Utah Headlines

General

• Perspective from Rev. Theresa Dear: The power of a dream (Deseret News)
• How personal faith anchored Martin Luther King Jr.’s public life (Deseret News)
• How do we live together when we profoundly disagree? A conversation with john powell (Deseret News)
• Thousands of dollars of stolen property recovered after Springville porch pirate arrest (KUTV)
• A little town called Dearfield. How one man’s vision became a haven for Black westerners (Deseret News)
• Ardis E. Parshall: Honest history, LDS and otherwise, can be revealing, surprising and healing (Salt Lake Tribune)

Politics

• Utah teacher salaries, school choice scholarship will be linked in new bill (Fox13)
• Will 2023 bring another ugly fight over transgender issues in Utah? (Deseret News)
• Utah Lt. Gov.’s office examining Gene Davis’ use of campaign funds to fight sexual misconduct allegations (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Opinion: Tips for freshman legislators from one who’s been there (Deseret News)
• Editorial Board: Utah Legislature can do more good than harm. Here’s how: Protect our water, air and schools. Leave culture war issues alone. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Education, water are big issues in 2023 Utah Legislative Session, expert says (KSL Newsradio)
• Senate leadership on the 2023 legislative session (ABC4)
• Gov. Cox on the 2023 legislative session and state of the state (ABC4)
• The approaching legislative session, with host Jason Perry, and guests Doug Wilks, Holly Richardson and Chris Bleak (Hinckley Report)
• Carbon tax ballot initiative filed for Utah air quality efforts (Fox13)

Business

• Rocky Mountain University has new home, president and goals (Daily Herald)
• Want to keep your Dry January? A Salt Lake City dry bar might be the ticket (KUER)

Education

• At Utah Valley University, MLK Day isn’t just a day off — it’s about connection and service (KUER)

Environment

• Would thinning forests help Utah’s Great Salt Lake? Some say so (Deseret News)
• Snow depth doubled in 30 days at some Utah sites, researcher says (KSL)
• New water intake system installed at Glen Canyon Dam as Lake Powell nears record low (KSL)
• Rally to save Great Salt Lake urges Utah lawmakers to make 'meaningful change' (Fox13)

Health

• 41% of Utah homes have dangerous radon levels, association warns (KSL)
• Sitting too much is bad for your health, but offsetting the impact is easy, study shows (KSL)
• The surprising reason for the decline in cancer mortality. Behavioral changes and screenings may be just as important as treatments, if not more so. (The Atlantic)

Housing

• How much more can we take? True life stories of paying rent in Utah
  One woman sold some of her vintage glass collection, and other barely-making-it scenarios. (Salt Lake Tribune)

National Headlines

General

• A close call at JFK. Agencies now investigating averted plane crash (AP)
• New York Mayor says "no room" in his city for migrants (Reuters)
• Deadly tornadoes, storms pummel southeast U.S. Tens of thousands of homes in Alabama and Georgia were left without power (Wall Street Journal)
• Trump Org. fined $1.6 million for criminal tax fraud (Politico)
• The kind of revolution that Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned (New York Times)
• On Martin Luther King Day, nine facts about him that may surprise you (Washington Post)
• NAACP president: Racial wealth gap ‘single greatest barrier to realizing Dr. King’s dream’ (The Hill)
• Biden becomes the first sitting president to deliver a Sunday sermon at MLK's church (NPR)
• Biden: Americans should ‘pay attention’ to MLK’s legacy (AP)

Politics

• More classified documents found at Biden’s home by lawyers (AP) 
• The U.S. could hit its debt ceiling within days. Here's what you need to know. (NPR)
• New details link George Santos to cousin of sanctioned Russian oligarch (Washington Post)
• Thom Tillis emerges as a bipartisan dealmaker as lawmakers fear dysfunction looms (Washington Post)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• Ukraine strike deaths hit 40; Russia seen preparing long war (AP)
• Expanded US training for Ukraine forces begins in Germany (AP)

World

• 68 dead, 4 missing after plane crashes in Nepal resort town (AP)
• Former Afghan female lawmaker, guard shot dead at home (AP)
• Kabul's mannequins, hooded and masked under Taliban rules (AP)
• Afghan women are flocking to virtual learning amid Taliban’s university ban (The Hill)
• Brazil's crowdfunded insurrection leaves paper trail for police (Reuters)
• Global recession in 2023 seen as likely in World Economic Forum survey (Reuters)

News Releases

Rep. Stewart named co-chair of the Mental Health Caucus

This week, Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) was named co-chair of the Mental Health Caucus. He joins Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) as co-lead of this crucial group that is committed to fighting our nation’s ongoing mental health crisis.

“I couldn’t be prouder to co-chair this bipartisan caucus and elevate the conversation around mental health,” said Rep. Stewart. “Congresswoman Napolitano has done outstanding work as co-chair of this caucus, and I’m eager to join her efforts on this all-important issue. It’s a topic that hits home for everyone – suicide is a top ten cause of death nationwide, as well as in my home state. We are wholeheartedly committed to finding real-world, bipartisan solutions to help all Americans struggling with mental health challenges, and we will work tirelessly to uphold that commitment.” (Read More)

Number of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Legislative session begins — Jan. 17, le.utah.gov
• State of the State — Jan. 19
• Legislative session ends — Mar. 3, le.utah.gov

On This Day In History

• 1493 - Christopher Columbus leaves the New World and sails for Spain

• 1547 - Ivan IV the Terrible crowns himself the first tsar of Moscow.

• 1605 - “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes, is published. It is considered by many to be the first modern novel.

• 1843 - Sarah Rosetta Wakeman is born. During the American Civil War, Sarah disguised herself as a man to earn more money. Using either the name Lyons or Edwin Wakeman to find work, she eventually enlisted in the Union Army under the name Lyons. She served until 1864 when she died of dysentery. Only Wakeman’s letters home revealed her true identity.

• 1883 - President Chester Arthur signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, creating the U.S. civil service system. The act established a merit basis for federal jobs and promotions and made it illegal to fire or demote government employees for political reasons.

• 1919 - Prohibition is ratified by the states.

• 1932 - Dian Fossey is born. She was a primatologist and researcher who lived among the gorillas for Rwanda for 18 years. She was murdered by machete in 1985. The last entry in her diary read: “When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future.”

• 1945 - Hitler descends into his bunker where he stays for 105 days until dying by suicide.

• 1951 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules that “clear and present danger” of incitement to riot is not protected speech and can be cause for arrest.

• 1979 - The Shah flees Iran. Fourteen days later, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni returns.

• 1991 - The Persian Gulf War begins with Operation Desert Storm.

• 1997 - Ennis Cosby, the 27-year-old son of Bill Cosby, is killed after he stops to fix a flat on I-405.

• 2006 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia’s new president, becoming Africa’s first female elected head of state.

• 2013 - Pauline Phillips, the original “Dear Abby” dies at age 94.

Wise Words

“Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy’s point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.” 

—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On the Punny Side

Did you know that french fries weren’t first cooked in France?
They’re actually cooked in Greece.

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