Let’s get this out of the way right now: I was robbed.

There is no other explanation as to how I would have finished second in The Tribune’s not-super-scientific test of downtown transit options — scooters, bikes, trains, car share and a brisk walk.

I came in looking like a champion — although maybe not to the same extent as government reporter Ben Wood, who rode GreenBike and showed up decked out like he’d just finished the Tour de France and, I assume, a monthslong regimen of blood doping and performance-enhancing drugs.

I would be riding a Lime scooter, and I sported a glittery root beer-colored motorcycle helmet (safety first!), aviator specs and, for good measure, a luxurious mustache that was meant to intimidate my competition but mostly seemed to alarm parents. Add a Hawaiian shirt because, hey, we’re here to have fun.

I could have passed for the cop in a Village People cover band performing on a third-rate cruise line — you know, the boat where two-thirds of the passengers come down with explosive diarrhea.

In this navy, you can sail the seven seas. And die of giardia.

Next to Wood, the biggest threat to my dominance was fellow government reporter Taylor Stevens. She would be riding a Bird scooter, so pretty evenly powered, but she had an advantage in that I outweigh her by something like 128 pounds.

Beyond that, I assumed digital news editor Rachel Piper’s Lyft driver would take a wrong turn (he did), Lee Davidson, The Trib’s transportation reporter, wouldn’t fare well on TRAX because he and UTA just can’t seem to get along, and the only way managing editor Dave Noyce would beat me on foot is if I stopped for a beer (which I managed not to do, this time).

Things went bad right from the start, which was at the downtown library. The nearest scooter was a block west. I started walking and, halfway there, poof. Gone. Scooped up, I suppose, by someone who couldn’t grasp the seriousness of the competition that was underway.

I doubled back, hung a left and reached a spot where there was supposed to be a scooter, but it wasn’t there. I finally located it, around the corner and a half-block away, quickly unlocked it and was off.

Or so I thought, until I heard a stern warning: “Unlock me to ride me, or I will call the police.”

I suspect she was bluffing, but I didn’t have time for a low-speed police chase. I had a race to win. I had apparently failed to accept Lime’s terms of service, which I read with great care (yeah right), and got rolling.

The scooters — both Lime and Bird, which I rode later — are unexpectedly zippy, a lot of fun and easy to handle, and I was making good time. But even at full throttle, I’d lost too much time. I finished a close second to Wood and his GreenBike.

All right. Not that close. Four minutes.

Sometimes it’s not about winning or losing, though — as a lifetime of losing has taught me. It’s about what you learn, so here are a few things I learned:

You’re sure this is safe?

The ease and speed of the scooters make them so popular, but that also makes them feel more than a little dangerous.

Even if you’re cruising along in a protected bike lane, like I was, headed down 300 South, pedestrians and cars will pull right in front of you. And in those sections where there aren’t bike lanes, you’re completely exposed to traffic. It can be unnerving.

So I don’t necessarily blame people who ride them on the sidewalk, even though the rules are pretty explicit: Don’t ride on sidewalks. Period.

And there’s good reason you shouldn’t. Walking downtown is unpredictable enough already. Having someone silently zipping along the sidewalk at 15 mph is downright hazardous.

On my ride, I still saw dozens of people doing it, but you shouldn’t, and Salt Lake City police need to start cracking down on it before people get hurt.

What the hell-met?

After you unlock your scooter, both the Bird and Lime apps give you some pointers for riding and a key safety tip: Wear a helmet.

I think most people think it’s a punchline for a joke. Aside from the sweet helmet I wore in our race, and the skater helmet Stevens wore, I have yet to see a rider wearing headgear.

Obviously, someone who picks up a scooter on the side of the road doesn’t just happen to have a helmet handy. But it may not be a bad idea, since, as part of the user agreement that nobody (except me) reads, riders assume all liability for injuries and waive their right to go to court. So think about protecting your brain.

Lime every time

For our test run, I tried out both Lime and Bird and I gotta say, I prefer Lime.

I didn’t run into the same problems that my colleague Taylor Stevens did; she tried half the Bird scooters in the city before finding one that worked. But the Lime scooter felt sturdier, more stable, and it seemed to handle a little better than the Bird scooter.

The app was also easier to use — although they’ll both sap your phone battery in the blink of an eye — and I prefer loading up a set block of credit, like Lime does, to the pay-per-ride system of Bird.

A word to Wood

Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali in their first fight, but Ali won the next two and is the Greatest of All Time. I’m ready for a rematch. Anywhere, anytime. Say the word and I’ll be there, only this time without the mustache. You know, to reduce wind resistance.

The meeting between President Donald Trump’s campaign and a Russian attorney with links to the Kremlin took its latest twist on Sunday. Brigham Young University’s Honor Code was changed last year to give amnesty from school discipline to students who report sexual assault, but a recent case at the school’s Idaho campus sheds light on a possible “loophole” in the new policy.

