The Utah Democratic Party is so strapped for cash that its executive committee decided Tuesday to stop paying Chairwoman Daisy Thomas for the rest of her term.

The vote came after the committee received a financial update from its new treasurer and learned that Executive Director Alex Cragun, one of three people on the party’s payroll, had not received a portion of a recent paycheck.

“Changes just have to be made to make sure the organization remains viable,” Sheila Srivastava, the party’s treasurer, told The Salt Lake Tribune — and the party doesn’t have the money to pay both Cragun and Thomas.

Before Srivastava came into the party in February, she said the organization didn’t have solid procedures in place for accounting records and that she has been working to “clean up” its financial reporting system and create standard operating procedures to ensure the party’s viability. She said the party has a plan in place to pay off its debts with fundraising and “other coordinated efforts.”

Documents from the executive committee meeting provided to The Salt Lake Tribune show the party has $43,312 in assets but a total $106,873 in current and long-term liabilities — a deficit of $63,561. Additionally, a profit and loss sheet from Jan. 1 to April 9 of this year shows the party generated $212,960 in income during the period but spent $229,188.58.

Personnel costs, including wages and health insurance, cost $73,588.

Eric Biggart, chair of caucuses, said Thursday that the decision to stop paying Thomas was not connected to Cragun’s missed wages but stemmed from conversations that had been ongoing since February. Before the executive committee meeting began on Tuesday, he said members knew the party hadn’t met its February and March fundraising goals and would likely to have to cut Thomas’ pay.

“[We knew] the numbers are such that if this doesn’t pick up in March, then we’re going to have to not pay the chair because the chair’s only job is set vision and raise money," he said. "There’s not much else that is needed right there.”

There appeared to be confusion Wednesday afternoon among executive committee members over why Cragun wasn’t being paid, who had made that decision and how much money he was owed. Cragun did not respond to a request for comment.

But Thomas said in a written statement that Cragun had “unilaterally” reduced his most recent paycheck against her orders “in response to a temporary budget shortfall, without considering the negative labor implications in doing so. We have plans to reimburse him completely for any shortfall. The Utah Democratic Party is a worker's party and we believe all our full-time employees are entitled to a living wage.”

Several people said Thomas, who declined to offer comment on suspension of her wages, was not present for the financial discussion at Tuesday evening’s meeting

Michael Bryant, the party’s secretary and a member of the executive committee, said the committee was surprised to find out that Cragun had missed wages.

“We weren’t aware he wasn’t being paid and we don’t know why he wasn’t being paid, and there was unanimous consent to make him whole immediately,” he said.

Shortly after the meeting, Elizabeth Converse, a former Democrat who left the party over its response to allegations of sexual harassment against a former candidate for chairman, created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for Cragun’s missed wages.

“Alex has been a community organizer for as long as I’ve known him,” she said in her post. “He genuinely cares about people — now to the point of not even getting paid for the work he has done. This is a problem. Without a healthy Alex, there is no healthy infrastructure for the community we all want to build. Invest in Alex, so he can invest in himself. If his job can’t pay, we can keep him afloat until he can find one that can.”

The campaign had earned more than $1,600 as of Wednesday afternoon from more than 20 people — one of whom said he’d “suddenly stopped” his donations to the Utah Democratic Party because of the situation.

The party has been embroiled in controversy for the past two years over its response to sexual harassment allegations from seven women against party chair candidate Rob Miller, the party’s former vice chairman and treasurer. That issue came up again at its meeting Tuesday after Miller tried to run in the upcoming race for chair. The party stated it had not received his campaign paperwork prior to the filing deadline.

The state Republican Party has also faced financial challenges due to outstanding legal debts stemming from several legal challenges — most of which were unsuccessful — against the state. Those lawsuits sought to overturn SB45, a 2014 law allowing partisan candidates to qualify for a primary election either by obtaining signatures or by winning the support of party delegates at convention.

Entrata CEO Dave Bateman acquired that debt and recently excused it after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Republican Party’s appeal against the state.

— Editor’s note: Elizabeth Converse is married to a reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune.

Donald Trump makes the claim that "America is full." To be fair and accurate, Trump states, "The U.S. immigration system is full and when it's full, there's nothing you can do about it." Trump's claim seems ludicrous at best. Trump's claim seems more than sinister.

If America is full, how is Trump planning on making room for “more” inhabitants? Might his claim include veiled threats of concentration camps? Extermination for the untermenschen? “Untermenschen” is a term of Nazi device, meaning “inferior people,” that came in handy during the rise of the Third Reich. Is that the underlying meaning of Trump's claim of America being full? I don't know but, Trump's claim made my skin crawl and seemed more than un-American.

A point that needs to be made here, are Utah Republicans in agreement with Trump and his outrageous claims? Might Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney be in agreement with Trump? Reps. Rob Bishop, John Curtis, Chris Stewart and Ben McAdams? I include McAdams with the Republicans as, in reality, McAdams is “Republican light.”.

Utah's political leaders are mostly silent when it comes to just about any of Trump's outrageous claims and actions. Utah's political leadership are more than moral cowards and that is to Utah's shame.

Don Nash, Salt Lake City

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I would like to share a few thoughts regarding the transportation dilemma in Big and Little Cottonwood canyons.

As an environmentally concerned citizen, I argue that transportation solutions are simple. Many people in Utah love the beautiful Wasatch Mountains, including me.

Construction has negative impacts on the environment, including our watersheds. Any new construction, such as building extra lanes, rails or hardware for gondolas, clearly impacts the environment. Traffic in the canyons is already congested enough, we do not need more construction.

Public transportation is the best way to reduce traffic congestion, and tolls may be necessary to encourage people to use public transportation during the busiest times. Bus schedules can be adjusted to fit the needs of the people, and include not only ski resorts, but also include many trailheads throughout the year. Every person who lives near the Wasatch Mountains is affected by what happens in our mountains. It is very important to consider healthy solutions to this growing problem.

Djinni Yancey, Magna

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Dear Senator Romney,

I started with the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee right before you did in January, 1999. You made amazing strides to make the 2002 Olympic Games ethical, solvent and profitable. It was a real win for Utah, especially after the bribery scandal.

A story you shared with the employees during one of your all-hands employee meetings has remained with me ever since, and I’d like to share it as I recall with the readers of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Part of the responsibility of the executives of SLOC was to travel to test events and meetings of other future cities that had won Olympic bids. You told us about how you and your COO, Fraser Bullock, had to travel to Athens, Greece, to attend one of these sessions. You boasted how you had both traveled coach in order to save Delta Airlines sponsor money as that was the right thing to do, and even how you had “made Mr. Bullock walk instead of taking a taxi” to visit one of the historical sites.

You and I would likely not agree politically, but regardless, I’ve shared that story many times over the years with friends and co-workers when they have asked what it was like working under your leadership. My response has always been that you are a good and decent man, who values ethics and understands that perception is often viewed as reality. You did the right thing as a matter of conscience, and encouraged others to do the same, and you did it while no one was watching.

Now, as my senator, I wonder what has happened to you. I saw you on television the other day flouting the rule of law. You are failing to defend our democracy against corruption.

The ethical state of the United States is in shambles. You are allowing horrible things to occur without a fight in the name of the citizens in the state of Utah.

There are children in cages. The president of the United States lies on a daily basis and you do nothing to repudiate it.

Whether your constituents are Republican or Democrat, it doesn’t matter. You were elected to do right by our state, and we are known for our decency.

I once thought you were a man of ethics. I will no longer share my story, as you don’t appear to be the man you were 20 years ago.

