Situational Analysis | May 31, 2022

Happy Tuesday. It's the last day of May, but the weather feels more like March. Did you know that today is National Utah Day? How will you celebrate??

Be in the Know

1. Lumber prices have dropped more than 50% since March as rising interest rates are deflating the market. Single-family home completions, starts and building permits each dropped in April, according to the Census Bureau, and mortgage rates were at 5.1% last week, up from 3.1% at the beginning of the year. Still, there are enough housing starts to keep builders busy through the rest of the year, which will help stabilize prices.

2. One week ago, a gunman took 21 lives at an elementary school in Texas. Since then, the United States has seen 15 additional mass shootings with at least 4 victims each. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research organization, defines a mass shooting as one in which “four or more people are shot or killed, not including the shooter.” Since the Uvalde shooting last Tuesday, at least 11 people have been killed and 67 injured in mass shootings.

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Utah Headlines

General

• Massive apartment fire leaves one dead, five injured in Salt Lake City (ABC4)
• One of Snowbird's brand new tram cabins damaged beyond repair during installation (Fox13)
• Susan R. Madsen: Where does Utah rank on 2022’s ‘Best & Worst States for Working Moms’? (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Utah breaks gas price record on Memorial Day weekend (KUTV)
• Rainy Memorial Day helps Utahns remember veterans’ sacrifices, Cox says at Capitol ceremony. Since World War I, nearly 3,000 Utahns have been killed while serving in the United States’ armed forces (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Memorial Day ceremony in Cedar City honors those who gave ‘last full measure of devotion’ (St. George News)
• Finding needed connection across divides (Deseret News)
• Many Utah agencies train to 'eliminate' threats quickly (KSL)
• Utah Pride Week is back and bigger than ever (ABC4)
• Former Utah cop arrested for alleged threats against police department (Fox13)

Politics

• 'We've got to do something': Gov. Cox, Romney talk gun laws following Memorial Day event (KSL)
• GALLERY: Larkin Memorial Day Program with Rep. Chris Stewart honors military veterans (KUTV)
• GALLERY: Gov. Cox, Sen. Romney speak at Memorial Day ceremony at Utah Capitol (KUTV)
• ‘Trump effect?’ Civic duty? What motivates Utahns to turn out and vote (Deseret News)

Education

• Many Utah schools don’t have enough security (ABC4)
• Syracuse High senior grad creates ‘crisis kits’ for students having hard time (KSL TV)
• Utah students pick transgender teacher as graduation speaker (KUTV)
• How to really fix higher ed (The Atlantic)

Environment

• Inland port’s effort to snatch up LDS Church property throws wrench into plan to improve air, traffic (Salt Lake Tribune)
• What will happen if the Glen Canyon Dam stops generating power? (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Memorial Day weekend storm delivers much-needed rain, snow. Here's how much Utah got (KSL)
• More exposed Great Salt Lake bed means increased dust storms, officials warn (Fox13)
• Heal the planet, heal the self: One Southern Utah conservationist’s journey (St. George News)

Family

• A GOP pro-parent agenda should include gun law reform (Deseret News)
• The new prohibitionists. Some Americans are rethinking the alleged health benefits of alcohol (Deseret News)
• Utah milk bank sees increase in requests and donations amid formula shortage (KSL TV)
• Miracle baby comes in a miraculous way for Pleasant Grove family (Daily Herald)

Health

• University of Utah discovery with soft sea corals could lead to cancer treatment (KSL)
• Study shows negative effect of inappropriate antibiotics on kids and resulting costs (ABC4)
• Utah has the highest rate of mental health illness in the U.S. (ABC4)
• First responders grateful for mental health support through SAFE UT Frontline app (KUTV)

National Headlines

General

• Neighboring florists step in to help provide flowers for Uvalde funerals (NPR)
• Empty spaces, broken hearts in a Texas town gutted by loss (AP)
• Two fourth-grade siblings went to school in Uvalde last Tuesday. Andrea came home, Jose didn’t. (New York Times)
• Rosaries, bouquets and tiny caskets: Uvalde begins to bury its dead (Washington Post)
• Uvalde begins to bury its dead in wake of school massacre (Reuters)
• ‘Very angry’: Uvalde locals grapple with school chief’s role (AP)
• U.S. marks Memorial Day weekend with at least 12 mass shootings. Since the Uvalde, Tex., elementary school tragedy, there have been at least 15 other shootings that had at least four victims (Washington Post)
• Canada plans to ban handgun sales and possession of assault weapons (New York Times)
• U.S. wheat crop hit by dry winter then soggy spring, adding to global tightness (Reuters)
• U.S airlines cancel 2,500 flights over Memorial holiday weekend (Reuters)
• Lumber prices slump with rising interest rates. Prices shed more than 50% since March (Wall Street Journal)
• Why global supply chains may never be the same - A WSJ documentary (Wall Street Journal)
• Americans’ already low economic confidence drops: Gallup (The Hill)
• Egypt unearths trove of artifacts, 250 mummies in ancient necropolis (Washington Post)

