Cedar High School and Green Canyon High School compete in the 6A girls quarterfinals at the UCCU Center in Orem on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. Laura Seitz, Deseret News Cedar City 59, Green Canyon 54 In the quarterfinals of the 4A girls state basketball tournament Monday, a strong first half for Cedar City proved to be the difference in the game, as the Reds defeated Green Canyon 59-54. It was a tale of two halves. The first half was dominated by Cedar City on both sides of the ball, as the Reds took what appeared to be a comfortable 37-14 lead into the halftime break. “In the first half, we h ..read more

Fullcast co-founder Amy Cook talks with Brittany Davies and Dharmesh Singh at a company gathering in Huntsville on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. Cook participated in funding Fullcast. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News A freshly reminted Utah-based tech company is finding success in disrupting industry norms that have put women-owned companies and women investors on the sidelines when it comes to the venture capital game. And Fullcast has successful names in technology backing the venture. A 2023 study helped define just how prevalent and pernicious gender disparities are among venture-backed entr ..read more

Westlake’s Jada Willis and Lone Peak’s Sarah Bartholomew reach for the ball during a 6A girls quarterfinal basketball game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. Lone Peak won 59-50. Kristin Murphy, Deseret News Lone Peak 59, Westlake 50 In the final three minutes of Lone Peak’s 6A quarterfinal win over Westlake on Monday, senior Sarah Bartholomew almost single-handedly carried her team to the 59-50 win. Between her momentum-swinging blocked shot, two key offensive rebounds and seven points down the stretch, the senior was absolutely clutch when it mattered mos ..read more

Couple pictured in Saint Paul, United States, January 31, 2018 Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash The hullabaloo earlier this year regarding Pope Francis’ directive to allow priests to provide blessings to same-sex couples once again placed the issue of sexual minorities and religion in headlines. In the heated discourse around hot-button sexuality issues, it can sometimes feel like religions that hold a more traditional, heteronormative view on sexuality are a rarity. (“Heteronormative” is one label for institutions and practices that uphold heterosexual marriage as a uniquely special n ..read more

The Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington, on Nov. 6, 2020. J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday to determine if states can prohibit social media companies from banning users based on political speech if that speech violates the platform’s policies. The justices are grappling with how the First Amendment should be applied on social media platforms based on two cases: Moody v. NetChoice in Florida and NetChoice v. Paxton based out of Texas. The Florida law would stop social media companies from banning the accounts of political candid ..read more

Scientists are monitoring the degradation of the Y chromosome in humans, and explaining what it means for the human race. Adobe.com Sex determination at birth is decided on the chromosomes the baby has. A female has two X chromosomes, whereas a male has one X and one Y chromosome. According to Medline Plus, in every cell, humans possess 23 pairs of chromosomes, among which the sex chromosomes constitute one pair. The X chromosome, comprising roughly 155 million DNA base pairs, makes up around 5% of the total DNA in cells. The Y chromosome extends over more than 59 million DNA building blo ..read more

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Eliza Anderson, Deseret News This is the first in a series exploring stories of people who come back to faith. Ashly Stone never imagined how her life was about to change when she tried heroin. “I was sick without it,” she remembers — “totally emotionally unstable.” “Needing a substance to be able to function is a really rough way to live,” she remembers. This was a long journey from her happy upbringing as a “good kid” in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As Ashly recounted on the “All In Podcast,” she was eventually estranged from most people in her life — with th ..read more

Zoë Petersen, Deseret News I was preparing to give a speech to young adults recently at the Innovation Center associated with our local college. In doing so, I reviewed some of the presentations that had been made by others. The theme of the day seemed to be “disruption.”  Yes, I’ve read the salient books on the topic, and I recognize that disruption can be beneficial to a company’s success, especially with technology and systems innovation. I do believe in change. But as I pondered disruption and what I might present to these young people that would have lasting meaning, I kept t ..read more

“I voted” stickers are available on Election Day in Cottonwood Heights on Nov. 8, 2022. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News The fate of Utah’s run with ranked choice voting divided Senate leadership Monday morning. During the senate committee for HB290, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, voted with the majority to repeal the state’s alternate voting methods pilot project, saying he “wasn’t impressed” with the results of ranked choice voting in the cities where it was tested. Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, joined two Democratic colleagues in opposing the measure, argu ..read more