English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Provo, UT

It’s been six years since Jay Osmond, one of the original Osmond Brothers and the middle child in a seven-sibling entertainment lineup, told the Deseret News he was working on a musical about his family.

The production, he said at the time, would “tell the true unvarnished story of how it really was growing up, the obstacles we faced, and how we stayed together through the journey of our show business life,” per Deseret News.

Now, after a successful run across the pond in 2022, that musical is preparing to have its North American debut in the Osmonds’ home state.

“The Osmonds: A New Musical” will run next spring — March 12-April 4 — at The Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, Utah.

Ahead of the U.S. premiere, the Utah County venue is seeking local talent and will hold in-person auditions Sept. 19 and 20.

“There’s a lot of reasons I wanted to start it here, because so much happened in this musical (in Provo),” Jay Osmond said in a statement shared with the Deseret News. “We’ve had great connections with the Covey family.”

Here’s a brief overview of the musical — and what to know about auditioning to be an Osmond.

The musical follows the Osmonds’ upbringing and their rise to fame in the 1970s, chronicling the ups and downs of their careers.

Told from Jay Osmond’s perspective, the production covers everything from the Osmonds’ performances on “The Andy Williams Show” to the arrival of Donny and Marie, and touches on “some of the decisions that led to their financial ruin and eventual recovery,” according to a news release shared with the Deseret News.

Overall, the story is more redemptive in nature than “a fall from grace,” according to a description shared in the news release, as it portrays the Osmonds as committed to each other even in the face of adversity.

“It’s been therapeutic to do this,” Jay Osmond told the Deseret News while working on the musical in 2019. “Thinking back on what really made us different and what kept us together, it gives me an appreciation for what we went through, and why.”

Of course, the Osmonds’ roller coaster of a career plays out onstage against the backdrop of the music that launched their success — including hits like “One Bad Apple,” “Crazy Horses” and “Puppy Love.”

“There were some difficult times of my life, and some big hurdles to overcome, and this musical will tell people things that will surprise them … but despite that trouble, when you look back and think of the fans, the music, the once-in-a-lifetime things we did — it’s joyful. I guess I want to do this now to try to spread a little bit of that joy,” Jay Osmond shared in an statement on the musical’s official website.

“I’ll know I’ve done a good job telling this story if I stand at the back of the theater and see people waving their arms in the air, singing along and dancing in the aisles,” he continued. “I just want people to be enjoying themselves. I guess that is in the Osmonds’ DNA.”

The reviews have been largely favorable, with a review in The Guardian noting that “you get an awful lot of Osmond for your buck.”

“Heavenly for some. A little bit much for the rest of us,” Miriam Gillinson wrote for The Guardian.

A review for East Midlands Theatre notes that the production feels like going back in time to “Osmondmania.”

“It is clear to me why they had the success they did,” Philip Lowe wrote for East Midlands Theatre. “I don’t think I’ve stopped singing ‘Crazy Horses’ since.”

As the musical comes to Provo, the production team is searching for local talent to bring the story to life.

“We outbid companies in the New York area, Houston and a few others,” Stephen Pullen, general manager of the Covey Center, said in a statement shared with the Deseret News. “And we could have chosen to bring in actors from Los Angeles and New York, but I was convinced that we had the talent here to do it.”

With a budget of $300,000-$400,000, the musical is being marketed in collaboration with the Utah Office of Tourism, according to the news release.

Per an online audition form, the production is searching for people to fill eight leads, including:

Other leads include the roles of Donny, Marie and the Osmonds’ parents, George and Olive.

The production will also feature six ensemble members (three men and three women).

All roles are paid, per the audition form. The total payment for the run at the Covey Center ranges from $2,600-$5,200, depending on the role.

Those interested in signing up for an in-person audition should fill out the form and come prepared to sing 32 bars of a 1960s/’70s pop song (not musical theater) with sheet music or accompaniment track provided, and also be prepared to perform one of the monologues from the musical’s website if requested.

