Do you favor charging tolls to help reduce traffic congestion in Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood canyons? How about building new train lines there? Adding more buses? Do you like the idea of a gondola up the canyons? Or adding an extra lane to roads?

Officials say all those and other options are on the table as two new studies are gaining speed to look at the future of transportation in the canyons — and they are seeking public comment.

The website udot.utah.gov/cottonwoodcanyons has explanations of options under consideration and allows residents to file comments there through May 3. Also, an open house is scheduled Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Cottonwood Heights City Hall, 2277 E. Bengal Blvd.

Officials are working on the Little Cottonwood Canyon Environmental Impact Statement and the Cottonwood Canyons Transportation Plan to look at both canyons and nearby areas in the valley.

“The two efforts are really closely aligned,” said John Thomas, project manager for the Utah Department of Transportation.

Jesse Dean, deputy director of the Central Wasatch Commission, said they are building on 30 years of studies to try to figure out finally how to remedy congestion. Little Cottonwood Canyon alone sees 2.1 million visitors and 1.2 million trips a year.

“This is meant to further dive into and look at the alternatives and come to a decision that can then be implemented based on consensus from the public and the various stakeholders,” Thomas said.

Tolling in the canyons, allowed by the Legislature last year, is among options getting close scrutiny.

“Tolling is not just meant to be punitive,” Dean said, adding studies are trying to figure “what sort of a transportation system we want in these canyons and how could tolling play a role in some of the behaviors that we have,” perhaps to encourage more use of mass transit.

Thomas said trains are being studied. Back in the heyday of mining, a train went up Little Cottonwood Canyon all the way to Alta. But Thomas said it followed the creek bed, “and now that might be too impactful.”

Studies are also looking at adding snow sheds over canyon roads to protect them from avalanches — and avoid road closures for avalanche mitigation.

Also on the table as more affordable short-term solutions are expanding parking at some trailheads, widening or straightening roads at key locations and adding parking in the valley or restructuring it at ski resorts.

What if seating at General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were based on some abstract notion of personal worthiness?

It’s a stupid idea, I know. But it came to me during a moment of quiet reflection — known to others as “evil influence” — regarding one hierarchical picture of senior church leaders dressed completely in white at the Rome Temple dedication.

President Russell M. Nelson said God commanded him to have the entire 15 members of the church’s highest-ranking authorities present at the dedication — dressed exactly alike for at least one photo.

I wasn’t there during the commandment, of course. So I don’t know exactly what was said. But clearly some instruction was received/given to have them look like an eternal version of the ’60s soul group The Temptations.

Anyway, the white suits did give rise to some thought about the manifestation of hierarchy within the church to which I belong.

Another overt example of this hierarchy would be the red seats the general authorities occupy in the Conference Center.

It may be that the color for the G.A. seats was simply a designer choice — meaning that it would look better on TV or in photographs. But there are already comments about who’s sitting in the “red seats.”

All of this makes sense, given that the LDS Church is one of the most hierarchal-appearing faiths in the world — outdone perhaps by only Catholicism and one or two others.

It’s a trickle-down form of who’s the boss, reaching congregational levels where the bishop and counselors also have assigned seating.

Lamentably, it’s possible to take this spiritual caste system too far — which I propose to do now by suggesting that entrance to General Conference might be dependent upon a series of ecclesiastical interviews. Hey, we already do this with temple admission.

What if Conference Center seating were divided into Celestial, Terrestrial and Telestial sections, each with its own colors?

It’s already set up that way. There’s the rostrum level — where the red seats are — which are symbolic of the refining fire of the “Judgment Bar,” followed by the plaza, or “Celestial seating,” where the chairs are all snow white.

Parent • “Listen up. Our tickets are Celestial Level, Row E, Seats 6-21.”

Kid • “This sucks. I want to sit up in the Terrestrial section with my friends.”

Parent • “I’d tell you to shut your yap, Tommy, but we have to be on our best behavior in this section.”

The Terrestrial Level seating is, of course, the spotted, off-white seats on the terrace level, where the less worthy are obligated to sit.

Terrestrial seating is not entirely awful, but it lets everyone else know that you haven’t quite made the cut yet. Consequently, everyone will be watching to see if you’re actually paying attention.

Then there’s the dark gray seating in the Telestial Level, which is restricted to the balcony. From there, you’re able to look down on the Celestial and Judgment seating with a sense of loss, while simultaneously going largely unnoticed by them.

It gets worse. Behind the Telestial seating is Outer Darkness seating for the media. It’s a vast distance between the glory of the red seats and Outer Darkness, but it’s simply to remind media members to get it right if they want to move any closer. The seats there are black folding chairs.

Me? Well, it’s perfectly clear by this that I’ll be sitting somewhere in the parking lot.

Robert Kirby is The Salt Lake Tribune’s humor columnist. Follow Kirby on Facebook.

Utah’s gymnastics team lost its last regular season meet and finished second at the Pac-12 Championships, but the sixth-ranked Utes don’t sound like a team on a losing streak. To the contrary, the Utes might have more confidence in their gymnastics right now than they have at any point in the season.

The Utes hope to translate that confidence into an NCAA-worthy performance this weekend at the NCAA regionals in Baton Rouge, La.

Utah competes against Minnesota, BYU and Arkansas in its afternoon session and if it is one of the top two teams, it will advance to Saturday’s final. The top two teams from that competition advance to the NCAA Championships April 19-20 in Ft. Worth.

Utah’s regional will be televised by SECN+ and carried on ESPN 700 radio.

Utah is confident it can advance based on its recent performances since it seems it has worked out its problems on the balance beam and had a solid effort at the Pac-12 Championships.

The Utes finished second to UCLA 198.4-198.025, but the Bruins and Utes put up the highest scores in the country out of the conference championships, a fact that coach Megan Marsden made sure her team knew.

“It’s a huge confidence booster,” she said. “I feel like they are in a great spot.”

The Utes might be headed to SEC territory, but they still like their chances against the field in part because they are familiar with their opponents, having beaten BYU in the regular season and losing a close one to LSU 197.25-197.075.

“LSU is going to have the advantage because it is their hometown,” senior Kari Lee said. “But we want to see what it is like to go down there and compete.”

The Utes would love to win the region outright, but Marsden is reminding the team all they have to do is be one of the top two teams to advance.

“Our region is not one of the most stacked regionals,” she said. “I feel like if we go and do what we’ve been doing every week we will be fine. This is one of the most consistent teams I’ve ever coached and I feel like if we do our job we can advance.”

The Utes have been solid on their weakest event, the balance beam, for several meets now. Utah didn’t totally shine on the event at Pac-12s, scoring a 49.3 thanks to several balance checks, but Marsden was elated the younger gymnasts in the lineup held their own.

That bodes well for regionals, she believes.

“I’m excited because of the way they competed,” she said. “At this point in the season we start talking more and more about what is going on in their head and all the mental tools to handle pressure. We will continue to implement those, but I like what we are doing.”

Competing in Baton Rouge could be challenge given the loud pro-LSU crowd, but the Utes are looking forward to it, junior MyKayla Skinner said.

“We wanted to go someplace different and we are excited,” she said. “They are going to have nice equipment and it will be fun, so we are excited for it.”

Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams was traveling Thursday morning and said he had to pull over to check his phone after it started “exploding” with the news that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had ended its controversial 2015 LGBTQ policy.

Williams said he felt overwhelmed, adding that the change — about 3½ years after the policy leaked in November 2015 — was a positive step.

“I’m grateful that leaders have listened to members and heard them,” Williams said. “They know the pain that the policy has caused — and responded.”

The now-abandoned edict labeled same-sex Latter-day Saint couples “apostates” and generally barred their children from baptism and other religious rites.

Thursday’s reversal was met mainly with positive reactions, including from some of the church’s occasional — and occasionally harsh — critics.

Fred Karger, a gay-rights activist who leads an effort to revoke the church’s tax-exempt status, applauded Latter-day Saint leaders for recognizing the need to shift course on LGBTQ families.

“I’ve got tears of joy,” he said. “I was told for many years this would never happen.”

In a Thursday announcement, church leaders confirmed that children of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender parents may be blessed as babies — a tradition within the faith — and baptized without the need for approval from the faith’s governing First Presidency.

Couples in a same-sex marriage would also cease to be subject to an automatic church disciplinary proceeding.

“While we still consider such a marriage to be a serious transgression," a church news release states, "it will not be treated as apostasy for purposes of church discipline. Instead, the immoral conduct in heterosexual or homosexual relationships will be treated in the same way.”

Karger said it remains uncertain how specific practices will change in response to the new policies. But he said the shift has the potential to be a “sea change" that saves and improves lives.

“If they’re allowed to live a full life, to be married to someone they love of the same sex and are welcomed back into the church,” he said, “that is revolutionary.”

He said there is also the potential now for the Utah-based faith to take a leadership role among other churches that have been slow to respond to public attitudes toward sexual orientation and gender identity.

“I’ve always believed that pressure needed to be applied,” Karger said. “So many people were telling me that it was a waste of time, but the church does respond.”

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski was elected to office the same week the 2015 policy leaked. And in one of her first statements as mayor-elect, Biskpuski said she hoped the church’s decision would not last long.

In a news release Thursday, Biskupski, the city’s first openly gay mayor, said the church’s decision to drop the policy was “welcome and moving news.”

“I am grateful for this revelation and for church leaders acting upon it,” she said. “This action is supportive of families and may even save lives.”

In the years since the policy came to light, advocacy organizations suggested the church’s positions had contributed to Utah’s high youth suicide rate, while individual churchgoers described resigning their membership, halting their tithing payments or returning their temple recommends — which allow participation in the faith’s most sacred ceremonies — in response to the exclusion of children from LGBTQ families.

Encircle CEO Stephenie Larsen, whose organization operates support centers for LGBTQ youths, said Thursday’s announcement is a move toward alleviating the pain and suffering experienced by families since the policy took hold in 2015.

“It is a step," she said, “toward no parent ever needing to choose between their church and their child.”

Larsen said Encircle sees direct spikes in suicidal ideation, hospital visits and therapy sessions when church leaders give sermons or issue statements sometimes seen as harsh to LGBTQ individuals. But she also credited a groundswell from the public around issues like hate crimes and conversion therapy — both of which were debated at the Legislature this year — with prompting the church to rethink its positions.

“Members are sending a message that we love LGBTQ people,” she said. “I think our Heavenly Parents made them this way. They are just the way they are intended to be, and should be, to make the world a better place.”

The church reaffirmed Thursday that it not revising its doctrine on homosexuality. It opposes gay marriage and teaches that having same-sex attractions is not a sin, but acting on them is.

Sen. Derek Kitchen, D-Salt Lake City, the only openly gay member of the Utah Legislature, said the 2015 policy was “clearly misguided" and alienated many families, both directly and indirectly. But while church leaders may have misunderstood what it means to be part of an LGBTQ family, he said, Thursday’s announcement is a solid stride toward being more inclusive and welcoming.

“The world is changing,” Kitchen said, “and the church is changing alongside it.”

Other reactions were more overtly critical.

Christian Harrison, a Salt Lake City mayoral candidate who describes himself as an out gay man and practicing Latter-day Saint, said he had witnessed lives ruined and damage done to his faith community by the 2015 policy, which he described as “senseless.”

“This morning, we’ve had a change of course,” Harrison said. “And while full restitution isn’t possible, I look forward to the tremendous good that will come from the LDS Church committing itself to fighting the scourge of youth suicide.”

Kate Kelly, who was excommunicated in 2014 for “conduct contrary to the laws and order of the church” after pushing for the ordination of women to the faith’s all-male priesthood, posted a series of criticisms on Twitter.

“My feelings on this self-serving reversal,” Kelley wrote, “too little, too late.”

My feelings on this self-serving reversal: Too little, too late.

— Kate Kelly (@Kate_Kelly_Esq) April 4, 2019

Tribune reporter Kathy Stephenson contributed to this story.

This Pat Bagley cartoon appears in The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday, April 5, 2019. You can check out the past 10 Bagley editorial cartoons below:

• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/bagley/2019/04/03/bagley-cartoon-brexit/" target=_blank><u>The Brexit Knight</u></a>
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/bagley/2019/04/02/bagley-cartoon-national/"><u>National Security Crisis</u></a>
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/bagley/2019/04/01/bagley-cartoon-troubling/"><u>Troubling Downturn</u></a>
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/bagley/2019/03/29/bagley-cartoon-gop-health/"><u>GOP Health Care to Die For</u></a>
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/bagley/2019/03/28/bagley-cartoon-medicaid/"><u>Medicaid Expansion of Our Own Design</u></a>
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/bagley/2019/03/27/bagley-cartoon-millenials/"><u>Millennial’s World</u></a>
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/bagley/2019/03/26/bagley-cartoon-our/"><u>Our National Dinosaurs</u></a>
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/bagley/2019/03/25/bagley-cartoon-no/"><u>No Collusion</u></a>
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/bagley/2019/03/22/bagley-cartoon-mueller/"><u>The Mueller Report</u></a>
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/bagley/2019/03/21/bagley-cartoon/"><u>Legislative Wrap Up</u></a>

Want more Bagley? Become a fan on Facebook.

Toward the end of BYUtv’s documentary about Jimmer Fredette, one of his friends and coaches says the ex-Brigham Young University basketball star “is a guy that people should root for.” And he’s right.

Oh, I’m not saying Utah Jazz fans should have rooted for him quite so hard when he came to town as a member of the Phoenix Suns on March 25. And I’m not arguing that the former college player of the year deserved another shot in the NBA, or that he’s going to stay there for long.

(I write about TV. I’m not a basketball expert, though I’m skeptical about his chances.)

But if you’re rooting against Fredette, it says more about you than it does about him. He’s a nice guy who exceeded expectations in high school and college. He achieved his dream of making it to the NBA, but not his dream of a successful career there — though he’s still trying.

Fredette has never been tied to anything even vaguely illegal or immoral. He didn’t act arrogantly when he was on top of the college basketball world; he didn’t act entitled when his NBA career didn’t turn out “exactly the way that I wanted it to,” as he says in “The Lonely Master” (Saturday, 8 p.m., BYUtv).

“But I’ve worked really, really hard up to this point. I’m going to continue to work hard.”

