Las Vegas police officials and relatives of homicide victim Alfonso Turner are scheduled to meet with members of the news media Monday to discuss the unsolved killing.

Two new restaurants at Harrah’s and Paris Las Vegas will join the Bobby’s Burgers at Caesars Palace, also home to his Italian spot, Amalfi.

Work could commence soon on updating signage at McCarran International Airport to reflect the name change to Harry Reid International Airport.

Colin Powell, former Joint Chiefs chairman and secretary of state, has died from COVID-19 complications, his family said.

Gusty overnight winds should dissipate as Monday progresses, according to the National Weather Service.

The shooting occurred about 2:20 a.m. as two cars were traveling side by side on the eastbound lanes of the freeway near the airport connector, Las Vegas police say.

Hellmuth, the 1989 WSOP Main Event champion, now has six more bracelets than his next closest rivals — Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey.

More than 1,600 firefighters were battling the blaze in the Santa Ynez Mountains west of Santa Barbara on land and by air. They were able to stop its forward growth, and the blaze was 78% contained, federal officials said.

Caesars Sportsbook and BetMGM each reported multimillion-dollar losses, and the South Point, Station Casinos and Westgate SuperBook also suffered their worst losing day of the season.

Here’s today’s local and national sports schedule, including television and radio listings.

Sinclair Broadcast Group said Monday that it's suffered a data breach and is still working to determine what information the data contained. The company said it started investigating the potential security incident on Saturday and on Sunday it identified certain servers and ...

An 18-year-old has been arrested in the drive-by shooting that killed a 13-year-old boy who was playing with his iPad in his bedroom. Alabama police said they ...

Gov. Steve Sisolak suffered minor injuries in a car crash Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, his office said. The crash happened about 1 p.m. at ...

Norwegian police say the Danish man suspected of killing five people and injuring three others in an attack last week also used “stabbing weapons" along with a bow and ...

Officials predicted more rain as the death toll from floods and landslides in the southern Indian state of Kerala rose to ...

Almost overnight, Japan has become a stunning, and somewhat mysterious, coronavirus success story. Daily new COVID-19 cases have plummeted from a mid-August peak of nearly 6,000 in Tokyo, with ...

Facebook said it plans to hire 10,000 workers in the European Union over the next five years to work on a new computing platform that ...

Britain’s Parliament opened a somber session on Monday to honor the Conservative lawmaker stabbed to death as he met constituents, an attack that has raised ...

U.S. industrial production fell 1.3% in September, much more than expected as the lingering effects of Hurricane Ida continue to ...

Gina Raimondo only wears watches made by Bulova — a company that laid off her scientist father, closed its Rhode Island factory and moved production to China in 1983. The watches give Raimondo, the U.S. commerce secretary, a sense of ...

Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange in “Doctor Strange.” His new film “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” will be pushed back another two months. | Jay Maidment, Marvel Marvel has updated its release schedule. You may have to wait longer for a bigger movie Marvel has shifted its release schedule for upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films. Per Deadline, Marvel has moved its 2022 slate of films as anticipation builds for its upcoming film “Eternals.” Here are the new release dates for upcoming MCU films: “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” — May 6, 2022. “Thor: Love and Thunder” — July 8, 2022. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — Nov. 11, 2022. “The Marvels” — Feb. 17, 2023. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” — July 28, 2023. According to Deadline, the changes do not have to do with the global box office numbers or the future of movie theaters. Rather, it’s about the production schedule. “It’s all on account of a domino effect going on with production and filmmakers,” according to Deadline. “Some titles are contending with finishing scenarios while others are in production. This is how Disney is solving it, and when you come to think of it, most of the dates were already reserved by the studio for Marvel fare; they’re just moving titles from one slot to the next. Interestingly, the Marvel schedule had an untitled film scheduled for Oct. 7, 2022, but that doesn’t appear to be the case anymore. Overall, the changes widen the gap between “Spiderman 3: No Way Home,” which comes out on Dec. 17, 2021, and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” Originally, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” was set for release in March. But it has been moved back two months. We know Doctor Strange is set to appear in the new “Spider-Man” flick, so there’s some indication the film will have tied to the new “Doctor Strange” movie. With an extra-long gap now, the anticipation for the new movie will build even more. Marvel’s next movie, though, will be “Eternals,” which drops on Nov. 5. Following that, MCU fans will turn their attention to Disney+ to watch the series “Hawkeye,” which will be released Nov. 24.

