SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah will be significantly more diverse in 2065, according to projections in a new state report released Wednesday. Figures from the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute show that slightly more than 1 in 3 Utah residents will be racial and ethnic minorities, up from 1 in 5 in 2015, the Deseret News reported.

SALT LAKE CITY — By the time today's preschoolers have grandchildren of their own, Utah's classrooms and workplaces will be significantly more diverse. In 2065, the Beehive State will look more like the nation as a whole does today, a new state report projects. Slightly more than 1 in 3 Utahns will be racial and ethnic minorities, up from 1 in 5 in 2015, show the figures out Wednesday from the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's housing market has been among the hottest in the western region over the past several years, according to data compiled by University of Utah researchers. The result has been escalating prices for homebuyers and apartment seekers, especially along the Wasatch Front where double-digit increases have become the norm.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's tech rocket ship continues to amass stellar benchmarks and growth statistics, but a pair of tech experts warned Wednesday that failure to address pressing issues like employment diversity, rising housing costs, traffic congestion and poor air quality could bring the voyage back down to Earth.

A new program to help more Utahns achieve homeownership was announced at the Utah State Capitol this week. The Utah Workforce Housing Priority, an effort from Ivory Homes, Utah’s Number One Homebuilder®, is focused on assisting professions that provide a public service and first-time homebuyers. The program, taking place outside any government obligation, reserves the most affordable homes for critical members of Utah’s workforce. “In a climate of increasing housing prices and affordability challenges, we have a duty to those serving our communities and to assist them in becoming homeowners,” said Clark Ivory, CEO of Ivory Homes. “We are committed [...]

SALT LAKE CITY — Andrea Brandley, who currently works as an elementary theater teacher, said the idea of searching for affordable housing is "very daunting." Brandley said she and her husband spent a year living with family, trying to save money for a down payment and working with a real estate agent to run the numbers on what kind of mortgage they would be able to qualify for. But ultimately, Brandley said they settled on renting because they just couldn't find anything they could afford to buy in the area where they wanted to live.

SALT LAKE CITY — During his State of the State address last week, Gov. Gary Herbert called for reforming Utah’s sales tax system by cutting the percentage of sales taxes and broadening the base of taxed goods. The exact proposal in Herbert’s speech was a cut from 4.85 percent sales tax across the state to 1.75 percent, and the state would collect taxes on services like Lyft and Uber, or other services. […]

SALT LAKE CITY — Three finalists in Schmidt Futures' American Dream Idea Challenge were announced at the University of Utah Thursday. The three teams will go on to compete for $1 million in funding among finalists selected by three other anchor universities participating in the challenge, Ohio State University, Arizona State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Three ambitious proposals — a peer-to-peer service for storage rentals, an app to coordinate modes of public transportation, and a drive to revitalize Utah’s coal country — are the Utah nominees in a national competition for ideas to boost America’s middle class. The nominees, chosen from 152 proposals from around the state, were announced Wednesday at the University of Utah as part of the American Dream Ideas Challenge — which will give $1 million each to the best ideas that can raise the net incomes of 10,000 middle-class households by 10 percent by 2020.

WEST VALLEY CITY — West Valley City is the first Utah metropolis to become home to mostly racial minorities, according to newly released population data. "It is the multicultural, multilingual, multiethnic Utah. It's just leading that change that's really sweeping the state," said Pam Perlich, director of demographic research at the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.