Plus, lots more news about Afghanistan, back-to-school and basic infrastructure makes it to the Westwater community
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The Utah Policy newsletter is your one-stop source for political and policy-minded news. Send news tips or feedback to editor@utahpolicy.com.

 

Situational Analysis | August 17, 2021

Welcome to Tuesday. It's National Nonprofit Day today. Reach out and thank some of your favorites.

Be in the Know

  1. Governor Cox expressed heartache at the events unfolding in Afghanistan and said that "Utah stands ready to welcome refugees from this war-torn country, especially those who valiantly helped our troops over the past 20 years."

  2. Afghanistan's first female mayor says she is waiting for the Taliban to come kill her, as they have repeatedly vowed. "There is no one to help me or my family. I’m just sitting with them and my husband. And they will come for people like me and kill me. I can’t leave my family. And anyway, where would I go?” There have already been 3 attempts on her life, prior to this week.

  3. Navajo Nation President Nez welcomed Lt. Governor Henderson on Monday to discuss priorities and collaboration between Utah and the Navajo Nation, including getting water and electricity to the Westwater Community near Blanding.

  4. It's back-to-school week for many Utah students and while only Grand County has a mask mandate, the state is making high-quality, kid-sized masks available to any Utah student who wants one. KN95 masks will also be available within the next month. 

 

Utah Headlines

General

  • They aided the U.S. military in Afghanistan for years. Have we left them to die? In their words: "They're following just one ideology, which is to kill." (Deseret News)
  • Jennie Taylor says Taliban takeover 'heartbreaking,' defends US role in Afghanistan (Standard-Examiner)
  • Don’t call war in Afghanistan ‘a waste,’ says Jennie Taylor, widow of the North Ogden mayor who was killed there (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Utah politicians blast Biden as Taliban seize Afghanistan; governor ready to welcome refugees (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Native Afghan, U of U professor on mounting concern in Afghanistan (Fox13)
  • Afghans in Utah worry about family members’ survival (ABC4)
  • Pentagon will try to evacuate 22,000 Afghan allies by end of August (Deseret News)
  • Shame in Afghanistan: This is not how the Biden administration should morally bow out of war (Deseret News)
  • It’s 500 acres of food grown on a third of an acre, using just 5% of the water. How a Utah vertical farm combats climate change. (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • ‘Just enjoy the view’: Zion park officials detail lottery to hike Angels Landing (St. George News)
  • Utahn living in Haiti describes 'an entire country of traumatized people' (KSL)

Politics

  • Utah redistricting: Salt Lake, Utah and Washington counties could see the biggest changes in their legislative maps (KUER)
  • Utah redistricting explained: Why you should care (Deseret News)
  • Yes, personal freedom matters in the pandemic — until it limits the freedom of others (Deseret News)
  • Understanding property tax (Richfield Reaper)
  • Mask mandates, Democrats' reckless spending, Burgess Owens challenger (Political as Heck podcast)

COVID Corner

  • New cases - Friday: 1138, Saturday: 886, Sunday: 417; 12 new deaths
  • Grand County announces indoor mask requirement for K-6 students (Fox13)
  • 5 things to know about COVID-19 and the start of the school year (Deseret News)
  • National Park Service mandates masks in buildings, crowded public spaces. (The Hill)
  • Babies and toddlers spread virus in homes more easily than teens, study finds (New York Times)

Drought/Wildfires/Heat

  • Parleys Canyon Fire 21% contained; Park City School District postpones first day of class (Park Record)
  • Parleys Canyon evacuations extended through Wednesday, Thursday (Fox13)
  • Cuts on Colorado River raise more questions about Lake Powell Pipeline. (The Spectrum)
  • The Dixie Fire – now the state's largest single wildfire in history – has been burning for a month in California. (USA Today)
  • EXPLAINER: Western states face first federal water cuts (AP)
  • Global sizzling: July was hottest month on record, NOAA says (AP)

Education

  • Utah schools cannot go remote-only during COVID-19 outbreaks, without legislative approval (KUTV)
  • University of Utah exec resigns after FOX 13 exposes a series of extravagant lies (Fox13)
  • BYU urges return to masks on campus (Deseret News)

Elections

  • Election officials across the country say they are confronting a myriad of challenges heading into the 2022 midterm elections, from threats of foreign interference and ransomware to changes of election laws and concerns of physical safety. (KSL)
  • On Message with Marty Carpenter: Headlines Matter (UTPOL Underground)

