A Giant Data Center Plan And The Fight Over The Great Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Lawsuit, New 400 South Trail, And Utah’s June Proclamation

A 16-year-old signs with a pro club, steps into an adult locker room, and says the people in charge never built basic protections around him. That’s the heart of the biggest Salt Lake City story we’re unpacking this week: a major Real Salt Lake lawsuit filed by former goalkeeper Jeffrey Duznup against RSL, Major League Soccer, and the U.S. Soccer Federation. We walk through the allegations, what’s being claimed about reporting and response, and why this isn’t just “sports drama” but a serious conversation about athlete safety, youth protection, and accountability in professional sports. Then we pivot to something worth celebrating in local news: the new 400 South Viaduct Trail. If you’ve ever tried to cross those railroad tracks on foot or by bike, you know how sketchy it used to feel. Now there’s a protected bike and walking path connecting Poplar Grove and the west side through to downtown and the Granary District, plus nearly 2,000 feet of public art called Strut. We talk about why this project matters for safer commuting, better access, and what “good city infrastructure” actually looks like on the ground. We also get into peak Utah politics with Governor Spencer Cox declaring June “Fidelity Month,” how that lands during Pride Month in Salt Lake City, and what it says about the growing gap between state signals and city culture. To round it out, we hit a fast stack of updates: the Salt Lake Bees’ big May, a long-running Salt City Inn case ending in a conviction, the Utah Arts Festival’s 50th anniversary lineup, and the Utah Mammoth gearing up for the draft and offseason decisions. Subscribe, share this with a friend who follows Salt Lake, and leave a review, and if you want ticket giveaway details, join the Discord via the show notes. Have a Question? Ask it here! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2253231/fan_mail/new] Check out the DLX 313 at Via313 today! Questions about buying or selling a home in Utah? Email Spencer spencer.ford@vuere.com or use the contact form here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6Fu7-y3J9RMSvatzK-9Px06OMfjvydFjLwP7i1jC_3W8xRg/viewform?usp=header] to get in touch Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time  Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2253231/support] Join the Small Lake City Discord: https://discord.gg/TYNzMhCxeK Subscribe to the Newsletter! https://www.smalllakepod.com/newsletter-landing-page Instagram: @smalllakepod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SmallLakeCityPodcast TikTok: @smalllakepod

S2, E16: Celeste Edmunds - From Trauma To Legacy At Christmas Box International

A lot of people talk about “networking,” but we wanted to get honest about what actually holds a life together when things get hard: reciprocity, loyalty, and the people who show up when you have nothing to offer. We start with the awkward truth about perks and connections, then pull the thread into something bigger, how success can reveal who is really in your corner and why one-way relationships drain you fast. Then Celeste joins us and tells the kind of story you do not forget. She grew up moving every six months with her belongings in a garbage bag, surviving foster care, abuse, and the pressure of becoming a parent to her sibling as a child. She walks us through the turning points that changed her trajectory, the rare adults who offered steadiness, the power of chosen family, and what it means to find gratitude without pretending the pain did not happen. Along the way, we talk trauma comparison, resilience, triggers, and why celebrating small wins is not cheesy, it is survival. Celeste also breaks down the mission and impact of Christmas Box International and the Christmas Box House shelters, including the reality of child welfare in Utah, the growing challenges of placements, and why keeping siblings together is so critical. If you care about foster care, child advocacy, trauma recovery, or how a Utah nonprofit can change lives at scale, this conversation is for you. Listen through to the end for clear ways to help, from wish lists and Amazon shipping to volunteering and sharing resources, then subscribe, share this with one person, and leave a review so more people can find it. Have a Question? Ask it here! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2253231/fan_mail/new] Check out the DLX 313 at Via313 today! Questions about buying or selling a home in Utah? Email Spencer spencer.ford@vuere.com or use the contact form here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6Fu7-y3J9RMSvatzK-9Px06OMfjvydFjLwP7i1jC_3W8xRg/viewform?usp=header] to get in touch Visit www.luxeautomotive.com or use this link [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdldVYSCUzLhiGWyCpHcOVpzOlqqwiN57PuL01lhYnMKwjKxA/viewform?usp=header] to request a quote Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time  Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2253231/support] Join the Small Lake City Discord: https://discord.gg/TYNzMhCxeK Subscribe to the Newsletter! https://www.smalllakepod.com/newsletter-landing-page Instagram: @smalllakepod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SmallLakeCityPodcast TikTok: @smalllakepod