Rehearsals will run throughout January and February leading up to the premiere in March.

The run at the Covey Center comes a little over a year after the death of Wayne Osmond, whose baritone voice helped create the tight, four-part harmonies of the Osmond Brothers.

“I’m so thankful for all of the memories we created as a family,” Donny Osmond shared in an Instagram post shared a few weeks after his older brother’s death. “And I know that someday we will be reunited and make heavenly musical memories together.”

PROVO, Utah — Acknowledging that hard lessons were learned and will be used to better prepare for the future, Provo City officials on Friday addressed the recent wildfire and mudslides in the area.

Following a fire and debris flow in the city in 2003, Provo thought they were prepared. But just days , Mother Nature threw the city a curveball with a once-in-a-10-year storm that dumped nearly an inch of rain on the burn scar in less than 30 minutes.

The result was a 15-acre debris flow down the hillside.

“I don’t think anyone is gonna forget that any day soon," admitted Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi.

A Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel took the brunt of the mudslide, leading to an almost immediate response from dozens of neighbors, including the mayor, who jumped into action with shovels and other equipment to help clear the building.

“Had this event happened two months later rather than 10 days later, we would have been able to handle it," Kaufusi said. "She just unleashed on us.”

'Bucket Brigade' of volunteers helps clear Provo church after mudslide:

A delay would have been beneficial because work was set to begin on a larger and sturdier mitigation system to deal with bigger storm and debris flows. That work is now set to begin in just over a week.

“Now, in the future, could we have a much bigger event? Yes, but this is the probability that design and standards say we should be able to protect our residents from," explained Gordon Haight with Provo City Public Works.

There is so much technical information about what happened, why it happened and Provo’s plan moving forward, that the city is making those details available to anyone through an online portal.

PROVO — A couple is trying to pick up the pieces after several feet of water, mud and debris poured into their home last week.

It happened on the evening of Aug. 27 during a heavy rainstorm in Provo that also caused a mudslide near the Buckley Draw Fire burn scar, which buried a car and damaged a church.

Travisse and Stephanie Hansen shared video with KSL-TV of what looked like a river rushing into the basement of the home they own but currently rent out. While their neighbors reported dealing with just a few inches of water that night, the Hansens are trying to figure out why such a severe flood happened — and how to pay for it.

"Where did this come from? Why did this happen?" asked Stephanie Hansen. "Why did our basement fill with 4 feet of water and mud?"

'I just cried'

When the rain came down that evening, the Hansens got a text from their renters who were living at the Provo house near 1300 S. 1500 East informing them that some water was getting inside.

Soon, they received a video showing just how bad it was.

"When I got down here, I just cried," Stephanie Hansen said.

The couple soon had friends, neighbors and strangers showing up to help them shovel out mud and debris, which they appreciated. As they clean up, though, they're puzzled as to why all that water rushed specifically to their house.

"Something happened to cause this," Travisse Hansen said. "We're trying to figure out if it was a blocked duct or something somewhere, or a drain pipe, or just how this exactly happened."

Gordon Haight, Provo Public Works director, said the city just learned what happened at the Hansen home and is investigating. Haight said the city also received a report of another home damaged during the same storm.

"There may have been neighbors upstream that did some landscaping or changed some things," Haight said. "We just don't know, so we're going to go up and take a look and see what we can find out and where that water may have come from."

A big bill

How the flood happened is not the only thing the Hansens are trying to figure out.

"(The) main problem is, it's not covered by insurance," said Travisse Hansen.

That's because the water came from outside — not inside — the home. All this could cost the Hansens tens of thousands of dollars or more.

"It's just Trav and I to figure out, like, how to pay for this," said Stephanie Hansen. "And we don't know why — we don't know why this happened to our house."

The Hansens said they'll try filing a claim with Provo City to see where that goes. They also hope for answers from whatever the city uncovers about the problem.

