Utah Headlines

Political news

• 2025 Legislative Preview (Hinckley Report)
• Gov. Cox: Utahns can give hope to the nation (Deseret News)
• New Utah Sen. John Curtis says he’ll enact Trump’s agenda while upholding ‘pioneer values’ (Deseret News)
• New Year, new tax: Salt Lake City raises sales tax for multibillion-dollar downtown project (Deseret News)
• Exclusive: Gov. Cox calls on Trump administration to remove ICE obstacles to deportations (Deseret News)
• To rebuild trust, Utah’s next attorney general wants to take his office down to the studs (Deseret News)
• Attorney General-elect Derek Brown plans to modernize the office using AI (KSL)
• Provo-Salt Lake City ‘quiet zone’ reinstated; comments sought on northern Utah waiver (Deseret News)
• George Romney awarded Medal of Freedom, Mitt Romney accepts on his behalf (Deseret News)
• Utah lawmakers have set aside more than $200 million for another tax cut this year. What break will taxpayers get? (Deseret News)

Utah

• Hill Air Force Base enforcing tighter security after recent attacks in New Orleans, Las Vegas (Deseret News)
• Downtown Salt Lake City revitalization in motion. Do Utahns approve? (Deseret News)

Biz/Tech

• Want your flight to be on time? You can't get better than Salt Lake City International in the U.S. (KSL)

Crime/Courts

• Utah filing alleges TikTok knowingly profited from child exploitation (Deseret News)
• Illinois man arrested after Nephi police seize meth with street value of $919,000 (KSL)
• In Utah, 217 women have now sued an OB-GYN for alleged sex abuse. One says he assaulted her after he agreed to stop practicing. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Police locate, arrest 'violent' ex-boyfriend of woman found dead in Tooele County (KSL)

Culture

• Perspective: The solution for ‘brain rot’ is on your bookshelf (Deseret News)
• Does religion lead to more or less perfectionism? (Deseret News)

Education

• Perspective: The enduring value of public higher education (Deseret News)
• Lehi student wins national recognition for ceramic creations (KSL)
• U. of Utah’s $500K prize backs proposal to use crop waste to store carbon (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Southern Utah University grad student awarded Utah’s 2025 Teacher of the Year (St. George News)
• UVU faculty and students contribute to preservation work at sacred Bolivian site (KSL)

Environment

• Great Salt Lake makes new gains to start new year. What does it need in 2025? (Deseret News)

Health

• U of U Health to participate in pain management trial (Standard-Examiner)

Housing

• Utahns will get to weigh in on massive new homeless shelter but only after state selects a site (Salt Lake Tribune)

National news

General

• Jimmy Carter’s six-day state funeral begins in Georgia (Deseret News)
• The U.S. Secret Service remembers their friend, Jimmy Carter (Deseret News)
• ‘Our country ignored Africa,’ Jimmy Carter said. He didn’t (AP)
• Perspective: The elephants in the room with Gisèle Pelicot and Lily Phillips (Deseret News)
• FBI says New Orleans attacker surveyed area using Meta smart glasses (Washington Post)
• Vehicular attacks are not new. But preventing them has been a big challenge (NPR)
• Major winter storm moves east (New York Times)

Politics

• Joe Biden: What Americans should remember about Jan. 6 (Washington Post)
• Trump urges Congress to pass his agenda in a single, massive bill (Reuters)
• Winter storm will not delay Trump election certification in Congress, House leader says (Reuters)
• Congress is ready to certify Trump’s election win, but his Jan. 6 legacy hangs over the day (AP)
• What Jan. 6 did to Officer Howie Liebengood (Politico)
• U.S. Capitol Police chief opposes pardons for assaults against police (Washington Post)
• Chris Stewart: Kash Patel is the right man to restore trust in the FBI (Deseret News)
• Eric Schmidt: Artificial intelligence will remake our government. And that’s a good thing (Deseret News)
• Lyric Kaplan: Can democracy survive artificial intelligence? (Deseret News)
• Opinion: Hunter Biden’s pardon is perfectly in the president’s power (Deseret News)
• Fewer Christians, more ‘nones’: Congress’ new religious breakdown (Deseret News)
• Mike Johnson reelected as House speaker. All 4 Utah reps support him (Deseret News)

Ukraine 

• Ukraine presses attacks in Russia’s Kursk region (AP)
• Warring sides battle in western Russia as Moscow reports gains in Ukraine (Reuters)

