It’s time to change, limit or ban the unfettered ability of Big Pharma to constantly (are you watching your TV?) advertise to the every man, woman and child on earth (including vulnerable seniors and confused and desperate sick people) tempting them to simply seek out these over-advertised, over-priced medications, offering “cures” aimed at myriads of feared diseases, including very obscure medical conditions.

In the 1970s, this flakey practice of weird advertising was virtually non-existent, while not technically illegal – but certainly unethical in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and some of the 90s. Advertising by doctors, clinics and hospitals was considered a very poor practice, and certainly not appropriate.

Sadly, lawyers started this advertising, then universally considered inappropriate, and very tacky. Medical care followed, then pharmaceutical companies jumped in. A true societal battle was lost then, but not appreciated for what it would portend.

Big Pharma needs some legislated advertising “New Rules” – as they will never self-correct their unethical money-grubbing behavior:

1) No overtly happy people, no picnics, parties or dancing.

2) No cute animals like dogs, cats, elephants or otters.

3) No known famous or old songs.

4) No actors, ever! Only real patients having these diseases who truly benefitted, without serious side effects – aka, really cured.

5) No paid doctors, nurses, or pharmacist spokespersons. This will eliminate 99 percent of these “experts” – trust me.

6) Only facts and proven data – which must be first approved by an outside panel of appointed scientific experts (from the CDC, NIH, FDA, etc.).

7) Only mentioning reasonable “side effects” – not every single thing ever reported – done so they can say we “warned you.” This barrage of information simply mind numbs consumers, making actual recall of it virtually impossible.

8) Never, ever, saying again, “Ask your doctor if this is right for you”. We literally hate this happening because, if it was proven to be “right,” we would already be using it. Really!

This advertising is highly inappropriate and wastes billions of dollars that could literally go to reducing the astonishing costs of many medications – including the skyrocketing prices of previously and relatively “cheap” medicines.

When I was medical director for Salt Lake City Fire Department’s Paramedic Division the 1980s, the cost of a dose of epinephrine (adrenaline – 1mg), used for cardiac arrests and severe allergic reactions, was 10 cents a vial. Believe it or not, it can now cost up to $650 a dose.

This is not a pharmaceutical research invention. It is a natural chemical found in everyone, including animals, and is easily produced. This incredible price is gouging – plain and simple. Pharma does it because they can, and will continue to do it, because Congress has been impotent in passing laws that would:

1) Set caps on initial drug prices and increases – requiring absolute proof of need – and never more than the annual cost of living (COLA) percentage.

2) Allow unfettered, national negotiations with Big Pharma to get prices like, or less than, what other countries have long achieved by doing the same – like Canada and the UK – and to a more artificially limited amount, Medicare. We are the 800-pound gorilla, if simply unleashed.

3) Allow no increases, except every 10 years, in drug prices for the Veterans Administration.

4) Require every licensed pharmaceutical company, based on size and income, to produce and provide “at cost” one or more what are called “orphan” medications – those needed by a small, but vital, group of patients with critical, but often rare diseases. Obviously, these medications will never create windfall profits for pharmaceutical companies, but are a needed and moral necessity to provide as part of their license to function (often at record profits).

5) Partner with other countries, and large non-profit foundations (like the Gates, Zuckerberg, Soros, Paul Allen foundations, etc.), to create a large, world-funded pharmaceutical research and production entity, to do what Big Pharma refuses to do, or charges exorbitant prices for. The “United Nations Ethical Pharmaceutical Enterprise” sounds really good!

6) Big Pharma often pays generic drug manufacturing companies what I call “blood money” not to start producing critical medications just before they go off patent – which usually happens after a 20-year (from patent submission) “protected” period. They actually do this. And it is currently legal, believe it or not.

As we say at the Academy, “Onward, through the fog…”

Jeff Clawson, M.D., is medical director of the Division of Research, Standards and Academics at the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, Salt Lake City.

Recent attention on reforming Utah’s marijuana laws has been focused on the substance’s medicinal value. But we must acknowledge that marijuana reform for many people in Utah is a criminal justice issue that can be rectified by reducing the criminal penalties for possession while contemporaneously expunging former low-level convictions. This rethinking of marijuana policy should be a top policy approach during Utah’s 2020 legislative session.

Utah lawmakers demonstrated overwhelming support for criminal justice reform this 2019 legislative session by passing the Expungement Act Amendments, a bill that automatically removes records of past criminal convictions for qualifying persons. Reducing the criminal penalties for marijuana is also important in this time of growing support for criminal justice reform.

To understand why we should decriminalize marijuana in Utah, we first need to understand why it became a crime in the first place.

The first major campaign to criminalize marijuana was led by a government bureaucrat trying to protect his job. When the nationwide prohibition of alcohol ended in 1933 with the passage of the 21st Amendment, Harry Anslinger, the commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, was in danger of losing his federal funding. To keep his agency and his position afloat, Anslinger had to find another menacing drug to regulate and criminalize. He settled on cannabis, or what we now call marijuana.

Before Anslinger picked it, marijuana was not worthy of national attention like it is today. But that changed when he launched a deliberate campaign of exaggerated racist rhetoric to depict minorities as the primary users of a purportedly violence-inducing drug. Testifying to a congressional committee, he claimed that much of the crime in the United States originated from marijuana use by minorities, notably among Latinx and black communities.

Anslinger even transformed the medical-sounding “cannabis” into a dangerous drug by recasting it as “marijuana,” the slang term used by Mexican immigrants speaking Spanish. Because the word “marijuana” sounded foreign, Anslinger hoped it would reinforce the racism he deployed to criminalize it as a dangerous drug. Anslinger’s campaign eventually helped pass the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which was the first federal ban on marijuana.

Marijuana criminalization ramped up in the early 1970s when the Nixon administration declared its war on drugs. This effort was led by the 1970 Controlled Substances Act that placed marijuana in the same category as heroin, a Schedule I drug with no medical value and a significant potential for abuse.

Other “tough on crime” policies followed during the 1980s and 1990s to amplify the war on drugs. Overall, these policies fueled the crisis of mass incarceration that resulted in the United States currently having the highest incarceration rate in the world, with a majority of arrests fueled by a racially disproportionate crackdown on simple drug possession.

The mass arrest and incarceration of communities of color due to misguided marijuana policies also impacts communities in Utah. There is a need for more race-based data on marijuana arrests in Utah, especially from the Latinx community. But existing data from a 2013 ACLU report notes that blacks in Utah were 3.8 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites. The report also noted that marijuana accounted for 36 percent of all drug arrests in Utah in 2010 and that marijuana possession accounted for 91 percent of all marijuana-related arrests. Furthermore, all those arrests for marijuana possession cost Utah taxpayers at least $14 million.

More recent data from 2016 indicates that 6,082 Utahns were arrested due to marijuana, with over 5,000 of those arrests for possession. These numbers show that a significant amount of time, money and resources have been spent in Utah to enforce anti-marijuana laws that disproportionally impact communities of color.

Possessing a few grams of marijuana in Utah today remains a class B misdemeanor that can result in six months in jail and a $1,000 fine plus additional surcharges and court fees. Moreover, misdemeanor convictions for marijuana can create a long-lasting negative impact on a person’s life and career aspirations. For example, those convicted can’t apply for federal education loans or grants, attain certain jobs, or hold certain professional licenses.

We can do much better for the people of Utah by diverting our law enforcement resources towards more serious issues and individuals who actually pose a threat to society. We cannot afford to continue to support an outdated policy of criminalization against marijuana, a policy that from its earliest days has served as a tool to oppress and incarcerate low-income communities of color.

Pedro Padilla-Martinez is an intern with the ACLU of Utah’s Campaign for Smart Justice and founder of the University of Utah’s NORML chapter.

Science fiction is replete with stories about humanity uniting, putting aside the ubiquitous violence among nations and ideologies, upon the arrival of alien invaders. The entire concept of “us” and “them” is turned upside down.

Aliens will not be visiting, but climate change will create an existential threat and cataclysmic hardship for humans and all other living things. I acknowledge that climate change is an inexact science, and the exact timing and sequence of disasters is not knowable. But, barring major changes, the coming apocalypse is beyond our worst expectations.

The nearly 8 billion people on earth will not be foregoing, under any circumstances, the essential and/or desired aspects of modern life, including hospitals, computers, electronic communication, rapid transportation and heating and cooling. All of these things currently require electricity and/or fossil fuels. Without a major breakthrough, we are on a path to see hundreds of millions die, and billions to suffer immensely.

I believe historians, if any survive, will consign many of those in the environmental movement to infamy for their fervent opposition to nuclear power. I acknowledge the great risks of nuclear power. But it is the lesser evil. In the 65 years of nuclear power, the two worst calamities have been Chernobyl and Fukushima. Recent books about Chernobyl indicate it may have been far worse than is commonly understood. For argument’s sake, let’s stipulate that over a million died as a result of Chernobyl, along with great and long-lived environmental damage. Assume that over the next 65 years that the two worst disasters are far worse than Chernobyl and Fukushima.

But the toll of those presumed future nuclear disasters will pale in comparison to the hundreds of millions who will die from climate change, along with untold human misery and shortened lifespans among the billions of survivors. Climate change will create famines, floods, disease, economic collapse and war waged over shrinking resources.

