Cache Community Food Pantry asks for help; grocery chains vie for a place on Thanksgiving tables; Turkey Trot, 5K Run and more this weekend
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The Utah Policy newsletter is your one-stop source for political and policy-minded news. We scour the news so you don't have to! Send news tips or feedback to Holly Richardson at editor@utahpolicy.com.

 

Situational Analysis | Nov. 22, 2024

It's Friday and National Cranberry Relish Day. Mmmm.

What you need to know

  • President-elect Donald Trump wasted little time in nominating a new attorney general after his first plan flamed out. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, plagued by his sex scandals and the threat of a Senate confirmation impasse, rescinded his candidacy for the position in a social media post Thursday afternoon. By evening, Trump had appointed his replacement: Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and a defense lawyer during Trump’s first impeachment trial.

Rapid Relevance

  • Cache Community Food Pantry asks for help supplying thousands of dinners; grocery chains vie for a place on Thanksgiving tables with turkey dinner deals and store brands; Lightwalk, Turkey Trot, 5K Run and more this weekend
 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • Sen. Romney wants U.S. to compete better with China on foreign development investments (Deseret News)
  • Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration as attorney general, citing opposition of John Curtis and others (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Utah County certifies election results; Commissioner Powers Gardner criticizes county clerk (Daily Herald)

Utah legislature

  • No ‘looky-loo’: After county clerk tracked voting methods, Utah lawmakers aim to make it illegal (Deseret News)
  • What are state senators saying about calls to cut higher ed budget? (Deseret News)

Municipal news

  • Meet the new leadership at the St. George Chamber of Commerce Foundation Gala (St. George News)

Utah

  • The Salt Lake Tribune announces plans to be free to all online readers, if donors support it (Salt Lake Tribune
  • As you shop during this season, watch out for the holiday scams (KSL TV)

Biz/Tech

  • Bitcoin value nearing $100K benchmark as surge continues (Deseret News)

Crime/Courts

  • Police say suspect accused of bogus Utah County school threats left a big clue (KUTV)
  • 3 Utah children missing since 2022 found living with FLDS Church, returned to mother (ABC4)
  • Call from St. George manager leads to arrest of man suspected in over 140 break-ins (St. George News)
  • Enslaved on OnlyFans: Women describe lives of isolation, torment and sexual servitude (Reuters)

Culture

  • Traveling for Thanksgiving? Here are foods you can take through airport security (Deseret News)

Education

  • Massive data breach at Granite School District (KSL Newsradio)
  • Corner Canyon wins back-to-back 6A championships (ABC4)
  • Utah university presidents accused of misconduct can no longer collect salary after resigning (Salt Lake Tribune)

Environment

  • Timothy Hawkes: Great Salt Lake can be saved if we work together (TEDx)
  • What a winter La Niña could mean for Utah drought and snow (KUER)

Health

  • Explaining the controversy around fluoride in drinking water (Deseret News)
  • Whooping cough cases have quintupled. These states have it worst (The Hill)
  • Georgia disbands maternal mortality committee over leaked abortion information (AP)
 

National Headlines

General

  • Fast-forming alien planet has astronomers intrigued (Reuters)
  • US Northwest avoids second 'bomb cyclone' but deluged by 'atmospheric river' (Reuters)
  • A growing number of Oregon cities vote to ban psychedelic mushroom compound psilocybin (AP)
  • US applications for jobless benefits fall to 213,000, remaining near 7-month lows (AP)
  • Inside an American reporter’s Russian prison ordeal (Washington Post)

Political news

  • After Gaetz goes down, will Trump’s other nominees survive? (Deseret News)
  • Trump chooses loyalist Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Matt Gaetz withdraws (AP)
  • Number of women who are state lawmakers inches to a record high (AP)
  • Marjorie Taylor Greene will lead new ‘DOGE’ panel on government efficiency (New York Times)
  • ‘Profound fear and anxiety among women in uniform’: Pentagon reacts to allegations against Hegseth (Politico)
  • Office politics: After appeal to colleagues, House freshman gets workspace once occupied by his great-grandfather (The Hill)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • Ukraine’s parliament cancels session after Russia fired a new missile (Reuters)
  • Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can’t stop (AP)

Israel and Gaza

  • Death toll in Gaza from Israel-Hamas war passes 44,000, Palestinian officials say (AP)
  • Many in Gaza are eating just once a day, as hunger spreads amid aid issues (AP)

World news

  • Bomb squad sent to London's Gatwick Airport after terminal evacuation (Reuters)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, Nov. 22, 2024

 

Guest opinion: Will election losses inspire Democrats to make liberalism liberal again?

by Jared Whitley

The once and future President Donald Trump earned a victory two weeks ago has been decisive on all fronts, a rebuke of the last four years of far-left policies. But the ongoing question after an election like this is how will the shellacked party react to its shellacking? 

