October 2026 | Vol. 8 Iss. 10
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Millcreek
Pumpkin color code
Dessert culture
“Utah definitely has a vice, and it’s sugar”
Page 6
What each color means for porch pumpkins
Page 16
Millcreek City Council discusses potential ideas to support affordable housing in Millcreek By Alexandra Straumann | a.straumann@mycityjournals.com Sources of funding for such projects was also discussed.
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A Millcreek housing report was completed explaining that, by 2030, Millcreek is projected to have a housing shortage of 3,180 units. (File photo City Journals)
ffordable housing is one of the most hotly discussed public policy issues in the United States today. A national survey conducted by the Center for American Progress found that 76% of Americans consider affordable housing to be a growing problem. The concern from voters was distributed across age groups, gender and political party lines, with those living in rural and suburban areas more likely to indicate concern than urban residents. Many are turning to their state and city governments for information regarding how this issue is being tackled. On Aug. 10, City Manager Mike Winder spoke to the Millcreek City Council about the council’s ongoing goal to increase the amount of affordable housing available to Utahns. He began by explaining that in 2024, a Millcreek housing report was completed that explained that, by 2030, Millcreek is projected to have a housing shortage of 3,180 units. The housing availability was not distributed evenly; based on Area Median Income (AMI) – which is defined as the median income for
all of the households located within a specific area – housing units at 30% AMI (which are considered “deeply affordable” properties) are projected to be experiencing a steeper shortage than units targeted at 80% AMI. In 2024, the council adopted the Moderate Income Housing plan and consequently has partnered with entities that apply for state funding, federal funding or tax incentives to promote the construction of moderate income homes. Winder discussed the potential Millcreek Common North project, which would be 50 to 60 owner-occupied condos and 12,000 square feet of retail space on Chambers Avenue adjacent to Millcreek Common. The land purchase would total $3.1 million, with $1.5 million in funding coming from the City Affordable Housing fund. The goal is to break ground in 2028, with project completion estimated for 2030. Winder suggested that the housing could be a potential part of Utah’s First Time Home Buyer Program. Winder called the project “ambitious,” stating Millcreek has never attempted an Continued on page 7
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COMMON GROUND
A Vote of Confidence
Common Ground will be a column of rotating viewpoints that highlight specific feelings across the political spectrum, and it will always end with possible ways to come together. For two years, I’ve worried that the president will interfere with, postpone or even cancel the midterm elections, although that’s never happened in the history of our country. But before we go all Y2K on this election and panic-buy underground bunkers, let’s talk about how Utah is handling this situation. Contrary to what cable news would have you believe, the president does not oversee America’s elections. State officials handle that, and Utah has done a phenomenal job. Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson serves as the state’s chief election officer, earning a badge of courage as she stands against an administration demanding our voting rolls. It’s been refreshing to see someone in Utah’s leadership tell the president “No.” While the president continues to bang the “Stolen Election” drum (which is ironic since his administration was in charge during 2020), he says election integrity is a thing of the past. So what is election integrity?
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Common Ground
Has it gone the way of the pterodactyl? Here’s the Election Integrity Checklist. • Eligible voters cast a vote. • Ineligible votes are disregarded. • Ballots are secured. • Votes are accurately counted in a transparent process. This leads to an outcome we have to abide by, even if the results don’t turn out the way we’d like. Election integrity is NOT about making the voting process so cumbersome that it limits how many people can cast a ballot. There are some people who love going to their local polling place, casting a vote and getting their “I Voted” sticker. There are also people who can’t make it to a polling location. Maybe because of work schedules, maybe they’re caring for family members, maybe they’ve lived in an underground bunker since the Y2K scare.
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Bryan Scott | bryan.s@thecityjournals.com
EDITOR
Travis Barton | travis.b@thecityjournals.com
The point is, Utah’s vote-bymail process has gone swimmingly well. Mail-in voting doesn’t favor any one party; in fact, it gives more people a voice. Isn’t that what we want? I’d rather have an election with massive participation, even if my candidate loses. Isn’t that better than one side that wins because people couldn’t vote? But the federal government is acting like we’re handing out voting ballots willy-nilly, like Oprah giving away pajama sets at Costco. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would require voters to show proof of citizenship when voting, which you can’t do with a mail-in ballot. A federal judge blocked the president’s executive order that created a plan to regulate mail-in ballots. Now the administration, the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Supreme Court are in a race against time to change the mail-in ballot system. What could possibly go wrong? All of the president’s policies have gone off without a hitch. Right? Republican leaders make it
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sound like elections are being bombarded by illegal votes, but a Utah audit found nearly 100% of voters were U.S. citizens. Out of 2,069,640 voter records reviewed, 27 alleged noncitizen voters were found. That’s 0.0013%, for all you math nerds. Elections don’t belong to the president. They don’t belong to Republicans or Democrats. They don’t belong to cable news, TikTok influencers or the guy on Facebook who shares questionable memes. Elections belong to us: We the People. Election integrity boils down to this: protect the right to vote and ensure ballot security. We don’t want ineligible people to vote, but we also don’t want to make the process impossible for eligible voters. The system has worked for 250 years. Throughout this country’s history, no U.S. election has been postponed or cancelled nationwide. But the president’s interference implies you don’t have to cancel an election if you get to choose the voters.
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Millcreek City Journal
Paddle the River participants drum up excitement for Get to the River Fest
The first Paddle the River event in the four-week series for Get to the River Festival started with plenty of people looking to get involved. By Anna Nielsen a.nielsen@mycityjournals.com
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n early September, community members gathered to paddle the Jordan River (Pia Okwai) from General Holm Park in South Salt Lake to Pioneer Crossing Park in West Valley City as part of the Get to the River Festival. Alongside bike rides, bird walks, trail clean ups, film screenings, yoga, dance performances and more, the first and free Paddle the River event was a quintessential part of the annual month-long festival, now in its 13th year. Festivities span the 50-mile length of the Jordan River Parkway, with events at parks, trails and, of course, on the river itself, everywhere from Utah County to Davis County. After paddling between the parks, participants enjoyed a drum circle session at the river’s edge with Drum Utah. “What a beautiful way to enjoy the river,” Susan Klinker with the Utah Cultural
Paddlers exit the river to get in touch with nature in a new way—through connecting to its rhythms. (Anna Nielsen/City Journals)
Celebration Center said. “We love working with Drum Utah. This is the fourth year we’ve done it, and this year we connected it with the float coming down, which made just a beautiful, beautiful evening and a wonderful way to kick off the Labor Day weekend.” Nels Anderson, owner of Drum Utah, brings his instruments and instruction to gatherings like this as his full-time job. “Events like this get people to notice things
like how the changing wind feels, maybe we’re changing rhythm with the way the weather’s working. When the wind is really calm, I notice everyone is in a serene state, and kind of hard to amp up, but I’m not going to try to push them. I just let them experience this place where you kind of feel a little bit reverent or sacred. You sit by a big river and it makes you breathe deeply. You can tell how it affects people’s attitudes.”