Based on the science and technology of today, wind and solar cannot power the planet. Humanity does not have the technology to sufficiently store power when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. This shortcoming alone deters many from moving to renewable power. If a scientific breakthrough occurs and humanity can begin to fully store its wind and solar power, I will be the first to advocate for ceasing the development of nuclear power. But I don’t know when, or if, such a breakthrough will occur. The threat from climate change is far too urgent, and deadly, to gamble that a power storage breakthrough will definitely occur.

Currently nuclear power plants are hideously expensive and complicated. In the West, nuclear plants are also up against pitched litigation and a growing array of laws and interest groups determined to stop them. Building nuclear power plants is currently essentially prohibitive. Places like Germany and Japan are, incredibly, decommissioning existing nuclear power plants. But what if the best nuclear scientists from Russia, China, France and the U.S. collaborated to design a highly reliable and standardized nuclear power plant? Suppose the detailed plans and specs for such a power plant were publicly available with no intellectual property rights attached? Literally any qualified power company could build one. Standardized parts and components would be manufactured around the world that could plug into any of the plants. Suppose most of the countries in the world streamlined the legal and regulatory requirements to build this (and only this) proven model?

This not to say that all legal and regulatory requirements would be eliminated. But there are a relatively large number of governments and sophisticated private companies that have the expertise to do this kind of construction and operation. Moreover, the U.S., Russia, et al. would continue to collaborate for ongoing improvements to the design of the standard plant.

Imagine the day the U.S., Russia, China and France come together for the ribbon cutting for the first of these standardized nuclear power plants that have been designed to fight climate change and help extinguish its existential threat to humanity. This kind of international cooperation may not unite the people of the earth like alien invaders, but it won’t hurt the prospects for world peace, either.

Eric Rumple lives in Sandy. He has an MBA from the University of Chicago and is the author of the novel “Forgive Our Debts.”

Donald Trump has started many ventures that became spectacular failures: his Atlantic City casino, airline, football team, university and his TV shows, “The Apprentice” and “The Celebrity Apprentice.”

He has had spotty success with hotels, apartments and golf courses. Generally he licenses his name, and may manage the completed project, but usually uses other people’s money to build.

As president, he creates the impression of doing a lot by almost daily proposing new initiatives on taxes, immigration, health care and the military while withdrawing from international accords, such as TPP, NAFTA, the Paris Climate Accord and the Iran nuclear deal, and canceling former President Barack Obama’s controls on the climate, water quality, school lunches, fuel efficiency, etc. But, he hasn’t produced any deals better than those he canceled.

Trump is a master of changing the subject when challenged. In the old West, snake oil salesmen were often run out of town on a rail. We will probably have to rely on the 2020 elections.

Frank Fish, Park City

Submit a letter to the editor

How is it that anyone, let alone a United States senator like our own Mike Lee, could possibly suggest that having “more children” is a solution to the current crisis of climate change?

Do we really want to live in a world where we will be asking those same children one day soon to address the stark reality of the climate change that we ourselves have neglected? This is a crisis that threatens our very existence.

If the religionists among us really believe that having large families is some kind of solution to our very real problems, it seems to me they have entirely forgotten that (1) our state has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation; (2) each and every winter, we have the worst air quality in the nation; and yet (3) we continue to spend less on education, per pupil, than any other state.

If Lee were correct about overpopulation resulting in great new innovations, we’d surely have none of these problems. We routinely outstrip all of the other states with our high birth rates.

I challenge Lee to find the courage to explore, for once, the many advantages that come with thoughtful family planning – which means encouraging all of us to have fewer children, not more. With a world population of more than 7.5 billion, surely we don’t need an ever-higher birthrate.

Instead, we need to invest in the children we already have to ensure they are engaged and challenged, both by their parents and by the wider culture we all live in here in Utah.

Each child deserves an affordable and outstanding education, which should assist them in the pursuit of a wide range of opportunities. If we do that, then one day our children may become responsible adults who can successfully challenge and overcome the critical issues mentioned above.

One organization that does a great deal in our community to deal with some of these issues is Having Kids. If Mike Lee wants to help, he might begin by contacting them for more insight than he has presently demonstrated.

Thomas N. Thompson, Salt Lake City

Submit a letter to the editor

Last week marked the end of Women’s History Month, the time each year when social media feeds are full of moving stories of women who beat the odds, marked “firsts” in their industries or inspire us today in their work today. At Better Days 2020, we didn’t let flipping the calendar distract us from a continued focus on excavating and amplifying the stories of women. For us, the time to delve into women’s history is all year long.

Better Days 2020’s mission is to popularize Utah women’s history. We believe studying women’s contributions in the past improves how we lead and grow in the future. Our team has created the most comprehensive resource for studying and teaching Utah women’s history, at utahwomenshistory.org. It is our goal that all Utahns become familiar with not only the women of our past, but the way women and men worked together to accomplish great things.

As we’ve excavated the stories and examined their lessons for today, three particular principles provide fodder for rich reflection.

First, every day women can make history, too. Happily, many historical women are household names: Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman. But as the discipline of women’s history matures, it’s important not only to recognize the “firsts” and the “onlys”, but also the everyday heroes. At Better Days 2020, we’ve worked hard to highlight women previously unamplified.

For example, Fanny Brooks was the first Jewish woman to settle in Utah, a vibrant businesswoman in the frontier community. Ah-Yuen was one of the Chinese people who came to Utah in search of work. As Christopher Merritt of the Utah Division of State History explains in his biography of Ah-Yuen, “So small in number and forgotten in nearly all parts of history, Chinese women were perhaps the most hidden, exploited, and ignored parts of Utah’s 19th century history. Her life represents many of the other Chinese women who came to the United States in search of new lives and opportunities.”

Seraph Young is a woman whose simple action of casting a ballot on Feb. 14, 1870, changed the lives of Americans. As the first woman in the nation to cast a ballot under an equal suffrage law, Seraph holds a remarkable place in history, but she was unremarkable beyond her “first.” As a young schoolteacher, Seraph voted on her way to work. Little is known about her beyond that action. Her name is even misspelled on her headstone.

The second principle is that women’s contributions to our communities are often hiding in plain sight. Have you ever driven past the large grain storage towers west of downtown’s stretch of I-15 that mark the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Welfare Square? In 1876, Brigham Young asked one of Utah’s “leading ladies,” Emmeline B. Wells, to organize a program of storing wheat among the women of the church. The grain towers we see today, and by extension much of the church’s welfare efforts, are a direct result of Wells’ work. Similarly, if you’ve ever visited Richmond Park on 600 South, you’ve helped pay tribute to Mignon Barker Richmond, the first African-American to graduate from a college in Utah and the founder of the school lunch program here.

Finally, women’s history, like all history, is complex and messy. Women sometimes worked at cross purposes, had differing motivations and ideologies, and often blundered their way through their collaborations. But for the contemporary student looking to glean lessons from this history, this truth can be comforting.

When women today find themselves at odds with each other, we can remember that Emmeline Wells too complained of “diamond cutting diamond.” In fact, 19th century Utah suffragist Jennie Froiseth felt so strongly that Mormon polygamous women should not vote while polygamy existed that she was willing to forego her own right to vote. A thorn in the side of the LDS suffragists, Froiseth eventually became a great teammate working to include suffrage into the Utah state constitution once polygamy was disbanded in 1890 and past grudges were put aside.

There is no shortage of Utah women from which to draw inspiration. In fact, we think there are enough to celebrate all year long.

Neylan McBaine is the CEO of Better Days 2020, a non-profit that popularizes Utah women’s history in commemoration of Utah being the first place where a woman voted in the U.S.

Climate change threatens human civilization as we know it.

That’s not hyperbole. It is the robust consensus of the international scientific community.

In 2018, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released an urgent report warning that we have roughly 12 years to drastically curb carbon emissions before global temperatures reach 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. Additional warming past 2 degrees C could cause sea levels to rise several meters, inundating most of the world’s highly-populated coastal cities.

Alarmingly, the world is on track for even higher temperatures, risking cataclysmic interruptions of the ecological systems on which humanity sustains itself. Threats to freshwater access, agriculture and marine fisheries would jeopardize billions of human lives. And for the hundreds of millions of people threatened by rising seas, “catastrophe” scarcely begins to describe the choice between drowning and mass resettlement.

In Utah, impacts will also be severe. As snowpack declines and melts more quickly each year, water supplies will plummet. Drought will become the norm as the snow that feeds our watersheds disappears from the mountaintops. Forests ravaged by bark beetle will be consumed in firestorms. The Great Salt Lake is predicted to nearly dry up completely. Local climate impacts alone will devastate our communities and will only be exacerbated in the context of globally disrupted systems.

We are quickly approaching a breaking point. In the endless extraction of profit, corporations and the politicians who serve them have doubled down on fossil fuels and exploitation at the expense of people and the planet.

Infinite growth on a finite planet is not socially productive, but destructive. Poor and working people, especially communities of color, are already suffering from the consequences of climate change: rising food prices, polluted air and water, deadly heat waves, and flooded homes. Millions more will be forced to flee as seas rise and crops fail. Migrants seeking refuge from violence, poverty, and the first consequences of climate change are already met with hate, not solidarity.

