The Mormon Land newsletter is a weekly highlight reel of developments in and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whether heralded in headlines, preached from the pulpit or buzzed about on the back benches. Want this newsletter in your inbox? Subscribe here.

This week’s podcast: Missionary rebuild

After surveying thousands of returned Latter-day Saint missionaries, independent researcher Matt Martinich determined that “urgent reform” was needed to help the church achieve real growth.

He offered his suggestions in a recent post on his website, ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com, and discussed them further in a Tribune story and podcast.

Read the story here. Listen to the podcast here.

LGBTQ policy is no more

It took more than 120 years before the church lifted the ban on black males holding the priesthood and black females entering the faith’s temples.

The church’s controversial LGBTQ policy, on the other hand, lasted barely three years.

On Thursday, the governing First Presidency announced an end to that November 2015 edict, which deemed same-sex member couples “apostates” and generally barred their children from religious rites.

“Previously, our Handbook characterized same-gender marriage by a member as apostasy,” Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, said in a news release. “While we still consider such a marriage to be a serious transgression, it will not be treated as apostasy for purposes of church discipline.”

In addition, Oaks said, “children of parents who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender may be baptized without First Presidency approval if the custodial parents give permission for the baptism.”

Top Latter-day Saint leaders say this news, which they characterized as a “positive” development, came as a result of “continuing revelation.”

“We need the Lord’s direction to meet changing circumstances,” second counselor Henry B. Eyring said, “and he has guided changes in practice and policy throughout the history of the church.”

Church President Russell M. Nelson, who in January 2016 called the previous LGBTQ policy a revelation from God, said in the release that the Lord leads the church “revelation upon revelation.”

Mission: immigrants

Latter-day Saint missionaries who serve abroad return home to the U.S. with more than a new language on their tongue. They apparently also bring back more empathy for immigrants in their heart.

Pointing to researcher Jana Riess’ Next Mormons Survey, Margaux Curless, an economics and finance major at Centre College in Danville, Ky., reports that U.S. missionaries — especially young men — whose stints took them to another country are more likely to believe that immigrants strengthen the nation.

“Working with and forming relationships with people from other nationalities could result in greater respect for their talents,” Curless writes in a Religion in Public blog post,“ as well as increased sympathy for harsh situations abroad or lack of opportunity.”

Centered on Christ

From “I’m a Mormon” to “I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ.”

Truly, President Russell M. Nelson’s call to a new Latter-day Saint lexicon isn’t particularly catchy, specific or distinctive, but it may not be all that surprising.

After all, historian John Turner notes, it’s a continuation of a trend to cement the Utah-based faith firmly in Christ’s corner.

“From my vantage point, the setting aside of the term ‘Mormon’ is best understood as part of what I call Mormonism’s Christocentric turn,” Turner writes in a Patheos blog post. “ ... Over the past several decades, the church has become even more robustly Christocentric, both in its substance and in its messaging.”

For instance, the church added “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” as a subtitle in 1981 to the Book of Mormon, its signature scripture. It also redesigned its logo in 1995 to feature the words “Jesus Christ” more prominently.

Newsroom follows suit

MormonNewsroom.org, an online staple for religion journalists and church observers across the globe, is now found at Newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, the church announced.

Don’t fret, though, the former web address still will get you there.

Dan Reynolds to be a four-time dad

After a brief separation, Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds and his wife, Aja Volkman, are back together and expecting a fourth child.

“I’ve been on the road for a decade now. I’m looking to take a little bit of time off. I have three little girls, and, well, I have one on the way,” Reynolds said on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York.” “I actually haven’t told anybody that. There it is. The news is out. We just found out we’re having a boy [in] October.”

So does Reynolds, a Latter-day Saint and the driving force behind the LoveLoud LGBTQ fundraising concerts, see a fifth child in his future?

“I think we’re done. … It’s the Mormon way, I know, to have, like, a million kids, but it’s, like, four already feels like a million kids, to be honest with you,” he said. “Three I guess, then fourth on the way. I think we’re done.”

Green Flake — the film

On the heels of last year’s release of “Jane and Emma” comes a film about another early African American convert: Green Flake.

A Kickstarter campaign is underway to raise money for a movie telling the story of the Southern slave who became a member of pioneer-prophet Brigham Young’s team that entered the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847.

The project is the baby of Mauli Junior Bonner, the film’s writer, creator and director, who also did the music for “Jane and Emma.”

The Green Flake film — about half of it is already shot, according to the Kickstarter page — boasts a cast that includes Alex Boye, David Osmond, Yahosh Bonner and Clotile Bonner Farkas.

This fundraising push aims to amass $65,000. As of Wednesday, it had topped $18,000.

Temple guessing game

The church announced 19 new temples last year — seven in the spring General Conference (including firsts for Russia and India) and a dozen in the fall (including firsts for Puerto Rico and Cambodia).

So, with another conference just days away, where will the next temples land? Independent researcher Matt Martinich, who tracks church growth religiously, takes a stab at that in a post at ldschurch.blogspot.com.

Mining a range of church stats and trends, he unveiled his top 10 tally of “most likely” temples to be announced (culled from a longer “likely” list):

• Benin City, Nigeria
• Colorado Springs, Colo.
• Freetown, Sierra Leone
• Monrovia, Liberia
• Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
• Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
• Rogers, Ark.
• Santa Cruz, Bolivia
• Tacoma, Wash.
• West Valley City, Utah

We’ll all be watching this weekend, Matt, to see how close you come.

Special conference offerings

Before every General Conference, The Tribune publishes a special section about Latter-day Saint trends, teachings and culture. Among other topics, this year’s stories explore:

• Latter-day Saints’ role in completing the <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/02/who-besides-chinese-irish/">transcontinental railroad</a>
• A rising trend, even among nonmembers, toward <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/02/hey-latter-day-saints/">booze-free drinks</a>
• Hurdles <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/04/some-go-polygamy-lds" target=_blank>fundamentalist Mormons</a>, some of them former polygamists, run into when joining the mainstream church
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/03/latter-day-saint-leader/">Conflicts arising</a> from other Christians over the church’s name campaign

Nelson’s peak performance

On a list of April Fools’ fibs, this one ranks high — more than 29,000 feet high.

The whopper comes courtesy of Religion News Service senior columnist Jana Riess when she broke the “news” — on April 1, of course — that 94-year-old church President Russell M. Nelson planned to climb Mount Everest.

“He has been in Nepal for weeks of on-site training for next month’s adventure, growing acclimated to the area’s altitude and gradually ascending to Base Camp,” she wrote. “ … If the technology works, Nelson will still participate live in the church’s semiannual General Conference this weekend, joining via satellite phone to provide an audio message to the religion’s more than 16 million members.”

Yes, Nelson seems to have boundless energy. Yes, he appears more than fit. And, yes, he may not even have hit his peak as president. But scaling the world’s highest summit? You’d have to be sucking in a lot of Everest’s thin air to fall for this bit of playfully fake news.

Kuwait’s blessing

The church has had a congregation in Kuwait for several decades. Now it has something else in the Persian Gulf state: official recognition.

This recently granted distinction from the government there allows Latter-day Saint leaders to better serve the needs of the nearly 300 members — including expatriates — who live and work in Kuwait, notes a news release.

“This development does not pave the way for any proselytism with full-time missionaries,” independent demographer Matt Martinich told The Tribune. However, it “will allow for more public awareness of the church in the country and greater freedoms in terms of its operations.”

Quote of the week

“The changes we have experienced in our church meetings and policies should help us, but by themselves they won’t get our members to where our Heavenly Father wants us to be. The changes that make a difference to our position on the covenant path are not changes in church policies or practices but the changes we make in our own desires and actions.”

— President Dallin H. Oaks

Mormon Land is a weekly newsletter written by David Noyce and Peggy Fletcher Stack. Subscribe here.

Happy Friday!

Need a reason to welcome immigrants? Research shows that the population of working-age Americans will drop significantly without them in coming years, making it more difficult to fund such things as Medicare and Social Security — let alone fill all labor needs.

The Pew Research Center says the large Baby Boom Generation — born after World War II and up to 1965 — is heading into retirement. Its loss plus the smaller size of following generations means the working-age population will shrink unless new immigrants are added.