Tiffini Adams from West Valley thought the festival was awesome. “It’s a beautiful way to experience the beauty that’s in our own backyard and gives a really unique perspective on our beautiful river.” The river is known as Pia Okwai (Big Flow) by the Indigenous Shoshone and Goshute people and weaves its way north from Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake, passing through 16 cities. The Jordan River’s riparian area is a crucial ecological site as the habitat for hundreds of species and millions of migratory birds, as well as other creatures, including humans, who have relied on the river for thousands of years. It has tremendous ecological, cultural, recreational and economic value. Through outdoor recreation, conservation, the arts and social opportunities, the festival’s goal is to “highlight this amazing slice of nature through the most urbanized and populated region of Utah’s Wasatch Front, sparking discovery, stewardship, creativity, and fun” at the Jordan River year-round, per their website. If you missed the boat on the limited-space river float, fear not, the Jordan River Commission website offers a water trail map with entry and exit points to help create a paddle plan of your own. Visit jordanrivercommission.gov/maps-trail-guides/water-trail/.l
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Small businesses thrive with sweet products
Utah’s love of “dessert culture” and supportive community spell success for many business owners. By McKinna Baird m.baird@mycityjournals.com
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any tourists come to the Wasatch Front for the hiking, the skiing or learning about Latter-day Saint history. It’s time to add sampling sweets to that list. Salt Lake City is home to many small businesses featuring desserts. There’s Granite Bakery, which has been a staple for custom cakes and cinnamon knots since 1983 and Parfé Diem, which is a recent addition to the dessert scene offering made from scratch gourmet puddings with seasonal flavors. There is also established pop-up businesses, like Doki Doki, a Japanese dessert spot that has found success in regular pop-ups after closing their Salt Lake storefront. “Utah definitely has a vice, and it’s sugar,” said Amy Lund, founder of Dough Lady, a specialty cinnamon roll shop. “I think people in Utah crave good quality sugar.” Lund started her business with her husband by selling “take and bake” cinnamon roll packs from her porch during the COVID-19 pandemic. She always loved baking and used that passion to develop a product she’s proud of and one the community can’t help but come
Some of the Dough Lady’s offerings include a banana bread latte, lemon blueberry roll and take and bake frozen rolls with icing and cream. (McKinna Baird/City Journals)
back for. Some customers are so enamored with Lund’s product that her cinnamon rolls have been cemented into family traditions. “These rolls have become part of people’s traditions, which absolutely blows my mind,” Lund said. New businesses also feel the draw of Utahns’ love of sweets. JD Flannel Donuts opened their first Utah location over the
Fall
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FOR HOMES & BUSINESSES
A box of JD Flannel Donuts flavors from left to right: brown butter, tres leches, smores and chocolate ganache. (McKinna Baird/City Journals)
summer and have already seen how the community gathers around dessert. “It’s a very community oriented culture. People get together and they get together over food a lot of times,” said Dave Rhode, one of the founders of JD Flannel Donuts. “We’re building relationships, and it’s so easy to do here in Salt Lake.” Creating a dessert that can insert itself into the lives of customers doesn’t happen by accident. Lund had grown up baking. She chose to focus her skills on cinnamon rolls after being regularly disappointed by cinnamon rolls she was trying. “I thought this should just taste better than it does,” she said, “[and] I think I can do it.” After weeks of tinkering with her original recipe, Lund felt she had perfected her product. She sold her rolls online, delivering orders all over the valley. She opened her Millcreek storefront in December 2024 and a Lehi location in September 2026. Along the way, Lund has expanded her flavor selection to include rotating seasonal options, savory rolls and a few year-round staples. She’s also developed a coffee menu, complete with syrups made from scratch.
Lund says her lemon blueberry roll and banana bread latte as two of her best items on the menu. JD Flannel Donuts grew in a similar way. Business partners and friends Rhode and John Miller started experimenting to achieve their perfect doughnut with a turkey fryer in their back yard. It took them about five months to feel that they had perfected their product. Similarly to Lund, the duo brought homemade syrups to their shop for a sweet drink menu. The expansion of their flavor profile comes from their customers. For the first few years of running their business, they conducted a sports-style bracket to incorporate flavors suggested by their Instagram followers. JD Flannel Donuts boasts a salted brown butter cake doughnut as their best seller. Both businesses credit much of their success to the community that supports them. “I think especially within the Utah community, what I’ve found is people like to connect with other people, and they like to root for people,” Lund said. “I’ve not had a huge plan like when we were growing [my business], it’s been because the community ended up rallying behind it.” l
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385-475-3142 Millcreek City Journal
Utah State School Board seeks to repeal ‘double investigation’ policy regarding teacher misconduct complaints The Utah State School Board recently voted in favor of repealing the “double investigation” policy that informs how teacher misconduct is managed.
subsequently opened. If the allegations are categorized as relatively minor, UPPAC has the authority to schedule an “expedited hearing” that does not require a prior investigation. If an expedited hearing moves forward, under current policy, three UPPAC members oversee the meeting where the educator, their representative, and an administrator from the school are present. Educators also have the option to request a formal investigation, rather than move forward with the expedited hearing. In both cases, UPPAC makes a disciplinary recommendation to state board members. Board members can either accept, reject, or modify the commission’s recommendation. Penalties vary in severity, with outcomes ranging from written warnings to license suspension, and in some cases, license revocation. Typically license revocation is reserved for educators who have committed actions that are legally felonious, such as sex crimes against minors. Kerry’s report specifically touched on UPPAC’S investigative policies, the ones he believes create a framework that is susceptible to encouraging potential conflicts of interest. He expressed concerns over the investigative process, pointing out that UPPAC staff play
“multiple roles across the lifecycle of a case.” On several occasions, UPPAC members who participated in the investigation and fact finding portion of a case, have then gone on to use those same facts to advocate against the educator in disciplinary hearings. Five months after Kerry’s report was published, it appears the Utah State Board of Education is ready to overhaul various UPPAC operational standards, including the “double investigation” policy. In the past decade more than 150 complaints have been reported to the Utah State Board of Education. Allegations against public school educators, has often included instances of verbal abuse, threats, gender discussions without parental consent, racist and sexual comments. According to state board member Amanda Bollinger, regardless of the nature of the allegations, they must be sent to UPPAC for further review. “It doesn’t make sense for us to use our tax dollars to do a double investigation,” Bollinger stated before further discussing an existing problem with backlogged investigations. “We absolutely want to make sure that we’re investigating any reports from parents...but we want to make sure that we’re using our money where we
have a process that doesn’t slow things down.” In his report, Kerry also outlined several instances of inconsistent record keeping when it comes to investigations. Kerry alleges that UPPAC has been negligent with their records, as investigative interviews have sometimes failed to be recorded or transcribed. Instead, oftentimes an investigator’s written summary is preserved, rather than an actual verbatim recording or transcription. When UPPAC does present information, it is articulated through the aforementioned summaries, versus calling for direct evidence. At that stage in the process, educators are prohibited from addressing the board in person or in writing, according to Kerry’s report. “This structure creates a significant limitation on the Board’s ability to perform a truly independent review,” Notably, UPPAC does not currently notify educators when a complaint has been filed against them. Although, this does not necessarily mean the educator will not find out about the complaint, as that information is sometimes delivered by fellow colleagues or school faculty. Otherwise, teachers are only notified of a complaint if UPPAC decides to then open a case. According to Kerry’s report, teachers are not notified of complaints in an attempt to contain any “unnecessary anxiety.” “If the educator’s first direct engagement with UPPAC occurs only after a case has already been opened,” Kerry stated in the report, “then the most consequential threshold decision has already been made without their participation.” Kerry also pointed out that UPPAC does not have a formally defined standard of review when it comes to deciding whether or not to open an investigation or request an expedited hearing. “The absence of a defined threshold creates substantial risk of inconsistency, arbitrariness, and inability to explain outcomes across similar cases,” Kerry argued. Despite Kerry’s report, the actual vote was extremely divided, with eight to seven board members requesting that the Utah legislature change the “double investigations” law. l
much of the criteria to receive the funding. There is also the Des Moines Federal Home Loan Bank, which has an affordable housing program designed to support projects like Millcreek’s, which could potentially provide the city with up to $3 million in funding. Winder discussed the projected housing fund balance for each upcoming fiscal year until 2040. The budget is expected to dip in 2027 to 2028, and then increase steadily each following year. “We should be thinking as policy makers,” Winder said, “what strategies we want to deploy...we want to get on one hand ahead of the curve, but on the other hand, not too ahead that we are spending money that we don’t have.” Winder presented some possible options for future use of these housing funds, the first being to increase the amount of firsttime homebuyer occupied homes. He added that creating a down payment assistance
fund provided by the city is an option used by many cities to provide residents with resources to purchase their first homes. Another option could be implementing a “fix-the-bricks” program to provide current homeowners with funding to update already built homes that need repairs. The idea is to support the stabilization of units already in existence so that in the future, the homes won’t need to be torn down and completely redone. Winder also suggested a smaller program designed to educate the community about how to purchase a home. Winder asked the council for their opinions on these ideas, and emphasized an interest in receiving feedback from the council about what programs they think the community could benefit from. Councilmember Silvia Catten talked about how Millcreek is known as a place for families, recalling that over the past few
