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Situational Analysis | May 23, 2025

It's Friday and World Turtle Day. 🐢

What you need to know

Latest plan to revitalize Pioneer Park: Hold a year-round farmer's market. The summer farmer's market brings in 250,000+ visitors. The rest of the year sees about 170 visitors per day. The proposed building for a year-round market is estimated to cost between $20 million to $25 million. The city still plans to break ground on its Pioneer Park Vision Plan this fall, an $18.4 million project that includes a new playground, plaza, pavilion and ranger station, new pickleball courts and a fenced off-leash dog area and natural habitat section.

Rapid Relevance

Please 'Drive Good' as 100 deadliest days of summer begins; 60,000 passengers expected to depart SLC Airport ahead of Memorial Day weekend; and here’s what you can expect to pay for gas this weekend

Utah Headlines

Political news

The Supreme Court deadlocked over a first-of-its-kind religious charter school. Here’s what will happen next (Deseret News)
House Republicans pass Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and program cuts after all-night session (KSL TV)
Russia, Qatar, the Utah GOP convention, and obscenity (Both Sides of the Aisle)
As number of Utah bills enhancing penalties for crime grows, attorneys argue there's a better way (KSL)

Municipal news

Saratoga Springs Mayor Jim Miller not seeking reelection; Councilman Chris Carn announces mayoral candidacy (Daily Herald)
This sprawling Utah city is exploding with new people — and still has room to grow. Do locals want it to? (Salt Lake Tribune)

Utah

Utah veteran declared dead is alive and fighting for his pension (KSL)
This Utah school is producing world-class musicians — but that’s not the main goal (Deseret News)
Grit on wheels: A Utah woman’s ascent in the world of pro cycling (Deseret News)

Community/Culture

Utah Foster Care receives photobooks to help families create memories (KSL TV)
Salt Lake City’s gang detectives recognized as Gang Unit of the Year (Deseret News)
Mobile temple recommends soon available for Latter-day Saints (KSL)
94-year-old Navajo man gets electricity for the first time (KSL TV)
‘We did everything right’: A Venezuelan family was told to leave the U.S. Their Utah neighbors wouldn’t have it. (Salt Lake Tribune)
Older generations may see Gen Z as lazy, but this Utah student says they care (Salt Lake Tribune)

Crime/Courts

'Our crown jewel': State, local officials mark opening of Weber-Morgan Children's Justice Center (KSL)
Taylorsville tenant accused of trashing home, unusual rituals, church vandalism (KUTV)
Recycling centers on high alert as copper thefts surge across Salt Lake Valley (KUTV)
Provo police respond to civil lawsuit against BYU quarterback, deny allegations plaintiff was told not to report (Daily Herald)

Education - K-12

Dixie High star lacrosse athlete loses his arm in accident, but not his spirit to compete (KSL)
Veteran educator Molly L. Hart will be Utah’s next state school superintendent of public instruction (Deseret News)
Salt Lake City School District issues first of $730M school improvement bonds (KSL)

Education - Higher

Committee formed to search for new Utah State University president (KSL)
SLCC is cutting more from its budget than the Legislature required. Why? (Salt Lake Tribune)

Environment

Trouble sending waves over water in Tropic Reservoir (Deseret News)

Family

Jennifer Lawrence’s advice to aspiring actors? Have kids (Deseret News)
Oh, baby! Woman gives birth on side of I-15 in Salt Lake City (Fox13)

Health

4 key findings from RFK Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again report (Deseret News)
Utah lawmakers’ own study found gender-affirming care benefits trans youth. Will they lift the treatment ban? (Salt Lake Tribune)
'Distruptive collaboration': How Utah company is working to bring prescription drug prices down (KSL)

Housing

Mortgage rates are climbing again. Here’s what’s happening (Deseret News)

National Headlines

General

Private plane crash in San Diego leaves multiple dead, sparks fires in neighborhood (KUTV)
Two Israel embassy aides shot dead in Washington, officials say suspect shouted 'Free Palestine' (Reuters)
Suspect fired at fallen victims multiple times, even as one tried to crawl away, F.B.I. affidavit says (New York Times)
After killings, suspected gunman sat with guests at D.C. Jewish museum (Washington Post)
The end of the penny is coming: How much money will actually be saved? (Deseret News)
Hate groups in the US decline but their influence grows, report shows (AP)