Mary Bridwell, Holladay

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Ever since the Trump administration called for the creation of a new branch of the military called “Space Force,” I’ve seen an astronomical amount of criticism directed at it. And justly so.

The militarization of space is incredibly dangerous, costly and stupid. But the Trump administration seems pretty set on making it a reality. So, instead of opposing Space Force, I’d like to switch its focus to something more positive.

According to Vice President Mike Pence, the most important reason America needs Space Force is to “protect American assets in space.” He’s insinuating we need to protect our assets (satellites, space stations, etc.) from foreign powers.

But the most dangerous factor to our assets is not other countries, but space debris. Pieces of broken hardware, dead satellites still in orbit, this space junk is hurling around low Earth orbit at thousands of miles per hour. If even a quarter-inch screw hit the International Space Station at these speeds, it could compromise its hull, killing or harming those aboard.

Space Force, to truly “protect American assets in space,” should be focused on cleaning up orbital debris, not on putting guns in orbit. Space is truly the final frontier, and it should be open for peaceful exploration, not military exploitation.

Mitch Stevens, Draper

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In the April 8 Tribune article “Gun advocate fights feds over bump stocks,” the chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council claims that he would be willing to follow a bump stock ban if the process was right, but is opposed to President Trump’s current bump stock regulation.

Just a month ago Clark Aposhian testified in a hearing against just such a ban, Rep. Patrice Arent’s HB331, Prohibition of Firearm Modification Devices. In the hearing he claimed that it was in violation of his Fifth Amendment rights because it required him to destroy property he had paid for.

It makes me wonder if the “process” can ever be “right” when the profits of the gun lobby are at stake.

Nancy Farrar Halden, Sandy

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Liberal activist groups are making a concerted effort to ensure that Kirstjen Nielsen’s deeds as homeland security secretary follow her out of office. Advocacy groups such as Restore Public Trust say Nielsen should be held accountable for supporting the Trump administration’s family separation policy and the president’s immigration stance in general. And Nielsen hasn’t sought to distance herself from Trump, even after being pushed out of her post. “I share the president’s goal of securing the border,” Nielsen said to reporters Monday. Liberal groups have begun pressuring companies not to hire Nielsen and other Trump officials who backed the policy of family separation. [WaPost]

Happy Thursday!

Topping the news: The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah made good on their promise to pursue legal action against a bill to ban abortions after 18 weeks. The two advocacy groups announced a federal lawsuit to strike down the legislation, declaring it to be unconstitutional at a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13] [ABC4] [KUTV]

-> Nearly 200 students from Brigham Young University’s Idaho campus protested their school’s Honor Code enforcement yesterday. Students marched with signs in hand, calling for change and delivered 75 letters pleading their case to the Honor Code Office. University staff said they were too busy to meet with the group. [Trib] [ABC4]

-> Utah Sen. Mitt Romney is voicing reservations over President Donald Trump’s decision to nominate former presidential candidate Herman Cain to serve on the Federal Reserve Board. Romney cited doubts that Cain has the economic experience to fill such a role. [Trib]

Tweets of the day: @StephenAtHome: “It’s unfair to expect Trump to show us the Mueller Report before he’s had a chance to get spanked with it.”

-> @JimDabakis: “Legislature & Gov to spend hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) to defend a lawsuit that is going nowhere. They should pay the legal costs PERSONALLY if they lose. Watch how quick their political stunt suits would end. #utpol.”

-> @BenWinslow: “.@writerathome called the lawsuit by @ppacutah and @acluutah ‘inevitable.’ She also acknowledges it could go to SCOTUS: ‘I do think it will have to be propelled upward through the court system before it will ultimately win.’ @fox13 #utpol”

-> @jm_miller: “Hello from Rexburg, Idaho! I'm at a student march at BYU-Idaho. Protestors are seeking changes in how the Honor Code is enforced. There is a few hundred students here.”

In the news: A man named Marvin Oliveros — whose brother was shot by police — joined about 50 other people in urging the Unified Police Department’s board of directors not to discontinue the agency’s use of body cameras. [Trib]

-> A group called Envision Utah compiled a study to look into teacher deficits in the state. The review found that one of the biggest reasons college students are choosing different career paths is because the pay for teaching is just too low. Now, the group plans to look into how much teachers should be paid and where that funding could come from. [Trib]

-> WalletHub.com analyzed 501 American cities and ranked Provo as the least diverse city in the United States, with Orem ranked not far behind as third. [Trib] [KUTV]

-> An environmental activist filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against San Juan County and a rancher who detained her and her husband in a corral at Bears Ears National Monument two years ago. She alleges that she was illegally detained and that the county trumped up false charges against her. [Trib] [Dnews]

-> Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley skewers Provo for its lack of racial diversity. [Trib]

-> Tribune columnist Robert Gehrke writes that the Utah Legislature made a sensible decision to extend the life of the Mountainous Planning Commission by another year — but that’s not a long-term solution to issues facing Big Cottonwood Canyon. [Trib]

Nationally: Less than 48 hours before the United Kingdom was slated to leave, the European Union agreed to extend the departure deadline to Oct. 31. British Prime Minister Theresa May pitched a plan to extend the deadline to June 30, but European leaders shot the proposal down. [NYTimes] [WaPost]

-> U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr told Congress that he believes the government spied on the Trump campaign and that he plans to investigate whether or not any laws were broken in the process. Barr also said he hopes to make special counsel Robert Mueller’s report available to the public next week. [NYTimes] [Politico] [WaPost]

-> Both Democratic and Republican congressional representatives expressed frustration over the dramatic increase of insulin prices and said they intend to work across the political aisle to lower those costs. [NYTimes]

-> Gregory B. Craig, White House counsel during the Obama administration, could become the first person who gained prominence in Democratic Party politics to be charged under special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Craig’s lawyers said they expect he will be charged based on the work he has done with Ukraine. [NYTimes] [WaPost]

-> Steven Mnuchin, Treasury Department secretary, penned a letter to the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and said the department’s lawyers will not immediately release President Donald Trump’s tax returns. [NYTimes] [Politico] [WaPost]

Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com. If you haven’t already, sign up here for our weekday email to get this sent directly to your inbox.

-- Bethany Rodgers and Sahalie Donaldson

https://twitter.com/BethRodgersSLT, https://twitter.com/SahalieD

One man was hospitalized and police are looking for other suspects after a shootout outside a Salt Lake City home on Wednesday evening.

The incident began shortly after 10 p.m. when a woman who lives at a home near 100 W. Paxton Ave. heard her dogs barking outside and went to investigate. She discovered several men in her yard, and there was a “confrontation,” according to police.

“At that time, a male at the residence came outside. He was armed, and shots were exchanged,” said Det. Michael Ruff of the Salt Lake City Police Department.

One of the men from the group the dogs had been barking at was wounded; he is believed to be the man who fired at the residents. That man, whose name has not been released, was located nearby and transported to a hospital in serious condition. His wounds are not believed to be life-threatening.

According to Ruff, police are looking for two or more other men who may have been involved. It’s unknown whether the residents and the suspects knew each other, “but we don’t believe there’s any danger to the public,” he added.

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

This week’s podcast: Goodbye, policy; hello, inclusion?

Nearly 3½ years ago, the church stunned insiders and outsiders with a new policy labeling same-sex married couples “apostates” and generally barring their children from baptism until they turn 18.

Last week, Latter-day Saint leaders delivered another shocker by reversing those rules.

What happened? And why? And where does the Utah-based faith go from here? Discussing those questions and more about the church’s evolution and, some say, devolution on LGBTQ rights is historian Gregory Prince, author of the newly released “Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences.”

Listen here.

