Situational Analysis | November 30, 2021

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Be in the Know

1. The Grinches are out and looking at porches near you. An estimated $63 billion will be spent shopping online this holiday season, giving porch pirates incentives to "Christmas shop" off your doorstep. Doorbell cameras aren't much of a deterrent, sadly. Better options are to schedule deliveries for a time someone will be home, require a signature for delivery or have packages delivered to an Amazon locker near you.   

2. Several vehicles were shot at early this morning by a person in an SUV on I-15 between Nephi and Scipio. Two people were injured. The current whereabouts of the shooter are unknown.

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Utah Headlines

General

• Primary caregivers for disabled folks are ‘spread really thin’ due to a shortage of home health workers (KUER)
• Oliver Burkeman with Doug Fabrizio: How to spend four thousand weeks of life (RadioWest)
• Zion’s fall shuttle services end, but park will allow visitors to drive on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive (St. George News)
• 31-year-old pronounced dead after being lowered from rope in Zion National Park; 2 people rescued (St. George News)
• Black Friday sales this year dipped for the first time in history. Here’s why (Deseret News)

Politics

• What Dr. Anthony Fauci says about a Utah congressman’s bill that bears his name (Deseret News)
• How wildlife in the West can benefit from $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending (Deseret News)
• How will redistricting impact Utah’s communities of color? (Salt Lake Tribune)

COVID Corner

• 2476 new cases, 21 new deaths over the weekend
• Fighting for his life: Tooele man hospitalized for months after contracting COVID-19 (Fox13)
• Conflict over religious vaccine exemptions is only going to get worse (Deseret News)
• The omicron variant was in Europe a week before South Africa reported it (NPR)
• Fragmented Reactions Hinder Global Fight Against Omicron Variant (New York Times)

Education

• How Washington County has surpassed the state in teacher retention (KUER)
• Students help Cox family decorate Governor's Mansion for Christmas (Fox13)

Environment

• Uinta Basin is hemorrhaging methane as leaks go undetected (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Proposed mine in Parleys Canyon draws concern from residents (KSL)

Health

• Two Americas: Native American lessons in understanding mental health (Fox13)
• How social media has changed the perception of mental health care (Salt Lake Tribune)

National Headlines

General

• Bye-bye Jack. Twitter’s CEO is leaving. The storms that consumed his company won’t end. (Politico)
• Supply Chain Problems Have Small Retailers Gambling on Hoarding (New York Times)

Politics

• Boebert refuses to apologize for anti-Muslim remarks (AP)
• Boebert and Omar fight leaves GOP scrambling (The Hill)
• Greene calls fellow Republican 'trash' of GOP conference (The Hill)
• Paul, Cruz fire back after Fauci says criticism of him is 'dangerous' (The Hill)
• Covid looms over Biden’s presidency, once more and always (Politico)
• Trump allies work to place supporters in key election posts across the country, spurring fears about future vote challenges (Washington Post)

Courts

• Appeals court to weigh Trump arguments to withhold records (AP)
• Prosecutors ask Supreme Court to review ruling that freed Bill Cosby (Washington Post)
• Trial to begin for officer who said she confused her gun with Taser in Daunte Wright killing (Washington Post)
• Maxwell sex abuse trial to resume with Epstein pilot's testimony (Reuters)

International

• As Afghanistan’s economy collapses, international community looks for innovative ways to avoid humanitarian disaster (Washington Post)
• Barbados bids farewell to British monarchy, becomes republic (AP)
• Myanmar court postpones verdict for ousted leader Suu Kyi (AP)

Policy News

Utah Taxpayers Association releases 2021 Cost of County Government Report

The Utah Taxpayers Association has released the 2021 Cost of County Government Report that measures the tax and fee burden taxpayers face in each of the 29 counties in Utah. The report shows how much revenue each county collects in taxes and fees per resident. The report is useful in comparing different counties and indicates the level of fiscal restraint exercised by elected officials.

On a per capita basis, using data from 2020, the county with the lowest tax burden in Utah was Washington County, followed by Cache, Sanpete, Iron and Utah Counties as the second to fifth lowest. The county with the highest tax burden was Daggett County, followed by Kane, Garfield, Grand and Summit counties and the second to fifth highest. (Read More)

Number of the Day

Thoughts on federalism from a wise federal judge

By LaVarr Webb

Jeffrey S. Sutton is the chief judge of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He’s also an accomplished author. And he’s also a very sensible advocate of balanced federalism.

Sutton was recently interviewed by Clay S. Jenkinson, who is editor-at-large for Governing magazine. Jenkinson asked Sutton about Sutton’s new book, Who Decides: States as Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation. 

Sutton argues, says Jenkinson, that the nation should turn to state governments for experimentation and consensus-building before going to the U.S. Supreme Court for “one-winner, one-size-fits-all decisions under the U.S. Constitution. . . . The legislative branches of state governments should take a large role in constitutional experimentation, and we should ask less of the judicial branch.”

Sutton’s first book, “51 Imperfect Solutions:  States and the Making of American Constitutional Law,” also focuses on state and federal constitutional law. (Read More)

Upcoming

• Solving for Housing in the Economic Inclusion Equation - Zions Community Speaker Series – Nov 30, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, via Zoom. Register here
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• Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit 2022 - SLC Chamber – Jan 13, 2022, 8:30 am - 1:30 pm. Register here
• Utah legislative session begins – Jan 18, 2022, 10:00 am
• Utah legislative session ends – Mar 4, 2022, midnight

On This Day In History

From History.com

• 1835 - Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) is born
• 1856 - The Martin Company arrives in Salt Lake
• 1874 - Winston Churchill is born
• 1876 - The first Thanksgiving college football game is played - Yale defeats Princeton 2-0.
• 1924 - Shirley Chisholm is born. She became the first African-American Congresswoman, (D-NY, 1969-83), first woman and first African-American Democratic presidential nominee
• 1929 - Dick Clark (American Bandstand) is born
• 1950 - President Truman refuses to rule out atomic weapons in order to achieve peace in Korea.
• 1981 - The United States and U.S.S.R. open talks to reduce intermediate-range nuclear forces
• 1993 - The Brady Bill is signed into law by President Bill Clinton
• 2004 - Ken Jennings 74-game winning streak on Jeopardy! ends
• 2013 - Paul Walker, actor (The Fast and the Furious), dies in a car accident at 40
• 2018 - George H.W. Bush dies at 94
• 2020 - Discovery of Amazon rock art announced. Dating 12,600 and 11,800 years ago, there are thousands of paintings of now extinct Ice Age animals

Wise Words

“We are a nation of communities...a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.”

-George H. W. Bush

Lighter Side

Thanks to one of our readers for this one:

Q: What are the Christmas colors?

A: Red and green, of course -- you spend all of your green until you are in the red.

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