Environment

  • After years of being split over climate change, GOP policymakers are moving cautiously as polling shows there are signs a new Republican consensus is forming. (Deseret News)
  • Is climate migration natural or disastrous? Actually, it’s both. (Deseret News)

Health

  • If you see an alarmingly high infant mortality rate in a group of people - how do you go about changing it? One program used cultural knowledge, intergenerational wisdom, and storytelling to create awareness about maternal and infant health in Utah's Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. (PBS Utah)

Housing

  • Housing market in Utah Valley settling a little but still presents challenges (Daily Herald)

National Headlines

Afghanistan

  • Biden defends Afghanistan pullout amid bipartisan criticism. President largely blames fall of Afghan government on its military for failing to fight the Taliban (Wall Street Journal)
  • Afghan security forces’ wholesale collapse was years in the making. For the war's duration, US officials doubted that Afghan forces could become competent. (Washington Post)
  • Billions spent on Afghan army ultimately benefited Taliban (AP)
  • The war in Afghanistan cost America $300 million per day for 20 years, with big bills yet to come (Forbes)
  • A Moment for Soul-Searching: The United States owes its Afghan allies careful scrutiny of its institutional and personal failures—without recrimination, but also without excuses. (The Atlantic)
  • The Taliban's return is catastrophic for women. (The Atlantic)
  • UNICEF says some Taliban support education for Afghan girls (Reuters)
  • Taliban announces ‘amnesty,’ urges women to join government (AP)
  • Afghanistan falls in chaos: Five takeaways (The Hill)
  • Opinion | Why Afghan Forces So Quickly Laid Down Their Arms (Politico)
  • Opinion | The Mystery of Afghanistan’s Missing Military Leaders (Politico)

Politics

  • Hochul says "It won't be difficult" to move on from Cuomo's legacy (The Hill)
  • North Carolina is child bride destination; bill could end it (AP)
  • Senate GOP campaign chairman, Rick Scott, floats 25th Amendment, probe against Biden (The Hill)
  • Can Gov. Newsom keep his job? A recall effort in California shows a dead heat. (New York Times)

Economy

Education

  • What's next for Afghan girls' education under the Taliban? (NPR)

Environment

  • US communities say dire predictions in UN climate report already unfolding (The Hill)

International

  • Detainee says China has secret jail in Dubai, holds Uyghurs (AP)
  • Quake-struck Haiti is lashed by heavy rains after storm hits, hampering earthquake relief efforts (New York Times)

News of the Weird

  • An employee embezzled $12.8 million from a medical school’s nonprofit. He spent most of it at one adult site. (Washington Post)
 

Policy News

Rep. Stewart’s statement on the situation in Afghanistan

“These two things are not mutually exclusive, and in fact are both true: First, withdrawing our combat troops from Afghanistan was the right policy and, two, organizing an orderly withdrawal could have been achieved by competent leadership. 

“Overwhelming evidence that it’s time to withdraw is found in the fact that after more than 20 years, and two trillion dollars, we were not able to train or prepare an Afghan force that could fight for even 90 hours before losing control of their entire nation. After 20 years of sacrificing blood and treasure toward a mission in which we no longer know what success even looks like, we built a government that collapsed in mere days. 

“But the ongoing catastrophe in Afghanistan was entirely avoidable and is a blatant failure of leadership – both by President Biden and the Pentagon. (Read More)

Romney statement on Afghanistan

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today issued the following statement on Afghanistan:

“The President’s failure to acknowledge his disastrous withdrawal provides no comfort to Americans or our Afghan partners whose lives hang in the balance. Contrary to his claims, our choice was not between a hasty and ill-prepared retreat or staying forever. The decision to place a higher priority on a political promise than on the lives of innocent men, women, and children is a stain on America’s reputation and undermines our credibility around the world.”

Legislative redistricting committee analyzes 2020 census data

The Legislative Redistricting Committee released the state’s first analysis of the 2020 Census data showing how population shifts over the last decade will force changes to current district boundaries. The new analysis comes four days after the U.S. Census Bureau released raw data to the state. (Read More)

Utah Democratic Party supports the Independent Redistricting Commission

When the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission sits down to draw crucial district lines, Utah Democrats will be sitting close by, watching to ensure that Utahns, not Republican partisans, get to select their own elected representatives. Utah Democrats remain strongly committed to the most non-political, democratic approach to drawing district lines, which means supporting the Independent Redistricting Commission created by Prop. 4 in 2018.
“Voters should choose their elected officials; elected officials should not choose their voters." (Read More)

Congressman Blake Moore to host townhall in Davis County

Congressman Blake Moore will host an in-person townhall event in Davis County tomorrow to discuss several topics including immigration, federal spending, national security, housing affordability, updates from Washington, and more. All are welcome to attend and participate, and media are permitted to cover the event. 