ESPN sideline reporter Allison Williams watches from the field during a college football game between Florida and Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, in Gainesville, Fla. Williams said she is leaving ESPN because her COVID-19 vaccine exemption was denied. | Pehlan M. Ebenhack, Associated Press Allison Williams said she is leaving ESPN because of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Here’s why ESPN reporter Allison Williams said she is leaving ESPN because of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate — but it’s not because she doesn’t support the vaccine. Williams, who has been a longtime college football and basketball reporter, said in an Instagram post over the weekend in an Instagram post that she is leaving the company because her request for an exemption was denied. ESPN made COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for staffers at live events in August, according to USA Today. The policy extended to all employees in September. Williams said she had “decided not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at this time while my husband and I try for a second child.” “I am also so morally and ethically not aligned with this and I’ve had to really dig deep and analyze my values and my morals, and ultimately I have to put them first,” Williams said in her Instagram video. She added: “I cannot put a paycheck over principle. I will not sacrifice something that I believe and hold so strongly to maintain a career.” Some people criticized Williams, saying she has a moral obligation to get the vaccine. But she said that is not the case. “I weighed that and I thought about implications,” Williams said. “We all want to be good neighbors. We all want to end this pandemic. But ultimately, an injection that does not stop transmission and spread, for me, did not weigh in morally.” Williams said there have been reports of women suffering health issues because of the vaccine. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the COVID-19 vaccine is perfectly safe for pregnant women, people trying to get pregnant and women who might get pregnant down the road. “These data suggest that the benefits of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any known or potential risks of vaccination during pregnancy,” the CDC said. “There is currently no evidence that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems in women or men,” according to the CDC. In fact, the CDC has issued an urgent warning for pregnant women to get vaccinated against the coroner, as I wrote for the Deseret News. “Pregnancy can be both a special time and also a stressful time — and pregnancy during a pandemic is an added concern for families,” said Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the CDC. “I strongly encourage those who are pregnant or considering pregnancy to talk with their health care provider about the protective benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine to keep their babies and themselves safe.”

