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Situational Analysis | March 9, 2023

It's Thursday and World Kidney Day. Did you know that chronic kidney disease affects 1 in 10 adults worldwide??

What You Need to Know

Rep. Carol Spackman Moss is the longest-serving female legislator in the history of the legislature, with 23 years of elected service. She previously taught high school students for 33 years. She told Deanie Wimmer of KSL that she gained skills in relationships and communication during her teaching career. Getting along with teenagers can help you get along with almost anyone.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday job openings fell month-over-month in January to 10.8 million, down from a near-record 11.2 million in December but still well above the historical average. The quit rate—the percentage of workers who quit their job during the month—ticked down to 2.5 percent, while the number of layoffs and discharges edged up slightly to 1.7 million.
GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy rejected an offer from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to visit Ukraine to see first-hand the impact of the war. McCarthy blamed Biden for not acting fast enough to help Ukraine and also added there would be "no blank checks."

Rapid Roundup

A California couple is suing a Hawaiian tour company for leaving them in the ocean; Utes season ends; a woman who disappeared 31 years ago was found alive in a Puerto Rico nursing home; and Farmington police release body cam footage of shooting death.

Utah Headlines

Political news

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson shares International Women's Day message with Utah women, girls (KSL)
Lee reintroduces ‘Stopping Border Surges Act’ as Biden considers family detention policy (Deseret News)
With global warming ‘not going away,’ Romney says federal government should look to Utah to prevent wildfires (Deseret News)
What Utah lawmakers did — and didn’t do — for the Great Salt Lake and controversial issues (Deseret News Editorial Board)
Rep. Carol Spackman Moss makes history as Utah's longest serving female legislator (KSL)
Utah County Assessor Poulson resigns after 20 years in office (Daily Herald)

General Utah news

International Women’s Day: A history of the first Latter-day Saint women’s newspaper (Deseret News)
Utah’s Olympic bid leaders taking on ‘a massive endeavor,’ tech boss says (Deseret News)
Utah Food Bank expects increased demand as boost to food stamps ends (KSL TV)

Business

Malala Yousafzai, in Utah on International Women’s Day, urges business leaders to work responsibly (Salt Lake Tribune)
Malala, YouTube star and Delta CEO headline massive Qualtrics summit opening day. After a four-year hiatus, Qualtrics draws 10,000 and a slew of celebrities to Salt Lake user summit (Deseret News)
Gov. Cox, at X4 Summit keynote, says ‘trust is the currency of government’ (Salt Lake Tribune)

Education

7 of 8 deans at Weber State University are women. What they said for International Women’s Day (Deseret News)
Utah legislature gives $15 million for teen centers in high schools. How will they work? (KSL Newsradio)
Utah State University turns 135; first-ever student was a 14-year-old (ABC4)
Student claims Westminster College coach retaliated over 'initiation' complaint (Fox13)
Legislature allocates $2.5M to Utah Tech University initiatives in support of higher ed (St George News)
After grad students speak out, U. offers concessions to those losing their housing (Salt Lake Tribune)

Environment

Utah's meteorological winter lands among the 10 wettest on record (KSL)
Utah farmers gain more flexibility with water rights under proposed bill (KSL Newsradio)
UDOT grants frontage road permit for unapproved Parleys Canyon mine (Fox13)
Utah counties to issue $2 billion in bonds to support oil railroad (Salt Lake Tribune)
Not just record snow, it's been historically cold in Utah (Fox13)

Health

Bindi Irwin opens up about endometriosis diagnosis. “For 10 years I’ve struggled with insurmountable fatigue, pain and nausea,” Irwin said in a Twitter post. “A doctor told me it was simply something you deal with as a woman. Surgery found 37 lesions. (Deseret News)

Housing

Utah bill aimed to prevent homeless deaths in winter headed to Gov. Cox's desk (KSL)
Utah homeless agency administrators making well over $100,000 (KUTV)
Affordable housing complex opens in Ballpark neighborhood (Fox13)

National Headlines

General

Americans went from record savings to record debt in just two years (NPR)
Federal investigators found the Louisville Metro Police Department has an extensive pattern of violating civil rights, conducting unlawful searches and discriminating against Black people and people with behavioral health disabilities. (NPR)
Jimmy Carter’s work for women’s rights is a lasting centerpiece of his legacy. In a 2015 TED talk, he said "“Knowing the world as I do, I can tell you without any equivocation that the No. 1 abuse of human rights on Earth, strangely not addressed quite often, is the abuse of women and girls." (NPR)
A problem America can't seem to fix. Why is poverty so intractable? (New York Times)