C’mon, how can you root against the guy? Fredette isn’t Max Hall.

The 75-minute documentary “The Lonely Master” — the title is explained as a translation of Jimmer’s name into Chinese and back again — is, at times, compelling. It’s a truly intriguing look inside the life of an American who goes to China to play professional basketball. “I never thought I’d ever play basketball in China or visit China for any reason,” Fredette says. And it’s fascinating to see Shanghai Sharks fans chanting “Jimmer! Jimmer!”

There was certainly room to focus more on Fredette as a fish out of water in a culture so different from his own and less on individual Chinese Basketball Association games, but “The Lonely Master” is a documentary with a clear goal. It’s trying to make the case that Fredette was done wrong his first time in the NBA, and that he deserved a second chance.

(The doc was pretty much completed when he got that chance with the Suns; a postscript was added with the information that he had, indeed, signed with Phoenix.)

There’s some great stuff in “The Lonely Master” about Fredette playing in China while his wife and baby daughter stayed in Colorado. There’s too little great stuff showing him out and about being greeted by Chinese fans and trying to fit in with a team made up primarily of Chinese players.

But, again, this is a documentary trying to make a point. And, by the way, Fredette himself is one of the executive producers.

"CRAZY EX” ENDS • After 29 years of writing about TV, I try not to get emotional about it. But the end of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” made me tear up.

Not because the final episode (Friday, 7 p.m., CW/Ch. 30) is sad. It’s not. I don’t want to give anything away, except that Rebecca (Rachel Bloom) makes a not-entirely-unexpected life decision.

But the end of this brave, funny, heartfelt story about a woman dealing with mental illness — accompanied by a lot of great, original, musical numbers — is like losing a friend. There’s nothing else like it on TV.

But wipe away your tears and watch the hour that follows. “Yes, It’s Really Us Singing: The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Concert Special!” (8 p.m., CW/Ch. 30) features the cast onstage performing a few of the 157 original songs that were part of the series’ 61 episodes.

I hope there’s a longer version of the concert in the DVD/Blu-ray release.

Police in West Valley City say they have broken a theft ring that was stealing backup batteries providing reserve electricity for cable, broadband and 911 phone service.

Six felonies charges have been filed against one person, and a news release from West Valley City said prosecutors are considering charges for 10 more. The group is accused of stealing alpha-cell batteries, valued at $180 each, from Comcast.

The batteries were stored at locations in West Valley City and elsewhere on the Wasatch Front to provide emergency power for Comcast services. The news release says the thieves would sell the batteries for recycling scrap and collect $15 or $20 for each battery.

MEDIA: photos of types of batteries stolen in Comcast battery theft case. pic.twitter.com/MPJZUTZTiT

— WVC Police (@WVCPD) April 4, 2019

A break came in July when detectives were able to find the driver of a truck suspected in the thefts. The driver provided police with information about the thefts, the news release said.

The following month, Comcast placed some “bait” batteries in locations to trick the thieves into taking what were actually tracking devices. That allowed police to track the thieves and figure out where the real batteries had been taken.

Washington • Attorney General William Barr on Thursday defended his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation, saying the document contains sensitive grand jury material that prevented it from being immediately released to the public.

The statement came as Barr confronts concerns that his four-page letter summarizing Mueller’s conclusions unduly sanitized the full report in President Donald Trump’s favor, including on the key question of whether the president obstructed justice. House Democrats on Wednesday approved subpoenas for Mueller’s entire report and any exhibits and other underlying evidence that the Justice Department might withhold.

The disparity in length between Barr's letter and Mueller's full report, which totals nearly 400 pages, raises the likelihood of additional significant information that was put forward by the special counsel's office but not immediately shared by the attorney general.

In his statement, Barr defended the decision to release a brief summary letter two days after receiving the report on March 22. He previously said he wanted to release the entire document in gradual or piecemeal fashion. He is now expected to release the entire report, with some redactions, by mid-April.

"Given the extraordinary public interest in the matter, the Attorney General decided to release the report's bottom-line findings and his conclusions immediately — without attempting to summarize the report — with the understanding that the report itself would be released after the redaction process," Barr's statement said.

The statement also said that every page of Mueller's report was marked that it may contain grand jury material "and therefore could not immediately be released."

A Justice Department official, speaking Thursday on condition of anonymity to discuss a confidential process, said summaries of the findings that Mueller's team included as part of its report also contained grand jury information.

Barr has said that while Mueller did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign, the special counsel left open a decision on whether the president had tried to obstruct the Russia investigation. The Mueller team laid out evidence on both sides of the question in a way that neither alleged a crime nor exonerated Trump, according to Barr's letter from last month.

Barr said he was continuing to work with Mueller’s office on redactions to the report so that it could be released to Congress and the public.

In a stunning reversal, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced that it is walking back a controversial 2015 policy that affected members in same-sex marriages and their children.

The policy had prohibited children of same-sex couples from being baptized (which members can do starting at age 8) and also from being “blessed” as infants. Priesthood ordination for teen boys and missionary service for young adults were likewise off the table for children born to same-sex couples unless they were willing to publicly disavow their parents’ relationship after turning 18.

The 2015 policy also targeted the parents, stating that any adult members who were in a same-sex marriage or long-term homosexual relationship were in “apostasy” and subject to a church disciplinary council.

On Thursday, the church abandoned both halves of the policy. Children of same-sex couples are now eligible for all ordinances and opportunities in the church, and their parents will no longer be regarded as in apostasy, though same-sex marriage is still considered a “serious transgression.”

This change comes as the latest in a string of announcements that church leaders are heralding as revelation, from major female-friendly updates to the church’s temple ceremonies to amendments to the missionary program.

But it’s a particularly surprising one, given that current church President Russell M. Nelson was the leader who most ardently defended the 2015 policy as a revelation of God.

Speaking in January 2016, when he was still an apostle and had not yet replaced the late Thomas S. Monson as president, Nelson said the policy was the result of top church leaders’ meeting “repeatedly in the temple” to seek God’s guidance. God, Nelson said, had “inspired his prophet … to declare the mind of the Lord and the will of the Lord” with the LGBTQ policy.

The policy was, in other words, a clear revelation.

More than three years later, Nelson says it’s now the Lord’s will to reverse that policy — and that this is also a revelation.

Most intriguingly, he noted that the church’s top leaders had continued to wrestle with the LGBTQ policy from 2015 to now: “These policy changes come after an extended period of counseling with our brethren in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles after fervent, united prayer to understand the will of the Lord,” he indicated.

In other words, church leaders continued discussing and praying about the LGBTQ policy even after it had been presented to members as a revelation and a fait accompli.

What does this mean for Latter-day Saints? In a church that has been criticized for sometimes suggesting that “when the prophet speaks, the thinking has been done,” the policy reversal demonstrates that robust discussions continue at the highest levels, and that Nelson is not afraid to alter the church’s course — even if doing so seems to destabilize his own previous statements.

It also suggests that any policy is subject to modification, and perhaps abandonment, even if it has previously been heralded as a revelation from God.

The church has been careful to note that reversing this particular LGBTQ policy does not alter its underlying doctrine about chastity or its commitment to “traditional” marriage between one man and one woman. Yet because the church itself presented the LGBTQ policy as holy revelation back in 2015-16, it’s tricky to disentangle “policy” from “revelation.”