Purdue defensive end George Karlaftis (5) celebrates after a sack during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Iowa, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, in Iowa City, Iowa. Purdue won 24-7. | Charlie Neibergall, Associated Press Just when college football can’t get any crazier ... Week 7 has come and gone and Iowa, formerly the No. 2 team in the county, is no longer undefeated, or even ranked in the top 10. National championship-winning coach Ed Orgeron is out at LSU. Oklahoma has found its next Heisman Trophy candidate in freshman quarterback Caleb Williams. Oh, and Utah is now the only undefeated (in conference) team remaining in the Pac-12, Utah State somehow keeps finding ways to win late, and BYU’s slide could impact next season. Here are six takeaways from the latest weekend of college football. Is this the year Utah makes it to the Rose Bowl? Talk about storybook Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News Utah Utes running back T.J. Pledger runs against Arizona State in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Utah won, 35-21. Through the first six weeks of the season, the Utes were just another Pac-12 team. That isn’t meant to discount in any way what Utah has gone through this season or last — the deaths of Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe will not be forgotten anytime soon — but on the football field, Utah hadn’t done anything special. That all changed with the Utes’ win over Arizona State last Saturday. Thanks to their dramatic second-half rally and decisive win over the Sun Devils, the Utes are the only team in the Pac-12 that hasn’t lost in conference play. At 4-2 overall, Utah is banging on the door of the polls (it wouldn’t be shocking to see the College Football Playoff poll rank Utah higher than either the coaches or AP poll in a couple of weeks), and per ESPN, the Utes are the current favorite to win the Pac-12. Cameron Rising has proven to be exactly the type of quarterback Utah needs, Devin Lloyd is one of the best linebackers in the country and all the weaknesses the Utes showed early in the season are starting to get shored up, even if there is still work to be done. Preseason Pac-12 favorite Oregon is hurting, one of the reasons for Utah’s new status as conference title favorites, but with games against Oregon State, UCLA and the Ducks remaining, Utah’s destiny is squarely in its own hands. A return to the Pac-12 title game is in the cards, and once there, a trip to the Rose Bowl is a real possibility for the Utes. It seemed unfathomable just a few weeks ago, but a trip to the Rose Bowl would be the perfect capper for the 2021 season. Disney couldn’t write a better sports story. Shades of Jameis Winston and the Florida State Seminoles Eli Lucero, The Herald Journal via Associated Press Utah State wide receiver Deven Thompkins runs down the field for a 75-yard touchdown as North Dakota’s C.J. Siegel, left, and Hayden Galvin give chase during game Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, in Logan, Utah. The Utah State Aggies sure don’t know how to make things easy. The Aggies traveled to Las Vegas to take on winless UNLV, an almost surefire win given USU hadn’t lost to UNLV since 2008, and what did they do? Made it a hotly contested game. UNLV played a part in that as well — running back Charles Williams was unstoppable for most of the game — but missed field goals and an inability to score in the red zone meant that even though the Aggies were the better team, the game was in doubt until the final seconds. Afterward, Utah State coach Blake Anderson almost perfectly described the Aggies’ season with a single tweet. This group never gives up… not sure my ticker is strong enough to handle much more of it though #1-0 pic.twitter.com/c2o9fKZ1w3— Blake Anderson (@CHbanderson) October 17, 2021 It isn’t a perfect comparison, but the Aggies bring to mind the 2014 Jameis Winston-led Florida State Seminoles. Those Seminoles were the defending national champions, but throughout the 2014 season, they played close game after close game after close game, somehow surviving to win them all. Much of it was self-inflicted, whether it be Winston interceptions or just the offense’s inability to get anything going until the game was on the line, but FSU won seven games by a touchdown or less that season, pretty unbelievable for a team that would go on to make the College Football Playoff. Utah State is not that FSU team, not even close, but three of the Aggies’ four wins this year have been decided by less than a touchdown. Given the games remaining on the schedule, Utah State should roll to both bowl eligibility and perhaps even contention for the Mountain West Conference championship, but if the first half of the season has been any indication, the Aggies will make it stressful. Can BYU rebound? Or will the slide continue? Ron Jenkins, Associated Press BYU quarterback Jaren Hall (3) celebrates as teammate and running back Tyler Allgeier crosses the goal line during game, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, in Waco, Texas. Through the first five weeks of the season, BYU was one of the best stories in country. Facing off against one of the most difficult early season schedules, the Cougars were perfect, downing three Power Five teams, plus a feisty rival in Utah State and USF. Throw in the accepted invitation to the Big 12 Conference, and everything was looking up. Then came the loss to Boise State, which looks worse a week later after the Broncos lost at home to Air Force — Boise’s fourth defeat of the season — and on Saturday, BYU fell at Baylor. It wasn’t shameful to lose to the Bears. At 6-1 and ranked No. 20 in the country, Baylor looks like it will contend for a Big 12 title this season. Still, back-to-back losses have upended the Cougars’ season. With three games remaining against P5 opponents, plus two awful teams in Idaho State and Georgia Southern, BYU has a chance for redemption. Georgia Southern and Idaho State are bad, gimme wins if ever there were such a thing. USC is in turmoil and Washington State might soon be without a head coach. And then Virginia comes to Provo, with former Cougars head coach Bronco Mendenhall in tow, an emotional game if ever there were one. A 5-0 run to end the season is a possibility, but so is a 3-2 or 2-3 finish to the year. Washington State has proven to be a more difficult out than expected and just took down Stanford. USC still has all the talent in the world, and that game will be played in Los Angeles. And Virginia is 5-2, riding a three-game win streak. The final five games of the season do matter, even if BYU is destined for the Independence Bowl. For proof, look no further than Cincinnati. If the Bearcats don’t finish 9-1 last season or play a competitive game against Georgia in the Peach Bowl, there is no way they’d be ranked No. 2 in the country today, nor have a perceived shot at making the College Football Playoff. A 10-2 season would buoy BYU’s 2022 campaign significantly more than a 6-6, 7-5 or 8-4 season would. The Cougars are reeling right now, that is certain, which only makes their upcoming games all the more interesting. Parity is alive and well in the Pac-12 , but it is making an appearance everywhere George Frey, Associated Press Washington State running back Deon McIntosh (3) runs the ball during game against Utah Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Every year there is talk about how one Pac-12 team will stand above the rest. Sometimes it is USC. Other years it has been Washington. For the last three seasons, Oregon has been the pick. And yet, every year the Pac-12 proves that that isn’t how football works in the conference. Parity rules in the West, and this season is no different. Utah leads the conference currently at 3-0 as the only team that is still unbeaten in league play. Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona State and UCLA all have one loss (the Beavers, Ducks and Bruins all still play the Utes). Every other team in the Pac-12 has lost at least twice to conference foes. Stanford and Washington State have proven to be excellent spoilers. USC always has a chance to ruin someone’s season. As it stands, it would be foolish to count out Washington or Colorado making someone’s life miserable. Parity is the thing that usually sets the Pac-12 apart from the rest of the Power Five conferences, but this year almost every P5 conference is doing their best imitation. The SEC has only one unbeaten team, No. 1 Georgia. Then there are four teams with one loss in conference (Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky and Ole Miss). The ACC has three undefeated teams (Wake Forest, NC State and Pitt) but future matchups mean those records won’t stand for long. The Big 12 has only two unbeaten teams left (Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) and the Big Ten has three (Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State), all of whom play in the same division. Parity usually has been the Achilles’ heel for the Pac-12, but maybe, just maybe that won’t be the case this year. Six or more teams still have a legitimate shot at the Mountain West title Tony Avelar, Associated Press San Diego State wide receiver Tyrell Shavers (14) cannot make the catch as San Jose State cornerback Nehemiah Shelton defends during game Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, in San Jose, Calif. A week ago, the Mountain West Conference race looked fascinating and was shaping up to be one of the best in years. A week later, and things are even less clear than they were before. Four teams currently have won five or more games this season — San Diego State, Air Force, Nevada and Fresno State. Of those, only the Aztecs remain unbeaten after they survived against San Jose State. And yet, Colorado State is undefeated in conference play and Utah State is 2-1, putting both schools in the conversation with SDSU, Air Force, Nevada and Fresno State for conference supremacy. Boise State, always a preseason favorite, is now 3-4 on the year and 1-2 in the conference. The Broncos will probably be playing the role of spoiler going forward. Wyoming started the season 4-0 but has lost back-to-back games in conference play, all but knocking the Cowboys out of the race. At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising to see division winners with two losses in the conference, which means 11 teams are still technically alive and kicking, with only three-loss New Mexico out of the running. Clarity will grow as the season progresses, but right now the MWC is completely up for grabs. Chaos update Michael Clubb, Associated Press LSU coach Ed Orgeron looks up at the video board during the first half of the tealm’s game against Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. This is less a takeaway and more a summation of everything crazy that happened over the weekend. It has been that kind of year. No. 2 Iowa lost at home against unranked Purdue. The Hawkeyes were brutalized in the AP poll, falling out of the top 10. LSU fired Ed Orgeron two seasons after he coached one of the best college football teams of all time to a national championship, and his team defeated rival Florida, too. Oklahoma finally looked like a top-10 team, thrashing TCU behind the efforts of new starting quarterback Caleb Williams. Oklahoma State has the appearance of a “team of destiny.” The Cowboys are 6-0 and somehow rallied to defeat Texas despite their offense doing nothing outside of the efforts of former East High star Jaylen Warren. The Ole Miss-Tennessee game was delayed after Vols fans threw anything and everything on the field in protest of perceived poor officiating. Rebels’ head coach Lane Kiffin was nearly pelted with a golf ball. And finally, a touchdown reception in the NC State-Boston College game that perfectly sums up the season thus far (watch the defensive back).

