Situational Analysis | September 9, 2021

It's Thursday already and National School Picture Day. Keep those pics to share at your kids' weddings. They'll love you for it.

Also, thanks for the 9/11 stories you've submitted! Keep 'em coming and they'll be featured in tomorrow's special 9/11 edition.

Be in the Know

The New York Times has a piece about Utah's "booming economy" and our "weak link" - air pollution. A red-hot economy, wildfire smoke from California and the shriveling of the Great Salt Lake are making Utahâs alarming pollution even worse, they say.
The Utah Data Research Center just released a study on the gender wage gap among more than 77,000 graduates of Utah's degree-granting institutions and technical colleges. What they found was that Utah's gender wage gap is larger than the US wage gap, that there is a widening gender wage gap as more time is spent in the workforce and that over 70% of the gap cannot be explained entirely by prior work experience, age, or highest educational attainment, arguments typically used to explain away the differences in pay.
Finally, a very happy birthday to President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He turns 97 today. ð

Utah Headlines

9/11 20th anniversary

Giant American flag to soar over Provo's Rock Canyon this weekend (Fox13)
Weber County reaches into the past to teach its youngest residents about 9/11 with Jennie Taylor and the Weber Remembers 9/11 Project (Salt Lake Tribune)
A father and son in Yankee Stadium after 9/11: Seeing President Bush throw out the first pitch brought hope (Deseret News)
Melanie Bowen: I owe my life to the 9/11 heroes on Flight 93 (Deseret News)
Photos of the Day: Healing Field pays tribute to those killed 20 years ago on 9/11 (Deseret News)
Remembering 9/11 through its iconic images (Deseret News)
Park City set to mark Sept. 11 anniversary with solemn procession, ceremony (Park Record)

General

Southern Utah state representative Travis Seegmiller accused of shooting a doe on private property, says he's out of work and needed the meat for his family (St. George News)
Developers say they have $6 billion lined up to âfixâ Utah Lake. Their proposal would raise 20,000 acres of islands, but can it clean Utahâs polluted lake? (Salt Lake Tribune)
Mayor Jenny Wilson: Donât put gondolas up Little Cottonwood Canyon (Deseret News)
Mia Love has made her âThe Viewâ debut and the show's fans are praising her (Deseret News)
God's Garage surprises single moms with a donated car (KUTV)

Politics

Utah school board studying when students can use a new name or pronouns for gender identity (Salt Lake Tribune)
Was patriotism âweaponizedâ post-9/11? 3 millennials weigh in (Deseret News)
As Utah County attorney walks back from capital punishment, man accused of murdering couple no longer faces death penalty (Deseret News)
A conservative argument for ending the death penalty (Deseret News)
Donovan Mitchell didnât âunderstandâ Utahâs critical race theory resolution, Utah Senate president says (Deseret News)

COVID Corner

1539 new cases, 8 new deaths
Health director: Ogden, Weber schoolsâ COVID-19 case counts at manageable levels (Standard-Examiner)
Tooele County Council overturns school mask order issued by its health department (Salt Lake Tribune)
COVID-19 vaccine tracker: 44% of Washington County fully vaccinated; 37% in Iron County (The Spectrum)
COVID-19 surge in the US: The summer of hope ends in gloom (AP)
White House signals new COVID-19 measures coming for unvaccinated Americans (The Hill)
False meme: Nobel laureate did not say ivermectin âcuresâ covid-19 (Washington Post)

Development

Washington County's water situation has some leaders worried about new development (KUER)

Economy

Latest COVID-19 spike may be slowing Utahâs economic boom, says new report (ABC4)
Newly re-branded RISE Business Summit draws record crowd in St. George (St. George News)
Park City economy roared as coronavirus raged, City Hall numbers show. Sales taxes hit an all-time record during the 12-month stretch through June 30 (Park Record)

Environment

Provo may have just three options when it comes to fixing its levees (Daily Herald)

Local Communities

Annual Logan fundraiser on Thursday to help refugees and immigrants (Cache Valley Daily)
Moab city manager resigns, as do the City Attorney and the Moab Recreation and Aquatics Center Manager (Moab Times)

National Headlines

General

Afghan women will be banned from playing sports, a Taliban official says (NPR)
Afghan journalists beaten in Taliban detention after covering women's protest in Kabul (Reuters)
Taliban fighters use whips against Afghan women protesting the all-male interim government (CNN)
Dozens of Westerners to fly from Kabul on commercial flight today (AP)
Beatings, buried videos a pattern at Louisiana State Police (AP)
How TikTok serves up sex and drug videos to minors (Wall Street Journal)

Politics

Biden ousts 18 Trump military academy board appointees, including Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and H.R. McMaster (AP)
Yellen: US on track to default on national debt in October (The Hill)
Trump rips removal of Robert E. Lee statue: 'Complete desecration' (The Hill)
Police expect Capitol fencing reinstalled for Sept. 18 rally (The Hill)

Courts

Judge: Florida canât enforce ban on school mask mandates (AP)
Loveland, Colorado agrees to $3 million settlement over violent arrest of woman with dementia (NBC News)

Elections

Arizona Republican legislator abruptly announces resignation (AP)
Trump expected to endorse Wyoming lawyer to unseat Liz Cheney in biggest test of his ability to purge his critics from the party (Washington Post)
Christie steps out of Trumpâs shadow â and stokes 2024 buzz (Politico)
Former CIA officer announces candidacy for Stefanik's House seat (The Hill)

Learning about Utah's foster care system

By Rep. Cheryl Acton

One of my favorite things about serving in the legislature is sharing what Iâm learning. Last month, I attended a DCFS Immersion training, and it was excellent! We heard from directors, caseworkers, a former foster care kid, a kinship placement family, a foster parent couple, and a mother whose children were in foster care for 18 months while she overcame addiction.

