the decade,” Eskic said Wednesday at a panel hosted an abrupt end in 2022. After mortgage rates began to rise rapidly by the Kem C. Gardner Institute to discuss the report’s findings. near the end of 2022, undercutting buyer demand, the year-overIt will have continuing consequences for Utah’s affordable year number of residential units receiving building permits plumhousing problems, which have risen to unprecedented heights meted by 35% from April to December, sales of existing homes amid high mortgage interest rates that are now hovering over 7%. fell 23%, and the median price of a home fell by 10%. “Utah faces the most unaffordable market in its history,” Es-

Interest rates are giving homebuilders whiplash. The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy affected all types of residential construction, though single-family home construction was hardest hit with a 32% drop in building permits in 2022. Apartments declined by 27%, and condominiums, townhomes and twin home permits dropped 9.5%. That contraction continued through the second quarter of 2023. Through June, the year-over-year number of residential units receiving building permits in Utah fell 37%, existing homes sales fell 20%, and the median sales price fell by 7.5%. Only four states — Montana, New York, Wyoming and Alaska — saw sharper declines. Utah’s housing shortage is likely to increase by 2024. During a building boom, Utah made up significant ground on its housing shortage, shrinking the gap from 56,800 units in 2017 to 28,400 units in 2022. However now as homebuilding activity is expected to contract, “new households will outnumber new housing units. Consequently, the housing shortage will likely increase to over 37,000 units by 2024. Housing price increases peaked in 2022, then slowed and declined in 2023. Utah’s year-over-year median sales price of a home peaked in February 2022 with a record 28.2% increase. But over the next 10 months, price increases slowed, and eventually fell to 1.1% by December before turning negative in January with a decline of 5.3%. Declines continued through the first four months of 2023, reaching 10.3% in April. By July, however, the year-over-year decline narrowed to 2%. The price correction was inevitable, but modest. The median sale price of a home in Utah went from $336,300 in February 2020 to $500,000 in February 2022. “A price increase of this magnitude (49% in 24 months — the largest two-year increase on record), requires a future price correction.” That correction came in March 2022 and continued through July 2023. “The correction, however, looks to be modest with less than a 5% decline in year-over price.” As a result, 2023 brought what appeared to be a “pause” on price increases, “likely followed by a price increase in 2024.” Despite dip in housing prices, affordability continues to block homeownership opportunities. In the second quarter of 2023, the median income household in the Salt Lake City metro area could only afford about 21% of the homes sold in that area (an affordable housing market would mean the median income household should be able to afford 50% of homes sold). Of 241 metro areas surveyed nationally, 203 are more affordable than the Salt Lake metro area. Housing prices in Utah increased by a striking 72% since the first quarter of 2018. Only seven other states had greater increases. However, in the first quarter of 2023, Utah saw the biggest percent decline, -4.3%, of all of the seven western states experiencing price declines amid high interest rates, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. While prices fell in most western states, the rest of the country has seen price gains, with 28 seeing increases of at least 5%. South Carolina had the biggest gains, with a year-over-year increase of 9.5%. Housing forecast for the rest of 2023 and 2024: “A weaker economic environment will add to Utah’s homebuilding and real estate challenges.” Building permits in 2023 for residential units are forecasted at 22,750, “the lowest level since 2016. Sales of existing homes are also likely to fall to 37,500 in 2023, “the lowest level since 2014.” There is some good news, though. Both homebuilding activity and real estate sales are expected to increase in 2024. It appears the decline in home prices is “near bottom,” while year-overyear increases are likely in the third and fourth quarters. Home prices are expected to dip only slightly this year, with a 2023 forecast of $500,000 for the median sales price, but that’s just 2% below the statewide median in 2022. Mortgage rates are expected to also come down, but only slightly. “By year-end 2023, the mortgage rate will likely be near 7% but will trend lower in 2024 averaging 6.5% for the year.” For complete article visit deseretnews.com

DESERET NEWS | SEPTEMBER 2023

22 DESERET NEWS | SEPTEMBER 2023

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HUMOR

A few ideas for Mitt’s next job

An exhaustive list of jobs around town I think the senator would enjoy doing when his term ends in 2025 By Meg Walter

Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney announced he will not run for another term. Many in my state are mourning this announcement. They’ve come to rely on the senator for stability and reason in a time of political unrest. To those people I say, chin up. Sen. Romney does not strike me as the kind of guy who will just be sitting around. I’m sure we’ll see him around. And to Mitt I say, if you need ideas for what to do after January 2025, I’ve got you. The following is an exhaustive list of jobs around town I think you’d enjoy.