North America and Europe are moving closer to virtual eco-apartheid as those in power militarize borders, privatize common resources, and hide behind walls — all while denying climate change itself. While the ruling class profits handsomely from the unfolding disaster, working people and future generations are left to suffer the consequences.

We need ambitious solutions to ensure a livable future for all, addressing both social injustice and ecological devastation. Last November, democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, along with the youth-led Sunrise Movement, launched a nationwide campaign for a Green New Deal. Necessarily ambitious in scope, a Green New Deal would create millions of well-paying, union jobs, building a sustainable economy while democratizing critical sectors, such as energy.

Immense quantities of labor are needed to decarbonize every industry and only by reclaiming democratic control of the economy can such a rapid mobilization produce an equitable and successful transition. Only we, the people, can save ourselves by building the physical and social infrastructure for the world we need. A Green New Deal musters the courage to boldly fight for our collective human future.

We who support a Green New Deal have reached the conclusion that anything less than decisive, collective action against the existential threat of climate change is simply unacceptable. A society that prioritizes our very survival over the indulgence of the rich is not a radical demand.

We as democratic socialists recognize capitalism as the perpetrator and perpetuator of the climate crisis, but we also know that a just and livable future is possible. The Green New Deal is our chance to win it now.

Atticus Edwards, Matt Kirkegaard, and Weston Wood are ecosocialists and members of the Salt Lake chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

In coming years, scores of developmentally and intellectually disabled adults in Utah could move from institutional housing to community settings that offer them new freedom and independence.

The state has agreed to transition 250 individuals out of care facilities over the next five years as part of settling a lawsuit that accused Utah of “unlawful institutionalization and segregation” of disabled adults.

It’s a change that will be expensive for the state — with estimated costs of $7 million in the first year and even more afterward — some of that to provide rental assistance and skilled nursing services to individuals who choose to live on their own.

“I hope that at least it really does make things better for some folks,” said Rep. Ray Ward, who in the recent legislative session sponsored a resolution to approve the settlement agreement.

The lawsuit was filed early last year by Utah’s Disability Law Center and two adults who said they wanted to live in community settings but instead were stuck in care facilities that limited their privacy and their ability to do simple things like date or go to the movies.

One of the plaintiffs, Staci Christensen, a woman with Down syndrome, said she wanted to experience a romantic relationship, attend college and take on more hours at the Golden Corral where she worked.

But Christensen was stuck living at Medallion Supported Living, an intermediate care facility. The state houses about 600 intellectually and developmentally disabled adults at facilities like these across Utah.

Ward, a physician by profession, said these institutions provide dorm-style housing with up to four people to a room.

"There are clearly some people living there who would like to live in the community," the Bountiful Republican said.

The state does run a program that consists of subsidized housing, assistance with home care and transportation, and other specific needs to allow an intellectually disabled person to live outside an institution.

But the average wait time is more than six years, and once a person is placed in an institution, he or she becomes a low priority to move into a different living situation, essentially making it impossible to get out of the intermediate facilities, the lawsuit states.

"Why am I so different?” Christensen said in a news conference last year. “Why should I be treated any differently instead of being treated as an equal and respected as everybody else?”

The lawsuit named as defendants the Utah Department of Health, Utah Division of Medicaid and Health Financing, Utah Department of Human Services and Utah Division of Services for People with Disabilities.

The Utah Legislature earlier this year unanimously passed Ward’s resolution giving the required approval to an agreement that would put the lawsuit to rest, and both sides have now signed it, according to a Utah Department of Health spokeswoman. A judge in the case must still approve it before it’s official.

The plan is to shift 150 individuals from institutions to apartments or other community living settings the first year and then move out 25 individuals annually across four subsequent years, according to an agreement summary provided to lawmakers.

Officials will educate individuals and their families about community based services as part of identifying the 250 people who want to relocate, according to the document.

“Once a person identifies that they would like to be considered for transition into community based services, the transition can begin,” the summary states.

Those who move out will have some limited rental assistance if needed and will receive skilled nursing care for their medical needs. While this changeover will be expensive, the state expects that additional Medicaid funding will help defray the financial burden, a fiscal analysis states. The net cost the first year is estimated at about $2.2 million.

Both state health officials and the Disability Law Center said they’re reserving comment on the settlement until it has been blessed by the courts.

Salt Lake City’s new convention hotel will be a 28-story skyscraper of glass and textured aluminum bursting out on the city skyline, slim and rectangular with gently rounded edges, about 725 guest rooms and huge digital billboards on both sides of its grand entrance on 200 South.

Scheduled to open in spring 2022, the hotel will be woven into the southeast corner of the Salt Lake Palace Convention Center on 200 S. West Temple, according to preliminary plans under review at City Hall.

Its design echoes the Salt Palace’s distinct cylindrical towers with curved ends on the hotel’s vaulting guest room tower, while its spacious ground floor lobby, restaurant and corner market on 200 South will seek to bring a sense of around-the-clock vibrancy to the downtown area.

The $337 million project, backed by Salt Lake County and two private developers, will “become a true urban complement to the downtown and a center of activity for the neighborhood,” the designers say.

And with its 25,852-square-foot ballroom, copious meeting rooms and rooftop garden area, the new 616,000-square-foot hotel tower is meant to anchor what government and business officials hope will become Utah’s new magnet for big conventions that draw thousands of visitors.

“The economic vision will be complemented by an elegant urban and architectural design that is compatible with the surrounding buildings while sensitive to becoming a new urban marker and presence on the skyline,” one of the project’s developers, John Portman and Associates in Salt Lake City, wrote in city documents.

State, county, city and economic-development officials have pushed for more than a decade to build the convention hotel, based on several studies indicating a new hospitality center with large blocks of rooms and a spacious-enough meeting place would help Utah’s capital host more large conventions and events.

One previous attempt to construct the facility fell through in 2015, when Utah officials pulled out of talks with Dallas-based Omni Hotels & Resorts after they failed to agree on public financing.

The latest deal between the county, Portman and Ivins-based DDRM was clinched in November after months of negotiations, including the promise of up to $75 million in post-construction tax rebates for the two firms spread over 20 years.

The new hotel’s design is being studied by city planners, based on the developers’ application for the tower to be 335 feet tall. Although a recently tweaked city zoning ordinance allows for buildings as high as 375 feet in that downtown area, anything above 120 feet triggers a site-design review to make sure it complies with other zoning rules.

In its plan application, John Portman and Associates said the direct connection between the hotel lobby and public spaces inside the Salt Palace will help connect the project more closely with the wider downtown.

Echoing similar features in the lobby of 111 Main and covering the clock tower at The Gateway shopping center, the convention hotel will boast huge digital displays on either side of its lobby.

One will be a three-story-tall screen installed part of the way up the hotel tower on the project’s southeast corner, according to designs, and the west edge of the entrance will feature four smaller, stacked screens spread around a conical corner building, all facing 200 South.

As we head into Latter-day Saint General Conference weekend, there’s something we need to discuss. In a word, terror.

I don’t mean the terror that afflicts people like me — crowds, boredom and policy minutiae examined ad nauseam — but rather the remote, thankfully, possibility of a terrorist attack like the ones at two New Zealand mosques, a Pittsburgh synagogue and a Texas church.

The world Heavenly Father has his eye on is seriously messed up. It’s full of hatred, genocide and all manner of evil. I don’t view any of that as acceptable, but then it’s not my world or even my fault.

Steps are being taken in Utah. Thanks to the planet we’re forced to inhabit, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints plans to boost its security readiness. My colleague Tony Semerad reported on a new training facility under consideration for the western edge of Salt Lake City.

The plans, which were leaked online, depict a police academy-type facility that includes pistol and rifle ranges. The idea hasn’t been presented to the city for approval — but, for now, it’s the thought that counts.

My own investigation revealed the plans for rocket-armed helicopter training, missile silos, even a classroom for adopting disguises, such as “How Not to Look Like a Mormon” and “Temporary Undercover Facial Hair Dispensation.”

Does any of this bother me? Nope. Any organization with a list of enemies has an obligation to protect its property and the people on it, including me.

This also includes from me.

In February, I was escorted out of the church’s Beehive House in downtown Salt Lake City in the middle of a public tour where my ancestors had once worked.

A church security agent showed up and told me to scram. As near as I can figure, it could have been for one (or all) of three reasons:

• I had joked to a tour guide about having a gun (I didn’t; I had a pocketknife. But it still was an admittedly dumb thing to say.)

• I was there to write a story.

• Somewhere deep in the bowels of the Church Office Building, a facial recognition software program alerted someone.

Agent 1 • “Whoa. Is that who I think it is?”

Agent 2 • “Holy Moly Ghost, it looks like ...!”

Presiding agent • “Wait. Call Hogle Zoo first. See if they’re missing a walrus.”

Two more security agents showed up. All three were polite but pointed. I needed to leave. After a brief conversation wherein I tried to wind them into an incident far more interesting to write about but couldn’t, I left.

It wasn’t the first time I’ve been given the bum’s rush by church security. Back in the early 1970s, I caused a disturbance on Temple Square that required myself and a couple of equally drunken friends to be “escorted” from the grounds.

It made sense. Had it been me on the other end of the arm doing the escorting, I’d have kicked my butt in the bargain. But I understand (and, today, appreciate) the restraint.

Eight years later, my roommate in the police academy was a former church security agent. I asked him if church guards carried guns. His answer was a conspiratorial, “Duh.”

