Hannah Schoenbaum, Author at The Rapid City Post

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.

Suspect in Charlie Kirk assassination case faces court hearing

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

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

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

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

Finance.