Happy Monday.

President Donald Trump admitted Sunday that the focus of a June 2016 meeting between his son and a Kremlin-connected lawyer was to “get information” on Hillary Clinton. He claimed it was “totally legal” and something “done all the time in politics.” The admission, made on Twitter, was the latest in a shifting line of explanations the Trumps have made to explain the meeting with a representative of a U.S. adversary during a presidential campaign. [NYTimes]

Topping the news: A BYU-Idaho student says the school kicked her out after she reported being sexually assaulted, exposing what experts call a “loophole” in BYU’s recently adopted Honor Code amnesty policy for students who report assault. [Trib]

-> Records show that girls in the polygamous Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group, are being married off as young as 15. In Utah, it is legal for 15 year old to get married if they have a judge’s permission. [Trib]

-> Some Democratic senators are arguing that mining within the former boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is illegal, and also say Trump didn’t have the authority to shrink the boundaries in the first place. [Trib]

Tweets of the day: From @StephenAtHome: “How about an awesome cage match between the Koch Brothers and Steve Bannon? They all go into a cage, we lock the cage and...that’s it.”

-> From @byrdinator: “truly baffling that Republican lawmakers and their aides are not interested in answering my questions about [checks notes] paying off the national debt with tariff revenue”

-> From @HayesBrown: “It’s wild to think about how future historians will talk about football or basketball the way we learn about things like jousting today”

In other news: Salt Lake City, like other cities in the U.S., has been inundated with hundreds of electric scooters. Salt Lake Tribune reporters wanted to find out: with so many options, what is the best way to get around town? So they raced to the office. [Trib]

-> Here’s how Utah’s members of Congress reacted to Trump’s call to build a Space Force branch of the military to defend against a potential war in outer space. [Trib]

-> Some attendees of the annual Taste of the Wasatch wine tasting and beer drinking event were upset when they heard that 3 Squares, a nonprofit that organizes the event, shorted other charities that were supposed to receive proceeds from the past three events. Four Salt Lake City vendors backed out after the financial issues became public, and those who came said there must be changes before next year’s event. [Trib]

-> Right now, there are few policies in place that would prevent university students with access to 3D printers from printing a plastic gun. So what happens if they do? [Trib]

-> A month after the launch of Call2Haul, a bulk waste pickup program in Salt Lake, trash continues to pile on the streets across the city, leaving residents frustrated. [Trib]

-> Pat Bagley wonders where Sen. Orrin Hatch’s disdain for partisan leadership was during the nomination of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court when Obama was president. [Trib]

-> Robert Gehrke says the president’s tariffs on foreign goods – coupled with a crippling drought – could negatively affect farmers in Utah. [Trib]

-> Frank Pignanelli and LaVarr Webb discuss the politics of an inland port in Salt Lake City. [DNews]

Nationally: In the age of steep tariffs on foreign steel, companies are looking for exemptions to allow them to buy products at discounted rates. But two American steel giants with ties to the Trump administration have been successful at blocking those requests. [NYTimes]

-> Democrats in Ohio are experiencing a surge in the final days before Tuesday’s special election as they hope to defeat their Republican opponents. [Politico]

-> Paul Manafort’s former right-hand man, Rick Gates, has taken center stage in the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, and the jury will have to decide whether to believe a person who has admitted to lying. [WaPost]

Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Send us a note to cornflakes@sltrib.com.

-- Connor Richards and Taylor W. Anderson.

Twitter.com/crichards1995 and Twitter.com/TaylorWAnderson

A Catholic nun, Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B. (the Order of Saint Benedict), sums up the hypocrisy in the pro-life movement:

“I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? It’s because you don't want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.”

By this definition, Rep. Mia Love, based on her own voting record, is NOT pro-life. She is only pro-birth.

Nancy Thompson, West Valley City

The Salt Lake Tribune positions itself as an independent voice here in Utah, yet time after time it demonstrates it is not independent, rather dependent on the ideas opposite those of conservatism. A truly independent news institution would do its due diligence to promote accuracy and integrity in its reporting, no matter the political view. There are no independent news voices left in this world, certainly not The Salt Lake Tribune.

Case in point: On Aug. 2, you published an editorial cartoon depicting Sen. Mike Lee as a bobblehead holding a semi-automatic rifle because of his position on the printing of 3D firearms and implied that he supports “mass killing” — oh, did I leave something out on purpose to mislead? The truth is, anyone with a basic understanding of how a firearm works knows a 3D-printed gun cannot stand up to the internal pressures of semi-automatic fire, and they surely aren’t accurate.

Yes, Mr. Pat Bagley lives in the world of cartoons, but a little bit of reality on such a subject is needed; after all, you published a front-page article stating the problems of 3D-printed guns.

