Hannah Schoenbaum, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams speaks following a news conference, Oct. 28, 2020, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Former Democratic congressman launches comeback bid in new Salt Lake City district

November 13, 2025

Two Democrats are now running in a redrawn Utah congressional district with improved chances for their party. Ben McAdams announced his campaign Thursday in the district centered on Salt Lake City. McAdams represented Utah’s 4th Congressional District covering south Salt Lake City and central Utah from 2019 to 2021. The other candidate is state Sen. Kathleen Riebe, who announced Wednesday. This week, a judge in a long-running redistricting case rejected a map drawn by Utah lawmakers, saying it unduly favored Republicans. The judge instead adopted a map submitted by plaintiffs in the case. The map includes the new Salt Lake City district.

Judge adopts Utah congressional map creating a Democratic-leaning district for 2026

November 11, 2025

A Utah judge has rejected a new congressional map drawn by Republican lawmakers. Judge Dianna Gibson adopted an alternate proposal giving Democrats a strong shot at flipping a seat in the 2026 midterm elections. Gibson ruled late Monday that the map approved by the Legislature last month unduly favors Republicans and disfavors Democrats. She ultimately selected a map drawn by voting rights groups that keeps Democratic-heavy Salt Lake County almost entirely within one district. Republicans hold all four of Utah’s U.S. House seats. The newly approved map gives Democrats a much stronger chance to flip a seat. The state last had a Democrat in Congress in early 2021.

Rev. Andrew Fleishman looks at a century-old time capsule at the Japanese Church of Christ in Salt Lake City, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)

Century-old time capsule found at a Utah church evokes memories of a now fleeting Japantown

November 5, 2025

A historian’s hunch about what might lie hidden within the walls of a Japanese church in Salt Lake City led congregants to uncover a century-old time capsule recalling the city’s once vibrant Japantown. The 101-year-old Japanese Church of Christ is one of two remaining buildings in the Japantown district founded in the early 1900s. A cast iron box extracted from the church’s cornerstone helps tell the story of early Japanese immigrants last century. Inside were hand-sewn flags, Bibles and local newspapers in both English and Japanese, the church’s articles of incorporation and a paper with the handwritten names of its Sunday school teachers. The church now sits amid a planned sports and entertainment district.

FILE - Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during a news conference at the Conference Center, Jan. 27, 2015, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, file)

Dallin H. Oaks, former Utah Supreme Court justice, is selected to lead Mormon church

October 14, 2025

Dallin H. Oaks, a former Utah Supreme Court justice, has been selected to be the next president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He’ll lead the church’s more than 17 million members worldwide. His selection follows the death of his predecessor, Russell M. Nelson. As president, Oaks is deemed a prophet and seer who will guide the church through divine revelation from God. Oaks is known for his jurist sensibilities and traditionalist beliefs on marriage and religious freedom. The 93-year-old will serve until he dies.

FILE - The opening session of the two-day Mormon church conference is shown Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Latter-day Saints hold first general conference without a president in at least a century

October 3, 2025

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is convening Saturday for its twice-annual general conference at a pivotal moment in its history. It comes just days after the death of its oldest-ever president and a deadly attack on a congregation in Michigan. Dallin Oaks is set to succeed Russell Nelson under the church’s well-defined leadership hierarchy dating back to the late 1800s. But his announcement isn’t expected until some time after Nelson’s funeral, which is scheduled a couple days after the conference on Tuesday. The 200-year-old faith known widely as the Mormon church hasn’t held a general conference without a president since its early years, but experts say there’s no leadership vacuum.

In this image from video provided by Utah State Courts, Tyler James Robinson attends a virtual court hearing from prison in Utah, on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Utah State Courts via AP)

Suspect in Charlie Kirk assassination case faces court hearing

September 28, 2025

The 22-year-old man charged with killing Charlie Kirk will have a court hearing Monday where he and his newly appointed legal counsel will decide whether they want a preliminary hearing where the judge will determine if there is enough evidence against him to go forward with a trial. Prosecutors have charged Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder and plan to seek the death penalty. The hearing in Provo is open to the public, just a few miles from the Utah Valley University campus where many students are still processing trauma from the Sept. 10 shooting.

Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Paralympic Committee, speaks at an event announcing a historic fundraising initiative for the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)

Utah Olympic organizers announce 9-figure fundraising effort for 2034 Winter Games

September 8, 2025

Organizers of the Salt Lake City 2034 Winter Games have announced a fundraising effort that they say is the largest philanthropic campaign supporting a host city in Olympic and Paralympic history. The initiative has raised more than $200 million and will fund community engagement programs surrounding the Games. It covers roughly a tenth of the projected $2.84 billion operating budget. The International Olympic Committee awarded Salt Lake City the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in July 2024, giving Utah its second Games after hosting in 2002. Nine of the state’s wealthiest families and foundations have each pledged at least $20 million over the next nine years.

Judge rules Utah’s congressional map must be redrawn for the 2026 elections

August 25, 2025

The Utah Legislature will need to rapidly redraw the state’s congressional boundaries after a judge ruled the Republican-controlled body circumvented safeguards put in place by voters to ensure districts aren’t drawn to favor any party. The current map, adopted in 2021, divides Salt Lake County, the state’s population center and a Democratic stronghold, among four congressional districts that have since all elected Republicans by wide margins. District Court Judge Dianna Gibson, who ruled Monday, made few judgments on the content of the map but declared it unlawful because lawmakers had weakened and ignored an independent commission established by voters to prevent partisan gerrymandering.

FILE - Jasmine North, federal public defender mitigation investigator, speaks with Ralph Leroy Menzies during his competency hearing in Third District Court in West Jordan, Utah, Nov. 18, 2024. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

Utah judge schedules execution by firing squad for a man with dementia

July 9, 2025

A Utah judge has set an execution date for a man with dementia who has been on death row for 37 years. Sixty-seven-year-old Ralph Leroy Menzies is set to be executed Sept. 5 for abducting and killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. When given a choice decades ago, Menzies selected a firing squad as his method of execution. He would be only the sixth U.S. prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977. Menzies’ lawyers have petitioned the court to reconsider his competency for execution. Judge Matthew Bates signed the death warrant Wednesday but agreed to review the new competency petition.

FILE - People gather in support of transgender youth during a rally at the Utah State Capitol Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Utah lawmakers said gender-affirming care is harmful to kids. Their own study contradicts that claim

May 28, 2025

Utah Republicans passed a ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender youth in 2023 and argued it was needed to protect vulnerable kids from treatments that could cause long-term harm. The newly released results of a study commissioned under that very law tell a different story. The Republican-controlled Legislature is facing pressure to reconsider the restrictions. Utah health experts concluded from a study of thousands of transgender people that gender-affirming care generated “positive mental health and psychosocial functioning outcomes.” Some state Republicans said they were open to considering the findings, while others were quick to dismiss the new report.

Hannah Schoenbaum.