Nichole Schmidt, mother of Gabby Petito, whose death on a cross-country trip has sparked a manhunt for her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, pauses as she answer reporter’s questions during a news conference, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021, in Bohemia, N.Y. Petito’s parents recently said that they thought Brian Laundrie would keep Gabby Petito safe for the rest of her life. | John Minchillo, Associated Press Gabby Petito’s parents thought Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito would have a powerful relationship Gabby Petito’s parents recently said that they thought Brian Laundrie would keep Gabby Petito safe for the rest of her life. Petito’s parents recently spoke on Australia’s “60 Minutes.” In an interview published Sunday, the family suggested they thought Brian Laundrie would keep Gabby Petito safe. “He just seemed like a nice guy,” Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, said in the interview. “I worried. I told her to be careful, be safe. To be aware of your surroundings. Don’t trust anybody.” “But I felt safe because she was with Brian and I felt like she would be OK,” she said. “I thought he would take care of her.” Petito’s father, Joe Petito, said in the same interview that her happiness online might have been masking the truth. “She did look happy,” he said on Australia’s “60 Minutes” show. “But as we look more and more into this, it might not have been as great as people online perceived.” Laundrie and Petito went on a cross-country road trip that included stops in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, among other locations. The two showed off their trip on their YouTube page and social media platforms. But only Laundrie returned home to North Point, Florida, on Sept. 1 — driving Petito’s van. Ten days later, Petito was reported missing. Her body was later found in Wyoming. A Wyoming coroner ruled she had died by homicide, specifically through strangulation. Laundrie, however, went missing on Monday, Sept. 13, his family said. He has not been seen since and his whereabouts remain unknown. Police have focused their search on the 25,000-acre Carlton Reserve, where Laundrie would frequently hike. Petito’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, told Fox News senior correspondent Laura Ingle in October that she might have an idea of where Brian Laundrie might be hiding right now. “I’m not certain,” she told Laura Ingle. “But I would think that he’s in an area like the Appalachian Trail or a campground where he can live off the land because he had those skills.”

