Situational Analysis | May 30, 2023

It's Tuesday and World Multiple Sclerosis Day.

Also, some sad news as Utah's political world lost one of our own this weekend when Raphael Millet died in a car accident. Condolences to his family and friends. 😢

What You Need to Know

A deal has been struck on the debt ceiling between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Details were released on Sunday in a 99-page bill that would suspend the nation's debt limit through 2025. According to the AP, it also includes provisions to fund medical care for veterans, change work requirements for some recipients of government aid and streamline environmental reviews for energy projects.

Rapid Roundup

Erdogan won another five years as president of Turkey; Utah softball team makes Women’s College World Series with 7-2 win over San Diego State; and Utahn Jim Kimose — perhaps the last Army Air Forces Iwo Jima veteran — turned 101 on Memorial Day;

Trail Mix with Felecia Maxfield-Barrett

Felecia Maxfield-Barrett is the president and CEO of Utah Global Diplomacy. She began her working career on her 16th birthday when she went up to a restaurant owner and said she needed a job. She was a first-gen college student who put herself through school and now has a Master's degree in Public Administration. She has some great advice for people who want to do what she does, including finding multiple mentors. And speaking of trails, she has started "Bicycle Diplomacy" - working toward world peace one ride at a time. Oh, and she's going on a 500-mile bike ride in July!

Utah Headlines

Political news

Gov. Cox reminds Utahns that Memorial Day carries ‘a responsibility that comes with being an American’ (Salt Lake Tribune)
Editorial Board: Volunteer armed forces protect American freedom valiantly (Deseret News)
Utah’s congressional delegation on what Memorial Day means to them (Deseret News)
Mike Lee: The spirit of Memorial Day lives in this soldier’s sacrifice (Deseret News)
‘Emotional for everyone’: 300 combat boots filled with pictures of fallen Utah soldiers create powerful Memorial Day display (ABC4)
Sen. Mitt Romney supports debt ceiling deal; Sen. Mike Lee says it doesn’t go far enough (Deseret News)
Rep. Blake Moore is ‘positive towards’ proposed debt ceiling agreement (Salt Lake Tribune)
This Utah LGTBQ+ activist aims to protect his community by breaking bread with GOP lawmakers (Salt Lake Tribune)

General Utah news

Nonprofit founded by Utahn works to provide clean water, stop female genital mutilation in Africa (KSL)
This Utah nonprofit just launched a bilingual program to help Utahns navigate medical debt (KSL)
West Haven still leads growth in Utah, Weber County (Standard-Examiner)
How this special ops veteran and bestselling author is finding peace at 10,000 feet (Deseret News)
Would you take the train to Vegas or Boise? At 79 mph? (Deseret News)

Business

3 keys for success in Utah’s economic evolution. We can’t stop Utah’s growth, but we can be smart about it (Deseret News)

Culture

Young people aren’t connecting. Here’s why that’s a bigger problem than you think (Deseret News)

Education

What a historic drop in 8th grade civics knowledge means for the nation. Our democracy depends on an informed and active public. (Deseret News)
New data shows COVID learning loss varied by district in Utah (KUER)
More high-school grads forgo college in hot labor market (Wall Street Journal)

Environment

Willard Bay full for first time in nine years (ABC4)
Heavy runoff means more water, less beach at Bear Lake (KSL TV)
Utah's melted snowpack makes for cold reservoirs (Fox13)
Great Salt Lake commissioner explains his new role and why Utahns should avoid "Great Salt Lake fatigue" (UPR)
With abundance of foxtails in Southern Utah, here’s how to keep your pet safe from ‘nightmare’ injuries (St. George News)

Family

Secrets of celebrity marriages that last (Deseret News)

Health

For covid long-haulers, the pandemic is far from over (Washington Post)
New suicide prevention program to distribute free gun safes to Utah veterans (KUTV)
‘Flood the state with naloxone’: In the last decade, Utah bucked the national trend of opioid overdose deaths (Deseret News)

National Headlines

General

In 2004, a U.S. general told the family of an Iraqi interpreter that insurgents killed their brother. The truth was more painful: He was mistakenly killed by Americans he had risked his life to help. (NPR)
More businesses require teens to be chaperoned by adults (AP)
Valerie Hudson: 3 principles for nations grappling with AI (Deseret News)

