Washington • The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said efforts to deport families with orders to leave the country will continue after an upcoming national sweep that President Donald Trump said would start Sunday.

Matthew Albence, the agency's acting director, said targets were on an "accelerated docket" of immigration court cases for predominantly Central Americans who recently arrived at the U.S. border in unprecedented numbers. Similar operations occurred in 2016 under President Barack Obama and in 2017 under Trump.

"This family operation is nothing new," Albence told The Associated Press. "It's part of our day-to-day operations. We're trying to surge some additional resources to deal with this glut of cases that came out of the accelerated docket, but after this operation is over, these cases are still going to be viable cases that we'll be out there investigating and pursuing."

The operation will target people with final deportation orders on 10 major court dockets, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami. Albence said that doesn't mean arrests will be limited to certain areas. Authorities will go where their investigations lead, even if it's five states away from where the case is filed.

Trump said authorities were "focused on criminals as much as we can before we do anything else."

"It starts on Sunday and they're going to take people out and they're going to bring them back to their countries or they're going to take criminals out, put them in prison, or put them in prison in the countries they came from."

The operation further inflamed the political debate over immigration as Trump appeals to his base with a pledge to crack down on migrants and Democrats cast the president and his administration as inhumane for going after families.

The Obama-era family operation in 2016 resulted in about 10% of those targeted being arrested, and the2017 effort had a lower arrest rate, Albence said. Other operations that have targeted people with criminal arrest records have yielded arrests rates of about 30%, aided by access to law enforcement databases.

"If you have an individual that's been arrested for a criminal violation, you're going to have much more of an investigative footprint," Albence said.

Administration officials have said they are targeting about 2,000 people, which would yield about 200 arrests based on previous crackdowns. Trump has said on Twitter that his agents plan to arrest millions of immigrants in the country illegally.

It is highly unusual to announce an enforcement sting before it begins. The president postponed the effort once before after a phone call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but immigration officials said it was also due in part to law enforcement concerns over officer safety because details had leaked.

But they're pressing ahead with this one, even though the president and other administration officials have discussed the long-planned family operation for months.

"Nothing to be secret about," Trump said. "If the word gets out, it gets out because hundreds of people know about it."

The operation will target entire families that have been ordered removed, but some family may be separated if some members are in the country legally. Albence gave a hypothetical example of a father and child in the U.S. illegally but a mother who isn't

"If the mother wants to return voluntarily on her own with the family, she'll have an opportunity to do so," he said.

Families may be temporarily housed in hotels until they can be transferred to a detention center or deported. Marriott said it would not allow ICE to use its hotels for holding immigrants.

If ICE runs out of space, it may be forced to separate some family members, Albence said. The government has limited space in its family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania.

"If hotels or other places do not want to allow us to utilize that, it's almost forcing us into a situation where we're going to have to take one of the parents and put them in custody and separate them from the rest of their families," he said.

Meanwhile, activists ramped up efforts to prepare by circulating information about hotlines and planning public demonstrations. Vigils outside of detention centers and hundreds of other locations nationwide were set for Friday evening, to be followed by protests Saturday in Miami and Chicago.

___

Spagat reported from San Diego.

Heber City, Utah • Signs of new life are appearing in part of northeastern Utah where a wildfire that torched more than 100 square miles a year ago.

Grasses and flowers are returning to the area, with blue and yellow wildflowers blooming around the trunks of trees charred by the blaze, the Daily Herald reported . Aspens with gradient burns along their trunks grew on dark, charred mountainsides speckled with patches of new green growth.

"It's night and day difference," said Miles Hanberg, the northeast region supervisor for the Utah Department of Natural Resources. A portion of the burn area has been re-seeded, but rest has grown back naturally, fed by seeds that survived the quick-moving blaze.

Other vegetation, such as trees and sagebrush, are expected to take longer to fully return. Sagebrush can take 10 to 15 years to regrow at higher elevations, and 30 to 40 years at lower levels, Hanberg said.

As for wildlife, most animals didn't leave the area during the fire, and those that did quickly came back.

The blaze started July 1 about 8 miles southwest of Duchesne, and destroyed more than 70 homes as it burned for more than a month. People living in the area have also had to deal with floods last year, and worry they could return.

"It really devastated a lot of the homes that were left," said Duchesne County Commissioner Greg Todd. There are homes that are still not occupied due to flooding, he said.

Still, he's optimistic about the new growth he's seen so far.

“We’ve been tickled to see what’s up there,” Todd said.

For the last two seasons, Nigel Williams-Goss has been gone, but not forgotten.

So on Saturday morning, when the Jazz came to a three-year agreement with Williams-Goss on the former Gonzaga point guard’s return to Utah, it wasn’t a surprise.

The 24-year-old Williams-Goss was drafted No. 55 by the Jazz in the 2017 NBA draft after helping Gonzaga reach the national title game for the first time, albeit in defeat to North Carolina. But he disappointed in his first summer league performance with the Jazz: Over the course of seven games, he averaged just 4.4 points and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 23.8% from the field.

Williams-Goss went overseas, and immediately surprised and impressed with his play. For Partizan — a basketball club based in Belgrade, Serbia — he stood out, winning Serbian Cup MVP after a season in which he averaged 17 points and 7 assists per game in all competitions. The season earned him an upgrade in clubs to Olympiacos: While Partizan plays its European competition in the EuroCup, Olympiacos participates in the best league in Europe, the EuroLeague.

There, he was solid. He averaged 10.1 points and 4.3 assists per game in all competitions for the Greek team, shooting 42.3% from the field and 38.4% from 3 under former NBA head coach David Blatt. It was enough, reportedly, to earn the interest of NBA teams, including the Jazz, who retained Williams-Goss’ NBA rights after he went overseas.

The signing means that the Jazz will have a battle in training camp for playing time at the guard positions. Emmanuel Mudiay, signed last week, has the NBA starting experience for a bad New York Knicks team last year, but Williams-Goss is perhaps more steady, less mistake-prone than the former No. 7 pick. Both players are capable of playing a little shooting guard, too, giving the Jazz some size and versatility. Dante Exum, of course, figures to be in the conversation as a defensive option, both at point guard and at the wing positions.

Williams-Goss could also spend time with the G League Salt Lake City Stars.

The Jazz still have two roster spots left, but very limited money: Any player could be signed for the minimum to a one- or two-year contract. Before the Williams-Goss agreement, the Jazz had $1.5-$1.7 million in cap space remaining to incentivize a player to sign beyond the minimum, but some of that extra money could have been used in Saturday’s deal; the exact money Williams-Goss is slated to make is unknown.

Should everything go according to plan, more than half a million strangers will gather in a remote Nevada town in mid-September, united by a common goal: raid Area 51 in the wee hours of the morning — using a strength-in-numbers approach to reveal any extraterrestrial treasures stashed within the notoriously clandestine government base.

Or, put more simply, "Lets see them aliens."

By Friday evening, more than 540,000 people from around the world had signed up to attend the joke Facebook event: “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us,” — and just as many had indicated they were “interested.” Planned for Sept. 20 in Amargosa Valley, an hour’s drive away from Las Vegas, the event page is currently filled with thousands of posts theorizing the best way to break into the top-secret facility.

"We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry," reads a brief description of the event, which was created by popular video game streamer SmyleeKun. "If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets." The latter part of the description references anime ninja Naruto Uzumaki, whose notorious head forward, arms-behind-the-back running technique has led some to believe it makes them run faster. (It doesn't).