I don’t blame them. Hell, I’ve long believed the church achieved nuclear power status about the same time as Israel.

Today, I wouldn’t patrol General Conference except in a heavily armored tank. Painted entirely white, of course. The mere appearance of reverence is still important.

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

Butte, Mont. • On a recent morning in the Big Sky Senior Living facility’s upstairs chapel, Easter Seals-Goodwill Highlands Hospice employee Ana Shaw asked the four women beside her to close their eyes.

"Take a deep breath and think about your intentions of being here," Shaw said. After a few moments of silence, the women broke into melancholy, meditative song, repeating just a few words over and over in different harmonies.

And so the Butte Montana Threshold Choir practice began, followed by more song and a few tears. The local singers are part of an international group that aims to comfort and soothe people nearing death by singing to them at their side.

"Our focus is to bring light, love and peace to patients at the end of their life," said Shaw, who organized the local Threshold Choir and works as both the volunteer and spiritual care coordinator for Easter Seals-Goodwill Highlands Hospice.

Shaw said she was first inspired to start a Butte Threshold Choir in 2016 when she watched a PBS special on the unique choir organization, the Montana Standard reported. Shaw said she had just started working for Highlands Hospice at the time and was captivated by the Threshold Choir mission.

"Music is so important to me personally. I know it's something I would want when I'm dying someday," Shaw said, referring to the Threshold Choir. "And I knew that through my job, I'd be able to pull a group together."

Shortly after seeing the PBS special, Shaw visited a Threshold Choir group in Sandpoint, Idaho, and started working to get a Threshold chapter going in Butte.

Over the past two-and-a-half years, Shaw said the Butte choir has sung for a few locals, but group numbers have fluctuated, making things difficult. But this year, Shaw said there's a solid seven women that meet every Tuesday morning for practice, leading to the launch of the Butte Threshold Choir website in March.

The Butte Montana Threshold Choir chapter is the only one in Montana so far, but Shaw said she's working with a few people to start chapters in Bozeman and Helena as well.

Shaw also hopes to add more Butte choir members and to potentially start a second choir group so the Threshold music can reach more people in the Butte area interested in receiving it.

"It's really cool to think that Butte is the little Threshold pioneer in Montana," Shaw said.

At the most recent Tuesday morning practice, Shaw led the choir through a handful of songs. For a few, she asked choir member Anna Dockter to lie in a chair in the middle of the group to receive the music.

These few songs brought Dockter — and some of the other choir members — to tears.

"It really feels like they're singing to me," Dockter said between songs.

“There’s a certain energy between the giver and the receiver,” another choir member, Susan Walsh, added. “Even if we never sang at a bedside, it [the music] would benefit us in a spiritual way.”

Walsh said she is a member of four choirs in the Butte area but has never experienced music like that sung with the Threshold Choir. She explained that the songs are more like meditations than anything else and are easy for her to remember and fall into singing outside of practice when she has trouble sleeping or needs personal soothing.

Sabina Pate-Terry, another Butte Threshold Choir member, expressed similar thoughts. She said even if someone isn't religious, singing or receiving the Threshold music creates a unique spiritual experience.

“I think it reminds us that we all have a connection,” Pate-Terry said. “All of the music is universal; it speaks to everyone.”

Salt Lake City, like many major cities in the U.S., has an economic division within its boundaries, where residents have limited access to infrastructure, places or destinations that assist with basic needs, recreation or entertainment.

In Salt Lake City, that’s the west side.

When people think about the west side, they generally focus on ethnic diversity, lower incomes and the perception of crime. And when an area struggles with lower incomes, families devote a higher percentage of their income to housing and transportation expenses than people with higher incomes.

Public and active transportation may be viable solutions for cost savings and convenience for those who live below the average median income. Increasing the use of the Jordan River Parkway Trail (JRPT) as well as the North Temple corridor for active transportation by west side residents could lead to a solution.

Not many people are aware of the opportunity Salt Lake City has to create a major multi-modal transportation network. The city has the ability to link several types of transportation in one strategic connection, where the JRPT and North Temple meet, and that could help decrease the dependency on automobile usage among west side residents, provide transportation solutions and increase connectivity.

North Temple is clearly a corridor meant for transit-oriented development (TOD) because of the variety of transportation options available. Including a mixture of developments, such as housing, office, and retail into a neighborhood makes a place more walkable, especially when access to transit is within a half-mile. A secondary goal of TODs is to create a hub of commercial conveniences provided by small- and medium-sized businesses.

In contrast to North Temple, the JRPT is primarily recreational in nature. Given the land uses, mostly residential, surrounding most of the JRPT, with the exception where it connects to North Temple, it is not likely that most residents will use the trail for non-recreational purposes such as work and shopping. The population density along the trail is low and it currently does not support additional commercial spaces. In order to increase demand for the trail for non-recreational uses, greater density would need to be added in the form or more residential units and then an increased number of destinations that respond to that density (coffee shops, neighborhood supermarkets and the like). Right now, the area that connects between North Temple and the JRPT is being envisioned as a Transit Station Area (TSA) Zoning District, so there are plans to add density and destinations in the area.

Even if the TSA had an effect in increasing walkability, the JRPT would have to be redesigned to increase travel demand. The trail would need sufficient access and egress points, signage, restrooms, water fountains, benches, street lights as well as points of interest along the trail such as dog parks, playgrounds, art, restaurants, and shopping. Bus service as a way to travel around the trail will be needed in the future.

The intersection of these two corridors contains the perfect mixture of transportation choices making the land around the intersection an optimal location for mixed-use and mixed-income development projects. The availability of affordable housing eases housing cost burdens for lower-income families. Residents may find extra or disposable income in their budgets, and, in turn, may be able to support entertainment and recreational developments.

The area is pedestrian progressive and making great strides towards being one of the most walkable places in Salt Lake City.

Providing alternative transportation options for lower-income families helps keep costs down while keeping these families connected to their community. Adding destinations that provide options for deciding how to spend their personal time and limited funds will likely strengthen connectivity and west side community economy.

Ivis García, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of City and Metropolitan Planning at the University of Utah. This essay summarizes the findings of her article, “Connectivity and Usership of Two Types of Multi-Modal Transportation Network: A Regional Trail and a Transit-Oriented Commercial Corridor,” published in the journal Urban Science.

The 189th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints resumed Sunday for its two concluding sessions.

3:40 p.m. — At war with Satan

Humankind is at war with the devil for the souls of men, apostle Ronald A. Rasband said, but a “Christ-centered home” is a fortress for the kingdom of God on Earth.

“Satan knows his days are numbered and that time is growing shorter,” Rasband said. “As crafty and cunning as he is, he will not win. However, his battle for each one of our souls rages on.”

Rasband, whose remarks came near the close of this weekend’s two-day General Conference, echoed many of the previous speakers in promoting the value of a new home-centered focus for Latter-day Saint gospel study. But his remarks also stressed the threat of Satan, whom Rasband described as “a subtle snake.”

“He entices us with flattery, a promise of ease, comfort or a temporary high when we are low,” Rasband said. A testimony of the gospel, as well as family and church membership, can be a personal fortress against “the power of the evil one.”

3:25 — God’s immediate goodness

God’s time and timing are different than ours, said Kyle S. McKay of the Seventy.

Deliverance from problems and trouble may not be “immediate” to humans, McKay said, but it will come eventually.

“Patience is key,” he said. “Without it, we can neither develop nor demonstrate faith in God unto life and salvation.”

While waiting for relief, he said, divine comfort is there.

“No matter what, no matter where, in Christ and through Christ, there is always hope smiling brightly before us. Immediately before us,” he said. “Above all, God’s love is immediate. With [the Apostle] Paul, I testify that nothing can ‘separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.’"

3:05 p.m. — ‘Secondary’ to the home

Apostle David A. Bednar focused his remarks on recent changes to the church’s Sunday School curriculum — intended to supplement home-based study and family gospel discussions — and the importance of members preparing at home to enter one of the faith’s temples and participate in the faith’s most sacred rites.

Bednar said the home is the best place for missionary training, gospel study, family history work and temple preparation, with “important, but secondary” meetings on those topics occurring in church meetinghouses.

“Our personal responsibility is to learn what we should learn, to live as we know we should live, and to become who the Master would have us become,” he said. “And our homes are the ultimate setting for learning, living and becoming.”

Bednar encouraged members to make use of church-produced information on the faith’s temples, while offering guidelines on how, when, and whether information on sacred ordinances can be discussed outside the temples.

Members should not disclose or describe symbols or specific promises associated with covenants received in temple ceremonies, Bednar said, but they can and should discuss, especially with their children, the basic purposes and doctrine of the principles associated with those covenants.

“A rich reservoir of resources exists in print, audio, video and other formats to help us learn about initiatory ordinances, endowments, marriages and other sealing ordinances,” Bednar said. “Information also is available about following the Savior by receiving and honoring covenants to keep the law of obedience, the law of sacrifice, the law of the gospel, the law of chastity, and the law of consecration.”

His comments come barely three months after the church changed its temple rituals to feature women more prominently and use more gender-inclusive language.

Bednar advised parents to use abundant church materials to help their children prepare for temple worship.