Politics

Boyd Matheson: Congress is broken — could this be the moment it is broken open? (The Hill)
Vice President Kamala Harris became the first woman to deliver a commencement speech at West Point. (New York Times)
Texas lawmakers on Sunday approved a ban on offices and programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion at publicly funded colleges and universities. (New York Times)
Republican-led Texas House impeaches state Attorney General Ken Paxton (NPR)
Wall Street dreads Biden-Trump rematch (Wall Street Journal)
Trump escalates attacks on judges amid increasing legal scrutiny (The Hill)
DeSantis kicks off presidential campaign in Iowa as he steps up criticism of Trump (AP)
Debt ceiling deal includes new work requirements for food stamps (New York Times)
McCarthy: Student loan payment pause ‘gone’ under debt ceiling deal (The Hill)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

In fields seeded with mines, Ukraine’s farmers face deadly planting season (Washington Post)
Putin urged Russians to purge traitors. Now, neighbors and coworkers are informing on each other, and thousands have been arrested. (Washington Post)
Russia strikes Kyiv in daylight after hitting Ukraine’s capital with series of nighttime barrages (AP)
Russia hits Kyiv in pre-dawn attack as air defenses work to stop relentless bombardment (AP)
Shocks, beatings, mock executions: Inside Kherson’s detention centers (New York Times)
Ukrainians fighting outside Bakhmut see Russian mercenaries withdrawing (Washington Post)

World

"They gave me a chance." Ryyan Alshebl fled Syria as a young man in 2015. He's now the mayor of Ostelsheim, which appears to be the first town in Germany to elect a leader from the nearly one million Syrian refugees who reached the country eight years ago. (New York Times)
With new mandate secured, Turkey’s Erdogan likely to continue engaging with both West and Russia (AP)
Erdogan’s next focus: Turkey’s place on the world stage (Wall Street Journal)
Uganda’s president signs into law anti-gay legislation with death penalty in some cases (AP)
‘Death on the floor or death in the streets’: Childbirth amid war in Sudan (New York Times)
Greece heads to the polls again on June 25 (Politico)

News Releases

Moore honors National Foster Care Month with bipartisan legislation to help foster youth find permanent families

Representative Blake Moore (R-UT), joined by Representatives Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), introduced the bipartisan H.R. 3662, the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2023. This legislation would make the current Adoption Tax Credit fully refundable, reducing income as a barrier to adoption. (Read More)

WSU students win national theater design awards, international recognition

Weber State University students Marley Keith and Porter Lance took home top prizes at the national Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, D.C. for their lighting and scenic designs. Both students were one of eight national finalists in each category to compete at the Kennedy Center. (Read More)

Upcoming

Northern Utah Conference to End Sexual Violence — May 31, USU Eccles Center, 8:30 am-4:00 pm, Register here
Intellectual Property Rights webinar with the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation — June 1, 10:00 am, Register here
Bolder Way Forward Launch — June 9, 9 am-1 pm, Zions Technology Campus, Register here
Interim Days — June 13-14, Utah State Capitol, le.utah.gov
Bellwether International Symposium on Bridging the Religious Divide with the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy — June 16, 9:00 am-3:30 pm, Little America, Register here

On This Day In History

1431 - Joan of Arc is burned at the stake for receiving divine inspiration directly, rather than go through the church. Also, the English were mad she defeated them.
1539 - Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto's expedition of 10 ships and 700 men lands in Florida.
1868 - Civil War dead honored on Decoration Day. We now call it Memorial Day.
1910 - Rainbow Bridge National Monument established in Utah.
1911 - First Indy 500 race
1922 - Former President and US Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Taft dedicates the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington Mall.
1943 - The first All-American Girls Professional Baseball League games are played.
1943 - Auschwitz gets a new doctor, 32-year-old Josef Mengele, a man who will earn the nickname “the Angel of Death.”
1994 - Ezra Taft Benson dies at age 94.

Quote of the Day

“Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory there would be no civilization, no future.”

— Elie Wiesel

On the Punny Side

My son wanted to know what it was like to be a parent.

So I woke him at 2am to tell him my sock came off.