Hypocrisy is the downfall of free speech, while honesty and integrity strengthen it!

Michael Schoenfeld, Clearfield

Dear Sen. Mike Lee,

I listened to your “tele-town hall” tonight (Aug. 1).

I used to take offense that you would call these phone calls a “tele-town hall.” I've attended many of these calls. Then tonight you took the term “tele-town hall” to an even more offensive low.

First, most, if not all, of this call was pre-recorded. I'm not providing evidence of this; it is clear to most individuals who just listen to it.

Second, individuals who called in with questions were immediately disconnected from the line without opportunity to provide rebuttal. You spoke as the authority with an extreme level of defensive tone and dismissal.

During this “town hall,” you stated you wouldn’t be back in Utah for a bit, but that your constituents would be granted the privilege to two extra “town halls.”

Is this your standard for constituent involvement? Are we supposed to be grateful for these nonopportunities of extra, pre-recorded “town halls”?

You clearly underestimate the intelligence of your constituents to see through your doublespeak and clear splicing of pre-recorded segments of a supposed “tele-town hall.”

Your constituents are not dumb. That “town hall,” however, showed that you may have deficits with underestimating the people of Utah.

Alicia Bailey Smith, West Jordan

I agree with LeBron James that sports are a great unifier of different backgrounds and races. He is to be commended for his passion for advocacy of social justice. Unfortunately, Mr. James fails to acknowledge that it was at a sports event where major division was sowed when players failed to stand for the national anthem. It wasn’t President Donald Trump who “kinda” divided the nation along racial lines. He invited all players of the team to the White House.

Given Mr. James’ touted influence with fans on both sides of the racial divide, it would behoove him to get to know “them” on the other side and become a peacemaker rather than give in to the division which seems to work so well for egos like Mr. James’.

Swantje Knye-Levin, Park City

If you are among the Salt Lake Valley residents who looked east and wondered where the Wasatch Mountains went, or looked west trying to find the Oquirrh Mountains, keep squinting.

The Utah Division of Air Quality is forecasting increased particulate matter through Wednesday. The biggest culprit appears to be wildfire smoke, said Donna Kemp Spangler, spokesperson for Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

“I would treat it like an inversion," she said, "what we see during the wintertime where it’s difficult to see the mountains because we have all of this pollution that’s trapped.”

On Monday, the Division of Air Quality rated the air for the counties in northern Utah as having moderate particulate matter. That’s still bad enough that children, who inhale a lot of oxygen, and senior citizens, who may have weakened immune systems, might feel the impacts of having small particles trapped in their lungs.

Everyone else should be careful, too.

“You don’t want to spend a lot of time outside," Spangler said.

Wildfires — those burning in the state as well as those in Oregon and California billowing smoke toward Utah — keep contributing to the haze.

If this August inversion differs from those that arrive during winter, Spangler said, it may be because the pollution can still be seen in high elevations. While the pollution is acute in northern Utah’s valleys, over the weekend, motorists along the Mirror Lake Highway, for example, still saw a haze obscuring Uinta Mountain vistas.

Americans support conservation. We have protections for water, air, land and animals, though many of these are now being called into question. The discord mostly arises about details: the what, the where, the how, and — of course — the cost.

So consider this. The year is 2007, the state is Wyoming, and Dirk Kempthorne, the one-time governor of Idaho, sits at the helm of the Department of Interior for the administration of George W. Bush. The head of Agriculture is Mike Johanns. It was then that a little known and yet far-reaching conservation victory was achieved. It is notable for what was accomplished then, and for what has not been accomplished since: the protection of animal migration.

What was protected was the Path of the Pronghorn, the first and still the only federally recognized wildlife migration corridor in the United States. Now that Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke has called for protection of big game corridors across the U.S., the experience of Path of the Pronghorn provides guidance for how to replicate this success.

Tawny and white, pronghorn are a fleet, hoofed survivor of early North America from some 50 million years ago. Lewis and Clark called them “speed goats,” and we now know they can move almost as fast as cheetah. The seasonal migrations of pronghorn are sensational — the longest of any land species between the U.S.-Canada border and Tierra del Fuego. In the Western Hemisphere only caribou migrate further.

Sadly, most pronghorn migrations have collapsed due to habitat loss and fencing, but one special migration survived. In Wyoming, a one-mile-wide and 40-mile-long protected pathway allows these American icons to migrate each summer from the Teton Range in the Greater Yellowstone to wintering areas nearly 100 miles south — a 200-mile round-trip journey that has continued for at least 6,000 years.

Wyoming has America’s first national park, Yellowstone; its first national forest, Shoshone; and its first national monument, Devils Tower. Why wouldn’t Wyomingites want the nation’s first protected wildlife corridor? In the end, they did.