years, the looming threat of school closures has rattled the community. “One of the things we really could push is having housing that can accommodates families, we can continue to build one and two bedroom condos that are beautiful and great and livable, but young people today, of course they aren’t going to have kids if that’s all that’s available.” Catten added that part of the city’s housing education program could be providing community members with awareness of childcare resources, as that goes hand in hand with this issue. In conclusion, Mayor Cheri Jackson said, “It’s encouraging to see that we have options, the fact that we are to the point where we have enough money through our CRA’s over the years, that we could do something significant.” The council has plans to continue discussions of these ideas at upcoming meetings.l
By Lizzie Walje l.walje@mycityjournals.com
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he Utah State Board of Education recently voted narrowly to oppose “double investigations” of teacher misconduct complaints, potentially reducing the number of independent reviews those allegations receive and restructuring the way in which potential misconduct is managed and overseen. Under Utah’s current rules, misconduct allegations can be referred both to the relevant local education agency and to UPPAC. UPPAC, which stands for the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission, is the governing body for such investigations. UPPAC is an advisory body which was established by the Utah State Board of Education. UPPAC is a committee consisting of 11 members, who are tasked with hearing and investigating allegations of educator misconduct throughout the state. UPPAC made local headlines back in April 2026, after Utah State Board of Education member, Joseph Kerry, compiled a report that examined how exactly UPPAC conducts business and investigations. “The system isn’t lacking professionalism or good faith” Kerry stated in his report. “To the contrary,” he continues, “many participants described dedicated investigators and conscientious commission members who are attempting to do difficult work under increasing pressure and limited resources.” State law requires schools and school districts in Utah to report educators accused or suspected of misconduct to UPPAC. Anyone can file a complaint, including parents. Once a complaint has been formally launched, UPPAC members then decide whether further action is necessary. If it is deemed so, a case is continued from front page
affordable housing project of this scale before. The council has been exploring potential funding avenues to support the development of this project. Winder explained that the council has been speaking with Sen. John Curtis about the plan, who formally filed a federal appropriation request of $5.2 million that, if awarded, would assist in supporting the project. Another avenue for funding assistance would be through the State of Utah’s Affordable Housing Infrastructure Grant. This program is new this year and has $150 million to allocate toward different affordable housing projects around the state. The project is meant to remove institutional and financial barriers to affordable housing development, and the Millcreek Common North project satisfies
MillcreekJournal.com
The Utah State Board of Education is seeking the repeal of its “double investigation” policy that deals directly with teacher misconduct complaints (Utah State Board of Education)
October 2026 | Page 7
Council adopts ordinance to fund after-school programs through the Asian Association of Utah
Such after-school programs provide students with a safe, supervised place to socialize, study and rest. By Alexandra Straumann a.straumann@mycityjournals.com
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n Aug. 10, the Millcreek City Council considered a proposal to provide a monetary contribution of $200,000 in funds to the Asian Association of Utah (AAU). Kayla Meyers, the Millcreek Promise Program Director, presented a slideshow to the council about the proposal and to provide the council and general public with information regarding what the Asian Association does and how the money would be of use. The Millcreek Promise program is designed to support Millcreek residents with the goal of building community and bridging divides. They aim to achieve this by focusing on three promises that target areas of life where Millcreek residents would benefit from receiving support: education, health and safety, and economic well-being. The funding being considered was meant for after-school programs, which provide students with a safe, supervised place to socialize, study and rest. The successful implementation of after-school programs has
Members of the Millcreek City Council listens to Kayla Meyers, Millcreek’s Promise Program Director. (Photo credit Millcreek City Council Livestream)
been shown to not only benefit families in the present, but also provide a long-term benefit to the community. Students who participate in these programs have a decreased likelihood of skipping class, using drugs and engaging in criminal activity. The AAU began operating its afterschool programs in Millcreek in 2012, before Millcreek had officially incorporated, making their community roots deep. Since the Promise
Program was established in 2014, there has been a collaboration between the organizations to provide greater access to after-school programming for Millcreek families. In the 2025-26 year, the AAU served 207 Millcreek students out of the 362 total students who participated in the program. The goals of each AAU program are to enroll a minimum of 30 youth, have 80% of students report an improvement in
social-emotional learning, and maintain an average daily attendance rate of at least 15 students each day. Currently, there are AAU after-school programs serving Millcreek youth operating out of Olympus High School, Evergreen Junior High, William Penn Elementary, Utah International Charter School, James E. Moss Elementary and Sunnyvale Neighborhood Center. Meyers explained that the budget request for Fiscal Year 2027 was increased from 2026’s $110,000 budget, as in addition to two new programs being added, previous federal funding cuts have resulted in a need to raise funds to cover the difference. Meyers noted that providing these programs through AAU is financially cheaper than what it would cost for Millcreek as a city to take on providing these programs. Mayor Cheri Jackson discussed that a big part of the after-school programs that assist with students’ academic success is the AAU’s focus on social and emotional learning, such as focusing on behavior, focusing in class and turning in their homework. “We recognize that city funds are precious,” she said. “The Promise Program serves a very critical need within our city, and the after-school programming is one facet of that.” The council voted on Ordinance 26-56 to approve this funding.l
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Millcreek City Journal
California sleep company donates over 4,000 pillows to Granite School District teachers Honeydew’s policy is that for every pillow purchased another pillow is donated to someone in need. By Lizzie Walje l.walje@mycityjournals.com
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ranite School District teachers spend their days supporting students. Recently, Honeydew Sleep Company found a way to offer some support in return. At the beginning of September, Southern California-based Honeydew Sleep Company donated over 4,000 pillows to Granite School District educators. Per the event’s press release, Honeydew emphasized the importance of giving back to educators in the classroom, stating the donation was “a gesture of appreciation for the work [teachers] do for students and their communities.” On the morning of the donation day, Honeydew representatives kicked off operations early, first visiting Skyline High School in six in the morning. Following Skyline, representatives also stopped by Taylorsville High School and Hunter High School, wrapping up the day’s festivities in the afternoon. Throughout the day, representatives donated a complimentary pillow to countless educators and secondary educators within Granite School District. Honeydew Sleep Company was established in 2017 by Jonathan and Evita Kunkle. For nearly a decade, Honeydew has manufactured a variety of sleep products, principally among them, pillows. Per the company’s website, Honeydew
seeks to “change the world through better sleep.” Pillows have become an area of specialty for Honeydew, as they believe in the importance of sleep hygiene and regulation. “Our pillows are handcrafted with utmost quality, purpose and passion. Our hearts are poured right into the innovative design, the luxurious fabrics, the carefully cultivated fill, every stitch and every seam,” per their website. Honeydew has a long established history of philanthropy work, maintaining a permanent policy where every pillow purchased results in another pillow donated to someone in need. They routinely engage in philanthropic donation work, particularly centered around the holiday season. “Our work has always been driven by our core belief that every person deserves comfort, care, and the chance to wake up restored. Quality sleep is the key to living our most vibrant lives,” per their website. Granite School District’s own philanthropic organization, The Granite Education Foundation, helped facilitate the September donation day alongside Honeydew. The Granite Education Foundation focuses specifically on reducing barriers between students and learning, regularly hosting or collaborating on various community outreach projects, specifically targeted toward educators and students. For this event specifically, The Granite Education Foundation aided significantly by helping outline and execute the logistical components of the day. Back at Skyline High School, following all of the necessary preparations, Honeydew distributed pillows ahead of the Labor Day weekend. During the event, Honeydew
MEET THE
representatives took the time to thank and acknowledge Granite educators while discussing the importance of sleep hygiene and comfort. Teachers then received their pillows and got to test them out in real time. l
Southern California-based Honeydew Sleep Company, focuses on improving the lives of others through sleep related products. (Honeydew Sleep)
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Senior-laden Skyline girls volleyball off to big start in region play Last year’s 5A state runners-up sweep Bountiful, rival Olympus to open Region 6 action in a season that is hoped will be a title-winning one. By Brian Shaw b.shaw@mycityjournals.com
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ith more than half of last year’s roster back for their senior seasons, the Skyline girls volleyball team is already sending statements to all of Class 5A and Region 6. The Eagles swept Bountiful, 25-19, 25-22 and 26-24 to serve up the 2026-27 season in style at home Sept. 1. They returned back to their home floor on Sept. 2 and were even more emphatic against rival Olympus, winning in straight sets by the score of 25-16, 25-20, and 25-16 to move to 2-0 on the season. For an Eagles squad that finished as Class 5A runners-up last year and had their bid to repeat as state champions thwarted at the hands of region foe Woods Cross in the penultimate game, it might have served as notice to the rest of Region 6 and 5A that Skyline may not be done yet. Bailey and Brooke Bennett return for head coach Mondo Begay and his staff that is heavy on experience, having finished second and third in kills last year, averaging 3.2 and 2.3 per set, respectively. In addition, Norah Pierce is back for her senior season; as a junior, she hit .227 and had 62 blocks for an Eagles team that finished with a 21-8 record and came in second in Region 6 at 9-3. So are Diem Bergstrom and Jovie Post, both of whom played roles on last year’s state runner-up squad as juniors. In all, the Eagles bring back five seniors, most of whom are expected to play roles in getting Skyline back to the
