Happy Winter Solstice - the days start getting longer!; Zelenskyy visits DC; Taliban forbids women from attending university; | | | 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 [email protected]. | | |
Situational Analysis | Dec. 21, 2022 It's Wednesday and Winter Solstice! To be exact, it will be at 2:47 pm this afternoon. Itâs the astronomical moment when the Sun reaches the Tropic of Capricorn and we have our shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The solstice also marks the official start of winter. Be in the Know After her cousin was murdered, Utahâs lieutenant governor, Deidre Henderson, is pushing for mandatory statewide domestic violence assessments, known as the "Lethality Assessment Protocol" or LAP, as well as a statewide database allowing for better coordination between agencies. Senator Todd Weiler will be running legislation to that effect during the upcoming session. Other bills addressing domestic violence are also in the works.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit Washington, D.C. today to meet with President Biden. He is coming straight from the front in Bakhmut. If security concerns allow it, he will address a joint session of Congress. It will be his first trip outside of Ukraine since Russia invaded 301 days ago (Feb. 24).
The Taliban announced Tuesday that, effective immediately, all universities in Afghanistan are closed to women, as the rights of girls and women continue to be restricted. Journalists in Kabul saw Taliban forces outside four universities restricting women from entering and also (trying) to prevent photography, filming or protests from taking place. Most girls are now unable to go to school past the sixth grade.
Crazy cold weather is blowing in on the "Polar Express." More than 80% of the continental US is expected to experience temperatures 30 to 50 degrees below normal for this time of year as an estimated 50 million Americans are under 'once-in-a-generation' alerts. The northern-most parts of the US could see wind chills approaching 70 degrees below zero. Holiday travel is already affected. Rapid Roundup Donovan Mitchell calls Utah âdrainingâ in interview; local violin virtuoso wins international music competition; check out this graham cracker "Christmas at Hogwarts" creation by Provo couple; Weber State names Mickey Mental as next head football coach; Holiday Service Opportunities If you know of opportunities I've missed, please send them to me for inclusion here The Road Home hosts 2022 holiday fundraiser to support Utah's homeless population through today (KSL) Utah charities make urgent plea for donations before Christmas (KSL) 'Light the World' giving machines Meals on Wheels (year-round) Sub for Santa Just Serve - a plenitude of opportunities await Angel Trees Quarters for Christmas The link between happiness and charitable giving (Deseret News) Fundraiser helps pay off West Jordan school's lunch debts (Fox13) | | |
Utah Headlines General What would Ferndaleâs 6.4 earthquake do here? Another reminder to prepare for Utah's next big earthquake (Deseret News) Sex assault claims piled up. Little jail time followed. Utahn now called an âextreme public safety riskâ (KSL TV) Beware: Scammers sending fake USPS texts, asking for package redelivery fees (Fox13) ð¢ Utah drivers are killing pedestrians, bicyclists in record numbers (Fox13) Utah Iranians ask the world, and their adopted home, to âstand with usâ (KUER) Politics Sen. Lee fighting to keep financial support flowing to family of Lt. Ridge Alkonis (KUTV) Romney: Finishing the border wall and keeping Title 42 are the immigration solutions âsitting right in front ofâ Biden (Deseret News) Legislators take the Utah minibottle decision away from DABS board. House and Senate leaders told commissioners itâs a âmajor alcohol policy issue,â which the Legislature should vote on. (Salt Lake Tribune) See Romney run? Trump's top GOP foil eyes Senate reelection. And Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who's willing to put money behind it, is among the top Republicans urging the Utahn to seek another term. (Politico) Business Wells Fargo ordered to pay $3.7B for illegal customer abuses (Deseret News) 11 Crumbl Cookie stores found violating child labor laws (KSL) Culture Perspective: That mean person on the internet might be a paid troll. Armies of trolls are intentionally sowing discord among Americans. Itâs time for us to wake up and stop being played (Deseret News) Education This man wants Utah and other states to adopt a âpro-humanâ approach to teaching ethnic studies. A Q&A with Bion Bartning, founder of Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (Deseret News) Donât call yourself an âAmericanâ â Stanford initiative is criticized online (Deseret News) Environment Great Salt Lake expert explains another threat from proposed US Magnesium canal dredging. Potential danger lurks in the lakebed the company plans to disturb. (Salt Lake Tribune) Health Even with our dirty sodas and cookie empires, Utah is the healthiest state in the nation (Deseret News) The importance of checking in on the âforgotten population:' our elderly (KSL TV) U.S., Utah seeing shortage of medication for children (Fox13) Housing 5 unsheltered people died on Salt Lake streets during cold snap (KSL) Salt Lake City mayor issues order to expand homeless shelter capacity after 5 die in extreme cold (ABC4) Utah builder offering basement apartments to buyers in tough market (KUTV) National Headlines General Lydia Polgreen: How will history remember January 6? Selective amnesia has always been part of the American experience. (New York Times) Musk vows to resign as Twitter CEO when he finds 'someone foolish enough to take the job' (KUTV) Politics Trump tax audits required by IRS were delayed, panel says (AP) House committee votes to make public Trumpâs tax returns (Washington Post) Trump