Most people discussing the raid, including various news outlets that have written about the Facebook event, recognize it's not intended to be taken seriously. But what about those who don't? It is not clear exactly how many people, if anyone, will actually show up to lead a blitzkrieg on the Nellis Air Force Base Complex, which houses the land containing Area 51.

Some who've posted on the event's page in recent days have considered that possibility.

"P. S. Hello U.S. government, this is a joke, and I do not actually intend to go ahead with this plan," wrote user Jackson Barnes, following his rather descriptive proposed game plan. "I just thought it would be funny and get me some thumbsy uppies on the Internet. I'm not responsible if people decide to actually storm area 51."

Speaking with The Washington Post on Friday afternoon, U.S. Air Force spokeswoman Laura McAndrews said officials were aware of the Facebook event. When asked how authorities might respond to ardent explorers who may attempt to enter Area 51 in September, McAndrews said she could not elaborate on specific plans or security procedures at the base.

She did, however, issue a warning to those itching to try their luck.

"[Area 51] is an open training range for the U.S. Air Force, and we would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area where we train America armed forces," McAndrews said. "The U.S. Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets."

The facility has long been a source of public intrigue, yet for decades, Americans were told Area 51 didn't exist at all. That notion was officially debunked in 2013 when the CIA confirmed its existence through documents obtained in a public records request by George Washington University.

Yes, Area 51 is definitely real — and even though the report indicated it was nothing more than an aircraft-testing facility and mentioned nothing about extraterrestrial life, the revelation gave credence to conspiracy theories alleging the government uses the base to hide aliens and their spacecraft. The CIA has since published information about test flights that took place there, and the alien aspects in many of those theories have been debunked.

But in 2017 the Pentagon confirmed the existence of a $22 million government program to analyze “anomalous aerospace threats” — a.k.a. UFOs — giving alien-obsessed kooks fresh fodder for their conjectures.

Though the facility is not publicly accessible, the area around Area 51 is a popular tourist destination, sprinkled with alien-themed motels, museums and restaurants. (In 1996, Nevada renamed state Route 375 to "Extraterrestrial Highway") But those who venture too far into the land surrounding the base are greeted with warning signs indicating they could be fined or jailed for trespassing and taking photos.

Some signs suggest those who enter could be subject to "deadly force."

In 2014, a tour bus carting four passengers near Area 51 inadvertently drove through the warning signs and entered the base, Las Vegas Now reported. The truck was stopped by men in "military garb," and everyone in the vehicle was threatened with a misdemeanor conviction and $650 fine. The incident was caught on video, making it obvious the tour's passengers thought it was all part of the experience. Only the driver was charged.

Of course, those who say they will participate in the September raid know their mission won’t be easy. Some have offered their own plans and even schematics detailing how the group will take on the base.

How do you get your arms around what the Jazz have done this offseason?

Look to the past.

In order to really understand what adding Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Ed Davis, Jeff Green and more to come means to this Jazz team, perhaps it is best to compare this Jazz team to teams through NBA history. Which ones are most similar?

We’re looking for a team that is built around a stalwart defensive center, one of the very best shot alterers in the league, if not the best — as Rudy Gobert has been, winning two Defensive Player of the Year awards. We’re looking for a team with formidable shooting in the other frontcourt spots: Joe Ingles, a 40% career 3-point shooter who also has playmaking skills, and Bojan Bogdanovic, a 39% career 3-point shooter who also can score from mid-range and inside.

And we’re looking for a team with a skilled backcourt. Mike Conley’s intelligence, shooting, and smarts has pushed the Grit n’ Grind Grizzlies, while Donovan Mitchell’s athleticism and flair for the dramatic has pushed him to international stardom.

The Jazz don’t have talents that have been universally recognized as elite, though: No one in their starting five has yet made an All-Star team.

So with that in mind, who do you compare the Jazz to?

The Tribune asked a number of NBA experts that question, and consistently, three answers came up: The mid-90s Denver Nuggets, the mid-aughts Detroit Pistons, and the late-aughts Orlando Magic.

The Nuggets are the first of those teams, and probably the worst. But you see why the comparison was made, as the Nuggets featured Dikembe Mutombo at the peak of his defensive powers, garnering the most blocks at any point of his career. They also featured a young dynamic guard, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who scored up to 19.2 points per game albeit as a point rather than as a two-guard. Beyond that, the comparison gets a little sketchy: LaPhonso Ellis and Reggie Williams were athletic forwards more than shooting ones.

And they had only limited success. In 1993-94, the Nuggets made the playoffs only as an eight seed, but then came back from a 2-0 deficit to the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round to shock the NBA world. One of the NBA’s most iconic images, Mutombo lying on his back grasping the ball over his head with both hands, came out of that series. But they faced the fifth-seeded Jazz in that series, and after coming back from the brink again — the Jazz had a 3-0 series lead, only to see the Nuggets get it to 3-3 — the Nuggets lost in Game 7. The next year, they lost in the first round.

A decade later, the Pistons turned themselves into a championship contender with a similar, but more developed formula. The Pistons centered themselves around the defensive talents of Ben Wallace, who won four DPOY awards in the course of five seasons. At the 2004 trade deadline, they acquired Rasheed Wallace, who would prove to be the missing piece: a terrifically talented, enigmatic big man who could shoot and defend.

There’s no one on the Jazz like Tayshaun Prince, a long-limbed defensive forward who never really figured out the shooting thing. But Chauncey Billups and Conley could serve similar roles as veteran point guards, steady and solid in their games. And while Rip Hamilton and Mitchell are very different in style, Hamilton’s scoring might approximate Mitchell’s.

That Detroit team, famously, beat the star-laden Los Angeles Lakers in only five games in the NBA Finals, before making it to the Eastern Conference Finals four consecutive years after that. They are the best team on the list.

But as a stylistic match, perhaps the best comparison is the 2009 Orlando Magic. Part of that is just because the game has changed: One of the skills the Jazz now figure to be best at, 3-point shooting, has only been a significant part of the NBA landscape for the last 15-20 years. The title-winning Pistons took only 11.8 threes per game, while the Magic shot 26.2 per game, second in the NBA that year. (Last year’s Jazz took 34, and with the addition of Conley and Bogdanovic, could take more this season.)

NBA writer Brett Koremenos had a fascinating, related exercise: go through NBA history, and look at how many players 6-foot-7 or taller played at least 2,500 minutes, took a lot of threes and made a high percentage of them (39% or more). In nearly every season, it’s only a handful of guys who achieve this; last season, there were seven.

Two of those players were Ingles and Bogdanovic. If you go through NBA history, it turns out that there are only two other teams that featured two tall shooters like the Jazz have: the 2007-08 Pacers and that year’s Magic. The Pacers finished just 36-46, but had next to no talent at guard.

The Magic, though, are a pretty solid representation of the problems the Jazz could present opposing teams. Orlando also featured an imposing, DPOY center in Dwight Howard, one that could also roll to the rim and dunk with ease. (Remember, Gobert broke Howard’s dunk record last season.) Rashard Lewis stood outside and nailed open outside shot after shot. He could do more, of course, but so can Bogdanovic. Ingles can play a role similar to Hedo Turkoglu, a terrific shooter that ended up running pick and roll frequently thanks to his adept passing.

