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Friday AM headlines: Savannah Bananas coming to Utah, another swastika at Weber State

Los Angeles Times

Savannah Bananas coming to Utah on their world tour

The Savannah Bananas announced Thursday evening that they are going to bring their “Banana Ball” to Utah for the first time on Aug. 30-31, as a part of its 2024 World Tour.

The team is bringing their own spin on the nation’s pastime to Smith’s Ballpark.

The team has also launched a webpage where fans can sign up to enter a ticket lottery for the two Utah games.

The Bananas started in 2016 when Jesse Cole purchased the small college player league team, and built an empire by flipping baseball’s rules upside down. The team’s games feature unique rules like counting all spectator foul ball catches as an out and banning bunting. This is combined with choreography and other antics by the players.

The team’s antics often go viral on social media. The Bananas have sold out every game since its opening season and recently have had games on ESPN.

Another swastika found at Weber State

A week after a swastika was discovered on the campus of Weber State University, another one was found inside a building on the school’s Davis Campus in Layton.

Officials from the university said a scratched-out swastika was found at 11 a.m. on Thursday in the building that houses the Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Science.

Next to the Nazi symbol was a Star of David etched on the table located in a third-floor hallway. Administrators were notified and the table was removed.

A swastika was found carved into a table inside the Shepherd Union Building on the school’s main Ogden campus on Sept. 25. While the vandalism was discovered on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, it was determined that it had been left at least a year prior.

Sen. Mike Lee introduces bill banning federal funds for research on trans youth

A bill introduced by Utah Sen. Mike Lee would ban federal funds from being used for research on the gender transition of minors.

The Protecting Our Kids from Harmful Research Act would prevent taxpayer funds from being used on research or publications that affirm a different gender identity from the child’s biological sex.

In support of the bill Sen. Lee was joined by other Republican senators, including Sen. James Lankford of Ohio, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

The bill is backed by organizations such as Heritage Action, American Principles Project and Students for Life.

Caitlin Keith is a general news reporter at UPR. She is from Lindon, Utah and is currently an undergrad student studying print journalism at USU. Caitlin loves to write and tell people’s stories. She is also a writer at the Utah Statesman. She loves to read, ski, play the cello and watch various TV shows.