The Hinckley Report, PBS Utah’s weekly political roundtable, airs Fridays at 7PM. Hosted by Jason Perry and produced in partnership with the Hinckley Institute of Politics on the University of Utah campus, the program provides insight and analysis of the most pressing political issues facing our state.

Utah Headlines

General

• Pandemic restrictions decimated volunteer work nationwide. Here’s how — and why — Utah is bouncing back (Deseret News)
• Utah Shakespeare Festival sees another top official resign (Salt Lake Tribune)
• 😢 Draper’s $1.6M all-abilities playground damaged before opening (KSL TV)
• Clearfield, Utah named #6 best place to live for families in America (ABC4)

Politics

• American Family Survey: When it comes to abortion, there are the extremes — and then everybody else. New findings show that most Americans hold nuanced views on abortion that could help states craft policy (Deseret News)
• Who’s in — and is anyone out — for congressional, Senate debates ahead of midterm election? (Deseret News)
• Trial begins for animal activists accused of stealing 2 piglets from Utah factory farm (Fox13)

Education

• American Family Survey: Are public schools the battlefield for the nation’s culture wars? (Deseret News)

• How weightlifting and a brush with death motivated a Utah teacher to help her students never give up (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Can a place to decompress at high school really help prevent suicides? (KSL)
• New Latina dean hopes to help the University of Utah in efforts to become Hispanic serving institution (KSL TV)
• Advocate offers advice in light of reported sexual assault near U of U campus (KUTV)
• Some Utah school districts will cut personnel once federal COVID funds run dry (KUER)

Environment

• The underdiscussed victims of Utah’s drought (Deseret News)
• Romney calls for 'aggressive' water conservation in Utah's drought (Fox13)

Family

• American Family Survey: Is marriage dying? Poll ponders pressure points in finance and relationships. The eighth annual survey finds American divided politically, but loving their own families in similar ways (Deseret News)
• American Family Survey: Support for monthly payments to families drops, despite inflation woes (Deseret News)
• American Family Survey: What worries American families. Inflation and how other people discipline their kids are big concerns in national survey (Deseret News)

Housing

• Wasatch Front areas once considered affordable saw biggest rent increases (KUTV)

National Headlines

General

• California wells run dry as drought depletes groundwater (AP)
• See aerial pictures that show Hurricane Ian's toll (NPR)
• Florida faced a housing crisis. Ian has made it worse. (Washington Post)
• Emotional, sexual abuse were 'systemic' in women's soccer, new report finds (NBC News)

Politics

• Herschel Walker paid for girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, report says (AP)
• Trump files $475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN (AP)
• Trump’s lawyer refused his request in February to say all documents returned. After initial return of 15 boxes, attorney Alex Cannon thought there might be more records at Mar-a-Lago, people familiar with the matter said (Wall Street Journal)
• The landmark Voting Rights Act faces further dismantling at the Supreme Court (NPR)
• Oath Keepers planned an armed rebellion, prosecutor tells jury in sedition case (NPR)
• UN calls on Fed, other central banks to halt interest-rate increases (Wall Street Journal)
• Three huge Supreme Court cases that could change America. The justices will soon hear major cases on voting rights, affirmative action and partisan gerrymandering. Here’s a preview. (New York Times)
• Supreme Court declines to hear Utah gun rights activist's appeal to overturn bump stock ban (KSL)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• Russian losses evident in key liberated Ukrainian city (AP)
• Ukraine forces break through Russian defences in south, advance in east (Reuters)
• Ukrainian Advance Outstrips Russian Efforts to Mobilize Reinforcements (Wall Street Journal)
• Three months after a defeat, Ukraine is poised at the doorstep of Donbas. (New York Times)
• Frustration with Ukraine war spills out on Russian state TV (AP)
• U.S. to send Ukraine more advanced rocket systems, officials say. The systems have become a key tool in Ukraine’s ability to strike bridges that Russia has used to supply its troops. (Politico)

World News

• North Korea sends missile soaring over Japan in escalation (AP)
• Motorcycle-riding gunmen killed a longtime radio commentator in metropolitan Manila in the latest attack on a member of the media in the Philippines, considered one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. He had been a prominent critic of President Marcos. (AP)
• UN flood aid appeal jumps amid disease surge in Pakistan (AP)

News Releases

Romney names Mandee Grant as new Utah State Director

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) has named Mandee Grant to serve as his next Utah State Director. Grant previously served as Senator Romney’s Business Outreach Director, where she worked closely with business owners, economic development directors, chamber presidents, and business and community leaders throughout the state.

