Friday, April 1, 2022
Northern Utah
Cottonwood Heights Starbucks workers push to unionize
Workers at a Starbucks in Cottonwood Heights announced plans to unionize Thursday. They joined a wave of other employees across the country pushing for the same thing. Shift supervisor Jacob Lawson said he and his coworkers want higher pay and better benefits. In a statement to KUER, a spokesperson for the global chain said the corporation is “listening and learning” from its employees, but they believe they’ll work better together without a union. Read the full story. — Emily Means
Park City students stage protest to support LGBTQ+ youth
More than 200 Park City High School students staged a walkout Thursday to protest what they call attacks on LGBTQ+ youth. KPCW reported the walkout was in response to the state legislature’s passage of a bill to ban transgender girls from school sports. Arizona and Oklahoma passed similar laws. Students shared stories of coming out as gay or trans and being taunted by other students, and a handful of teachers joined the protest. This walkout was one of many protests across the country Thursday, which was Transgender Day of Visibility. — Michelle Deininger, KPCW
State
Allowing parents to monitor children’s social media
Attorney General Sean Reyes joined 44 other attorneys general in a letter urging TikTok and Snapchat to expand parents’ ability to monitor their children’s social media usage. In it, they wrote that the platforms propagate dangerous content that decreases self-esteem and creates body-image dissatisfaction. They also said TikTok and Snapchat expose youth to disturbing sexual content and explicit drug use and that the platforms’ current content moderation and community guidelines are not enough. The attorneys general urged them to allow parental control apps, which give parents the ability to monitor their children’s social media usage and alert them to potentially dangerous posts and messages. — Leah Treidler
Senate candidate Ally Isom secures spot on Utah’s Republican primary election ballot
Ally Isom is the first U.S. Senate candidate to secure a spot on Utah’s Republican primary election ballot, challenging incumbent Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT. To secure her spot, Isom submitted 28,000 certified signatures to the Utah Office of Elections. Isom recently worked as a tech executive, and before that served as deputy chief of staff to former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert. — Leah Treidler
Region/Nation
New study on Yellowstone National Park
Scientists understand the top layer of Yellowstone National Park's thermal features pretty well, but a new study is looking at how all that hot water reaches the surface. Geologist Steven Holbrook developed an electromagnetic mapping technique. His team used it to create an image of the upper kilometer of the Earth's crust for a huge area of the park. Holbrook said the data could improve our understanding about the biodiversity of the entire system. His initial findings were published this month in the journal Nature. — Troy Oppie, Mountain West News Bureau