In this photo provided by CBS News, former Secretary of State General Colin Powell appears on the CBS talk show “Face the Nation,” Sunday, May 24, 2009, in Washington. | Associated Press Powell was a major military leader in the 20th century. Colin Powell has died at age 84 due to COVID complications. Powell, the first Black US secretary of state, helped shape American policy for decades, specifically in the last years of the 20th century and early 21st century, CNN reports. Powell reportedly died of complications related to COVID-19, according to his family, who posted about his death on Facebook. “He was fully vaccinated. We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment. We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” his family wrote in the post. Per CNN, Powell had multiple myeloma, which is cancer that forms in plasma cells — or a type of white blood cell. Powell has one of the biggest names in political history, serving as the first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush. Before that, he served as the first Black national security adviser under Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Later, he became the first Black secretary of state under George W. Bush, leading the country’s military during the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War. Per CNN, Powell “was considered a leading contender to become the first Black President of the United States.”

Vanessa Bryant speaks during a celebration of life for her husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 2020. Vanessa Bryant is suing LA County over leaked photos of the crash site where her husband and daughter died. | Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press L.A. County wants to make sure Vanessa Bryant isn’t lying about emotional distress Los Angeles County asked a judge to force Vanessa Bryant and others to take a psychiatric evaluation before they head to trial in an ongoing lawsuit against the county, according to NPR. Vanessa Bryant and others are suing the county over leaked images from the helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna Bryant, were among the nine people who died in a helicopter crash in January 2020. Multiple reports surfaced later that officers had leaked graphic photos from the crash online. The photos had been reportedly taken by police officials at the crime scene. In September 2020, families of the victims of the crash, including Vanessa Bryant, sued Los Angeles County, saying the leak was a violation of civil rights and caused emotional distress, as I wrote for the Deseret News. But attorneys for L.A. County said Friday Vanessa Bryant and others in the case should go under a psychiatric exam to make sure that the families are suffering from “severe emotional distress,” according to NPR, which reviewed the court documents. The evaluation is necessary “to evaluate the existence, extent and nature of Plaintiffs’ alleged emotional injuries,” the attorneys said, per NPR. “A central tenet of the County’s defense is that Plaintiffs’ severe emotional and mental injuries were not caused by any conduct of Defendants, but rather by the tragic helicopter crash and resulting deaths of their loved ones,” the attorney’s said. “Plaintiffs cannot be suffering distress from accident site photos that they have never seen and that were never publicly disseminated.” Bryant’s team said that the county had used “scorched earth discovery tactics” that was meant to “bully” the families, according to The Washington Post. A judge has been scheduled to rule on the motion Nov. 5.

