Utah is one of 18 states in the nation with an established all-payer claim database (ABCD). Essentially, every bill sent to a health care insurer is logged into one massive database, which then researchers can work with to answer all sorts of healthcare questions: which procedures are being done most often, with medications are given and when, how much each procedure costs, which hospitals and doctors are most and least expensive, and so on.

Read more:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/06/10/andy-larsen-understanding-health

After extensive forensic comparisons, however, Curtis Weber, an independent Latter-day Saint researcher in Utah, now believes that the daguerreotype found in a locket by a Smith descendant, Daniel Larsen, is indeed a photo of the man who proclaimed that he saw God and Jesus in a New York woods as a boy and launched a global religious movement.

“I always believed it was him,” says the owner of the hotly debated daguerreotype. Adds an LDS historian: “The mere possibility of its veracity reminds us that Smith was a historical figure of flesh and bones.”

To read more, check out https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2023/06/08/new-forensic-research-provides/

After a yearlong wait, Utah’s Hogle Zoo successfully captured the birth of a new 98-pound male zebra on camera.

Ziva, a 10-year-old Hartmann’s mountain zebra, delivered the baby zebra — also called a foal — at approximately 7:11 p.m. on June 2. Within the first hour of his birth, the foal nursed, stood on his own and began walking.

“He was super active right off the bat, super energetic and doing lots of what we like to call zoomies,” said Rachel Mozingo, a senior keeper of the zoo’s African Savanna exhibit.

“Zoomies” are playful gallops that are natural behavior for young zebras in the wild who need to quickly be on the move from predators after birth, she said.

Visitors can now catch a glimpse of the yet-to-be-named baby zebra in the African Savanna exhibit.

Read more:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/06/06/baby-zebra-born-utahs-hogle-zoo-is

This past Monday, 38 inmates at Utah State Prison celebrated getting their high school diplomas through the South Park Academy which is now run by the Salt Lake City School District.

Read more:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2023/06/06/these-utah-state-prison-inmates

Downtown Salt Lake City may be forever changed by the coronavirus pandemic, with its future now less about workdays and more about nightlife.

Three-plus years after the U.S. onset of COVID-19, about a third fewer workers are commuting each weekday to a workplace in the central business district, compared to late 2019. As the pattern persists, effects of remote work and all those empty cubicles are now combining with higher interest rates, pockets of layoffs and rising economic uncertainty to produce a major slowdown in the city’s office sector.

At the same time, evidence suggests downtown as a whole is unbowed in its dramatic recovery since fall 2021 in visitation numbers even as some office workers stay home, with overall trips to the urban core now 139% ahead of pre-virus levels.

Read more:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/06/05/downtown-slc-office-vacancies-are/

The spray-painted sunglasses that would eventually become Pit Vipers were once traded for beers and rides to the slopes. Now an established brand popular among skiers and speed demons, the Salt Lake City company "is serious about taking things less seriously."

Read more:

https://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2023/06/05/salt-lake-city-sunglasses-brand/

The needs of senior gays and lesbians are particularly acute as they get older. While many straight seniors have children and other relatives to help care for them, that’s not true for many of the older members of the queer community.

Today's Daily Buzz is a look at some of the resources that do help people in this group.

Silver Pride Senior Drop-In: https://utahpridecenter.org/calendar/silver-pride-senior-drop-in-50-in-person-1686600000

Sew Much Pride: https://utahpridecenter.org/calendar/sew-much-pride-1684353600

Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/05/31/utah-pride-center-does-what-it-can/

Utah NHL fans could have their dream turn into a reality. There’s about a one in six chance that Salt Lake City is the next location for the Arizona Coyotes.

Read more:

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2023/05/30/will-arizona-coyotes-move-utah-why/

Multiple sources have confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune that U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart plans to resign, citing ongoing health issues with his wife.

First elected by Utahns in 2012, Stewart is serving his sixth term in Congress.

But what happens when a congressman resigns? There will be a special election.

Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2023/05/30/what-happens-us-rep-chris-stewarts/

Some are surprised by the designation, but data indicates Salt Lake City is pretty gay, even if LGBTQ people say there’s room for improvement in Utah's capital.