Situational Analysis | October 6, 2021

Welcome to Wednesday. Cooler weather is on the way.

It's also Random Acts of Poetry Day. I'm not a poet and I know it - but if you are, go for it!

Be in the Know

1. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, testified in front of the Senate Commerce subcommittee yesterday. She testified that Facebook was addicting, focused on providing dopamine hits, is focused on metrics and is doing research on kids. Mark Zuckerberg responded in a long Facebook post that was also sent to company employees. “We care deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health. It's difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives.”

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The Hinckley Report

In partnership with the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah, PBS Utah produces and airs "The Hinckley Report," providing insight and analysis into Utah politics, covering the most pressing political issues facing our state. Hosted by Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics, each week’s guests feature Utah’s top journalists, lawmakers and policy experts. "The Hinckley Report" airs on PBS Utah Fridays at 7:30 pm and is also available to stream or as a podcast.

Utah Headlines

General

• New research: Pay gap between men and women remains one of the widest in the nation, hasn't changed in 4 years (KSL, Fox13, ABC4)
• IN FOCUS Discussion: The rise in domestic violence (ABC4)
• Homicides in Utah spiked 44% in 2020, state report says (Deseret News)
• ‘The bully follows them home’: 5 major takeaways from the Facebook whistleblower hearing (Deseret News)
• Women wildland firefighters battle for equitable treatment in new documentary (KUER)

Politics

• State crime report shows increase; Utah Sheriffs’ Association blames ‘radical’ justice policies (Standard-Examiner)
• Does Facebook approve ads harmful to children? What Sen. Mike Lee has to say about it (Deseret News)
• How do legislators make laws in just 45 days? (KUER's State Street)

COVID Corner

•  1264 new cases, 11 new deaths
• Most COVID-19 survivors experience these COVID symptoms, new Wuhan study says (Deseret News)

Education

• Canyons School District pauses, reviews the use of a social-emotional learning curriculum (Fox13) 
• Utah school district says new TikTok challenge has kids assaulting teachers, fellow students (Fox13)

Housing

• Homeless coalition reevaluating options after shelters put on hold in SLC (Fox13)
• Washington County bans unhosted short-term vacation rentals in unincorporated areas (St. George News)

Rural Utah

• How much money does renewable energy make for rural Utah’s economy? It’s more than you’d think (Deseret News)
• 3-day summit focuses on rural Utah's growing needs (Fox13)

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National Headlines

General

• China could be ready to mount a 'full-scale' invasion of Taiwan by 2025, island's defense minister says (CNN)
• Ship's anchor may have caused massive oil spill off the coast of Southern California (NPR)
• New York City police union leader resigns after FBI raids his office and home (CBS News)
• Workers at all of Kellogg’s U.S. cereal plants go on strike (AP)

Politics

• Biden calls curbing filibuster to raise debt limit ‘a real possibility’ (New York Times)
• House committee investigating January 6 can't find Trump aide to serve subpoena (CNN)
• Arnold Schwarzenegger says January 6 insurrection is what happens 'when people are being lied to about the elections' (CNN)
• Biden scales back his agenda in hopes of bringing moderates onboard (New York Times)
• In budget turning point, Biden conceding smaller price tag (AP)
• GOP peels its centrists away from Biden's bipartisan infrastructure plan as House Republican leaders are successfully messaging the muddled timing of the president's party to strip possible support from the bipartisan Senate-passed bill. (Politico)

Courts

• Supreme Court remands border wall challenge following 'changed circumstances' under Biden (The Hill)
• Four cases to watch in the Supreme Court’s new term (Deseret News)

Policy News

Sen. Lee highlights Utah’s White Mesa Mill in Senate hearing

In a hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) questioned the potential impact of a royalty fee as proposed by House Democrats in the reconciliation package during the Committee’s examination of the Mining Law of 1872. During questioning of the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the National Mining Association, Katie Sweeney, Sen. Lee reminded hearing participants and viewers that Utah’s San Juan County is home to the last remaining Uranium mill in the United States, the White Mesa Mill.  (Read/Watch More)

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Sen. Lee, colleagues question DOJ, FTC antitrust enforcement

Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Reps. Ken Buck (R-CO), and Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to Richard Powers, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, and Lina Kahn, Chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission questioning the dual antitrust enforcers’ increasingly divergent standards in enforcing the law. 

Both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have authority to review mergers and acquisitions and enforce antitrust law generally.  When their enforcement standards diverge, American businesses and citizens can suffer. (Read More)

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Event: Can Utah step up its game on air quality?

On October 13, the Utah Foundation will hold an important online Breakfast Briefing on air quality in Utah.

The panelists include:

• Jill Flygare, Chief Operating Officer, Utah Inland Port Authority
• Kim Frost, Executive Director, Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR)
• David Garbett, Executive Director, O2 Utah
• Kim Shelley, Executive Director, Utah Department of Environmental Quality

(Read More) (Register Here)

Number of the Day

 

Upcoming

• Women in the money: Utah Financial Empowerment Conference with Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks – Oct 8, 8:30 am - 4 pm. Register here
• Utah Business Economic Summit – Nov 5, 8:00 am - 4 pm Register here
• Growth, Grit and Grace - SLC Chamber's Women & Business Conference and ATHENA awards – Nov 19, 8:00 am - 3:30 pm Register here

On This Day In History

From History.com

• 1683 - The first Mennonites arrive in America
• 1866 - The first train robbery of a moving train occurs
• 1914 - Mary Louise Smith is born. She becomes a Republican Party committeewoman and chair (1974-77), and was a pro-choice supporter of the ERA
• 1927 - "The Jazz Singer" is released. It is the first film with a soundtrack
• 1949 - US President Harry Truman signs Mutual Defense Assistance Act (for NATO)
• 1961 - President Kennedy urges Americans to build bomb shelters
• 1973 - The Yom Kippur War brings United States and USSR to brink of conflict
• 1979 - Pope John Paul II is 1st Pope to visit The White House, meeting with President Jimmy Carter in Washington, D.C.
• 1981 - Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt, is assassinated
• 2010 - Instagram is born

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Wise Words

“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”

-Pope John Paul II

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Lighter Side

“Ladies and gentlemen, I come to you tonight from a room full of warriors. Heroes. Survivors. Forget World War II, this is the greatest generation, because yesterday, every single person in this room had to dig down deep within themselves and find the strength to make it through Facebook’s six-hour worldwide outage.” 

— STEPHEN COLBERT

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