UTAH

Cities make pride flags official emblems

SALT LAKE CITY — The Democratic controlled cities of Salt Lake City and Boise adopted new city flags in early May showing support for LGBTQ+ people in defiance of their states’ Republican-controlled legislatures, which have banned traditional rainbow pride flags at schools and government buildings.

Utah’s capital of Salt Lake City created new flag designs while Boise, the capital of Idaho, made the traditional pride flag one of its official city flags. The move in Utah came hours before a ban on unsanctioned flag displays took effect on May 7.

The cities’ mayors spoke a day earlier to discuss their individual plans and offer each other support, said Andrew Wittenberg, a spokesperson for Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s office.

Idaho’s flag ban took effect April 3, barring government buildings from displaying any flags except those on a short list including the U.S. flag, flags of military branches and official flags of government entities. A separate ban containing some exemptions for school buildings takes effect July 1.

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Supporters said the laws would encourage political neutrality from teachers and other government employees. Opponents argued they aimed to erase LGBTQ+ expression and wrest authority from cities and towns that did not align politically with the Republican Legislatures.

Under the Utah law, state or local government buildings can be fined $500 a day for flying any flag other than the U.S. flag, the state flag, a city or county flag, military flags, Olympic and Paralympic flags, official college flags or tribal flags. Political flags are not allowed.

Dentists prepare for fluoride ban

SALT LAKE CITY — With Utah’s first-in-the-nation ban on fluoride in public drinking water taking effect on May 7, dentists who treat children and low-income patients said they were bracing for an increase in tooth decay among the state’s most vulnerable people.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed the law against the recommendation of many dentists and national health experts who warn removing fluoride will harm tooth development, especially in young patients without regular access to dental care.

Supporters of states’ efforts to ban fluoride said they did not dispute that it could have some benefits but thought people should not be given it by the government without their informed consent.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has applauded Utah for being the first state to enact a ban and said he plans to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation nationwide.

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A majority of Utah water systems already did not add fluoride. The state ranked 44th in the nation for the percentage of residents receiving fluoridated water, with about 2 in 5 receiving it in 2022, according to CDC data. The law will impact about 1.6 million people in Salt Lake City and elsewhere in northern Utah who are losing fluoridation, state officials say.

At Donated Dental, providers expect their monthslong waitlist for children’s procedures to grow significantly and their need for volunteer dentists to skyrocket. The effects of the ban in children’s teeth will likely be visible within the next year, said Sasha Harvey, the clinic’s executive director.

Fluoride fortifies teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the CDC.

ARIZONA

Budget airline begins deportation flights

PHOENIX — A budget airline that serves mostly small U.S. cities began federal deportation flights on May 12 out of Arizona, a move that’s inspired an online boycott petition and sharp criticism from the union representing the carrier’s flight attendants.

Avelo Airlines announced in April it had signed an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to make charter deportation flights from Mesa Gateway Airport outside Phoenix. It said it will use three Boeing 737-800 planes for the flights.

The Houston-based airline is among a host of companies seeking to cash in on President Donald Trump’s campaign for mass deportations.

Avelo was launched in 2021 as COVID-19 still raged and billions of taxpayer dollars were propping up big airlines. It saves money mainly by flying older Boeing 737 jets that can be bought at relatively low prices. And it operates out of less-crowded and less-costly secondary airports, flying routes that are ignored by the big airlines. It said it had its first profitable quarter in late 2023.

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Andrew Levy, Avelo’s founder and chief executive, said in announcing the agreement h that the airline’s work for ICE would help the company expand and protect jobs.

Financial and other details of the Avelo agreement — including destinations of the deportation flights — haven’t publicly surfaced.

Avelo provides passenger service to more than 50 cities in the U.S., as well as locations in Jamaica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Avelo does not operate regular commercial passenger service out of Mesa Gateway Airport, said airport spokesman Ryan Smith.

WYOMING

Grizzly bear hit, killed in Grand Teton park

MOOSE — A 5-year-old bear that was a member of a well-known and beloved grizzly family in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park died after it was hit by a vehicle, the same fate that befell his mother late last year, wildlife officials said on May 6.

Park rangers found the body of the male bear, known as Grizzly No. 1058, about 125 yards from Highway 26 near the Buffalo Fork River. The bear was one of four cubs that emerged in May 2020 with their mother, Grizzly No. 399, who was often called the world’s most famous grizzly bear.

Grizzly No. 399, who was beloved for decades by countless tourists, biologists and professional wildlife photographers, was hit and killed by a vehicle in October on a highway south of Jackson, Wyoming. Park officials used wildlife tags to confirm the relationship between the two bears.

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Grizzly No. 1058 had been seen occasionally in the park since he was weened in 2022, but no sightings of him had been reported this spring. After he was hit by the vehicle, he made his way to a patch of willows, where he died.

At 28 years old, No. 399 was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Each spring, wildlife enthusiasts eagerly awaited her emergence from her den to see how many cubs she had birthed over the winter — then quickly shared the news online. The bear had 18 known cubs in eight litters over the years, including the litter of four in 2020. She stood around 7 feet tall and weighed about 400 pounds.

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