On the Cover

BY Ashley Miller

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June 30, 2018

From stardust to the Dust Bowl to what’s under your bed, dust is a ubiquitous part of life. Here, we learn what DUST means to modern-day Utahns. If you live along the Wasatch Front, you’ve experienced this: windy days where you can’t help but think you …


BY Amy Brunvand

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July 2, 2018

The Trump administration wants to make uranium great again, and that’s bad news for Utah. In May, the U.S. Department of the Interior released an updated list of “critical minerals” defined as non-fuel minerals essential to the economic and national se …

BY Amy Brunvand

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July 5, 2018

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released in June found that oil and gas companies are locking up millions of acres of public lands in the Western United States by holding onto unused mineral leases. In Utah alone, more than 1 million ac …

BY Amy Brunvand

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July 5, 2018

A new report from the Western Values Project documents ethical lapses and poor judgment during Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s first year. Among other things, Zinke met with Utah Representative Mike Noel (R-Kanab) and then re-drew the boundaries of Gra …

BY Amy Brunvand

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July 5, 2018

Summer heat has brought toxic algae blooms back to Utah Lake. On June 9 the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a warning advisory for Provo Bay telling people not to swim or water ski, and to keep pets and livestock away from the wat …

BY Amy Brunvand

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July 1, 2018

Karren Fultz, sustainability director for the Utah Pride Festival, has a goal of making the Festival a zero waste event by 2020. Fultz volunteered to start a festival green team in 2015, and under her direction the amount of waste diverted from the lan …

BY Staff

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June 29, 2018

A monthly compendium of random wisdom for the natural world and beyond. July 1 Sunrise; 6:00am Sunset: 9:02pm  The average high in SLC is 90 F.; low is 69. Av. Precipitation: .59 in. July 2 Forget the nonstick spray: A raw potato preps the grill just a …

BY Suzanne Wagner

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June 29, 2018

At an impasse? Choose a new path! Osho Zen Tarot:  Harmony, Inner Voice, Transformation Medicine Cards: Spider, Turkey, Blank Shield Mayan Oracle: New Myth, Unity, Complex Stability Ancient Egyptian Tarot: Ten of Disks, Queen of Cups, Ace of Disks Alei …

BY Anna Zumwalt

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June 29, 2018

Local history. “In Morris’ Bar I ordered a pisco sour. It tasted like a pleasant soft drink and I ordered another, to which the bartender objected, informing me that one was usually sufficient. After an argument, he made another—from that time, events …

BY Charlotte Bell

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June 29, 2018

How to practice yoga wisely in the heat of summer. In early June I visited the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. In my childhood, I’d spent many days wandering around visiting animals in this same zoo. For 50 years, the Cincinnati Opera performed in …

BY Kate Mattingly

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June 29, 2018

NOW ID dances the Great Hall at UMFA. When I met Charlotte Boye-Christensen 24 years ago, we were graduate students at NYU, and I’d never seen a choreographer combine complexity with precision in such fascinating ways. Fast forward two decades and Char …

BY Lynne Olson

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June 29, 2018

The Draw at Sugar House is heavily engineered to halt the progress of a major flood. It also tells a story of Utah’s past, and offers pleasure for those who visit it. This is an important project, and one I hope will point the way toward the future—env …

BY James Loomis

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June 29, 2018

Playground East is an experiment in permaculture. Tucked away in the Highland Park neighborhood, “Playground East” clearly lives up to its name. The plot is indeed a playground for permaculture enthusiasts, a research station for them to further their …

BY Jared Campbell

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June 29, 2018

Engineer and athlete Jared Campbell talks about his quest for clean air Earlier this year, CATALYST presented A Clean Air Affair—an evening of experts speaking on the topic of air quality. CATALYST worked with PechaKucha 20×20 (20 images, 20 seconds ea …

BY John deJong

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June 30, 2018

Salt Lake City to be test dummy for 5G-and-beyond technology. The next, next big thing in telecommunications will be prototyped in Salt Lake City over the next five years. With funding from the National Science Foundation, a consortium of telecommunica …

BY Amy Brunvand

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June 30, 2018

Environmental news from around the state and the West. Corona Arch added to National Recreation Trails System The popular Corona Arch trail near Moab, Utah has been designated as part of the National Recreation Trail (NRT) System. Although Interior Sec …

BY Dennis Hinkamp

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June 30, 2018

The heat is on. Ned: How’s the cop business, Oscar? Oscar: Real good. Always starts hopping in weather like this. When it gets this hot, people try to kill each other. — Body Heat (1981)   Days and tempers are getting shorter in this month of fire …