Pacific tour

Globe-trotting President Russell M. Nelson soon will be jetting off again — this time to seven places in the Pacific.

Nelson and his wife, Wendy, along with apostle Gerrit W. Gong (the first Asian American in the Quorum of the Twelve) and his wife, Susan, will leave Salt Lake City on May 16 bound for Kona, Hawaii, according to a news release. From there, they will proceed over nine days to Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Tahiti.

Conference summary

OK, so there were no jaw-dropping moments at this past weekend’s General Conference. There still were plenty of sermons to dissect, songs to inspire and prayers to ponder.

This time around, words definitely spoke louder than actions.

Here are some highlights:

• President Russell M. Nelson urged those who have distanced themselves from the church or never truly considered converting to “do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves, and please do it now. <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/08/discover-christs-truths/">Time is running out</a>.” In the all-male priesthood session, <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/07/sustain-faithful-yet/">he told husbands and sons</a> to tune out the TV and tune in to their families. “Get up off the couch, put down the remote, and wake up from [your] spiritual slumber.”
• Sharon Eubank, first counselor in the women’s Relief Society and one of only two female speakers at the conference, encouraged those with faltering faith to <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/08/discover-christs-truths/">seek Christ’s light</a> amid the darkness. “Take courage. Keep your promises to God. Ask your questions. ... Turn to Jesus Christ, who loves you still.”
• President Dallin H. Oaks, Nelson’s first counselor in the governing First Presidency, invited those who have been excommunicated or <a href="https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3178894&itype=CMSID">resigned their memberships</a> to repent. “We are all sinners who can be cleansed by repentance.”
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/06/practicing-your-faith-not/">Apostle Neil L. Andersen</a> saluted LGBTQ Latter-day Saints who live the church’s law of chastity. He told of a gay friend, who has been “true to his temple covenants” that require celibacy outside of heterosexual marriage. The man has “expanded his creative and professional talents and has served nobly in both the church and the community.” Andersen’s words came two days after the church <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/04/lds-church-dumps-its/">reversed the controversial 2015 LGBTQ policy</a>.
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/08/discover-christs-truths/">Apostle David A. Bednar</a> counseled parents to be more forthright in preparing their children for temple worship. “A rich reservoir of resources exists in print, audio, video and other formats,” he noted, “to help us learn about initiatory ordinances, endowments, marriages and other sealing ordinances.” Reinforcing Bednar’s remarks, the church posted on its homepage a link to <a href="http://temples.churchofjesuschrist.org/">temples.churchofjesuschrist.org</a>, which contains, among other temple details, a video explaining the clothes members wear in the most sacred of Latter-day Saint edifices.
• Fellow apostle <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/06/after-many-recent-changes/">Jeffrey R. Holland</a> spoke of the sacred nature of the sacrament and reminded members to show up on time for Sunday meetings. “A late pass,” he added, “will always be lovingly granted to those blessed mothers who, with children, Cheerios, and diaper bags trailing in marvelous disarray, are lucky to have made it at all.”
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/06/practicing-your-faith-not/">Apostle Dieter F. Uchtdorf</a>, who oversees the missionary department, asked members to follow in Christ’s footsteps and look for opportunities to spread the gospel. Whatever ways “seem natural and normal to you, share with people why Jesus Christ and his church are important to you.”
• Nelson named <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/07/lds-church-president/">eight new temples</a> to be built, including a first for Hungary (in Budapest) and a 21st for Utah (this one in the Tooele Valley).
• Nelson built upon a <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/10/08/dozen-new-lds-temples/">previous pronouncement</a> that Utah’s pioneer-era temples — stretching from Logan in the north to St. George in the south — would undergo a “renewal and refreshing, and, for some, a major restoration.” Plans to <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/07/lds-church-president/">renovate the landmark Salt Lake Temple</a>, along with Temple Square and the Church Office Building plaza, will be unveiled April 19.
• Ten new general authority Seventies were named, including <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/06/former-byu-football-star/">Peter M. Johnson, the first African American</a> to join those ranks.
• <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/06/former-byu-football-star/">Vai Sikahema</a>, a former BYU and NFL star, and Henry J. Eyring, president of BYU-Idaho and a son of President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency, were among 55 area Seventies appointed.
• Church membership topped 16.3 million in 2018, a net increase of 195,566 during the year, the <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/04/06/lds-church-tops-million/" target=_blank>lowest in 40 years</a>.

New historian

General authority Seventy LeGrand R. Curtis Jr. will take over as church historian and recorder Aug. 1, the church announced in a news release. He replaces Steven E. Snow.

Another general authority, Paul V. Johnson, is returning as commissioner of the Church Educational System, a post he previously held. He succeeds Kim B. Clark.

Snow and Clark, the release said, will receive emeritus general authority status at the October General Conference.

‘A good first step’

Writer Andy Winder, a transgender BYU gradudate, was “thrilled” with news that the church had walked back its 2015 LGBTQ policy.

“But my excitement started deflating when I read texts and Twitter posts from my queer friends,” he wrote in a Huffington Post essay. “ … So many people were devastated by this policy, and trying to take it back now doesn’t erase the pain that they’ve felt.”

Scrapping the policy is a “good first step,” he added, “but it’s just that: a beginning. … Words and policies aren’t much if they’re not coupled with actions.”

I’ve been threatened, says Trump critic

Latter-day Saint politician Jeff Flake, a former U.S. senator from Arizona and a thorn in the side of Donald Trump, told The Guardian that he received a number of threats from supporters of the president before he left office earlier this year.

“I would have liked to have done one more term in the Senate, that’s probably all,” Flake told the British newspaper. “But it’s been at a heavy cost to my family. The sacrifices they’ve been [made to make], what they had to endure.”

The Republican politician revealed that a man carrying a rifle scope had shown up at three church locations in Arizona looking for the former senator.

“It was a man living out of his car,” Flake said. “He told someone he had just attended a Trump rally.”

Prize-winning ‘Sister Saints’

University of Utah professor Colleen McDannell’s stereotype-busting book about Latter-day Saint women has earned the 2019 Mary Nickliss Prize in U.S. Women’s and/or Gender History from the Organization of American Historians.

“‘Sister Saints: Mormon Women Since the End of Polygamy’ rests on ambitious research, balancing archival materials with women’s personal recollections and interviews,” says the group’s news release. “... McDannell demonstrates, unflinchingly, how the patriarchal Mormon hierarchy deployed not only threats but also crafty flexibility in its determination to stifle women’s initiatives. … [She also] demonstrates how the LDS establishment is dependent on the underestimated leadership and labor of all Mormon women.”

The religious studies scholar discussed her book — which reveals Latter-day Saint women as, at times, outspoken and progressive and, at other times, as insular and conflicted — in a previous “Mormon Land” podcast.

The Mother of all mothers — part two

Writer-poet Rachel Hunt Steenblik isn’t done telling the previously unpenned story about Heavenly Mother.

Enter “I Gave Her a Name,” the 2019 follow-up to “Mother’s Milk,” her critically acclaimed first collection of poems about Mormonism’s eternal Queen of Queens.

“We need to tell more stories about how we interact with Heavenly Mother in our life,” the author wrote in a By Common Consent blog post, “and how She interacts in ours.”

Musings on a Mother in Heaven may be lacking in scriptural chapters, but Steenblik is doing her part supplying verses.