“Without these new arrivals, the number of immigrants of working age would decline by 17.6 million by 2035, as would the total projected U.S. working-age population, which would fall to 165.6 million,” down more than 8 million, the center said. [Pew]

Topping the news: One story dominated Utah news: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints put an end to a controversial 2015 policy that classified same sex couples as apostates and prohibited their children from being baptized in the church. [Trib][Fox13][NYTimes][WaPost]

-> Reactions to the policy change among activists and government leaders ranged from joyful to cautious to critical. [Trib]

-> Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds, founder of Utah’s LoveLoud music festival that seeks to help prevent suicide among LGBTQ youths, was among artists who cautiously praised the policy change.[Trib]

-> In a Religion News Service commentary, Jana Riess says the LGBTQ policy reversal shows the church is willing to question and change even stands it had previously said were clear revelations from God. [Trib]

-> Tribune columnist Robert Kirby gave his take on coming out of the stupid closet. [Trib]

-> And cartoonist Pat Bagley drew about what it may mean to be church approved. [Trib]

Tweets of the day: From @TroyWilliamsUT “The hardest part of my job is quickly finding words to adequately capture overwhelming emotion — & then responding to an onslaught of press! I’m grateful to Church leaders for listening and reversing the policy. This will keep families intact. This will save lives. More soon.”

-> From @AddisonDJenkins “THERE we go! Reversing the policy doesn't magically *undue* all the damage in the past 3.5 years! Imagine... idk you broke Michael Phelps' back and he couldn't go to the Olympics and then years later you're like "my bad, here's you back, back ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" doesn't cut it!”

Behind the Headlines: Tribune Managing Editor David Noyce, government and politics editor Dan Harrie, and columnist George Pyle join KCPW’s Roger McDonough talk about the week’s top stories, including the policy reversal. Every Friday at 9 a.m., stream “Behind the Headlines” at kcpw.org, or tune in to KCPW 88.3 FM or Utah Public Radio for the broadcast. Join the live conversation by calling (801) 355-TALK.

Friday Quiz: Last week, 98% of you knew that Utah women will no longer need a prescription for birth control, but only 47% knew that 135,000 acres of public land in Utah were leased for oil and gas exploration. Think you kept up with the news this week? Take our quiz to find out. You can find previous quizzes here. If you’re using The Salt Lake Tribune mobile app, click here. [Trib]

Happy Birthday: on Friday to Karen Crompton from Voices for Utah Children and Jesse P. Higgins; on Saturday to state Rep. Craig Hall, state Sen. Karen Mayne, former state Rep. Neil Hansen, former Utah GOP National Committeeman Bruce Hough and former Young Democrats President TJ Ellerbeck; and on Sunday to state Rep. Derrin Owens.

In other news: More than a dozen police officers attended the Salt Lake City Council meeting to urge officials to increase pay for the Salt Lake Police Department which is one of the lower paid departments on the Wasatch Front. [Trib]

-> Lehi Police say chalk art that was left by mothers and children on the city hall sidewalk in protest of the gravel mine is considered “criminal mischief.” [Trib]

-> As recreation keeps booming near Moab, federal officials look to limit dispersed camping at the biking hot spot of Klondike Bluffs — saying visitors are destroying vegetation and leaving fetid waste. [Trib]

-> A public comment period has been opened to determine the best method to reduce congestion in Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood canyon, methods proposed include charging tolls, building train lines, constructing another road lane or adding buses or gondolas. [Trib][Fox13]

-> Tribune columnist Robert Kirby, describes what General Conference would be like if seating arrangements were organized hierarchically. [Trib]

-> Tribune columnist, Robert Gehrke, paints a picture of how the electoral college would apply to Utah state elections. [Trib]

-> Salt Lake City joined a nationwide protest movement that demands U.S. Attorney General, William Barr to release special counsel Robert Mueller's report. [DNews]

Nationally: President Donald Trump backs off his Mexican border shutdown threats, but now talks about auto tariffs. [AP via Trib]

-> Trump says Friday that Democrats are playing political games with national security, and there is “an undeniable crisis on our southern border and we need to fix it QUICKLY!” He posts a video on Facebook. [TrumpFacebook]

-> Despite bipartisan pleas from senators, Trump remains impassable on moving forward a bill to provide disaster aid unless funds to Puerto Rico are reduced. [Politico]

-> Trump tweeted a doctored video clip of former vice president Joe Biden mocking him based on allegations of being overtly physical with women. [NYTimes]

-> The news that the Mueller report could potentially contain information that would be detrimental to Trump has reignited the nearly two-year-old battle over the Russian probe. [WaPost]

-> Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, attempting to get House Democrats to keep him out of jail, extended a carrot in the form of documents he says would be useful in investigating Trump. [WaPost]

-> Boeing’s CEO acknowledges that a company-approved flight system played a role in crashes of its new Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia and Indonesia. [AP via Trib]

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

Lee Davidson and Christina Giardinelli

twitter.com/LeeDavi82636879, @C_Giardinelli

Ken’s Lake in Grand County is barely a puddle of its normal self, currently holding just 20 percent of its 13,000 acre-foot capacity, thanks to seven straight dry years in southern Utah.

The level of this reservoir near Moab is expected to dramatically rise in the coming weeks as the La Sal Mountains sheds a snowpack that is holding twice as much water as it usually does this time of year.

“It’s official: Utah’s snowpack is fantastic this year!” federal hydrologists crowed in a water report released Thursday. “Statewide, this snowpack ranks substantially better than 2017, and almost as good as the banner years of 2005 and 2011. While the whole state is doing quite well, southern Utah is having a particularly excellent winter.”

The water stored in the snowpacks of San Juan, Grand and eastern Uintah counties is 207 percent of normal as of Thursday, while it is 191 percent for southwestern Utah, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS.

Barely six months ago, Utah was in a drought emergency, coming after the driest, second-warmest year on record, which was particularly hard on southeast Utah. In hindsight, Gov. Gary Herbert’s official drought declaration on Oct. 15 seems to have wakened the rain gods.

Consistent precipitation has been falling across the state ever since, building up snowpacks across Utah’s 15 hydrologic basins, which collectively stand at 140 percent of the 30-year mean, promising to fill depleted reservoirs and bring relief to southern Utah ranchers and farmers stressed by persistent drought.

The repeat storms had the added benefit of improving Utah’s air quality by repeatedly breaking up the inversions that trap pollution in the valleys.

Meanwhile, the snowpack is still growing, and that could spell trouble if rain and hot temperatures trigger a chaotic runoff later this spring.

“If it keeps going like this and cold and wet through April, it will keep adding to high elevation snowpack, and we’ll have a runoff like we had in 2011. We will see some loss in the lower elevations, and that might be a good thing because that will free up some room to mitigate that flooding risk,” said Troy Brosten, the NRCS hydrologist who supervises the water supply outlook reports. “It’s a double-edged sword because now we will worry about flooding, but there are a lot of reservoirs that really need the water.”

These monthly reports are based on data generated from 96 “Snotel” monitoring stations scattered around Utah’s mountain ranges, sited to give a representative snapshot of the state’s seasonal water supply. Each Snotel, a contraction of the term snow telemetry, is equipment with instruments that record snow depth, water equivalence, air temperature, precipitation and soil moisture at depths of 2, 8 and 20 inches.

The lowest snowpack is on the Uinta Mountains’ north slope, drained by the Bear River, which is barely above normal. The Central Wasatch snowpack, which feeds Utah’s urban core, is 142 percent of the 30-year average.

The La Sals Snotel station, located at 9,578 feet above sea level, indicates 21.5 inches of water equivalent in its snowpack, a huge leap from the 10 inches it achieved last year at its peak.

The Grand Water & Sewer Service Agency, which operates Ken’s Lake at the foot of the La Sals, anticipates robust runoff.

“We hope the temperatures stay cool and the runoff comes down at a steady rate. A steady runoff ensures dam safety by not filling the lake too quickly,” said agency manager Dana Van Horn. “We hope the runoff will supply the lake with enough water for this season and some in storage for next year.”

Statewide, reservoirs are standing at 65 percent of capacity, down from 77 percent at this time last year. Thursday’s report predicts that most of the small- to medium-size reservoirs will completely fill and the larger reservoirs should see a substantial improvement.

Down 135 feet from its peak level, Lake Powell, the state’s largest reservoir and farthest downstream on the Colorado River, is not expected to fully rebound.

This winter was ideal for several reasons in addition to large amounts of snowfall, according to Jon Meyer, a research climatologists with the Utah Climate Center.

“Unlike the recent years, there hasn’t been a split in the state’s snowpack picture where parts of the state miss out while others enjoy a better winter. This year it’s been all good news; just in time, thankfully, following the dire water year we had last year,” Meyer said. “If we could order up a season like we’ve had this year, I can’t think of a better order to place.”

But Meyer is waiting to see how the spring runoff plays out before he crowns 2018-19 the perfect water year.