Cleanup after mudslide

Meanwhile, just to the south, cleanup continued Tuesday at the meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Slate Canyon Drive. It was also damaged during the mudslide last week from the Buckley Draw Fire burn scar.

While Wednesday's rainfall brought much-needed moisture to some parts of Utah, it also caused a mudslide that spilled onto Nevada Avenue and Slate Canyon Drive in Provo.

Haight said the mudslide was a "major debris flow" that overwhelmed the concrete barriers the city had set up.

There was a channel in the area already installed to handle debris, which Haight said crews extended before last week's mudslide, but it still filled up "because of the volume." Haight said city crews will now clean it out.

"We know there's rain throughout the month of September, and so we just want to have everything cleaned back out — a new debris basin filled up, cleaned up back there — so we're ready," Haight said. "Hopefully, we don't get an event this large again."

But if there is another mudslide that large, Haight said, there is a plan to prepare for it. He said the developer of a new subdivision above the church will pay to further extend the debris channel and put in additional basins. That, Haight said, is designed to protect the new homes and divert any future flow around the church.

Haight noted no homes were damaged because of the mudslide from the fire burn scar.

"That was our No. 1 priority," he said, "just to make sure the homes were protected."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Daniel Woodruff

Daniel Woodruff is a reporter/anchor with deep experience covering Utah news. He is a native of Provo and a graduate of Brigham Young University. Daniel has also worked as a journalist in Indiana and Wisconsin.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – There might be a silver lining in last Saturday's 48-14 loss to Utah at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Khalil Wilkins seemed to get the offense moving a little bit when he was inserted into the game on West Virginia's opening possession of the third quarter.

Wilkins began that drive with a short pass to sophomore Cam Vaughn, then called his own number for 17 yards to midfield. On fourth and 7, Wilkins scrambled for 10 yards to the Utah 40, and then two plays later, underthrew a pass in the general direction of Vaughn, who made a fabulous play to catch the ball and then get into the end zone for a touchdown.

West Virginia's next possession with Wilkins behind center probably should have been a touchdown, too, when he completed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Gallagher III that was nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on Gallagher.

Wilkins' fourth-down pass from Utah's 24 to a wide-open Ryan Ward was off the mark, or else that would have scored as well.

The Mountaineers' third series under Wilkins' direction early in the fourth quarter began with a 68-yard Jarod Bowie reverse to the Utes' 7. Eventually, redshirt freshman Diore Hubbard squeezed in from the 1.

Those three drives with Wilkins accounted for 201 total yards and two touchdowns, while the other seven possessions managed just 145 yards and four first downs.

To say that was all Wilkins' doing is a stretch, for sure, but the Washington, D.C., resident did give the offense a spark it has been desperately seeking.

Wilkins has also seen some limited mop-up action in the Robert Morris and Kansas games, utilized primarily as a runner, and he missed a couple of easy throws against Utah that he might complete down the road with more game reps, Rodriguez conceded.

"Sometimes it's just getting more reps," he observed. "Sometimes you rush it a little bit and you kind of aim it instead of throwing it. Khalil can make all the throws, and obviously, he's a dynamic runner."

Rodriguez added, "We're searching for everything we can to help us, and Khalil has got some explosive-type of ability, and I think his upside and his future looks really good."

Last Wednesday morning, ESPN.com's Bill Connelly ranked all 68 power conference quarterbacks from 1 to 68, and the five-game performance of West Virginia's group placed it near the bottom, just ahead of Kentucky, Northwestern, North Carolina and Oklahoma State.

His analysis of the group so far, "Nicco Marchiol can throw a little. Jaylen Henderson can run. Neither seems to be able to fulfill all the requirements in a Rich Rodriguez offense, however. After Marchiol oversaw a blowout loss at Kansas, Henderson oversaw a blowout loss to Utah. It's possible a third option, Khalil Wilkins, starts against BYU this week after decent work during garbage time last week. Regardless, no answers have emerged so far."

