Researchers link the spread of West Nile virus to climate change.---

Top of the Alty World

“As Earth Warms, West Nile Spreads”--The Atlantic

Scientists explore how many people's brains harbor subconscious racists bias that the individual may not even be aware they have.--Mother Jones

A report on reforming the death penalty calls for the taping of interrogations to prevent false confessions.--ProPublica

Rolling Stone looks at how the transgender advocates of the “Trans 100” are changing the world.--Rolling Stone

Top of Alty Utah

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker vows no new tax increases in budget address.--Utah Political Capitol

In the wake of the courthouse shooting of Siale Angilau, Salt Lake Valley's Pacific Islander community searches for answers.--Salt Lake City Weekly

Mormons Building Bridges have been denied entry into the Days of '47 parade.--Q Salt Lake

Bipartisan legislation has now been signed into law making “revenge porn” illegal in Utah.--Utah Political Capitol

Rantosphere

Stephanie Lauritzen considers the passion that fuels the most divisive arguments.

“I’ve spent some time reading, too: reading the comments, even the angry ones, left on my various blogposts and articles. I’m reading articles and blogs by people who genuinely believe differently than I do, and trying to understand instead of feeling personally attacked. In my reading, I keep remembering a favorite line by Zora Neale Hurston: “Gods always behave like the people who make them.” My God (and my conscience) tells me to advocate and write about feminism and Mormonism and LGBT issues because those are things I care about. But I know there are other Gods, created by people who are different than I am, who feel hurt and attacked and angry because our Gods keep telling us contradicting things. In the eyes of your God, you are right, and it doesn’t matter that I may hear an alternate message.”--Salt Lake City Weekly

The Long View

The Colorado Springs Independent looks at how student loans suffocate the economy by loading students down with debt.

“Some say higher education is a choice, and the debt that comes with it is the student's responsibility. Mitt Romney, for example, famously said in his 2012 presidential campaign that Americans should get "as much education as they can afford." But unemployment among recent high school graduates not enrolled in college is 30.9 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Higher education may be a choice, but it's a loaded choice. And for many, it hurts. Just ask Breanne Willey, 31, who lives in Colorado Springs. Willey works as an associate counselor for an insurance company and is trying to pay off the $52,000 in loans and interest she owes from bachelor's and master's degrees. She's facing payments of $600 a month, or nearly a quarter of her salary.”--Colorado Springs Independent