Israel/Gaza

• Hamas and Israel wrangle over talks as Israeli strikes in Gaza intensify (Reuters)
• Israel conducts raids in Syria amid accusations of cease-fire violations (New York Times)

World news

• Hezbollah leader Nasrallah was killed last year inside the war operations room, aide says (AP)
• Canada PM Trudeau is likely to announce resignation, source says (Reuters)

Number of the Day 

News Releases

Utah Division of Consumer Protections announces release of previously redacted information in TikTok Inc. complaint filing

The Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protections, represented by the Utah Attorney General’s Office, announced today the release of previously redacted information related to its most recent complaint filed against TikTok Inc. (TikTok). The previously redacted allegations include details from TikTok’s internal investigation, what the company called “Project Meramec,” which revealed that TikTok knew that hundreds of thousands of minors were accessing their LIVE product and its age restrictions were ineffective. Additionally, the Division alleges the company’s investigation recognized that children were being sexually exploited, and TikTok decided not to stop anything because of the financial profits it was raking in. (Read More)

Curtis sworn in as U.S. Senator for Utah

On Jan. 3, John R. Curtis was sworn in as the United States Senator representing Utah. Senator Curtis—a Republican—took the oath of office Friday afternoon on the Senate Floor in the U.S. Capitol. Curtis brings extensive experience to the Senate, having passed over 20 bills into law during his tenure representing Utah’s Third Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to his service in Congress, Curtis was a small business owner and served as Mayor of Provo, Utah, for eight years. (Read More)

Salt Lake Chamber and Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute host 2025 Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit

The Salt Lake Chamber and Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute is hosting their annual Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit. The Summit is the state’s premier economic forecasting and public policy event. During the summit, the Utah Economic Council will present the 2025 Economic Report to the Governor, release the business community’s top public policy priorities for the upcoming legislative session and have panel discussions on critical issues and opportunities facing our state. The event will be held Jan. 10 at the Grand America Hotel, from 7:30 am - 12:00 pm. (Read More)

State Auditor completes review of election processes

During the summer, the Office of the State Auditor (Office) received numerous complaints about concerns with the election process. As a result, the Office reviewed certain election processes including controls over and disclosure of voter registration information, as well as the validation process associated with signature-gathering by candidates. Today, the State Auditor released another report detailing areas for improvement in the election processes, focusing particularly on the candidate petition signature verification process. (Read More)

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Jan. 6 â€“ Salt Lake County inauguration, 10 am, Mid-Valley Performing Arts Center, 2525 Taylorsville Blvd, Taylorsville
• Jan. 8 — Inauguration for Gov. Cox, Lt. Gov Henderson, AG Derek Brown, Auditor Tina Cannon, and Treasurer Marlo Oaks, 10 am
• Jan. 9 — What’s Up Down South Economic Summit. St. George. Register here
• Jan. 10 — Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit with the SL Chamber & Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, 7:30 am - 12:00 pm, Grand America Hotel, Register here 
• Jan. 10 — Rural Utah Data Symposium. St. George. Register here
• Jan. 11— Special election for HD4, 2 pm
• Jan 14 — Utah Taxpayers Association Legislative Outlook Conference, 9 am - 12:00 pm, Little America Hotel, Register here
• Jan. 21 — Utah legislative session begins
• Mar. 7 — Utah legislative session ends

On This Day In History

• 1412 - Joan of Arc is born.
• 1759 - George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis. 
• 1832 - The New England Anti-Slavery Society is formed
• 1838 - Samuel Morse demonstrates the telegraph.
• 1907 - Dr. Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center, Casa Dei Bambini, in Rome, Italy.
• 1912 - New Mexico joins the Union as the 47th state.
• 1919 - Theodore Roosevelt dies.
• 1925 - John DeLorean is born.
• 1941 - Franklin D. Roosevelt speaks to Congress on the “Four Freedoms” - freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship God in his own way, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
• 1942 - FDR commits to biggest arms buildup in U.S. history
• 1945 - George Herbert Walker Bush marries Barbara Pierce.
• 1959 - Richard and Mildred Loving were convicted of interracial marriage in Virginia, given a one-year suspended sentence, and banished from the state.
• 2001 - Al Gore presides over a joint session of Congress that certifies George W. Bush the winner of the 2000 presidential election.
• 2021 - Insurrection at the US Capitol by Trump supporters who refuse to accept the results of the 2020 election

Quote of the Day

"Today, I will perform my constitutional duty as Vice President to certify the results of the 2024 election. This duty is a sacred obligation — one I will uphold guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution, and unwavering faith in the American people."

—Vice President Kamala Harris

On the Punny Side

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