Utah’s Drought Reality Check

Utah’s leaders are telling all of us to conserve water, fix leaks, and rethink thirsty lawns, and they’re right to. But the same week Governor Spencer Cox declares a statewide drought emergency, he also publicly admits the Stratos data center rollout “was not that good,” a major reversal on a massive Box Elder County proposal tied to the Great Salt Lake. We sit with that contradiction and unpack what it means for democratic process, water rights, energy demand, and whether Utah is building a future that matches its climate reality. From there, we head straight to Salt Lake City Hall for a fast, unexpected resolution in the Ava Lopez-Chavez saga. A residency finding vacates the District 4 seat immediately under state code, and the council drops the separate sexual misconduct investigation once she’s no longer a member. We talk through the timeline, the documents at the center of the dispute, and what happens next as the city races to appoint an interim replacement during budget season. Then we explain the giant smoke plume you might have seen over Davis County, and why it was good news. The Farmington Bay prescribed burn targets phragmites, an invasive, water-hungry reed that chokes wetlands and threatens habitat, and researchers say restoration could save huge amounts of water each season. We close with quick hits, from school district background check changes to new Utah culture plans, sports notes, and a preview of next week’s conversation with foster care advocate and author Celeste Edmonds. If you care about Salt Lake City news, Utah politics, and the Great Salt Lake, subscribe, share this update, and leave a review so more neighbors can find it. Have a Question? Ask it here! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2253231/fan_mail/new] Check out the DLX 313 at Via313 today! Questions about buying or selling a home in Utah? Email Spencer spencer.ford@vuere.com or use the contact form here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6Fu7-y3J9RMSvatzK-9Px06OMfjvydFjLwP7i1jC_3W8xRg/viewform?usp=header] to get in touch Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time  Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2253231/support] Join the Small Lake City Discord: https://discord.gg/TYNzMhCxeK Subscribe to the Newsletter! https://www.smalllakepod.com/newsletter-landing-page Instagram: @smalllakepod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SmallLakeCityPodcast TikTok: @smalllakepod

S2, E15: Rosie Card

Once someone working for the LDS church and creating temple dresses became a voice for womens rights. Rosie Card, a Utah creator and writer whose path through Mormonism is about as classic as it gets: BYU, a mission, church work, and even running a temple dress company for nearly a decade. What makes her story hit is how clearly she names the tension so many people feel in Salt Lake City and beyond: we want community and tradition, but we also want women’s rights, LGBTQIA dignity, and room for nuance. We get into the experiences that start the shift, including seeing real poverty on a mission and realizing “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” collapses when people don’t have boots. Rosie talks about trying to change the LDS Church from within, what it costs to be publicly outspoken, and the scary reality of being doxxed by people using ward tools. We also dig into Mormon feminism, how history gets erased, and why so many women feel like they’re reinventing the wheel alone in Relief Society. On the other side of faith deconstruction, Rosie describes a bigger kind of freedom: the world opening up when you stop living by a preset life plan. We talk about spirituality after Mormonism, accountability without the old frameworks, and why women’s financial independence matters when marriage and motherhood are treated as the only righteous path. If this conversation made you nod along, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. What was the moment that made you stop twisting yourself into knots? Have a Question? Ask it here! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2253231/fan_mail/new] Check out the DLX 313 at Via313 today! Questions about buying or selling a home in Utah? Email Spencer spencer.ford@vuere.com or use the contact form here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6Fu7-y3J9RMSvatzK-9Px06OMfjvydFjLwP7i1jC_3W8xRg/viewform?usp=header] to get in touch Visit www.luxeautomotive.com or use this link [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdldVYSCUzLhiGWyCpHcOVpzOlqqwiN57PuL01lhYnMKwjKxA/viewform?usp=header] to request a quote Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time  Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2253231/support] Join the Small Lake City Discord: https://discord.gg/TYNzMhCxeK Subscribe to the Newsletter! https://www.smalllakepod.com/newsletter-landing-page Instagram: @smalllakepod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SmallLakeCityPodcast TikTok: @smalllakepod

The Great Salt Lake Data Center Fight

A project pitched as “the future” is running straight through the most sensitive nerve in Utah: the Great Salt Lake. I break down the latest developments in the proposed O’Leary Digital data center campus in Hansel Valley, including the procedural twist that has people fired up. After thousands of formal protests, the developers withdrew a water-rights application, then immediately refiled under House Bill 60, a new Utah law that narrows what can be considered in water-rights protests. If you’ve been trying to follow the story, this is the part that makes the stakes feel more urgent, not less. I also share what I’m hearing and seeing around the public response: the Capitol rally, the petition delivered to Governor Spencer Cox’s office, and the growing call for independent environmental review and genuine public comment. Utah has spent years and huge amounts of money trying to rescue the Great Salt Lake, so the tension between sacrifice and unchecked growth is not going away anytime soon. Even if permitting takes years, the fight over whether this project should exist at all is happening right now. Then we shift to the stuff that hits closer to home day-to-day: Chow Bao Bao is closing both of its Salt Lake City locations, a tough loss for anyone who loved that tiny space and the food coming out of it. We also talk Temple Square’s Visitors Center reopening and why the new, more open visitor experience matters for downtown, no matter where you stand religiously. To wrap up, I run through quick city updates on the Utah Jazz draft conversation, new affordable housing momentum in Ballpark, homeownership funding, and an early reminder that Utah fire season is already here. If the show matters to you, subscribe, share it with someone who cares about Salt Lake City, and leave a review where you listen. Have a Question? Ask it here! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2253231/fan_mail/new] Check out the DLX 313 at Via313 today! Questions about buying or selling a home in Utah? Email Spencer spencer.ford@vuere.com or use the contact form here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6Fu7-y3J9RMSvatzK-9Px06OMfjvydFjLwP7i1jC_3W8xRg/viewform?usp=header] to get in touch Please be sure to like, review, follow, subscribe and share the podcast with your friends and family! See you next time  Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2253231/support] Join the Small Lake City Discord: https://discord.gg/TYNzMhCxeK Subscribe to the Newsletter! https://www.smalllakepod.com/newsletter-landing-page Instagram: @smalllakepod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SmallLakeCityPodcast TikTok: @smalllakepod