The guard comparison is interesting. Orlando featured an All-Star guard in Jameer Nelson — the only time he would make the game in his long career — but Nelson was injured for most of the end of the season and the playoffs until the Finals, where he returned at less than 100%. His backcourt mate, Rafer Alston was a nice role player, but certainly not as talented as either Conley or Mitchell.

The Jazz won’t really be able to surprise the opposition like the Magic did: their style of play was far more unique in 2009 than the Jazz’s figures to be in 2019. But given the Jazz’s additional strength at the guard positions, they could prove to be even tougher than Orlando was — they got through a weak Eastern Conference before losing in five to the Lakers.

Utah still could fall short of the ultimate title, like those Magic teams did. Or, given additional talent, they could rise above them. But if we’re looking for a historical comparison, the Finals-reaching Magic may be the closest.

A vigil was held at Washington Square Park in Salt Lake City to call for the end of immigrant camps at the border. Called Lights for Liberty, the vigil was one of thousands of gatherings held across the nation to protest the inhumane conditions faced by refugees coming to America through the southern border. Speakers at the vigil included members of the Latinx community.

Vigils in Texas, Florida, New York and Washington D.C. were held outside of the detention centers themselves. Those in attendance demanded the end of the camps.

“The Trump administration’s immigration policies and detention camps meet the United Nations’ definition of genocide and crimes against humanity,” said Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin, lawyer, activist and organizer on the Lights for Liberty website. “Congress is refusing to stop the president and his policies. We cannot allow these atrocities to be perpetrated in our name.”

The vigils comes two days before Immigration and Customs Enforcement will carry out mass arrests of undocumented immigrants.

A man accused of orchestrating a fraudulent fundraiser that advertised Sen. Kamala Harris’ presence in Utah was officially charged in Carbon County, Wyo., on Friday after being pulled over in a stolen car.

Adrain Swensen, who was operating under the alias Adrian Hebdon while in Utah, had been working with The Wave co-working space in Salt Lake City to bring in Harris for two ticketed events, a luncheon and a fundraiser dinner. The July 17 event was promoted on the Wave’s website and Facebook page, in emailed invitations and was covered in Utah media outlets.

Utah residents enthusiastically purchased tickets. But a Utah stop was never on Harris’ schedule and the campaign on Tuesday issued a cease-and-desist letter to Hebdon.

Swensen, who also went by the name Adrian Noe, has a long history of criminal activity across several states, including an arrest for stealing money from the Red Cross while acting as a volunteer for the charity in Iowa and for credit card fraud in Texas.

After news broke that the Harris event was a hoax, Wave CEO and co-founder Joanna Smith told The Tribune that Swensen/Hebdon/Noe had vanished with her car. The Salt Lake City Police Department confirmed that the car had been reported stolen and they had issued an alert. Speaking to The Tribune on Wednesday, Hebdon said he had borrowed the car with permission and would have it back in Utah by 11 a.m. Thursday.

Swensen was pulled over in Rawlins, Wyo., Thursday at 11:41 a.m. by Officer Matthew Harnisch for driving 10 mph over the speed limit, according to a Carbon County affidavit. Swensen was unable to provide Harnisch with a driver license and had an insurance card that expired in 2014. And when Harnisch learned that the vehicle Swensen was driving had been reported stolen, he arrested Swensen and his husband, who has outstanding warrants in other states.

The car in question is registered to Mark Barnes, co-founder of The Wave and Joanna Smith’s husband.

The alleged fraudster was charged with wrongful taking of property, driving with a suspended license, failure to maintain liability coverage and speeding. His bail was set at $5,000 and he is not allowed to leave Wyoming until his court date on July 19.

Salt Lake City Police Detective Michael Ruff said the car case will be handled in Wyoming. It is separate from the fraud case investigation, which is ongoing in Utah.

The actual relationship between Hebdon and the campaign is still murky. He posted several pictures on social media in which he appears close to the Senator at events and claims he was an authorized fundraiser, but he never had an official campaign email address. At least $6,000 from dinner ticket sales was delivered to the campaign, which it is in the process of refunding, according to a campaign statement statement.

A luncheon that was supposed to feature Harris alongside three other panelists, including Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera, will still take place, but The Wave is issuing refunds to those who want them, according to Smith.

“Somewhere out there is the world’s worst doctor. The scariest part is that someone has an appointment with him tomorrow.”

— George Carlin

If you are seeing a skilled and experienced doctor who is all but certain what is wrong with you and what ought to be done about it, but he doesn’t tell you what you have and what treatment you need, then he’s not really a very good doctor.

Several members of the Utah Medical Care Advisory Committee, speaking out as individuals because the body as a whole refused to take any action, have made a diagnosis and offered some specific prescriptions. Or, perhaps more in keeping with good medical advice, offered advice on what not to do.

But the federally mandated advisory panel couldn’t manage an official pronouncement, according to its chair, Dr. William Cosgrove, because the health care provider groups some of those members represent thought it improper.

This institutional cowardice is one of the big reasons why Utah has, for several years now, employed every trick in the book to avoid offering the kind of First World, virtually universal access to health care offered in 2010 by the federal Affordable Care Act and demanded by the voters of Utah with their 2018 passage of Proposition 3.

The hospitals, doctors, care homes and other medical providers of Utah should have been working hard, in public and behind the scenes, to get Utah politicians to either accept the full expansion of Medicaid as envisioned by the ACA, adopt the workable Healthy Utah alternative offered by Gov. Gary Herbert or, finally, bow to the will of the people and allow Prop 3 to take effect.

But the Republican-dominated Legislature was having none of any of that.

Most recently, lawmakers coolly eviscerated Prop 3 and replaced it with a deliberately cruel alternative that would spend millions more state tax dollars to serve thousands fewer state residents. Their plan is awaiting approval from the federal Department of Health and Human Services because it is such a significant departure from the parts of the ACA that still stand that it requires a waiver.

If there is any justice, HHS will deny that waiver and, by the same act of the Legislature that outlined the changes, the state Medicaid program will default to that outlined in Prop 3.

The plan put forward by the Utah Department of Health, in furtherance of the Legislature’s SB96, really has less to do with health care than with political dogma, with the idea that people who can’t afford health care don’t deserve to have it.

Cosgrove and his allies on the panel have done what they can to fight back, trying to drag Utah kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

They point out that the idea of a work requirement to qualify for Medicaid is a empirically foolish idea that will have an effect totally opposite of the one Utah politicians say they want, to help people become self-sufficient. All the research done on the topic, along with common sense, holds that if you want people to be self-sufficient, you provide health care first, not last.

Of course, all the arguments on both sides of this debate will dissolve unto dust if Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, one of 20 Republican state attorneys general who just the other day tried to convince a federal court that the whole ACA is unconstitutional, wins his case.

Why Reyes feels that it is so wrong for the states and the federal government to continue to assist people in acquiring access to a service taken for granted throughout the civilized world is not clear.

Oh, he’s tried to explain it. But it’s still not clear, because there is no legal, medical or remotely humane explanation to be offered.

The best thing that can happen to Utah -- its politicians, its health care providers and every one of us who might someday be sick or injured -- is for the Legislature’s requested waivers and the attorney general’s lawsuit to be rejected and for the will of the people -- Prop 3 -- to carry the day.

It just shouldn’t have been so hard.

Midway • Utah State golfer Chase Lansford was ready to pounce on the 16-year-old phenom, sensing Preston Summerhays was going to crack after losing consecutive holes in the morning round of the 121st Utah State Amateur’s 36-hole championship match.