Soil moisture levels are down in some areas, which could make for a less efficient runoff, according to Brosten. This is because it would take more water to saturate soil before it can run into streams.

And if the snowpack melts rapidly, as it did in 1983, streams could overflow their banks and that water might not even reach a reservoir, warned Rachel Shilton, section manager for river basin planning for the Utah Division of Water Resources.

Utah water honchos like Shilton aren’t ready to declare an end to the drought, although they remain “cautiously optimistic.”

“There is talk about that, but when we talk with the farmers, the boots on the ground, they are pretty cautious,” Shilton said. “One good year doesn’t mean rejuvenation of their fields and livestock. I don’t want to promote that because I want them to still be conscientious about their water use. We still want to have that water-wise ethic.”

Nearly eight months after KSL-Channel 5 was removed from DirecTV, the two sides have finally settled their dispute. The NBC affiliate returned to the satellite provider’s lineup late Thursday.

“We are so grateful to our … viewers who stuck with us,” tweeted KSL vice president and general manager Tanya Vea. “Happy to be back on DirecTV!”

The two sides had already spent several months negotiating over how much KSL would be paid for its signal when the station went dark on DirecTV back on Aug. 14. Since legislation that went into effect in 1992, cable and satellite providers have been required to obtain the permission — retransmission consent — of broadcast stations to carry their signal. And that permission is generally comes after the satellite/cable company agrees to pay for it.

Channel 5 insisted that DirecTV refused to pay it what it’s worth; DirecTV claimed that KSL’s demands for compensation were unreasonable and would force it to increase customer rates. Neither side released any details about the financial arrangement.

It was the sort of standoff that happens between cable/satellite systems and broadcast and cable channels frequently. And it was the second time that KSL had been off DirecTV in three years — Channel 5 was unavailable for three weeks in August-September 2015.

What made this latest outage unusual was how long it lasted. Most such disputes are resolved in days or weeks; eight months is nearly unprecedented.

(Although DirecTV has never reached an agreement with the Pac-12 Network, which launched more than 6½ years ago.)

The two sides also couldn’t agree on who was at fault . KSL blamed DirecTV, and DirecTV told its subscribers that it “will never remove” a local station “from your lineup. Period” — asserting that it would have continued to carry Utah’s NBC affiliate while negotiations were underway and that KSL pulled out to apply pressure.

The new agreement means that DirecTV subscribers in Utah once again have access to NBC programming and KSL’s local news. It comes on the eve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints General Conference — although DirecTV subscribers couldn’t see the last General Conference in October on KSL.

“Never apologize, mister. It’s a sign of weakness.”

— Capt. Nathan Brittles (John Wayne), “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” 1949

"When my information changes, I change my mind. What do you do?”

— John Maynard Keynes (attributed)

“He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday.”

— Stephen Colbert, roasting President George W. Bush, 2006

“I don’t know. I’m making this up as I go.”

— Indiana Jones, (Harrison Ford) “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” 1981

(Just 31 more aphorisms and I’ll have a whole column.)

And you may find yourself at the head of a global religious institution that, like other religious institutions, has to appear to be permanent and unchanging at the same time it is seen as keeping up with rapidly changing social mores, always in danger of cheesing off half the world if you appear to go too far one way or the other.

And you may find yourself in the skin of an aging duff, who has spent his entire adult life in the upper circles of power, trying to remain relevant long enough to take one last shot at becoming president of the United States, torn between sticking to your reputation as a guy who is strong enough to hug people because he really cares about them or evolving into a sensitive new-age guy who respects women’s personal space.

And you may ask yourself, Well, how did I get here?

And how do I work this?

Joe Biden, to his credit, appears to have decided that he will not try to brazen out a string of lies about how he never really touched, hugged, rubbed, caressed or passingly fondled all those women, and not a few men, many of whom he had met for the first time only seconds before. It’s all on tape, after all, though that never stopped the current occupant of the Oval Office from lying his butt off daily about things known to be otherwise.

The last thing the Democratic Party needs right now is a candidate who can be portrayed as matching the other party’s standard-bearer grope for grope.

The former senator, former vice president, the committee chairman who allowed the official sliming of Anita Hill, has chosen to put an improved spin on the old political/corporate non-denial denial consent decree. Instead of, “I didn’t do anything wrong and I promise I’ll never do it again,” his line is that an old dog can learn new tricks, can be “more respectful of people’s personal space," without any real apologies or promises to renounce a style of politics that “is about connecting with people.”

Really connecting with people, after all, means not carelessly forcing them into situations that, even when they are not seen by anyone as sexual harassment or assault, or even coming on to someone, might reasonably be perceived as overly familiar to the point of being demeaning.

What Biden, and any other politician trying to adapt to changing times, lacks is the cover story that he is only doing what God wanted him to do yesterday, and what God wants him to do today, even though one is very different from the other. That dodge generally rests on the other side of the wall between church and state.

Where lies The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Which, just days before its semi-annual General Conference, announced to the world that it has officially changed its divinely inspired mind about how the church should treat children being nurtured in the households of same-sex parents. Not like trash.

And there was much rejoicing.

Leaders of the LGBT community were generally gracious enough not to openly wonder how come God changed his mind, or whether those whose job it is to interpret God’s word were hard-of-hearing in 2015, when the church said it considered same-sex couples “apostates” and basically banned their children from church membership, or Thursday, when they said, effectively, “Never mind.”

If you are happy someone changed their mind, and will want them to change their mind on more things in the future, then you certainly don’t take the opportunity to accuse them of being confused, wibbly-wobbly or dishonest. You praise their open-minded capacity for growth and recognize how difficult it can be, especially for those in positions of temporal or spiritual power, to leave themselves open to charges of abandoning their principles or their followers.

Especially when those followers want to believe that they are adhering to principles, not just following people who happen to be in power.

And who aren’t comfortable with an eternal truth of humanity. We are making this up as we go.

George Pyle, editorial page editor of The Salt Lake Tribune, has conveniently forgotten any time he changed his mind about something important. gpyle@sltrib.com

Video: It’s always concerning when the president chooses an unqualified political operative to an important position. But this is especially true if we’re talking about appointments to the Federal Reserve Board, which should be independent. Post columnist Catherine Rampell says that’s exactly why President Trump’s choice of Stephen Moore - a long-time GOP political operative and professional Trump surrogate - has been so troubling. (Joshua Carroll , Danielle Kunitz/The Washington Post)

Washington - Nein, nein, nein.

That should be the Senate's response if President Trump actually nominates his friend Herman Cain, the former pizza magnate turned failed Republican presidential candidate, to the Federal Reserve Board, as Trump said he plans to do.

Cain would be Trump’s second proposed addition to the Fed in as many weeks, the other being longtime partisan operative Stephen Moore. Even before this month, though, Trump had ample opportunity to reshape the Fed in his anti-institutional, anti-intellectual image. Thankfully — surprisingly, in fact — he had refrained.

For other executive branch appointments, Trump seems to have selected nominees based on who would be the absolute worst person for any given position. But until recently, his Fed choices seemed … totally reasonable. He has picked four out of the five already-confirmed Fed board members, all of whom are competent, well-qualified professionals — all reliable Republicans, too, but Republicans who have performed their jobs apolitically. Exactly as members of the central bank, which is politically independent, are supposed to do.

Of course, that benign neglect led to some policy outcomes the president has disliked — specifically, higher interest rates. Perhaps hoping to pack the Fed with more pliant appointees, Trump has now homed in on these two.

Like Moore, Cain has some baggage. Way worse baggage, in fact: Cain dropped out of the 2012 Republican presidential primary after at least four women accused him of sexual misconduct. One alleged that he put his hand up her skirt at a convention and tried to pull her head toward his crotch. When she protested, he allegedly said, "You want a job, right?" Cain denied the allegations.

If true, such actions alone would be disqualifying for any major government position. And they may yet derail his nomination. But they're also hardly the only reasons to object to placing Cain in one of the most important economic jobs in the world.

To put it bluntly: When it comes to understanding pretty basic policy issues, Cain isn't able.

Most people who remember anything about Cain's brief political career might know him for the "9-9-9" tax rate plan. Unfortunately, neither did that plan have rates that were actually 9 percent nor did it turn out to be particularly strong in its arithmetic. I recall a perplexing interview back in 2011, during which I spoke with the adviser who had devised the plan with Cain. It turned out the reason his math didn't make sense was that he was, among other things, claiming credit for eliminating "invisible" taxes and conflating marginal and average tax rates. Apparently neither he nor his boss had noticed.

