A family in Farmington, Utah, has gone viral for redesigning their living room to bring the Disneyland experience to life. | Screenshot, Reddit
The Barenz family in Farmington, Utah, got a little creative with its living room
A video of a family in Farmington, Utah, has gone viral after they redesigned their living room to bring the Disneyland experience to life.
What’s going on:
Lara Barenz shared a video of her husband holding their 5-year-old son on his lap in front of a television, which is showing a POV video of Disney’s Splash Mountain Ride.
Just as the ride hits the water at the end, someone sprays the child with a bottle of water.
Lara Barenz told POPSUGAR that the children had ridden other rides, like Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Frozen Ever After.
Barenz told POPSUGAR: “My husband had seen something like this on Reddit with just a regular roller coaster and so he decided to re-create it with Disney rides as a way to cheer us all up. We all are huge Disney fans and were supposed to go to Disneyland at the beginning of the month before it shut down. We decided to cancel because of the way things were headed. This went on for quite some time with several different rides over a couple days ... a great way to entertain (the kids) for a while when there isn’t much else to do. Although, maybe a bit tiring for my husband.”
On March 19, the church announced that only the First Presidency, speakers and those giving prayers would attend each session in a small auditorium on Temple Square and that music for the conference would be prerecorded.
Latter-day Saints have looked forward to this conference since last October, when President Russell M. Nelson announced that 2020 would be designated as a bicentennial year to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Restoration and that April’s conference would “be different from any previous conference.”
When is general conference?
The four general sessions are scheduled for Saturday, April 4, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sunday, April 5, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. All times are Mountain Daylight Time.
All Latter-day Saints ages 11 and older are invited to participate in the Saturday evening session at 6 p.m., where the First Presidency said it looks “forward to commemorating with members of the church the 200th anniversary of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
How to watch general conference
For the first time, the entire general conference will be broadcast to an exclusively remote audience.
To follow general conference online:
Deseret.com and TheChurchNews.com will have complete coverage of all the sessions, including the English livestream provided by the church.
All sessions will be streamed live in 41 languages on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, with closed captions in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Each session will be published in 96 languages following the conference on the church’s website and Gospel Library app.
The church’s YouTube channel will stream the conference live in 12 languages.
Other online options for streaming or listening include:
People participating in the conference via social media can follow the #GeneralConference hashtag or look for messages from church leaders on Facebook and Twitter.
On March 19, the church announced that only the First Presidency, speakers and those giving prayers would attend each session in a small auditorium on Temple Square and that music for the conference would be prerecorded.
Latter-day Saints have looked forward to this conference since last October, when President Russell M. Nelson announced that 2020 would be designated as a bicentennial year to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Restoration and that April’s conference would “be different from any previous conference.”
When is general conference?
The four general sessions are scheduled for Saturday, April 4, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sunday, April 5, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. All times are Mountain Daylight Time.
All Latter-day Saints ages 11 and older are invited to participate in the Saturday evening session at 6 p.m., where the First Presidency said it looks “forward to commemorating with members of the church the 200th anniversary of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
How to watch general conference
For the first time, the entire general conference will be broadcast to an exclusively remote audience.
To follow general conference online:
Deseret.com and TheChurchNews.com will have complete coverage of all the sessions, including the English livestream provided by the church.
All sessions will be streamed live in 41 languages on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, with closed captions in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Each session will be published in 96 languages following the conference on the church’s website and Gospel Library app.
The church’s YouTube channel will stream the conference live in 12 languages.
Other online options for streaming or listening include:
People participating in the conference via social media can follow the #GeneralConference hashtag or look for messages from church leaders on Facebook and Twitter.
Latter-day Saints from around the world will participate remotely as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds its 190th Annual General Conference on April 4–5, 2020.
The global coronavirus pandemic has prompted the church to make significant changes to the event. The five sessions will move from the 21,000-seat Conference Center to a small auditorium on Temple Square, where only the First Presidency, speakers and those invited to give prayers will be in attendance.
“The year 2020 will be designated as a bicentennial year,” he said. “General conference next April will be different from any previous conference. In the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel.”
Follow the conference as it unfolds in our story stream below.
Latter-day Saints from around the world will participate remotely as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds its 190th Annual General Conference on April 4–5, 2020.
The global coronavirus pandemic has prompted the church to make significant changes to the event. The five sessions will move from the 21,000-seat Conference Center to a small auditorium on Temple Square, where only the First Presidency, speakers and those invited to give prayers will be in attendance.
“The year 2020 will be designated as a bicentennial year,” he said. “General conference next April will be different from any previous conference. In the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel.”
Follow the conference as it unfolds in our story stream below.
Kimber Young, top center, teaches training missionaries Mandarin Chinese via video conferencing at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. In an attempt to control the spread of COVID-19, missionaries are being trained by remote video conference rather than travel to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ 10 missionary training centers. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-31/mtc-online-virtual-training-missionaries-instructors-178878
Kimber Young, top center, teaches training missionaries Mandarin Chinese via video conferencing at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. In an attempt to control the spread of COVID-19, missionaries are being trained by remote video conference rather than travel to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ 10 missionary training centers. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-31/mtc-online-virtual-training-missionaries-instructors-178878
SALT LAKE CITY — A man accused of shooting another man at a TRAX station parking lot was charged Tuesday.
