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Situational Analysis | May 25, 2023

It's Thursday and Global Africa Day. Today marks the day when the African Union was founded in 1963. Happy 60th! 🌍

What You Need to Know

Ron DeSantis officially jumped into the race for President with a glitchy start on Twitter. Trump wasted no time, calling it a 'catastrophe' and 'DISASTER.' Biden had an ad out in short order and even Fox News ran a banner that read 'Amateur Hour.' In spite of the glitches, DeSantis raised $1 million in the first hour after the launch. A new survey of Iowa GOP primary voters shows Trump with a 42-point lead.

Rapid Roundup

Goodbye to a Queen: Tina Turner dies at age 83; a climber is dead after falling 100 feet in Big Cottonwood Canyon; the victims of a triple fatal crash on I-15 were in town for a high school graduation; Utah drivers urged to go 'back to basics' ahead of 100 Deadliest Days;

Utah Headlines

Political news

Utah Supreme Court upholds law making it harder to access waterways (UPR)
US Rep. Moore: Compromise needed to solve nation’s debt dilemma (Standard-Examiner)
Ogden doubles down on what lawmakers call an ‘illegal police quota’ (Fox13)
Former Utah Senator Derek Kitchen heads to D.C. to serve Biden Administration (ABC4)
Utah passed more gun-related bills than any other state since Uvalde shooting, report finds (KSL)
Erin Mendenhall: UDOT looks to expand I-15 and community is asking the right question, ‘Why?’ (Salt Lake Tribune)

General Utah news

'This could have ended very badly': UTA honors employees who saved man (KSL)
An Athlete Family Village? Utah’s Olympic bidders say that’s part of the vision for another Winter Games (Deseret News)
10 ways to celebrate Memorial Day in Utah this year (Deseret News)
When Tina Turner brought her high-energy rock ‘n’ roll to Utah (Deseret News)
Ogden man finds $10K treasure hidden in Nevada (KSL)
Heading to Zion National Park this Memorial Day weekend? Here’s what you should know. (St. George News)

Crime

Treat and Release: How Utah weighs the risk of repeat sex offenders (KSL TV)
Utah man charged with murder nearly 30 years after he told police wife died by suicide (Salt Lake Tribune)
Repeat Utah DUI offender refuses to answer 2News investigates questions, becomes physical (KUTV)
Utahn says he lost life savings to ‘friend’ tied to alleged $30M Ponzi scheme (KSL)
Utah County authorities searching for teens who damaged Elk Ridge water booster station (ABC4)
Authorities warn against vandalising public property in Utah forests (ABC4)

Education

Preparing for adulthood? Practical advice for high school grads (Deseret News)
American Fork Junior High School goes into lockdown after gun found in backpack (Fox13)

Environment

Experts warn hikers of risks during Utah's 'dangerous' season (Fox13)
Flood warning for Logan River through Friday morning (KSL)
What is ‘light flashing fuel’ and why it concerns firefighters this summer (KSL TV)
PHOTOS: See how good Arches National Park is looking this spring (Salt Lake Tribune)
Here’s how 2 Utah cities conserved more water — and what others can learn from them (KUER)

Health

New research allows scientists to study brain signals connected to chronic pain (Deseret News)
Utah among three lowest states for mammograms, report finds (ABC4)

National Headlines

General

Man shot roommate after accusing him of eating the last Hot Pocket, police say (AP)
A public person in a private country: Tina Turner reveled in ‘normal’ life in her Swiss home (AP)
George Floyd death anniversary: Reckoning with police violence in limbo (AP)
Oath Keepers founder to be sentenced for seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 attack (Wall Street Journal)

Politics

Biden picks history-making Air Force fighter pilot to serve as next Joint Chiefs chairman (Side note: I met Gen. Brown a couple of years ago!) (AP)
State House ethics panel says Texas AG broke state laws, ethics rules (Washington Post)
Democrats erupt in laughter after Greene calls for decorum in House (The Hill)
House passes measure overturning Biden’s student debt forgiveness program (The Hill)
Fox News promises not to crash during DeSantis interview (Politico)
‘Blood in the water for DeSantis’: Trump world embraces Tim Scott’s candidacy. The former president’s team views virtually every ‘24 development through the prism of whether it helps or hurts Ron DeSantis. (Politico)
How Idaho’s subdued statesman became one of the most powerful politicians in Washington (Deseret News)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

Mercenary boss says war in Ukraine has backfired, warns of Russian revolution (Washington Post)
Damage to Russian-occupied dam submerges Ukrainian reservoir island community (AP)
36 hours in Bakhmut: One unit's desperate battle to hold back the Russians (Wall Street Journal)
As Russia Pummels Ukraine, Soviet-Era Bombs Elude Kyiv’s Modern Defenses (New York Times)

World

Day after Typhoon Mawar hit Guam, ‘what used to be a jungle looks like toothpicks’ (AP)
An Iranian nuclear facility is so deep underground that US airstrikes likely couldn’t reach it (AP)
Sudanese doctors should not have to risk their own lives to save lives (NPR)
Flying drones and chasing data, Indigenous women in Guyana join fight against climate change (AP)
Egypt's female 'prisoners of poverty' struggle with stigma (Reuters)

News Release

Utah Valley University names new vice president of Finance

Utah Valley University (UVU) business professor and local investment firm CEO, Jim Mortensen, has been named the new vice president of Finance at the university. He succeeds Linda Makin, who retired last week.

As vice president of Finance, Mortensen will oversee the university’s budget, the Planning, Budgeting, and Assessment (PBA) process, procurement, accounting, and asset management. Mortensen will assume his role on May 23, 2023. (Read More)

On This Day In History

1787 - The Constitutional Convention begins, with George Washington presiding.
1861 - President Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War.
1889 - Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson is born. An early civil rights activist and organizer of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, she pioneered the tactic of non-violent resistance.
1910 - Mary Keyserling is born. An economist, she was also the Director of the Women’s Bureau of the Labor Department (1964-1969), the Executive Director of the National Consumers’ League (1938), and personal advisor to Eleanor Roosevelt in the Office of Civilian Defense
1919 - Madame C.J. Walker dies. She was an African American entrepreneur and the first Black self-made female millionaire in America.
1961 - JFK announces US goal of putting a man on the Moon before the end of decade. He made the task a national priority and a mission in which all Americans would share, stating that it would not be one man going to the moon—it would be an entire nation.
1977 - Star Wars opens in theaters
2018 - Stacey Cunningham becomes the first female president of the New York Stock Exchange.
2020 - George Floyd is killed.

Quote of the Day

"Focus on your skills, whether it’s working in a kitchen, working on a trading floor, running a household. You can go do anything."

—Stacey Cunningham

On the Punny Side

What's the difference between Boba Fett and a time machine operated by Marty McFly?

One's a Mandalorian, and the other's a manned DeLorean.