Lessons for leaders

While President Dallin H. Oaks’ announcement on the LGBTQ policy grabbed most of the headlines at last week’s pre-General Conference leadership sessions, other topics were covered, too:

• Apostle Dieter F. Uchtdorf focused on missionary work, according to a <a href="https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-leaders-provide-instruction-leadership-sessions-april-2019">news release</a>. “As we lift the vision of our leaders and members by providing simple, natural and normal patterns for ministering to all through missionary work, the gathering of Israel will accelerate around the world.”
• President Jean B. Bingham, who heads the women’s Relief Society, discussed home-centered, church-supported learning. “When consistently implemented, [the manual] ‘Come, Follow Me — For Individuals and Families’ changes lives through strengthened relationships and deepened testimonies. … Our responsibility is to help members catch the vision of the wonderful potential to bring families closer together, deepen testimonies of the gospel, and increase protection from harmful influences through gospel study in the home.”
• Presentations also included instructions on honoring the <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/10/07/members-offend-jesus/">church’s name</a> along with information about the soon-to-come new children and youth program (<a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/05/10/no-scouting-mormon-youth-culture-is-about-to-change-big-time/">replacing Scouting</a>).

Easter’s ‘lively hope’

The First Presidency has released its annual Easter message.

“The Savior was resurrected, as we all will be. He suffered so that he could succor us in all of our trials,” it states. “He paid the ransom for us as Heavenly Father’s children so that we could be delivered from death and sin.”

Read the full statement here.

Quote of the week

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

(Allie Caren | The Washington Post) British police arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange April 11 in London. Assange had been living in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London since seeking asylum in 2012.

Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday unsealed a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion charge against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who had been arrested by British police at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London.

Assange is accused of agreeing to help former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning break a password to the Defense Department’s computer network in 2010. That, prosecutors alleged, would have allowed Manning to log in anonymously. The indictment does not include evidence that Assange and Manning ever succeeded.

The narrow case - focused solely on a handful of interactions with Manning nine years ago - suggests the Department of Justice is hoping to avoid a fight over the First Amendment protections. Attempts to prosecute Assange under President Barack Obama faltered out of concern that doing so would be akin to prosecuting a news organization for publishing classified material.

Soon after taking office, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions began to talk with Dana Boente, at the time both the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia and the acting deputy attorney general, about charging Assange. Prosecutors - some of whom had been skeptical of the case - took a second look, people familiar with the matter said.

Asked in April 2017 about his concern about leaks and whether it was a priority for the Justice Department to arrest Assange, Sessions said, "We are going to step up our effort and already are stepping up our efforts on all leaks" and added, "Yes, it is a priority . . . whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail."

Assange was indicted in March 2018 - just within an eight-year statute of limitations for the conspiracy crime. But a grand jury in Alexandria is continuing to investigate and Manning is currently in jail for refusing to testify before them. Prosecutors can add to the indictment until Assange is extradited from the United Kingdom.

Barry Pollack, an attorney representing Assange in the United States, maintained that even this limited case imperils freedom of the press.

"While the indictment against Julian Assange disclosed today charges a conspiracy to commit computer crimes, the factual allegations against Mr. Assange boil down to encouraging a source to provide him information and taking efforts to protect the identity of that source," Pollack said. "Journalists around the world should be deeply troubled by these unprecedented criminal charges."

Before the interactions regarding the password, Manning had already given WikiLeaks hundreds of thousands of classified records, prosecutors allege. The material included four nearly complete databases, according to prosecutors, comprising 90,000 reports from the Afghanistan war, 400,000 reports from the Iraq War and 250,000 State Department cables.

Manning told Assange in a March 8, 2010, chat she was "throwing everything" she had from Guantanamo detainee reports at him, according to the indictment.

"After this upload, that's really all I've got left," she added.

"Curious eyes never run dry in my experience," the indictment says Assange responded.

"Any good at IM-Hash cracking?" Manning asked Assange soon after, according to records produced at her military trial in 2013. The part of the password Manning wanted help decoding was stored as a "hash value" in a DOD computer file she was not supposed to access, according to prosecutors.

"Yes," was the reply. When Manning sent a string of numbers, according to the military prosecutors, Assange replied, "Passed it on to our guys."

Prosecutors said in the indictment unsealed Thursday that days later, Assange told Manning he had had "no luck so far."

Manning was found guilty of espionage, theft and computer crimes; her 35-year sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017. Prosecutors have argued she has not never fully revealed the extent of her interactions with WikiLeaks.

At her court-martial in 2013, Manning said she only began sharing information with the group in February 2010 and did so entirely on her own initiative. Military prosecutors argued that the relationship started months earlier, not long after Manning deployed to Iraq.

The case against Assange was revived under President Donald Trump, after WikiLeaks released secret CIA cyber tools. The Justice Department has in this administration waged an aggressive crackdown on disclosures of classified information, more than tripling the number of leak investigations in then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions's first six months on the job.

Before the 2016 elections, WikiLeaks released tens of thousands of emails that had been stolen from the Democratic National Committee and from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, in cyber hacks that U.S. intelligence officials concluded were orchestrated by the Russian government. Russian military intelligence officers charged by special counsel Robert Mueller discussed the timing of the disclosures with WikiLeaks, according to an indictment, "to heighten their impact on the 2016 presidential election."

The Washington Post’s Ellen Nakashima and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.

Thursday morning traffic was a mess in the Trolley Square area after police closed off streets to investigate reports of a shot fired shortly before 8 a.m.

According to Salt Lake City police, there was no shooting at the mall itself, which is located at 600 South and 700 East. There was “an altercation” between two men in the street on 600 East, just west of Trolley Square, “and a shot was fired,” said Det. Michael Ruff of the Salt Lake City Police Department. “It may have been fired into the air. It may have been fired into the ground.”

We are responding to a shots fired call on the street near Trolley Square. #suspect fled into mall property. Not a shooting at the mall.

— SLC Police Dept. (@slcpd) April 11, 2019

The shot did not strike anyone. The shooter — who is described as bald, 5-10 and white — ran onto mall property, and then drove away. Police are attempting to locate him.

Schools in the area were placed on lockdown as a precaution.

We are clearing the scene. Verified #suspect left area in a vehicle.

— SLC Police Dept. (@slcpd) April 11, 2019

Trolley Square was the site of a Feb. 12, 2007, mass shooting. Eighteen-year-old Sulejman Talovic used a 12-gauge shotgun and a revolver to kill five people — Jeffrey Walker, 52; Vanessa Quinn, 29; Kirsten Hinckley, 15; Brad Frantz, 24; and Teresa Ellis, 29 — and wound five others. Talovic was shot and killed by police.

Photo-worthy ice cream, hamburgers with unexpected flavors and more bars are expected to open this spring and summer at The Gateway in Salt Lake City.

“We are definitely evolving into a dining and entertainment destination,” said Jenny Cushing, vice president of leasing for Vestar, owner of the shopping-mall-turned-urban-entertainment-hub. Among the new offerings:

Sweet Rolled Tacos • This shop will serve hand-rolled ice cream in colorful, taco-shaped waffle cones with imaginative toppings. “It’s basically an Instagrammers dream,” Cushing said. Open this summer at the south end of the complex, next to the Megaplex Theatres, it will be the first Utah location for the California-based company. According to the company website, a second Utah store will open in St. George later this year. In addition to ice cream, Sweet Rolled Tacos serves milkshakes, with nearly two dozen flavor additions, as well as iced tea, coffee and vegan offerings.

Chedda Burger • This Utah-based “Burger With Attitude” restaurant will open its fourth store in late spring, Cushing said. Owner and chef Nick Watts started in 2012 with a food truck. Since then, the business — which specializes in unique burger offerings such as The Green Mile topped with bacon and mac 'n' cheese — has grown to include three brick-and-mortar stores in downtown, Sugar House and Lehi.