Mostafa Hosseini, 25, whose address is listed as unknown in court documents, was charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated assault and illegal discharge of a firearm, both second-degree felonies.
On Saturday, Hosseini shot a man in the chest in a parking lot near a TRAX platform at 47 W. Fireclay Ave., according to charging documents. The victim was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
Police say Hosseini was with a group that dropped off the victim at the hospital, and then later “returned to the hospital to check on the victim,” according to a police affidavit. Police took Hosseini into custody at that time, and he told them he fired a shot after arguing with the victim, the affidavit states.
Nicholas Thorston Westland | Summit County Sheriff’s Office
PARK CITY — The driver of a ski rental van in Park City that hit and killed a pedestrian in February has been charged.
Nicholas Thorston Westland, 24, of Salt Lake City, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with leaving the scene of an accident involving death, a third-degree felony.
On Feb. 6, Thomas Chauvel, 43, of Corona Del Mar, California, was hit by a van while crossing the road at 1482 Empire Ave. in Park City.
“Chauvel was unconscious. Chauvel was transported to the hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries,” according to charging documents.
A witness was able to take a picture of the van’s license plate and determined it was registered to Black Tie Ski Rental. Police contacted the company which then contacted their driver, Westland, and told him to return to the scene of the crash, the charges state.
“Westland made several other statements wherein he acknowledged knowing that he struck a pedestrian and then drove away from the scene,” according to charging documents.
When asked why he didn’t stop if he knew he had bumped a pedestrian, Westland replied, “anyone’s first reaction would have been scared (expletive),” according to a police affidavit.
When told that the man was “barely hanging on to life,” Westland replied, “I cannot stress it enough how immature I acted,” the affidavit states.
At the police station, Westland continued to make comments like, “Man I just feel so (expletive) horrible” and “I have never felt like this. It is not even scary. It’s just the fact that what happened. The fact that man was just walking in the road. I just didn’t ... see him dude,” according to the affidavit. That was followed by “something softly that sounded like ‘I never wanted to hurt anyone,’” the officer noted.
WEST VALLEY CITY — Two men have been charged with raping an incoherent woman who had passed out from excessive drinking, according to charging documents.
Miguel Angel Covarrubias, 26, of Riverton, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with rape, object rape and forcible sodomy, all first-degree felonies.
His charges come on the heels of Ruben Alejandro Olivas-Hernandez, 27, of West Valley City, being charged with rape and forcible sodomy, both first-degree felonies, on March 16.
On Feb. 16, about 4:30 a.m., a 23-year-old woman was driven to a friend’s apartment by Covarrubias and two other men, according to charging documents. The woman was already drunk when she arrived, the charges state.
While at the apartment, Covarrubias, Olivas-Hernandez and a third man continued to pour drinks for the woman “and kept encouraging her to drink more and more, to the point of (the woman) passing out,” according to the charges.
While she was “in and out of consciousness” on a couch, Covarrubias sexually assaulted her while Olivas-Hernandez appeared to record it on his cellphone, the charges state.
The three men then “talked a semiconscious (woman) into leaving with them to go ‘party’ at another location,” the charges state.
The men then went to Olivas-Hernandez’s apartment. Police were later able to obtain surveillance video from the apartment complex.
“All three suspects can clearly be seen ... removing (the woman) out of the back of the vehicle and carrying her through the parking lot. She is clearly limp and not conscious. At one point in the video, they set her down on the ground and she falls limp on the ground, never attempting to catch herself before hitting the cold, wet ground,” according to charging documents.
She is then carried into Olivas-Hernandez’s apartment.
When Covarrubias was initially interviewed by police, he claimed his sex with the woman was “consensual before she passed out,” the charges state. He then claimed the other two men engaged in sexual activity with her at the second apartment, when the woman “was so intoxicated that he believed this was not consensual sex.”
A $250,000 warrant was issued Tuesday Covarrubias’ arrest.
DNA test results from the State Crime Lab linked Olivas-Hernandez to the crime, according to charging documents. He is due back in court on May 4. An immigration hold was also placed on Olivas-Hernandez.
As of Tuesday, no charges had been filed against the third man.
OGDEN — An Ogden man was charged Tuesday in connection with a shooting over what police say was a drug deal.
Orlando Carranza-Cendejas, 23, is charged in 2nd District Court with attempted murder, a first-degree felony; obstructing justice and drug distribution, second-degree felonies; possession of a weapon by a restricted person and tampering with a witness, third-degree felonies; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor.
On Sunday, Carranza-Cendejas went to the victim’s residence in the area of 200 N. Harrisville Road, where the man’s girlfriend answered the door.
As the man walked toward the door, “Carranza-Cendejas pulled a firearm and shot (the) victim ... in the chest,” according to charging documents. The man remained in the hospital on Tuesday in critical condition but was expected to survive, police said.