Naturally, the defending champion had other ideas.

With the match suddenly all square through nine holes at Soldier Hollow Golf Course, the rising high school junior birdied seven of the next nine holes, and nine of the next 13, to regain control and cruised from there to become the tournament’s first repeat champion since 2001.

“The entire day, I was just thinking, ‘attack, attack, attack, just make as many birdies as possible,' and that’s what I did,” Summerhays said after taking the 7 and 6 win on the Gold Course.

After becoming the youngest champion ever last year at Oakridge Country Club, Summerhays is now the youngest player ever to repeat, and first to repeat since his uncle, Daniel Summerhays, won back-to-back titles at Oakridge and nearby Wasatch Mountain State Park in 2000 and 2001.

“That was my mentality all day, was try to get birdies, birdies, birdies,” he said, after getting 13 in 30 holes. “I am not going to lie. After I gave up holes 8 and 9 in the morning [round], that got me a little mad, and I [turned] that into fuel. That kind of pushed me to play well the back nine.”

Lansford, who is from Texas and will be a senior at USU this fall, said there was simply nothing he could do once the youngster got hot.

“Preston just put on, honestly, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen,” Lansford said. “That back nine of the morning match is probably the best nine holes I have ever seen. I told my teammate [and caddy] Cameron Tucker that is probably the best nine holes I’ve seen out of a pro, an amateur, you name it. So I really just ran into a buzz saw.”

Trailing by three holes before 8:30 a.m. after Summerhays birdied three of his first four, Lansford birdied 6 and 7 to get back into it, and made six birds on the day, with only a couple of bogeys. But it wasn’t nearly enough.

“There was really only one hole I gave to him with a bogey,” he said. “So I can’t say at the end of the day that I lost it. He truly just beat me.”

Summerhays said he got a “really nice text” from his uncle Danny a few nights ago, “telling me to just go get it.”

And he did.

“I am super-excited,” he said. “Chase played great today, too. It has been a goal of mine, for this year, to win this tournament again. So I am just really happy to achieve this goal.”

Summerhays said he will be back next year to go for the three-peat at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club.

His father, former PGA Tour player Boyd Summerhays, who is also local professional golf star Tony Finau’s swing coach, caddied for him in most of his matches, wins over Patrick Horstmann (5 and 4), Boston Watts (3 and 2), Reed Nielsen (1 up), Jake Vincent (2 and 1) and Elijah Turner (1 up) before blowing out Lansford.

“The thing I am most proud of is when he had chances to get eliminated, he made the putts,” Boyd Summerhays said. “Whether it was the elimination putt against Reed [Nielsen], where he had to make the 12 footer after losing the five-hole lead, he did it. … Preston made that putt, and you saw what that meant to him. And yesterday, when Elijah Turner was making a run, he made a 10-foot bogey putt to regain control, and then today, after losing 8 and 9 and being all square at the turn, he just did what he can do sometimes.”

After the trophy presentation, the Summerhayses drove straight to the airport and flew to Ohio, where the U.S. Junior Amateur begins Monday at Inverness Club in Toledo. After that, Preston will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Amateur in California, then play in the Pacific Coast Amateur.

“We spend a lot of time on the golf course playing, practicing and grinding and laughing, and then to see him do it when he needed it the most, and wanted it the most, is something I will never forget,” Boyd Summerhays said.

State Am champion Preston Summerhays’ victory speech. pic.twitter.com/fRRfomxDqA

— Jay Drew (@drewjay) July 14, 2019

Summerhays Repeats

• Preston Summerhays defeats USU golfer Chase Lansford 7 and 6 in the championship match of the 121st Utah State Amateur golf tournament.

• Summerhays, 16, a rising high school junior from Scottsdale, Ariz., who spends his summers in Utah, becomes the State Am’s first repeat champion since 2001.

State Am runner-up Chase Lansford on the championship match. pic.twitter.com/anKx8Pm3Mj

— Jay Drew (@drewjay) July 13, 2019

• Summerhays never trails in the championship match and makes seven birdies in a nine-hole stretch to take control in the morning’s 18 holes.

A Utah Jazz team missing most of its top players dropped its summer league consolation game to the Charlotte Hornets, 84-74, on Saturday afternoon at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas.

Tony Bradley (toe soreness), Jarrell Brantley (hamstring tightness), Justin Wright-Foreman (personal reasons), Isaiah Cousins (toe soreness), Tre’Shaun Fletcher (hip soreness) and William Howard (groin soreness) were all missing from the game.

George King led three Jazz players in double-figure scoring, hitting 8 of 17 shots (including 4 of 10 from 3-point range) for 20 points. He also added five rebounds. Josh Sharma hit 6 of 8 shots for 12 points and five boards. Stanton Kidd scored 10 points, but shot only 4 of 15.

Among the more notable names on the team, rookie Miye Oni totaled four points, three rebounds and three assists, and shot just 1 of 6 in 29 minutes. Big man Willie Reed played only 15 minutes, scoring one point and grabbing six rebounds.

Utah shot just 36.8% from the field and 25.7% from deep (9 of 35). The Jazz never led in the game. They finished Las Vegas Summer League play with a 2-3 record.

Kennedy Meeks led the Hornets with 18 points (on 8-for-11 shooting) and 10 rebounds.

Three thoughts on the Jazz’s 83-74 loss to the Charlotte Hornets from Salt Lake Tribune beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. Shorthanded Jazz have wire-to-wire defeat

I received this text from Jazz PR earlier Saturday with the Jazz’s injury report:

Jarrell Brantley - OUT - right hamstring tightness

Tony Bradley - OUT - right great toe soreness

Isaiah Cousins - OUT - left big toe soreness

Tre’Shaun Fletcher - OUT - left hip soreness

William Howard - OUT - right groin soreness

Miye Oni - PROBABLE - upper back sprain

George King - AVAILABLE - lower lip stitches and left hip contusion

So once all of those players were out, the remaining Jazz players, all roughly G-League quality, were always going to struggle against the Hornets. That’s especially true because the Hornets started Dwane Bacon and Miles Bridges, legitimate NBA players. Bridges is capable of stuff like this, for example:

👀 MILES BRIDGES EUROS INTO THE WINDMILL JAM! #NBASummer pic.twitter.com/av7T4148OW

— NBA (@NBA) July 13, 2019

The Hornets got out to a 30-point lead, pulled their starters, and let their backups play the second half. And then the Jazz came back, getting the lead all the way down to nine. Give George King credit, he scored 20 points and played well in the comeback. Miye Oni, unfortunately, was not really impactful again: only four points on 1-6 shooting.

I suppose that’s good fight, but it all felt somewhat inconsequential: nearly empty stands, a game that didn’t matter, even for summer league. By the time a team’s spent over a week in Las Vegas, most are ready to come home.

2. The Jazz ran a cool play, though

After Lamar Skeeter ran the Jazz’s summer league team as head coach in Salt Lake City, Johnnie Bryant took over for the first three games in Vegas. Now, Vince LeGarza has been in charge for the last two games. I’m not sure if it’s to give Bryant time to do his player development work with the Jazz’s players, or to give LeGarza some time as head coach for his sake, but that’s where we are.