Cain made other uninformed or impolitic comments during the 2012 campaign, including saying he didn't think it was relevant for him to know "who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan." Or declaring he wouldn't feel comfortable appointing a Muslim to a Cabinet position or a federal judgeship.

But hey, fiscal policy, foreign relations and, uh, the First Amendment aren't the Fed's purview! Monetary policy and financial regulation are. Unfortunately — despite the fact that Cain served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from 1992 to 1996 — his documented views on these issues are just as quack-tastic.

Cain is a longtime inflation hawk, which could put him at odds with Trump’s calls for looser money. As recently as December 2017, Cain was even defending higher interest rates. But perhaps Trump assumes that Cain will dutifully flip his views, just as the once-hawkish Moore has done.

In fact, in January, when Cain was already rumored to be in contention for a Fed seat, he told Bloomberg he was concerned about recent Fed rate increases and said the real thing to fear was not inflation but nonexistent "deflation." This is Moore's boogeyman du jour, too.

But perhaps the bigger issue is that Cain has said — repeatedly — that the United States should return to the gold standard.

This stance is one Moore has also intermittently espoused, and it has been roundly rejected by actual economic experts. That includes, for instance, every single economist surveyed by the University of Chicago's IGM Economic Experts Panel.

Then there's the fact that Cain spent the years following his failed presidential campaign spamming his email followers with snake-oil scams, promising "weird tricks" that would make his followers get rich quick or "naturally" cure their erectile dysfunction.

Cain's one possible virtue is that, during his aborted presidential campaign, he once complained that the Fed had become too "politicized." I wonder: What might presidential candidate Cain then say about possible-future-Fed-board-governor Cain now?

Catherine Rampell's email address is crampell@washpost.com. Follow her on Twitter, @crampell.

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Rudy Gobert’s biggest fans wanted a second chance to see their star under the lights. So naturally, they called for an encore.

On Friday, Jazz management unveiled its “Gobert/Encore” jazz album — yes, like the music, not the basketball team — the centerpiece of their efforts campaigning for Gobert to win Defensive Player of the Year for a second consecutive season. The album is a nearly note-for-note reproduction of John Coltrane’s debut album, first released in 1957.

“We did a lot of research on Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, other record albums, and as we were going through, we landed on the Coltrane “Prestige 7105,” Ben Barnes, art director for the Jazz, said. “We wanted something that didn’t look cheesy. There’s a nice intimidating stare that Coltrane has in this photo that I think fits Rudy’s demeanor. There’s a nice style to it.”

So the Jazz held a photoshoot all the way back in February, giving the team enough time to have the albums printed. Once they found a large enough table for Gobert’s wingspan — harder than it might seem — and added a smoke machine to the room, Gobert was ready to put on his best Coltrane stare. Gobert came prepared, too, wearing a suit and black turtleneck he already owned to the shoot.

The albums were pressed at United Record Pressing in Nashville — they also worked on Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited,” Jay-Z’s " The Black Album” and Miles Davis’ "Kind of Blue.” Meanwhile, the jackets were made at Dorado Music Packaging in Los Angeles.

The final package was mailed to the media voters for the NBA’s end-of-season awards, the ballots of which were sent earlier this week. Once opened, the album features a booklet modeled after the liner notes in real jazz albums; but this Gobert/Encore edition instead lays out the case for Gobert to repeat as DPOY winner.

That’s done with key stats detailing Gobert’s defensive contributions and quotes from competing players and coaches about the big Frenchman’s impact on the floor.

The physical record inside is blank, sadly, so it won’t play in your record player at home. But the Jazz hope the imagery and the information contained inside is enough to sway voters’ minds as they vote over the next week.

In a recent court filing objecting to a proposed increase to his monthly restitution payments and accusing federal prosecutors and the news media of collusion and defamation, Blanding Republican Rep. Phil Lyman acknowledged that his economic circumstances had changed since voters elected him to the Utah Legislature.

That means the court has discretion to adjust Lyman’s court-ordered payments “to serve the interests of justice,” U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber and Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Moon argued Thursday in a response to Lyman’s memo.

“Mr. Lyman does not argue in his Response that he lacks the resources to pay $500 per month towards restitution,” they wrote, “nor does he provide any evidence to support such a claim.”

The back-and-forth follows a request by the U.S. attorney’s office that Lyman be ordered to increase his monthly payments from $100 to $500 toward some $96,000 in outstanding restitution stemming from his misdemeanor conviction in 2015 for leading a protest ride on ATVs through Utah’s Recapture Canyon.

Lyman objected to the proposed increase, arguing he has experienced a pay cut since leaving his San Juan County Commission seat and being elected to the Utah House of Representatives.

And on Friday, Lyman told The Tribune that anyone with a sense of justice “should be appalled” by the actions of the U.S. attorney’s office.

“It’s coming from the same Allison Moon who is basically carrying water for the environmentalist crowd and trying to defame and disparage and embarrass and do anything she can to make public anything that she can make public,” he said of Thursday’s filing. “I think it’s disgusting.”

In their response, federal prosecutors acknowledged they had “overlooked” the loss of Lyman’s county income in requesting that his monthly payment be increased. But they downplayed that oversight, while estimating that Lyman holds more than $200,000 in commercial real estate equity and, following a redacted portion of the filing, that he spends nearly three times the amount of necessary life expenses under IRS standards.

A redacted exhibit included with the filing suggests the U.S. attorney’s office estimates Lyman’s monthly expenses to be in excess of $12,000.

“And even with his allegedly decreased income,” they wrote, “Mr. Lyman can afford to pay $500 per month towards restitution.”

Lyman declined Friday to comment on the accuracy of those estimates or the value of his commercial holdings and monthly spending.

“That’s none of their business,” he said. “It’s certainly none of yours.”

In his March court memorandum objecting to the increased payments, Lyman also included pointed accusations that his underlying conviction was unjust, and that the original judge who presided over his case, federal prosecutors and Utah media outlets had conspired against him.

“It is troubling to me that certain people in the U.S. attorney’s office feel compelled to continually harass my name and reputation,” Lyman wrote in March. “I have learned from my own case as well as the constant barrage of distasteful news stories in the mainstream media that this sort of denigration is the modus operandi of many in positions of power.”

In their response Thursday, Huber and Moon declined to addressed Lyman’s accusations, saying that his conviction and restitution order had already been properly adjudicated.

“As to the United States’ motive,” they wrote, “the United States is simply seeking to collect a debt, and Mr. Lyman’s accusations are misplaced.”

A lengthy footnote in the prosecutors response dismisses Lyman’s claims of politically-motivated malice, including the suggestion by Lyman that the presence of a media camera crew in Blanding on the same day as a visit by a representative of the U.S. attorney’s office was evidence of a premeditated “smear campaign.”

“Because these meritless arguments are no substitute for actual evidence of Mr. Lyman’s financial condition,” prosecutors wrote, “he has failed to carry his burden of proof and should be ordered to pay at least $500 per month towards restitution.”

But on Friday, Lyman reiterated his accusation that the U.S. attorney’s office colluded with members of the Utah news media, and suggested The Tribune had coordinated with prosecutors in producing this article. A Tribune reporter responded that no such coordination took place, and that the U.S. attorney’s response had not been seen by Tribune staff until the day after its court filing, but Lyman rejected that explanation.

Lyman, who is representing himself in the proceedings surrounding his restitution payments, said he planned to answer the prosecutors’ response with additional memoranda.

“It is adversarial,” he said, “and I plan to respond in kind.”

The memos are filed in the court of Judge David Nuffer, who sentenced Lyman to 10 days in jail, three years probation and restitution in the conspiracy and trespassing case.

Provo • One of the most intense position battles when BYU opens preseason training camp in late July will be at place-kicker.

In one corner is the incumbent, 6-foot sophomore Skyler Southam, the Wasatch High product who did all the place-kicking last season after returning from a church mission to Santiago, Chile. Southam was 11 of 16 on field goals, with a long of 47, and 42 of 44 on PAT attempts.

In the other corner is recently returned missionary Jake Oldroyd, the 6-1, 195-pound sophomore who also served in Chile (Osorno). The Texan already has a nickname — Jake the Make — because he famously made the game-winning 33-yard field goal to beat Arizona 18-16 in the 2016 opener.

Oldroyd was 3 of 4 on field goals his freshman season before getting injured the third game of the year, a 17-14 loss to UCLA, and giving way to Rhett Almond, who has graduated.

“Skyler and Jake are both battling and making each other better,” special teams coach Ed Lamb said last week as spring practices wrapped up in Provo. “Right now, I don’t know if one guy in particular has the edge. It is a little early to call it, but we will let it play out this summer and in fall camp.”