The girlfriend told detectives “this was a disagreement over narcotics between Carranza- Cendejas and (the boyfriend),” the charges state.
When he was taken into custody, a juvenile relative was with Carranza-Cendejas, according to charging documents. He yelled to the boy “not to talk to the police and said, ‘They don’t have (expletive) on you,” the charges state.
Carranza-Cendejas later claimed to detectives that he was not trying to shoot the victim and that the victim had previously threatened him, according to charging documents.
The juvenile relative was also taken into custody for being a “witness to murder” and was placed into juvenile detention for investigation of obstruction of justice. It was not known Tuesday whether formal charges had been filed against him.
During a search of Carranza-Cendejas’ vehicle, “multiple baggies of an off-white crystal-like substance were located,” the charges state, and Carranza-Cendejas said he had recently used methamphetamine and marijuana.
FILE: BYU’s Rylee Jensen (now Rylee Jensen-McFarland) greets teammates during player introductions as BYU and Utah play in a softball game at BYU in Provo on Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
BYU softball was on its way to a productive season when the news hit the team like a brick, upsetting all the progress made on the field.
PROVO — Selfless, resilient and driven are the core values BYU softball coach Gordon Eakin works to promote within his team. Values which took on a different and intensified meaning during a long bus ride to the Atlanta airport back on March 12.
Like most, March 12 feels much more distant than the actual date to BYU senior softball star Rylee Jensen-McFarland, considering all that’s taken place since the coronavirus pandemic outbreak.
The BYU softball team was set to participate in its final preseason tournament of the season, held at the University of Alabama, before returning home for a first chance to actually play a home game.
“We were feeling real good about how everything was coming together for us, as a team, and then it just hit us so fast,” Jensen-McFarland said. “We knew things were happening real fast, but then to have it completely called off — it was really tough.”
BYU typically takes a while to begin home play during the softball season, due to Provo’s typically frigid conditions, and had accumulated a 14-9 record while playing its usual stacked preseason schedule.
Eakin describes a young team with just two seniors on the roster, which had a lot of things going in the right direction.
“I learned through the early part of our schedule that we were going to be very good,” Eakin said. “It’s a team that has, and still will have an extremely high upside. We were able to compete with the best teams in the country well, and even beat several of them. I truly believe we were on our way to becoming a special team.”
Heading into the tournament, anxiety was high, with Eakin and his players knowing full well of all the sudden cancellations going on nationally.
“We got word the day before we were set to play our first game against Alabama that there would be no games played that weekend,” Eakin said. “Furthermore, we were encouraged to get out of there and back home, as soon as possible.”
The University of Alabama is about a three-hour drive to the Atlanta airport, with tearful players boarding the bus after Eakin held a brief team meeting to address the extraordinary circumstances.
“It was dead silent the entire bus ride there,” Jensen-McFarland said. “No one knew what was going on, and it was really tough for me, as a senior, along with Emilee (Erickson), who is the only other senior, because we had put so much into what was going to be our final season.”
Courtesy BYU
FILE: BYU catcher Emilee Erickson catches the ball against Southern Utah during the 2018 season.
As for the team meeting, Jensen-McFarland noted her coach wasn’t able to look at her or Erickson because, “He would just start crying, if he did. I’ve come to know coach well, and definitely know how much he cares for us. We were all already in tears, and he wanted to stay strong, and that’s just the kind of guy he is.”
Softball is effectively over for 2020, with team activities coming to a close, although Eakin has remained diligent in keeping up on each of his player’s lives as best he can, and help them through.
Unable to work out in Provo, Jensen-McFarland is currently back home in Idaho, which did have workout facilities open briefly, before shutting down like most other states.
Accompanying Jensen-McFarland every step of the way is Darius MacFarland, who is a sophomore defensive lineman on the football team.
“I don’t know how I would have gone through all this without him,” Jensen-McFarland said. “It was tough through the early part of the year, with me being away so much playing softball, but I’m so grateful he’s here for me now, along with my family.”
Jensen-McFarland is aware of the option promoted by the NCAA to grant seniors participating in spring sports another year of eligibility in light of the season cancellations. Returning for another year is certainly an option she’ll explore, and will have good reason to stay one more year, considering Darius McFarland has three full years of eligibility remaining.
“It’s definitely a possibility because I have one to two semesters left at school, so it would work great for me, school-wise,” Jensen-McFarland said. “And then part of me just can’t take having to end it like it did this year. I have unfinished work. And then, obviously, Darius is just a redshirt sophomore, so I’m going to be around here, anyway. Coming back is definitely something I’ll consider, if given the opportunity.”
With the season cut short, Eakin is still focused on the core values he promotes among his players and believes overall all of them will be stronger for it.
“We try and live to be selfless, resilient and driven,” Eakin said. “We work on those things all the time, and not just with softball. Now, we’re getting a real hard look at the necessity of being selfless, but especially resilient. If you’re not resilient through this, then it’s going to be a long and painful road.”
Eakin now hopes his players have taken each of his promoted values to heart in order to now focus on things much more important than softball.