At the beginning of the game, the Jazz ran this play that caught the eye of Half Court Hoops:

Utah Jazz PRETTY Hammer ATO | Zip Pin Knicks Hammer pic.twitter.com/EkKLconKjx

— Half Court Hoops (@HalfCourtHoops) July 13, 2019

There’s a lot of action here, but a lot of it is misdirection. In the end, it’s in order to create the space for Oni to get in the corner, and for McGrew to set the screen on the backside to make sure his shot isn’t contested. It’s pretty cool; watch it a few times if you have to.

Obviously, summer league games don’t have the diversity of plays that regular NBA games do. Summer league teams only have three days to train, and with how many games they play, there aren’t many opportunities to practice. They’re also just less familiar with each other, so plays tend to be less effective. If one player did the wrong thing above, or did the right thing at the wrong time, it wouldn’t work out.

Now that’s not enough to win, as today’s game clearly showed. You have to make the open shots the offense generates, and of course, on the defensive end, you have to be able to stay in front of your man — or get back in transition once you miss the open shots. But cool plays are always worth watching.

3. Donovan Mitchell’s China experience

Donovan Mitchell is on his Adidas tour right now: first, he headed to China before going to France to promote his new shoe to a worldwide audience. But in China, he seems to have made some of his fans upset.

SLCDunk has a wrapup of the story: a group of Chinese fans seem to have scouted out Mitchell’s hotel, then waited in the lobby for hours waiting for Mitchell’s autograph. It seems Mitchell didn’t give those autographs, and posted a video remarking on the persistence of those fans that found him.

That video seems to have made other Chinese fans angry, to the result of lots of pretty awful comments on his Instagram, as well as Hupu, a large Chinese basketball site. Some are telling Mitchell not to return to China, ever.

The irony of this is that Mitchell is well-known in Utah as being one of the athletes most willing to spend time interacting with fans — SLCDunk has a list of those times when he’s been involved in the community — and now he has this sudden reputation as not being that in a country with more than a billion people. I mean, literally, last week, this happened:

Donovan Mitchell signing autographs after watching the first game in the small gym.
The usher to 15 kids wanting an autograph, “ok! We’re done here.”
Donovan: “we’re not done. I’ll stay and sign more.”

Thank you @spidadmitchell for making time for the kids 🏀❤️

— Krysten Peek (@KP_Rivals) July 5, 2019

From consistent first-hand experience, from covering him for two years now and hundreds of interactions, I can tell you that Mitchell’s a good person.

It goes to show the pitfalls of fame: even if you are consistently show one characteristic, one weird moment that’s misconstrued, can cause groups of people to think you’re the opposite.

Neema Abakaki knows a fresh bunch of “lega lega” when she sees one.

Five bunches, actually — all packed up and handed to her as she shopped at the Sunnyvale Farmers Market Saturday afternoon. “Lega lega,” Swahili for amaranth, is one of the crops that remind Abakaki of home.

Born in Congo and raised in Uganda, Abakaki moved to Michigan six years ago as a refugee, a status for which her mother had fought for a decade. Now living in Utah and a first-timer shopper at the farmers market, she was excited to find cheap and fresh African greens.

The vegetables on sale were all grown by African refugees — a unique feature of the Sunnyvale Farmers Market in Millcreek.

New Roots, a subsidiary program of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), created the market nine years ago to help connect refugees who have agricultural backgrounds with local businesses and communities in Utah, said Natalie El-Delry, executive director of the IRC.

The Sunnyvale Farmers Market also brings greens and vegetables into the community, she said. The area is considered Salt Lake County’s largest food desert, which means there is limited access to fresh food.

Refugee farmers can receive training and grow crops in community gardens and farm sites through the program, with an end goal to become independent business owners, El-Delry said.

“People start off with smaller plots of land and progressively move into larger plots of land," she said, "and the whole time we ... help them move on to their own.”

Bashire Nigarura, a native of Burundi, has achieved that goal. He’s now selling self-grown vegetables at farmers markets in Liberty Park and Sunnyvale Park.

Nigarura brought his family to Utah from Tanzania in 2007, leaving behind a refugee camp of 60,000 people.

The 50-year-old farmer remembers the 370-square-foot tent his family used to live in.

Food was difficult to come by because the camp was far away from everything else, he said.

Starting anew in America, Nigarura joined the farming program in 2008. He now grows cabbages, beans, eggplant and other vegetables on his own lot — an acre of land on a 13-acre Draper site run by New Roots.

The Sunnyvale Farmers Market strives to provide affordable products, said Sara Valerious, New Roots program coordinator. Most of the customers at the market are food stamp users, she said, and they can get $40 worth of food for every $20 they spend.

The program has grown over the years, Valerious said. It now has 38 farmers growing crops that sell to Whole Foods Market, Vessel Kitchen and several school districts as well, she said.

"A lot of people are coming in the country, and they are seeing all this new produce that they have never seen before and ... don’t know how to cook,” Valerious said. Providing ethnic crops at the market helps smooth refugees’ transition into a new environment and helps them earn additional income, she said.

El-Delry, IRC’s executive director, said the program also shares refugee stories with the community and enriches people’s understanding of different cultures.

“It really becomes a story of unity, of humanity, of bringing people together, of honoring peoples’ agrarian roots that they come with and the value they contribute to the community,” El-Delry said. “It’s more than just the food itself.”

President Donald Trump rejected recommendations from the Department of Commerce late Friday that likely would have revived uranium mining in Utah and beyond, but the president also created a working group to review the country’s nuclear fuel supply chain over the next 90 days.

And Trump is asking the group to identify other ways to boost the domestic uranium industry.

Environmental groups and nuclear power providers applauded the administration’s decision to not accept Commerce department recommendations to require United States power plants to source up to 25% of their uranium from domestic mines.

“Quotas on uranium imports would have a crippling impact on the economic health of the U.S. nuclear fleet," said Maria Korsnick, president and CEO at the Nuclear Energy Institute. Korsnick added the industry trade association sees the formation of the working group as a better approach.

Two uranium companies wanted the Trump administration to require American nuclear power plants to use more domestically mined uranium. Energy Fuels Inc. and Ur-Energy Inc., with offices in the U.S. and Canada, filed a petition with the Commerce Department in early 2018, seeking to impose import quotas under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.

Roughly 20% of electricity in the U.S. is generated by nuclear power, but over 92% of uranium fuel used in nuclear reactors is imported from abroad, largely from Canada, Australia, Russia and Kazakhstan.

The memo signed by Trump late Friday said the president did not concur with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ finding that uranium imports threaten to impair national security. In April, Ross gave the White House a report that concluded the quotas would benefit national security; details of the report have yet to be released.

Trump did, however, agree that the impact of the supply chain on national security warrants further review. The order assigns a number of cabinet members, including Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, to a United States Nuclear Fuel Working Group, which will have 90 days to “develop recommendations for reviving and expanding domestic nuclear fuel production.”

In a statement, Ur-Energy and Energy Fuels commended Trump for recognizing the “significant challenges facing the American uranium mining industry,” and said they are ready to support the working group.

The Grand Canyon Trust, which released a report opposing quotas earlier this year, expressed concern that the working group would move to circumvent environmental regulations, including in southeast Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument.

“Industry lobbied to cut Bears Ears’ boundaries, they petitioned for uranium quotas, and although this latest attempt failed, the president’s Nuclear Fuel Working Group could still recommend measures that make mining uranium at Bears Ears feasible," said Tim Peterson, cultural landscapes program director for the Grand Canyon Trust.

