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Utah’s April Fools’ Day pranks have the Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell enlisting in the National Guard and elephants playing with Utah Symphony

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) heads to the locker room after scoring a game high 35 points, in NBA action between the Utah Jazz and the Washington Wizards, in Salt Lake City, Friday, March 29, 2019.

Utah organizations aren’t immune from the lure of April Fools’ Day jokes, posting what can literally be called “fake news.”

The Utah Army National Guard took to Twitter first thing Monday morning with an announcement that Donovan Mitchell, the star shooting guard for the Utah Jazz, was going to enlist in the Guard.

The Guard’s Twitter thread said Mitchell “will be enlisting as a cannon crewmember (MOS 13B) for his love of teamwork and shooting.” The tweet ended with the hashtag #AprilFools.

The Utah Symphony took advantage of the day to announce a collaboration with Utah’s Hogle Zoo and Tracy Aviary to bring animals — from cockatoos to elephants — onto the Abravanel Hall stage to perform classical music.

”Several species of birds from the Tracy Aviary will be on the percussion and woodwind sections. The elephants at Utah’s Hogle Zoo will also be joining the orchestra on ‘Pines of Rome’ and ‘Carnival of the Animals,’” Utah Symphony announced in a press release.

The announcement came with an accompanying video, which suggests everything may not be on the up-and-up.

Meanwhile, parents of students at Salt Lake City’s West High School received an email Sunday from principal Ford White, thwarting an attempted April Fools’ prank.

A rumor spread via social media that the school would open at 7:45 a.m. Monday, the time school opens on Tuesdays through Fridays, rather than the regular 9:45 a.m. Monday “late start.” In the email, White said that one of the school’s social media sites was hacked with the incorrect schedule.

Out in Daggett County, Flaming Gorge Resort, about a 200-mile drive east of Salt Lake City, announced on Facebook that it was selling tags for the annual jackalope hunt, set for April 31. (Double-check that date, and remember the rhyme: “Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. ...”)

Rangers at Zion National Park put up a prankish Instagram post, announcing plans to install a zip line from the top of Angels Landing starting in 2020.

“Finally, our visitors will be able to soar like a California condor!" the post reads, before giving in with a more serious tone: “These places are protected for their natural beauty and historical significance. Amusement rides and most modern additions would only distract from that significance and could not improve these magnificent places.”

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Zion National Park announces plans to reduce crowding on Angels Landing by installing a zipline at the top. The new zipline, scheduled to open in 2020, would make the hike a loop and reduce the need for people to walk back along the narrow ridge to the trailhead. Finally, our visitors will be able to soar like a California condor! • Spurred by increasing wait times and congestion on the narrow Angels Landing Trail, the National Park Service plans to build a 1,500-foot tall zipline route that, if constructed, would be the first ever in a national park. The contract was awarded to Xtreme HoaX Industries to begin drawing up plans this week. • "We figured that if visitors were going to wait in lines like it was an amusement park, we might as well put a ride in!" said an unnamed Park Ranger. • "Also, happy April Fools' Day!" . . . It might be fun to think about, but the NPS would not install a zipline in a National Park. These places are protected for their natural beauty and historical significance. Amusement rides and most modern additions would only distract from that significance and could not improve these magnificent places. • Angels Landing is crowded. The park is working on a Draft Visitor Use Management Plan that will be open for public comment later this year. It will attempt to address crowding issues like this one. In the meantime, you can read the preliminary information on our website. • Image created from photo by Doug Hay; CC-BY #aprilfools #hoax #angelslanding #zion #trails #zipline #nationalpark

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