Washington State head coach Nick Rolovich watches his offense a college football game against Utah Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in Salt Lake City. Will Rolovich be coaching when Washington State hosts BYU on Saturday? | George Frey, Associated Press Washington State could be without head football coach Nick Rolovich on Saturday when it faces BYU at home because of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Here’s what we know. Washington COVID-19 vaccine mandate In the summer, Washington governor Jay Inslee issued an order mandating that state government, health care and school workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 18. The consequence for workers not being able to show proof of vaccination? Job loss, barring receiving a religious or medical vaccine exemption. Employers are allowed to fire workers who have received an exemption if not being vaccinated puts others at risk. Nick Rolovich and the vaccine mandate Washington State Cougars head football coach Nick Rolovich has so far refused to be vaccinated. Rolovich, who is Catholic, said he has filed for a religious exemption, but said last Saturday after Washington State beat Stanford that he had not received word whether his exemption had been granted. “I think I’m waiting on an email, that’s as far as I know,” Rolovich said, according to Theo Lawson of the Spokesman-Review, regarding his future employment status. Asked if he’d be willing to get vaccinated to keep his job, Rolovich said, “If that happens, you’ll be the first to know.” Perhaps sensing what could happen this week, Washington State players doused Rolovich in Gatorade after the win over Stanford. Will Nick Rolovich coach against BYU? Given that Monday is the deadline to be vaccinated per Inslee’s order, it is expected that Rolovich will know his fate soon. Last Saturday, he said, “I’m going to come to work tomorrow, going to get ready for BYU and we’ll grade this film. I don’t think this is in my hands, so I’ve been settled for a long time on it and I just believe it’s going to work out the right way.” It is believed that a number of coaches on Rolovich’s staff have not been vaccinated, as multiple outlets reported that many of them wore masks on the sideline last Saturday. That is required for unvaccinated coaches, but not required for vaccinated coaches. As such, it’s possible Washington State could be without multiple coaches on Saturday.

A vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is pictured in the first round of staff vaccinations at a hospital in Denver. Who needs, and who doesn’t need a COVID-19 booster shot? | David Zalubowski, Associated Press You might not need a COVID-19 booster shot. So who needs one? There’s been a lot of talk about COVID-19 vaccine boosters shots recently. But all that talk might not be necessary as not everyone needs a booster, an expert recently told CNN. Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, told CNN that the original COVID-19 vaccine doses are doing their job and booster shots might not be completely necessary. “We have to define what’s the goal of this vaccine. If the goal of this vaccine is protection against serious illness, meaning the kind of illness that causes you to seek medical attention or go to the hospital or the ICU, the current vaccines, as two-dose vaccines, are doing exactly that,” he told CNN. “So, you don’t really need a booster dose at least as far as those data are concerned.” Questions about the boosters continue to circle throughout the American population. Right now, the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster shot is available for many Americans. Moderna was recommended on Thursday but it’s unclear if it will get approved. Johnson & Johnson’s booster status is being put up for an FDA committee vote on Friday. Experts told The New York Times in August that not all Americans will need booster shots since the current vaccine shots are stopping hospitalization and death. Still, there are people who might need it, even if they don’t know it yet. In this case, reading up on the boosters will help you make your own decision. “I’m sure there’s some confusion,” Rich Lakin, Utah Department of Health immunization director, told the Deseret News. “People need to take the responsibility to kind of educate themselves, also. There’s just too many people to make sure everybody understands.”