“We need to serve our community, as best we can and continue to drive toward a bright future,” Eakin said. “Will this experience help us as a softball team? I sure hope so, but much more important is my hope that every single one of my players becomes more selfless, resilient and driven in their every day lives, because of it.”
Josh and Naomi Davis speak with the media following their RootsTech keynote address. | Morgan Jones
The influencer behind the parenting blog Love Taza says that she left the city with her husband and five children on Friday to head “west,” despite calls in recent days for New York City residents to self-quarantine to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Influencer and parenting blogger Naomi Davis is being criticized on social media for choosing to leave New York City and “drive out west” in an RV with her family, despite calls for New York City residents to self-quarantine to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to BuzzFeed News.
Davis, who is a native of Utah but currently lives in New York City, blogs at Love Taza, where she shares parenting tips, recipes and details of her life with her husband and five children.
On Saturday, Davis shared with her nearly 500,000 Instagram followers that “after two full weeks in the apartment” her family would be traveling “west” in an RV to leave New York City.
Almost immediately, many of her followers began to express concern and frustration that her family was choosing to leave the city, which has become a hotbed of the coronavirus, according to BuzzFeed.
Davis wrote that the family left New York on Friday.
On Saturday, a domestic travel advisory was put in place for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut which asked residents to “to refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days effective immediately,” BuzzFeed reported.
“I’m so scared that this decision will influence your followers to do the same,” one follower commented on Davis’ Instagram post, according to Vanity Fair.
The debate has also moved to Twitter, where many people have shared their thoughts on Davis’ decision.
“This kind of behaviour is exactly what fanned the flames of the pandemic in Italy,” wrote one Twitter user. “I can only imagine what it must be like to try to contain 5 kids in an apartment but this is a pretty thoughtless decision.”
@lovetaza this kind of behaviour is exactly what fanned the flames of the pandemic in Italy. I can only imagine what it must be like to try to contain 5 kids in an apartment but this is a pretty thoughtless decision.
“This is specifically what people are asked NOT to do and they’re doing it,” one person tweeted.
“You did what was best for your family. How nice for you,” another Twitter user wrote. “You did not do what was best for your neighbors, community, state or nation.”
@lovetaza You did what was best for your family. How nice for you. You did not do what was best for your neighbors, community, state, or nation. How very selfish & shortsighted. #COVID19#YouAreTheSpread#FlattenTheCurve
Others on Twitter expressed concern about the health of family members in communities to which Davis is planning to travel.
A woman on Instagram with nearly 500k followers posted about leaving NYC today with her family in an rv as a way to “responsibly” ignore all scientific and government advice! Because she has househead! And she’s going to Utah! Where my type 1 diabetic SiL lives. pic.twitter.com/I6EgLNKqQo
Davis is not the only New Yorker to leave the city in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
“A backlash has grown on the outskirts of the New York region as wealthy people flee to summer homes to avoid the densely packed city, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis,” The New York Times reported last week.
For example, the population of Southampton has gone from 60,000 to 100,000 in just a few weeks as wealthy New Yorkers leave the city for vacation homes, according to Forbes.
Full-time residents of beach towns have expressed frustration with the newcomers, with some local government officials asking the travelers to stay away for now, according to the Times.
“We all love the summer people,” Joseph Mancini, the mayor of Long Beach Township in New Jersey, told the Times. “They drive our economy. But when they come down here now, the services here aren’t geared up for them.”
Dr. Drew Harris, a population health researcher and assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson University who spoke to BuzzFeed about Davis’ decision to leave New York City, said that the public has a responsibility to the people around them to do whatever they can to contain the spread of the virus.
“This is no different than when the rich left the cities to the poor folks during the plague,” Harris told BuzzFeed. “We need to remember we’re all in this together and promote policies that protect everyone.”
Davis has since responded to the backlash through Instagram Stories, as well as a comment on her original Instagram post.
“I don’t know if it helps, but I am trying to do my best,” Davis wrote in a comment on Instagram on Monday. “Just know that I was trying to be careful and trying to take care of my kids and my family. And I am going to keep taking this seriously and am going to keep trying to be careful in the coming days and months.”
Tennessee Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) runs with the ball during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Baltimore. | Nick Wass, AP
NFL team owners voted Tuesday to expand the playoffs by one team in each conference for next season.
During a conference call to discuss league business after the annual meetings were canceled due to the new coronavirus pandemic, the owners also awarded one of those extra games to CBS and one to NBC. Three-fourths of the 32 owners needed to approve the change.
Only the teams with the best record in the AFC and NFC will get a bye under the new format; the top two teams skipped wild-card weekend in the past. The seventh seed will play No. 2, the sixth will visit No. 3, and the fifth will be at the fourth seed for wild-card games.
This is the first expansion of the playoffs since 1990, when the NFL went from 10 to 12 postseason entrants.
Three games each are set for Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 9-10 — pending the NFL schedule going forward as planned; that schedule should be released in April.
