Situational Analysis | March 21, 2023

It's Tuesday and it's officially spring! My bulbs haven't gotten the message....

It's also World Down Syndrome Day. This year's theme is "With us, not for us." Don't miss this story on RODS Heroes and their work to find adoptive homes for children with Down Syndrome. 💙💛

What You Need to Know

President Joe Biden vetoed his first piece of legislation yesterday, blocking a bill that would have repealed a Labor Department rule allowing retirement fund managers to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles in investment decisions. Last week, Gov. Cox tweeted that he signed a letter with 18 other governors opposing the president's support of ESG, saying it jeopardized the retirement savings of millions of Americans. State Treasurer Marlo Oaks has called ESG "part of Satan's plan."

Rapid Roundup

‘It just keeps coming': Warnings issued in Utah with wintry week ahead; Washington, D.C. cherry blossoms nearly at peak; a mountain lion in Colorado clawed a man's head while he relaxed in a hot tub; and finally, Salt Lake City police are hosting a gun buy-back event this Saturday.

Utah Headlines

Political news

A major bill on domestic violence in Utah has been signed into law (Fox13)
Summit County alleges 'legislative cronyism' in lawsuit against developer, state of Utah (KSL)
Legislature gave $1 million to sell company’s ‘roller felling’ to federal land managers (Salt Lake Tribune)
‘Republicans are wrong about Democrats and Democrats are wrong about Republicans,’ Gov. Cox tells high school students in Tooele (Deseret News)
Sen. Mike Lee blames central bank for inflation, says 'End the Fed' (KSL)
Gov. Cox kicks off “Connecting Utah Tour," plans to visit all 29 Utah counties (ABC4)

General Utah news

Former Utah tech exec was killed in an 'ambush.' Police have arrested his ex-wife's husband (KSL)
Riverton family therapist arrested for allegedly downloading child porn (ABC4)
Brittany Tichenor-Cox wants to grow ‘Izzy’s Village’ into a safe space for everyone (KUER)
Gwyneth Paltrow on trial in Utah for a ski incident at Deer Valley (KUTV)

Business

Geneva Rock mine expansion approved at Point of the Mountain in Salt Lake County (KUTV)

Education

A Black USU grad is suing after he says his professor drew a ‘coon caricature’ of him and the school did little to investigate (Salt Lake Tribune)
Book fair provides over 2,000 books to Utah kids (Fox13)
‘Priceless, freaking jewels’: Cedar City parents talk school safety at grassroots meeting (St. George News)
Tom Christofferson & Jacob Hess: We’ve witnessed campus cancellation campaigns. Elder Holland deserves to be heard at Southern Utah University (Deseret News)
SUU campus divided over LDS apostle chosen as commencement speaker (Fox13)
Somebody wants the Bible removed from Davis County school libraries (KSL)

Environment

UDOT truck veers into Big Cottonwood Canyon canal, no water contamination suspected (KSL Newsradio)
Brighton Resort breaks 700 inches of snow during 'groundbreaking' season (Fox13)
Quarry expansion at Point of the Mountain gets ‘tentative approval’ despite objections from Draper officials. Draper cries foul after Geneva Rock looks to add 77 acres within city limits to its massive mining footprint. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Family

Newly passed Utah law gives many state workers access to at-work childcare (KUTV)

Health

California picks Utah-based generic drug company Civica to produce low-cost insulin (Salt Lake Tribune)
Why are medical school students less interested in ER medicine? (Deseret News)
A researcher found poliovirus in Utah wastewater last year. Here’s why public health officials aren’t concerned (Deseret News)
The robot will see you now: Why experts say AI in health care is not to fear (KSL)
Deadly fungal infection rapidly spreading in U.S. health facilities (Washington Post)

Housing

Utah Supreme Court announces new project to provide free legal aid to people with housing issues (ABC4)

National Headlines

General

Workplace attacks have been rising — almost entirely against women (Washington Post)
More than 56 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada and more on the way (AP)
Sailboat crew rescued in Pacific after abandoning ship sunk by whale (Washington Post)

Politics

The fight over two freedoms. Will a Supreme Court ruling on a web designer who opposes same-sex marriage reshape the First Amendment? (Deseret News)
Prosecutor in Trump case wades into treacherous political waters (New York Times)
House GOP turns knives on Manhattan DA over potential Trump arrest (The Hill)
Biden to create two new national monuments in Nevada and Texas (New York Times)
Biden issues first veto, rejecting the anti-ESG bill proposed by Republicans (Washington Post)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

What uncertainty with Europe’s ‘big three’ means for Ukraine’s survival (Deseret News)
Russia tried to freeze Ukraine. Here’s how it survived the winter. (Wall Street Journal)
Japan’s Kishida heading to Ukraine for talks with Zelenskyy (AP)
China has shipped more than $12 million in drones to Russia since it invaded Ukraine (New York Times)

World

Finland ranked the happiest country for 6th year (Deseret News)
A Christian aid worker has been freed from captivity in Africa (Deseret News)
Macron’s government survives no confidence vote in National Assembly (Wall Street Journal)
U.S. finds Ethiopian troops committed crimes against humanity (Washington Post)
Earthquake-battered parts of Turkey hit by severe flooding (Washington Post)

News Release

Lee joins delegation to Mexico urging cooperation on mutual security challenges

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) joined a U.S. delegation to Mexico focused on continuing our economic partnership, stopping illicit drug trafficking, curbing illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, and addressing China’s role in providing precursors for fentanyl production and laundering money for the cartels. (Read More)

Gov. Cox signs 66 bills of the 2023 General Legislative Session

Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed 66 bills today.

Gov. Cox has 460 pieces of legislation from the 2023 General Legislative Session to date. Information on bills signed Monday can be found here.

Upcoming

Family, Religion, Education & Entrepreneurship Forum with Sutherland Institute & AEI — March 23, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm, Hyatt Regency, 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

1617 - Matoaka dies at age 20. We know her by her nickname - Pocahontas.
1873 - Hannah Kaaepa is born. Hannah was a Hawaiian immigrant who moved to Iosepa, Utah who boldly spoke for Hawaiian women’s voting rights.
1891 - A Hatfield marries a McCoy, ending a 20-year long bloody feud that began with an accusation of pig-stealing.
1916 - Albert Einstein publishes his Theory of General Relativity in the scientific journal Annalen der Physik.
1947 - US President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal employees to have “complete and unswerving loyalty to the United States”
1963 - Alcatraz prison closes.
1965 - Martin Luther King, Jr. begins march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
1975 - Ethiopia abolishes its monarchy after 3000 years
1980 - President Carter announces that the US will boycott the Olympics to take place in Moscow later that summer.
1985 - In a race riddled with storms, Libby Riddles claimed victory in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, becoming the first woman to win the famed endurance race.
2006 - Twitter is born!
2014 - Russia declares it has formally annexed Crimea amid international condemnation. Not enough, apparently.
2019 - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces a ban on military-style semiautomatic weapons, 6 days after the Christchurch terrorist attack
2021 - 10 people shot dead at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, by 21 year-old gunman

Quote of the Day

“I believe in the future because I believe in you.”

—Governor Spencer Cox, speaking at Tooele High School

On the Punny Side

There's supposed to be a new time travel movie coming out next year.

It was pretty good