U of U hosting final presidential debate of 2024; what’s open & closed on Thanksgiving; and where you can get gas for less than $3 a gallon.
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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. 20, 2023

It's Tuesday and Election Day in Utah! Vote in person or drop your ballot off at a dropbox near you. It's too late to mail it in.  

Also, a very happy birthday to Sheri Dew today! 🎉

What You Need to Know

  • The final presidential debate of the 2024 cycle will be held at the University of Utah. "Obviously it's a big deal. Utah is proving once again that when there's a space that's needed for a big event, a big convening, that we're at the top of all of those lists, and obviously a place where civic dialogue and discourse can happen," said Gov. Spencer Cox.

Rapid Relevance

 

Carlos Boozer is back!

Join us December 4 for an exciting evening featuring Carlos Boozer. Hear his captivating story and a lively Q&A session, as well as a memorable photo opportunity. Purchase tickets today.

 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • Sen. Mike Lee calls Javier Milei's victory in Argentina 'liberty over statism' (Deseret News)
  • Jan. 6 transcript: Fake elector plot was 'Mike Lee's idea', witness testified (KUTV)
  • Fact Check: Utah AG’s support of ‘psychic intel’ contradicts police data (Fox13)
  • Park City shuts down virtual comments after hate speech (KPCW)
  • Utah Governor: let’s disagree better at our Thanksgiving tables (Dallas Morning News)
  • Disagree Better: As governors of Colorado and Utah, we want to tackle toxic polarization (Colorado Sun)

Election news

  • Low voter turnout for some of Utah's biggest races (Fox13)
  • Cornel West holds his debut in-person rally in Salt Lake City (Deseret News)
  • Why Governor Gary Herbert is backing a new candidate for Attorney General after appointing Sean Reyes (KSL TV)
  • What to know in Utah’s special House election (The Hill)

Holiday corner

  • 'Grateful to be alive': Volunteers serve Thanksgiving to food insecure Utahns (KSL)
  • Utah's Consumer Protection Office warns of retail, delivery, charity holiday scams (KUTV)
  • Driving or flying before feasting? Here are some tips for Thanksgiving travelers (AP)
  • The holiday foods you can and can’t bring in a carry-on, according to TSA (Washington Post)
  • United Way of Utah County prepping for Sub for Santa, taking names (Daily Herald)
  • 6 in 10 hoping to avoid politics at Thanksgiving: Survey (The Hill)
  • Derek Miller: 5 ways your business can give back this holiday season (Utah Business)

Utah news

  • Who first knew the place you call home? (Fox13)
  • 'Because of Hannah': Utah mom who lost daughter to suicide provides resources for others (KSL)
  • 12-year-old boy on dirt bike killed in collision with car in Tooele County (KUTV)

Business/Tech

  • Honda recalls nearly 250,000 vehicles due to manufacturing defect (Deseret News)
  • Utah Gov. Spencer Cox launches $7M initiative to build bigger, better life sciences workforce (KSL)
  • The benefits of diversifying the workforce (UPR)
  • What happened to Utah’s Jane.com? The online retailer revolutionized shopping and selling for women. Now headed for liquidation, the site’s demise blindsided customers, vendors and employees. (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Future of OpenAI in jeopardy as workers threaten to quit unless board resigns (Wall Street Journal)

Crime

  • How Utah cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people fall through the cracks, according to new report (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Former Park City attorney pleads guilty to sexual abuse, incest (ABC4)

Culture

  • President Holland to rededicate his beloved hometown St. George Utah Temple on Dec. 10 (Deseret News)
  • Utah band directors excited to march in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (KSL TV)
  • How Travis Kelce manifested the best year of his life (Wall Street Journal)
  • Accusations of body-shaming, verbal abuse, fits of anger: Beneath NCAA gymnastics’ glow, a ‘toxic’ culture (Washington Post)
  • 15 years later, the cultural impact of ‘Twilight’ is still going strong (Deseret News)
  • How faith motivated Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King Jr. — a conversation with Jonathan Eig (Deseret News)

Education

  • Highland High School raising funds for translation earbuds to help refugee students (KSL TV)
  • Salt Lake City School District recommends closing four elementary schools (KUTV)
  • Dixie Tech leads state in overall enrollment increase for tech colleges; Southwest Tech also sees jump (St. George News)
  • What a day in the life of a Utah K-3 literacy coach looks like (KUER)
  • Opinion: Utah legislators need to be in the classroom. Educators need to let them in. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Family

  • Perspective: Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter’s love story is exactly what we need right now (Deseret News)

