Yeah I'm not entirely sure what to expect in the upcoming budget. This is going to be an interesting one (probably true for cities all over Utah tbh)

Salt Lake City dings developer for 'unfortunate' mishap over historic building City leaders reduced a developer's tax incentives by approximately $1 million after a miscommunication in the demolition of a now-nearly rebuilt historic building.

"There's just no way to do that and still have the city maintain its character if you lose the historic landmarks, so I think we missed the mark."

ICYMI: Salt Lake City dings developer for 'unfortunate' mishap over historic building:

www.ksl.com/article/5148...

The NWS confirmed that tree damage found near the Rich-Cache border last weekend was caused by an EF-1 tornado.

Utah averages ~2 tornadoes every year, but this marks the first time the agency has confirmed one touching down in Rich County in 6 decades #utwx:

www.ksl.com/article/5148...

How this teaching moment aims to educate Utahns about water-wise native plants Students designed a new garden outside of a Salt Lake City charter school, but it aims to offer an example for anyone starting their own native plant garden.

"This is meant to be something that can help change our community, and be beautiful, supportive and therapeutic."

Here's how a new community garden in SLC teaches both students and residents about water-wise native plants:

www.ksl.com/article/5148...

BREAKING: 2 businessmen accuse Utah state Rep. Trevor Lee of abusing his power and altering checks in a past job. In a statement to KSL, Lee admitted he acted improperly in one case but not the other www.ksl.com/article/5148... #utpol #utleg @ksl.com

I'm somehow just learning that the Mariners and Padres have a rivalry called the Vedder Cup that comes with a guitar trophy. How could you not love baseball?!

"I realize we're balancing two things here."

The Salt Lake City Council is initiating the process to expand its public camping ordinance, which would include more than just parks and streets to combat recent issues.

But some worry it opens up new challenges:

www.ksl.com/article/5148...

It's complicated to describe what the CRA approved, but the gist is it's going to cost Blaser about $1 million from what it could have gotten from tax reimbursement.

He says it stings but some of the other proposals could have sank him

Brandon Blaser, CEO of Blaser Ventures, told me he accepts the punishment. Chalks it up to miscommunication, saying he had the permits and alerted the city about it... but it got lost in communication.

"We missed the mark," Councilman Wharton added in today's meeting

Interesting item from today's SLC CRA meeting: The city voted to reduce tax increment potential for Pickle & Hide development over the historic Pickle building being demolished without City Council knowledge.

Salt Lake police sit down with unsheltered Utahns to seek resource solutions A first-of-its-kind roundtable discussion between unsheltered residents and Salt Lake City police aims to find solutions to barriers in resources to help people experiencing homelessness.

"I want to have a better life, but there's no bridge to get to the resources that (police) claim are out there."

Salt Lake police sit down with unsheltered Utahns to seek solutions to existing resource barriers:

www.ksl.com/article/5148...

Utah's snowpack situation is a piece of a larger Western problem States across the West dealt with below-average snowpack this season, which is leading to similar challenges facing Utah.

If you thought Utah's snow season was weird, just look at the rest of the West.

There's still enough for some snowpack peaks to change, but it really was not a great snowpack collection for anyone because of the warmth:

www.ksl.com/article/5148...

'We knew we had to act': Great Salt Lake gets $30M boost from business community Three prominent families with Utah ties pledged a combined $30 million toward efforts to boost Great Salt Lake levels, as the lake faces impacts from a record-low snowpack.

"We knew we had to act to preserve the adventures we all treasure."

Here's more on the new philanthropic donations for the GSL, which seek to build on existing programs to get more water to the lake:

www.ksl.com/article/5148...

NEW: The Miller Family, Maverik and Marriott announced this morning that, combined, they are donating $30 million toward Great Salt Lake solutions.

SLC is exploring measures that would indefinitely close two road sections in the city, including one that would open the door for a new train quiet zone on the west side:

www.ksl.com/article/5147...

"This has been a lot longer pause than any of us ever anticipated."

Nearly 5 years after pausing its foothills trails expansion plan, Salt Lake City has OK'd a new process to add new trails + construction funding after the initial one ran into issues:

www.ksl.com/article/5148...

Looking forward to seeing the Delta Center energy during the Stanley Cup playoffs

I think it was supposed to be complete by now. It's currently listed at 51% capacity

Some good news/bad news from this week's Drought Monitor report. Good news: Last week's storms prevented any drought severity growth. Bad news: It didn't go down either.

Close to 60% of Utah remains in extreme+ drought; the rest in moderate or severe

Utah's statewide snowpack (an average of every basin) peaked about a month ago today at just barely half of its annual average.

How did each basin do? Not great. Here's a breakdown of every basin peak and the one trend that created this mess #utwx:

www.ksl.com/article/5148...

This is also fascinating. Our average temperature since the water year began in October is nearly 3 degrees above the previous record.

Worth noting that top three warmest Oct-March periods since 1895 are also the bottom three in snowpack collections: 2026, 2015, 1934

We already knew last month was Utah's warmest March since at least 1895 — but NCEI's new data release shows we crushed the previous record.

Utah's avg temp last month was 51.1 degrees, 5.5 degrees above the previous record and nearly 11 degrees above the 30-year normal #utwx

Trump is seeking $1B for Great Salt Lake. How would it be used? President Donald Trump included Utah's request for $1 billion for lake restoration projects in his proposed federal budget, which would be used in a variety of ways.

"These are big chunks, big rocks, big moves that we can make to make a big difference."

If approved by Congress, here's how Utah plans to spend $1B that Trump has requested for the Great Salt Lake:

www.ksl.com/article/5147...

Salt Lake City rejects rezone for controversial 7-story hotel next to Sugar House Park The future of a parcel of land next to Sugar House Park is no closer to being any clearer since a Sizzler restaurant closed there six years ago.

"That doesn't mean nothing can go there. ... I think we're clear about what the development potential is within the existing zoning..."

Here's more on SLC's decision to reject a rezone for a hotel next to Sugar House Park + what's next for the old Sizzler site:

www.ksl.com/article/5147...

Salt Lake City rejects rezone for controversial 7-story hotel next to Sugar House Park The future of a parcel of land next to Sugar House Park is no closer to being any clearer since a Sizzler restaurant closed there six years ago.

Here's more on the vote and what it means for a parcel that's future remains uncertain since the Sizzler closed in 2020. This is the third proposed new use for the site that has failed.

Will be updating with more reaction tonight:

www.ksl.com/article/5147...

Breaking: #SLC Council has rejected a proposal to rezone a parcel next to Sugar House Park, delivering a blow to a proposed 7-story hotel next to the park

And this SLC Council has all the public hearing fun tonight. We've got props (seen here) and a barking dog from a caller that I hope counts as an official comment on the public record

I am so glad I'm at a City Council meeting tonight so I don't have to subject myself to this offensive torture 🫣

The projected 1.4M acre-feet (22% of normal) comes as all 4 Upper Basin states have record-low April snowpacks... but the probability this year is the lowest inflow on record also jumped to 30% this month.

The center says we'll set a record if we repeat 2002's weather (the current record)

'We're in a really tough shape': Lake Powell's grim outlook only getting worse Lake Powell's projected snowmelt inflows dropped by nearly 1 million acre-feet of water from last month, according to a new National Weather Service outlook report.

"Tough decisions are going to have to be made, like right now."

The CBRFC reduced Lake Powell's projected inflows by nearly 1M acre-feet in its latest update released today.

Utah officials say it's not ideal while the CR Basin states are still clashing #utpol

www.ksl.com/article/5147...