“Imagine,” he said, “that your son or daughter asks, ‘Someone at school told me that strange clothing is worn in the temple. Is that right?’ A short video is available on temples.churchofjesuschrist.org titled ‘Sacred Temple Clothing.’ This excellent resource explains how from ancient times men and women have embraced sacred music, different forms of prayer, symbolic religious clothing, gestures, and rituals to express their innermost feelings of devotion to God.”

Bednar said parents will be "blessed to understand and achieve in our homes the necessary balance between what is and what is not appropriate to discuss about sacred temple ordinances and covenants.”

2:50 p.m. — Good Shepherd

Gerrit W. Gong, the first Asian American apostle, explored the notion of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” and “Lamb of God.”

Those two titles and symbols “are powerfully complementary,” Gong said. “Who better to succor each precious lamb than the Good Shepherd, and who better to be our Good Shepherd than the Lamb of God?”

As shepherd, Jesus “reaches to the one and to the 90 and nine, often at the same time,” the apostle said. “As we minister, we acknowledge the 90 and nine who are steadfast and immovable, even while we yearn after the one who has strayed.”

The Savior “seeks and delivers us out of all places, from the four quarters of the earth,” Gong said. “He gathers us by holy covenant and his atoning blood.”

Jesus begged his disciples to “feed my lambs...feed my sheep.”

Shepherds must not “slumber, nor scatter or cause the sheep to go astray, nor look our own way for our own gain,” Gong said, but instead must “strengthen, heal, bind up that which is broken, bring again that which was driven away, seek that which was lost.”

Jesus Christ is “our perfect Shepherd,” the apostle declared. “Because he has laid down his life for the sheep and is now gloriously resurrected, Jesus Christ is also the perfect Lamb of God.”

2:40 p.m. — Spiritual muscles need exercise

The human body has more than 600 muscles, many of which require exercise to be in a condition to perform daily activities, said Juan Pablo Villar, a general authority Seventy. That is similar, he said, to the spiritual gifts that must be exercised to grow.

“Just as reading and learning about muscles is not enough to build muscle,” he said, “reading and learning about faith without adding actions is insufficient to build faith.”

Villar shared a personal story from his teens, when he visited his older brother who had converted to Mormonism and was serving a mission at the time.

Unfamiliar with missionary service, Villar expected to spend the day at the beach, but instead accompanied his brother and his brother’s missionary companion on their proselytizing lessons for the day.

A teary Villar said he witnessed people change as they were taught and how they “received spiritual light in their lives." He said he, too, learned even though he was never the direct recipient of his brother’s lessons.

“Looking back, I realize that my faith grew that day because my brother gave me the opportunity to put it in action,” Villar said. “I exercised it as we read from the scriptures, looked for people to teach, bore testimony, served others and so on.”

2:15 p.m. — Repentance and judgment

Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor to Nelson and a former Utah Supreme Court justice, compared mortal judgments to divine judgments.

He offered a message of hope to everyone, including “those who have lost their membership in the church by excommunication or name removal,” Oaks said. “We are all sinners who can be cleansed by repentance.”

In recent years, more and more Latter-day Saints have reported resigning their memberships, especially since the enactment of a November 2015 LGBTQ policy, which the church discarded last week.

As part of the gospel plan, Oaks said, “we are accountable to God and to his chosen servants, and that accountability involves both mortal and divine judgments.”

In the church, leaders seek “divine direction” as to how to judge “members or prospective members,” he said. “It is their responsibility to judge persons who are seeking to come unto Christ to receive the power of his atonement on the covenant path to eternal life.”

They must decide if a person is worthy of a recommend to attend the temple. Has a person whose name has been removed from the records of the church repented to be readmitted by baptism?

“The ultimate accountability, including the final cleansing effect of repentance,” Oaks said, “is between each of us and God.”

The Latter-day Saint apostle, next in line to lead the faith, reassured his listeners that Jesus “opens his arms to receive all men and women, on the loving conditions he has prescribed, to enjoy the greatest blessings God has for his children.”

11:40 a.m. — Exalt your family

President Russell M. Nelson spoke tenderly of his daughter, Wendy, who died three months ago of cancer at age 67.

“We miss our daughter greatly,” he told the assembled believers. “However, because of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, we do not worry about her. As we continue to honor our covenants with God, we live in anticipation of our being with her again. Meanwhile, we’re serving the Lord here and she is serving him there — in paradise.”

Everyone yearns to be with their loved ones after death, he said, and some “erroneously believe that the resurrection of Jesus Christ provides a promise that all people will be with their loved ones after death.”

Not true, the Latter-day Saint leader.

“The Savior himself has made it abundantly clear that while his resurrection assures that every person who ever lived will indeed be resurrected and live forever,” Nelson said, “much more is required if we want to have the high privilege of exaltation” and living as families in the afterlife.

He weep for friends and relatives who “have chosen not to make covenants with God,” he said. “They have not received the ordinances that will exalt them with their families and bind them together forever.”

As president of Christ’s church, Nelson said, “I plead with you who have distanced yourselves from the church and with you who have not yet really sought to know that the Savior’s church has been restored. Do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves, and please do it now. Time is running out."

11:25 a.m. — Mercy provides a parachute

During remarks on the atonement of Jesus Christ, outgoing Sunday School General President Tad R. Callister compared sin to a person making a rash decision to jump from an airplane.

Callister said the man might flap his arms trying to fly, or promise to never jump out of a plane again, but the law of gravity knows no compassion, and makes no exceptions.

“When we sin, we are like the foolish man who jumped from the plane,” Callister said. “No matter what we do on our own, only a crash landing awaits us. We are subject to the law of justice, which, like the law of gravity, is exacting and unforgiving.”

To complete the metaphor, Callister said, the man’s friend had sensed his foolishness and placed a parachute on his back before the jump. The falling man is able to land safely, he said, despite the law of gravity being in effect.

For sin, he said, that parachute is available because Christ overcame sin and death, allowing the faithful to have faith, repent and be spiritually unharmed.

“Because the Savior performed his atonement, there is no external force or event or person — no sin or death or divorce — that can prevent us from achieving exaltation,” Callister said, “provided we keep God’s commandments.”

11:10 a.m. — Preparing for Lord’s return

Apostle D. Todd Christofferson addressed the need to get ready for Christ’s Second Coming.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is uniquely empowered and commissioned to accomplish the necessary preparations for the Lord’s Second Coming,” Christofferson said. “indeed, it was restored for that purpose.”

So what do modern-day Latter-day Saints need to do before the Christian Savior comes?

“We can prepare ourselves as a people; we can gather the Lord’s covenant people; and we can help redeem the promise of salvation ‘made to the fathers,’ our ancestors,” he said. “All of this must occur in some substantial degree before the Lord comes again.”

This last dispensation “is building steadily to its climax — Zion on earth, being joined with Zion from above at the Savior’s glorious return.,” Christofferson said. “The Savior’s return will fulfill all that his resurrection has promised for mankind. It is the ultimate assurance that all will be put right. Let us be about building up Zion to hasten that day.”

10:50 a.m. — Love is critical

The recent switch to a two-hour block of Sunday worship services and a home-based study curriculum, apostle Quentin L. Cook said, are an opportunity for Latter-day Saints to focus their missionary, family history and temple work around “love.”

“When it comes to gathering Israel,” he said, “we need to align our hearts with this kind of love and move away from feelings of mere responsibility or guilt to feelings of love and participation in the divine partnership of sharing the Savior’s message, ministry and mission with the world.”

Cook said shorter Sunday services may make it easier for members to invite family and friends to visit the church. Other changes, he said, like allowing some 11-year-old children to participate in the faith’s vicarious baptisms for the dead, have correlated with spikes in participation at many temples.

The apostle also referred to the “unique and pivotal time in history” in which members are living. The world is becoming increasingly evil, he said, but lovingly performing vicarious temple ordinances for their ancestors will strengthen youths and families.

He urged parents to limit the use of distracting media in the home, and to make sure that the media content their children encounter is wholesome, age-appropriate and consistent with a loving atmosphere.

“One adjustment that will benefit almost any family is to make the internet, social media, and television a servant instead of a distraction or, even worse, a master,” Cook said. “The war for the souls of all, but particularly children, is often in the home.”

10:40 a.m. — Lighting the darkness

Sharon Eubank, first counselor in the all-women Relief Society, discussed the ways that Jesus Christ is a light to the world.

“One of the fundamental needs we have in order to grow is to stay connected to our source of light — Jesus Christ,” Eubank said. “He is the source of our power, the light and life of the world. Without a strong connection to him, we begin to spiritually die.”

Eubank, director LDS Charities, the faith’s global humanitarian organization, acknowledged that some believers feel overwhelmed by modern life, weighed down by grief, sorrow, obligations or exhaustion. They feel unaccepted, unworthy or outside of traditional society.

In every case, she said, Jesus reaches them and helps them pull their personal yoke. He heals wounds. He provides rest.

“Our mortal brains are made to seek understanding and meaning in tidy bundles,” she said. “I don’t know all the reasons why the veil over mortality is so thick. This is not the stage in our eternal development where we have all answers. It is the stage where we develop our assurance (or sometimes hope) in the evidence of things not seen. Assurance comes in ways that aren’t always easy to analyze, but there is light in our darkness.”

To those who feel their faith faltering, Eubank was reassuring. “Take courage. Keep your promises to God. Ask your questions. ...Turn to Jesus Christ who loves you still.”