paid $1.1 million in taxes during presidency, but $0 in 2020, report shows (New York Times) Zelenskyy to address Congress amid rising fears of massive Russian winter offensive (The Hill) Electoral Count Act set to deliver another blow to Trump (The Hill) Senate trudges toward vote on $1.7T spending bill amid conservative pushback (Politico) Ukraine ðºð¦ 'We will find you:' Russians hunt down Ukrainians on lists (AP) Putin says war in Ukraine revealed âissuesâ within Russian military (Washington Post) Photos: 300 days of war (Washington Post) The U.S. will give Ukraine Patriot missiles for the first time. (New York Times) World News Sidecar ambulances help moms give birth in India (AP) A 97-year-old former Nazi camp secretary has been convicted by German court. Irmgard Furchner was 18 when she began working at the Stutthof concentration camp in 1943. On Tuesday, she was convicted as an accessory to murder in more than 10,500 deaths (Deseret News) | | |
Guest opinion: Bidenâs signature on marriage act is vindication of the Utah compromise by Derek Monson and Rev. Marian Edmonds-Allen President Joe Bidenâs signing of the Respect for Marriage Act offers Americans an opportunity to begin turning the page on the failed politics of the culture wars. Building a legislative consensus by pairing marriage equality with religious freedom protections shows that we, as a nation and as a people, can overcome seemingly intractable divides and resolve politically thorny policy issues if we simply exercise the political will to do so. By proving that consensus around LGBTQ equality and religious freedom is possible, the Respect for Marriage Act is a vindication of the Utah compromise. In 2015, Utah lawmakers and advocates for religious freedom and the LGBTQ community (including both authors of this article) came together to transcend political and policy divides and find a consensus agreement on LGBTQ nondiscrimination in employment and housing and religious freedom. Both LGBTQ and religious Utahns gained new legal protections for their lives and identities â the security of knowing they would remain free to live according to their deepest beliefs and most cherished values. While all sides made gains that served their interests, everyone ultimately had to make peace with the idea of a legislative compromise. Predictably, extremists on both sides objected to Utahâs new law because it wasnât pure according to their own lights. It offered genuine protections for the jobs and homes of LGBTQ Utahns on the one hand, and it protected the expression and conscience of religious Utahns in the workplace, marketplace and in public service on the other hand. Critics of Utahâs law sought to marginalize it and contain its spread. One of their major objections was their belief that this approach could only work in a place like Utah. The success of the amended Respect for Marriage Act has proven that argument to be patently false. If the most divided and dysfunctional government in the nation â the U.S. Congress and the president â can find consensus on LGBTQ equality and religious freedom, can any elected body honestly say they canât? Finding legislative consensus requires us to set aside our prejudices â both those against LGBTQ Americans and those against religious Americans. But the Respect for Marriage Act shows it can be done. It remains to us to turn the page and find the next policy area where consensus and compromise will produce policy solutions for all Americans. (Read the entire article here) News Releases Rep. Blake Mooreâs legislation to help save the Great Salt Lake heads to the Presidentâs desk Last night, Congressman Blake Mooreâs Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act passed the Senate. Introduced with Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) and led by Senators Merkley (D-OR) and Romney (R-UT) in the Senate, this legislation would establish a scientific monitoring and assessment program to help save the Great Salt Lake and other saline lakes in the West. The bill now heads to the White House to be signed into law by President Biden. (Read More) | | |
Upcoming Utah Economic Outlook and Public Policy Summit with the Salt Lake Chamber â Jan. 12, 2023, Salt Lake City Marriott, 8 am - noon, Register here Legislative session begins, Jan. 17, 2023, le.utah.gov | | |
On This Day In History 1891 - First basketball game is played as 30-yr-old James Naismith introduces it to 18 students 1898 - Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium 1937 - The first full-length animated feature film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre 1945 - General George S. Patton dies from a freak car accident at age 60 1948 - Samuel L. Jackson is born. 1959 - Florence Griffith Joyner (âFlo-Joâ) is born. The Olympic track and field champion, won 3 gold medals and 1 silver at 1988 Summer games and was called the âWorldâs Fastest Womanâ 1970 - Elvis Presley meets US President Richard Nixon in the White House - the image of this meeting is the most requested photo from the entire National Archives. 1971 - The United Arab Emirates is formed. 1984 - BYU beats Michigan 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl to remain undefeated and earn the NCAA Division I-A football title. 1988 - Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Scotland, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members on board 1995 - The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control. 2012 - âGangnam Styleâ becomes first YouTube video to reach one billion views Wise Words âWhat if Christmas, he thought, doesnât come from a store. What if Christmas⦠perhaps⦠means a little bit more!â
âDr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! On the Punny Side How much does Santa pay to park his sleigh? Nothing. Itâs on the house. | | |
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