County of Santa Barbara Fire Department firefighters extinguish a roadside fire next to train tracks off of the U.S. 101 highway in Goleta, Calif. Experts say the La Niña weather pattern has arrived. | Ringo H.W. Chiu, Associated Press La Niña will stick around and bring dry conditions to the Southwest, according to scientists La Niña has arrived, and it’s set to bring more winter conditions to the western United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday La Niña conditions emerged over the last month. La Niña often brings wetter and colder conditions to the Pacific Northwest and the northern Plains. The South, meanwhile, has warmer-than-average conditions. The Southwest will stay dry. Meanwhile, the Southeast is often drier during La Niña, and it increases the risk of tropical storms and hurricanes. So what does this mean for Utah and the West? Per CNN, the core of the West — much of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming and Idaho — will remain untouched by the weather patterns. Whereas the Northwest will be wetter, the Southwest will be drier. The Mountain West, meanwhile, appears to be unfazed by the weather patterns, according to a CNN map. That said, 2022 Old Farmer’s Almanac expected to see frigid temperatures across the country “with all but the Pacific Coast itself and portions of the Southwest experiencing the frigid cold predicted for much of the rest of the country,” according to the almanac. But Mark Struthwolf, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City, told the Deseret News that might not be the case for Utah. “I would love that to be true,” he said.