To make the Path of the Pronghorn a reality, a group of ranchers, cattlemen, outdoor recreationists, hunting enthusiasts and state and federal officials collaborated on a conservation plan that later turned into federal legislation, the 2008 Bridger-Teton National Forest Pronghorn Corridor Forest Plan Amendment.

One of us (Joel) initiated this effort with help from partners after meeting several times with then-governor of Wyoming, Dave Freudenthal, to gain advice and support. The group spoke with legislators on Capitol Hill and generated scientific data together with biologist Steve Cain from the National Park Service and our organization, the Wildlife Conservation Society, to inform the conversation.

The paramount imperative was respect – listening to people with various views, understanding their perspectives, seeking their support and communicating clearly.

The Path of the Pronghorn can serve as a road map to achieve Zinke’s goal for more big game protected corridors. Success will require: (1) public hearings so that local voices are heard; and (2) plans that are science-based, socially sensitive and robust to unforeseen circumstances such as climate change, floods, or fire.

It is critical to see landscapes through the eyes of animals while ensuring that both local people and the public at large have voices. The Path of the Pronghorn enjoyed wide bipartisan support, while pride of place helped engage local stakeholder support. There is no reason migrations of other species in other geographies cannot be protected through Zinke’s order following the same approach.

Americans have long been keen to protect wildlife. Elementary schools are filled with students fascinated by the living world, even if some know it only via digital media. College students care more about biological diversity and reducing the number of endangered species than ever before. Zoos, national parks and museums collectively attract nearly a billion visitors annually.

Yet 10 years after the creation of the United States’ first federally protected wildlife migration corridor, it remains the only one in the nation. Based on what we have learned from that single shining success, the time is now to develop — and then showcase — other victories: the silent species with no voice that have nevertheless persisted and continue to bring magic to our lives.

This is our American heritage.

Joel Berger is a Senior Scientist at Wildlife Conservation Society and the Barbara Cox University Chair in Wildlife Conservation at Colorado State University. Jon Beckmann is a conservation scientist with the Americas program at WCS. Julie Kunen is vice president of the Americas program at WCS.

Elko, Nev. • Federal investigators say an air ambulance that crashed after takeoff in Elko in November 2016 was repaired three times in the six weeks before it went down, killing all four people on board.

But the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday there was no evidence of mechanical malfunction or engine failure when the twin-engine aircraft bound for a Salt Lake City hospital crashed near the Elko airport.

The NTSB said earlier a witness reported the plane operated by American Medflight appeared to lose power immediately after takeoff.

Investigators said Friday toxicological tests on the pilot's remains found no evidence of alcohol or drugs.

An oil leak was repaired and fuel control unit replaced on Oct. 10. A valve was replaced on one engine three days before the Nov. 18 crash. The investigation into the cause of the accident continues.

Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. • Grand Canyon National Park is closing a scenic road to a North Rim vista and two trails because of a lightning-caused wildfire that has grown to 3.5 square miles.

Park officials said Cape Royal Road, Cape Final Trail and Cliff Spring Trail would be closed Saturday night for public and firefighter safety.

The closure does not affect most North Rim facilities, including lodging and other services near Bright Angel Point.

The fire started July 21. Fire managers are following a strategy of confining and containing the fire while trying to protect "specific natural and culture resources."

Park officials say smoke from the fire is visible from both rims and that visitors may see smoke or haze in the canyon.

Ogden • Officials at Hill Air Force Base say they’re planning a number of “large detonation operations” at the Utah Test and Training Range through next month.

Two to three times a week, the Air Force will destroy rocket motors and solid fuel for ballistic missiles.

Base officials say the detonations are part of an effort to reduce the number of ballistic missiles.

More than 300 rocket motors have been destroyed at the west desert military site since 2012.

The explosions can sometimes be heard along the Wasatch Front, despite the military’s analysis of wind speed, atmospheric readings and other factors.

Provo • A new art exhibit in Provo has turned gallery space into a giant coloring book by allowing visitors to fill in the elaborate drawings of comic book style heroes and villains.

Utah Valley University's Woodbury Art Museum is hosting the "Heroes and Villains: How Mythology Made Comics" exhibition, which runs through mid-September, The Daily Herald reported .

The exhibit features 44 canvases measuring 40 inches by 60 inches (102 centimeters by 152 centimeters) with line drawings from 12 different artists and illustrators. Visitors equipped with markers can add color to the black and white canvasses featuring mythological characters.

"The idea came up to do some sort of community art event where the community could come in and somehow participate in a gallery event," said Chad Hardin, an assistant art and design professor at the university.

The exhibit explores the history of comic books through their roots in ancient mythology. With art featuring characters like Perseus, Athena and Medusa, the exhibit aims to demonstrate the parallels to the modern comic realm.