Which may be exactly the point. The genius of the Latter-day Saint notion of continuing revelation means that, in theory at least, God is speaking constantly to address the needs of a changing world. Everyone should be on their toes — or, as Nelson put it last year during a tour of South America, be ready for more changes to come.

“Wait till next year, and then the next year,” he said. “Eat your vitamin pills. Get some rest. It’s going to be exciting.”

“Exciting” is not a word that many of us who follow Mormonism would typically associate with a gerontocracy that, until Nelson’s tenure, followed a glacially incremental approach to change.

Now, however, with the church publicly reversing its own previously stated revelations, “exciting” may be the watchword going forward. If that means we get to jettison unjust policies, I am all ears.

Editor’s note • The views expressed in this opinion piece do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.

The Utah Grizzlies’ Caleb Herbert on Thursday was named first team all ECHL.

Herbert is fifth in the league with 31 goals. He also leads the team with 37 assists and is tied for fourth in the league with 68 points. Herbert has been big on the power play as he has 28 power play points, which is tied for second best in the league.

He is the first player since current Grizzlies Assistant Coach Ryan Kinasewich to be named first team all ECHL. Kinasewich was named to the first team in the 2009-2010 season when he had 48 goals and 55 assists for 103 points in 59 games. Herbert is the first player to have more than 30 goals since Kinasewich had his 48 goals season.

The last Grizzlies player to be named to either the first or second team all league was Defenseman Nick Tuzzolino, who was named 2nd team all ECHL in the 2012-2013 season.

Lehi children and mothers who recently decorated city pavement with chalk art protesting a potential new gravel pit are guilty of “criminal mischief,” according to the city.

On Tuesday, after city workers had scrubbed away the chalk hearts, mountains and messages politely reproaching Lehi government leaders, a police officer showed up at the house of one protester to confront her about writing on the steps and walkways of City Hall. She wasn’t home at the time, but the officer told the woman’s husband that the chalk drawing on city property must stop.

"Although the chalk can be washed off with a pressure washer, it is defacing property and considered criminal mischief," city spokesperson Shaye Ruitenbeek wrote in an email.

The chalk protests and the city’s response are just the latest salvos in a protracted local dispute over a development project situated just a stone’s throw from existing homes in the Traverse Mountain community. Residents say city officials have pushed forward with the project plans without understanding the potential health risks and have resorted to bullying community members who are concerned about dust pollution from Geneva Rock’s gravel mining operations at the site.

Using law enforcement to quash the chalk art protest is just the latest example of these strong-arm tactics, they say.

"This is a First Amendment issue. They're trying to silence our voices," said Cherise Udell, founder of Utah Moms for Clean Air. "If we were just doing butterflies and flowers, my guess is they would be fine with it."

Udell and local families over the past week have drawn chalk on sidewalks outside City Hall and on the city’s Main Street to convey their concerns about how planned gravel mining could compromise local air quality.

“Welcome to the city of Geneva,” protesters wrote on the steps of Lehi City Hall over the weekend.

Other messages called on officials to put clean air above mining interests and people before profits.

Ruitenbeek wrote that city parks workers cleaned the chalk off the steps and sidewalk of City Hall Monday and again on Tuesday. No one has been cited for the activity, she added.

Udell, who coordinated the chalk protest with members of Lehi Moms and Allies for Clean Air, a chapter of Utah Moms, thinks the city's crackdown is ridiculous.

"Everyone knows that chalk does no permanent damage and is easily washed off by the next storm. The same cannot be said of all the dust that is coming off of the mine into families' backyards," she said.

The city’s approach also raises free speech concerns, she says, pointing out that many municipalities welcome chalk art on public sidewalks. It’s not fair to quash the activity simply because the artwork contains a message the city doesn’t like, she said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah tends to agree.

A number of cases have affirmed a city’s right to regulate sidewalk chalk and that this semi-permanent expression is different from passing out leaflets or holding a picket sign, said Leah Farrell, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Utah. But local police can still get into trouble if they selectively enforce these rules, she said.

"When you have someone ... like a police officer coming to the home of someone for using chalk, is that the normal treatment of someone for the same behavior? I think that is a really good question," Farrell said.

Art is increasingly being used as a form of protest, she said, and the ACLU has stepped in numerous times to defend it.

The ACLU sued the city of Minneapolis over an activist’s right to chalk an antiwar slogan on a public sidewalk outside a federal building in 2011. In a settlement of the case, the city agreed that writing with erasable chalk on public sidewalks is a protected First Amendment right in Minneapolis, according to the Star Tribune.

In Colorado, a woman last year was charged with criminal tampering for writing a message against the Trump administration’s family separation policy in chalk on the pavement outside a congressman’s office. The district attorney dismissed the charges after the ACLU of Colorado got involved in the case, a local ABC station reported.

The underlying controversy in Lehi revolves around a proposed development project approved by the city for the Traverse Mountain community. The plans call for the construction of a new housing subdivision, preceded by “significant grading” to flatten the hilly property.

Geneva Rock, a company that operates a nearby mine, has agreed to do this grading and will haul rock from the site to convert into gravel, cement and asphalt it can sell.

While Geneva argues this process, which could last for three years or more, does not constitute “mining,” residents and the state’s division of oil, gas and mining see it differently. And some residents say the new gravel pit, just 50 feet away from existing Traverse Mountain homes, will pollute the air breathed by children who live and attend school nearby.

Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg apologized Thursday for the tragedies in which crashes of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people, according to a letter made public on the company’s website.

In his most extensive comments on the subject to date, Muilenburg acknowledged distinct similarities between the two events, including the implication certain Boeing equipment issues.

Muilenburg recognized the role in both crashes of a Boeing-approved flight system, called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System. In certain dangerous situations, MCAS can cause pilots to lose control of an aircraft in response to erroneous data from the plane's external sensors.

His comments followed the release of the preliminary report about the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed everyone on the flight. Ethiopia’s transport minister said the crew had “performed all the procedures, repeatedly, provided by the manufacturer but was not able to control the aircraft.”

As Muilenburg had in the past, he expressed condolences to surviving family members of those killed.

"We at Boeing are sorry for the lives lost in the recent 737 MAX accidents," Muilenburg wrote.

He later wrote: "I cannot remember a more heart-wrenching time in my career with this great company."

Preliminary reports from investigators in Indonesia and Ethiopia indicated that the MCAS had activated in the two flights' final minutes, with pilots struggling to keep the plane level as it pitched inexorably downward.

"The history of our industry shows most accidents are caused by a chain of events. This again is the case here, and we know we can break one of those chain links in these two accidents," Muilenburg wrote, also noting that pilots have raised concerns over the potential for the flight system to create new risks in "what is already a high workload environment."

"It's our responsibility to eliminate this risk," Muilenburg said, adding "we own it and we know how to do it."

He also drew attention to the company's efforts to improve the flight control system, an effort that began after Indonesian investigators issued their preliminary report in late November. The company is required to submit its final version of the software fix no later than April to the Federal Aviation Administration. The 737 MAX 8 and 9 planes have been grounded for weeks.