proverbial mountaintop in Class 5A, a place they haven’t been since 2024. The missing piece, however, that might put Skyline over the top, might not necessarily come from an upperclassman. Freshman Kova Symkoviak is already averaging five kills per set in victories over Bountiful and Olympus and is hitting .194, third-best on the Eagles while displaying composure on the court with a team-high 20 receptions. And, fellow freshman Wells Kane has had three assists thus far for Skyline. Other underclassmen are already factoring in, too. Sophomore Evagaline Lotululei is tied for the team lead in blocks with two alongside junior Evelyn Gomez. Also defensively, junior Chloe Huynh and Symkoviak have averaged more than three digs per set over their first two games. It’s balance that the Eagles will need to have as they head right into the teeth of their region slate that will also be littered with tough nonleague opposition later in September. A tournament will pit Skyline against the likes of Maple Mountain and Arizona school Deer Creek, mid-month, before Skyline returns to Region 6 play for the rest of September. In October, Begay’s crew will take on Syracuse, Provo and Lone Peak in nonleague action and finish out Skyline’s region slate with games against Woods Cross and Alta to close out the regular season. The 2026-27 Skyline girls volleyball team is: Wells Kane, Evelyn Gomez, Diem Bergstrom, Kennedy Wealton McClellan, Evageline Lotulelei, Mara Wright, Chloe Huynh, Aida Post, Norah Pearce, Brooke Bennett, Kova Symkoviak, Ella’Lin West, Gracie Bishop, Olivia Bergstrom, Olivia Vorkink, Bailey Bennett, Jovie Post, and Sloan Toland. They are coached by Krista Stoker, Lance Sorenson, Reed Carlson, Rebekah Grant, Gene Bechthold and Begay. l
Skyline volleyball, seen here in 2022, is a consistent contender having won the 5A title in 2024 and then runner-up in 2025. The Eagles started the 2026 season well featuring wins over Bountiful and Olympus. (File photo)
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Skyline boys golf looks to repeat its region, state team titles
The defending 5A champion Eagles lost all three of their top golfers to graduation, but have already started the new season with three first-place team finishes. By Brian Shaw b.shaw@mycityjournals.com
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hen you’ve got your rivals nipping at your heels, things can go awry in a hurry. So far, so good for the Skyline Eagles boys golf team. As they’re three weeks into the regular season, they’ve finished on top in each of the three tournaments played. No. 1, of course, is where Skyline ended last year, winning both Region 6 and 5A state titles— while the Eagles defeated rival Olympus by just one stroke at TalonsCove. With that historic season, however, came some turnover. Three of Skyline’s golfers, including Austin Shelley, last year’s individual 5A state champion, graduated. Would they experience any sort of letdown in the process? The answer to that so far, is no. The three returning standouts from last year that played on Skyline’s state championship-winning team wasted no time in getting started. On Aug. 5, at Mountain Dell, senior
Skyline has won seven of the last eight boys golf state titles (no championship in 2020), pictured here is the 2024 team. (File photo courtesy Kenny James)
Marcus Davis-Condie hit a 2-under 70 to finish second among all entrants at the par-70 course. Sophomores Perry Shaffer and Bodie Green each hit a 73 and 75, good for fifth and eighth place. Newcomer Franklin Peterson, a freshman, was 11th after hitting a 77. Those scores also helped hand Skyline the
co-lead in the Region 6 standings after the first week. In the second week, Skyline competed at the Eaglewood Golf Course, where Shaffer was even with a 71. The Skyline sophomore finished second, while Davis-Condie was 2-over at 73 in fourth place. Junior Boone
Brown made his first appearance atop the leaderboard this season, finishing at 4-over 75 in eighth, while Green came into the clubhouse after a 6-over 77. That was also enough to give the Eagles the lead as a team after two weeks of action. In the third week, Skyline headed to Old Mill Aug. 31 where senior George Irvine led the way for the Eagles after a 2-under 69. Green came in one stroke behind his teammate after hitting a 1-under 70, Shaffer was an even-par 71, and Brown two strokes over at 73. Those scores lifted the team to its third first-place finish in a row. Individually, both Shaffer and DavisCondie are currently ranked in the Class 5A Top 30. They are the lone seniors on a young Skyline team that also has two juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen on its roster. The Eagles, who are currently ranked No. 8 in Class 5A, will continue play after the break with several more region tournaments in September before competing in the Region 6 Championship on Sept. 29. The State Championships will take place Oct. 12-13 at Bountiful Ridge Golf Course. The 2026-27 Skyline Eagles boys golf team is: Perry Shaffer, Marcus Davis-Condie, Bodie Green, George Irvine, Boone Brown, Franklin Peterson, Jacob Carroll, Josh Bekker, Jaxson Griggs and Bentley Murray. l
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UHSAA’s new Composite Realignment Index to form all classifications in all sanctioned sports The UHSAA Board of Trustees meets in November, with meetings to be held through December on realignment before it makes its final placements on Dec. 17. By Brian Shaw b.shaw@mycityjournals.com
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tarting this December, the Utah High School Activities Association is doing business differently. On Aug. 21, the UHSAA announced at its next Board of Trustees meeting in November that it will be using a different set of metrics to determine how Utah high schools will be placed into classifications over the next two school years. “Beginning with the 2027-29 alignment cycle, member schools (from Class 1A to 6A) are placed into classifications using a Composite Realignment Index (CRI), which combines school enrollment, socio-economic status (SES) and competitive performance,” read the release. The No. 1 determinant factor according to the UHSAA? School size. That alone will carry 77% of the weight for each Utah high school. After that though, things look a bit more
The UHSAA’s new CRI assigns a final Z-score to each school based on three criteria: school enrollment size, socio-economic status and competitiveness. (File photo City Journals)
interesting. Thirteen percent of a school’s score will be weighed by socio-economic status. And, before anyone presumes that portion will be based solely on said high school’s economic disadvantage, that’s only part of the equation. It includes the share of K-12 students within that school’s boundaries that are at said disadvantage, also. Finally, 10% of a school’s overall Z-score is to be weighted by its competitiveness, or, how it actually performed in the sports it offers
to its students. How will this score be given? By taking a school team’s Post-Season Ranking or StateMeet Finish, in which its final MaxPreps and RPI will be combined into a single numerical value. If you’re asking whether or not it will be graded on a curve against the schools in the same classification that same season, the answer is yes. From there, the UHSAA will take an average of that school’s previous three seasons in said sport. Schools will then be given Z-scores
ranging from -2.08 to +1.16. It’s at that point that all six classifications from 1A to 6A will be drawn across it. According to the UHSAA, the score decides the order—where the lines fall, however, will be a judgement call. The UHSAA’s Board of Trustees will have its preliminary meeting Nov. 19 to hold initial discussions on the new CRI criteria and make its first placements of member schools. On Dec. 1, schools will then be able to apply for a higher classification in a specific sport or activity and also make recommendations for geographic consideration at the second trustees’ meeting. It will also serve as the second round of adjusted school placements for the trustees, who will also begin placing schools into regions in their respective sports. On Dec. 8, the public will have their first chance to weigh in on the new CRI, via a Zoom meeting. The board will then reconvene the following day on Dec. 9 to make their second region placement, and on Dec. 17 will make its realignments final. According to the UHSAA, “realignment includes both a general alignment and a separate football alignment. Region assignments are finalized in December of even-numbered years, with competition under the new alignment beginning the following August.” l
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Council adopts design plan for Spring Lane Park Next steps include hiring a landscape architect and finalizing project details. By Peri Kinder peri.k@thecityjournals.com
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pring Lane Park took another step toward completion as the Holladay City Council adopted a design plan for the concept. The 12-acre neighborhood park will be built on the former site of Spring Lane Elementary (5315 S. 1700 East) and will include elements from the school that have been retained for reuse in the park. The project’s overall goal is to create an accessible park for people of all ages while preserving the site’s educational heritage. It will offer a range of recreational activities while supporting water conservation by using drought-tolerant and native plants. Park features will include a historical marker, a pavilion with a view of Mount Olympus, four pickleball courts, a playground, walking trails, a 13,000-square-foot plaza that will house public art and a fully enclosed dog park. With a budget of $9.1 million, the Spring Lane project managers will hire a landscape architect in September, with a preliminary park design expected to be completed by November 2026. The project will be sent out
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for bid in January 2027, with construction starting in April of that year. The goal is to have construction substantially completed by November 2027. “I anticipate construction will last about eight to nine months next year,” said Holladay Public Services Director Jared Bunch. “If we don’t get this design taken care of sooner rather than later, we’re going to miss that construction season next year…you can’t deal with concrete as well in the winter.” Under Bunch’s direction, city staff will take over the construction management role due to their experience with capital improvements, including the $10 million stormwater project. Once the landscape architect is hired, the design plans can be finalized, remaining consistent with the vision of the park project. The council discussed the project’s name, as Spring Lane Park had always been a placeholder, not an official designation. It was decided to make the name official, as it pays tribute to the neighborhood and the former school. “I think Spring Lane lets people know where it is. They already refer to it by that name throughout the community, not just here,” said Councilmember Natalie Bradley. “I think it’s a good name. I can’t think of a better one.” Assistant City Manager and Project Manager Holly Smith said once a landscape
The Spring Lane Park design was approved by the Holladay City Council in August, opening the way for the project to advance. (Photo courtesy Holladay City)
architect is hired, they can move into detailed designs and plans for the park that will be finalized before the bid process opens in January. With completion expected in November, the city won’t do a ribbon-cutting event until spring of 2028.