Date:              Tuesday, August 17th, 2021

Time:             6pm MT

Location:       Kaysville City Hall

Zions Bank Community Speaker Series: Building Economic Inclusion. Aug 31st from 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm MDT

Zions Bank announces the next in its speaker series: Building Economic Inclusion, with a panel that includes:

  • Sui Lang L. Panoke, SVP, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Zions Bank
  • Rep. Robert Spendlove, Economist, Zions Bank
  • Jennifer Robinson, Associate Director, Kem Gardner Policy Institute
  • Miles Hansen, World Trade Center Utah
  • Theresa Foxley, Economic Development Corporation of Utah
  • Daniel Hemmert, Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity

DATE: Tuesday, August 31, 2021

TIME: 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm MDT

PLATFORM: Webinar Registration – Zoom!

This is a FREE event OPEN to the entire COMMUNITY, but registration is required. 

Number of the Day

Number of the Day Aug 17, 2021
 

Commentary: How to win the political game – events drive politics

By LaVarr Webb

I’ve written previously about an old political maxim that says: Events drive politics.

That is as true today as ever before, only today the event might be on Zoom. If you want to be successful in politics, as a candidate, an incumbent, a consultant, an activist, a lobbyist, an industry advocate, or whatever – events will help you achieve your goals.

I’m talking here about more than the routinely scheduled meetings and speeches. I’m suggesting that you need to plan special events using a bit of creativity. They will pay off.  

Events force good things to happen. Events provide great leverage. Any candidate, elected official, or political practitioner who isn’t planning events is missing major opportunities. And if your political opponents are holding events, and you aren’t, you may be falling behind.

Events such as speeches, fundraising dinners, debates, hearings, panel discussions, town or neighborhood meetings, press conferences, media interviews, town celebrations, etc., all can help you make political progress. What happens when you schedule an event? You are forced to:

  • Get people involved
  • Establish policy and clarify positions
  • Prepare communications materials, focus your messages and hone your arguments
  • Interact with the media
  • Develop contact information and mailing lists
  • Pull together people in good causes.

Those are all very positive things for a candidate or an office holder. Most political leaders develop important policy positions when they are writing speeches or preparing for media interviews. Giving a speech forces you to grapple with the key issues and to develop your policy and positions. Holding a fundraising event not only nets you some campaign cash, but it provides a lot of good exposure and forces you to get organized and get supporters helping.

Without events, not much happens in politics. But it’s surprising how many political leaders at all levels, especially after they’re elected, don’t go out of their way to proactively plan events. They attend their regular meetings and take what speeches and other opportunities are offered them, but they aren’t aggressively creating events. More good event opportunities exist than most politicians realize. It just takes a little creativity.

The old political maxim that events drive politics is true.

 

Upcoming

  • Utah Foundation Breakfast Briefing: Mental health in anxious times – Aug 26 @ 9 am. Register here
  • Utah Foundation Annual Luncheon with Shaylyn Romney Garrett – Sept 23 @ 12 pm. Register here
 

On This Day In History

From History.com

  • 1590 - The governor of Roanoke Island, John White, returns from England after three years to find the colony deserted.
  • 1807 - The steamboat designed by Robert Fulton, the Clermont, begins its inaugural trip up the Hudson River. The boat is the first of its kind offered in public service.
  • 1891 - The Centre Market Place bath opened to the public and offered New York City’s first showers. Patrons paid 5¢ for the use of the baths and received a towel and bar of soap. They were allowed to take the soap home.
  • 1909 - Earl Douglass discovers dinosaurs in Utah 
  • 1927 - Elaine Hedges is born. An educator who helped create the field of Women’s Studies, she was a  founding member of the National Women’s Studies Association, and founded the Women’s Studies Program at Towson University, one of the oldest programs in the country.
  • 1945 - George Orwell published the allegorical novella Animal Farm.
  • 1959 - A magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Yellowstone National Park creates what is now known as Hebgen Lake in Montana.
  • 1998 - US President Bill Clinton admits in taped testimony he had an "improper physical relationship" with the intern and on the same day admits before the nation he "misled people" about the relationship

Wise Words

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
-George Orwell in Animal Farm

 

 

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