It can be tough to “get the lights back on by yourself,” she said. “We need friends. We need each other.”

God knows how hard each person is trying, Eubank said. “You are making progress. Keep going. He sees all your hidden sacrifices and counts them to your good and the good of those you love. Your work is not in vain. You are not alone. His very name, Emmanuel, means God With Us. He is surely with you."

Eubank was the second woman to speak at the two-day conference.

10:20 a.m. — Activate heavenly blessings

Heavenly blessings are not received by collecting “good deed coupons” or by helplessly waiting to win a divine lottery, said apostle Dale G. Renlund.

“The truth is much more nuanced but more appropriate for the relationship between a loving Heavenly Father and his potential heirs — us,” Renlund said. “Restored truth reveals that blessings are never earned, but faith-inspired actions on our part, both initial and ongoing, are essential. ... You do not earn a blessing; that notion is false, but you do have to qualify for it. Our salvation comes only through the merits and grace of Jesus Christ."

Renlund compared blessings to the building of a large fire, with kindling and wood chips covered by progressively larger logs.

The wood pile may be ready to burn, Renlund said, but it still requires a person to strike a match, light the kindling, and a constant supply of oxygen to grow and maintain the blaze.

“I invite you to faithfully activate heavenly power to receive specific blessings from God,” he said. “Exercise the faith to strike the match and light the fire. Supply the needed oxygen while you patiently wait on the Lord.”

9:45 a.m.

Saturday’s sessions focused on living a Christian life and loving in a Christian way. No major announcements were unveiled, but the twice-yearly gathering came just a couple of days after the church publicly reversed a controversial policy on LGBTQ members.

Church President Russell M. Nelson spoke Saturday night in the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City — and to members around the world — encouraging male Latter-day Saints to repent and pay more attention to their families. The 94-year-old leader is expected to speak again Sunday.

Sen. Mitt Romney stopped well short Sunday of agreeing with President Donald Trump that “our country is full,” and there’s no room for more immigrants. But he described America as an “asylum magnet,” whose immigration system is being overwhelmed.

“We’re seeing unaccompanied young people as well as families with kids pouring into the border, and they say the magic word, ‘I’m seeking asylum,' " Romney said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They’re being just turned out into our country — 125,000 of them so far this year. It’s overwhelming our system. We have got to be able to deal with this.”

Romney sidestepped specifics when asked about the president’s various suggestions and threats — to close the border, to cut off aid to Central America, to impose punishing tariffs.

FULL INTERVIEW: @SenatorRomney weighs in on Trump's statement that the "country is full" and can't accept more immigrants and asylum-seekers at the border. #MTP

Sen. Romney: "We got to deal with this asylum issue that's really overwhelming our system."https://t.co/W5DfaNmZMi pic.twitter.com/ZJYseJGpS6

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 7, 2019

He said Republicans and Democrats in Congress are going to have to come together, “generally with presidential leadership,” to “deal with this asylum issue that’s really overwhelming our system.”

Romney didn’t offer any suggestions, just reiterated that the border wall — he referred to it as a “fence” — needs to be completed and the country needs to have a more reliable and universally adopted e-verify system for screening workers.

While immigration isn’t a partisan issue, he said, “This is a winning issue, I think, for Republicans and, more importantly, it’s a winning issue for Americans. … The president has tapped into something which the people feel very deeply.”

Romney, a former two-time presidential candidate who was among Trump’s harshest critics during the 2016 primaries, still has a reputation of being one of the few Republicans in Congress unafraid of openly criticizing the president. But he took pains Sunday not to say anything that could be construed as attacking Trump.

On health care, many Republicans have been alarmed and angered that Trump has recently reopened the debate about repealing the Affordable Care Act after health care proved a losing issue for the GOP in the midterm elections.

Romney said Sunday he remains an advocate of repealing Obamacare, but only as Washington figures out a replacement plan that relies on a stronger federal-state partnership.

He had few specifics, saying “a number of senators are working on" such a plan.

“I think what you’re going to see from Republicans is a federal-state partnership where the federal government sets the parameters and the states are given more flexibility to come up with ways to care for their own low-income individuals. I think a federal-state partnership is a much wiser way to go.”

While Utah politicians have long fought to dump Obamacare, Utah voters approved the program’s full Medicaid expansion in November that would have insured an estimated 150,000 low-income residents. It was quickly replaced by the GOP-controlled Legislature, scaling back its scope in what lawmakers said was motivated by an attempt to keep costs in check.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, displayed what seemed to be some confusion over what lawmakers in his adopted state of Utah did in substituting their SB96 for the voter-approved Proposition 3.

“The Legislature in Utah said, ‘Look, if we’re going to expand our Medicaid population, we’re going to only do so as long as the federal government is picking up 90% of the bill. But if the federal government tries to back off that 90% number, then we, the state Legislature, don’t want to pick up the bill.’ I think it’s a reasonable position that the Legislature has taken.”

Actually, lawmakers implemented a “bridge plan” under which the federal government will cover only 70% of the state’s costs for the estimated 90,000 people eligible for Medicaid. They meanwhile are requesting a federal waiver that would allow a full 90% match, but there are no guarantees of that happening.

Prop 3 would have qualified for the full 90% match from Day One.

“Instead of the state expanding only in the case of a 90/10 federal match rate," Stacy Stanford, an analyst with the Utah Health Policy Project said, Utah lawmakers "just got approval to go ahead with volunteering to pay three times as much [70/30] to cover half as many people.”

Stanford lamented the new coverage gaps in which “far too many Utahns will fall through the cracks" and could lead to costly legal battles. “We are committed to fighting the harmful and illegal aspects of these waivers so we can end up with a full expansion at 90/10 that was promised as a backup plan in SB96.”

On another topic, Romney criticized Democrats, rather than the president, over their continued attempts to make his tax returns public.

“I’d like the president to follow through and show his tax returns,” Romney, who loudly called for that to happen during the 2016 presidential campaign, said. “But I have to also tell you I think Democrats are just playing along his handbook. Going after his tax returns through legislative action is moronic. That’s not going to happen.”

Romney said there are areas of disagreement with Trump, and he cited tariffs on steel and aluminum. He had nothing but praise, however, for his actions on taxes and reduced regulations.

“Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd suggested that Trump and Romney might be seen as representing the two views of conservatism in the party, and he asked about whether there might, or should, be a Republican presidential primary in 2020.

Romney was not about to say anything to suggest he might consider challenging Trump.

“Whether or not there’s a primary, time will tell,” Romney said. “But parties typically do just fine when there’s a primary.”

Ennis, Mont. • There’s no mistaking what this town is about.

Turn left at the metal statue of an angler in a cowboy hat hooking a trout. Follow Main Street and pass three fly shops, and in between them the businesses that rely on their clientele. Once the storefronts end, cross the Madison as it passes under the highway, lined by thick snowbanks as March inches toward April.

This town lives on that river, one of the most famous fly-fishing destinations in the world. It brings people to town. Fishing guides and outfitters help open those people's wallets. The ones who don't hire guides spend money, too, helping provide this town with enough income to eke through the winter.

That's why so many people worry about any new rules or limitations on the river. The venue for that worry of late has been the Madison River Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, a 10-person panel the state of Montana tasked with proposing regulations to ease crowding there. The river topped 207,000 angler days last year, becoming the first waterbody in Montana to crest 200,000, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and use has been increasing for years.

The committee hasn't finalized any ideas yet, but they've talked through a few in public, which has been more than enough to rile people here, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported .

John Way, owner of The Tackle Shop, said that’s because any limits on outfitters or anglers will affect the number of people who walk down Main Street. Many outfitters have said they are not flat-out opposed to a cap, but not knowing how it would be done is uncomfortable.

"There's a lot of uncertainty, and uncertainty is sometimes worse than having a direct answer," Way said.

At times, the uncertainty has turned vitriolic. The anger has almost entirely been directed toward the Madison River Foundation, which has backed ideas unpopular with many anglers.

Lauren Wittorp, executive director of the foundation, has received most of the criticism. She has been accused of siding with wealthy landowners over public access, of dismissing public opinion, of having no respect for guides and outfitters. None of those perceptions are true, she said, and have all come from some statement or action being taken out of context during the committee's talks over the past few months.

"I think some misinformation there has caused hurt feelings," Wittorp said. "I've never intended that. I love this community. I love everything here. I want to spend the rest of my life here."

The plan

Wittorp, who grew up in Michigan, joined the foundation in 2017. She has been fly-fishing for as long as she can remember, with plenty of time spent on the Madison on family trips. It's her favorite river.

"I love fly-fishing. It's my favorite thing in the world. And protecting the place I love most is incredibly important to me," Wittorp said.

Her tenure at the foundation began with work on identifying projects in riparian areas around the river, creating a sort of master plan for about 20 projects. The foundation was also part of a land deal in the Madison Valley that will open new public access along the upper river, and it's working on improving access at the famous Three Dollar Bridge.

But her work on the rule-making committee has superseded those, becoming her most high-profile focus.

The committee was formed after the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission rejected an FWP recreation plan that would have capped outfitter numbers and barred boats from the stream's two wade-only sections, among other things.

Wittorp didn't think that plan was perfect, but she liked parts of it. But outfitters opposed it en masse, saying it was unworkable and wouldn't address crowding.