CBS will broadcast one additional wild-card game on Jan. 10 at approximately 4:40 p.m. EST. The game will also be available via live stream on CBS All Access. A separately produced telecast of the game will air on Nickelodeon tailored for a younger audience.
NBC, its new streaming service Peacock and Spanish-language Telemundo will broadcast an additional game on Jan. 10 at approximately 8:15 p.m. EST.
A foul is called against Utah Jazz forward Royce O’Neale (23) as he and Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) guard Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam (43) during an NBA game at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 9, 2020. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Editor’s note:First of a two-part series looking at the physical and mental toll of the abrupt stop to the NBA season, and what is needed for a return to play.
SALT LAKE CITY — Restarting the NBA season is going to involve a multitude of moving parts and steps. Can the playoffs be salvaged? Would games be played at a neutral and safe location? Will fans be in attendance?
Those are all great questions that have dominated the narrative surrounding the NBA since the coronavirus pandemic led to a suspended season, and those questions will need to be answered. But, before teams can even begin to consider getting back on the court, the physical ramifications of an abrupt and prolonged stop to the season will have to be addressed.
Dr. Brian Schulz, a sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, who has worked with multiple teams in professional sports and is the team physician for the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Angels, said the biggest concern, from a physical standpoint, that NBA teams will have to contend with, is how quickly they expect players to be ready to play.
“The biggest issue is once we get the all-clear that we can be in small groups again is how long are they going to go from being at home to playing pretty competitive basketball?” Schulz said.
Going from any level of inactivity to any type of extraneous activity poses a huge risk for injury.
“We’ve seen it before from players who maybe hold out or don’t take part in preseason workouts and then they go right in and they pull something or have some sort of injury because it’s just impossible for them to mimic an NBA game in their weight room.”
Additionally, this all has to be considered in the context of the current situation. Risk of injury to players that will be coming out of self-quarantined situations could be increased because this is not like a normal offseason.
Nothing about this is normal and there is so much unknown that NBA trainers are having trouble wrapping their heads around keeping players prepared and ready without contact and without them having access to NBA facilities.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” one NBA athletic trainer said. “We’ve had so many conversations and we’re trying to pool information from other trainers and as many people as possible. There’s nothing to compare it to. During lockouts in the past at least guys could get together and go to a gym, and there’s not even a gym they can go to.”
Across the board, team physicians, trainers and conditioning coaches agree there will need to be a ramp-up period before the season can begin, which means an even longer wait for basketball to return to our lives. And, because this isn’t like a normal offseason, that ramp-up period could need to be extended because people will be coming out of isolation.
The normal NBA preseason, including training camp, runs for roughly four weeks and players usually have been working with trainers and other players in order to get close to game-shape before training camp opens. Of course, that’s all in preparation for a normal NBA season. If the NBA is able to salvage any part of the 2019-20 season or the playoffs, it adds a new wrinkle.
“If you are entering at the end of a season, where the games essentially mean more and there’s more on the line, then you’re going from doing nothing to potentially doing a lot in a very competitive environment, very quickly,” Schulz said. “That would be a big concern.”
Another NBA team trainer pointed out that the only players that will be truly ready for a “normal” preseason or training camp are a very select few of the league’s elite and most wealthy players.
“The only people that are really OK are max players that have basketball courts at their houses,” he said. “And those are the people that have been with a team long enough to build a house and establish themselves and have a court put in.”
At the very least, the players who have a court to practice on will be able to mimic movement required by the game.
For many players though, they are having to get creative with their workouts and utilize the space that they have in their homes or apartments.
Many NBA teams have been trying to create some sense of normalcy with virtual workout sessions. Some Utah Jazz players, including Georges Niang, Royce O’Neale, and Tony Bradley, have posted screenshots on social media of their virtual workouts.
While any type of normalcy or routine for these players is good, it’s not just their exercise regimen that has been disrupted by the league shutdown.
NBA players are used to having a completely predetermined schedule that dictates where they travel, how long they train, when they sleep, when they eat, what they eat, when they receive treatment and when they play. That consistent routine, which includes nutrition, conditioning and everything in between, is now completely different and unpredictable.
One NBA trainer, in an attempt to explain what kinds of challenges this stoppage presents, likened the situation to when a player gets married during the offseason. In that case the whole routine is thrown off track and the trainer doesn’t have the same type of contact with the player as they normally would. There’s no way to regulate what they’re eating or drinking, if they’re working out on their honeymoon and what kind of shape they’ll be in when they return.
“There’s just so much that can go wrong without contact and with inactivity,” he said.
Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Georges Niang (31) tries to defend Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) as the Jazz and Celtics play an NBA basketball game at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020.
In order to ensure the safety and health of the players when basketball returns, an appropriate amount of time will have to be allotted for players to return to a normal routine and get back into game shape. Even then, there will be concerns.
Because we don’t know when the NBA will be able to restart, there’s no timetable on what the 2020-21 season will look like. The NBA is already looking at possibilities of play resuming in August or later, and while the silver lining of incredibly rested, healthy players does offer some hope, if play continues throughout the year, risk of injury could increase even more.
