View in browser

Situational Analysis | June 5, 2023

It's Monday and World Environment Day. It's also the start of America the Beautiful week, from sea to shining sea.

What You Need to Know

A train collision in India is the deadliest in decades, killing almost 300 people and injuring 900 more. A high speed passenger train was diverted onto a loop line, hitting an idled freight train. The initial crash caused another passenger train to derail. Officials suspect an electronic signaling error.
President Joe Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act into law on Saturday. The bipartisan legislation suspends the debt limit until after the next presidential election, puts caps on discretionary spending, pulls back billion in new IRS spending and COVID-19 funds, reforms work requirements for some government assistance programs, ends the pause on student loan repayments and expedites the permitting process on new energy projects.

Rapid Roundup

Trial date set for Chad Daybell in April 2024; Utah House leader signals change to special election law to fill Rep. Stewart’s seat; Frontier Airlines offering 'GoWild!' all-you-can-fly fall, winter pass; and monarch butterflies face delay in migration due to cold, wet winter conditions

Utah Headlines

Political news

When it comes to immigration, who’s right — Texas or Utah? Inaction from Congress has left the U.S. immigration system in chaos. Is the Utah way the best course of action? (Deseret News)
Rep. Curtis on a dangerous world: ‘We still have right on our side’ (Deseret News)
Sandy mayor proposes 32% property tax increase; council seeks public input (KUTV)
What veterans need to know about the VA PACT Act (ABC4)
The IUP Panel on Rep. Stewart’s resignation and the debt ceiling deal (ABC4)
Who are the working class and how will they vote in 2024? A new poll shows these Americans largely feel left behind (Deseret News)
When did the Democratic Party become the party of the upper class? (Deseret News)
Working class voters want politicians who will focus on the economy (Deseret News)

General Utah news

Thousands gather for Utah Pride Parade with messages of hope, unity (KSL)
Pride-wrapped UTA bus pulled from downtown Pride Parade (KSL Newsradio)
Tooele officer shoots out window of submerged car to save drowning girl (ABC4)
Park City judge issues partial gag order in high-profile Richins murder case (KSL)

Business

U.S. labor market still impervious to inflation, interest rate hikes (Deseret News)
Car created by BYU students can travel 2,000 miles on one gallon of gas (Fox13)

Culture

Charlie Bird: We must find uncommon, common ground (Deseret News)

Education

Eboo Patel: How higher ed can help resolve our tribal conflicts. Colleges and universities have the potential to become bridge-builders by turning out students adept in managing conflict (Deseret News)
In a world with AI, what is human intelligence? (Deseret News)
After Bible, Book of Mormon now challenged in Davis School District (Fox13)
Utah State University hosts second CAPSA conference to end violence (UPR)

Environment

Bryce Canyon National Park ready to celebrate 100 years of ‘Bryce Moments’ (Deseret News)
A historic ski season, by the numbers (Deseret News)
‘We’re battling the mountain.’ Debris flows and snow test Utah canyons (Deseret News)
New leader of the Zion Forever Project carries a torch for protecting Southern Utah resources (St. George News)
Southwest Utah offers a glimpse into what the state’s wildfire season could be (KUER)
A collision between the masses who want to move out West and dwindling resources (Washington Post)

Family

Is your child ‘boredom prone’? What to know now that summer vacation is here (Deseret News)
‘We were taken advantage of,’ Jill Duggar of ‘19 Kids and Counting’ says in new docuseries (Deseret News)
Utah woman encourages swim lessons for children to prevent drowning deaths (Fox13)

Health

Australian researchers achieve breakthrough in endometriosis research (Deseret News)
More people are living with dementia. What are the signs and risk factors? (Washington Post)

Housing

Is the ‘15-minute city’ utopia or dystopia? (Deseret Magazine)

National Headlines

General

Scientists 'stunned' by hundreds of mysterious structures found in the Milky Way (KSL)
Black immigrants are growing in numbers, but in the U.S. many often feel invisible (NPR)
Dogs attacked more than 5,300 mail carriers last year, the Postal Service says (NPR)

Politics

Biden signs debt ceiling bill to avoid government default (Fox13)
Chuck Todd leaving NBC political panel show 'Meet the Press' (AP)
Debt deal imposes new work requirements for food aid and that frustrates many Democrats (AP)
The promises that conservatives say McCarthy broke (Washington Post)
Republican White House hopeful Nikki Haley attacks Trump, DeSantis over Ukraine (Reuters)
DeSantis on the trail: Combative with critics, not yet cozy with voters (Washington Post)
Pence dings Trump over praise for North Korea’s Kim Jong Un (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

Ukraine keeps up pressure following Russian declaration of victory in Bakhmut (AP)
Ukraine’s Zelensky: We Are Ready for Counteroffensive (Wall Street Journal)
A night in Ukraine’s sleepless capital, taking cover from Russian bombs (Washington Post)
Russia says Ukraine has launched attacks on front lines (Wall Street Journal)

World

Death on the floor, death on the streets and death in orphanages in Sudan (Deseret News)
Where are the Colombian children who vanished after a plane crash killed all the adults on board? (Deseret News)
Hundreds of thousands march in Poland anti-government protests to show support for democracy (AP)
Russian police arrest more than 100 Navalny supporters, group says (Reuters)
Saudi Arabia Cuts Oil Output After OPEC Members Clash Over Quotas (Wall Street Journal)
China Faces Uphill Battle as It Tries to Instill ‘Pro-Birth’ Culture. Officials who used to enforce the one-child policy are struggling to convince young people to have more children. (Wall Street Journal)

News Release

First Lady Abby Cox to host a free community event encouraging Utah families to do service this summer

As part of her Show Up for Service initiative, Utah First Lady Abby Cox is hosting a free community event encouraging Utahns to “put kids’ wiggles to work this summer” by participating in service to our community, today, June 5th, from 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm at Thanksgiving Point's Electric Park.

Now in its second year, the Show Up for Summer Service family fair will include booths from 45+ local community service organizations. Community members who visit 6 or more non profit booths and commit to serving with at least one of them this summer will be entered to win prizes donated by dozens of community businesses.

The event will also include bounce houses, yard games, chalk art, food trucks, face painting, live radio and more. Attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket or lawn chairs. The event is co-hosted by Show Up, Just Serve, UServe Utah and Thanksgiving Point. (Read More)

Upcoming

Municipal election filing period — June 1-6 (unless using ranked choice voting)
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
Municipal election filing period for cities using ranked choice voting — August 8-15

On This Day In History

1883 - John Maynard Keynes is born. He was the English economist whose ideas changed the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics
1933 - FDR takes the US off the gold standard
1947 - US Secretary of State George Marshall outlines the “Marshall Plan” to rebuild Europe.
1955 - Martin Luther King, Jr. receives his doctoral degree
1967 - Six-Day War begins between Israel and its neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
1968 - Robert F. Kennedy shot
1973 - Doris A. Davis elected mayor of Compton, California, the first Black woman to govern a metropolitan city
1976 - Teton Dam burst
1987 - Dr. Mae C Jemison becomes the first Black woman astronaut
2002 - Elizabeth Smart is kidnapped
2004 - Ronald Reagan dies at age 93

Quote of the Day

"Life is a journey for us all. We all face trials. We all have ups and downs. All of us are human. But we are also the masters of our fate. We are the ones who decide how we are going to react to life."
—Elizabeth Smart

On the Punny Side

As soon as space travel is possible, I’m moving from the Milky Way to the Soymilky Way galaxy.

I’m galactose intolerant.