The commission agreed with FWP that something should be done, so it formed the committee. Wittorp and one of her board members, Campfire Lodge owner Jim Slattery, were named as members. There are also three fishing outfitters, one of whom is the director of the Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana. A non-fishing outfitter, two unaffiliated anglers, a commissioner and an FWP official round out the group.

Meetings started in January, and the early goings were slow. But some of what Wittorp hoped to see was already out there in the form of FWP's proposal, and it has drawn considerable ire — particularly a prohibition on boats in the river's wade-only sections.

The Madison has two such sections — one from Ennis to Ennis Lake and one from Quake Lake to Lyons Bridge, near where the West Fork Madison flows into the main river. Fishing from inside a boat is banned but anglers can use boats to taxi between wading spots.

Wittorp believes wade-anglers should have a place to fish without being disrupted by boats, just like hikers can select trails where mountain bikes aren't allowed. A few other committee members like the idea, too, and the panel talked this week about different ways to provide some space for waders to avoid boats — like splitting up parts of the week, for example.

But many guides and anglers say a boat ban would essentially privatize parts of the river that are hard to reach by wading. Reaching portions of the upper section would require wading through challenging boulder gardens, for example, because the river is flanked by private land.

The issue has come up repeatedly during public comment at the committee meetings. Brian Rosenberg, an outfitter and angler from Ennis, told the panel on Monday that he could navigate the area only if he's "superhuman."

"If we remove boats for angling access up there, we're going to remove over 90 percent of angling opportunities," Rosenberg said.

Some also see this push as being driven by landowners there who want their own private nirvana. They point to some of the foundation's board members who own land there, like Jackie Mathews.

She and her husband Craig, who ran Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone for years, disagree with the assertion that barring boats is a push from wealthy landowners there, saying many of them have no problem with anglers accessing the river. They also argue that there's plenty of wadeable access in the area. Craig still fishes it often, including last week.

"I walked in there with snowshoes, and I'm 70 years old," he said.

Criticism and opposition

That idea and others backed by the foundation were also criticized in an online petition that circulated earlier this year, garnering more than 1,600 signatures from all over the world. A guide handed copies of the petition and pages of accompanying comments to the committee members last week, urging them to read the packet.

Wittorp said she had seen the petition and read all the comments. She didn’t want to take the half-inch thick packet home, so she threw it away after the meeting.

People saw her do it, and it turned into a Facebook post accusing her of not caring what the public thinks.

"I didn't think about the visual of that per se," Wittorp said.

That's where much of the heat the foundation has received has come from — the internet. Social media outbursts, Google reviews, blog posts critical of its positions.

But there was at least one rumored physical threat reported to police.

"I never imagined in anything that I did that threats could come over river regulations," Wittorp said.

There has also been turmoil on the foundation's board. At least four members have resigned recently, according to two former board members, their decisions driven at least in part because of the river rules.

Robert Celecia, who joined the board last year, left earlier this month. He has lived in the Madison Valley for 22 years, and he has been around the foundation since its start in 2003.

He said he feels the group has been hijacked by upriver landowners and is only representing a few special interests and not the foundation's full membership.

"I really think they've become an advocacy group," Celecia said.

Wittorp said advocating for policies is part of the group's role and has been ever since its founding. The group was involved in talks on the same issue in 2012.

"This isn't new ...," she said. "I think right now it might be a little more evident."

She added that several qualified candidates are already lined up to replace the members who resigned. She also said the foundation surveyed its members on the rule proposals and heard "overwhelming support" for the ideas it's advancing.

Jackie Mathews backed that up.

"Have we made every member happy? No," Mathews said. "Have we made the bulk of our members happy? Yes."

Chris Gentry, owner of Madison Foods, the town's grocery store, is one member who isn't happy. She moved to Ennis from southeastern Montana to run the store in the early 2000s, and she got a quick education on the river's importance. Summertime success keeps her store open through the dead of winter.

She has been a member of the foundation for years, but she's unsure if she'll renew. She disagrees with any proposal to cap commercial use, arguing that it's only a fraction of the river use, and she doesn't like the positions Wittorp has taken.

"She's not for Ennis. She's not for our community," Gentry said. "She's for their foundation and those four or five things they've put out there already. That's their agenda. It's clear."

That criticism is hard for Wittorp to hear. She loves this place, cares about it, and sees her spot on the committee as something that goes beyond simply the interests of the foundation.

"My role on this committee has been to represent the Madison River Foundation," Wittorp said. "At the same time, I have done my very best not only to represent the community I live in, but people all along the Madison River."

Close to compromise

The tension and drama has existed without any concrete rule proposals from the committee. Everything has been hypothetical, and they've yet to formally agree on anything.

The process was ambitious — have 10 people meet eight times and come to consensus on the best way to regulate the river. The flashiest fight has been over boats in the upper wade-only section, obscuring complex talks over how best to cap use.

State officials hoped a proposal would go to the commission in April, which could allow them to have the rules in place by early 2020. As the process drags on, that becomes more and more unlikely.

If nothing is agreed to and the committee dissolves, FWP and the commission would decide how to go forward, according to Don Skaar, a committee member and FWP official.

Wittorp would like to see FWP try again. The agency came up with many of the ideas she likes, after all. But she still has some hope for the committee, and she said talks have been positive since the last set of meetings.

“I think we’re very close to finding compromise,” she said.

Chicago • Whenever Rachel Orden calls for an Uber, the 20-year-old Michigan State University sophomore immediately walks to the back of the vehicle to check the license plate number, then opens the door and waits for the driver to say her name before getting in.

Even then, she devises a backup plan in case she feels uncomfortable.

“How could I get out? Could I unlock the door? Who do I have on speed dial? Could I jump out safely if I needed to? All that goes through my mind,” said Orden, of Naples, Florida, who uses the ride-hailing service about once a week, usually when going out at night. She said the March 29 slaying of University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson, who mistakenly got into a vehicle she thought was her Uber ride, has made her even more cautious.

It also has prompted law enforcement agencies and ride-hailing companies to intensify efforts to warn passengers against getting in without checking to ensure both the vehicle and driver are legitimate. Although no official tallies exist, there have been several high-profile cases involving would-be robbers and assailants posing as ride-hailing drivers — often at bars. Police in South Carolina have not said if that was what the driver did in Josephson's case.

"You do have individuals who are predatory and roving around looking for potential victims," said Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, adding that fraudulent drivers are drawn to bars because people might be drunk and not paying attention.

A Chicago-area man was charged with raping four women he picked up at bars after posing as an Uber driver in 2017. He picked up a fifth woman in a taxi, authorities said. Musaab Afundi has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and his case is ongoing, CBS2 Chicago reported.

In South Carolina, Josephson, 21, had ordered an Uber around 1:30 a.m. after reportedly becoming separated from friends following an evening out at Columbia bars. She mistakenly got into a car driven by 24-year-old Nathaniel David Rowland, according to authorities, who allege he used the childproof locks in his car to imprison Josephson before killing her and dumping her body about 65 miles (105 kilometers) from Columbia. Her funeral was held Saturdayin New Jersey, where she grew up.

Rowland is charged with kidnapping and murder.

Then on Wednesday, a 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of raping a woman who got into his car after leaving a Seattle bar on Dec. 16. The King County Sheriff's Office said the man led her to believe he was her driver before pulling the car over and raping her. A judge found probable cause to hold the man on investigation of third-degree rape.

And a man from Stamford, Connecticut, was charged last month with raping and kidnapping two women whom he'd picked up at bars in December, the Greenwich Time reported.

"There is no more dangerous place to be than in a locked car traveling with a stranger," said Bryant Greening, a Chicago attorney who specializes in representing ride-hailing drivers and passengers. "You have to be aware of your surroundings and think how you would react if the situation turns sour ... you have to listen to your instincts."

It's not just women who are at risk from fake ride-hailing drivers, he said. Men also have been robbed after getting into the wrong car.

"There is no discrimination by predators," he said.

Greening urged Uber and Lyft to do more to educate customers and to come up with technological solutions. Also, in the wake of Josephson's death, a bill has been introduced in the South Carolina legislature to require Uber and Lyft drivers to have illuminated signs.

Uber said in a written statement that in coming weeks it will launch a social media campaign, buy ads in college newspapers and begin sending push notifications during pickup to remind passengers about safety steps. It also said it has worked since 2017 with law enforcement and colleges to "educate the public about how to avoid fake rideshare drivers," including by checking a driver's photo and vehicle description against what was sent when a trip is requested.

Lyft said it also provides photos of the driver and information about the vehicle, and some Lyft vehicles have a display on dashboards that changes color to match the passengers' app to help them identify their ride. "We ... are always exploring new, innovative ways to improve the experience for all users, and most importantly, to keep our community safe," the company said.

Orden, the Michigan State University student, said the recent assaults have made her more nervous even though she's already cautious.

“But I feel like in a way that’s a good thing,” she said. “Now I will take even more precautions.”

New York • As more states make it legal to smoke marijuana, some government officials, researchers and others worry what that might mean for one of the country’s biggest public health successes : curbing cigarette smoking.

Though there are notable differences in health research findings on tobacco and marijuana, the juxtaposition strikes some as jarring after generations of Americans have gotten the message that smoking endangers their health.