Both candidates made 43-yard field goals in the spring scrimmage on March 23. Oldroyd made a 48-yarder and Southam’s 48-yard attempt into the same stiff breeze from the north was just wide by a couple of feet.

“It was nice to see Skyler and Jake the Make compete, and we are going to continue that competition, see how it goes, through the offseason and into fall,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “It is good to have two quality kickers who have played in games, and won games. So that position is still up for grabs.”

Australian Danny Jones, classified as a redshirt junior for the 2019 season, “has punted the best through our spring practices period right now,” Lamb said. “Skyler and Jake can both punt really well, and Ryan Rehkow is coming off a mission and will add to that mix as well.”

Mitch Harris was solid as the long snapper last season and returns for his senior season with that role secure.

Backup quarterback Jaren Hall and fellow freshman Hayden Livingston, a defensive back and former prep quarterback from Rigby, Idaho, are in the running to be the holder to replace Gavin Fowler. Former Brighton High star Drew Jensen, who suffered a knee injury last season, can also handle holding chores.

“They have all done a nice job in spring after not having done it since high school,” Lamb said.

Michael Shelton returned 20 punts last year for a 7.1 average, but he has graduated and the job is wide open, Lamb said. Receivers Aleva Hifo and Dax Milne and safety Dayan Ghanwoloku will get looks.

Same goes for kick returner, where Hifo, receiver Gunner Romney and running backs Tyler Allgeier and Sione Finau have emerged as candidates.

Receiver Micah Simon attempted to catch punts in the scrimmage, with not much success on a very windy day, but Lamb and Sitake said the 2018 captain was mostly just “shagging balls” because he hadn’t done it before. Most of the candidates were on the punt return team that day.

“Good thing he had a facemask on,” Sitake quipped.

BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes on how the offense did today and what QB Jaren Hall showed pic.twitter.com/AuP6tNEDtn

— Jay Drew (@drewjay) March 24, 2019

“Game of Thrones” begins its eighth and final season on Sunday, April 14. Five weeks later — on May 19 — it will all be over, and theories abound about how it’s going to end. We want to know what you think. Will Daenerys Targaryen and her nephew, Jon Snow, rules the Seven Kingdoms together? Will Cersei Lannister maintain her grip on the Iron Throne? Will the Night King and the Army of the Dead kill everyone? And what about the dragons?

Your responses won’t be published without your permission. A reporter from The Salt Lake Tribune might reach out for further comment.

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On paper, Sonoma Grill + Wine Bar looks exquisite, from the elegant space inside the Peery Hotel to the photos of beautifully plated food on its website.

In reality, the menu at the downtown Salt Lake City restaurant feels unfocused, the kitchen execution is inconsistent and the service team struggles at times.

The menu, described as a “wood-fired and farm-inspired dining experience” with a focus on California cuisine, includes a variety of items that includes pork belly tacos, an Asian chicken salad, a country chicken-fried sandwich and burrata ravioli. It’s an identity crisis that crops up when a restaurant decides to use the catchall term “New American” cuisine.

This became more apparent as I sampled various dishes.

The small plates, sandwiches (called hand-helds) and entrees were a disappointment, primarily due to poor execution, while the appetizers, pizza and desserts were more successful.

The chicken and mole tamales ($12) had an imbalanced ratio of filling to dough, with only about two tablespoons of shredded chicken and green paste inside the thick masa. Additionally, the roasted corn salad on top included just a few kernels mixed in with heaps of greens.

Our bowl of pineapple chipotle pork belly ($13) included five strips of poorly rendered fat cap and one strip of overcooked, dry and chewy meat. There was almost no pineapple flavor, and only the fat had any semblance of the chipotle seasoning. The cheesy grits could have been creamier and less grainy. And the muscat honey, frisee and lime vinaigrette were missing.

Since we didn’t have a meat thermometer, we’ll never know whether the country fried chicken sandwich ($13) with a pink center yet overcooked edges was safe to eat. And the crispy chicken atop the Pasta Meliss’ ($23) was chewy and difficult to cut. The rest of the creole-flavored dish tasted greasy.

I’ll give the Sonoma burger ($15) a pass because I enjoyed the flavor of the beef and ham. But the thin hamburger was charred beyond well done, and the sandwich needed a condiment — perhaps the garlic aioli that we repurposed from another dish.

If you’re wondering whether I enjoyed any dish at Sonoma Grill, the answer is yes.

The spicy Asian ribs ($14) and rosemary garlic fries ($8.50) were my favorite appetizers. I also enjoyed the thick calamari fritti ($13) with sweet chili sauce. The sticky ribs, which had been slow-cooked but remained crisp on the outside and pulled easily from the bone, reached the right sweet and spicy balance. And the rosemary garlic fries, while not overly herbaceous, really nailed it with the minced garlic and parmesan atop the crispy shoestrings cooked in olive oil. The accompanying garlic aioli complemented them perfectly.

The table easily finished the Creminelli pizza ($15), a simple yet satisfying Neapolitan-style pie with two kinds of salami and fresh mozzarella. The toppings brought a slight heat, and the thicker crust was crisp but remained soft inside.

It’s easy to love Sonoma’s desserts — and not just because they are exquisitely plated, often with additional sauces, fruits and flowers. The texture of the marbled bread pudding ($8) won me over, as did its whiskey butter sauce. The vanilla-flecked custard in the creme brulee ($10) was cooked perfectly, even if the sugared top had been torched a little too much. And the chocolate torte ($14) offered decadence bite after bite.

Service at Sonoma is mixed, as well. On my first visit — despite a miscommunication with the waitress — it was stellar. The restaurant manager checked in often and quickly corrected any issues. On my second visit, the pacing of the meal floundered and our waitress often lacked attentiveness and had to be prompted to check on missing items. When we sent back the raw chicken sandwich, our server offered a free dessert but did not remove the mostly uneaten dish from the check.

Being the third restaurant from the BonPatt Restaurant Group, which also owns and operates Christopher’s Prime Tavern and Grill (also inside the Peery Hotel) and Fat Jack’s Burger Emporium, I expect more from Sonoma Grill, especially with prices increasing from 50 cents to $2 on some items in the month or so between my two visits.

Instead, I paid fine dining prices for a less-than-fine experience.

Sonoma Grill + Wine Bar • ★★ (out of ★★★★)

The New American restaurant offers wood-fired pizzas and entrees, as well as other California-inspired dishes.

Food • ★★

Mood • ★★★1/2

Service • ★★★

Location • 110 W. Broadway, Salt Lake City; 801-890-6612 or https://sonomagrillut.com

Hours • 4:30-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 4:30-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 4:30-9 p.m. Sunday

Entrée Price • $$-$$$

Children’s Menu • No, certain items can be customized

Liquor • Yes

Reservations • Yes

Takeout • Yes

Wheelchair access • Yes

Outdoor dining • No

Onsite parking • No

Credit cards • All

The new prison under construction in western Salt Lake City will be more expensive, smaller and will open later than planned.

The replacement for the current prison in Draper was supposed to cost $650 million. But it’s on pace to run 18% to 22% more than that, due in part to higher than expected costs for labor and materials, Marilee Richins, deputy director of the Utah Department of Administrative Services, said at a Friday briefing for reporters.

The extra $130 million or so has implications for inmates. To control costs, the new prison will have 3,600 beds instead of the 4,000 that had been planned.

The new prison frequently has been described as “state of the art.” On Friday, Richins revised that description to say certain components will be state of the art.

“We will not cut anywhere that compromises safety or security of the officers," Richins said. "That is off the table.”

Construction is also behind schedule. Inmates will start moving from the Draper prison in January 2022 — up to 18 months later than earlier plans.

In explaining the higher price tag for the prison, Richins cited the strong economy and other construction projects — including the expansion of Salt Lake City International Airport — which are consuming labor and materials.

“If you remember from your economics class in high school," Richins said, “that drives the cost of everything up.”

Steel tariffs imposed by the Trump administration also are increasing the expense of the project, she said.

The higher tab isn’t totally unexpected. When a commission began looking at moving the state’s prison from Draper to Salt Lake City, the estimated cost was $860 million.

That number was whittled down in part by deciding to make the new prison smaller than the one in Draper, and $650 million was the figure used during debates in the Utah Legislature.

Richins did offer some good news Friday. Some of the infrastructure work being completed now is millions of dollars less expensive than estimated, including soil work and the installation of water and sewer lines. Project managers also have decided to save $10 million by letting current inmates construct furniture and signs for the new prison.

“Are we squeezing the turnip?" Richins said. "Yeah, we are.”

Still, Richins said, the project will need more money than the Utah Legislature has provided. She gave two options.

