diff --git a/app/controllers/pages_controller.rb b/app/controllers/pages_controller.rb
index 91ef0c727..427ef803f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/pages_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/pages_controller.rb
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class PagesController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def welcome
-    daily_thread = latest_published_thread("welcome")
+    daily_thread = Article.admin_published_with("welcome").first
     if daily_thread
       redirect_to daily_thread.path
     else
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ class PagesController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def challenge
-    daily_thread = latest_published_thread("challenge")
+    daily_thread = Article.admin_published_with("challenge").first
     if daily_thread
       redirect_to daily_thread.path
     else
@@ -88,13 +88,4 @@ class PagesController < ApplicationController
     render :show if @page
     set_surrogate_key_header "crayons_page"
   end
-
-  private
-
-  def latest_published_thread(tag_name)
-    Article.published.
-      where(user_id: SiteConfig.staff_user_id).
-      order("published_at ASC").
-      tagged_with(tag_name).last
-  end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/article.rb b/app/models/article.rb
index a595d2e43..5d314418d 100644
--- a/app/models/article.rb
+++ b/app/models/article.rb
@@ -88,16 +88,23 @@ class Article < ApplicationRecord
   scope :published, -> { where(published: true) }
   scope :unpublished, -> { where(published: false) }
 
+  scope :admin_published_with, lambda { |tag_name|
+    published.
+      where(user_id: SiteConfig.staff_user_id).
+      order(published_at: :desc).
+      tagged_with(tag_name)
+  }
+
   scope :cached_tagged_with, ->(tag) { where("cached_tag_list ~* ?", "^#{tag},| #{tag},|, #{tag}$|^#{tag}$") }
 
   scope :cached_tagged_by_approval_with, ->(tag) { cached_tagged_with(tag).where(approved: true) }
 
   scope :active_help, lambda {
-                        published.
-                          cached_tagged_with("help").
-                          order("created_at DESC").
-                          where("published_at > ? AND comments_count < ? AND score > ?", 12.hours.ago, 6, -4)
-                      }
+    published.
+      cached_tagged_with("help").
+      order(created_at: :desc).
+      where("published_at > ? AND comments_count < ? AND score > ?", 12.hours.ago, 6, -4)
+  }
 
   scope :limited_column_select, lambda {
     select(:path, :title, :id, :published,
diff --git a/app/services/broadcasts/welcome_notification/generator.rb b/app/services/broadcasts/welcome_notification/generator.rb
index c3e6c75c2..d33553177 100644
--- a/app/services/broadcasts/welcome_notification/generator.rb
+++ b/app/services/broadcasts/welcome_notification/generator.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ module Broadcasts
       end
 
       def commented_on_welcome_thread?
-        welcome_thread = latest_published_thread("welcome")
+        welcome_thread = Article.admin_published_with("welcome").first
         Comment.where(commentable: welcome_thread, user: user).any?
       end
 
@@ -31,12 +31,6 @@ module Broadcasts
         @welcome_broadcast ||= Broadcast.find_by(title: "Welcome Notification: welcome_thread")
       end
 
-      def latest_published_thread(tag_name)
-        Article.published.
-          order("published_at ASC").
-          cached_tagged_with(tag_name).last
-      end
-
       attr_reader :user
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/services/broadcasts/welcome_notification/generator_spec.rb b/spec/services/broadcasts/welcome_notification/generator_spec.rb
index cb524dcc1..6439ad702 100644
--- a/spec/services/broadcasts/welcome_notification/generator_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/broadcasts/welcome_notification/generator_spec.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ RSpec.describe Broadcasts::WelcomeNotification::Generator, type: :service do
 
     before do
       allow(User).to receive(:mascot_account).and_return(mascot_account)
+      SiteConfig.staff_user_id = mascot_account.id
+    end
+
+    after do
+      SiteConfig.staff_user_id = 1
     end
 
     context "when sending a set_up_profile notification" do
@@ -20,7 +25,7 @@ RSpec.describe Broadcasts::WelcomeNotification::Generator, type: :service do
 
     context "when sending a welcome_thread notification" do
       before do
-        welcome_thread_article = create(:article, title: "Welcome Thread - v0", published: true, tags: "welcome")
+        welcome_thread_article = create(:article, title: "Welcome Thread - v0", published: true, tags: "welcome", user: mascot_account)
         create(:comment, commentable: welcome_thread_article, commentable_type: "Article", user: user)
       end