Energy Fuels employs approximately 60 people at the the country’s last conventional uranium mill, located near Bears Ears National Monument and the Ute Mountain Ute reservation in southeast Utah. The company also owns several idled mines near the monument and Grand Canyon National Park, the latter of which has drawn protests from the Havasupai Tribe in recent years.

Tommy Rock, a Diné (Navajo) researcher who has a doctorate in environmental science and studies the impact of uranium production on groundwater, said he was glad to see the quotas were denied. But he added he will be keeping an eye on the working group’s recommendations.

Rock said there are about 15,000 abandoned mines across the western United States from the last uranium boom that have yet to see any significant clean up.

“In the Four Corners, there was a lot of uranium mining and work, and a lot of those locations are on or near Indian Country,” Rock said.

“There is still an issue of lack of water infrastructure on Navajo Nation," he added, referring to the 40% of reservation households that lack running water, "so there are people that use unregulated water sources for human [and livestock] consumption,” including sources contaminated with uranium decades ago.

Sarah Fields, of the San Juan County-based group Uranium Watch, said she hopes the working group will accept public comment before issuing its report. She pointed to documents on sedar.com, which companies use to file public securities documents with Canadian authorities, that show Energy Fuels, Inc. was formed in Ontario and has its headquarters there. The site said Ur-Energy has its head office in Colorado and was formed in Canada.

“With only 90 days to assign staff to the group, hold meetings, and come up with some suggestions on how to keep foreign companies in the uranium business in the U.S., it’s not clear what they can agree on,” Fields said.

Zak Podmore is a Report for America corps member and writes about conflict and change in San Juan County for The Salt Lake Tribune.

A 23-year-old man was arrested Friday in the death of his 6-month-old child, according to court documents.

West Valley City police were first called to help a child who wasn’t breathing. The child was taken to the hospital, where medics discovered the child had multiple injuries — including bruising, brain hemorrhaging and a fractured skull, according to a probable cause statement. The baby later died.

During questioning from police, the child’s father said he threw a metal bottle at the baby’s head, hit the child in the head with his fist and dropped the baby from a swing set onto the concrete, the probable cause statement states.

The 23-year-old was booked into Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of child abuse homicide. He was also booked for allegedly obstructing justice for lying to police and saying his brother hurt the baby.

New Orleans • Barry rolled into the Louisiana coast Saturday, flooding highways, forcing people to scramble to rooftops and dumping heavy rain that officials had feared could test the levees and pumps that were bolstered after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.

After briefly becoming a Category 1 hurricane, the system weakened to a tropical storm as it made landfall near Intracoastal City, about 160 miles west of New Orleans, the National Hurricane Center said.

By early evening, New Orleans had been spared the worst effects, receiving only light showers and gusty winds. A National Weather Service forecaster said the city may escape with only 2 to 4 inches of rain. But officials warned that Barry could still cause disastrous flooding across a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast and drop up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) through Sunday across other parts of Louisiana.

"This is just the beginning," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said. "It's going to be a long several days for our state."

The Coast Guard rescued a dozen people from flooded areas of Terrebonne Parish, south of New Orleans, some of them from rooftops, a spokeswoman said. The people included a 77-year-old man who called for help because he had about 4 feet of water in his home.

None of the main levees on the Mississippi River failed or were breached, Edwards said. But a levee in Terrebonne Parish was overtopped by water, officials said. And video showed water getting over a second levee in Plaquemines Parish, where fingers of land extend deep into the Gulf of Mexico. Terrebonne Parish ordered a new evacuation affecting an estimated 400 people.

Nearly all businesses in Morgan City, about 85 miles west of New Orleans, were shuttered with the exception of Meche’s Donuts Shop. Owner Todd Hoffpauir did a brisk business despite the pounding winds and pulsating rain.

While making doughnuts, Hoffpauir said he heard an explosion and a ripping sound and later saw that the wind had peeled off layers of the roof at an adjacent apartment complex.

In some places, residents continued to build defenses against rising water. At the edge of the town of Jean Lafitte just outside New Orleans, volunteers helped several town employees sandbag a 600-foot stretch of the two-lane state highway. The street was already lined with one-ton sandbags, and 30-pound bags were being used to strengthen them.

"I'm here for my family, trying to save their stuff," volunteer Vinnie Tortorich said. "My cousin's house is already under."

In Lafayette, Willie Allen and his 11-year-old grandson, Gavin Coleman, shoveled sand into 20 green bags, joining a group of more than 20 other people doing the same thing during a break in the rain. Wearing a mud-streaked T-shirt and shorts, Allen loaded the bags onto the back of his pickup.

"Everybody is preparing," he said. "Our biggest concern is the flood."

Many businesses were also shut down or closed early in Baton Rouge, and winds were strong enough to rock large pickup trucks. Whitecaps were visible on the Mississippi.

Oil and gas operators evacuated hundreds of platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly 70% of Gulf oil production and 56% of gas production were turned off Saturday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which compiles the numbers from industry reports.

Barry developed from a disturbance in the Gulf that surprised New Orleans during the Wednesday morning rush with a sudden deluge that flooded streets, homes and businesses. For several days, officials braced for more flooding. But as sunset approached, the city saw only intermittent rain and wind, with occasional glimpses of sunshine.

Elsewhere, more than 120,000 customers in Louisiana and another nearly 6,000 customers in Mississippi and Alabama were without power Saturday, according to poweroutage.us.

During a storm update through Facebook Live, National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham pointed to a computer screen showing a huge, swirling mess of airborne water. "That is just an amazing amount of moisture," he said. "That is off the chart."

Barry was moving so slowly that heavy rain was expected to continue all weekend.

Although the outlook for New Orleans had improved significantly, weather service forecaster Robert Ricks said it was too early to declare that the city was in the clear. The agency also reduced its rainfall estimates for Baton Rouge to between 6 and 10 inches through Sunday.

Forecasts showed the storm on a path toward Chicago that would swell the Mississippi River basin with water that must eventually flow south again.

For a few hours, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), just above the 74 mph threshold to be a hurricane. Barry was expected to continue weakening and become a tropical depression on Sunday.

Downpours also lashed coastal Alabama and Mississippi.

Governors declared emergencies in Louisiana and Mississippi, and authorities closed floodgates and raised water barriers around New Orleans. It was the first time since Katrina that all floodgates in the New Orleans area had been sealed.

Still, Edwards said he did not expect the Mississippi to spill over the levees despite water levels already running high from spring rains and melting snow upstream. The barriers range in height from about 20 to 25 feet.

Authorities told at least 10,000 people in exposed, low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast to leave, but no evacuations were ordered in New Orleans, where officials urged residents to "shelter in place."

Despite the apparent calm in her city, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell cautioned that the storm continued to pose a threat.

“The slow pace pushed the timing of expected impacts further into today, tonight and Sunday,” Cantrell said. “This means that New Orleans residents are not out of the woods with this system.”

Sandy • It’s becoming clockwork.

Since Jefferson Savarino’s arrival with Real Salt Lake, he’s scored two goals in a game around the same time every season. The first was July 2017, the second August 2018.

On Saturday, Savarino continued that trend. He put away two goals in RSL’s 4-0 win over the Philadelphia Union. Albert Rusnák and Damir Kreilach scored late to provide the final score.

“Honestly, it’s curious that that has happened,” Savarino said in Spanish. “But it’s very important always — not in June or July — always scoring goals for the team in every moment. The important thing is to keep improving to be the best for my team.”