“We’ll do a celebration with our residents later,” Smith said. “We are anticipating a number of community updates through the process. Right now we’re intending to do six different updates at key milestones, just so residents know where we’re at in the process.” l
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LDS Earth Stewardship hosts Great Salt Lake photographer
Chris Carlson’s images highlight the lake’s diversity and beauty. By Peri Kinder peri.k@thecityjournals.com
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hris Carlson has a deep connection to the Great Salt Lake. Not only is he a descendant of the Garr family, who settled Antelope Island, but he’s dedicated himself to photographing the lake’s ever-changing landscape. News about the Great Salt Lake’s demise is everywhere, from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times. According to Grow the Flow Utah, the statistics are dire. The lake is eight feet below the minimum healthy level, 56% of the lakebed is exposed and it’s not quite 31% full. Carlson has a different story to tell about the lake. He addressed the Northern Wasatch chapter of the LDS Earth Stewardship during an event in August at the Eccles Wildlife Education Center in Farmington. At the event, Carlson shared images he’s taken of the lake over the years. His message is one of hope, stewardship, conservation and beauty. “Sometimes when you’re out there, and you have your camera, Heavenly Father just serves you the image,” he said. “If you want to love the Great Salt Lake, go out and spend time with it, because it’s remarkable.” Carlson published a book of photos
highlighting the lake’s stunning scenery and interconnectedness. “Preserving Greatness” includes more than 200 pictures, documenting the natural wonder found in and around the Great Salt Lake. The photos came about as his father was dying from Alzheimer’s. Carlson spent hours on Antelope Island, searching for solace and peace during that difficult time. He noticed how quickly the lake was disappearing, much like his father. “Just like my dad’s memories and his mind were leaving, the memory of this place is going to leave if someone doesn’t capture it,” he said. “So that turned from a meditative, therapeutic exercise into an obsession. I spent a lot of time there in the early mornings.” Carlson grew to love the Great Salt Lake, from the migratory birds to the bison. He explored all areas of the lake, documenting its beauty, its loss and its capacity for wonder. He’d always considered himself a landscape photographer, but after witnessing the wildlife on the lake, he became an expert in capturing the perfect animal image. His connection to the animals that live there became a gift. “What I’ve learned, and this is the spiritual part for me, is that eye connection is everything,” he said. “I don’t know what heaven’s like, but I know it’s not going to be heaven if we don’t have animals there.” Carlson hopes that using creativity to
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Chris Carlson’s image of Stansbury Bay on the Great Salt Lake is one of hundreds of images he took for his book, “Preserving Greatness.” (Photo courtesy of Chris Carlson)
address environmental issues will get more people earnestly engaged in saving the lake. He recently organized a Great Salt Lake fashion show, featuring couture designed by local college students studying fashion. The goal is to raise $300,000 that will go directly to conservation efforts. He encourages residents to go out on the Great Salt Lake, get to know its landscapes, its birds, its animals and its tenuous plight. “There are young people in Utah who are paying attention, who are turning their love for this place, and grief about what’s happening, into something tangible,” Carlson said. “I encourage you, however you can, to use your
voice to try to make people aware of it. Write your legislators in the House and in the Senate, and try to find ways to conserve your personal water use.” The Northern Wasatch chapter of LDS Earth Stewardship is a nonprofit focused on stewardship, environmental education and inspirational collaborations. “We gather people who care for creation,” said Sara Johnson, the chapter’s chairperson. “It’s for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but we invite all to come.” For information about membership and future events, visit ldsesnorthernwasatch. substack.com. l
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October 2026 | Page 15
Teal, purple and red pumpkins: The color-code of Halloween porch pumpkins explained
Painted pumpkins are meant to bring awareness and spark conversation about health and safety topics. By Anna Nielsen a.nielsen@mycityjournals.com
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welve-year-old Charlotte has celiac disease, and her friend and neighbor Liv has a nut allergy. The girls love trick-or-treating together each year, but so many of the treats they bring home on Halloween eve they can’t eat. They tend to relinquish a large portion of their stashes to friends. But, when they spot a house with a teal pumpkin out front, their eyes light up with excitement, because this signals that there may be inclusive options for them there. The Teal Pumpkin Project was started in 2012 by the director of FACET, a Tennessee-based food allergy group, Becky Basalone. Now, Food Allergy Resource and Education promotes the annual activity of offering nonfood items on Halloween across the US and beyond, citing on their website that one in 13 children have food allergies, intolerances and sensitivities, and encouraging participants to paint a pumpkin teal, put out a sign, or “get creative and add some teal lighting.” Teal was chosen for its bright, easy
recognizability from afar. In addition to being displayed on porches, some children may carry teal totes/candy baskets to signal that they have a food allergy. Charlotte says the people who participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project make her feel included. “When I was younger, sometimes kids would bring cupcakes or cookies or doughnuts to class for their birthday, and I felt so bad seeing everyone else eat theirs while I had to watch with nothing. I was little enough that sometimes, it was so hard to resist that I would eat one too because I felt left out. I knew it would make me so sick, but it’s hard to resist when you’re a little kid, and I didn’t want to feel so sad and alone or different,” she said. When fall rolls around, her neighborhood goes all-out with elaborate decorations. Getting in the spirit last year, Charlotte’s family set up an “I Spy”-themed trick-ortreat trading table for their version of the Teal Pumpkin Project. “Everyone was excited to come to our house, it had the neighborhood talking all night. People thought it was so fun and different from what they’d seen before. My friends told me they thought more people should do things like this more often,” she said. “I think pumpkin projects are a good way for people to consider others and show
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Participants painting purple pumpkins at Epilepsy Foundation Utah’s Purple Pumpkin event last October. (Epilepsy Foundation Utah)
support for each other, and you can get creative,” she said, adding that she looks forward to another fun display this year. 2012 was also the year another pumpkin project for awareness and consideration began: the Purple Pumpkin Project. Started by Ron Lamontagne in Connecticut for his son with epilepsy, the display of painted purple pumpkins are meant to prompt the question: “Why is your pumpkin purple?” and start a conversation about epilepsy awareness. Purple is the official color of epilepsy awareness, as of 2008 with the founding of Purple Day by a girl with epilepsy named Cassidy Megan. Purple was her favorite color, and lavender as a symbol has an association with things that are hidden or overlooked, such as epilepsy in this case. The Purple Pumpkin Project is now an annual tradition by the Epilepsy Foundation of America and has spread to other countries. The Foundation encourages participants to join their local pumpkin-painting event and tell their individual stories (sharing them on social media, too) when asked “why is your pumpkin purple?” 2012 was a big year for pumpkin projects and also saw the creation of the nonprofit The Pink Pumpkin Project, an effort for breast cancer awareness based out of New York with the motto “Giving Hope to Fighters, One Pumpkin at a Time.” October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In 2018, Mothers Against Drunk Driving designated red pumpkins as a talking point for awareness around Halloween being one of the deadliest DUI holidays, with marketing stating: “Join us by displaying a red pumpkin as a reminder to designate a sober driver this holiday season. Red pumpkins create a conversation as a unique way to encourage the public to talk about these issues and make them think.” Dark blue pumpkins are another symbol