Seabird Bar & Vinyl Room • This 21-and-older lounge should open on or before May 1, as owner Josh Rosenthal recently was granted a bar license from the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The intimate cocktail lounge — with vinyl records providing both wall decor and background music — is located next to its sister concept, La Barba Coffee, on the north end of The Gateway.

Other new concepts • An Asian restaurant and an American bistro are in the works, Cushing said. The Gateway also will develop a series of small boutiques at street level where Utah-based producers can sell their artisan food and home products. “Anything we bring here, we want it to be best in class or unique," she said. "We don’t want it to be a homogenous environment.”

Wiseguys Comedy Club • This venue, which moved to The Gateway in 2015, will expand to include a full lounge, dining area and meeting space. “It will be a great amenity,” said Cushing, who noted ticket holders who previously waited in lines “that go around the building” will now be able to congregate inside before every show.

Vestar is well into a $100 million renovation of The Gateway since buying the lagging shopping center in 2016. The overhaul has included improved security, a face-lift for the common areas and proposals for a boutique hotel built onto the Union Pacific Depot.

Cushing also provided updates on three previously announced concepts expected to open later this summer:

Hall Pass • This large food hall will include several vendors, including SkinnyFATS, a rapidly growing Las Vegas-based restaurant, and Stemless, a beer and wine bar. It is currently under construction at south end of the center.

The Store • This new 9,000-square-foot market, at 100 South and Rio Grande Street just west of the Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum, will feature hundreds of locally produced and specialty foods. The downtown outlet will have a delicatessen, bakery and lots of seating, but no pharmacy.

Punch Bowl Social • The former Barnes & Noble bookstore at the north end of the development is being remodeled to make way for this eat-drink-play concept for those 21 and older.

Washington • I’ll admit it: President Trump is right. There’s a crisis on the southern border.

The existence of the crisis is as obvious as its cause: Trump. He didn't single-handedly create this mess, but he definitely made it worse.

He pursued not a policy but an instinct, following emotion rather than empiricism. Now, an immigration policy of toughness and fear has backfired in tangible ways.

Customs and Border Protection reported on Tuesday that 103,492 migrants were either apprehended or turned away along the southern border in March (with about 90% attempting to cross illegally), the largest number in 12 years and more than quadruple the 23,557 in Trump’s first full month as president, and double the level seen early last fall. The open-border, catch-and-release, amnesty-loving, no-enforcement Obama administration never did this poorly.

Fully 60% of those apprehended are families or unaccompanied children, mostly from Central America, part of a more than 370% increase in families trying to enter the country over the past six months. Customs and Border Protection can't keep up with this growing humanitarian disaster.

The underlying source of the migration — violence in Central America — wasn’t Trump’s doing. But he compounded the trouble. The bellicose talk of wall-building and a zero-tolerance crackdown gave migrants an incentive to hurry to the United States. The 2018 campaign hysteria about caravans and the country’s limited ability to stop them, meant to frighten Americans, served as an advertisement for asylum for would-be migrants. The Border Patrol found only 13 groups of 100 or more in fiscal 2018; over the past six months, since Trump drew attention to the caravans, border agents have encountered 104.

The attempt to crack down on asylum, including holding applicants in Mexico, encouraged more migrants to attempt illegal crossings. The profusion of enforcement crackdowns — including the administration's half-baked family separation policy — strained and distracted personnel. The government shutdown and unstable management (continuing this week with the purge of top officials at the Department of Homeland Security) slowed the government's response to the migration surge. The president's recent decision to end anti-violence and anti-poverty assistance to three Central American countries will worsen the root cause of migration.

How much of the current mess would have happened without Trump is unknowable. But, by his own standard, he deserves all the blame, because he took all the credit for a decline in border crossings in 2017. "We've already cut illegal immigration at the southern border by 61%," he said in early 2017, one of many such boasts. "You know, the border is down 78%. Under past administrations, the border didn't go down — it went up," he boasted that summer.

Now it's up more than 500% from 2017's low point.

The immigration experience, I fear, will become the pattern for Trump's other policy adventures. In economic and national security policy, too, he has cast aside long-standing policies and precedents embraced by both parties, dismissing expertise under the belief that he alone can fix things — that his "gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else's brain." The consequences might not be felt until Trump is out of office.

For immigration, though, the effects are rapid and evident. The president's sole solution — Build the wall! — isn't terribly effective against those seeking asylum. Asylum seekers typically come through legal ports of entry — or at least they did until the fear of being held in appalling conditions in Mexico spurred many to attempt illegal crossings. This week, a federal judge blocked the Trump policy of holding asylum seekers in Mexico, and Trump's press secretary responded by describing the judge as a "liberal activist."

Trump is thrashing about for a solution: an emergency declaration that takes funds from the military for a border wall; a threat to shut the border entirely; and an attempt to blame President Barack Obama.

The president could do something useful, such as curbing the southward flow of guns that has worsened the violence in Central America. Instead, he continues to blame the migrants for drugs and violence, even though most are families with children. He also could be working with Congress to change asylum laws and make it easier to return illegal immigrants — including children — to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. And he could work with those countries and Mexico to deter migration and reduce its causes.

But this would mean seeking help from the same people he disparaged as he went it alone on the border, aggravating the problem. It would be an acknowledgment that he alone couldn't fix it. In fact, he broke it.

Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank.

Washington • The last decade has been trying for liberals who support the existence of a democratic Jewish state and believe that Palestinians have a right to self-determination within a state of their own. Tuesday’s election in Israel made the liberal path even rockier, both inside the country and in the United States.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's victory was not overwhelming, but it was decisive. The country is split in two, but not in equal halves.

Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party and the upstart Blue and White Party received virtually the same vote. This was a genuine achievement for Benny Gantz, the former Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff who is the new party's leader.

But Gantz's showing came largely at the expense of Israel's left and liberal parties. The Labor Party, which once dominated Israel's politics, was reduced, on the latest count, to just six parliamentary seats out of 120. On Labor's left, the Meretz Party secured only four. To put this in perspective, the two parties together held 56 seats in 1992.

As a result, Netanyahu's likely governing coalition that includes other right-wingers and religious parties seems on track to win roughly 65 seats, hardly an overwhelming majority but enough to keep him in power.

The failure of the left is a commentary on the mood of Israelis who have largely given up hope for accommodation with Palestinians. The country's electorate is often seen as divided among hawks, doves and "security hawks," essentially Israel's swing voters. Unlike the conventional hawks, the security hawks are open to reaching agreement with Palestinians if they see doing so as consistent with Israel's safety. They move right when they see such an accord as impossible.

This has created a kind of vicious cycle: If Palestinian leaders cannot deliver a deal palatable to Israelis, Israeli voters lose hope in its possibility and look for someone who can manage endless conflict. Netanyahu is on the verge of becoming Israel's longest-serving prime minister by being viewed as that man.

But the lurch to the right in Israel further hardens views on the Palestinian side. Virtually everything Netanyahu does makes conciliation even less likely. His end-of-campaign pledge to annex Jewish settlements on the West Bank would, if carried out, be "the final death knell for a two-state process," said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism in the United States. "That has to distress anybody who wants a democratic Jewish state and a two-state solution."

For pro-Israel liberals, the election will aggravate a growing estrangement. "We're walking a very delicate tightrope," Jacobs said in an interview. "We are deeply committed to the state of Israel, to its founding promise, and we see policies that are quite antithetical to us and to that promise." Within the Democratic Party, an already fractious debate will become even more heated.

Gantz, joined by two other former generals in a campaign that made no promises of a peace deal anytime soon, had reason to hope that more of the security hawks would vote his way. But he failed to make the inroads into the center-right he needed.