Hardin orchestrated the exhibit by gathering contributions from across the artistic community and calling in favors from friends.

"I pulled in every favor that I've ever made in the comic industry," Hardin said. "I went from people owing me to now be owing people, and I'm going to owe people for a long time."

While the exhibit aims to get people engaged in the art, Hardin said he hoped they don't overdo it. He hopes visitors will color in the proper areas.

“What we don’t want to have happen is a whole bunch of people show up and basically paint over the line work and ruin it for everyone,” Hardin said. “The canvases alone took months to print, and they’re extremely expensive.”

Utah athletic director Mark Harlan on Monday reorganized his executive staff by promoting Kyle Brennan to Chief Operating Officer/Deputy Athletics Director for Internal Operations and naming Scott Kull Deputy Athletics Director for External Operations.

Kull was Harlan’s deputy A.D. at the University of South Florida from 2016-18 and has been serving as USF’s interim athletics director since Harlan departed for Utah in June.

“Kyle Brennan has been invaluable, not only to me, but to everyone in Utah athletics during the transition period between (former AD) Chris Hill’s retirement and my appointment as Utah’s director of athletics,” Harlan said in a news release.

He added: “Scott Kull brings a wealth of college athletics administration experience and did a great job as our deputy athletics director at USF for the last two years. He will be a tremendous addition to our team and I was thrilled Scott wanted to join us here at Utah.”

Under the new organization umbrella, Brennan will manage the day-to-day internal operations of Utah athletics, including compliance, facilities, equipment, event management, finance, human resources and academic support, as well as overseeing sport supervisors. Kull will supervise development, communications, marketing, ticketing, multi-media, branding, licensing and alumni relations.

Brennan and Kull are reuniting at Utah, having previously worked together at TCU in 2005-06—Brennan as the compliance director and Kull as the associate athletics director for external operations.

Orem • Utah Valley University’s first female president will start on Sept. 16, with an annual salary of just under $300,000.

The institution has released details to the Daily Herald about the position soon to be filled by Astrid Tuminez. She is leaving a job with Microsoft as regional director for corporate and legal affairs Southeast Asia to take the position in Orem.

The presidential position comes with a housing allowance of $21,300 a year, which Tuminez can use to rent the university-owned home where previous presidents have resided. The school will also pay for her car and moving compensation from Singapore.

She will replace Matthew Holland, who left to serve as a mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in North Carolina.

The 2020 U.S. census is still two years away, but it has already generated a large amount of national attention and controversy — particularly after the Trump administration’s announcement in March that it would ask respondents about their immigration status.

Responding to that and to other changes, Salt Lake City recently approved funding for a full-time employee who will work specifically to coordinate the census in an effort to ensure responses even among traditionally hard-to-count populations.

And there’s a lot at stake in making sure they do.

“These numbers turn into political power and economic power,” said Pamela Perlich, director of demographic research for the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.

That’s because census figures are used to apportion political representation not only on the national and state levels but also for school boards and city councils, she said. The level of respondents also determines the amount of federal funding, distributed according to population numbers, that communities receive for a number of key programs over the course of the decade after the census.

Salt Lake City likely got less than its fair share after 2010, since several areas in the city had lower-than-average mail return rates of 73 percent or less, according to data compiled by City University of New York (CUNY).

Experts worry that changes to the 2020 census will further complicate the reach for a full count among groups that are already less likely to respond, including immigrants, refugees, along with homeless, student and elderly populations.

The major difference in the upcoming census is that this one will be conducted almost entirely online for the first time, Perlich said. That will likely present a challenge across Salt Lake County, where 15 percent of households had either no internet subscriptions or dial-up-only access in 2016, according to CUNY.

The new citizenship question has generated even more concern, including among Utah’s Latino legislators. Though the Commerce Department has said the question will help the Justice Department enforce the Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voting rights, they worry the new question will put undocumented residents and immigrant populations at risk of being undercounted.

“There is no doubt we would get a more accurate and better count if that question was not in play,” said state Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, and a prominent advocate for a complete and accurate 2020 census.

Amid President Donald Trump’s campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration and build a border wall between the United States and Mexico — and recent controversy over his administration’s “zero tolerance” policy that resulted in separating parents from their children at the border — Salt Lake City Councilman Chris Wharton said refugee and immigrant communities are “nervous.”

“Even ones that are here legally and that are documented, I think, are more hesitant to interact with the federal government because they feel that… They feel less welcome,” he said. “And I think that that deters them from filling these forms out because they’re afraid.”

Wharton hopes the city’s new coordinator can help these groups understand the importance of an accurate census and reassure them that their data won’t “be used against them.”

Though Chavez-Houck said it “remains to be seen” how a single individual could help address such deep-seated concerns with the 2020 census, she applauded Salt Lake City’s efforts in creating the new position.