Either legislators can appropriate more money, or the Department of Administrative Services, which oversees many of state government’s construction projects, can issue bonds — the government version of taking out a loan — to cover the excess costs.

Richins said legislators were briefed on the cost increases and changes during the general session that ended last month.

The new prison has had the support of the Utah Prisoner Advocate Network (UPAN), which works on behalf of inmates and their families. UPAN spokesman Shane Severson said Friday that the group had been told earlier about the reduction in the number of beds.

Severson said the classrooms, dormitory-style housing and aesthetics of the new prison will make it a more therapeutic place for inmates than the Draper facility.

“We kind of know the old ways of warehousing don’t work,” Severson said. “In fact, they probably make the problems worse.”

Shaving 400 beds off the new prison will save $50 million, according to Richins’ presentation. To house the remaining inmates, she said, the state will have to send them to county jails or find alternatives to incarceration.

Richins suggested, for example, that inmates with Alzheimer’s disease might not be housed at the new prison.

The Utah Department of Corrections, which will operate the completed new prison, will have to find beds quickly. Earlier projections said the new prison would need to house 4,000 inmates by 2022 — the year that the new lockup is now scheduled to open.

The Draper prison had 3,534 inmates on Friday, according to a spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Corrections. A Feb. 1 report from the department warned that the prison population was increasing. That’s despite the Legislature in recent years reducing the penalties of some offenses, particularly drug crimes.

Corrections issued a statement Friday saying: “We are supportive with how the project is progressing, and we have been working closely with the Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management.”

Hill Air Force Base is No. 1 on a Defense Department list of “priority installations” that will be affected by climate change.

In a letter to Congress, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord wrote that the list “includes scoring and weighting of the five climate-related hazards (recurrent flooding, wildfire, drought, desertification and permafrost thaw) based on the immediacy of the threat.”

Permafrost thaw is not a danger to Hill, which is located about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City, but the base was rated high in all of the other categories — both now and over the next 20 years, according to projections.

“We are aware of the report,” said Hill spokesman Donovan Potter, “but at this point we have nothing to add to it."

Lord’s letter and the accompanying documents came in response to a request from House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., Rep. Jim Langevin,. D-R.I., and Rep. John Garamendi. D-Calif. The three lawmakers wanted more information after the January release of a report about the effects of climate change on the Department of Defense, which reported that 74 of 79 “mission-critical” military installations are or will be affected.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and represents Hill. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report does not include any Marine bases; any overseas bases of any branch of the military; and did not consider coastal recreation facilities that could be flooded “but are not mission-critical.” It also offered no information about how climate-related dangers could be mitigated or what the cost of that mitigation might be.

Neither the January report nor the addendum, dated March 22, specified the methodology used to generate the numbers or what they actually mean, but listed Hill Air Force Base with a current weighted sum of 11.25 and a potential of 9 for a total of 20.25. Nine other Air Force facilities tied for second with a total of 18.

The most endangered Navy base is the Naval Air Station at Key West, Fla. (6.25; 8; 14.25); the most endangered Army base is Fort Hood in Texas (10; 8; 18).

According to its information page, Hill AFB is the Utah’s largest employer, with more than 21,000 personnel, and has an annual economic impact of more than $3 billion for the state. It is home to the 75th Air Base Wing, which oversees 1 million acres and more than 1,700 facilities, including the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Air Force active duty 388th and Reserve 419th Fighter Wings.

The Salt Lake Tribune will update this article.

Officials on Friday celebrated the completion of a $5.9 million project to double track part of the Sugarhouse streetcar line to allow more frequent service. They were even more ebullient about how the streetcar is helping to transform the community around it.

“The S-Line has been a catalyst for economic development,” in a once ignored area along an abandoned freight train line, said Carlton Christensen, chairman of Utah Transit Authority Board.

“We’ve seen … that if we build it, housing and people would come to it,” said U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, who pushed for the double tracking when he was the mayor of Salt Lake County. His successor, Jenny Wilson, also hailed “revitalized communities due to rail… Everyone should hop on board and check it out.”

The streetcar line originally cost $26 million and was funded largely by federal grants. But it had only one track and streetcars could only pass each other at a of couple of stations, which limited service to no more than every 20 minutes.

Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake and UTA combined in the past year to add two blocks of double tracking between 300 East and 500 East. That will now allow streetcars to run every 15 minutes — and allow better connections with TRAX trains at its west end.

Since the line opened in 2013, Christensen said ridership has increased 60 percent to 1,300 average weekday boardings last year.

McAdams said the S-Line not only helps address transportation needs, but also helps attract much-needed affordable housing — and even grocery stores and other retail. And it allows people to devote more of their paychecks to housing and other expenses by using mass transit and not having a car payment.

“This really is becoming a complete and livable neighborhood,” McAdams said. “And a 15-minute interval along this line will only make it more so.”

It has helped South Salt Lake become “a desirable place to call home,” said Mayor Cherie Wood.

Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, predicted the S-Line is just the beginning of what will become a network of trolleys throughout the metro area.

Many have seen the development attracted by the S-Line, he said. “They like what is happening here and mass transit is the future.”

Provo • BYU officials are close to naming a men’s head basketball coach to replace Dave Rose, and indications remain strong that Utah Valley coach Mark Pope is the front-runner for the vacant position.

BYU has completed the interview process and would like to have a new coach in place by the middle of next week, if not sooner, sources say.

Pope, 46, remains at the top of BYU’s wish list, as has been widely reported. His interest in BYU and whether he wants the job is not as clear, although multiple sources have confirmed that he has interviewed for the position and one source said he wowed BYU officials with his preparation and vision for the program that plateaued the past few years under Rose.

Pope has not returned phone calls asking for comment. He has told several people that the decision is a difficult one, because he expects to have an outstanding team at UVU next year if he stays, one that could challenge New Mexico State for WAC supremacy.

It is also no secret that Pope has interest in some day moving higher up the college coaching ladder than BYU.

If Pope is taken out of the equation, the top remaining candidates are Los Angeles Lakers assistant Mark Madsen, Portland State head coach Barett Peery, Philadelphia 76ers assistant Kevin Young and BYU assistant Quincy Lewis, who was named interim coach when Rose stepped down on March 26.

Madsen’s mother, Erlyn, confirmed Thursday that her son is “very interested” in the BYU opening. She strongly refuted published reports that Mark Madsen interviewed for a position on Rose’s staff last spring, calling those reports “not true at all,” and declined further comment.

The Deseret News reported Thursday that Madsen met with BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe and deputy athletic director Brian Santiago in Los Angeles last weekend.

Madsen, 43, is from Walnut Creek, Calif., served a church mission to Spain and starred at Stanford before he was drafted in the first round by the Lakers. He played in the NBA for nine seasons with the Lakers and Timberwolves. He has been an assistant coach with the Utah Flash of the NBA Developmental League and with Stanford. He joined the Lakers staff in 2013.

If Pope becomes BYU’s head coach, Madsen quite likely becomes one of the top candidates to replace him at UVU. Madsen’s parents and in-laws live in Utah County.

Portland State coach Barett Peery interviewed for the BYU job on Monday, multiple sources confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune. Peery, 47, has been PSU’s head coach the past two seasons and has compiled a 36-30 record. He coached at College of Southern Idaho from 2005-08, compiling an 85-19 record, and was also head coach at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, from 2011-2014, where he was 96-10.

Peery is from Payson, Utah and has been an assistant coach at Arizona State (2014-15) and Santa Clara (2016-17). Peery brought his Vikings team to Provo last December and lost 85-66 to the Cougars in the Marriott Center. He played at Snow College and Southern Utah before embarking on a coaching career that also took him to the University of Utah in 2008.

Reached by telephone earlier this week, Peery declined to comment on BYU’s coaching search.

Young, 37, has the backing of former BYU great Danny Ainge.

He is from Marietta, Ga., and his wife, Melissa Bailey Young, is from Omaha, Neb., but they were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 2011, according to his Wikipedia page.

Young was an assistant coach with the Utah Flash from 2007-11 and also worked for the Iowa Energy and the Delaware 87ers.

Sources close to Utah Jazz assistant Alex Jensen, a former University of Utah star who has been with the Jazz since 2013, said Thursday that Jensen wants it to be known that he is not a candidate for the BYU job. Jensen did discuss the opening with BYU athletic department administrators last Saturday, as The Salt Lake Tribune reported, but the talks did not progress beyond that.

At 94, Russell M. Nelson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has proved a far more vigorous and transformative figure than scholars expected when he took office a year ago, pushing through a flurry of surprising changes on such matters as gay members and the name of the faith.