With Marchiol announcing on social media earlier this week his plans to redshirt this season, figuring out his quarterback situation remains issue No. 1 for Rodriguez, but there are other issues he's still dealing with as well.

Running back remains a committee endeavor with Clay Ash and Diore Hubbard earning starts after Jahiem White's season-ending injury at Ohio. Northern Iowa transfer Tye Edwards appeared to be a solution following his 141-yard, three-touchdown performance in West Virginia's 31-24 overtime victory over Pitt, but he hasn't seen the field since.

His name remains one of the 11 on this week's injury report. Fortunately, Cyncir Bowers' name has been removed.

Developing a complementary wide receiver to take some pressure off Vaughn has been another conundrum. With Jaden Bray lost for another season, the onus has fallen on familiar names such as Rodney Gallagher III and Preston Fox, and some not-so-familiar names such as Justin Smith-Brown, Jarod Bowie and Jeff Weimer.

Perhaps some receiving help could also come from a group of tight ends that includes Grayson Barnes, Jacob Barrick or Ryan Ward.

Up front, Carson Lee got his first start at center in place of injured Landen Livingston, who was not listed on this week's injury report, while junior Donovan Haslem got some work at left guard and junior Malik Agbo got some reps at right tackle. Starting right guard Kimo Makane'ole is listed as probable for tonight, bringing the offensive line closer to full strength.

"There was a glimmer of hope for some guys that got some extended time, particularly on offense," Rodriguez noted.

Defensively, the veteran coach singled out the play of sophomore nickel safety Nick Taylor, who made an interception against Utah and was one of the team's more active defenders with eight total tackles. His performance last Saturday was rewarded with a trip to the team room for a visit with the media earlier this week.

The Appalachian State transfer said he missed two tackles against the Utes that he needs "to clean up," but he felt good about his development the week leading up to the game.

"He can come up and smack you at safety," defensive coordinator Zach Alley said of Taylor.

However, some of the other young players who got an opportunity to play late in the Utah loss did not perform as well, which was disappointing to Alley.

The coordinator said some of the mistakes they were making in the team's two victories were amplified in the three defeats.

Now, the pivot from the team's opening two conference losses to Kansas and Utah will not be an easy one on short notice tonight at 23^rd-ranked BYU, which is 8-2 in Big 12 play over the last two seasons and has lost only six games at home since 2000.

The 4-0 Cougars have grown men across the board on both sides of the ball, and the one who's not is a 6-foot-2, 220-pound freshman quarterback who wears jersey number 47 and is named Bear. Bachmeier is his surname, and he's the team's second-leading rusher behind LJ Martin, another 6-foot-2, 220-pounder with breakaway speed. Martin is averaging 7.3 yards per rush.

BYU is listed as substantial favorites in a game that won't start until 10:30 p.m. on the East Coast.

Getting acclimated to the altitude in Provo is usually a concern for many coaches who haven't played there, but for Rodriguez, it's way down on his list of worries.

"The first time I thought about that is when it was just brought up," he said. "I've played at Colorado and Utah many times, and I've never brought that up with my players."

Following the game tonight, the team will finally get to hit the pause button with an open date on Saturday, Oct. 11.

That will give Rodriguez and his coaching staff an opportunity to take a much deeper dive into their roster that is still in the process of on-boarding 81 new players. What WVU is experiencing in year one under Rodriguez is no different than what Arizona State experienced in Kenny Dillingham's first season in 2023, or Cincinnati's first year with Scott Satterfield.

It's also no different than what Deion Sanders encountered during year one at Colorado nor what Arizona and Houston encountered last season.

Sometimes it just takes some time.

Here is tonight's Countdown to Kickoff:

10 – West Virginia ranks TENTH among Power 4 schools for rushes of TEN or more yards with 37 so far this season.

9 – Sophomore receiver Cam Vaughn ranks NINTH in the Big 12 this week with five receiving plays of more than 20 yards.

8 – The WVU defense has produced multiple-sack games in all but EIGHT of its last 23 games dating back to 2023.

