Thursday evening Sept. 30, 2021
State
Gov. Spencer Cox On Vaccine Incentives, Drought And More
Gov. Spencer Cox announced Thursday the health insurance program for state employees will offer cash incentives for its members to get vaccinated against COVID-19. People ages 12 to 49 will get $100, people 50 years old and up will get $250 and getting a booster shot will earn eligible people an additional $50. Cox said the program should pay for itself through hospital bill savings. Read the full story. — Sonja Hutson
Utah Ends September With More COVID Hospitalizations Than It Started With
As the month of September comes to an end, more than 560 Utahns are currently hospitalized for COVID-19. Hospitalizations and the state’s week-long average of new cases, are each higher now than they were at the start of the month. However, Utah’s positivity rate has improved. It’s down to 9.8% from nearly 10.5% at the beginning of September. Health officials reported 1,704 new COVID cases Thursday and 12 more people have died from the virus. — Ross Terrell
Northern Utah
Utah Historian And Author Will Bagley Dies
Will Bagley, 71, a Utah-based Western historian and author, died Tuesday. Bagley was known for his writing that questioned long-held accounts of Utah and Mormon history. He wrote more than 20 books — including “Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows.” It’s an account of the murder of 120 members of a California-bound wagon train by Mormon militia men in 1857. He was often a guest on KUER’s RadioWest and was involved in two RadioWest films. Will is the brother of Salt Lake Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley. — Emily Means
Region/Nation
Google Maps Launching New Filter That Tracks Active Wildfires
Google Maps will soon launch a new filter that shows the location of active wildfires. Beyond just mapping fires, it will also provide local emergency information for fires when available. That could include local emergency contacts and evacuation information. The filter is expected to be available on Google Maps in the coming weeks. — Madelyn Beck, Mountain West News Bureau