of Halloween, one for autism awareness. There is not a clear origin story around an organization for this effort, but for several years, dark blue buckets have grown in popularity through social media for trick-or-treaters who may be nonverbal or potentially have a sensory-processing disorder, with the hope that the blue bucket will provide recognition for them to be welcomed without proclaiming “trick-or-treat!” Promoters of the blue pumpkin/blue bucket aren’t looking to start a conversation, but simply to help people receive patience, understanding and accommodation. Another more informal piece of pumpkin symbolism comes in the color white. Many within the pregnancy and infant loss community opt to remember their babies who have passed away with a white pumpkin on their porch during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month in October. Rounding out the rainbow, yellow pumpkins were chosen to represent childhood apraxia of speech (which may also prevent a child from being able to say “trickor-treat) by mother Laura Slatter, who cites the Teal Pumpkin Project as inspiration. l
Teal Pumpkin Project “I Spy” display from 2025. (Anna Nielsen/City Journals)
Millcreek City Journal
Parents have a voice in how School LAND Trust dollars help students
School community councils help determine how funding can address each school’s needs. By Julie Slama j.slama@mycityjournals.com
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t one Utah school, the priority might be reading intervention. At another, it could be additional classroom support. A third school might decide educational software is what students need most. Who sets the priorities? In Utah, parents have a voice and a vote through school community councils. For the 2026-27 school year, $134 million in School LAND (Learning and Nurturing Development) Trust funds will be distributed to Utah district and charter schools, benefiting more than 658,000 students at more than 1,000 schools. School allocations are largely based on enrollment. For parents who want a greater voice in their children’s education, serving on a school community council can be one of the most direct ways to make a difference, said Jessie Stuart, assistant director of the School & Institutional Trust Beneficiaries’ Advocacy Office. “I feel like the trust lands story is one of the coolest stories out there,” she said. “These lands are put in trust to generate revenue for public schools.” Utah’s trust lands were established when the state entered the Union. Revenue is generated from trust lands through activities such as oil and gas, mining, solar power, real estate development and other uses. The money is invested, with earnings distributed to beneficiaries. “The beneficiaries of these trust lands are the K through 12 school kids who these teachers are teaching every single day,” Stuart said. When funding is distributed to schools, parent involvement in the local decision-making becomes critical, Stuart said. At Draper Elementary, Principal Scott Jameson starts by explaining the LAND Trust program to council members — parents, employees in addition to himself. “We start with data, identify our highest needs, then we develop goals and come up with an action plan,” he said. “We can put that money toward meeting our highest needs.” Draper’s 2026-27 plan includes goals to increase mathematics and literacy proficiency by 1% to 3%. “The greatest power of this whole thing,” he said, “is all that money is based on what the school needs.” Principal Suzie Williams, of Columbia Elementary in West Jordan, said LAND Trust dollars often support paraprofessionals who provide interventions and classroom assistance. “We typically use it for support staff so we can provide intervention and individualized instruction for students with
MillcreekJournal.com
instructional aides and classroom aides,” she said. “We can provide rotation teachers to give our teachers planning and collaboration time.” Principal Justin Pitcher, of Cottonwood High School in Murray, said last year’s council determined the $265,000 LAND Trust dollars would support instructional coaching, assessment coordination, additional teacher periods and educational software. “We need parents to be involved in our school community councils, so we can appropriate the funding in ways that will benefit our students with the parent input,” Pitcher said. Parents bring a perspective educators may not always have. “Parents themselves give input and insight to a school which we don’t always see,” Jameson said. “Educators are experts in instruction. They’re experts in working with large groups of kids, but parents help us to hone down to individuals.” Pitcher said SCCs bring together those perspectives. “The power of a council allows us to be able to work through really hard decisions, and come to a consensus,” Pitcher said. That parent voice has a long history in Utah. Utah PTA members began advocating for reform of the trust-land system in the 1980s. “Today, those efforts bring millions of dollars every year to Utah’s schoolchildren,”
Parents, faculty and the principal at Cottonwood High School appropriate LAND Trust funding for students’ best interest. (Julie Slama/City Journals)
Utah PTA President Julie Cluff said. “What’s even better is that it’s not just today’s kids who benefit, it’s tomorrow’s kids too.” That’s an important lesson: the LAND Trust fund isn’t simply money to spend. “They are an investment in students and school community councils that give families a voice in determining how that investment can have the greatest local impact,” said Williams, who served on a LAND Trust committee for three years. “Parents do not need to be education experts. They simply need to know their community, care about students and be willing to participate.” l
Local School LAND Trust distribution 2026-27 Canyons District $6,039,052 Davis District $12,599,737 Granite District $10,227,609 Jordan District $10,473,694 Murray District $1,269,968 Salt Lake District $3,505,362 All Charter Schools $17,295,728 Source: School Children’s Trust Office, Utah State Board of Education. As required by law, estimates are based on October 2025 enrollment data.
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Millcreek City Journal
The races you can’t afford to skip: Salt Lake County’s 2026 candidates Three new representatives will join the Salt Lake County Council for 2027. By Shaun Delliskave s.delliskave@mycityjournals.com
N
ational and state races may receive most of the political attention this election season, but farther down the November ballot Salt Lake County voters will make decisions about the people who oversee some of the government functions closest to home. Who watches the county’s money? Who administers its elections? Who prosecutes criminal cases? Who oversees the county jail? And who sits on the council that approves the county budget and makes decisions affecting more than a million residents? On Nov. 3, voters will select candidates for four Salt Lake County Council seats as well as county auditor, clerk, district attorney and sheriff. The ballot includes longtime officeholders, former elected officials, attorneys, accountants, law enforcement officers, businesspeople and political newcomers.
The county council will see three members stepping down in 2027: Aimee Winder Newton, Laurie Stringham and Sheldon Stewart.
opportunity to vote in the at-large A contest.
District 1: Northern Salt Lake County
In County Council District 1, Democratic incumbent Jiro Johnson faces Libertarian Casey Poe. No Republican qualified for the general-election contest. District 1 covers a portion of northern Salt Lake County and includes communities in and around Salt Lake City, County Council at-large A: A countywide South Salt Lake and West Valley City. Johnson, who was appointed, is seekchoice The largest field is for County Council ing another term on the nine-member County at-large A, a seat elected by voters throughout Council, where council members approve the Salt Lake County rather than from a particular county budget, adopt ordinances and make policy decisions affecting county services. council district. Republican Kathleen Anderson, Democrat Zach Robinson, Constitution Party candidate District 3: Murray, Midvale and central Gregory Beglarian, Forward Party candidate county communities One of the more locally significant counMaleah Bliss Caulford and unaffiliated candidate Olghen Ocean Saintelus are competing for cil races is District 3, where voters will choose a successor to Republican Councilmember the seat. Anderson is a small-business owner who Aimee Winder Newton. Republican Mike Bird faces Democrat has lived in Salt Lake County for more than Luke Maynes for the open seat. District 3 three decades. Robinson has worked as a firefighter and encompasses Murray, Taylorsville and Midparamedic and served two terms on the Sandy vale, along with portions of West Jordan and City Council. He holds a master’s degree in West Valley City, putting the contest before public administration and currently works at voters across a substantial portion of the central county. University of Utah Health. Maynes works as a systems analyst and Unlike the three district council races, every Salt Lake County voter will have an project manager for a technology company, experience that includes examining organizational processes and systems. He also serves as vice chair of a community council in Midvale. Bird has been involved in Republican politics and community activities in the district. Because Winder Newton is not seeking another term, District 3 voters are guaranteed to send a new representative to the County Council.
