Deseret News

Following national crises such as the Great Recession in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, the United States has, more than once, had to rebuild its labor force after projects were stalled and layoffs occurred en masse. An ongoing labor shortage in the construction sector has directly impacted the housing industry and is currently one of the leading causes of the unaffordable housing situation, experts say. “There are around 340,000 open jobs in construction right now. And depending on what statistic you follow, you’re looking at anywhere between 400,000 and 700,000 jobs that you would need to hire yearly, over and above normal hiring to keep up with the demand for construction,” Tanaya Srini, senior adviser with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Friday during a panel event at The 2024 Ivory Prize Housing Innovation Summit. | By Emma Pitts

Values of BYU sports + introspection from Glenn Beck + rethinking 2nd homes: take a deeper dive into our top reads from the week Inside the mind of Glenn Beck: Is America headed toward its "last exit"?: bit.ly/3BV8ynr The West is having second thoughts on second homes: bit.ly/3Af2968 Commissioner of church education: BYU sports can’t drift from core principles: bit.ly/4e0t2Zp

Our Deseret News team stepped out of the office and into the arena for an exciting night at the Utah Hockey Club game. These moments of connection play an important role in fostering a strong and motivated team. Take a look at some of the highlights from our night at the game below.

The Deseret News offers a special-edition magazine exploring Brigham Young University Football’s epic 1984 season. Order your magazine here: deseret.com/1984

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Brigham L. Tomco is a staff writer on the politics team covering Utah’s congressional delegation, governor and state legislature. Tomco recently sat down with Glenn Beck, who invited the Deseret News into his home to discuss the stakes of the 2024 election. “It takes a long time to work your way around the main room of Glenn Beck’s isolated Idaho ranch house. It has all the fittings of a rustic Jackson Hole home, but the items lining the walls aren’t generic tributes to the ‘Wild West,’ they’re hyper-rare artifacts of American history,” Tomco said. “As Beck told me the story of Abraham Lincoln’s blood-spattered shirt cuff, or the mounted White Bison on his wall, or Arnold Friberg’s original color study of George Washington, I realized he was offering me a glimpse into his sincere desire to unify the country, as well as his awareness of his own capacity to divide. The result of our interview was a look at the stakes of our current political moment and, maybe more importantly, the stakes of how we respond to it.” Read more about Beck's insights here: bit.ly/3BV8ynr

Thousands of travelers walked through Salt Lake City International Airport on Tuesday, many unaware they were among the first to step inside the third completed phase of the airport’s development program. No longer do travelers need to break a sweat getting from the terminal to Concourse B. The days of marathon sprinting to make your flight are over. The airport’s newest installation is a tunnel that “finally get(s) to cut that walk in half, and that’s something that we can all cheer about,” said Steve Sisneros, C.M., the vice president of airport affairs for Southwest Airlines. “While we won’t get the steps in, we’ll be able to have a quicker commute from our curb, and our customers are so happy to get to the B gates and fly to places that are important in their lives,” he added. | By Emma Pitts

Facts, not filler. Conversation, not controversy. Resources, not rhetoric. Find it all at Deseret News. Visit deseret.com/politics to find thoughtful, nuanced stories about what matters most.

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