"We're taking a comprehensive, disciplined approach, and taking the time to get the software update right," Muilenburg said. "We're nearing completion and anticipate its certification and implementation on the 737 MAX fleet worldwide in the weeks ahead."

And he once again applauded the safety record of the Boeing 737 even as he apologized for lives lost in the two crashes.

"This update, along with the associated training and additional educational materials that pilots want in the wake of these accidents, will eliminate the possibility of unintended MCAS activation and prevent an MCAS-related accident from ever happening again," he added. "When the MAX returns to the skies with the software changes to the MCAS function, it will be among the safest airplanes ever to fly."

And he promised the company would work to regain the confidence of the flying public, which has been rattled in recent months.

“We know every person who steps aboard one of our airplanes places their trust in us,” Muilenburg said. “Together, we’ll do everything possible to earn and re-earn that trust and confidence from our customers and the flying public in the weeks and months ahead.”

Cincinnati • DNA tests disproved a teenager’s claim that he was an Illinois boy who disappeared eight years ago, the FBI said Thursday, dashing hopes that the baffling case had finally been solved.

For a day and a half, a breakthrough seemed to be at hand when a teenager found wandering the streets of Newport, Kentucky, on Wednesday identified himself as 14-year-old Timmothy Pitzen and claimed he had just escaped from two men in the Cincinnati area who had held him captive for seven years.

Timmothy Pitzen was the name of a boy from Aurora, Illinois, who disappeared in 2011 around the time of his mother's suicide, and there have been a multitude of false sightings and hoaxes over the years.

"DNA results have been returned indicating the person in question is not Timmothy Pitzen," FBI spokesman Timothy Beam in Louisville said in a statement. "A local investigation continues into this person's true identity."

He added: "Law enforcement has not and will not forget Timmothy, and we hope to one day reunite him with his family. Unfortunately, that day will not be today."

Timmothy vanished at age 6 after his mother pulled him out of kindergarten early one day, took him on a two-day road trip to the zoo and a water park, and then killed herself at a hotel. She left a note saying that her son was safe but that no one would ever find him.

The case left police, Timmothy's family and his hometown wondering whether he was dead or alive.

After Wednesday's developments, Aurora police sent two detectives to check out the teenager's story, and the FBI was also investigating.

Police and Timmothy's family had reacted cautiously to the latest turn in the case after a multitude of disappointments.

"There have been so many tips and sightings and whatnot, and you try not to panic or be overly excited," said Timmothy's grandmother, Alana Anderson. "Every day you hope, and every day you worry."

She didn't answer a phone call immediately after the FBI announcement.

Timmothy's mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, was found dead at a hotel in Illinois in what was ruled a suicide, leaving a note that said Timmothy was with others who would love and care for him. People magazine reported that she added a chilling message: "You will never find him."

Police said she might have dropped Timmothy off with a friend, noting that the boy's car seat and Spider-Man backpack were gone. Police also found credit card receipts showing she bought children's clothing and toys in Wisconsin.

Timmothy's grandmother said Thursday that her daughter had fought depression for years and was having problems in her marriage to Timmothy's father. Some news reports suggested she was afraid she would lose custody of the boy in a divorce because of her mental instability.

At the time of the boy's disappearance, police searched for him in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa.

"We've probably had thousands of tips of him popping up in different areas," Aurora police Sgt. Bill Rowley said Wednesday.

At Greenman Elementary, Timmothy's schoolmates, teachers and parents tied hundreds of yellow ribbons around trees and signs. A garden was planted in his memory.

The brief but tantalizing possibility that the case had been solved generated excitement in Timmothy's former neighborhood.

Pedro Melendez, who lives in Timmothy's former home, didn't know the boy but saved the concrete slab with his name, handprint and footprint etched in it when he redid the back patio. It is dated '09.

"My wife is really excited. She's been following this story since we moved in the house," said Melendez, who bought the house from the boy's father. "Hopefully, it's him."

Linda Ramirez, who lives nearby and knew the family, said she was "pretty excited" but didn't "want to have false hopes."

On Wednesday, police in the Cincinnati suburb of Sharonville said the teenager calling himself Timmothy reported that he had escaped from two kidnappers he described as men with bodybuilder-type physiques.

They were in a Ford SUV with Wisconsin license plates and had been staying at a Red Roof Inn, according to the police report.

___

Babwin reported from Chicago. Associated Press reporters Carrie Antlfinger in Aurora, Caryn Rousseau in Chicago and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed.

“There’s still work to do, but this policy reversal is a very welcome change that moves the church closer to a day where LGBTQ Mormons can see themselves affirmed and included within their faith community.”

— Chad Griffin, Human Rights Campaign president

“It’s not often that I get emotional in the middle of a meeting, but when I read the new church policy change today regarding our LGBTQ friends, I was so happy! Now it’s up to each of us to love ALL of humankind in a more Christlike way.”

— Aimee Winder Newton, Salt Lake County councilwoman

“We hear from LGBTQ young people in crisis every day who struggle to reconcile being part of both the LGBTQ and faith communities, and decisions to end policies of exclusion can help LGBTQ youth feel seen, loved, and less alone.”

— The Trevor Project, suicide prevention organization

“Affirmation has been a firsthand witness to the damage caused to families within and beyond membership in the church affected by this policy. … Affirmation acknowledges the steps today as positive but recognizes there is still much work to be done to make the chapels of the church and the homes of families within the church safe and welcoming spaces for LGBTQ persons.”

— Affirmation, support group for LGBTQ Latter-day Saints

“While we hope the elimination of this policy will be beneficial for many going forward and lead to a church that is eventually more inclusive, we continue to sit with those individuals who are most affected by the adoption and enforcement of this policy.”

— Wendy VonSosen, president of Mama Dragons support group

“It just frustrates me to no end that people can look at the reversal of a profound mistake and still believe there was no mistake. Furthermore, they can drift through the whole sorry episode with no awareness of their blithe acceptance of institutional cruelty and the damage they, personally, have done to their brothers and sisters with their indifference.”

— Jim Bennett, former Utah congressional candidate

Herriman • Real Salt Lake is still hunting for its first road win of the season. With six of the team’s first nine games away from Rio Tinto Stadium, it may be time for that to happen soon.

RSL will have an opportunity to break their three-game road winless streak on Saturday against the Seattle Sounders, a team that hasn’t lost at home yet this season and is second in the Western Conference.

If this situation sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Last year, the team was staring at a five-game road losing streak heading into a match against the Sounders. They ended up with a 1-0 win on an evening where Sebastian Saucedo notched his first MLS goal of his career.

But as any player will say when asked, that was last year, and this is this year. And while there aren’t many tactical aspects RSL can use from the previous time it played Seattle on the road, the memory from that game can possibly translate to this season.

“We know that we have won there before,” midfielder Albert Rusnák said Thursday, “so we know it’s doable to do it again.”

RSL will have to do it without Damir Kreilach, who will be suspended after receiving a red card against FC Dallas. But with Corey Baird and Sam Johnson back from national team duty, there are solutions for that.

Baird said there is plenty to take from RSL’s last road game against the Sounders.

“I think it shows what we need to do and what we need to accomplish,” Baird said. “I think that was a good game for us mentally.”

