The Democratic controlled cities of Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho, adopted new city flags this week that show support for LGBTQ+ people in defiance of new laws passed by their states’ Republican-controlled Legislatures.

Schools have opened nationwide this fall only to find thousands of students and teachers sickened by COVID-19 in what many officials had hoped would be a year that saw a return to “normal” in-person instruction.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall speaks during a news conference Monday, Sept. 21, 2020, in Salt Lake City. "It's a tragedy for this young boy, for his mother and for families and individuals who have acute mental health needs." The videos show Salt Lake City officers chasing him down an alley after they arrive at his home, then yelling at him to get on the ground. “He freaks out.”The video was made public under a Salt Lake City ordinance requiring the release of video from police shootings within 10 business days. “It’s super important.”The Salt Lake City officers who arrived had some mental-health training but were not specialists in crisis intervention.

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 8, 2020, file photo, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall wears a face mask as she attends the daily COVID-19 media briefing at the Capitol in Salt Lake City. A police department vowed Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, to cooperate with multiple investigations of the shooting of a 13-year-old autistic boy by officers in the Salt Lake City area. Similar questions are being raised in Rochester, New York, following the death of a Black man whose brother called police about his unusual behavior shortly after a mental health evaluation. Someone whos in a mental health crisis ... may have different behaviors, Wittwer said. In 2016, Salt Lake City police opted out of the training her group provides.

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 8, 2020, file photo, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall wears a face mask as she attends the daily COVID-19 media briefing at the Capitol in Salt Lake City. Similar questions are being raised in Rochester, New York, following the death of a Black man whose brother called police about his unusual behavior shortly after a mental health evaluation. Someone whos in a mental health crisis ... may have different behaviors, Wittwer said. In 2016, Salt Lake City police opted out of the training her group provides. The boy's mother, meanwhile, told Salt Lake Citys KUTV that she informed police her son has autism, was unarmed and did not know how to regulate his behavior.