Dolly Parton launches literacy initiative in Utah as Harry Potter memorial avoids cable project

In Utah, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has entered a formal agreement with the nonprofit Operation Literacy to launch the ‘Raising Utah Readers’ initiative. The partnership aims to provide free books to children across the state to combat low literacy rates, as reports indicate nearly half of Utah students in kindergarten through third grade are not reading at grade level.

Separately, in Wales, a $580 million undersea cable project intended to link the United Kingdom and Ireland was diverted in 2019 following significant public backlash. Fans of the ‘Harry Potter’ film series protested the project because the proposed route would have crossed a makeshift memorial at Freshwater West beach, where fans gather to honor the fictional character Dobby.