“We have one time to do this right,” she said. “I’m really, really heartened by the fact that [the city is] taking the lead and saying this is important to have a staff member that is dedicated to assuring all the things we can do at a local level [are done to] make sure the count is done effectively."

That’s especially true, she said, "given some of the other issues about which we don’t have control.”

The council-funded position, for which $80,000 has been set aside so far, was approved earlier this year. Wharton said that’s a relatively small paycheck compared to the amount of federal funding the city expects to see in return.

The position has not yet been filled, and job description details are still being written, according to Matthew Rojas, a spokesman for the mayor. The position will be filled sometime this year.

Once hired, the coordinator will work to boost awareness of the census and its importance, said Erinn Summers, a policy coordinator and executive assistant to Salt Lake City’s director of community empowerment. She said that outreach will be tailored to address the barriers facing individual populations. Other duties and tasks will be informed through the city’s work with the Gardner Institute.

As the census draws nearer, national decisions around it will likely continue to be “highly political,” Perlich said, considering that there’s so much at stake not only for representation and funding but also for group visibility and recognition.

“You cannot separate the political from the personal in this data,” she said. “The data collection itself is based on scientific principle and the very most precise measures that we can get. But we are humans, and the categories that we choose to name people are constrained by, defined by, the politics and the realities that are our world.”

MoviePass will reduce the number of movies its subscribers can see by 90 percent, with subscribers in the $9.95 monthly fee tier seeing their movie allowance decrease from one per day to three per month. The change will be rolled out starting Aug. 15, the latest in a series of changes to the company's customer experiences as it struggles to stay afloat.

The company said in a statement that the new limit, which is supposed to reduce the amount of cash MoviePass burns through, will only affect the 15 percent of its subscribers who see more than three movies per month using the service.

MoviePass also announced Monday morning that it has reversed its decision, announced less than a week ago to hike its monthly subscription fee to $14.95 per month. The reversal comes after a customer outcry; the $9.95 monthly fee will remain in place.

In multiple statements issued over the past week, the company attributes its recent turbulence to growing pains that are expected when a so-called "disruptor" start-up company enters the marketplace. The company brought in Netflix co-founder Mitch Lowe to run the service, and he promptly lowered the monthly subscription rate and increased the number of movies users could see.

While these changes brought in a rush of new customers, the cost to keep them proved too much for the company to sustain. MoviePass pays full price for each ticket a subscriber uses, meaning that after a subscriber sees a second movie in a month, the company is operating at a loss. It didn't take long for the company to burn through all its cash reserves, and the company had to take out a $6 million emergency loan two weeks ago to pay for subscribers' tickets.

Two law firms announced on Monday that they have begun seeking defendants for class action litigation against MoviePass parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics, claiming that the company over-inflated MoviePass’s profitability when presenting information to investors, who then lost money.

Five adults are facing child abuse charges after authorities rescued 11 children from a makeshift underground compound that a New Mexico sheriff described as “the saddest living conditions and poverty” he’d ever seen.

The children, ages 1 to 15, looked like "third-world country refugees' and had only “dirty rags for clothing,” Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said. Aside from a few potatoes and a box of rice, there was no food or water in the filthy compound, which authorities described as a travel trailer buried in the dirt, ringed with tires and earthen berms and covered in plastic.

Still missing is a 3-year-old boy who suffers from seizures, cannot walk and needs emergency medication.

Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Lucas Morten each face 11 counts of child abuse, a third-degree felony punishable by three years of imprisonment. Also charged are three women believed to be the children's mothers: Jany Leveille, Hujrah Wahhaj and Subhannah Wahhaj. Police did not say how the adults were related to one another. The sheriff's office could not be reached Monday morning.

The sheriff's office announced the charges Sunday following a months-long investigation into Ibn Wahhaj, who investigators say had kidnapped the 3-year-old boy, who is his son, from nearly 1,500 miles away, in Jonesboro, Georgia. The boy's mother, Hakima Ramzi, told police that her estranged husband took their son to a park nine months ago and never returned.

In January, Ramzi recorded a desperate Facebook video asking for help to find her husband and son, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, who turns 4 on Tuesday. Ramzi also told police in Georgia about his medical condition. “I don’t know if he’s alive, or he is, well, I don’t know his condition now. So please, please, I need your help to find my husband and my son,” she said through tears.

Police did not say how they tracked down Wahhaj and the others in Amalia, an unincorporated community in mountainous Taos County along New Mexico's northern border. The FBI had begun surveillance on the compound two months before the group was arrested but "didn't feel there was enough probable cause to get on the property," the sheriff's office said.

The sheriff's office raided the property Friday after obtaining a message believed to have been written by someone from the compound: "We are starving and need food and water."