7 – SEVEN different players on defense have recorded at least two tackles for loss this season, led by safety Fred Perry, and linebackers Reid Carrico and Chase Wilson with 3 ½ each.

6 – The Mountaineers have surpassed 140 yards in rushing in all but SIX of their last 43 games since 2022. Last week, WVU had 261 yards on the ground against Utah.

5 – Preston Fox ranks FIFTH in the Big 12 this week averaging 9.1 yards per punt return. That figure also ranks him 39^th nationally.

4 – The WVU defense has registered at least FOUR tackles for loss in 33 out of its last 39 games.

3 – West Virginia's offense accounted for 201 of its 346 yards during the THREE possessions redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins quarterbacked the team during last week's loss to Utah.

2 – The Mountaineers and Cougars have played TWICE prior, both West Virginia victories in Landover, Maryland, in 2016 and in Morgantown in 2023.

1 – Tonight's game will be West Virginia's FIRST-ever appearance at LaVelle Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.

ESPN will provide live television coverage with Anish Shrouff, Andre Ware and Paul Carcaterra handling the call.

Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage starts with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show at 7:30 p.m. leading into regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning at 9:30 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.

In January, the company announced more than $350 million in annual revenue.

Utah’s largest network of independent, physician-owned clinics is planning to lay off 177 Provo office workers this fall.

The state’s Department of Workforce Services announced Revere Health’s intended layoff on its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, dashboard.

The layoff is centered on Revere Health’s Provo office building, located at 549 E. 1860 South. A first wave of 111 layoffs is planned for Nov. 3, followed by 66 more on Jan. 2, according to a WARN letter obtained in an open records request.

The letter indicates most of the affected employees work in accounts receivable or are coders. Those workers were notified of the layoff on or before Aug. 26.

Revere Health Redacted by The Salt Lake Tribune

The planned layoffs coincide with Revere Health’s new partnership with IKS Health, a Texas-based health care technology and revenue cycle management company.

The partnership, announced Monday in a news release shared with The Salt Lake Tribune, “represents a significant investment in modernization that will strengthen Revere Health’s position in today’s rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.”

The new technology — which includes “machine learning and automated claims processing” — will be used for billing, collections and denial prevention services, the news release said. This technology will replace staffers who’d been using “traditional manual processes.”

The move allows the company to “operate more efficiently and effectively in response to increasing industry demands,” said Revere Health’s chief development officer, Charlie Lathram, in a statement.

Patient services, the news release said, will be “uninterrupted” by the layoffs.

Lathram said the company will offer severance packages, transition assistance and other support to those laid off.

“While we must modernize and optimize our business processes to remain competitive, we take very seriously the impact this transition has on our Revere family,” Lathram said, “and are committed to assisting in whatever way we can.”

Three Utah County physicians founded Revere Health in 1969. Since then, it has grown to include practices in 30 cities throughout the state.

In a fact sheet released in January, Revere Health reported more than $350 million in annual revenue. The document said Revere Health employs more than 2,500 workers, including more than 200 physicians and 200 advanced practice clinicians spanning over 30 medical specialities.

Revere Health’s board appointed Jacque Durfey as its new CEO in July, replacing Scott Barlow. She joined the company in February as its chief operating officer and served as interim CEO.

The company closed the Rock Run Family Medicine clinic in Roy in February 2024, and its North Orem Family Medicine office in March 2023.

During that same two-year time period, they also expanded services and opened new clinics, including an orthopedic urgent care center and weight loss clinic in St. George and a family medicine and weight loss center in Santaquin.

In 2020, Revere Health received a $10 million relief loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. At the time, Barlow told The Tribune the company lost a quarter of its revenue “literally overnight.”

The relief money, Barlow said, allowed the company to rebuild its workforces and services after an initial wave of layoffs and voluntary departures.

Without the funding, he said, “We would’ve had to pare back a lot more on our staff, and I’m not sure how many of those we would’ve gotten back.”