RSL coach Mike Petke, when asked what may be behind Savarino’s summer scoring, hypothesized that it had something to do with his home country of Venezuela.

“The dog days of summer, while most of my players are tired and running out of steam, he’s picking it up,” Petke said with a smile. “Is Venezuela hot? It’s a hot country, right? He’s used to it.”

Joking aside, Petke praised Savarino for his play. In addition to his two goals, Savarino provided an assist as well.

“I thought tonight was possibly his best game [this year] since we’ve got him on loan,” Petke said.

RSL’s win puts it back above the playoff line in the Western Conference. With 29 points, it is now in sixth place, putting it above FC Dallas. RSL has 14 games left in the Major League Soccer season.

Saturday also marked the fourth consecutive home win for Salt Lake, as well as the third shutout in the last four games. Petke said there has been a focus on defending.

“I think over the last three games, we’ve taken a real commitment to team defending and recognizing that where we are on the table, it’s right around the playoff line and every point counts,” Petke said.

Savarino used his speed and timing to break the seal in the 23rd minute. Aaron Herrera sent a cross into the path of Savarino, who was barely onside when he made his run between two Union center backs. All Savarino had to do was settle enough for the shot.

A goal for RSL felt inevitable in the minutes leading up to Savarino’s finish. Kreilach had a good opportunity saved at the near post by Philadelphia keeper Andre Blake, and Herrera’s opportunity in the box was blocked because he took one touch too many.

Savarino put in his second in the 71st with help from Kyle Beckerman. The Venezuelan also dispossessed a Union player in the backfield and found Rusnák less than 10 minutes later.

Kreilch’s goal in the 89th minute was initially overturned due to an offsides call. But a video review resulted in the goal standing.

Salt Lake almost got a goal in the 54th. But Rusnák’s header off a corner kick skimmed Blake’s knee just enough to stay out of the goal.

Note

Real were without three regular starters in Sam Johnson, Nedum Onuoha and Donny Toia.

ABC has announced that the upcoming sixth season of “How to Get Away with Murder” will be the last. Hurray! And … boo!

I have mixed feelings about this. “HTGAWM” was pretty good in Season 1, but it’s become increasingly bizarre, confusing and nearly impenetrable since then. There are plots within plots, characters with secret motivations and the occasional where-the-hell-did-that-come-from moment.

I’ve seen every episode, and I have a tough time explaining what’s going on.

I’ve kept up because I’ve invested so much time — 75 episodes and counting — that I want to know how it ends. Even though I’m not at all convinced it will make any sense at all.

Still, given that there are so many good shows out there that I don’t have time to watch, I was planning to quit watching “HTGAWM” because there was no end in sight. Now there is — just 15 more episodes — so I’ll keep watching.

“How to Get Away with Murder” isn’t the only show that will be ending during the 2019-20 TV season. There’s a slew that have already announced their exits, including:

• “Arrow” (The CW): This series will end after an abbreviated, 10-episode, eighth season. It’s certainly not too soon for it to go.

• “Blindspot” (NBC): What with its low ratings, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if this show got the ax after Season 4. But it’s coming back for 13 episodes, and we’re promised it will provide fans answers to all its dangling plot lines.

• “Criminal Minds” (CBS): I’ve never really understood the appeal of this violent, serial killer-of-the-week show, but it got 10 more episodes to wrap things up — and bring the episode total to 325.

• “Empire” (Fox): At best, this was mediocre soap opera. It’s been unwatchable since Season 2. Its sixth and final season will be its longest — 20 episodes. Oh, and actor Jussie Smollett, who has been accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself, won’t be returning, according to series creator Lee Daniels.

• “The Good Place” (NBC): The news that Season 4 will be the last made me sad — and happy. The stars and producers of a lot of shows talk about exiting while the programs are still creatively strong; this one might actually do it. I’d rather have four great seasons and a top-notch finale than watch it go into decline.

• “Homeland” (Showtime): I’ve never been as down on this show as a lot of my fellow critics, but there’s no arguing that after a spectacular Season 1, the show has never been as good. Eight seasons is more than enough.

• “Lucifer” (Netflix): When Fox canceled this in 2018, it was too soon. Props to Netflix for ordering Season 4. Now Netflix has announced that Season 5 will be the last — and 10 more episodes might not be enough, although we’re promised closure.

• “Madam Secretary” (CBS): The Season 5 finale could have been a series finale, with the title character declaring she’s a candidate for president. But we’re getting an abbreviated, 10-episode Season 6 that will tie up the storyline — so I’m thinking there’s got to be a time jump.

• “Modern Family” (ABC): When Season 11 ends, there will be 254 episodes, and by no means do we need more. But I’m glad they’re giving fans some closure.

• “Supernatural” (The CW): OMG, this show started on The WB, which hasn’t even existed since 2006. The upcoming season will be the 15th; it will end with 329 episodes. And I’ll be hugely relieved, because I’ve been watching since the beginning.

Other shows that will be ending after their upcoming seasons include “The Affair” (Showtime); “Corporate” (Comedy Central); “Dark” (Netflix); “The Deuce” (HBO); “Fuller House” (Netflix); “Future Man” (Hulu); “Liar” (Sundance); “Killjoys” (Syfy); “The Man In the High Castle” (Amazon); “Mr. Robot” (USA); “Power” (Starz); “Preacher” (AMC); “The Ranch” (Netflix); “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop); “Silicon Valley” (HBO); “The Spanish Princess” (Starz); “Strike Back” (Cinemax); “Suits” (USA); “Unrelated” (Freeform); and “Vikings” (History).

Years ago, our news arrived every evening, as we settled ourselves around the television and listened to Roger Mudd, Walter Cronkite or, perhaps, Huntley and Brinkley. And we trusted in what we heard and the photos that accompanied those words.

Now, with social media, umpteen channels, Twitter and the like, we are bombarded (if we choose so) with many opportunities to receive our news of the world, nation and localities.

I believe that the words/photos of these recent weeks are true and accurate. I am referring to the southern border. As words again, are flaunted, “We are better than this.”

We celebrated the founding of our country with an extravagant array of costly metal symbols of military might. Might those dollars have been better spent in ameliorating the disastrous situation at the border, a more-in-keeping visual of what the United States of America represents — or used to — to the world, the humanity of a great and caring nation?

Anne Stringham, Salt Lake City

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A few days ago, I went to Lagoon with a friend. It had been years since I’d been to the amusement park. I rode Cannibal for the first time. The roller coaster was fun, even though the 8-year-old next to me said he wished the screaming would stop.

“I know,” I said. “That amount of screaming is really rude.”

“It was you,” he said.

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t,” I said.

“I have video,” he said.

The kid was never seen again. But his phone was found, smashed beyond repair.

Even though the Lagoon parking lot was full, the lines to the most popular attractions were short. We barely had to wait, except when it came to the Terroride. You know the ride, you Lagooners. It very slowly propels you through dark corridors and subjects you to creepy animatronics, strobe lights and a loud horn that makes me scream every time because I hate you, horn, and you are the worst thing ever!

While we were in line, a father in front of us was trying to calm his young son. The toddler had obviously never ridden the Terroride because he was scared.

At this point, my friend (who has no children of his own) said to me, loudly, “I heard this ride is the scariest ride this side of the Mississippi.”

“Shhh,” I said, eloquently.

“Did you read that news article about that kid who died on this ride?” my friend said.

Then I punched his arm, eloquently.

Anywho, yes, my friend was joking about a scary story that wasn’t true.

