It's National Ellis Island Family History Day; know your flood risk; 'Tinker Time' at Utah's STEM Action Center; and taxidermied bird drones
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The Utah Policy newsletter is your one-stop source for political and policy-minded news. We scour the news so you don't have to! Send news tips or feedback to Holly Richardson at editor@utahpolicy.com.

 

Situational Analysis | April 17, 2023

Good Monday morning to ya. It's National Ellis Island Family History Day - do you have family members who were part of the millions of immigrants to come through Ellis Island? You can search for them here

What You Need to Know

  • A shooting at an Alabama "Sweet Sixteen" birthday party on Saturday kills four people and injures 28. One of those killed was the older brother of the birthday girl who had just signed to play college football. Police said there is no further danger to the public but released no additional details.

Rapid Roundup

 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • The IUP Panel on the threat of China and the 2024 race for U.S. Senate (ABC4)
  • Social media and 2024 election issues (Hinckley Report)
  • Does Utah have a process for expelling lawmakers like in Tennessee? (KSL)
  • Stuart Adams & Jonathan Williams: For the 16th time, Utah’s economic outlook tops the nation (Deseret News)
  • Sen. Mike Lee responds to campus free speech issues at Stanford, BYU law schools (Deseret News)
  • Carson Jorgensen on why he’s not seeking a second term as Utah GOP Chair (ABC4)
  • Get to know the new likely chair of the Utah Republican Party (KSL Newsradio)
  • State audit alleges former Cache County prosecutors misused public resources, had side contracts without county’s knowledge (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • St. George city council discusses reclaiming ‘abandoned’ cemetery plots (St. George News)

General Utah news

  •  Hundreds of Utahns help fill sandbags in Salt Lake County (KSL)
  • Utah’s only Hispanic Medal of Honor recipient honored posthumously (KSL)
  • Utah nonprofit collects used medical equipment for Navajo Nation (Fox13)
  • Deadly Utah avalanche that killed skier from California was 400 feet wide, report says (Fox13)
  • This artist’s vision is to celebrate Utah wildlife through murals (Deseret News)
  • Volunteerism is falling in the US, even in happy-to-help Utah (KUER)

Business

  • What motivates Utahns to become entrepreneurs more than any other state? (Deseret News)
  • How does Salt Lake City stack up to Major League Baseball expansion competition? (KSL)
  • Burger King set to close several stores in Utah (ABC4)
  • Retired professor reflects on efforts to promote Black Theatre in Utah (KUTV)

Education

  •  Snow College promotes interim President Stacee McIff to new role as president (St. George News)
  • Teachers nationwide are flummoxed by students’ newfound chess obsession (Washington Post)

Environment

  • Mike Squires: Romney is right. The future of energy is nuclear (Deseret News)
  • Farmers see setbacks from Utah’s endless winter, but one crop is ready to go — alfalfa (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Above-normal temperatures expected to melt more snowpack as flood advisory continues (KUTV)

Health

  • Hearing and remembering: How hearing aids reduce hearing loss and dementia. Those who struggle with hearing loss and do not wear hearing aids have a 42% higher risk of dementia, new study finds. (Deseret News)
  • Music can heal the mind and heart (KSL Newsradio)
  • Teen with life-threatening depression finally found hope. Then insurance cut her off (NPR)

Housing

  •  What Utah renters need to know to protect themselves from flooding (KUER)
 

National Headlines

General

  • Economists turn more pessimistic on inflation (Wall Street Journal)
  • Black Kansas City teen shot in the head by homeowner after going to wrong house to pick up siblings (AP)
  • ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ closes on Broadway after 35 years (AP)
  • Video shows New Mexico police were at wrong house seconds before killing homeowner (Reuters)
  • A pro-Russian account overseen by an ex-Navy member aided the spread of secrets (Wall Street Journal)
  • National Guard member accused of applying to work as hitman on website (The Hill)
  • Discord leak suggests China doesn’t need TikTok to find U.S. secrets (Washington Post)
  • Russians boasted that just 1% of fake social profiles are caught, leak shows (Washington Post)

Politics

  • Trump and DeSantis give dueling speeches at National Rifle Association convention (Deseret News)
  • The Supreme Court, the Sabbath and a much-debated piece of civil rights law (Deseret News)
  • GOP leader McConnell returning to Senate after head injury (AP)
  • The $1.6 billion Dominion v. Fox News trial starts Tuesday. Catch up here (NPR)
  • Anti-trans bills have doubled since 2022. Since January, state legislators have introduced more than 400 anti-trans bills — more than the number introduced in the previous four years combined (Washington Post)
  • Democratic senators favor forcing House vote on debt limit increase (The Hill)
  • Lindsey Graham slams Marjorie Taylor Greene for defending leak of classified documents (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • Top Kremlin critic convicted of treason, given 25 years in prison for denouncing the war in Ukraine (AP)
  • Putin hails Russian navy’s performance in Pacific drills (AP)
  • Shocked by Russian atrocities, NATO is becoming the alliance it was during the Cold War, committed to defending “every inch” of its territory. (New York Times)

World

  • Nearly 100 civilians killed as army, rivals battle for control of Sudan (AP)
  • US warship sails through Taiwan Strait following China war games (Reuters)
  • US, allies aim to reduce economic ties with China (Wall Street Journal)
 

Number of the Day

Number of the Day, Apr 17, 2023

 

Tweet of the Day #1

Screenshot 2023-04-17 at 7.16.34 AM

 

Tweet of the Day #2

Screenshot 2023-04-17 at 7.14.45 AM

 

Upcoming

  • Utah GOP convention — Apr 22, 10:00 am, UVU UCCU Center, Orem (More information here)
  • Teen Girls Experiencing Increased Sadness and Violence with Utah Women and Leadership Project — April 25, 12:00-1:15 pm via Zoom, Register here
  • United Utah Party State Convention — April 29, 10:00 am-12:00 pm, Lehi High School with keynote speakers Teri McCabe and Jay Mcfarland
  • Mount Liberty College Spring Youth Seminar on The Virginian — May 6, 9 am-7 pm, Register Here
  • Utah Democratic Convention May 19-20, SUU (More information here)
 

On This Day In History 

  • 1387 - Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" characters begin their pilgrimage to Canterbury (according to scholars).
  • 1790 - Benjamin Franklin dies at age 84.
  • 1815 - The Tambora volcano erupts in Indonesia, killing 10,000 people immediately and another 80,000 of starvation over the next year. It caused the “year without a summer” in New England, prompting the Smith family to move from Sharon, Vermont to Palmyra, New York.
  • 1913 - Dorothy Fosdick is born. She worked as a federal official from 1942 to 1953, developing the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, advising on national security and writing speeches for Henry “Scoop” Jackson (1955-83).
  • 1916 - Sirimavo Bandaranaike is born. She became the world’s first modern female head of state when she became the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960.
  • 1961 - The Bay of Pigs invasion begins.
  • 1964 - Geraldine (Jerrie) Mock, who called herself "The Flying Housewife", becomes the first woman to fly solo around the world.
  • 1970 - Apollo 13 returns to earth.
  • 1975 - Cambodia falls to the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge killed approximately 1.7 million people over the next 4 years (21% of the country's population). 

Quote of the Day

"I didn't think it was such a great thing; it was just lots of fun."

—Jerrie Mock


On the Punny Side

My toddler is refusing to nap.

He’s guilty of resisting a rest.

 

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