The opposition vote was further diminished by lower turnout among Arab Israelis. They were frustrated by divisions among their own leaders and the reluctance of Gantz's party to appeal directly for their votes. They were also subject to a voter suppression campaign as Netanyahu's party sent supporters with some 1,200 cameras and recording devices into Arab polling places.

Allison Kaplan Sommer, a writer for the liberal Haaretz, also pointed to Netanyahu's image-burnishing success in creating warm ties with President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other "more authoritarian, more transactional and more relationship-oriented leaders."

When it comes to Trump, the Israeli leader can point to how much his constituency resembles his American ally's: Netanyahu lost the sophisticated, upscale voters around Tel Aviv to Gantz by more than 2-to-1, but overwhelmed Gantz in more religious Jerusalem, and also in towns that Sommer described as Israel's equivalent of Middle America.

The fact that Netanyahu could prevail and win his fifth election even in the face of a pending indictment on corruption charges is a tribute to his ruthless and brazen political cunning. But the pending indictment could yet be his undoing. Seeking legal protection from the new Parliament could split his coalition partners and even his own party.

For now, Netanyahu is triumphant, the latest politician to gain or hold power by dividing his country and stoking right-wing nationalism. It's not the brand of politics Israel's liberal supporters ever expected.

E.J. Dionne is on Twitter: @EJDionne.

Los Angeles • Fans poured into the Staples Center on Thursday to pay tribute to Nipsey Hussle, the rapper and community activist slain last month in front of a store that he tried to use to empower his South Central neighborhood.

Most who filed in for the public memorial were young adults but ages ranged from small children to the elderly.

"We're not just here to get off work, we're not just here to take selfies outside Staples, we can do that anytime," said Wutup Levy, 27, of Long Beach, California, as he looked for a friend who had a ticket for him. "We're here for a great man. We're all here for big Nip. It wasn't his time."

Daren B. Harris waited outside the arena before the doors opened with his grandmother and other family members, who wore black T-shirts with Hussle's face on them. Harris said he grew up listening the rapper's music and followed his journey to improve his community.

"This is a once in a lifetime thing," said Harris, 23, who lives in South Los Angeles. "Everything that happened is so impromptu. We are all taking it in all at once. He was a treasure."

Harris' grandmother, Reba Johnson, said she couldn't miss the occasion to celebrate Hussle's life.

"He was bigger than his music" she said.

More than 20,000 people are expected to attend the service, with thousands more paying their respects to the late rapper during a 25-mile procession through the city.

Books with an image of Hussle on the cover were handed out to service attendees. The book of nearly 100 pages contained numerous photos of Hussle with his fiancée Lauren London, his children, and friends like Russell Westbrook and Snoop Dogg. It also had heartfelt messages from Rick Ross, The Game and LeBron James.

"I've never cried myself to sleep over any public figure before, but Nipsey's presence meant so much for our community," actress Issa Rae said in her message inside the book.

The Nipsey Hussle's Celebration of Life ceremony was set to begin at 10 a.m. No details were released about dignitaries and celebrities who will attend, perform or speak. The event will be livestreamed on BET News' Facebook page.

The hearse carrying Hussle's coffin from the Staples Center will then travel past the property where Hussle had planned to turn an aging strip mall into new businesses and affordable homes. Finally, it will arrive at a funeral home in the city's hard-scrabble Crenshaw district, where the rapper was born on Aug. 15, 1985.

Hussle was shot to death March 31 while standing outside The Marathon, his South Los Angeles clothing store, not far from where the rapper grew up. The store will be one of the places where Hussle's casket passes during the procession through South Los Angeles.

Eric R. Holder Jr., who has been charged with killing Hussle, has pleaded not guilty. Police have said Holder and Hussle had several interactions the day of the shooting and have described it as being the result of a personal dispute.

The 33-year-old Grammy-nominated rapper, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, was an Eritrean-American father of two who was engaged to actress Lauren London. He was a beloved figure for his philanthropic work that went well beyond the usual celebrity "giving back" ethos. Following his death, political and community leaders were as quick and effusive in their praise as his fellow hip-hop artists.

Hussle recently purchased the strip mall where The Marathon is located and planned to redevelop it into a mixed-use commercial and residential complex. The plan was part of Hussle’s broader ambitions to remake the neighborhood where he grew up and attempt to break the cycle of gang life that lured him in when he was younger.

For a decade, Hussle released much sought-after mixtapes that he sold out of the trunk of his car, helping him create a buzz and gain respect from rap purists and his peers. His said his stage name, a play on the 1960s and '70s rhyming standup comic Nipsey Russell, was given to him as a teen by an older friend because he was such a go-getter — always hustling.

He charged $100 for his 2013 mixtape "Crenshaw," scoring a cash and publicity coup when Jay-Z bought 100 copies for $10,000.

Last year he hit new heights with "Victory Lap," his critically acclaimed major-label debut album on Atlantic Records that made several critics' best-of lists. The album debuted at No. 4 on Billboard's 200 albums charts and features collaborations with Kendrick Lamar and CeeLo Green.

It earned him a Grammy nomination, though he lost out to Cardi B's "Invasion of Privacy."

Hussle was also a wildly popular figure among professional athletes, especially those based in LA, where he was a regular on the sidelines. Players admired him for his community building.

Some residents of the Ball Park Apartments in Salt Lake City are on edge after a maintenance worker with access to their homes was discovered to have a long criminal history, including convictions for identity fraud and theft.

Property managers say a criminal background check conducted by an outside company on April Ann Swenson-Shaw, 37, came back clean before she was hired last fall as a live-in maintenance technician at the residential complex at 1380 S. West Temple.

It shouldn’t have.

Swenson-Shaw had just been paroled from the Utah State Prison in September. This February, she was arrested at the apartment complex and sent back to prison for parole violations, alarming Ball Park residents, many of whom are elderly or disabled.

Petitions are circulating among tenants at the 62-unit complex and at North Temple Flats Apartments, 1999 W. North Temple, where Swenson-Shaw also worked, alleging she was found in possession of personal information from some residents and could have used it to apply for credit cards.

“We’re all kind of up in arms,” said one tenant, who like other residents spoke to The Salt Lake Tribune requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. “These are all really vulnerable people. It’s got to be the worst place for something like this to happen.”

Some rents are subsidized at Ball Park and several tenants said they worried about finding similar affordable housing if they were to lose their apartments for complaining publicly about the situation.

“It’s been really stressful,” said another resident who fears her personal information may have been compromised.

Missoula-based Highland Property Management, which manages Ball Park and North Temple Flats, has issued a written apology to residents and is offering them a year of free credit monitoring and to re-key all locks.

“I want each and every one of you to know that we take the safety and security of our valued residents very seriously,” Matt Allen, human resource manager for Highland, wrote in a recent letter to tenants.

Annette Folch, vice president with Highland, told The Tribune that Swenson-Shaw was terminated “on the spot” after the arrest in early February, and managers were able to retrieve all apartment keys and access fobs in her possession and swiftly deactivate her security codes.

Folch said an internal investigation has revealed that Swenson-Shaw could have accessed tenants’ personal information, though it wasn’t part of her job description. No information has surfaced since her arrest to indicate identity theft occurred, she said, and officials with the company continue to cooperate with an ongoing investigation by Salt Lake City police.

“It was a complete and utter shock from the moment we heard she was arrested,” Folch said.

Highland Property Management oversees Ball Park and North Temple Flats, with about 168 apartments, on behalf of Summit Housing Group, a holding company which owns the sites. Highland manages another 28 apartment complexes across Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and South Dakota.