Prior to her position as Business Outreach Director with Senator Romney’s team, Grant spent more than 25 years in the private sector working as a strategy consultant to Fortune 100 companies. A California native, she received her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. (Read More)

Owens co-sponsors legislation to help veterans secure VA home loans

Yesterday, Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04) co-sponsored the VA Loan Informed Disclosure (VALID) Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation to help ensure America’s veterans have the tools and resources to access home loans and attain homeownership.

“America’s veterans and their families have sacrificed so much to preserve our freedoms,” said Rep. Owens. “Unfortunately, these brave men and women face far too many hurdles to access the benefits and care they have earned. I am proud to support the VALID Act of 2022 to keep veterans informed of their loan options and do all we can to help these heroes after they return home from service.” (Read More)

Utah Taxpayers Association statement on Proposition 2 in Orem: Vote YES

After extensive research and analysis, the Utah Taxpayers Association wanted to provide the taxpayers of Orem with accurate information that will hopefully inform them as they vote on Proposition 2. The Association has gathered information from the Utah County Assessor, the Utah State Tax Commission, the Utah State Board of Education and the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst...

With the proper taxable property values in the proposed district and conservative estimates of state funding and federal funding, it is reasonable to conclude that an Orem school district would very likely have sufficient revenue to support itself without the need for a property tax increase. In fact, an independent feasibility study was conducted that came to this conclusion. By our own calculations, if higher taxes were needed, any near term increase would be very modest. If the cities of Lindon and Vineyard were added to the new district eventually as well, the tax base would be even stronger. Finally, in a smaller district that was Orem-centric, Orem taxpayers could better hold the new school board accountable for any proposed bonds or changes in tax rates...Orem taxpayers are justified in seeking more local control over their contribution to education, and the Utah Taxpayers Association urges Orem taxpayers to vote in favor of Proposition 2. (Read More)

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Upcoming

• Why it Matters international conference — Oct 5-7, UVU, Register here
• ULCT Annual Convention — Oct 5-7, Salt Palace Convention Center, Register here
• UWLP Book Club: How Women Rise By Sally Helgesen & Marshall Goldsmith —Oct. 6 & Nov. 10, 12:00pm-1:00pm or 7:30pm-8:30pm; Virtual, Register here
• One Utah Summit — Oct 11-13, Southern Utah University, Register here
• Breakfast Briefing: The New Look of Transportation in the 2020s with the Utah Foundation — Oct. 13, 8:30 am, Zions Bank Founders' Room, Register here
• Senate debate between Mike Lee and Evan McMullin — Oct. 17, 6 pm, at UVU
• Interim Days — Oct 18-20, le.utah.gov
• Effecting Societal Change for Child Sexual Abuse — Oct. 26, 8:00am-11:30am; Virtual and in-person at Saprea in Lehi, UT, Register here
• General election â€“ Nov 8
• Hacks to Help Women Maximize Income and Minimize Expenses —Nov. 9, Noon-1:00pm; Virtual, Register here
• Utah Foundation’s 2022 Annual Luncheon â€” Nov. 16, noon, Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek, Register here
• Utah Economic Outlook and Public Policy Summit with the Salt Lake Chamber — Jan. 12, 2023, Salt Lake City Marriott, 8 am - noon, Register here

On This Day In History

• 1822 - Rutherford B. Hayes is born. He became the 19th US President (Republican: 1877-81)
• 1854 - Abraham Lincoln makes his 1st political speech at the Illinois State Fair
• 1896 - Dorothy Lawrence, the only woman to serve on the front lines in WWI, is born
• 1908 - Eleanor Flexner is born. An influential author and historian, she wrote Century of Struggle: The Women’s Rights Movement in the United States and Mary Wollstonecraft: A Biography.
• 1915 - Dinosaur National Monument is established
• 1927 - Work begins on Mount Rushmore
• 1944 - General Eisenhower warns of the risk of “shell shock”
• 1957 - Sputnik launched by the USSR, inaugurating the Space Age
• 1976 - Barbara Walters becomes the first woman co-anchor of the evening news (at ABC)
• 1988 - Televangelist Jim Bakker is indicted on federal charges
• 1993 - Ruth Bader Ginsburg joins the U.S. Supreme Court as its second woman Justice
• 1993 - Troops and tanks of President Boris Yeltsin shell and occupy the Russian "White House" in Moscow, the Russian Parliament building. (Fun fact - I was on a plane to Moscow the next day, headed to Kazakhstan where our daughter became international adoptee #5 and saw the burned out building myself.)
• 2006 - WikiLeaks is launched
• 2008 - Sheryl Sandberg becomes the COO of Facebook

Wise Words

"politics ... is the hottest, most dangerous subject in the land. It's not only a conversation-wrecker, it's a friendship-wrecker, a family-wrecker, a job-wrecker, a future-wrecker."
—Barbara Walters

The Punny Side

Where do boats go when they’re sick?

To the dock. 

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