But what about the scary stories that are true? Hold on to your seats. Reader discretion advised.

My family owns a condo in Midway, a small town just outside of Park City. My co-authors and I stay there often to write our books. The condo has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and is basically nondescript, except the cupboard doors in the kitchen seem to always be open.

So, my co-authors and I did some research into the criminal history of Midway, because we are kind of obsessed with true crime stories.

Fast forward to the next Halloween, and my parents, my kids, and my nieces and nephews are sitting around a campfire in Midway.

The grandkids were telling scary stories, like “click-shaw” (the serial killer who was in a wheelchair, and had hooks for hands) and the Lady in Blue (who, supposedly, haunted the Salt Lake City Cemetery).

Then it was my turn, and I decided to tell a true story.

Here’s how it went:

“Once upon a time, there was a family who lived in a condo in Midway. It was a father, a mother and two adorable children: one daughter, one son. In the winter of 1989, a snowstorm hit, and dumped a record amount of snow. To this day, residents say they had never seen, and would never see, such a deluge.

“The entire town was confined to their quarters. The streets weren’t accessible to snowcats, let alone cars. The City Council provided food and necessities to the residents, using a government-issued ‘super-snowcat’ once a week.

“It was a time when, if you were smart, you’d stay indoors.

“This family in the condo followed the rules. The mom spent most days on the second floor playing with the children. But the father, whose name was Jerry, was a trifle claustrophobic, and the weather was really getting to him.

“He was lonely. For conversation, he started talking to the walls. But the walls refused to talk back. His cabin fever and frustration grew. Why weren’t the walls answering him?

“One day, as he was making himself coffee, he opened a cupboard. And finally, the wall answered back. ‘I am not real. You are imagining me.’

“In order to keep the conversation going, Jerry opened all the cupboards, and spent his days making sure they were never closed.

“His wife did not understand this ‘need’ to keep the cupboard doors open. She spent many days closing cupboard doors. She taught her children to do the same.

“Days later, police found the wife and children dead, the kitchen cupboards open, and the father hanging from a rope that was thrown over the third floor balcony.”

I finished with this doozy to my mom: “Our research proved to be correct. This actually happened. And that’s why you got the condo for such a fantastic price.”

There was a long silence around the campfire. The younger children sniffled and wiped away tears. The older children mentioned that it would be cool to stay in tents instead of sleeping in the condo. They had most definitely seen the open cupboards.

My mother tried to settle everyone else’s minds. “Children, I promise that when we bought the condo, we had the place spiritually cleansed.”

She spoke with authority, which was slightly undermined because her voice was shaking.

That night, we all slept outside under the stars.

It wasn’t until the following morning that I, hesitantly, told everyone that I had made the entire thing up.

And this is why I no longer have any family. Does anyone out there have room in their families for a woman with lots of creative stories?

Brodi Ashton is a New York Times best-selling author who lives in the Salt Lake City area. She’s also an occasional columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune.

If you’re looking for an upbeat song for the summer, Jack Rutter — aka Ritt Momney — is not your guy.

“I almost am incapable of writing a happy song,” the 19-year-old singer-songwriter from Salt Lake City said in a recent interview. “For whatever reason, I’m so much more able to write a song about something that’s really sad. ... Artistically, I have a major affinity for despair.”

In some songs on Ritt Momney’s debut album, “Her and All of My Friends” — which will be released on Friday, July 19, with concerts that day and the next at Salt Lake City’s Kilby Court — Rutter writes and sings about breaking up with a girlfriend. In others, he explores the emotions of breaking off from the religion in which he was raised, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Writing the songs about my girlfriend, in the thick of the breakup, felt very much the same to writing about the church when I was in the thick of that whole situation,” Rutter said. “It’s really interesting to draw comparisons.”

The girlfriend is part of the origin story of Ritt Momney. That was the name Rutter and his friends at East High School gave to the band they formed their junior year. There wasn’t much of a thought process behind the name, a spoonerism of Utah’s junior senator and the czar of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

“We live in Utah,” Rutter said. “We thought, ‘That would be funny.’”

Rutter wrote the songs for the band, and his bandmates added to them. They put out a four-song EP, “Young Adult,” but Rutter wasn’t satisfied with the results.

“It wasn’t me producing the stuff,” he said. “We would go into a studio and pay a guy to record it and produce it. That wasn’t very appealing at all.”

After the EP was released, Rutter and his bandmates, and his girlfriend, graduated from high school. His girlfriend went to college, at Brigham Young University’s satellite campus in Hawaii. The guys — “pretty much my entire group of friends,” he said — went on missions as Latter-day Saints.

Most of the songs on “Her and All of My Friends” were written just after his friends and girlfriend left, Rutter said. He produced them himself, in a spare style alternately called “lo-fi” or “bedroom pop.” He kept the Ritt Momney label, because “it’s kind of fun to have a name that you sort of go by,” he said.

A typical take on his breakup is this verse from the song “Pollution — Disclaimer”:

“This started out with a vie for attention from an ex.

And I’m the most creative when I’m an emotional wreck.

Every happy song I’ve written ended up pretty bad.

And it’s hard to smile when they only cheer if you’re sad.”

“That breakup was really, really tough,” Rutter said, adding that it inspired “sort of everything I was writing about for a long time.”

Another song, the album’s first single, “On Love (An Alternative Response to Almitra’s Request),” was inspired by Kahlil Gibran’s famous 1923 collection of prose poems, “The Prophet.”

The song, Rutter said, “is sort of a general commentary on love, in the same way in Kahlil Gibran’s book, each chapter is a general commentary on something.”

The songs on the album are presented in roughly the same chronological order in which they were written, Rutter said. The earlier tracks tend to be shorter, “more small world, telling ’This is exactly what happens in my life,’” he said, adding that the later songs are longer and more fully formed, when Rutter was “able to organize my thoughts better,” he said.

Some of those songs — notably the second single, “(If) the Book Doesn’t Sell” — are about his questioning of his Latter-day Saint faith, something with which he’s been wrestling since he was a sophomore in high school.

“When I was a senior or something, it was still sort of a secret that I was hiding from my family,” Rutter said. “I was fully considering going on a mission, just so I didn’t have to tell anybody I didn’t believe in it.”

In “(If) the Book Doesn’t Sell,” Rutter imagines he’s having a conversation with God and the devil. “What I’m concerned about is the truth,” he said. “I ask God, ‘Are you lying?’ God’s response is, like, ‘Do you see all of the good that comes from it? All these people are hopeful. Why wouldn’t you want to see all of your loved ones when you die?’”

Depression is also a theme in Rutter’s songs, and writing those songs is “a form of therapy,” he said. “When you know what’s going on in your head, but you know it’s negative, it’s harder to feel at peace with that. But if I can write something, and explain that to myself, it gets a little easier.”

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Ritt Momney in concert

Salt Lake City singer-songwriter Jack Rutter, who performs under the stage name Ritt Momney, will celebrate the Friday, July 19, release of his new album, “Her and All of My Friends,” before a five-date West Coast tour in August.

Where • Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City

When • Friday and Saturday, July 19-20, at 7 p.m. each night

Opening acts • The Backseat Lovers and Kipper Snack open on Friday; Blue Rain Boots and The Sardines open Saturday.

Tickets • At Ticketfly.com. Friday’s show is sold out. Tickets for Saturday’s show are $10 in advance, $12 on the day of the show.