This is your daily news rundown for Tuesday, August 6. In this edition:
- A federal judge has allowed a lawsuit by a group of drag performers against St. George to move forward
- Congresswoman Celeste Maloy won the recount for the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary
- St. George had its hottest July on record for the second year in a row
- After power lines were overloaded, Hyrum City experienced a near hour long power outage.
- A grievance has been filed by one of the four USU athletics department employees fired in July.
- Utah State University is hosting the 38th Small Satellite Conference.
Federal judge allows lawsuit over St. George drag show to move forward
5:30 p.m.
A federal judge has rejected a request from the city of St. George to throw out a lawsuit over a rejected all-ages drag performance.
The lawsuit was filed against the city in 2023 after the Southern Utah Drag Stars were denied a permit to host a performance in a public park. The group of drag performers and the American Civil Liberties Union alleged the city had discriminated against the group and violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments in the denial.
A U.S. district court sided with the drag performers in June 2023 and the event was allowed to run later that month.
Shortly after, the city asked for the entire lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that it had revised its ordinances and allowed the event to happen, making the lawsuit unnecessary.
In a mixed ruling on Monday, U.S. District Court Judge David Nuffer said part of the complaint was no longer relevant since the drag show had happened. However, he said the repeal of the challenged ordinances didn’t erase the controversy over whether they were misused, nor did it stop the possibility of future discrimination.
The lawsuit will thus be allowed to move forward. Lawyers for both sides have said they’ve been engaged in settlement talks.
Maloy maintains her Congressional primary victory after recount
5:30 p.m.
Congresswoman Celeste Maloy maintained her victory after a recount of the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary.
Opponent Colby Jenkins formally requested a recount of the ballots on July 29 after initial election results had him losing by 214 votes. A week later, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson announced on social media that Maloy had won the race by 176 votes.
The recount effort experienced some issues in Tooele and Washington counties because of a software error, but Henderson said they were able to fix the issues and will investigate further to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
In a social media post, Jenkins didn’t concede the race, saying, “What was a race that was too-close-to-call is now even closer.” He has a petition before the Utah Supreme Court contesting the primary results because mail from some counties in the state were processed in Las Vegas, causing some ballots to allegedly not be postmarked until after the deadline and thus not counted.
St. George had its hottest July on record for the second straight year
5:30 p.m.
For the second year in a row, St. George has set its hottest July on record.
The average high in the city this July was 107.9 degrees, breaking last year’s record of 107.4. It’s also six degrees warmer than St. George’s historical average from 1991 to 2020.
Other cities across Utah also had higher average temperatures this month than in past years, especially in the southern half of the state. Kanab set a new record for average July temperatures at 99.2 degrees, beating 2023’s record of 98.4 degrees and the historical normal by six degrees. Salt Lake City, Spanish Fork, Cedar City, and Price all were also several degrees higher than historical normal.
Overload on power lines causes power outage in Hyrum City
9:24 a.m.
High demand and overload of the power lines led to a city-wide power outage in Hyrum Monday. The power outage lasted almost an hour after first being reported around 2:10 p.m.
Officials with Hyrum City confirmed the electrical grid went down for all residents and businesses. It wasn't restored until just before 3 p.m.
The outage occurred as most of Cache Valley was under a heat advisory from the National Weather Service. Temperatures were in the mid 90's.
Grievance filed by terminated USU athletics department employee
9:24 a.m.
A grievance has been filed by one of the four Utah State University athletics department employees fired in July. Jerry Bovee was terminated on July 2, along with head football coach Blake Anderson and Austin Albrecht from the Aggie football staff. Bovee was the associate vice president deputy AD for external affairs. He had 30 days to respond and did so on Friday.
The law firm representing Bovee released a statement Saturday evening stating that Bovee has “confidence and a desire to defend the truth…” The statement begins with Bovee saying he recognizes “…that varying accounts and allegations have surfaced regarding the activities that led to decisions that were made. Nonetheless, I believe the truth will prevail, and my proven legacy and reputation, founded in integrity and honesty, will be restored.”
Anderson and his attorney are also disputing his termination.
The law firm of Husch Blackwell performed an independent review upon the recommendation of USU’s Office of Equity and Office of Legal Affairs.
According to a posting on the university website, the firm was tasked with investigating: “Which employees learned of allegations of sexual misconduct and/or criminal conduct by a USU football player during the spring of 2023. How the employees learned about the allegations. When they learned about any allegations. Whom they told about these allegations.”
Utah State University hosts 38th Small Satellite Conference
9:24 a.m.
The 38th Small Satellite Conference began Saturday in Logan. At least 3,700 participants are gathering at Utah State University for the conference, including military officers, industry professionals, professors, and students.
SmallSat began in 1987 as a small gathering of university professors seeking affordable ways to augment aerospace engineering education through the creation of miniature satellites.