District 5: Southern Salt Lake County
Aimee Winder Newton is stepping down from District 3 after several terms in office. (Photo courtesy West Jordan City)
MillcreekJournal.com
Another open council seat is being contested in the rapidly growing southern portion of the county. Republican Traci Crockett faces Democrat Sara Cimmers for County Council District 5. The district includes Bluffdale and Riverton and portions of Draper, Herriman, South Jordan and West Jordan. Crockett has previously held elected office, serving two terms on the Bluffdale City
Council. She advanced to the November election after narrowly defeating Chris Null in the June Republican primary, 51% to 49%. Cimmers is a community advocate who has been involved with issues affecting families and children. Like District 3, District 5 will have a new representative following the election.
a primary. Gill prevailed in June with approximately 52% of the vote to Robinson’s 48%. Davis is an attorney who worked as a Salt Lake County deputy district attorney from 2017 to 2021, where his work included felony prosecutions and the creation of the office’s cybercrime prosecution unit. Davis currently works as corporate counsel and director of cybersecurity for Woodbury County Auditor Corporation. He also served as an Army infanFor Salt Lake County auditor, voters try officer and deployed twice to Iraq. countywide will choose between two candidates whose professional backgrounds are Sheriff directly connected to financial oversight. Democratic Sheriff Rosie Rivera faces Republican Chris Harding, the incumbent Republican Shane Manwaring. auditor, faces Democrat Ali Cloward. Rivera has served as sheriff since 2017. Harding was elected in 2022 and is a certi- She began her law enforcement career in 1993 fied public accountant, Certified Internal Audi- and spent more than two decades with the tor and Certified Fraud Examiner. The auditor Unified Police Department before becoming operates independently from other county sheriff. The office oversees Salt Lake County’s offices and conducts audits and investigations jail system and performs other statutory pubinvolving county finances and operations. lic-safety responsibilities. Cloward is a director at a national consultManwaring is a law enforcement officer ing firm and a Certified Internal Auditor. She and military leader with more than two decades earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees of experience. He has served with the Unified in accounting from the University of Utah and Police Department and as a colonel in the Utah works professionally with organizations on Army National Guard, giving voters a contest internal controls, risk and accountability. between two candidates with lengthy careers in public safety.
County Clerk
There is less uncertainty surrounding the race for Salt Lake County clerk, an office elected countywide. Democratic incumbent Lannie Chapman is seeking another term without a Republican challenger.
District Attorney
One of the county’s most closely watched contests could be the race for Salt Lake County district attorney, another office decided by voters throughout the county. Democratic incumbent Sim Gill faces Republican Kent Davis. Gill has occupied the office since 2010 and has worked as a prosecutor for more than three decades. Before reaching the general election, however, he faced a challenge from within his own party. Assistant Utah Attorney General Shawn Robinson defeated Gill at the Democratic convention, but the nomination proceeded to
Important ballot information
The county races will share the Nov. 3 ballot with a number of federal and state contests. Voters can see exactly which candidates and issues will appear on their individual ballot through Utah’s official voter information website, Vote.Utah.gov. The site allows voters to look up their sample ballot, check or update their voter registration, find voting locations and review other election information. Voters can also obtain election information through the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Elections Division at www.saltlakecounty.gov/clerk/elections/. Vote-by-mail will remain available for the 2026 general election. One important change is that mailed ballots must be received by the county clerk by 8 p.m. on Election Day, rather than simply postmarked by the deadline. Utah’s general election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. l
October 2026 | Page 19
Herriman’s Sue Steadman displays a scene from the movie, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” (Photo courtesy Sue Steadman)
A skeleton drinks Monster energy drinks outside the cemetery in Sue Steadman’s yard. (Photo courtesy Sue Steadman)
The psychology of FEAR: why we love to be scared (but not too scared) and how our community celebrates fear with decor From haunted cornfields to elaborate Halloween yard decor, local enthusiasts enjoy safe thrills while embracing the season of scares. By Elisa Eames elisa@mycityjournals.com
I
n the middle of a dark cornfield not too far from Millcreek, you’re alone, surrounded only by the towering stalks—and the never-ending screams. A zombie jumps out and a startled yelp involuntarily escapes your mouth, followed by a nervous and somewhat abashed giggle. The zombie looks genuinely frightening, with a respectable outfit of ragged and stained clothes, blood around its mouth and wild hair. He lunges at you, moaning and arms flailing.
But you’re not scared. Not really.
You know the zombie won’t hurt you; your brain recognizes it’s not real. Your nervous system, however, didn’t get the memo. A fear response begins in an area of the brain called the amygdala, whose job is essentially to notice things around you. The perception of a threat—say, a gnarly spider the size of your face plummeting toward you—triggers a fear response in the amygdala, which releases stress hormones and activates the sympathetic nervous system, getting you ready to fight or run. You become hyperalert, your breathing accelerates, pupils dilate, heart rate and blood pressure spike and nonvital organs slow down. Your stomach may even knot, or you may break into a cold sweat. But there’s also a flood of adrenaline, endorphins and
Page 20 | October 2026
dopamine, which contribute to those addictive feelings of excitement. Then the higher-level functioning regions of the brain, the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, save the day by using context to determine if the threat is valid, which is why a devil spider may scare you more than a murder zombie. Despite appearances, your brain knows you walked into the cornfield willingly, even paid to get in, that it’s all fake, and it reassures you that the murder zombie won’t hurt you. It recognizes that the devil spider, on the other hand, is obviously out to get you. The difference, then, between thrill and terror is control. You don’t want to feel genuine fear; you want to feel controlled fear, to experience the fight-or-flight symptoms without the actual danger. Some seek controlled fear because it creates distraction, momentarily banishing nagging worries about work or life. We also enjoy the contagion of controlled fear, reveling in emotions shared with those around us. We’re often unsatisfied with only outside experiences; we want to bring the fear home. We put up creepy, atmospheric Halloween decorations to enjoy a gothic aesthetic. Sprawling spiders devour front porches, and life-sized lawn skeletons give passersby the side eye (I’m aware skeletons have no eyes— don’t worry about it). But we each have different fear thresholds; some find more graphic experiences thrilling, while for others, gore may bleed into actual fear because the brain still knows it’s not real, but it does cross into unsettling and disturbing because we can’t help but think,
what if it were real? Though Sue Steadman takes Halloween decorations seriously, she shies away from the gorier side, preferring to embrace the spooky but comparatively tamer side of October. “Halloween has a lot of fun things to decorate with,” she said. “I don’t have any really scary/bloody decor. It isn’t my style.” For years, she has constructed an entire graveyard in her front yard, complete with a perimeter fence, graves, stone pillars, skeletons, pumpkins, spiderwebs, an opening and closing coffin and an arched entrance. Some years ago, she added a scene from the movie, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” “I do it mostly myself,” Steadman said. “I like to make the decor if I can, but I will also purchase it if I really like it. It takes me about a week to get everything put out…, although I have to keep adjusting throughout due to weather and mechanical issues.” As in Steadman’s case, the countless hours put in by other local Halloween enthusiasts, Tremayne and Dellany Higby, are also a labor of love. They partner with next-door neighbors, the Camerons, for a multi-yard walk-through experience. The Higby and Cameron collaborations are often centered around a theme; one year, it was a zombie apocalypse with gruesome towering zombies on stilts; another was a haunted bayou with a cemetery next to a glowing green swamp, and one year was a haunted mineshaft featuring a mining sluice with actual running water. Past walkthrough displays have also included a fully functioning piano and suspended walkways.