Keeper Nick Rimando, who will retire at the end of the season, remembered last year’s win as one in which the team prepared well and executed that preparation on the field. He said it will take more of the same to win Saturday.

“We give ourselves a chance if we pay attention to the game plan and we’re committed to defending and obviously take advantage of our opportunities,” Rimando said.

Inching closer

Justen Glad and Joao Plata have recently made their returns to full training, RSL coach Mike Petke said Tuesday. Glad (broken toe) has been out for the entire regular season thus far, and Plata (ankle) was injured in the season opener at Houston.

But in recent weeks, both Glad and Plata have been ramping up their activity in training. Petke said Tuesday there was a strong chance Glad plays with the Real Monarchs this weekend to get acclimated to game speed.

“I’m excited to be back out there with the boys and hopefully contribute,” Glad said Tuesday.

Petke said Plata also “looked good” in his first practice back.

Tony Beltran made an appearance at training on Thursday, performing drills with a trainer in which he was running, cutting and jumping. He has also been out for much of the regular season with a knee injury.

Rimando said getting some players back from injury gives RSL more options and creates more competition for starting spots. He mentioned having Beltran on the field helps because he is a leader in the locker room, and said Plata’s near-return gives the team another attacking option.

“It’s always great when you’re healthy as a team and gives us more options and makes the coaches’ job a little bit harder,” Rimando said Thursday.

Stanford reunion

Baird will get a chance to play against his old college buddy in Sounders forward Jordan Morris. The two were teammates at Stanford University for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Morris joined Seattle in 2016, while Baird stayed at Stanford until 2017.

“Definitely looking forward to it,” Baird said of playing against Morris, adding that the two spent time together at a recent United States Men’s National Team camp.

Morris did not play last season due to an injury, so Saturday will be Baird’s first time facing his former college teammate in MLS action. Baird said the only time he has ever gone against Morris is in practice.

Jazz Gaming will kick off its second season in the NBA 2K League on Friday with a pair of matches in the group stage of The Tipoff tournament.

The NBA 2K League is an esports venture founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software. It features 21 teams competing in a combination of regular-season, tournament, and playoff games.

Players compete as unique characters — not existing NBA players — in 5-on-5 play; no artificial intelligence is used. Jazz Gaming, which is affiliated with the Utah Jazz, has a six-man roster, which includes two returning competitors and four new draft picks.

The Tipoff tournament, which got underway on Tuesday, features all 21 teams from the league. It will culminate on Saturday, with the top eight teams competing for the tournament title and a share of a $120,000 prize pool.

Jazz Gaming’s two games Thursday will be against Bucks Gaming at 7 p.m. MT, and against Blazer5 Gaming at 8 p.m. MT. All Tipoff tournament and regular-season games take place at the NBA 2K League Studio in Long Island, N.Y., and are livestreamed on the league’s Twitch channel (www.twitch.tv/nba2kleague).

— Eric Walden

The founder of Utah’s LoveLoud music festival for LGBTQ youths, Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds, tweeted a cautiously positive response to the news that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is changing its policy toward same-sex couples and their children.

Reynolds tweeted this response Thursday: “progress doesn’t happen overnight. it happens in small steps. today we are one step closer.”

progress doesn’t happen overnight. it happens in small steps. today we are one step closer. ♥️ https://t.co/O9cee7FujJ

— Dan Reynolds (@DanReynolds) April 4, 2019

In a Thursday announcement, church leaders said children of LGBTQ parents may be blessed as babies — a tradition within the faith — and baptized without the need for approval from the faith’s governing First Presidency. Latter-day Saints in a same-gender marriage would also cease to be subject to an automatic disciplinary proceedings.

Reynolds, who is a Latter-day Saint, launched LoveLoud in 2017 to raise awareness of suicide among teens — often connected to their churches’ and families’ reactions to their LGBTQ identity.

The third annual LoveLoud is scheduled for June 29 at Usana Amphitheatre in West Valley City, with pop star Kesha, DJ Martin Garrix and Reynolds among the headliners. The event falls on the 50th anniversary of the riots at New York’s Stonewall Inn, a gay bar that became a landmark of the LGBTQ rights movement.

Reynolds wasn’t the only artist with connections to the church who reacted to Thursday’s announcement.

Playwright Matthew Greene, whose recent one-man play “Good Standing” imagined a Latter-day Saint “court of love” considering whether to excommunicate a man for marrying his boyfriend, said the policy change “represents a step toward compassion, reconciliation and understanding.”

Greene added in an email Thursday, however, that the policy shift is "just a step and I hope there’s more positive change to come.”

The church’s previous policy, he said, “caused a lot of pain, a lot of division, and if church leadership is committed to ameliorating that, I applaud them for it. Again, it’s one step in a long journey, but I’m happy to see what looks like positive change in the lives of so many people I love.”

Rock star Tyler Glenn, of the band Neon Trees, posted on Twitter that “THIS very policy personally sent me and my family on a complete life course shift.” Glenn came out as gay in an April 2014 Rolling Stone interview, and resigned his membership in the church after the 2015 policy announcement.

“Don’t forget the lives that were lost to suicide. the pain this policy caused in so many families,” Glenn posted. “This ‘correction’ has nothing to do w/ actual LGBT and everything to do with baptism numbers.”

THIS very policy personally sent me and my family on a complete life course shift.

Don’t forget the lives that were lost to suicide. the pain this policy caused in so many families.

This “correction” has nothing to do w/ actual LGBT and everything to do with baptism numbers❌ https://t.co/bHKouWrP87

— Tyler Glenn (@tylerinacoma) April 4, 2019

The world premiere of “Good Standing” was produced last fall by Salt Lake City’s Plan-B Theatre. That company’s artistic director, Jerry Rapier, was more frank about the policy change Thursday.

“The Mormon church’s interest in and opinion of the composition of my family," Rapier said, “is unsolicited and holds zero meaning.”

Washington • Abandoning his threat to immediately seal the southern border, President Donald Trump warned instead on Thursday that he’d slap tariffs on cars coming to the U.S. from Mexico unless the Mexicans do more to stop the flow of migrants and drugs to the U.S.

In his latest backtrack in recent days, Trump told reporters he would try the "less drastic measure" before resorting to his standing border-closure threat.

"Mexico understands that we're going to close the border or I'm going to tariff the cars. I'll do one or the other. And probably start off with the tariffs," Trump said. He added later: "I don't think we'll ever have to close the border because the penalty of tariffs on cars coming into the United States from Mexico, at 25 percent, will be massive."

It was the latest, seemingly sudden attempt at new leverage by a president struggling to solve what his administration has called a border "crisis." And it was a dramatic departure for Trump, who last week tweeted that he would close the border or large swaths of it this week unless Mexico immediately halted "ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States" — a seemingly impossible task.

Trump said at the time that he was "not kidding around," and his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said in a television interview Sunday that it would take "something dramatic" for Trump not to close down the crossings.

Since then, however, White House advisers, border city leaders and U.S. economists have warned that such a move would have enormous economic consequences on both sides of the border, interrupting supply chains and boosting U.S. consumer prices on everything from avocadoes to autos.

Trump in recent days has also backtracked on his push for Republicans to again take on health care and surprised his own education secretary by reversing a plan to ax federal aid for the Special Olympics.