“Maybe players are not at risk of injury for the rest of this season, but especially for players who go far in the playoffs, you’ve played the last eighth of a season, or the playoffs and then you have one month or less to rest your body and prepare it like you normally would for the next season,” Schulz said. “That’s probably what the major leagues are dealing with. How can we do this, how can we play the next season and protect our players from having injuries that they may not have had in the past if it weren’t for this situation?”
The road to the sports world and NBA returning to normal is going to be a long one, we knew that already. But the road will need to be even longer than anticipated in order to prioritize the health and safety of the players.
The national office of the NCAA in Indianapolis is shown Thursday, March 12, 2020. The NCAA canceled the men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments amid coronavirus fears on Thursday. | Michael Conroy, AP
SALT LAKE CITY — NCAA Division I student-athletes who compete in spring sports will have an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility, the NCAA Division I Council voted Monday as college athletics have been impacted by the novel conoravirus pandemic.
There won’t be any eligibility relief for student-athletes in winter sports, as the majority of their seasons were completed, the council also announced.
NCAA championships for both winter and spring sports were canceled March 12, as the pandemic began to initially make its impact in the sports world.
Per Division I rules, student-athletes have a five-year period to complete four seasons of competition. Monday’s decision will allow for schools to self-apply waivers that would restore one season of competition for student-athletes who competed during the 2020 spring season that was cut short by COVID-19. Schools may also self-apply a one-year extension of eligibility for student-athletes in spring sports whose five-year “clock” would have ended in 2020.
Financial aid rules were also adjusted to help allow teams to carry more members on scholarship, helping programs accommodate both incoming recruits and student-athletes who wish to return for a final season of eligibility. In addition, the NCAA council increased the roster limit in baseball to accommodate for student-athletes impacted by the COVID-19. It’s the only spring sport with a roster limitation.
In a move to help colleges through the financial uncertainty ahead, the NCAA council’s vote gives schools the flexibility of allowing students whose eligibility would have run out this year to return for the 2020-21 season “without requiring that athletics aid be provided at the same level awarded for 2019-20.” That only applies to student-athletes whose eligibility was set to expire this season.
The NCAA’s Student Assitance Fund will also be available for schools to use to help pay for scholarships of student-athletes who choose to extend their eligibility into next season.
“The Council’s decision gives individual schools the flexibility to make decisions at a campus level,” Council chair M. Grace Calhoun, athletics director at Penn, said in a statement. “The Board of Governors encouraged conferences and schools to take action in the best interest of student-athletes and their communities, and now schools have the opportunity to do that.”
Spring season sports like baseball and softball were still competing in the opening weeks of their 2020 seasons when play was canceled. In men’s volleyball, the regular season was more than half over, and BYU had risen to No. 1 in the nation just days before the season was canceled.
Winter sports like men’s and women’s basketball had completed their regular seasons with many conferences in the middle of league tournaments when the NCAA Tournament was canceled.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man who police say shot at another man who was giving his ex-wife a ride was charged with two felonies on Monday.
Mario E. Regules, 32, is charged in 3rd District Court with attempted murder, a first-degree felony, and possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony.
On March 13, a man said he was waiting outside the house of Regules’ ex-wife to pick her up. While he was waiting, he received a text message from the woman telling him “that her ex-husband, the defendant Mario Regules, was waiting close by. She told (the man) to leave or Regules would kill him,” according to charging documents.
Surveillance video from the area recorded Regules parked down the street, police say. When the victim left the ex-wife’s house, he drove past Regules. Surveillance video shows Regules pointing a gun at the man and firing, the charges state.
Five bullet holes were found on the victim’s car, “spanning from the front fender to the back door,” the charges state. The man, however, was not injured.
The man also told police that four months earlier while he was again at the ex-wife’s house, “Regules pointed a gun at (the man’s) head and told him that he was going to kill him,” according to charging documents.
Regules, a documents gang member, also had a warrant out for his arrest for failing to show up for court on charges of drug possession, according to court records. Prosecutors also noted in charging documents that Regules “has a history of committing violent offenses” and “is known to flee from law enforcement.”
“On two separate occasions the police have attempted to apprehend the defendant on this case and defendant had fled, resulting in two separate felony evading cases. The defendant has demonstrated through his actions that he is a danger to the community, and a flight risk,” the charges state.
The national office of the NCAA in Indianapolis is shown Thursday, March 12, 2020. The NCAA canceled the men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments amid coronavirus fears on Thursday. | Michael Conroy, AP
SALT LAKE CITY — NCAA Division I student-athletes who compete in spring sports will have an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility, the NCAA Division I Council ruled Monday as college athletics have been impacted by the conoravirus pandemic.
There won’t be any eligibility relief for student-athletes in winter sports, as the majority of their seasons were completed, the council also announced.
NCAA championships for both winter and spring sports were canceled March 12, as the pandemic began to initially make its impact in the sports world.
The national office of the NCAA in Indianapolis is shown Thursday, March 12, 2020. The NCAA canceled the men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments amid coronavirus fears on Thursday. | Michael Conroy, AP
SALT LAKE CITY — NCAA Division I student-athletes who compete in spring sports will have an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility, the NCAA Division I Council ruled Monday as college athletics have been impacted by the conoravirus pandemic.
