By McKenzie Romero | Editor
Each day, crews from Advantage Services cruise Salt Lake City streets, clearing abandoned belongings from homeless encampments, power washing human waste from the sidewalks, and running shuttles between homeless resource centers.
The work is tough, but it’s also a lifeline for 120 employees who themselves have experienced homelessness or other struggles. In just over a month, the nonprofit, and its jobs, could be gone.
In today’s Dispatch we unpack Advantage Services’ fight to stay in business, a deal to preserve the east gate of Zion National Park, and META’s massive settlement over how it treats children on its social media platforms.
“It means a chance of turning your life around, and an opportunity that’s there for people that don’t have opportunities anywhere else.” — Max Loveridge, an employee at Advantage Services who said the job helped him out of homelessness.
Advantage Services employees Trevor Howell, Anthony Tarchick and Max Loveridge, left to right, clean up abandoned property called in by a police officer in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
By Katie McKellar
Advantage Services has been struggling financially due to unexpected operating cost increases, higher insurance premiums and scaled back contracts from various customers. One of the biggest reasons is a dispute over Advantage Services’ largest contract with Salt Lake City’s Urban Services Division that was slashed in half from roughly $2 million to less than $1 million.
This week, Advantage Services issued an “urgent call for community support” as it works to “prevent closure at the end of October.” As part of that effort, Advantage Services is fundraising — a new venture for the nonprofit, which has historically gained the vast majority of its revenue through contract work.
The view from the floor of Zion Canyon in autumn. (U.S. National Park Service/Christopher Gezon)
By Annie Knox
The nonprofit Zion Forever Project has secured a conservation easement to protect 145 acres just outside Zion National Park in southwestern Utah. Under the agreement, a private landowner is keeping title to the property but handing over rights to develop it, with Zion Forever as its steward going forward.
It means no hotels, condos or restaurants will pop up there, although visitors will be able to take advantage of a planned, expanded trail network running through the newly protected area.
Facebook owner Meta agreed to pay nearly $18 billion to an array of U.S. states over claims its platforms intentionally addicted teens. (Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)
STATELINE
By Anna Claire Vollers
Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, agreed to pay 47 states, the District of Columbia, and a handful of U.S. territories, up to $17.1 billion in penalties over claims that its social media platforms are addictive and a danger to children. For it’s part of the settlement, Utah expects to receive $12.2 billion.
Meta also pledged to make changes to Instagram and Facebook that are designed to reduce young people’s use of the platforms. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said those changes “will help protect millions of children.”
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