On its website, Highland Property Management says it caters to residents ages 55 and over and specializes in managing multifamily residential construction with the help of low-income tax credits, a financing tool commonly used in affordable housing projects.

Folch said property managers have already met with a majority of Ball Park residents in hopes of allaying any concerns and that 75% of locks in the complex had been changed. They are continuing to contact tenants, Folch said, particularly those who are less mobile and may not have heard of the incident.

“We just felt that the residents needed the extra reassurance,” she said.

Swenson-Shaw, meanwhile, is being held at the state prison, records show.

Court documents indicate she faces up to 15 years behind bars, and has convictions for identity fraud, theft, forgery, shoplifting, unlawful use of a financial card, possession of a controlled substance and escaping from official custody.

A spokesman for the state Board of Pardons and Parole said Swenson-Shaw admitted at an April 4 hearing to allegations she had violated her most recent parole by using meth, having drug paraphernalia in her possession and tampering with a drug test.

Her parole was officially revoked the next day, the spokesman said. Records indicate another hearing is set for June, pending the filing of additional criminal charges. Prison records show that Swenson-Shaw has used multiple aliases through the years.

Folch said Highland Property Management hired her in October, based on the report that Swenson-Shaw had no criminal background. The company contracts with an outside firm to perform its pre-employment background checks and drug testing, she said.

“The screening company provided incorrect information to us,” Folch told The Tribune. “If they had done their job to begin with, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Folch and Nathan Lopuch, vice president for Summit Housing, declined to name the third-party company, saying they were continuing to investigate how Swenson-Shaw slipped through the screening.

"We would like to get to the bottom of it before we point any fingers," Lopuch said.

A spokesman for the Utah Apartment Association said the organization did not offer guidelines or best practices for pre-hire screening of property-management employees. Nor is the subject addressed in Good Landlord training programs currently sponsored by 15 or so Utah cities, he said.

In his letter to residents, Allen, Highland's human resource manager, wrote that the third-party firm's initial background report on Swenson-Shaw "was devoid of any arrests, charges or convictions."

When contacted after her February arrest, Allen wrote to residents, the outside company indicated its initial findings on Swenson-Shaw were “the result of human error on their side.” Highland then insisted the contractor double-check all investigations it had performed on other Highland employees, Allen wrote.

The unnamed company, Allen’s letter said, has “since put in place greater safeguards to ensure this does not happen again.”

And until those added protections are proved effective, he wrote, all its background screenings will be double-checked, so “our residents can feel secure in the knowledge that we are screening everyone appropriately."

Salt Lake City’s Trolley Wing Co. will once again serve cold beer and chicken wings from its namesake streetcar at Trolley Square.

“I never stopped hoping this would happen,” owner Jess Wilkerson said. “I’m so excited to bring it back.”

The original Trolley Wing Co. was evicted in 2010 by the mall’s previous owners. And the historic rail car was moved to the nearby parking lot on 600 South and wrapped in plastic, all to make way for a multimillion-dollar renovation.

The trolley sat in the lot until last October, when SK Hart Properties — which acquired the square in 2012 — returned the century-old streetcar to its place outside the Salt Lake City shopping center on 700 East between 500 South and 600 South.

“We didn’t have a particular plan for the trolley car,” explained Taymour B. Semnani, general counsel for SK Hart Properties. “Our only goal at the time was to bring it back and restore it.”

Within a week of the move, Wilkerson had contacted Semnani, and the basic terms of a new lease were hammered out. Now the parties are waiting on some legal and technical details to be completed.

There was no question that Trolley Wing Co. would be the perfect tenant for the space and not just because of the sentimental value.

“He has a proven track record,” Semnani said. “We plan to give him the resources he needs to move in as as soon as possible.”

Wilkerson, who also owns his own construction company, plans to restore the trolley to its original state.

“I want to re-create what it was, only do it better,” he said, “I’ve learned so much in the last 10 years about making wings better and more efficiently.”

Trolley Wing Co.’s story is one of perseverance and a bit of luck.

Wilkerson moved to Utah in 1999 and discovered Trolley Wing Co., a quirky tavern inside a converted historic streetcar under the water tower at Trolley Square. The tavern served 3.2 beer, chicken wings and camaraderie for the Utah transplant.

He bought the business in 2009 and things ran smoothly for about nine months — until mall officials told him they planned to move the streetcar, which had stood in that spot for nearly five decades, to make way for Whole Foods Market, an anchor in a renovation.

Trolley Wing Co. operated in a makeshift spot inside Trolley Square for four years during the construction — only to be evicted, again.

While that would have deterred another business owner, Wilkerson decided to move the business to Sugar House, where there was a glitch with zoning for a bar. Things worked out, though, and last year, he opened another bar in Midvale.

The original Trolley Wing Co. was a beer-only bar, but this time Wilkerson says he will apply for a full bar license from the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

The Trolley Square location will have 14 to 16 seats inside, but a new patio is planned. The menu will be smaller, with just the five original wing flavors: traditional, barbecue, teriyaki, cajun honey and — we’re blushing — the “four skin,” a blend of four flavors.

The wings will be prepared in the larger kitchens in Sugar House and Midvale and then finished in the smaller Trolley Square kitchen.

“Service will be super quick,” he said, adding that there will be no more waiting two hours for wings like in the old days. “We will really raise the bar.”

The man credited with sending conservative jurists to the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts paid tribute Thursday to former Sen. Orrin Hatch and the rise of conservative judges.

Leonard Leo, executive vice president of The Federalist Society, said he couldn’t imagine a “successful conservative legal movement” without Hatch.

“Senator Hatch, you've had an enormous impact on at least two generations of jurists and lawyers,” Leo said, “and we all owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude for that and for so much more.”

Hatch and Leo were among the speakers Thursday at a symposium hosted by the new Hatch Foundation at the University of Utah. The symposium was titled “Protecting Our Religious Liberty.” Leo was the keynote speaker.

The Federalist Society believes in interpreting the Constitution as the Founding Fathers wrote it and that judges should rule to constrain government actions that infringe upon liberty. The society is best known for making recommendations that President Donald Trump has relied on as he selected two Supreme Court nominees as well as a number of selections for lower courts.

Hatch, who left the Senate in January after representing Utah there for 42 years, introduced Leo as a “fellow foot soldier in the fight for religious freedom.”

“For those who may not know,” Hatch said, “The Federalist Society is arguably the most consequential legal organization of modern times.”

Leo’s keynote address focused on the need for the courts to stop administrative action that infringes on religion. He pointed to Little Sisters of the Poor, a Roman Catholic religious order that runs homes for the elderly and was not automatically exempt from the requirements to provide contraception in employer health plans under the terms of the Affordable Care Act. The Little Sisters went to court to ensure an exemption from the requirement.

“Intolerance toward religion [in the United States] is not as heavy-handed as it is in other cultures,” Leo said. “It’s something arguably more disarming and insidious. It is fashionable. Just think of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Recall the superior attitudes directed at the Little Sisters during that controversy.”

Leo said the Trump administration will do nothing more important than appoint judges who will adhere to the fixed meaning of the Constitution.

“And judging by the reaction from the other side,” Leo said, “I suspect the left agrees. Now remember, the left’s agenda is fundamentally incompatible with the original meaning of the Constitution. The courts that give Congress a free pass when it oversteps enumerated powers, they need justices who see no problem with giving more authority to the administrative state.”

During a panel discussion, religious leaders from Utah described a supportive environment.

Neale Neelameggham, of the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple in South Jordan, recalled that when fundraising for the temple began in 1995, he reached out to other faiths for advice and support. Neighbors from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints suggested where to buy land. Area Muslims gave permitting advice and donated legal work so the temple could acquire the necessary rights of way.