Illustration by Alex Cochran Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson and Meghan McCain are casually using words that you might not want your children to hear. Former Fox News personality Megyn Kelly says she enjoys having time to delve deeply into issues on her new talk show on SiriusXM. She also enjoys something that might make some of her audience uncomfortable. “I (expletive) love the swearing,” Kelly said recently in a discussion with another SiriusXM host, Michael Smerconish. Although Kelly’s show airs from 10 a.m. to noon Mountain time — a time when parents might have preschoolers in the car with them — she’s breaking no rules when she cusses because Federal Communications Commission restrictions regarding obscene content don’t apply to subscription services. As such, SiriusXM hosts and streaming services such as Fox Nation answer only to their listeners and advertisers, and so far, no one seems to be complaining. Kelly is not alone in testing the boundaries of conservatives, who are often derided by the liberals as “pearl-clutchers” for objecting to obscene broadcasts, such as halftime performances at the Super Bowl. Meghan McCain, the former host of “The View,” often uses profanity on Twitter, and Fox News star Tucker Carlson, in 2019, defended his use of profanity during an unaired exchange with a guest. The profanities used by these and other conservatives sharply contrast with the pro-family messages they are often delivering, and puts them more in line, in this regard, with the liberals they frequently deride. Studies in years past have shown that Democrats were more likely to use profanity and to defend it. So why are conservative media stars suddenly talking like sailors and Democrats? Charles Sykes, Invision/Associated Press Megyn Kelly is pictured on the set of her show, “Megyn Kelly Today” at NBC Studios in New York on Sept. 21, 2017. ‘Perception of authenticity’ The most commonly offered explanation for the rising use of profanity in the public square can be reduced to four words: former President Donald Trump. Trump’s use of four-letter words was derided in 2019 in “The Week” by Windsor Mann, who noted that C-SPAN posted a disclaimer saying that some people might find the language offensive in a Trump speech. “Donald Trump is the first president to make C-SPAN unsuitable viewing for children,” Mann wrote. He went on to suggest that other political figures, such as Democrat Sen. Cory Booker were using expletives in imitation of Trump, whose vocabulary contains a variety of swear words. But presidents other than Trump have cussed publicly, including Barack Obama, who once called Utah Sen. Mitt Romney an expletive in Rolling Stone magazine. (Of Romney, however, the magazine said, “His anachronistic language — all ‘gosh darns’ and ‘good griefs’ — is straight out of ‘Leave It to Beaver.’” Michelle Obama has also used profanity in public, too, immediately apologizing for the slip, saying, “I forgot where I was for a moment.” Her gaffe, which occurred on a book tour after the Obamas left the White House, showed many people who cuss still draw a line between doing it privately and in public. But that is changing for some conservatives, in part because they have become the new champions of free speech. Legal scholar Wayne Batchis at the University of Delaware has said conservatives and liberals have “flipped the script” in the past 50 years as Democrats have become more willing to silence speech and Republicans voice outrage at censorship by social media platforms. Comedian Joe Rogan, beloved of many young conservatives, is among the defenders of the right to use profanity in any setting. In 2010, he said that FCC regulation of obscenity is “nonsense.” “It’s terrible to have words you can’t use around certain people, that you can’t use when you broadcast or you will be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s a gigantic distraction; it’s total mind control. It’s a technique that they’re using to try to control the population,” Rogan said. A generational shift Rogan’s show, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” is often the No. 1 podcast in the U.S., even though some people may hesitate to share it because of the profanity. On Reddit, one person asked others to recommend similar podcasts “so I can share with family and friends who find the swearing offensive.” The offended, however, may be a minority. “There’s been a broad, generational shift towards openness to using vulgarity and profanity, and tolerance towards others who do so,” said Paul Matzko, a historian and the author of “The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement.” This is partly because of research that has shown that swearing, in moderation, makes the person using it seem more principled to others. “(Swearing) increases the perceived probity of the speaker because it signals that the swearer is telling the unvarnished truth, not just being polite. And if there’s an attribute that younger generations value, it’s authenticity,” Matzko said. “Swearing creates a perception of authenticity, that someone isn’t holding back what they really think.” And a 2018 book by Emma Byrne, “Swearing is Good For You,” argued that using profanity can reduce anxiety and the sensation of pain, among other benefits. But there’s a caveat, Matzko added. “The word needs to be bad enough to signal that you aren’t a conformist, mindless worker drone, but it can’t be so bad that it signals you’re a hateful, offensive person,” he said. In fact, there are still plenty of words that signal the user is a hateful, offensive person, but the words in this category are changing and are more likely to be racial or sexuality slurs than obscenities of old that involved excrement or blasphemy. This represents, he said, “the changing nature of the sacred in American society.” Keith J. Bybee, a professor of law and political science at Syracuse University and the author of “How Civility Works,” agreed, saying “In an abstract sense, profanities still exist. What’s changed is what words are on the list.” He said he recently watched a film from the 1970s that contained no profanity. “But there were lots of words in there that if you said them today, they would get you fired.” Another theory about why cursing is becoming more acceptable in mainstream society was posited in a 2017 paper by psychologist Jean Twenge and other scholars who found that books published between 2005 and 2008 were 28 times more likely to contain profanities than those published in the 1950s. The researchers believe that Americans are more accepting of crude language because of the increasing value they place on an individual’s self expression. Where’s the manners police? Scholars Melissa Mohr and John McWhorter have written books on the history of profane language, the definition of which is always in flux. Some words considered vulgar today were seen as inoffensive in medieval times, whereas at that time, swear words involving God were seen as blasphemous. With no “manners police” issuing edicts about what can be said in what is often called polite society, there’s little consistency in standards, and the marketplace decides what’s appropriate and not. “There’s going to be this low-level static all the time about what constitutes civil and polite behavior,” Bybee said. “We learn it and apply it on a de-centralized basis. But there are big changes that take place in civility and manners over time.” That said, there are still conservative media personalities who spurn profanity, including Jennifer Kerns, a Newsmax contributor and host of ”All-American Radio with Jennifer Kerns,” who says that when she started doing radio, mothers told her they needed information that was “highly transportable.” “My goal is to have a show that moms can listen to as they drive their kids to school, therefore it’s got to be clean,” Kerns said in an email. “We are conservative talk radio hosts, so we have conservatives, families and religious audiences tuning in. I feel a higher calling in my career to live up to Christian standards,” said Kerns, whose show will be on iHeart Radio’s podcast network starting Nov. 1. “It’s easy not to curse on-air — it just takes some creativity and an impeccable vocabulary.” Bybee said it’s too early to say a sea change in societal norms is occurring. But every generation bemoans what it sees as a decline in civility, Bybee said. “Our problem is not the absence of civility; it’s the profusion of civilities: the different ideas people have about appropriate behavior.”

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