Forest fires, rural health, and dirty soda on Behind the Headlines

By Tom Williams

Published July 31, 2026 at 3:35 PM MDT

A colorful mural on a brick wall reads "Utah Dirty Sodas" and "2026." A crowd of people stand in front of it, facing different directions. — People line up for $3 dirty-soda night at The Ballpark in South Jordan, when the Salt Lake Bees become the Dirty Sodas on Wednesday nights, on Wednesday, July 22, 2026.

At 9 a.m. on Friday, Tribune reporters Leia Larsen, Brooke Larsen, and Paighten Harkins join host UPR’s Tom Williams to talk about the week’s top stories, including a researcher saying ‘We’re losing our ability to manage forest fires’ as the West becomes hotter and drier, the first year of funding from the Rural Health Transformation Program, and the dirty soda shop that took the country by storm.

Every Friday at 9 a.m., stream “Behind the Headlines” at upr.org. Join the live conversation by email to upraccess@gmail.com.

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Tom Williams

Tom Williams worked as a part-time UPR announcer for a few years and joined Utah Public Radio full-time in 1996. He is a proud graduate of Uintah High School in Vernal and Utah State University (B. A. in Liberal Arts and Master of Business Administration.) He grew up in a family that regularly discussed everything from opera to religion to politics. He is interested in just about everything and loves to engage people in conversation, so you could say he has found the perfect job as host “Access Utah.” He and his wife Becky, live in Logan.

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