"We're trying to stop people from smoking all kinds of things. Why do you want to legalize marijuana?" a New York City councilman, Republican Peter Koo, asked at a recent city hearing about the state's potential legalization of so-called recreational pot use.

Marijuana advocates say there's no comparison between joints and tobacco cigarettes. A sweeping federal assessment of marijuana research found the lung-health risks of smoking weed appear "relatively small" and "far lower than those of smoking tobacco," the top cause of preventable death in the U.S.

Unlike for cigarettes, there's evidence of certain health benefits from marijuana, such as easing chronic pain. And marijuana can be used without smoking it. Most states now have legal medical pot programs; 10 states and the District of Columbia have approved recreational use.

"They're different products, and they need to be treated differently," says Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project.

At the same time, studies have shown crossover between marijuana and tobacco use. And while smoking cannabis may be less dangerous than tobacco to lung health, pot doesn't get an entirely clean slate.

Some health officials and anti-smoking activists also worry about inserting legal marijuana into the growing world of vaping, given uncertainties about the smoking alternative's long-term effects.

Here's a look at the issues, science and perspectives:

SMOKING POT VS. TOBACCO

While cigarette smoking is the top risk factor for lung cancer, some of scientific evidence suggests there's no link between marijuana smoking and lung cancer. That's according to a 2017 federal report that rounded up nearly two decades of studies on marijuana, research that's been limited by the federal government's classification of marijuana as a controlled substance like heroin.

While cigarette smoking is a major cause of heart disease, the report concluded it's unclear whether marijuana use is associated with heart attacks or strokes.

But there's strong evidence linking long-term cannabis smoking to worse coughs and more frequent bouts of chronic bronchitis, according to the report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

The report also looked at other effects, finding a mix of possible risks, upsides and unknowns. For example, the report said marijuana can ease chemotherapy-related nausea and adults' chronic pain but also found evidence the drug is linked to developing schizophrenia and getting in traffic crashes.

In recent weeks, studies have echoed concerns about high-potency pot and psychosis and documented a rise in marijuana-related emergency room visits after legalization in Colorado.

Tobacco and marijuana use can also go together. Blunts — marijuana in a cigar wrapper that includes tobacco leaves — have gained popularity. And studies have found more cigarette smokers have used pot, and the other way around, compared to nonsmokers.

"One substance reinforces the use of the other, and vice versa, which can escalate a path to addiction," says Dr. Sterling McPherson, a University of Washington medical professor studying marijuana and tobacco use among teens.

The National Academies report found pot use likely increases the risk of dependence on other substances, including tobacco.

To some public health officials, it makes sense to legalize marijuana and put some guardrails around it.

"For tobacco, we know that it's inherently dangerous and that there is no safe amount of tobacco to use," says New York City Health Department drug policy analyst Rebecca Giglio. Whereas with marijuana, "we see this as an opportunity to address the harms of criminalization while also regulating cannabis."

But health department opinions vary, even within the same state: New York's Association of County Health Officials opposes legalizing recreational weed.

___

SO WHAT ABOUT VAPING?

Vaping — heating a solution into a vapor and inhaling it — has been pitched as a safer alternative to smoking.

Experts have said vaping pot is probably less harmful to the lungs than smoking it, though there's little research on the health effects over time, and they worry about its potency when vaped.

The American Lung Association is concerned that vaping will ultimately prove damaging to lung health and is alarmed about a surge in underage e-cigarette use. And adding legal marijuana to the picture "only makes it a more complicated issue," says Erika Sward, an assistant vice president.

Others, though, think policymakers should view vaping as a relatively safe way to use pot.

"I would say the risks are going to be less with that form of consumption," says Rebecca Haffajee, a University of Michigan health policy professor who co-wrote a 2017 piece calling for recreational marijuana programs to allow only nonsmokable forms of the drug.

Meanwhile, some local governments have adjusted public smoking bans to cover both vaping and pot. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors tweaked its prohibition just last month.

___

TWO VIEWS

As a former cigarette smoker, New Yorker Gary Smith is dismayed that his home state might OK smoking pot.

He knows research hasn't tied smoking marijuana to lung cancer, which killed three cigarette smokers in his family and struck him 20 years after he quit; he's been treated. But he fears the respiratory risks of marijuana smoking aren't fully known.

"It's crazy that the government, in order to raise (revenue from) taxes, they're permitting people to suck this stuff into your lungs," says Smith, 78, an accountant from Island Park.

Hawaii physician and state Rep. Richard Creagan feels no less strongly about cigarettes. The ex-smoker and Democrat from Naalehu this year unsuccessfully proposed all but banning them by raising the legal age to 100.

Meanwhile, he'd like Hawaii to legalize recreational marijuana, an idea that fizzled in the state Legislature this year.

Creagan, 73, thinks pot benefits people's well-being more than it risks their health, and he expects non-smoking alternatives will reduce the risks. Plus, he figures legal marijuana could replace cigarette tax revenue someday.

“That coupling,” he says, “was sort of in my head.”

A man who police officers were attempting to detain early Sunday while responding to a domestic violence call is expected to survive after shooting himself in the head, the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

After the man pulled out a gun and began to raise it, one of the deputies — “concerned for his own safety and the safety of the other law enforcement officers,” the release says — fired two shots. The man brought his gun up to his head as the deputy was firing and shot himself in the head. The deputy’s two shots missed the man and struck a vehicle parked nearby. No one was in the vehicle at the time.

The deputy who fired his gun has been placed on paid administrative leave as outlined in sheriff’s office policy. The sheriff’s office will conduct an investigation of the shooting.

Provo • The new top prosecutor in Utah’s second-largest county is planning a program to get low-level offenders into drug treatment or community service without ever filing criminal charges against them.

Utah County Attorney David Leavitt is looking to create a diversion program that would allow some nonviolent offenders to fulfill certain requirements that would result in the case against them being dropped, The Daily Herald reported last week.

Getting charged with a crime can disrupt a person’s life for years, making it hard to find a job or a place to live, Leavitt said. Under the diversion program, people get the chance to make amends without overwhelming the criminal justice system.

“I believe of all the people we prosecute, only 20% of them are violent people,” Leavitt said. “That begs the question: Shouldn’t we be finding a way to give them a punishment that doesn’t overburden the court system, doesn’t overburden the public defender’s office, the probation office, the prosecutor’s office, and at the same time allows them to move on with their life?”

For certain crimes, prosecutors would be allowed to divert the case before charges are filed. The suspect would be required to complete community service, pay restitution or go into treatment. If they don’t follow the stipulations, the case would be prosecuted as normal.

“This is an additional tool that allows a defendant to salvage a life afterwards that doesn’t involve being a criminal,” Leavitt said.

People accused of murder, sex abuse or DUIs would not be eligible for the program.

The program should also help free up prosecutors, so they turn their attention to more serious crimes.

“This will divert some of our lower level cases, and allow us to focus on our violent crime where we need to spend more of our efforts, resources, time and energy,” said Chad Grunander, the office’s community service division chief.

Leavitt said they aim to roll out the program in June, but prosecutors have already started testing it with a few cases.

The most iconic building and the most iconic spot in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City will be undergoing a major makeover.

President Russell M. Nelson, leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced Sunday that plans will be formally unveiled April 19 to renovate the faith’s Salt Lake Temple, Temple Square and the Church Office Building plaza.

Renovation also awaits other Utah pioneer-era temples in Logan and Manti. Details for the St. George Temple, the state’s first, already have been released.

Nelson said last October that such projects would be coming to these historic edifices.

“Ours is a sacred responsibility to care for them,” Nelson said. “Therefore, these pioneer temples will soon undergo a period of renewal and refreshing, and, for some, a major restoration.”

Nelson’s remarks came at the close of the faith’s two-day General Conference. He also announced that eight new temples will be built — including a 21st in Utah — bringing the total number of Latter-day Saint temples operating, announced or under construction to 209 worldwide.

“As we speak of our temples old and new, may each of us signify by our actions that we are true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Nelson said. “May we renovate our lives through faith and trust in him. May we access the power of his atonement by our repentance each day.”

The new temples will be built in:

• Tooele Valley (Tooele County’s first, bringing the state’s total to 21, with 17 operating and others planned in Saratoga Springs, Layton and Washington County).

• Pago Pago, American Samoa (the first in this U.S. territory, according to a news release, where roughly 30 percent of residents are Latter-day Saints).

• Okinawa, Japan (the country’s fourth temple).

• Neiafu, Tonga (the second for this Pacific Island kingdom, where roughly 60 percent of residents are church members).

• Moses Lake, Wash. (the state’s fourth temple).

• San Pedro Sula, Honduras (the country’s second temple).

• Antofagasta, Chile (the nation’s third temple).

• Budapest, Hungary (the country’s first temple).

Before Nelson named the new temples, he urged audience members to remain silent. In past conferences, audible gasps could be heard throughout the Conference Center when some locations — ranging from Layton, Utah, to Moscow, Russia — were mentioned.

“Now, please listen carefully and reverently,” he said Sunday. “If I announce a temple in a place that is special to you, may I suggest that you simply bow your head with a silent prayer of gratitude in your heart. We do not want any verbal outbursts to detract from the sacred nature of this conference and the Lord’s holy temples.”

Latter-day Saints consider temples houses of God, places where devout members participate in their faith’s most sacred ordinances, including eternal marriage.