“Tremayne does the majority of the Halloween decor… He puts in hours for months at a time,” Dellany Higby said. “He will start mid-August and build parts of the display after work or on weekends until Oct. 31. It is an insane amount of time he puts into some of his builds, and that is one of the reasons we now do it every other year.” The first year began much more humbly with an old mink cage found in a field, dead spindly juniper trees and a monstrous rope spider web. “And the star of the show—,” Higby said with a laugh. “His raccoon skeleton friend [that he found] that made the old mink cage officially Halloween-approved.” The displays only got bigger and better from there. “He finds what would be thrown out from construction sites… or from random garbage he comes upon. It’s a masterclass for Halloween as well as upcycling!” Higby said. “As a family, we help him with what we can, from the oldest wielding nail guns… to creative collaborations from the youngest and art pieces from me.” Five years ago, the family created the granddaddy of all Halloween yard displays: an enormous pirate ship with a gangplank, ropes, a lighted cabin, a flag and a literal skeleton crew. The 2021 pirate ship unexpectedly went viral on TikTok. “We love Halloween because it is a time to be weird, let go of norms and rules, and it brings the community together,” Higby said. “The neighborhood gets one last chance to be outside with kids running around, and everyone gets to watch as the strange attraction goes up. It’s the best.” l
Millcreek City Journal
Stop cleaning-out your gutters this season
Dear Reader,
MillcreekJournal.com
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The City Journals, a conglomerate of community newspapers, has been bringing your hyperlocal news directly to your mailbox (for free!). That means we are sitting through city council meetings, following school boards and local elections, and covering high school sports, neighborhood issues, new businesses and the people doing interesting things down the street. Hi, I’m Cassie. You’ve likely seen my byline before, or at least flipped through something I’ve reported on. I’m an individual part of the bigger team of writers here who has been bringing you the local news you love. I started at the City Journals in 2015 and, even though an 11-year career may seem like a good chunk of time, it’s nothing in comparison to the rest of our editorial team. Our Salt Lake County Editor, Travis Barton, has been with us for just as long; our Davis editor to the north, Becky Ginos, has been monitoring the pulse of Davis County since the pandemic; and our humorist extraordinaire, Peri Kinder, has been bringing the laughter for decades. For more than 35 years, the City Journals have delivered community newspapers free to readers. Today, our 38 reporters produce roughly 190 to 220 original local stories each month across 15 communities in Salt Lake and Davis counties, each are embedded within the communities we serve. Oh! My colleagues would be upset with me if I didn’t mention the majority of us are award-winning journalists. “It’s amazing how you can turn some handwritten notes into a full, beautiful story,” said our account executive Marc Davis. It’s not unusual for a City Journals reporter to be the only journalist in the room at a local government meeting. That kind of reporting isn’t glamorous, but we think it matters. We want to keep doing that—and do more of it. Like local news organizations everywhere, we’re figuring out how to sustain and expand our reporting as the way people get their news changes. We want to publish more frequently online, spend more time on stories that deserve deeper reporting and continue putting reporters in the rooms where decisions about your community are being made. That takes time and resources. We’re asking readers who find value in the City Journals to consider supporting our work. If one reader in each household contributed even $2 to $5 per month ($24 to $60 per year), it would give us more resources to put directly into local journalism. There’s no paywall attached to this request. We’ll keep delivering the City Journals and reporting the news of our communities. We’re simply asking those who are able—and who believe local reporting is worth having—to help us do more of it. Your support won’t go unnoticed. Because we’re reporters, we think you should know what happens next. As this effort grows, we’ll report back to you about what reader support has allowed us to accomplish. To support your City Journal, visit donate.thecityjournals.com or scan the QR Code on this page. We welcome your direct communication. Please keep talking to us. Tell us what we’re missing. Ask us questions. The relationship between our reporters and the communities they cover is what makes this kind of journalism possible. From the entire City Journals team – With dedication to informing and, most certainly, celebrating our communities, Cassie Goff | c.goff@mycityjournals.com
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October 2026 | Page 21
Give people grace
S
eptember 11th marks 15 years since my 57-year-old mom passed away in a car accident. It was the first time I’d ever lost Salt Lake County someone that close to me so suddenly, and Councilmember it was jarring. In the days that followed, I District 3 thought often about how precious life is— and how quickly it can change. My parents were driving down to St. George for a water conference that my dad needed to attend. As they traveled on I-15 near Leeds, a terrible storm came upon them. Their car slid off the road and bumps and bruises, but his heart was brorolled several times. My mom was killed ken by the loss. instantly. My dad survived with only a few My brother, Mike, and I drove to St. George and reached my dad at the hospital around 4 a.m. Later, after trying to sleep for a few hours, I awoke hoping it had all been a nightmare. Instead, I faced the bitter reality that my mom was gone. We had a funeral to plan and a long road ahead as we helped my dad begin to recover. The first time I went to the grocery store after the funeral, everything felt 3285 W. 12600 S. strangely normal. People wandered the aisles, chatted with one another and went Riverton, UT 84065 about their errands. Meanwhile, my life had changed. My grief was heavy. I felt broken and numb, still trying to understand Guaranteed Auto Body how my mom could be here one day and Repairs For ANY gone the next.
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Page 22 | October 2026
I probably looked fine—just like any other shopper. But I was not fine. I share this with you because there are thousands of Utahns going about their lives with heavy hearts. Just because we can’t see their injuries, trauma or sorrow, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Sometimes when we are dealing with heavy burdens, we may not be our best selves. Do you ever see people who seem agitated or just generally grouchy? We never really know what they are going through or the struggles that have been heaped upon them. Recently, I learned of a family grieving the death by suicide of a 14-year-old girl. Her loved ones are devastated and searching for answers. Others in our community are coping with life-threatening illnesses or a new cancer diagnosis. Some are experiencing addiction, mental illness, housing insecurity, domestic violence or abuse. Many are caring for an aging parent, worried about a child, struggling financially or simply trying to make it through another day. It is so important for us to give people grace. I am reminded of a quote often attributed to author Ian Maclaren: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” We rarely know the whole
story of the person in front of us — the coworker who snapped at us, the driver who cut us off, the neighbor who hasn’t returned a wave in weeks. Behind an ordinary Tuesday there might be a diagnosis just received, a marriage falling apart, or a grief that has no expiration date. Fifteen years later, I still miss my mom every day. That loss taught me that kindness costs us nothing, and we never know when it might be exactly what someone needs to keep going. A text to a friend who has gone quiet. A phone call to check on a friend. Patience with the cashier who seems short-tempered, or the driver going too slow. None of us can fix another person’s grief or struggle. But we can meet a stranger’s rough edges with curiosity instead of judgment, and a friend’s silence with a check-in instead of assumption. That is the kind of community I hope we keep building here in Salt Lake County. If you are carrying something heavy right now, please know you are not alone, and there is no shame in asking for help. And if you’re not sure who around you might be struggling, consider assuming that someone is, and treat them accordingly. It is a small shift that can make a real difference.
Millcreek City Journal
W
hat if your worst day became your villain origin story? The day you lost your temper at Walmart. The day you kicked the office water cooler. The day you screamed at your partner in the grocery store and became a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons. What if your greatest shame or embarrassment became your legacy: forever. I’m afraid we’ve judged Disney villains too harshly. What if they were normal people having a tough day? What if their bad decisions defined them for generations? Take Ursula the Sea Witch. She ran a powerful, women-owned business, granting people their heart’s desire. What did she get? Impaled on the bow of a ship and labeled as a fast-talking, predatory loan officer for eternity. Were her tactics questionable? Of course. But she was also an octopus. What about Snow White’s Evil Queen? She bought into the idea that youth is everything and had a questionable relationship with mirrors, but one poison-laced apple and suddenly she’s a witch. Maleficent’s curse on Sleeping Beauty was an overreaction to not being invited to a baby blessing. Cinderella’s stepmother just wanted Cinderella to do some damn chores. Does that make her evil? Cinderella could have at least unloaded the dishwasher instead of dressing up her mice. Maybe these villains were all having a
MillcreekJournal.com
Welcome to the Dark Side Peri Kinder Life and Laughter
terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. But understanding why someone acted badly isn’t the same as excusing that behavior. We’ve all been there. We’ve said things we’ve regretted. We’ve hurt people’s feelings. We’ve done stupid things. Hopefully you didn’t try to skin 101 Dalmatians, but really, who hasn’t wanted a coat as soft as a pile of puppies? Who hasn’t gone all Queen of Hearts and yelled, “Off with his head!” during a stressful work meeting? No one? Just me? Was Beauty’s Gaston intentionally terrible? Maybe his father never taught him to respect women and never scolded him for putting his disgusting feet on the table. His public humiliation seemed to push him into “Kill the Beast” mode, but that’s no excuse for his villainous behavior. The way we treat each other matters. How often have we made someone the villain? The driver who honks immediately after the light turns green was obviously raised
by feral wolves. The woman having a meltdown at Starbucks becomes a “Karen” and is publicly shamed on TikTok. The neighbor who disagrees with you politically becomes your nemesis. And now our bad days can be recorded, posted, commented on by strangers and picked apart by internet trolls before we even figure out what happened. Life feels so prickly. We’re walking around like a cactus, trying not to stab someone in the thigh. I don’t think anyone wakes up and thinks, “I’m going to be an incredible jerk today.” Well, except some politicians. Who hasn’t felt rage, hopelessness or fear? Humans act irrationally. Sometimes we’re exhausted, sometimes we’re at wit’s end or sometimes we just can’t hear our co-worker chew his sandwich for one more minute. We are so quick to judge, so fast to condemn. Trolling has become a favorite pastime for many people, and I don’t mean the ones who live under bridges. I’ve often fallen into the role of villain. I’ve posted rage-bait; I’ve gauged a person’s character by the color of their hat or by the number of American flags stuck to their Ford F-150. We need to remember that everyone is carrying a heavy load, even the people we want to push off the castle. I know I’ve been the villain in someone’s story. Haven’t we all?
Peri Kinder is an award-winning columnist and journalist who has written for The City Journals since 2004. She also hosts the Life & Laughter podcast. Peri can be reached at peri.k@thecityjournals.com.
October 2026 | Page 23