Utah Headlines

General

•  Opinion: In a family of 11, only 6 made it out. We can do more to help Afghan refugees. The Afghan Adjustment Act will help Afghan refugee families attain permanent citizenship in the U.S. (Deseret News)
• 'Singing loud for all to hear': Utah Christmas carol singalong attracts new, returning families (KSL)
• FBI: Steep climb in teens targeted by online 'sextortion' (KSL)
• Local Utah man accused of swindling millions from victims according to new lawsuit (KUTV)
• Salt Lake City International Airport expecting busy week for holiday travel (ABC4)
• With two positions opening, the Utah Wildlife Board is looking for applicants (Herald Journal)

Politics

• Sen. Mike Lee rips military for stopping pay for Navy officer Ridge Alkonis, imprisoned in Japan (Deseret News)
• Utah's international adoptees urge US Senate to make citizenship automatic (KSL)
• Public comment on state’s plan to fight homelessness begins (KSL Newsradio)
• Property taxes are going up in most of Salt Lake County. Here’s why and what it means for you. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Student athletes could get religious accommodations under bill in the Utah legislature (Fox13)
• On Message with Marty Carpenter: Shifting winds (UTPOL Underground)

Business

•  Twitter blocks tweets that send users to Mastodon, Facebook, Instagram (Deseret News)
• Elon Musk gets voted off Twitter island. But will he concede to the voice of the people? (Deseret News)
• Fortnite maker to pay $520M for children's privacy, e-commerce abuses (KSL)
• Silicone Slopes job fair offers lifeline to laid off tech workers (KSL TV)
• Amazon to make big business changes in EU settlement (AP)

Culture

•  Photo of the day: Utahns come together for Hanukkah (Deseret News)

Environment

• Dam trouble looms for Glen Canyon as the Colorado River shrinks (Deseret News)
• Take a visual journey down the mighty Colorado River (Deseret News)
• ‘A 100-year tragedy’ for tribes in the Colorado River Basin. The Colorado River Basin is home to 30 tribal nations — despite having senior water rights, there are still many tribal communities without running water (Deseret News)
• Watching the death and rebirth of the Colorado River in Mexico (Deseret News)
• The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the West. How much longer will it last? (Deseret News)
• Range wars set to heat up between grazers, environmentalists (Deseret News)

Housing

•  'Let us in': Homeless advocates knock at Utah Legislature's door for more funding for families (Deseret News)
• Logan warming center opens just in time for near-zero temperatures (KSL)
• Utah’s rural housing gets a boost from USDA grant, but Cox wants more (KUER)
• Why this housing downturn isn’t like the last one. A postcrisis mortgage-market makeover and an overhaul of the financial system make a repeat of 2008 unlikely (Wall Street Journal)

Tech

• Cryptocurrencies at crossroads after annus horribilis (Reuters)

National Headlines

General

• Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in Los Angeles trial (AP)
• A secret society tied to the underground railroad fights to save its home. The Black women of the United Order of Tents are scrambling to save their grand Brooklyn headquarters, and to preserve their ambitious future. (New York Times)
• They were enslaved as Native Americans, then lost to their tribes. In the Southwest, Indigenous people were held in bondage even after the Civil War -- a hidden history with lasting scars (Washington Post)
• 4 things to do now to prepare yourself and your home for extreme cold (Washington Post)

Politics

• Analysis: The Jan. 6 Committee wants the DOJ to charge Trump. Will Americans agree? (Deseret News)
• Chief Justice Roberts places hold on termination of Title 42, keeping Trump-era immigration policy in place (Deseret News)
• Why the Senate did not reinstate military members who refused the COVID-19 vaccine (Deseret News)
• Lawmakers unveil $1.7T bill to avoid government shutdown, aid Ukraine (KUTV)
• GOP’s usual embrace of Trump muted after criminal referral (AP)
• McConnell on Jan. 6 criminal referral of Trump: ‘Entire nation knows who is responsible for that day’ (The Hill)
• Trump responds to Jan. 6 criminal referrals: ‘It strengthens me’ (The Hill)
• New York GOP leader calls accusation of faked bio for new GOP House member 'serious' (NPR)
• Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene are engaged in a war of words over Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker. "She childishly threw me under the bus for a cheap sound bite," Greene wrote. (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• As Putin admits difficulties in occupied Ukrainian areas, Zelenskyy visits frontline city (New York Times)
• A battered Kyiv has power for only about a fifth of residents. (New York Times)

World News

• Israeli archaeologists excavating ‘Jesus midwife’ tomb (AP)
• Researchers discover 168 mysterious carvings in Peru’s ancient Nazca plain (Washington Post)

News Releases

Gov. Cox issues executive order to suspend propane delivery rules

Gov. Spencer Cox has issued an emergency order to suspend federal regulations limiting the hours drivers can work to deliver liquid petroleum gas. 

Demand for propane has spiked in Utah and neighboring states due to freezing temperatures and cold weather conditions, but federal rules limit the hours drivers can work to deliver it to stations. This order will allow more propane to be delivered in the state and region while protecting drivers.

“We’re seeing long lines at loading facilities,” Gov. Cox said. “This order will give drivers the flexibility they need to deliver propane safely and give consumers propane when they need it most.”

Executive Order 2022-007 is effective for the next 30 days.

Number of the Day

Tweet of the D

Upcoming

• Utah Economic Outlook and Public Policy Summit with the Salt Lake Chamber — 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

• 1812 - Sacagawea, Shoshone interpreter for the Lewis and Clark expedition, dies at age 24.
• 1946 - Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life" film premieres in New York
• 1954 - Sandra Cisneros is born. The internationally recognized author and poet is best known for her novel The House on Mango Street.
• 1957 - Elvis Presley is drafted
• 1962 - Osmond brothers debut on Andy Williams show
• 1963 - Berlin Wall opened for the first time
• 1971 - Doctors Without Borders is founded
• 1989 - The US invades Panama to oust Manuel Noriega but don’t catch him
• 1995 - NATO assumes peacekeeping duties in Bosnia
• 2012 - Intercontinental Exchange purchases the New York Stock Exchange, the largest in the world, for $8 billion
• 2019 - Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana granted US federal recognition, providing the right to certain legal and government benefits

Wise Words

"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"
—Clarence, It's a Wonderful Life

On the Punny Side

What do you get when you mix a Christmas tree and an iPad?

A pineapple!

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