“Without the community help, we wouldn’t be here,” Neelameggham said. “Everyone had faith. They wanted to practice their faith. They wanted us to practice our faith.”

Misunderstandings and lack of perspective exist in Utah, too. Avais Ahmed, with the Utah Muslim Civic League, recalled attending Davis High School, where he said he was the only Muslim out of a class of about 1,000.

Many of his Latter-day Saint friends thought they were a religious majority in the world, he said, and didn’t know anything about Islam.

Ahmed encouraged Utah’s religious leaders to go into their communities and meet people who are different.

“We, as leaders of our various communities, we can go out and break this us-versus-them lens."

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Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham was topped by his friend, Washington State’s Mike Leach, in the voting for the 2018 Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Whittingham’s performance in leading the Utes to their first Pac-12 South title has not gone unrecognized, though — beyond the new contract he received in March, taking him through the 2023 season.

Whittingham this week received the Coach of the Year (Male) trophy in the annual Governor’s State of Sport Awards. Utah’s coaching staff persevered through an 0-2 start of conference play and injuries to quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Zack Moss to finish 6-3 in the Pac-12 and win the outright South championship. The Utes won their last three games of November, overcoming the program’s perceived hex in that month.

One of Utah’s most memorable October plays — receiver Britain Covey’s 58-yard touchdown pass to Huntley vs. Arizona — was featured as one of three Highlights of the Year. As we now know, Covey threw that pass with a broken bone in his wrist.

Huntley has looked good this spring, in his return from injury, while Moss and Covey have been rehabilitating. The offensive line showed improvement in last Friday’s scrimmage, considered the biggest event of spring practice (TRIB). About one-third of the starters will participate in Saturday’s Red-White Game (11 a.m.) at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The offensive linemen will get a fair amount of work, playing for both teams.

Javelin Guidry plays as Utah’s fifth defensive back, thriving in an important position in the scheme. He’s fast, but that’s not all he has going for him (TRIB).

The Ute women’s gymnastics team again has qualified for the NCAA meet. That achievement is more meaningful this year, in the new format that sends only eight teams to the Fort Worth, Texas. As always, Lya Wodraska has thorough reports on the Utes’ regional performance (TRIB) and what’s ahead next week (TRIB).

After an adventurous season for the Ute women’s basketball program, a nice moment came Wednesday night when forward Megan Huff was drafted into the WNBA. She was the No. 26 overall pick of the New York Liberty, and she appreciates the opportunity (TRIB). And credit to those who accurately predicted Huff’s being taken in the third round, as covered in this draft preview (TRIB).

The school staged a draft party for Huff and a season-ending banquet for the program and its fans. Both events served as a farewell to Willette White, Utah's director of basketball administration and operations, who's retiring after 36 years in women's basketball. She was part of the Ute staff for eight seasons. Kendall Rodriguez, who played for Ute coach Lynne Roberts at Pacific, was promoted from another support staff position as White's successor.

The biggest news of the week for the Ute men’s basketball was alarming. Starting center Jayce Johnson has entered the NCAA transfer portal with one year of eligibility left (TRIB). The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Ute assistant coach DeMarlo Slocum is being targeted for a position on UNLV’s new staff. Johnson could end up staying, as teammates are encouraging him to do, but Slocum appears to be gone, according to national college basketball reporter Jon Rothstein. Either departure would be a significant loss.

The Ute lacrosse team has done a lot of good things in its Division I debut, but the Utes won’t have a winning record. That became mathematically clear after a 16-15 loss to Mount St. Mary’s in a tense, entertaining game last weekend at Judge Memorial (TRIB).

Other voices

Brayden Ramsay of the Daily Utah Chronicle explored the Ute football program’s family theme (CHRON).

The Utes’ Pac-12 basketball rivals are filling their coaching vacancies, and conference expert Jon Wilner endorsed UCLA’s hiring of Mick Cronin (MERC).

Trent Wood of the Deseret News addressed the importance to the football program of having defensive linemen Bradlee Anae and Leki Fotu return as seniors (DNEWS).

Athletic department news

• Jordan Lindley, a member of Utah’s athletic media relations staff, works primarily with football, women’s basketball and tennis. As she pointed out, those programs have a common achievement in 2018-19: a win over a Stanford team ranked in the top 15. The Utah men’s tennis team defeated the then-No. 12 Cardinal 4-2 on Senior Day last Sunday. The Utes will play this weekend at Arizona and Arizona State, then prepare for the Pac-12 tournament.

• Utah’s baseball team (8-18, 1-11 Pac-12) has lost 11 straight conference games, a streak that includes extra-innings losses at highly ranked Stanford and Oregon State. The Utes will stage a three-game series vs. USC at Smith’s Ballpark this week, amid the Salt Lake Bees’ opening homestand. The Utes and Trojans will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday and at 11:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

• Utah’s softball team had a rough series against national power Arizona last weekend, giving up a total of 48 runs in three games and never reaching the seventh inning, due to a run-rule provision. The Utes (13-24, 2-7 Pac-12) will open a three-game series Friday at No. 25 Stanford.

• Utah Beach is open Saturday. The Utes are hosting a beach volleyball tournament for the first time in the program’s three-year history. The venue is west of the McCarthey Family Track and Field on the east side of the campus. The Utes will meet Colorado Mesa at 10 a.m. Saturday and play Boise State at 4 p.m. In between, the visiting teams will play at 1 p.m.

The Utes (4-6) will compete in the Pac-12 tournament, beginning April 25.

(Adriana Usero | The Washington Post) Katie Bouman was a MIT postdoctoral student when she led a team that designed one of the algorithms that led to capturing the first images of a black hole.

First came the breathtaking image, the first one to ever show a black hole, in a galaxy about 55 million light-years from Earth.

Then came the giddy realization that the remarkable, years-in-the-making moment would not have been possible without the work of a 29-year-old female scientist, who has now claimed a special spot in history.

Katherine Bouman, a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, created an algorithm that assembled the one-of-a-kind picture. And after the image was unveiled to the world on Wednesday, Bouman began earning accolades from fellow scientists, historians and politicians for her significant achievement.

"Given the extent of the use of 'historic' today, we are unashamedly and legitimately jumping on the #BlackHolePicture bandwagon. Congratulations Dr. Bouman!" the Royal Historical Society wrote on social media.

Bouman started working on an algorithm as a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying electrical engineering and computer science.

According to The Washington Post's Ben Guarino:

"She was one of about three dozen computer scientists who used algorithms to process data gathered by the Event Horizon Telescope project, a worldwide collaboration of astronomers, engineers and mathematicians.

"Telescopes around the world collected high-frequency radio waves from the vicinity of Messier 87, a supermassive black hole 54 million light-years away. But atmospheric disturbance and the spareness of the measurements meant 'an infinite number of possible images' could explain the data, Bouman said. Well-designed algorithms had to crunch through the chaos."

When the first-ever image was unveiled Wednesday, it prompted overwhelming excitement online, not only for science but also for the scientist behind it.

"I am inspired by Katie Bouman," Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the executive director of U.N. Women, wrote on Twitter.

The sentiment was shared across social media.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, "Take your rightful seat in history, Dr. Bouman! Congratulations and thank you for your enormous contribution to the advancements of science and mankind."

The Barbie account on Twitter wrote, "Congratulations Katie Bouman on this remarkable accomplishment! Thank you for leading by example and encouraging girls to push the boundaries of science."

“Tip of the hat to MIT’s Katie Bouman for her contribution to today’s big announcement!” wrote Planetary Society, which is led by Bill Nye.