For example, when voters handed Democrats won the 2006 midterms, all of us Republicans in Washington understood it was because of the Iraq War. President Bush even responded, to show he respected the will of the electorate, by immediately replacing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

Some Democrats have been able to offer a mea culpa for the last four years, with some in the DNC going so far as to call the far-left “a freakshow.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) criticized his own party for abandoning the working class. Rep. Richie Torres (D-NY) called defunding the police an “absurdity.” CNN’s Van Jones called the Democrats who support Hamas terrorists “idiots.” 

Now as someone who makes his livelihood from Republicans winning elections, I am perfectly fine with Democrats not learning the lessons from their disastrous foray into “hipster Marxism.” But as someone who wants the best possible outcomes for the country, I hope they can learn some lessons. 

This will get me in trouble if I ever run for office, but we need liberalism. Our government works best when we have conservatives conserving those institutions that work on behalf of the majority of people, and liberals defending the liberties (that’s where we get the word) of those individuals where it might not. For example, conservatives champion law enforcement while liberals protect the rights of the accused. This constructive conflict is why our country and the world have been so prosperous the last 70 years. (Read More)


News Releases

 

Nominees announced for 4th District Juvenile Court vacancy

The Fourth District Judicial Nominating Commission has selected nominees for a vacancy on the Fourth District Juvenile Court. The vacancy results from the retirement of Judge D. Scott Davis on March 1, 2025.

The nominees for the vacancy are: Tyler Berg; Michael Howard; Dianna Odell; Ryan Petersen; and Joseph Stewart. 

Written comments can be submitted to the Fourth District Judicial Nominating Commission at judicialvacancies@utah.gov or Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, P.O. Box 142330, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-2330. The deadline for written comments is noon Dec. 1, 2024. (Read More)


Romney, Sullivan introduce legislation to realign U.S. strategic investment to better compete with China

U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) today introduced the Aligning Development and Competition Act of 2024, legislation that aims to reorient U.S. foreign development investments through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to better compete with China. DFC was created by the BUILD Act of 2018 with the dual mandate of advancing global development and U.S. foreign policy objectives through public and private investment. (Read More)


Curtis introduces SCAM Platform Act to help Americans combat fraud with AI

Representative John Curtis (R-UT) introduced the Spam Communications Assessment and Mitigation Platform (SCAM Platform) Act, legislation that would create an AI-powered platform under the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This platform would allow Americans to upload texts, emails, and letters they suspect might be scam attempts. Using advanced AI, the portal would analyze submissions to determine whether they match known scams or exhibit signs of fraudulent activity. (Read More)


House Natural Resources passes Moore’s legislation to improve recreation access to federal waterways

The House Natural Resources Committee passed Congressman Blake Moore’s Modernizing Access to Our Public Waters (MAPWaters) Act by unanimous consent. This bipartisan piece of legislation will enhance access to the nation’s outdoor recreational opportunities by digitizing and standardizing mapping information, such as access points and permissible uses, of federal waters. Congressman Moore was joined by Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) in introducing this legislation. Senators Barrasso (R-WY) and King (D-ME) introduced companion legislation in the Senate. (Read More)


Owens’ Mining Schools Act clears committee

The House Natural Resources Committee passed the Mining Schools Act, introduced by Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT) and Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA). This legislation enhances and expands opportunities for mining and geological programs at U.S. colleges and universities, equipping students with the skills and training needed to meet the nation’s future energy demands. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day

Screenshot 2024-11-22 at 6.57.47 AM
 

Upcoming

  • Dec. 3 â€” Promoting Civility and Dignity in Utah, with UWLP, 12:00-1:15 pm, Register here
  • Jan. 9 — What’s Up Down South Economic Summit. St. George. Register here
  • Jan. 10 — Rural Utah Data Symposium. St. George. Register here
  • 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

  • 1718 - Blackbeard (Edward Teach) is killed off the North Carolina coast
  • 1942 - Adolf Hitler orders Rommel's Africa Korps to fight to the last man
  • 1954 - The Humane Society of the United States is established. 
  • 1963 - JFK is assassinated while traveling through Dallas, Texas in an open-top convertible. Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as president on Air Force One by federal judge Sarah Tilghman Hughes.
  • 1972 - First B-52 shot down over North Vietnam
  • 1984 - Fred Rogers of PBS "Mr Rogers Neighborhood" presents a sweater to Smithsonian Institution
  • 1988 - Stealth bomber shown publicly for the first time
  • 1990 - Margaret Thatcher resigns
  • 1995 - Toy Story is released
  • 2005 - Angela Merkel becomes Chancellor of Germany, the first woman to do so
  • 2016 - President Barack Obama posthumously awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to pioneering computer scientist and Navy Admiral Grace Hopper
  • 2020 - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gives Tigrayan forces 72 hours to surrender before the military begins offensive on regional capital of Mekelle

Quote of the Day

“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.”
― Fred Rogers


On the Punny Side

What Thanksgiving treat is the most popular at the kids' table?

Crayon-berry sauce.

 

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