"I absolutely knew that we couldn't wait on another agency to step up and we had to go check this out as soon as possible, so I began working on a search warrant," Hogrefe said in a press release. "The occupants were most likely heavily armed and considered extremist of the Muslim belief."

No one was injured during the raid, which began Friday morning and lasted all day, the sheriff's office said.

Wahhaj, who was heavily armed, at first refused to cooperate but was eventually "taken down," the sheriff's office said. Inside the trailer, deputies found the 11 children, an AR15 rifle, four pistols and several rounds of ammunition. They did not find Abdul-Ghani, who investigators believe was in the compound a few weeks ago. None of the adults said anything about the boy's whereabouts, the sheriff's office said.

The boy was last seen with his father in December, when the two and several other children and adults were involved in a road accident in Alabama, the Clayton News-Daily reported. The officer who helped them had been under the impression that the group was headed to New Mexico for a camping trip.

The compound lacked water and electricity. Dust coated the inside of the trailer, which was littered with dirty clothes and plastic containers. Outside were pieces of wood, garbage and children's clothing that hung across a broken sheet of cardboard.

Ibn Wahhaj faces an additional charge of abducting his son and Morten of harboring a fugitive.

All five adults are in custody in the Taos Adult Detention Center. The 11 children have been turned over to state child services.

If you thought you were safe from Lyme disease because you don’t live in New England, where the tick-borne illness first appeared, think again. Now, all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have residents who have tested positive for Lyme, a bacterial infection that can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including joint aches, fatigue, facial palsy and neck stiffness.

This news comes from a report from the clinical laboratory Quest Diagnostics, which analyzed the results of 6 million blood tests doctors had ordered to diagnose Lyme disease in their patients. The report found that Pennsylvania had the most positive cases last year: 10,001. The Pennsylvania tally, along with that of the six New England states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont — accounted for about 60 percent of the country’s Lyme disease cases. Positive results grew by 50 percent in New England and by 78 percent in Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2017. However, the number of positive tests spiked in some areas not traditionally linked to Lyme disease. Florida, for instance, had 501 infections, up 77 percent since 2015. California had 483 people with positive test results — a 194.5 percent increase from 2015.

A telltale sign of Lyme disease is a bull’s-eye rash, but rashes with other shapes are common, too. Oral antibiotics cure most cases, especially when treatment starts early, but the infection can spread beyond the site of the bite if not treated. Some people have complained of symptoms that persist, and the National Institutes of Health is conducting research into chronic (or post-treatment) Lyme disease syndrome.

After nearly 60 years of playing outlaws, journalists and other outsiders, Robert Redford is ready to hang up his acting hat.

The actor, filmmaker and founder of the Utah-based Sundance Institute has announced he will retire from acting, and that his next movie, “The Old Man and the Gun,” will be his last in front of the camera.

Redford, who turns 82 on Aug. 18, made this announcement in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, posted online Monday. A spokeswoman for Redford confirmed the EW report.

“Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting, and [I’ll] move towards retirement after this 'cause I’ve been doing it since I was 21,” Redford told EW. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s enough.’ And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?”

What’s left unsaid is how much work he will continue to do with the Sundance Institute, the arts nonprofit he formed in 1981 as a springboard for independent filmmakers.

In “The Old Man and the Gun,” Redford plays Forrest Tucker, a real-life bank robber who excelled at breaking out of prison over his 60 years as a criminal.

Redford told EW he gravitated to the role because “he robbed 17 banks, and he got caught 17 times and went to prison 17 times. But he also escaped 17 times. So it made me wonder: I wonder if he was not averse to getting caught so he could enjoy the real thrill of his life, which is to escape?”

The film is directed by David Lowery, who also directed Disney’s 2016 update of “Pete’s Dragon,” in which Redford co-starred with Bryce Dallas Howard. Lowery’s first movie, the crime drama “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” debuted at Redford’s Sundance Film Festival in 2013.

The new movie, which also stars Oscar winners Sissy Spacek and Casey Affleck, will be released Sept. 28 by Fox Searchlight Pictures. It’s scheduled to screen in early September at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it is listed as an “international premiere.” That phrasing suggests the film may get its U.S. debut even sooner — perhaps at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado over Labor Day weekend. (Telluride famously keeps its lineup a secret until just before the festival begins.)

Redford started acting onstage in New York in the late 1950s, and by 1960 was starting to land television work, including episodes of “Maverick” and “Perry Mason,” and an early success in a TV adaptation of “The Iceman Cometh” opposite Jason Robards.

Redford made his movie debut in 1962 as a supporting player in a Korean War drama, “War Hunt.” On the set, he became fast friends with another actor, Sydney Pollack — who went on to become a director, and helmed Redford through seven movies, including “Jeremiah Johnson” (1972), “The Way We Were” (1973) and the 1985 Best Picture Oscar winner “Out of Africa.”