Those actions have only added to longstanding concerns about whether Trump's words can be trusted. Trump, who has long said his unpredictability is one of his greatest negotiating assets, has also followed through with some of his most bombastic threats, including forcing the country's longest-ever government shutdown over border funding.

Trump had already appeared to be easing off his border threat earlier this week. Though he said Tuesday all options remained on the table, he shifted his goal posts, calling on Congress to pass immigration legislation to avert a closure and praising the Mexican government for doing more to apprehend migrants traveling through the country from Central America — though it's unclear anything has changed.

Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's foreign relations secretary, said Tuesday his government had not changed its policies. And on Thursday, Mexico's ambassador to the U.S. Martha Barcena told The Associated Press the country was working to make its own border "more orderly" but "migration will never be stopped."

Jesus Seade, the Mexican undersecretary for North America, also brushed off the threat of new tariffs, saying officials were "not concerned" and noting the tariffs are not part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement that the countries have agreed to but not yet ratified.

On Thursday, Trump also threatened tariffs if Mexico doesn't halt the flow of illegal drugs across the border, saying he'd give the country "a one year warning" to comply.

"But if in a year from now drugs continue to pour in we're going to put tariffs on," he said, adding: "I don't play games."

As for concerns his actions might interfere with the trade deal he fought for, Trump said the border was "more important to me than the USMCA."

Trump has wide-ranging power to impose tariffs on national security grounds, which he has repeatedly used as leverage against other countries. But the USMCA was worded to protect Mexico against auto tariffs based on national security concerns, and trade lawyer Daniel D. Ujczo said those provisions are already in effect under a side letter.

"In short, this is the exact scenario that the Mexican negotiating team predicted and secured protections from in the USMCA," he said. "Mexico 'Trump-and-Tweet-proofed' its auto sector," and the White House "would need to get very creative to impose auto tariffs on Mexico."

In addition, despite what Trump suggests, Mexico, China and other American trading partners don't pay U.S. tariffs directly. American importers pay the tariffs at the border and then must decide how much of the higher cost they can pass along to U.S. customers.

Tariffs do squeeze the manufacturers who export to the U.S. from foreign countries by making their products more expensive in the United States. But there again, that can hit U.S. companies, such as General Motors, which is a major car-maker in Mexico.

Trump has been increasingly exasperated at his inability to halt the swelling number of migrants entering the U.S., including thousands who have being released after arriving because border officials have no space for them. Arrests along the southern border have skyrocketed in recent months and border agents were on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry in March, a 12-year high. More than half of those are families with children, who require extra care.

The president's "pretty frustrated," said Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who spoke with Trump this week and offered to work with the administration "to try to come up with some more targeted ideas," including changes for remittances to Mexico. Trump suggested he work with the Treasury secretary on the idea, Cornyn said.

Trump has invoked other executive powers, including declaring a national emergency in an effort to secure more money for his long-promised border wall. Congress voted to block the emergency declaration, but Trump vetoed that measure.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Democrats would file a lawsuit aimed at preventing Trump from "stealing" billions from federal programs and diverting the money to building barriers along the border.

Administration officials had been studying ways to minimize the economic impact of a potential border closure in case Trump went through with his threat, including keeping trucking lanes open or closing only certain ports.

But even absent that extraordinary step, delays at border stations have been mounting after some 2,000 border officers were reassigned from checking vehicles to deal with migrant crowds.

___

Associated Press writers Paul Wiseman, Darlene Superville and Luis Alonso Lugo in Washington and Peter Orsi in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Gionni Paul woke up Thursday morning on a cot in his friend’s basement, in a swirl of pain and uncertainty. His right arm throbbed — it was held together by 15 screws and two metal plates, and to Paul it felt like needles were shooting through it. His head spun — he planned to spend the day navigating workman’s compensation paperwork and filing for unemployment. His life paused — he had two kids, belongings split between Utah and Florida and no clue what comes next.

On Saturday, Paul had been a member of the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football, a 26-year-old linebacker taking one more run at an NFL career. By Thursday, he had joined the scores of players left blindsided and jobless by the sudden dissolution of the AAF, an eight-team minor league launched this year. The folding, two weeks before the scheduled end of the regular season, stunned AAF employees from coaches to players to trainers. Few felt the sting as uniquely as Paul.

In Salt Lake's final game, while defending a pass during the first quarter, Paul broke two bones in his forearm. He underwent surgery Sunday morning. He had heard the rumors of trouble with the league's finances, and seen reports that AAF financier Tom Dundon felt he needed NFL Players Association cooperation for the league to survive, which Paul's coaches dismissed as a negotiating gambit. Paul never expected what happened Tuesday, when the league informed employees it would halt operations. He would miss paychecks he was counting on. He would have to move out of the team hotel Wednesday morning. He would have to figure out how to pay for treatment on his broken arm.

Paul and several teammates found temporary refuge at the home of Trevor Reilly, a linebacker who spent four seasons in the NFL and, like Paul, played at the University of Utah and had hooked on with the Stallions.

"I've seen better days," Paul said Thursday morning with a sardonic chuckle.

Paul is wearing an Aircast and has a follow-up appointment on his surgery scheduled for next week. Rich Ohrnberger, a former NFL offensive lineman and radio broadcaster for the San Diego Fleet, wrote Wednesday night on Twitter that injured players would be "out in the cold" to pay medical expenses.

That was as much as Paul had heard. He wasn't certain how his rehab would unfold, or how he would pay for it. Local fans had set up a GoFundMe page for him, and he was hopeful that would help. The worst part was not knowing.

"I haven't heard anything," Paul said. "That's the scary part. Who's going to do my therapy? Who's going to pay for this? I got to be here for seven weeks to see a doctor. I got nowhere to stay. It's a s---show.

The turmoil spread throughout the AAF ranks, players on the fringes of professional football who viewed the minor league as a lifeline. Taiwan Jones, a former Michigan State linebacker who had spent time with the New York Jets, left a job as an account executive for a mortgage company in Detroit in February to train for a tryout with the Memphis Express.

"I had some stability," Jones said. "I thought I was going to get some more stability."

After impressing Memphis officials in a workout, Jones signed a contract Monday at 9 p.m., envisioning a path back to the NFL. Before his first practice, while he was getting fitted for a helmet, a teammate informed him the league had shut down.

"I'm stuck in the hotel room like, man, is it not meant for me to play football?" Jones said.

Paul had taken a winding path to the AAF. He started his college career at Miami, near his Lakeland, Florida, home. He transferred to Utah. He caught on with the Cincinnati Bengals for training camp, got cut and landed in the Canadian Football League. He joined a club team in Russia, where he served as both a defensive coordinator and a player, making between $3,500 and $4,500. He felt comfortable overseas and figured he would start his coaching career there, but the AAF represented a chance to make an NFL roster.

Paul enjoyed playing in the AAF. "Good coaches," he said. "Good competition. Good football." His agent told him some NFL teams had been watching him and expressed interest. Then came a play late in the first quarter Saturday.

Playing in the middle of a Cover-2 zone, Paul dropped back to defend a tight end running down the seam. San Diego's quarterback floated a pass. From behind the tight end, Salt Lake's safety broke at full speed and clobbered both Paul and the tight end with a flying shoulder. The hit pinned Paul's arm.