A lot of good things are happening nationally and in Utah when it comes to foster care. These are some of the powerful things I learned:

DCFS tries to protect children from abuse and neglect while simultaneously preserving as much continuity of family, home, community, and culture as possible. Research shows that the trauma, loss, and grief of being removed from your home can reverberate across the lifespan. They try always to remove the threat, not the child â but sometimes the child cannot be made safe at home.
DCFS has 1,031 employees working in 36 offices across 5 regions of the state. The regional offices are staffed 24/7/365.
Last year, 848 cases resulted in one or more children being removed from the home, usually temporarily, allowing the parent(s) to put things in order for reunification.
DCFS strives to treat the family holistically, rather than the children separately. In most circumstances, parents and children do better the more they see each other, even if the children have been removed from the home.
Poverty should never be confused with neglect. (I knew this, but thought Iâd mention it.)
ENDANGERMENT is the #1 reason parents lose custody of their children (usually due to drug addiction.) VIOLENCE against a child is #2, followed by SEXUAL ABUSE and NEGLECT. There are about 8 other reasons, but these are the main ones.
Children who age out of foster care are still entitled to many services. They can be on Medicaid until they are 26, just like kids whose parents have insurance.

The foster dad who spoke said that he strives to develop a relationship with the childrenâs father when kids come into the home, even if he has to visit the father in a treatment center or in jail. The foster mom, a former caseworker herself, said the purpose of foster care is not to provide kids with better things or a better life or an annual trip to Disneyland, but to heal the family. They want the family to be reunited whenever that is possible.

Olivia, who at 21 was formerly in foster care (she called DCFS herself when she was being abused at home â that is real strength!), had all kinds of good ideas for improving the childâs experience. One of the policies she has already pushed through was requiring DCFS to give each child a real duffle bag or small suitcase for their belongings instead of a garbage bag. All of her worldly belongings were in a black garbage bag as she moved from house to house, and people kept trying to throw it away.

The mother whose children were taken away for a while said she used that time to overcome addiction and build a new foundation. She had never had a good role model in her life, she said, and didnât know what functionality and sobriety would look like. Team meetings and activities with her children, caseworker, and the foster parents helped her tremendously. Sheâs now been sober for three years. Her kids feel safe. âIâm seeing growth all around me,â she said.

Rep. Cheryl Acton serves Utahâs House District 43

Upcoming

"Celebrating Women" virtual conference by USU Extension â Sept 18, 9 am - 1:15 pm. Register here
A virtual discussion on civic education with Sen. John Cornyn with the Hatch Foundation - Sept 20 @ 10:30 am. Register here
Utah Foundation Annual Luncheon with Shaylyn Romney Garrett â Sept 23 @ 12 pm. Register here
One Utah Summit held at SUU â Oct 4-6. Register here
Women building a stronger Utah by Real Women Run and the Women's Leadership Institute â Oct 8, 8:30 am - 1:15 pm, at Dixie State University or virtually. Register here
Growth, Grit and Grace - SLC Chamber's Women & Business Conference and ATHENA awards â Nov 19, 8:00 am - 3:30 pm Register here

On This Day In History

From History.com

1776 - Congress renames the nation the United States of America
1825 - Leo Tolstoy is born
1839 - John Herschel took the first glass plate photograph
1890 - Harland Sanders is born. The founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, he started his first restaurant out of a service station. But an entrepreneurial restaurateur was not his first occupation. The Colonel served in the military (but wasnât a colonel), worked as a farmhand, served as a local midwife, and even studied law, among other jobs.
1893 - President Clevelandâs daughter, Esther, is born in the White House
1924 - Russell M. Nelson is born
1956 - Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
1957 - US President Eisenhower signs 1st civil rights bill since Reconstruction

Wise Words

âEach day is a day of decision, and our decisions determine our destiny.â

-Russell M. Nelson

Lighter Side

âA 4-year-old girl named Scarlett just climbed her 48th mountain peak. Thatâs great, but she doesnât have Instagram, so did it really happen?â

â JIMMY FALLON

Situational Analysis | September 9, 2021

Be in the Know

Utah Headlines

9/11 20th anniversary

General

Politics

COVID Corner

Development

Economy

Environment

Local Communities

National Headlines

General

Politics

Courts

Elections

Number of the Day

Learning about Utah's foster care system

Upcoming

On This Day In History

Wise Words

Lighter Side