Health

  • Studies suggest this particular olive oil has big health benefits (Deseret News)
  • No more Thanksgiving ‘food orgy’? New obesity medications change how users think of holiday meals (AP)
  • Showing gratitude is good for all of us, so why don’t we give thanks more? (Washington Post)
 

National Headlines

General

  • Americans say money can buy happiness. Here’s the price tag (Deseret News)
  • New Hampshire man had no car and no furniture, but died with a big secret, leaving his town millions (AP)
  • Biden pardons National Thanksgiving Turkeys while marking his 81st birthday with jokes about his age (AP)
  • All 9 aboard U.S. Navy plane that overshot runway escape injury, Hawaii official says (NPR)
  • The big #MeToo moment for doctors is finally here (New York Times)
  • Kansas school demands Native American student cut his hair to attend (New York Times)
  • A human condition. Documenting the fallout of a drug policy gone wrong in liberal Portland (Deseret News)

Political news

  • Federal appeals court deals a blow to Voting Rights Act, ruling that private plaintiffs can’t sue (AP)
  • The far right toppled McCarthy over spending. What has it gotten them? (Washington Post)
  • Food aid for low-income mothers, babies becomes spending flashpoint (Politico)

Election news

  • Trump's dire words raise new fears about his authoritarian bent (New York Times)
  • RFK Jr. leads 2024 candidates in favorability poll (The Hill)
  • Vivek Ramaswamy struggles to gain traction with Iowa Republicans as critics question his path ahead (AP)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • 10 years later, a war-weary Ukraine reflects on events that began its collision course with Russia (AP)
  • Ukrainian hacktivists fight back against Russia as cyber conflict deepens (NPR)
  • Tired Ukrainian troops fight to hold back Russian soldiers: 'They come like zombies' (Wall Street Journal)
  • Ukraine's children with special needs suffer the 'huge pressure' of war (New York Times)
  • In Ukraine's slowed-down war, death comes as quickly as ever (New York Times)

Israel 🇮🇱

  • The Gaza war's youngest evacuees reach safety in Egypt — many without their parents (NPR)
  • Most Americans support Israel, new poll finds (The Hill)
  • Our warnings on Hamas were ignored, Israel’s women border troops say (Politico)
  • Hamas leader says deal to release some hostages could come soon (NPR)

World

  •  Argentina braces itself for its new 'anarcho-capitalist' president (New York Times)
  • 41 workers stuck in a tunnel in India for 10th day given hot meals as rescue operation shifts gear (AP)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, Nov. 21, 2023

 

News Releases

Colorado State University Global launches ‘Disagree Better’ course

Colorado State University Global (CSU Global), in collaboration with National Governors Association (NGA) Chair, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, and vice chair, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, has created a fully online course, Disagree Better, to equip learners with healthy conflict styles, tools, and strategies for resolution. The Disagree Better initiative is Gov. Cox’s initiative in his capacity as Chair of NGA. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day

Screenshot 2023-11-21 at 7.23.24 AM

 

Upcoming

  • Nov. 21 - General election
  • Jan. 16, 2024 - Legislative session begins
  • Mar. 1 - Legislative session ends 
 

On This Day In History 

  • 1783 - Men fly over Paris in the first untethered hot-air balloon flight
  • 1817 - US soldiers attack Miccosukee Tribe village of Fowltown, Georgia, beginning what becomes known as the First Seminole War
  • 1834 - Hetty Green is born. From a young age, Green’s shrewd understanding of money earned her a ruthless reputation in the world of finance. After the death of her husband Edward Henry Green in 1936, she earned the nickname “Witch of Wall Street” after appearing in her mourning clothes. She died one of the richest women in the world.
  • 1905 - Albert Einstein publishes a paper in the journal Annalen der Physik that leads to his mass-energy equivalence formula, E=mc²
  • 1906 - Mary Ellen Bute is born. A foremost innovator of abstract animation beginning in early 1930’s, she was a world pioneer in electronic imagery
  • 1922 - Rebecca Latimer Felton becomes the first female US Senator at age 87. 
  • 1953 - Sheri Dew is born.
  • 1973 - US President Richard Nixon's attorney, J Fred Buzhardt, reveals presence of 18½ minute gap in a White House tape recording related to Watergate
  • 1974 - Freedom of Information Act passed by Congress over President Ford's veto
  • 1986 - Iran-Contra scandal begins with shredded documents
  • 1989 - Law banning smoking on most domestic flights signed by US President George H. W. Bush
  • 2019 - 44% of Americans work in low-wage jobs with medium annual wage of just $18,000, with most aged 25 - 54 according to analysis by Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program

Quote of the Day

"You cannot have a relationship with someone you can't trust."

—Sheri Dew


On the Punny Side

I have a scary joke about math...

But I'm 2² to say it.

 

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