There won’t be any eligibility relief for student-athletes in winter sports, as the majority of their seasons were completed, the council also announced.
NCAA championships for both winter and spring sports were canceled March 12, as the pandemic began to initially make its impact in the sports world.
SALT LAKE CITY — The coronavirus is putting pressure on employees forced to take time off to contend with the effects of the ongoing outbreak on themselves and their families, as well as employers who must manage their companies’ operations in the wake of legally-mandated leave.
Across the country and in Utah, companies and their workers are trying to balance the need to take time away from their jobs to cope with the impact of COVID-19 and keeping their jobs. While laws already exist to govern traditional sick leave, the pandemic has prompted even more regulations for employers to follow.
The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 is a federal law applying to employers with 50 or more employees, or to all public employers. It requires these entities to provide to eligible employees unpaid time away from work up to 12 work weeks in a 12-month period of time, explained Ryan Nelson, president of Employers Council Utah. During that protected time, the worker’s health insurance and other benefits continue and they are provided reinstatement rights upon their return, he added.
“So when I come back from leave, I receive the same or an equivalent position to what I had when I left and I’m reinstated back into the workforce as if I’d never been gone,” he said. “The FMLA was available to an employee who had a serious health condition or who was caring for a parent, spouse or child with a serious health condition.”
Now Congress has added new protections developed specifically to address the effects of coronavirus on current workplaces, he noted. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act signed on March 18 also provides for paid family sick leave along with expanded emergency family and medical leave, he noted. It takes effect on April 1 and is required to be offered by an employer with 499 employees or less. The law also requires employers to provide their employees with the FFCRA poster detailing their rights under the new measure.
Employees who qualify must use the time off between April 1 and Dec. 31 of this year, Nelson said. Congress purposely created a sunrise and sunset on it because it related specifically to coronavirus, he said.
“(The law applies) regardless of how long the employee has been with the company. So my first day, for example, can be April 1 and on April 2 I could trigger the paid 10 days of sick leave and be gone even though I’ve only worked one day for the company,” Nelson explained. The provisions of the various acts work in tandem with the employment compensation system, he said.
“You have a lot of things working here at the same time. The paid sick leave and the paid FMLA contemplate an absence from work, so because I’m not working for these reasons I have some supplemental income coming in,” he explained. “It’s not going to be perhaps the same as I was making in wages, but it’s something that’s coming in. If I lose my job, or I’m laid off or I’m furloughed, then we have the unemployment compensation system that catches those instances and also the additional unemployment benefits. It’s an extraordinary effort in an extraordinary time.”
He said employers will have the benefit of using tax credits to offset some of the costs incurred through paying for the additional benefits received by the employees.
“Companies when they process their payroll, they are withholding Federal taxes from their employees wages. And then they put that into an electronic bundle and wire it to the IRS or submit it to the IRS as part of their payroll process,” Nelson said. “Well, the money to pay for the paid sick leave and the paid FMLA comes from that pot of money.”
Nelson said companies should seek advice from experienced counsel to ensure they are handling their workers’ leave properly and taking advantage of the credits being offered through the federal laws.
“There’s a limited window of time and that’s 30 days from the 18th of March,” he said. “So that clock is already ticking and employers are already expected to get their arms around this and understand what it means, when it applies, and how it works because April 1 it starts and employers need to be ready for that.”
Last week, I began to explore what life will be like when the coronavirus lockdown finally ends.
Initially, people will crave a return to in-person social gatherings and some sense of normalcy. Still, when the stay-at-home orders and mandatory business closings are lifted, the reopening of society will proceed cautiously. Guided by a mix of joy and fear, some people will jump right back into old routines while others will take it more slowly. Many, without consciously thinking about it, will never again attend events with huge crowds or ride a crowded subway.
Some businesses will open their doors and offices faster than others. Sadly, many will never reopen. Returning workers will learn new routines and procedures to ensure a safe and healthy work environment, especially for businesses that deal directly with consumers.
Politicians will debate what sort of international trade and travel restrictions might be appropriate going forward. What kind of security can protect against an invisible virus? Should the new restrictions apply only to China? Or to all nations? It will soon become clear that the pandemic has reset discussions on just about every political issue.
Still, it won’t be long before a new normal sets in. Our culture and lifestyle adapt so quickly to new realities that we soon forget what came before. If you doubt that’s true, consider the phrase social distancing. A month or so ago, hardly anybody had heard of it. Now it’s a part of daily conversation.
The realities of social distancing have forced us to learn new ways of working, playing and building community together. Millions of older Americans have joined virtual gatherings for the first time. Untold numbers of parents are — for the first time — providing a form of home-schooling. Churches are finding ways to serve their flock without getting together in person on Sunday mornings. The list could go on and on.
These new routines will never replace in-person gatherings — humans need such contact for their physical and mental well-being. But, when the crisis is over, the new approaches will not wither away or disappear. Americans will not unlearn what they are learning today. Instead, they will use what they have learned in ways that will alter the frequency and purpose of our face-to-face encounters with others.