In 1963, Redford got his star-making Broadway role, as an uptight newlywed in Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park” — a role he would reprise in the 1967 film version, co-starring with Jane Fonda.

Redford became a screen idol in 1969, when he starred with Paul Newman as outlaws trying to go straight in “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.” The studio didn’t want Redford, and it was the intervention of Newman and director George Roy Hill that landed him the part.

The same year, Redford bought the old Timp Haven ski resort in Provo Canyon and renamed it for the character that brought him fame: Sundance.

Redford became perhaps the most bankable actor of the 1970s. He was often cast as patrician figures seeking acceptance, such as the screenwriter Hubbell Gardiner in “The Way We Were” or the high-living title character in “The Great Gatsby” (1974). But just as often he played characters challenging the norms of society: the backwoodsman of “Jeremiah Johnson,” underdog Senate hopeful Bill McKay in “The Candidate” (1972), or metro reporter Bob Woodward covering the Watergate break-in in “All the President’s Men” (1976).

In the ‘80s, Redford acted less, devoting his time to directing films and launching the Sundance Institute, which in 1985 took over operations of the United States Film Festival — what’s now the Sundance Film Festival. His first movie as director, the dysfunctional family drama “Ordinary People” (1980), won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and an Oscar for his directing.

In all, Redford has directed nine movies — “A River Runs Through It” (1992) and “Quiz Show” (1994) among them — and has not ruled out the possibility of directing more.

Redford received an Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 2002. He was nominated for Best Actor in 1973 for “The Sting,” and critics were shocked when he was passed over for a nomination for his solo performance in 2013′s “All Is Lost.” Fox Searchlight is expected to mount an awards campaign for “The Old Man and the Gun,” which is now Redford’s last shot at Oscar acting gold.

In moves Holladay officials hoped would resolve community conflict over the former Cottonwood Mall site, city leaders have voted to schedule a special election for November.

At the same time, the city has notified a community group that its 8,000-signature petition seeking a vote on the issue is ineligible for a spot on the ballot.

So will there be a special election? That, it appears, will be up to a judge.

Holladay officials have argued for months that the city’s decisions in approving a high-density, $560 million mixed-use development at the vacant field that was once a mall have been administrative and not legislative, which the city interprets to mean they can’t be challenged through a grass-roots initiative process.

Leaders for the community group Unite For Holladay said Monday they were disappointed Holladay’s leaders “have opted to block citizens from voting.”

Mayor Rob Dahle said the City Council’s combined moves were “pre-emptive” and that rejecting the petition, while simultaneously approving a vote, was a kind of “just in case” strategy aimed at accommodating conflicting community needs. The approach, Dahle said, respected “the referendum power of the people and a property owner’s land use application rights.”

This way, Dahle said, if the city’s legal decision rejecting the Unite for Holladay petition were overturned in court, Holladay officials would be ready for a vote on the controversy at the city’s soonest opportunity.

The City Council had until Aug. 22 to schedule the special election, which is now set for Nov. 6.

“We would not have called for a special election if we were 100 percent certain that our position was the right position,” the mayor said. “We conceded that the law is not really clear as it is related to this issue.”

Developers with Ivory Homes and Woodbury Corp. have been working for years to turn the former Cottonwood Mall location into “Holladay Quarter,” envisioned as a complex of retail outlets, eateries and offices blended with 775 apartments and 210 single-family homes. After nearly seven months of negotiations, the council gave its final approval to a master plan in May.

Opponents say the project is too dense for Holladay and threatens to snarl traffic. They remain critical of how city officials have handled decisions related to land use and taxes.

Dahle said the dispute has “proven to be a divisive issue in our community,” but, despite the differences, “all sides would like this to be resolved as quickly as possible.”

In a joint statement, Paul Baker and Brett Stohlton, organizers of Unite for Holladay, called the city’s rejection of the petition “another example of our elected city leaders ignoring the voice of the people by essentially forcing a lawsuit against their own taxpaying citizens.”

Baker and Stohlton said city leaders have acknowledged the group filed well more than the 5,874 signatures required to qualify for ballot status and that organizers of Unite for Holladay “did our part to ensure all citizens had a voice in this issue.”

Dahle said he had no doubt the signature requirements had indeed been met but noted the city’s rejection was made on legal grounds, which the city has been told Unite For Holladay is planning to take to court.

“And we’re OK with that,” Dahle said.

In a statement issued Friday, Holladay City Attorney Todd Godfrey said that while the city contends that key zoning decisions that cleared the project to proceed "are administrative in nature, we acknowledge that the sponsors of the petitions have a contrary opinion, and that may require a final determination by the courts.”

Baker and Stohlton, meanwhile, said they have consulted attorneys “familiar with these issues” and remain “confident the court will rule in our favor.” The group leaders also said they “are committed and prepared for the next phase in our fight.”