"My forearm went Jello," Paul said. "I knew it was broken then. I went into shock. I started sweating. I'm the kind of person that's got a high pain tolerance. I knew."

Paul said he'll wear a cast for eight weeks, then rehab for another month or two. He runs a small business called Athletes Paradise that involves taking athletes on retreats to work on their "mind, body and soul." With a broken arm, he'll be unable to work.

"This injury happened three days ago from playing in the AAF," Paul said. "So it's like a smack in our face. 'Here's some money for playing for us. Thank you. Use your own money to get your arm better.' "

Paul is still figuring out his next moves. He received his last paycheck Thursday morning, but he said the AAF still owes him and other players bonuses. He thinks his alma mater, the University of Utah, will provide resources to help his rehab. He wants to reboot Athletes Paradise once he heals. For now, he plans to explore his workman's comp options, how to get on new insurance and whether he qualifies for unemployment.

"I got pins and screws in me," Paul said. "I don't know. It just sucks. It would be more helpful if I had two hands, if I was a little more healthy. I could go out and get what I want. Right now, I don't know what's next."

The AAF experience has not soured him on professional football. He harbors hopes of landing in an NFL training camp this summer. If not, he wants to go into coaching. He loves the sport and wants to spend his life in it, no matter how cruel it has been to him in the past four days.

"I'm going to be the best defensive coordinator in the world one day," Paul said.

He tried to keep his spirits up. In a phone conversation, he punctuated statements with both nervous sighs and resigned laughter. He expressed optimism that his arm will heal and things will work out, even if he wasn't sure how.

"I'm trying," Paul said. "That's all you really can do."

- - -

The Washington Post’s Tramel Raggs contributed to this story.

Number one.

That’s where the Jazz rank in the NBA in defensive rebounding percentage, the number of opponent missed shots that they’re able to grab instead of the other team. It’s a title that deserves recognition, yes, but it also invites scrutiny: when an NBA team is the best in the league at something, 29 other teams are naturally going to try to figure out what’s going on. So let’s dig in: how are the Jazz so good at rebounding, anyway?

The Jazz get 76.1 percent of opponent missed shots this season, number one in the league by nearly a full percentage point over the next closest team, the Milwaukee Bucks. Barring a remarkable collapse over the course of the last four games, that’s likely where they’ll end the season too, as top dogs.

And thanks to a league-wide trend in recent seasons that has seen teams emphasize offensive rebounds less — instead preferring to get back on the defensive end in transition — that’s one of the best percentages of all time. The Jazz rank fourth on that list, and every team in the top 10 has played within the last five seasons.

Rudy Gobert is a big part of this, obviously: the French big man ranks fourth in the NBA this season (behind Andre Drummond, Joel Embiid, and DeAndre Jordan) by grabbing 12.9 rebounds per game. Derrick Favors is too; he averages 7.4 rebounds per game in far fewer minutes.

Those are very good numbers, and you might be tempted to say that having a frontcourt with those two explains the Jazz’s lofty ranking. But digging in deeper into the numbers, there’s a surprise.

Since the NBA first put player tracking numbers in the ceilings of every NBA arena around five years ago, we now have a better idea what goes into rebounding. To track this, the league uses a stat called “rebound chances," which represents every time a ball flies off the rim or backboard due to a missed shot and ends up within 3.5 feet of any player.

It turns out that Gobert only gets 62% of these defensive rebound chances, which is a pretty low number for someone who has as many chances as Gobert does. Favors’ percentage is even lower, at 58%. Of the 40 players who get at least six rebounds a game, Gobert ranks 29th in terms of how frequently he gets those chances, and those other elite rebound getters all have better percentages.

Gobert and Favors are one of the league’s best offensive rebounding duos, but on defense, it’s largely about them vacuuming up a lot of uncontested rebounds. Or in other words, the Jazz’s No. 1 ranking is really all about the team doing work together.

Harder shots are easier to rebound

Remember how the Jazz and the Bucks are the top two teams in terms of defensive rebounding percentage? Well, that’s not a coincidence: those are also the two best teams in terms of defending the shot. The Bucks allow teams to score an average of 1 point per shot, for the Jazz, it’s 1.01 points per shot. That’s pretty great.

The key to both teams’ defense is preventing shots at the rim. The Bucks are the best at this, but the Jazz are top-5 too, thanks to Gobert. That means that those shots have to come from further out: for the Bucks, those are 3-point shots from opposing bad shooters, for the Jazz, it’s a steady diet of midrange junk. Nobody allows more threes than Milwaukee, nobody allows more midrange shots than the Jazz.

And it turns out that offensive rebounding rates depend greatly on where a shot comes from. Layups and other shots around the rim are frequently offensively rebounded, either by the shooter or by someone around the glass. Meanwhile, deep misses usually end up in the hands of the defense. Interestingly, teams actually are slightly more likely to get the miss on midrange shots than 3-point shots.

This goes a long way to explain why the Jazz and Bucks are where they are in the rebounding tables: they force the kinds of shots that are likely to end up as a defensive rebound, and probably an uncontested one.

Getting rebounds from the perimeter

But as you can see, the Jazz also are significantly above average at each individual location of opposing shot. So no, this isn’t the whole story either.

So if the Jazz are No. 1 in getting defensive rebounds overall, but Gobert and Favors aren’t elite in terms of getting contested rebounds, what does that mean? It means that the whole team is working together in order to get those boards, including the perimeter players.

There are many different situations where the big men need the help from outside, but here’s a couple. First, when Gobert or Favors go up to contest a guard’s driving shot, that’s when they need help to prevent the big they leave from getting that rebound. But the Jazz have done a great job of that this season.

Watch the work that Kyle Korver and Jae Crowder do here to prevent Joakim Noah from ending up with this board. Sure, he can successfully get a fingertip on it, but on a lot of teams, Noah would have just had an easier time getting the ball and likely a put-back. No such luck here.

“We gotta get in there,” Donovan Mitchell said. “If [a Jazz center] goes up to block a shot, we have to have his back, and that’s what it’s all about. It’s understanding that second-chance points are killers.”

A lot of the league’s offensive rebounds are due to long bounces, where a big man is boxed out, but it’s not enough to prevent the shooting team from getting it anyway. And that’s where the Jazz make sure to have not only the big man boxed out in front, but a perimeter player sneaking in behind to fight for it too, like Donovan Mitchell does here.

That’s probably why the Jazz’s corner three rebounding percentage is so much higher than other teams: the Jazz make sure to have that backside big man fighting for the ball surrounded. Even though Gobert and Favors’ rebound chance numbers are lower individually, as a team, the Jazz are really good at making their chances count.

The Jazz’s perimeter players don’t have flashy rebounding numbers: there’s no Russell Westbrooks, Ben Simmons, or LeBron Jameses here. It’s just everyone working together to make sure that the most contingencies are handled.

How much does the rebounding matter? Well, the Jazz allow just 11 second-chance points per game, also at the bottom of the league. The average team gets about 13 per contest. It’s not a huge difference, but those two points might be the difference between the Jazz being second defensively for the season and rather than sixth; the difference between elite and just good.

Of course, it’s just always nice to be best at something too.