A friend of mine works with a large team that has been forced to telecommute during the current crisis. It’s going so well that he’s now thinking of working from Florida for a month next winter. Following the experience of the past month, he figures his boss will have no reason to object. My friend values the regular, in-person interactions with his co-workers and will have plenty of it for most of the year. But the month in Florida will also give him more time with family and friends in a pleasant setting.
Millions of Americans will do the same and seamlessly adopt what they’ve learned during the lockdown to make changes in their daily life. After a while, it won’t seem different at all. It will just be a new normal.
Though the novelty of our new routines will quickly wear off, the impact of those changes will bring about massive social disruption. To take just one example, when my friend and his team telecommute more regularly, their company will need less office space. That seemingly minor change will ripple through the economies of major cities.
Beneath the surface, all of these changes are being driven by one of the most significant cultural changes in American history. Beginning in the 1970s, the digital revolution kicked off what I call the Great Turnaround:
• For two centuries leading up to the 1970s, the trend was for everything in America to get bigger, more centralized and more homogenized.
• After the ’70s, however, cultural trends moved in the opposite direction with everything becoming more niche-oriented, decentralized and personalized.
It is hard to overstate the significance of this cultural turnaround. “The devices and connectivity so essential to modern life put unprecedented p ower in the hands of every individual,” according to Harvard’s Nicco Mele. This is “a radical redistribution of power that our traditional institutions don’t and perhaps can’t understand.” As if that wasn’t enough, he adds, “Radical connectivity is toxic to traditional power structures.”
This decentralizing force has been transforming our society for decades. Many institutions and industries have already adapted or disappeared. Following the pandemic, the scale and pace of change will increase dramatically.
In the coming weeks, I’ll look at how our decentralizing culture is poised to bring about massive changes to our health care, education and political systems.
While transitions are always unsettling, we have reason to be optimistic about the future. That’s because this new era has put “unprecedented power in the hands of every individual.” That’s a good thing!
Taking power away from the few and giving it to the many is right in line with our nation’s founding ideals. From a pragmatic viewpoint, it means more people will have a greater ability to work together and create a better world.
Scott Rasmussen is an American political analyst and digital media entrepreneur. He is the author of “The Sun is Still Rising: Politics Has Failed But America Will Not.”
Cristyna Ramos, family involvement paraprofessional at Backman Elementary School, hands out food for students on Monday, March 30, 2020, as the Tony Finau Foundation and For The Kids work with volunteers in feeding 500 children each week at both Backman and Liberty elementary schools to ensure these at-risk children are fed through May due to COVID-19. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Cristyna Ramos, family involvement paraprofessional at Backman Elementary School, hands out food for students on Monday as the Tony Finau Foundation and For The Kids work with volunteers to feed 500 children each week at both Backman and Liberty elementary schools in the Salt Lake City School District to ensure at-risk children due to COVID-19 are fed through May. Monday’s deliveries contained 31,000 meals and snacks for the week, along with hand soap and hygiene kits. PGA Tour golfer Tony Finau said in a news release that his foundation is “excited to partner with For The Kids and help provide relief during an extremely difficult time. Their support of the Rose Park community, where I am from, made this partnership an obvious choice. Our hope is that by taking care of and helping these kids and their families, they will get the nourishment they need and feel the spirit of love and community that makes Salt Lake City, and the whole state of Utah, a great place to call home.”
A family in Farmington, Utah, has gone viral for redesigning their living room to bring the Disneyland experience to life. | Screenshot, Reddit
Temple Square in the spring of 2018. | Trent Toone, Deseret News
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Kimber Young, top center, teaches training missionaries Mandarin Chinese via video conferencing at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. In an attempt to control the spread of COVID-19, missionaries are being trained by remote video conference rather than travel to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ 10 missionary training centers. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News 
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Nicholas Thorston Westland | Summit County Sheriff’s Office
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FILE: BYU’s Rylee Jensen (now Rylee Jensen-McFarland) greets teammates during player introductions as BYU and Utah play in a softball game at BYU in Provo on Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
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Courtesy BYU
Josh and Naomi Davis speak with the media following their RootsTech keynote address. | Morgan Jones
Tennessee Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) runs with the ball during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, in Baltimore. | Nick Wass, AP
A foul is called against Utah Jazz forward Royce O’Neale (23) as he and Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) guard Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam (43) during an NBA game at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 9, 2020. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
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Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
The national office of the NCAA in Indianapolis is shown Thursday, March 12, 2020. The NCAA canceled the men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments amid coronavirus fears on Thursday. | Michael Conroy, AP
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Deseret News
Deseret News
Evan Vucci, Associated Press
Cristyna Ramos, family involvement paraprofessional at Backman Elementary School, hands out food for students on Monday, March 30, 2020, as the Tony Finau Foundation and For The Kids work with volunteers in feeding 500 children each week at both Backman and Liberty elementary schools to ensure these at-risk children are fed through May due to COVID-19. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
