Your Daily Guide

Our annual 801 Day celebration is all about the quirks and traditions that make Salt Lake feel like home. Fittingly, this year’s festivities bring together two of the city’s biggest icons: Utah’s 801 area code and “Out of the Blue,” aka the 9th & 9th whale.

• Why 801? When AT&T created the area code system, it designated codes based on state size/population. Smaller states received a zero as the middle digit, larger states received a one. Lower-numbered codes were generally reserved for more populous places (like New York’s 212) because they were quicker to dial on rotary phones, so Utah was assigned 801. [City Cast Salt Lake]
• The story of “Out of the Blue”: When Stephen Kesler's humpback whale landed in the 9th & 9th roundabout in 2022, it sparked a lot of controversy — people hated it. A few years later, it has become one of Salt Lake's most beloved landmarks. [City Cast Salt Lake]
• Why the mural is changing: The whale was always meant to evolve. Kesler designed “Out of the Blue” with a rotating mural that changes every three to five years, allowing local artists to reinterpret the sculpture alongside the changing 9th & 9th neighborhood. [Salt Lake Arts Council]
• Tomorrow at 801 Day, we'll unveil the whale's next look with the Salt Lake City Arts Council at 6 p.m. at the Milk Block. Painting the whale itself will start in late August. Don't miss it! [City Cast Salt Lake]

It’s the Wettest July in 11 Years

After Wednesday evening’s little rain storm, Salt Lake City has officially recorded its wettest July in 11 years! Finally, some good weather news. [@ChaseThomason on X]

Utah Vehicles With Montana Plates

A new Utah law aims to close the “Montana Loophole”: when Utah residents register their vehicles in Montana to avoid state sales tax. According to the Utah State Tax Commission, the number one culprit is Ford F-150s. [KUER]

Volunteer at the Cooling Center

Unsheltered Utah seeks volunteers at First United Methodist Church cooling center in downtown Salt Lake City on Sundays in August between 2-8 p.m. Shifts are three hours. Are you able to help out? [Unsheltered Utah]

The Dirty Soda Craze Is Only Growing

Salt Lake Tribune analysts found 813,909,323,331,759,027,911,655,544 possible Swig flavor combinations. And their busiest store isn’t even in Utah, it’s in Orlando. [Salt Lake Tribune]

Tooele, What’s Going On?

Tooele, a little county 40-minutes west of Salt Lake City and ashore the Great Salt Lake, could be the home of a new nuclear facility, data center, and wastewater treatment plant. We searched for answers amid confusion and outrage. [City Cast Salt Lake 🎧]