NASA’s asteroid-sampling mission will bid farewell to asteroid Bennu today

Good News Notes: “After more than two years circling a lumpy space rock called Bennu, it’s finally time for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to head back to Earth with a full load precious cargo: pieces of an asteroid. OSIRIS-REx (known formally as Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) collected asteroid samples from Bennu in October. Now…

Utah teen’s viral letter about her dad’s alcoholism

Good News Notes: “Preslee Scott spent more than one afternoon in her early teen years picking up her dad’s empty beer cans and dumping them in the outside trash can after he’d fallen asleep on the couch. So in December, when the Utah teen was asked by her 10th-grade English teacher to write an essay…

This man has invited homeless people to live in his front yard

Good News Notes: “Less than five minutes’ drive from downtown Salt Lake City sits the quiet neighborhood of Fairpark. The area hosts an annual state fair, a regional campus of Utah State University and modest homes with small yards. On one of those yards sits a random group of tents where people experiencing homelessness have…

New solar farm in Tooele County will deliver big on renewable energy

Good News Notes: “Some of Utah’s big energy consumers will be getting a significant amount of power from a planned solar plant in Tooele County, helping them to reach their renewable energy goals much more quickly than planned. Thanks to approval from the Utah Public Service Commission of a renewable energy tariff for Rocky Mountain…

Utah officials thrilled to see animals using highway wildlife overpass

Good News Notes: “In an effort to reduce accidents involving wildlife on a busy highway, Utah officials got creative: they built a bridge. New video shows the plan has been a success. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources built the bridge back in 2018 over Interstate 80 to reduce traffic accidents in Parleys Canyon caused by…

Gobert pledges $500,000 to help with relief, NBA shutdown

Good News Notes: “Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz offered the first of what he said will be “many steps” he will take to help with the coronavirus pandemic, pledging Saturday to donate more than $500,000 to relief efforts. Gobert, who was the first NBA player to test positive for COVID-19 — a diagnosis that prompted…

Community hopes to preserve historic Methodist church built in 1870

Good News Notes: “For Brett Merkley, entering the old Methodist Episcopal Church is like stepping into a frontier church of an old Western movie. The simple one-story brick chapel is lined with wooden pews and hymnals. Light shines through the stained-glass windows. A small pulpit and pump organ stand at the front of the chapel…

Utah Food Bank gets 40K-pound pork donation after BYU, USU football seasons

Good News Notes: “Football season has come and gone, but Utah State and BYU players were still throwing around the pigskin last week. Players from both teams unloaded nearly 40,000 pounds of pork product Friday donated to the Utah Food Bank by Smithfield Foods Inc. The world’s largest pork processing company, Smithfield Foods donated 25…