By McKenzie Romero | Editor
Two pilots killed when their heavy duty helicopter crashed fighting a Utah wildfire have been identified, as communities from their home states mourned them.
Their names are now part of a list of U.S. firefighters who have died this summer as the West battles a fire season fueled by deep drought and extreme heat.
In today’s Dispatch we look at the latest firefighter fatalities, Utah’s move to join the quantum technology race, and the push from the White House to change the childhood vaccine schedule.
“Fatalities such as this land heavily on the minds and hearts of our agencies and the wildland fire community as a whole.” — A statement from the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office and inter-agency partners following the deaths of two pilots in a helicopter crash fighting the Widemouth 2 Fire.
The Widemouth 2 Fire burns near Fillmore, Utah, in a photo shared by fire officials on Aug. 10, 2026. (Photo courtesy of inter-agency fire officials via InciWeb)
By Annie Knox
Two pilots who died in a helicopter crash while fighting a Utah forest fire were remembered Monday as skilled aviators dedicated to helping attack massive fires from the skies despite the enormous risk.
Miles Elliott, of Porterville in southern California, and Christopher Andersen, of Stateline, Nevada, worked for a company that contracts with the U.S. Forest Service called Helicopter Transport Services. They were remembered as fixtures of their separate aviation communities who introduced aspiring young pilots to flight and were deeply devoted to their families.
Gov. Spencer Cox speaks during a news conference broadcast by PBS Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 19, 2026. (Pool photo by Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)
By Alixel Cabrera
Following similar steps of elected officials in Washington D.C., Gov. Spencer Cox is spearheading Utah’s own push to bolster quantum technology development with a new executive order.
The technology, often used to create tools in computing, sensing and communications by applying the principles of quantum physics, has been in the eye of leaders across the country, including President Donald Trump.
Vials of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are displayed on a counter at a Walgreens Pharmacy on Jan. 26, 2015 in Mill Valley, California. (Photo by Illustration Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
DC BUREAU
By Shauneen Miranda
President Donald Trump has signed a sweeping executive order that aims to reshape guidance surrounding childhood vaccines, standing alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and was met with immediate pushback.
The order — which calls on federal programs and funding to “support maximal parental choice over childhood vaccines” — came as Trump continued to erroneously connect vaccines with autism during the White House event and his administration has sought to de-emphasize childhood vaccinations’ importance.
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