Good morning, Utah Today readers! Here’s the forecast:
🌤️ (-3) – 25° in Logan
🌤️ 17 – 35° in Salt Lake City
🌤️ 27 – 52° in St. George
The Sundance Film Festival is over and all the stars have flown home, but I’m still thinking about this article by Meg Walter about this unusual season in Utah where celebrated actors and brilliant artists descend from their Beverly Hills homes and spacious sky rises to be with us in our humble mountain abode. It’s always surreal to see Stanley Tucci at Trader Joe’s.
Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a few celebrities (and some people whom only nerds like myself would consider a “celebrity.”) But my favorite run-in ever was when I was walking to meet up with some friends in London on a college study abroad.
I was standing waiting for a stop light to change when David Tennant of “Doctor Who” fame appeared right next to me. I didn’t say anything. I just stared with my jaw on the ground for a full two minutes while Tennant nervously waited for the light to change.
Tell me: Do you have a good story about a chance encounter with a celebrity? Respond to this email, and it might appear in a future issue of Utah Today.
Looking for something? Anything related to the 2023 legislative session will have a bee emoji next to it. 👉 🐝
Finding familial ties through a home renovation show
For Brittany Watson Jepsen, stories about her Latter-day Saint pioneer ancestors hardly felt newsworthy. But to the producers of The Magnolia Channel’s “In With The Old," it felt like a story came full circle when she and her husband Paul renovated their Federalist Revival home in Provo, Utah last year.
In the show, Jepson says they made everything in the house an ode to her great-great-great-great-grandmother Patty Sessions — a renowned midwife who crossed the plains from Maine to Nauvoo and eventually settled in Bountiful, Utah, delivering thousands of babies along the way.
This personal trek inspired a beautiful home that honors the past in a personal way.
Tribal leaders from around the state gathered at the state Capitol Tuesday to call on lawmakers to pass Utah’s version of the Indian Child Welfare Act. The Utah House Judiciary Committee voted 7-5 to hold HB40 and discuss it at a later date.
What’s being said:
Chairman Rep. Jon Hawkins did not discuss specifics but said there were “a lot of issues” with the bill. He also said, "I want the committee to feel comfortable before they vote on it.”
Navajo Nation Council Delegate Carl Slater said: "It's a nation-to-nation, a state-to-state relationship affirmed in our Constitution. It's not an equal protection issue. I'm a citizen of the Navajo Nation; our babies are citizens of the Navajo Nation … You have an opportunity to make sure they know who they are and that they're protected and that they will live long and beautiful lives."
Is this the beginning of the end of DACA? (Deseret News)
Why Mitt Romney, Sean Reyes say ESG funds are bad for retirement accounts (Deseret News)
On my honor: Jack McCain on duty, helping Afghan refugees, and living up to his father’s legacy (Deseret Magazine)
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Economy:
Think the housing market is bad? It’s even worse for affordable housing builders (Deseret News)
Inflation war: Federal Reserve eases back but continues streak of interest rate hikes (Deseret News)
Technology and Business:
Utah lawmakers want age restrictions on social media platforms (KSL) 🐝
Forget big business, Utah lawmaker wants to deregulate ... lemonade stands? (KSL) 🐝
Jason Segel on playing a sad therapist in ‘Shrinking’: ‘I’ve never worn life very lightly’ (Deseret News)
Police and Courts:
Tyre Nichols will be laid to rest: Vice President Kamala Harris will attend, Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver eulogy (Deseret News)
Metro Gang Unit asking Legislature for money to buy tattoo removal machine (KSL) 🐝
Judge awards $10.55M in Arches accidental beheading trial (KSL)
Transportation:
Demand high for Utah driver's license tests in new languages; Legislature considers adding more (KSL) 🐝
Utah House passes moratorium on personalized license plates for 2nd straight year (KSL) 🐝
UTA is free for 10 days this month. Gov. Cox is calling for a whole year (Salt Lake Tribune🔒) 🐝
Faith:
Here’s who is saying it’s time to take religious freedom movement to a Super Bowl level (Deseret News)
The Young Women general presidency on how youth are proving they ‘can do all things through Christ’ (Church News)
New technology allows Holocaust survivors to tell their stories for all time (Religion News Service)
Wasatch Front:
With no homeless shelter, Provo relies on hotel vouchers and policing when it’s cold (KUER)
Southern Utah:
Accident in St. George leads to discovery of child porn, $30K cash, magic mushroom bars, UHP says (KSL)
The West:
Will basin states’ plans save operations at Glen Canyon, Hoover dams? (Deseret News)
Why Arizona’s U.S. Senate race could split Democrats (Deseret News)
The Nation:
Congressman’s unique gift to lawmakers raises a few eyebrows (Deseret News)
Nikki Haley will reportedly announce presidential bid (Deseret News)
The World:
Perspective: How to avert the coming train wreck in Ukraine (Deseret News)
Opinion: Terrorist leader killed in Somalia. Where are we at with the war on terror? (Deseret News)
Sports:
What Kyle Whittingham had to say about 2023 signing class, Cam Rising and the program (Deseret News)
Tom Brady is calling it a career — again (Deseret News)
BYU football gets flip from former Stanford commit, Texas RB LJ Martin (Deseret News)
Photo of the Week
Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, cries during the voting on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, at the Capitol, for a bill that would ban transgender surgeries for Utah children and teens. Escamilla had just finished speaking to the Senate and voting against the bill.
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