Nelson made his biggest public move yet Thursday when the church rescinded rules banning baptisms for children of gay parents and branding same-sex couples apostates subject to excommunication. Those 2015 policies had generated widespread backlash.

He has also launched a campaign calling on people to stop using the shorthand names “Mormon” and “LDS,” shortened Sunday worship by an hour, and revised sacred temple ceremonies to give women a more prominent role and include more gender-inclusive language.

His vigor has surprised many scholars and church members who thought he would be more of a caretaker after becoming the second-oldest man to assume leadership of the faith, said Matthew Bowman, an associate professor of history at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark.

“He has been a more transformative president than anybody expected he would be,” Bowman said. “He has an expansive agenda.”

As members gather Saturday for a twice-yearly General Conference in Salt Lake City, they are bracing for more changes by the former heart surgeon who leads the Utah-based faith with 16 million adherents worldwide.

“Nelson has made it appointment viewing for people,” said Brandt Malone, a Latter-day Saint from Detroit who hosts the Mormon News Report podcast.

Nelson’s visibility and vibrancy set him apart from his predecessor, Thomas S. Monson, who kept a low profile and was in failing health for part of his presidency. Church presidents serve for life, and Monson died in January 2018 after leading the faith for nearly a decade.

Since ascending to the post, Nelson has given speeches to tens of thousands at stadiums in Seattle and Phoenix and visited 15 countries. He met with Pope Francis at the Vatican in March in the first-ever face-to-face private audience between a Catholic pope and a Latter-day Saint prophet.

Nelson hasn’t altered church doctrine but has approved changes that scholars say seem designed to improve the religious experience for an increasingly global membership.

Nelson’s energy and swift changes serve to distract members and outsiders from criticism about stagnated membership growth, crises of faith and the secondary role of women in the religion, said Patrick Mason, a religion professor at Claremont Graduate University in California.

“The best way to deal with your problems,” Mason said, “is to have a really positive, proactive agenda.”

Nelson’s tenure has been marked by “an unusual degree of change in an otherwise very cautious institution,” said Kathleen Flake, a professor of Mormon studies at the University of Virginia.

“He has both the confidence and the temperament to act decisively. As a surgeon, I think he’s used to taking charge,” Flake said. “But I think he’s been very clear that he would not have done any of this if he didn’t feel catalyzed by his spiritual authority.”

Nelson has also been uncommonly open about the church’s belief that presidents are living prophets who receive revelations from God. That, too, has set him apart from most of his predecessors, scholars say.

The church said Nelson and other leaders engaged in “fervent, united prayer to understand the will of the Lord” before reversing the LGBTQ policies. But it said the church still opposes gay marriage and considers same-sex relationships a “serious transgression.”

Of course, it was Nelson himself who — as the apostle next in line for the presidency — declared in January 2016 that the now-abandoned LGBTQ rules had come as a revelation from God.

In explaining the abrupt about-face, Nelson said this week in a news release that the Lord leads the church “revelation upon revelation.”

As for his decision to urge people to stop using nicknames for the faith, Nelson said that the Lord impressed upon him the importance of the full name and that leaving it out was “a major victory for Satan.”

The church then changed the name of the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir to The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and renamed church websites, social media accounts and employee email addresses to strip out “Mormon” and “LDS.”

In a recent video interview for the faith’s weekly Church News, Nelson’s wife, Wendy Watson Nelson, shed some light on how she said God inspires her husband, often at night.

“My husband will say during the night, ‘OK, Dear, it’s happening,’” she said. “I just remain quiet and then soon he’s sitting up at the side of the bed writing, now with a lighted pen that someone gave him.”

Wendy Nelson explained that moonlit messages coming to her husband since he became the church’s 17th president have “increased exponentially.”

Mason said Nelson’s embrace of revelation has energized many church members who consider the president to be a modern-day Moses or Peter.

To others, it raises eyebrows and can be seen as awkward, especially when cited in connection with something such as the church name, which seems minor to some people, Bowman said.

Malone, the church member, said that it is nice to hear a president confirm he is receiving revelation but that it limits the amount of healthy scrutiny of changes.

“It carries a lot more weight for Mormons,” Malone said. “It’s a conversation-ender for some people.”

The Salt Lake Tribune contributed to this report.

Joe Biden wants us to believe that all his touching speaks to how deeply he cares about other people.

It's really a testament to how much regard he has for himself.

As everyone has always known, Biden is prone to weird and wildly overfamiliar interactions with women, which are extensively on the record and have been the subject of jocular commentary over the years.

The #MeToo era has put his grabby style in a different light, and now he's had to tweet out a video saying he gets it.

Biden's conduct is obviously different and less blameworthy than the men caught up in #MeToo: It's not furtive, but out in the open; not sexual, but affectionate. He doesn't stand accused of cruelly manipulating anyone or creating a hostile workplace.

No, his fundamental offense is not realizing that some people might not be as into Joe Biden as Joe Biden is into Joe Biden. He has an ego, not a libido, problem.

Biden lost all self-awareness somewhere in the Senate chamber about 40 years ago.

It's not just that Biden's a figure from a different era; he's been in the bubble, deferred to and adored as a matter of course, for decades. He won his first Senate race at age 29. He served with Barry Goldwater, William Fulbright, Adlai Stevenson and Sam Ervin. He was in the Senate for 36 years before moving to the even more rarified air of the vice presidency.

So, he’s clueless in the way that old Washington hands who refer to themselves in the third person and consider themselves living legends always are — only more so.

To use Biden's own term, he believes his own malarkey.

He really thinks that he's the most charming man in the room and a master at human interaction. In his view, he's doing everyone a favor by giving them a warm bath of Biden.

It's truly never occurred to him that some women might not want to be grabbed, smelled, held, nuzzled, Eskimo-kissed, whispered to and generally handled by their great champion and defender, Joe Biden.

We're hearing new stories almost every other day because Biden has done this hundreds and hundreds of times — it was part of his shtick.

The former vice president always assumed that he and his adoring fans had the same dynamic going for them as Willie Brown described in his line about his affair with Kamala Harris: "She loved me, I loved me. It was the perfect relationship."

Very often Biden was probably right, but not all the time. His indiscriminate touchiness — just like his indiscriminate talking — shows a fundamental lack of consideration for others and of self-control.

In his video, Biden noted how he has helped people get through tragedies, but that wasn't the circumstance of most of the women who have complained about his behavior. Biden was in the habit of squeezing and smelling people he randomly encountered out on the campaign trail.

In our era, we are finding new ways to work around to old concepts like common courtesy and propriety. In pledging to respect people's personal space, Biden is promising to be more gentlemanly, although he could never use that term. The use of a handshake as a greeting is a good place to start.

With Donald Trump in the White House, no one can say lack of manners is a bar to high office, and Biden's grabbiness shouldn't be disqualifying.

The controversy is a symptom of something else that should give Biden pause, though: The peril of being at the center of politics in Washington is that your political instincts aren't sharpened, they are worn down. This is why we tend to elect newcomers rather than experienced Washington politicians, let alone people who have been around for 40 years.

If Biden's going to run, he should do it fully aware that it's a new party — and his effect on people isn't necessarily what he thinks.

Rich Lowry is the editor of National Review. comments.lowry@nationalreview.com

“Call me, maybe?” is on the brink of becoming “Call me, never.”

Robocalls, those computer-generated shysters, are making some people stop answering the phone altogether. The rest of us trust unknown calls about as much as truck stop sushi. By several estimates, Americans got more than 5.2 billion automated calls in March — a record of about 16 for every man, woman and child.

It's happening because the internet made it incredibly cheap and easy to place thousands of calls in an instant. But we don't have to just bury our heads in the spam and take it. While lawmakers debate what to do about the roboscourge, engineers have cooked up some clever ways to make bots work for us, not against us. Verizon just began offering free spam-fighting tech like AT&T and T-Mobile, if you sign up. The right app or service on your phone can make it safer to say hello again — or even extract revenge.

Yes, revenge.

So let's battle, bots. I collected dozens of robocalls from my Washington Post colleagues along with the (good grief) 30 I got myself in March. I get lots in Chinese; one colleague gets one for a "medical-grade brace" that he definitely doesn't need. Then I took this list of 100 naughty numbers — and a few legitimate calls like pharmacies and schools — to six tech companies that flag and block robocalls on cellphones: Hiya, Nomorobo, RoboKiller, TNS, Truecaller and YouMail. (Landlines and VoIP phones also get barraged, but some of the solutions are different.)