The guy who yells “FREE MEAL” at Cafe Rio when a customer has enough stamps to earn a free pork salad

Full disclosure, I don’t know if they actually do this anymore, but there was a time when a customer could get something like 70 stamps on their frequent customer card and earn a free meal. There was also a time when people were eating at Cafe Rio often enough to cash in on these free meals pretty frequently. And every time they did, one of the employees behind the counter would yell “FREE MEAL!” and all the other employees would respond with “FREE MEAL!” and it would fill the restaurant with joy every time. Doesn’t that sound nice after six years in the trenches of Congress? If they have, in fact, retired the practice, I’m sure they’d be willing to bring it back at your behest.

Lifeguard at Splash Summit (Formerly known as Seven Peaks)

Look, from what I’ve observed, this job is a walk in the (water) park. Sure, you have to save the occasional kid from the Wave Pool, and you probably need to have a high tolerance for coming in contact with used bandages, but for the most part, it just requires sitting at the top of the slides, holding a float tube, and using two fingers to signal “your turn” to kids in tubes waiting to slide down. All my friends who worked at Seven Peaks over the summer came back to school with the best tans. I was always jealous.

for theme park attendees who need a break from the sun. Can you imagine how many park admission tickets they would sell if you were the live entertainment headliner? We know you have the chops:

Swig guy who holds the iPad

Jazz Bear

I think this might be the most lucrative job in the state because after the iPad holder/order-taker guy processes your card, he hands you the iPad to get your signature and select a tip amount. There’s no way to select “no tip” without him noticing, so I tip a dollar every time. I don’t want to tell you how many extra dollars Swig is making from me every week because of this, but I will tell you it is not insignificant.

Lifty

For-hire golf cart driver through the SLC Airport B gate

Trampolines. T-shirt guns. Acrobatics. Dream job?

January is the perfect time to get a job at one of our many world-renowned ski resorts. There are many to choose from. Perhaps serving nachos at the lodge or operating the lift, but not on the bunny hill. Too many first-timers fall getting on the lift. But one of the back mountains? All you have to do is rake the snowy dismount pad to get those nice ridges. Plus, there’s usually great music in the little hut.

Performer at Lagoon

Not everyone knows there’s a stage in the center of the park where young performers with Broadway aspirations sing and dance

I lied before. This would be the most lucrative job in the state.

Crumbl recipe contributor

I don’t know if there’s any actual money in this one but I am pretty confident you would get a cookie named after you. I, for one, would be very excited to see the Romney Raisin featured on I-15 billboards. That would sure beat some of the other billboards I’ve seen about you. For complete article visit deseretnews.com

DESERET NEWS | SEPTEMBER 2023

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Confused about about your your options? options? Confused Quotes Quotes •• Coverage Coverage •• Tax Tax Credits? Credits? Lionel Longson

CALL 801 523 1100 TEXT 801 523 9100 CALL 801 523 1100 We’ll help

healthbenefitsut@gmail.com TEXT 801 523 9100

Open Enrollment healthbenefitsut@gmail.com November 1 – December 15

you apply

We'll help you apply

Individual & & Medicare Medicare Plans Plans 60th annual

utah coin show

featuring coins, tokens, paper money, handheld collectibles and jewelery

FRIDAY & SATURDAY

SEPTEMBER 29TH & 30TH

10AM-7PM

SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE CONFERENCE CENTER AT MILLER CAMPUS 9750 S. 300 W. SANDY, UTAH ADMISSION: $5.00 INDIVIDUAL $8.00 FAMILY