Politics

Biden budget seeks big deficit cuts in challenge to GOP (AP)
Business backlash pushing GOP to weaken anti-ESG proposals (AP)
Hundreds of US lawmakers and staff affected by data breach (KSL Newsradio)
GOP leader McConnell hospitalized after fall, spokesman says (KUTV)
Michigan House approves repeal of state’s right-to-work law (AP)
Veterans testify of ‘catastrophic’ impact of Afghan collapse (AP)
FreedomWorks lays off 40 percent of staff (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

Russian missile barrage slams into cities across Ukraine (AP)
Russia kills civilians in first huge missile wave in weeks (Reuters)

World

Four weeks after Turkey’s earthquake, rescued babies wait for their families to claim them. Doctors, government officials and volunteers are using DNA, photos and tiny fingerprints to match boys and girls with surviving family members (Wall Street Journal)
When the earth shook: Recounting the moments quakes hit Turkey, Syria. People did all they could. Tens of thousands died. Nothing would be the same. (Washington Post)
African countries made huge gains in life expectancy. Now that could be erased. (New York Times)
Taliban governor of Afghan province killed in bomb blast (Washington Post)

News Releases

Water legislation and funding passed during the 2023 general session

In the past two years, lawmakers have allocated nearly a billion dollars for water conservation efforts and development, further mitigating Utah’s ongoing water issues and planning for future growth. During the 2023 General Session, the Legislature funded over $500 million for water conversation, development and infrastructure. (Read More)

Romney: We must confront the reality that wildfires are an increasing problem

At a Budget Committee hearing today on the economic cost of wildfires, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) highlighted the reality that wildfires are becoming increasingly catastrophic in Utah and across the West and argued the need to adapt our wildfire policies to meet the current conditions, instead of continuing to respond to fires as we have in the past. (Read More)

Owens statement on protecting women’s sports, empowering parents

Today, Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04), Chairman of the Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee, delivered the following statement, as prepared for delivery, at the Education and the Workforce Committee Markup on H.R. 734, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 and H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights Act. (Read More)

Upcoming

Teaching Your Child Consent with the Utah Women and Leadership Project — Mar. 16, 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm, Virtual, Register Here
Sutherland Institute Annual Gala honoring Lowry Snow & Ian Rowe — Mar. 23, 7 pm, Hyatt Regency, More Information Here
MWEG Spring Conference with keynote speaker Becky Edwards — Mar. 25, 9:00 am - 3:30 pm at UVU or virtual, Register Here
Advancing Women Through “Developmental Relationships”: A Dialogue with Global Experts with the Utah Women and Leadership Project — April 4, 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm, Register here
Hatch Foundation Gala with special guest Sen. Mitch McConnell and Sec. Elaine Chao — April 14, 7:00 pm, Grand America, Register Here
Mount Liberty College Spring Youth Seminar on The Virginian — May 6, 9 am - 7 pm, Register Here

On This Day In History

1454 - Amerigo Vespucci is born in Florence.
1776 - Adam Smith publishes “The Wealth of Nations.”
1841 - Supreme Court rules on Amistad slave ship mutiny case, ruling that the African slaves who seized control had been illegally forced into slavery and were thus free under American law and should be granted free passage back to Africa. President Martin Van Buren appealed the decision. Twice.
1861 - Margaret Murray Washington is born. Throughout her career, Margaret Murray Washington was an advocate for women and the founder of several schools. Her focus and programs paralleled those of her husband, Booker T. Washington in many ways.
1895 - Dr. Rebecca Crumpler, the nation’s first Black female doctor, dies.
1910 - Sue Lee is born. She became a labor organizer in San Francisco and led a 15-week strike against National Dollar Stores garment factories for better wages and working conditions.
1928 - Graciela Olivárez is born. She was the first woman and first Latina graduate from Notre Dame Law School, and one of first two women on the board of Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
1945 - Tokyo is firebombed with 334 US B-29 Superfortresses and 120,000 fire bombs
1954 - President Eisenhower criticizes Senator Joe McCarthy’s approach to rooting out communists in a letter to a friend.
1959 - The Barbie doll makes its debut
2007 - The US Justice Department releases an internal audit that found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had acted illegally in its use of the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about US citizens
2022 - Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian city of Mariupol hit a hospital, killing at least three people, as attempts to create a humanitarian corridor out of the city fail

Quote of the Day

"Investing in girl’s education is not only important for the girls, or their families or their communities, it is important for the economy as well. It is important for sustainability."

—Malala Yousafazi, speaking at Qualtrics X4 Summit

On the Punny Side

I can cut a piece of wood in half just by looking at it.

It’s true. I saw it with my own eyes.