Political news - Trump

Trump's image of dead 'white farmers' came from Reuters footage in Congo, not South Africa (Reuters)
Judge blocks Trump’s orders to dismantle the Education Department and fire employees (AP)
10 ways the Trump tax bill could affect your money (Washington Post)
Trump dines with top meme coin holders, shrugging off ethics concerns (Washington Post)
Trump says autism ‘has to be artificially induced’, does not occur naturally (The Hill)

Other federal political news

Trump administration says Harvard can no longer enroll international students (Deseret News)
Prayer service at Pentagon sparks religious freedom debate (Deseret News)
GOP US Sen. Tommy Tuberville is expected to announce run for Alabama governor, associates say (AP)
Senate GOP preps for ‘one big, beautiful’ rewrite (Politico)
Here's what it will take to transform the Qatari jet into Air Force One: Years and hundreds of millions of dollars (NPR)

Immigration/deportation

Mahmoud Khalil permitted to hold newborn son for the 1st time despite government objections (AP)

DOGE/Musk

Exclusive: Musk’s DOGE expanding his Grok AI in US government, raising conflict concerns (Reuters)
DOGE targets Census Bureau, worrying data users about health of US data infrastructure (AP)

Tariffs

Trump re-escalates trade threats, aiming at 25% tariffs on Apple, and 50% on European Union (Reuters)

Ukraine/Russia

Russian hackers target Western firms shipping aid to Ukraine, US intelligence says (AP)
The Ukraine-Russia War through the eyes of ordinary people (Deseret News)

Middle East

Some flour reaches Gaza as blockade eases, aid groups call for more (Reuters)
Gaza’s main hospital is overwhelmed with children in pain from malnutrition (AP)

World news

Container ship barely misses Norwegian man’s house after running aground (Washington Post)

News Releases

Prominent Utah leaders join 47G Board of Directors

47G has announced the appointment of Utah Senator Ann Millner and Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Jefferson Moss to its board of directors. With deep roots in higher education, public service and economic development, both leaders bring invaluable perspective to 47G’s work advancing Utah’s fast-growing aerospace and defense industries. (Read More)

Utah House Minority Caucus leadership on state study

The Utah House Minority Caucus Leadership released the following statement after a new study found gender-affirming care benefits trans youth:

“More than two years after the Utah Legislature banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth, we are encouraged that Utah healthcare experts have found strong evidence of positive mental health and psychosocial outcomes resulting from this care. Originally, the harmful, dangerous, and insensitive ban was described as a moratorium while the Legislature evaluated the treatment’s impacts. Now that the Legislature-commissioned study has found overwhelmingly positive health outcomes, we must act to lift the ban." (Read More)

Maloy statement on House passage of Budget Reconciliation Bill

Rep. Celeste Maloy (UT-02) released the following statement after the House passed H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:

“I worked hard with my colleagues in the House and locally elected officials to make sure that the one big, beautiful bill represented the unique needs of Utahns. My lands amendment would have delivered critical relief to fast-growing communities in my district. Ultimately, it was removed from the reconciliation package. I still supported the bill, because it delivers a strong economy that will benefit Utah and the country as a whole. I will continue to fight for Utahns to responsibly manage federal lands that currently landlock our communities and hinder economic growth.”

Lee introduces OFF Act to protect farmers, cut government waste

U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the bipartisan Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act today with Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) to protect agricultural producers and cut government waste by enforcing transparency in checkoff programs. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) cosponsored the legislation. (Read More)

On This Day In History

1785 - Benjamin Franklin announces he has invented bifocals
1810 - Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli was born today. Commonly known as Margaret Fuller, she was an American journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement. She was the first full-time American female book reviewer in journalism. Her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century is considered the first major feminist work in the U.S.
1824 - Ambrose Burnside is born. An American soldier, industrialist and politician (Governor of Rhode Island, 1866-69), he popularized sideburns. Burnside=sideburns. Who knew?
1911 - The New York Public Library, the largest marble structure ever constructed in the United States, is dedicated in New York City.
1934 - Bonnie Parker, of the Bonnie and Clyde duo, is shot and killed. (So is Clyde.)
1960 - Israel announces that high-ranking Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was captured in Argentina.
1977 - US Supreme Court refuses to hear appeals of Watergate wrong doers H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman & John Mitchell
2021 - Belarus accused of “state-sponsored hijacking" after diverting commercial Ryanair flight to Minsk to arrest dissident journalist Roman Protasevich

Quote of the Day

"Leadership is not about titles or positions; it is about showing up and making a difference."

—Ambrose Burnside

On the Punny Side

What do you call a turtle who loves photography?
A snapping turtle.