My test lasers in on one important question: Who was first at identifying the bad guys? I discovered no service could flag more than two-thirds of the calls on my list, in part because so many robocalls spoof their identities. Those are the callers that look conspicuously similar to your number, or copy the caller ID of some poor soul who gets lots of angry return calls.

In a robocall deathmatch, speed matters. And one free app was, on average, faster at adding bad guys to its blacklist.

It comes down to how much effort you want to put into battling robocalls, and how much personal information you're willing to share to make it happen. Just adding numbers to your phone's individual block list won't get you very far, but there are a few simple steps everyone could benefit from. Here's my recommended plan of attack.

Round 1: Register on the ‘Do Not Call’ list

It won’t help much, but it only takes 30 seconds so why not? The list, kept by the Federal Trade Commission, tells legitimate telemarketers not to bother you — the equivalent of a “no trespassing” sign on your lawn. Bonus: It also registers with the government that you care about this issue. It’s free to register at donotcall.gov.

Round 2: Activate your service provider’s free protection

Phone companies have finally realized that stopping robocalls is an essential part of what we pay them for.

You may have heard that recently the biggest carriers pledged to support new network technology with a James Bond name — STIR/SHAKEN — that will help identify the true origin of calls. That's a good thing to help stop all those spoofed calls, but there's still a lot to work out before it might make a noticeable difference.

Meanwhile, everyone should take advantage of tech the carriers offer to identify and block certain robocalls. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon offer free services that monitor network activity and crowdsourced reports to block suspected fraudulent calls. The carriers outsource these services to Hiya, First Orion and TNS, respectively.

Don't worry: they cross-check your contacts list to make sure they don't block someone legitimate. One caveat: If your company pays for your phone service, it might have to authorize turning on some of these services.

• AT&T: Download an app called AT&T Call Protect. The free level of service will label suspected spammers and gives you the option to automatically block calls that are a fraud risk. Unfortunately, if you also want to automatically block nuisances like spam, political calls and telemarketers, you have to pay $4 per month, which also comes with access to AT&T’s mobile security service.

• Verizon: Download an app called Verizon Call Filter. As of last week, Verizon stopped charging for basic service, which labels suspected robocalls and gives you three options based on risk level for how many to block. If you pay $3 per month, you’ll also get caller ID.

• T-Mobile: Most T-Mobile customers already have the company’s Scam ID and Scam Block service turned on, with no need to download an additional app. If you pay $4 per month, you’ll get better caller ID and the ability to send more kinds of calls straight to voicemail.

In my test, the carrier services were slower at adding spammers to blacklists than some independent apps — and paying for their premium versions won't make them faster. In everyday use, these services take advantage of algorithms that might have stopped spoof numbers my test didn't pick up.

Verizon's service provider TNS and AT&T's provider Hiya identified nearly the same number of robocalls, though Hiya did so, on average, a bit faster. (T-Mobile's provider First Orion declined to participate.) Just as important: Both let the legitimate calls through.

Round 3: Get a robocall-blocking app

Independent apps offer a few tricks of their own, but they're not all effective and might be after the personal data in your phone.

Into my bot battle, I threw four popular apps: Nomorobo, RoboKiller, Truecaller and YouMail. I also spoke with the companies behind them about how they make money and handle our privacy.

I recommend starting with the free YouMail, which won my robocall speed test. The main reason it's faster is that it has data the carrier-provided services don't: the contents of your voicemail. YouMail replaces your phone's existing voicemail service, and it uses software to identify when robocallers leave messages — like Shazam for spam. That helps it quickly crowdsource the identity of new robocallers and block them from other phones.

If YouMail, which has about 10 million registered users, sees a scam rotating through lots of different spoofed numbers, it knows not to block those numbers that belong to legitimate callers for all its users. A coming update will also let you automatically block spoof calls designed to look like they're coming from neighbors.

And my favorite part: YouMail tries to trick known robocallers into taking you off their lists by playing them the beep-beep-beep sound of a dead line.

I wouldn't blame you for being hesitant about handing over so much data, including (on Android phones) the details of every call that comes in. You're required to use the YouMail app to listen to your messages, but it does helpfully transcribe them, make them accessible on the web and offer fun outgoing message options. YouMail says it makes money through selling a premium voicemail service for businesses and through advertising, but over its 12-year history has also run an identity-verification data service. The company told me it's ending its data business and won't sell user data or share it with others unless it's part of an effort to stop robocalls.

If you don't want to give up your voicemail, the most-effective option is Truecaller, which replaces your phone's main call app and crowdsources spam numbers from some 300 million users worldwide (including 10 million in the U.S.). But it wasn't my favorite app, because you have to pay $3 per month to automatically block top spammers, and it stuffs in lots of functions unrelated to robocalling.

The simplest app, $2 per month Nomorobo, is one of the first robocall blockers on the market with a popular service for home lines. On your smartphone, Nomorobo doesn't sell your data or monkey around with your voicemail or calling apps, and it is smart about blocking spoofed calls that appear to be from neighbors. But I also found it was the slowest to add my test's robocalls to its blacklist.

Round 4: Get revenge

For some, dark times call for dark measures. The $4 per month RoboKiller, which ranked second in my speed test, also takes over and fingerprints your voicemails but adds a clever twist: "answer bots." They're voicemail messages that try to keep robots and human telemarketers on the line, listening to nonsense.

Answer bot options range from Trump impersonators and extended coughing sessions to someone doing vocal exercises. Even better, RoboKiller will send you an often-hilarious recording of the interaction. (It only uses these recordings when it's very sure it's a spam call.)

Another service, called Jolly Roger, doesn't sell itself as a robocall blocker but takes this auto-generated annoyance idea a step further by actively trying to game the spammers' systems, such as when to press 1 to speak to a human. It calls this tech "artificial stupidity." It costs $11.88 per year.

It's possible you're better off not engaging with a robocall in the hopes the dialer with decide the line is dead. And it's also not clear how much these actually cost the people placing robocalls. But any time robocallers spend with your bot might be minutes they're not calling someone else, so you can think of it as community service.

I expect we’ll see more call software that works like this. Google’s Pixel phones last year added a button to have a robot assistant screen calls for you. Even if you’re not interested in revenge, good bots can play a role in combating bad ones.

A sightseer plunged to his death from a Grand Canyon cliff this week, bringing the park's fatality count to three in the last eight days.

Park officials were notified on Wednesday around noon that an individual had fallen off an edge, according to a National Park Service statement released Thursday. Rangers discovered the body of a 67-year-old man 400 feet below the South Rim in Grand Canyon Village.

National Park Service officials and the local medical examiner's office are still looking into the tourist's death. His identity has not yet been released.

On March 28, another visitor tripped while taking a photo. The tourist from Hong Kong fell over a 1,000-foot rim near the Grand Canyon Skywalk. The horseshoe-shaped bridge, a famous observation and photo sight on the Hualapai reservation, was closed to the public the following day, the Associated Press reported.

Two days earlier, on March 26, another male body was discovered by authorities in a forested area nearby a hiking trail.

A National Park Service spokeswoman said that Wednesday's fatality was the "first over-the-edge death" at Grand Canyon National Park this year; the March deaths happened outside the national park's boundaries.

In 2018, Grand Canyon National Park drew nearly 6.4 million guests, a record-breaking number. The popular tourist destination saw 17 fatalities last year.

Wednesday’s death prompted a warning from the National Park Service to visitors. In a statement released Thursday, the agency reminded: “Have a safe visit by staying on designated trails and walkways, always keeping a safe distance from the edge of the rim and staying behind railings and fences at overlooks.”

The NBA season only has six days left. Worse, since to Monday’s NCAA basketball final inspired a day of NBA rest, there are only five days left of actual games. Weird, right?

But to Eric Walden and Andy Larsen, that just means looking forward to the playoffs. It’s looking likely — but certainly not guaranteed — that the Jazz play the Blazers in the first round. What would that mean for the Jazz, especially given that they’ve given large point totals to scoring guards in the last 10 days? Larsen isn’t worried, for one.

We also discuss Rudy Gobert’s dealings with the media, Thabo Sefolosha’s play, and Grayson Allen’s bright stretch.

At 1:50 • Rudy Gobert deals well with the media, which we give him props for. What does he think, and what did we think, of the Coltrane-inspired album the Jazz made him?

At 13:00 • The probabilities of who the Jazz will face in the postseason and when.

At 18:00 • They’ve given up large point totals to opposing guards. Is that a worry if they face Damian Lillard or James Harden?

At 25:10 • How likely is it that the Jazz will go into the playoffs healthy? Will Thabo Sefolosha or Grayson Allen play? What have they brought recently?

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