Politics

• O’Rourke bets shooting will shake up Texas governor’s race (AP)
• U.S. policymakers misjudged inflation threat until it was too late (Washington Post)
• Ranking the five Democrats most likely to win party nod if Biden doesn’t run (The Hill)
• Bipartisan Senate working group on gun violence will meet Tuesday (The Hill)
• Supreme Court may soon expand gun rights amid roiling debate (The Hill)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• In big bid to punish Moscow, EU bans most Russia oil imports (AP)
• Ukraine troops hold out as Russia assaults Sievierodonetsk wasteland (Reuters)
• Russia extends control over key Ukraine city as U.S. plans to boost Kyiv’s firepower (Wall Street Journal)
• Along Ukraine’s northern border with Russia, fears of a new invasion (Washington Post)
• Ukrainian villagers emerge after months in municipal building basement (Washington Post)
• The Eurovision winners auctioned off their trophy to support Ukraine’s army. (New York Times)
• Ukrainian refugee from Popasna spots looted possessions on Russian tank (BBC)
• Russian, Ukrainian troops fight block by block in key city (Politico)

Guest opinion: Is training teachers to shoot the answer for mass school shootings?

My heart stopped when I heard about the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24^th. Ironically, I was headed to a gun safety presentation given by our local police department and felt empty as I read and listened to the details of the shooting. Throughout the training that evening, it was difficult to focus and not think about the family, friends and community of the 19 children and two teachers killed that day.

I remember similar feelings in February 2018 during the Parkland Florida High School shooting, December 2012 during the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting and in April of 1999 during the Columbine High School shooting. While times have changed, mass school shootings haven’t.

Tragically, there is no way to predict when or where a school shooting will occur. Since 1999, 169 lives have been taken in school-related mass shootings with ages ranging from six to 67 and 369 suffering injuries. This does not even take into effect the psychological harm inflicted on all students at these schools...

The question that has been circulating as long as I remember is how do we prevent such shootings. I recently learned that the Utah County Sherriff’s Department is providing active shooter training to school teachers, in a 20-hour course on critical skills such as de-escalation tactics to self-defense and firearms training...

There is no perfect solution but it is undeniable that change must happen. We cannot continue to have our children killed in schools through mass shootings. Perhaps arming teachers is better than nothing, but should we do more? I believe that the family, friends and community of the 19 children and two teachers killed in Texas last week would argue yes. (Read More)

News Releases

China Challenge Summit

U.S.-China relations have undergone a massive shift in recent years as China's leadership has become increasingly assertive about its global ambitions. At the China Challenge Summit on June 9, current U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns (2021–present) and former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman (2009–2011) will reflect on how the United States’ approach to China has evolved and discuss their personal interactions with Chinese counterparts. Utah Policy is partnering with World Trade Center Utah, Utah Valley University and others to bring you this important and timely conversation. Register at ChinaChallengeSummit.com.

Number of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• "Defenders, Bullies & Victims: The Social Ecology of Adolescence" with Diana Meter - June 7, 2022 RSVP here
• Ballots are mailed â€“ June 7
• China Challenge Summit with WTCU, at UVU – June 9, 2022, 8:30-4:30, Register here
• Hatch Foundation Debate w Lindsey Graham & Bernie Sanders – June 13, 10 am MDT
• Utah Legislature Interim Days – June 14,15 le.utah.gov for more info
• Primary election day â€“ June 28
• General election â€“ Nov 8

On This Day In History

• 1531 - The women of Amsterdam revolt, with hundreds storming a construction site building a wool office on the site of a churchyard. 
• 1859 - Big Ben rings out over London for the first time.
• 1889 - The South Fork Dam in Pennsylvania collapses, causing the Johnstown Flood and killing more than 2,200 people.
• 1907 - The first taxis begin running in New York City.
• 1921 - The Tulsa Race Massacre begins. Thousands of white citizens in Tulsa, Oklahoma descended on the city’s predominantly black Greenwood District, burning homes and businesses to the ground and killing hundreds of people.
• 1924 - Patricia Harris is born. A lawyer and ambassador, she was the first African-American woman to hold a Cabinet position (Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare) (1979-83), serve as an Ambassador (Luxembourg, 1965), and head a law school (Howard University, 1969)
• 1962 - “Architect of the Holocaust,” Adolf Eichmann, executed for his crimes against humanity.
• 2005 - Deep Throat revealed: Mark Felt of the FBI

Wise Words

"The silence is layered just as the trauma is layered."

 - Alicia Odewale, archaeologist at the University of Tulsa

Lighter Side

Q: Why was the high school senior so excited to become a pilot?

A: He wanted to pursue higher education.

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