Situational Analysis | April 21, 2022

Today is Thursday and National Kindergarten Day. What a fun age. 

Also, a very happy birthday to Director Jenney Rees who heads the Utah Department of Government Operations. 

Be in the Know

1. Senator Mike Lee talked to the Deseret News about the text messages he sent to the White House following the 2020 election. He said his texts were "being used out of context for 'political motives' and were 'leaked' during an important period of time in his reelection campaign. He told reporter Dennis Romboy that when he texted Mark Meadows ‘Tell me what we ought to be saying,’ he was trying to figure out: "‘What is your message?’ He knows me well enough to know that that doesn’t mean I will do your bidding, whatever it is,” Lee said in a 45-minute phone interview.

2. Putin has decided to stop trying to take the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “This situation means the following — they cannot physically capture Azovstal. They have understood this. They suffered huge losses there.” Putin, however, has declared victory. Britain’s Defense Ministry said that Russia likely wants to demonstrate significant successes ahead of Victory Day on May 9, the proudest moment on the annual calendar marking its critical role in winning World War II.

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Utah Headlines

General

• Thermo Fisher inaugurates $44M plant, boosting Utah’s biotech sector (Standard-Examiner)
• Revealing clothing, drinking too much — how Utah blames survivors of sexual assault (KUER)
• Debt collection cases are flooding Utah’s state courts, new data shows (KUER)
• Provo has youngest workforce in the U.S. (ABC4)
• How the Tabernacle Choir turned its canceled European tour into cruises for charity (Deseret News)

Politics

• Utah Sen. Mike Lee’s private texts complicate his public statements. I sat down with Sen. Lee last year to discuss the 2020 election investigation. But newly released texts complicate the narrative he told to me then (Deseret News)
• Tax cuts, water and cannabis are among the top priorities for Utah lawmakers (Fox13)
• How many Utahns actually support transgender girls sports ban? New poll has answers (Deseret News)
• Are we headed for a recession? Mitt Romney says it’s not out of the question (Deseret News)
• Elected leaders in this Utah city gave themselves a raise. How residents hope to stop them: They are asking the Utah Supreme Court to let voters weigh in. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Education

• Layton girl, mom speak out on racism in the classroom — it can take a toll (Standard-Examiner)
• Utah really needs more substitute teachers. Here’s what I learned when I volunteered (KUER)
• Issues pinpointed in audit of police departments at Utah colleges and universities (Fox13)
• Campus safety concerns in a new audit ‘echo’ problems revealed after Lauren McCluskey’s murder (Deseret News)
• Westminster College gets attention on social media for porn film class (KSL TV)

Environment

•  â€˜We’re doing our part’: Washington County adopts its own water conservation measures (St. George News)
• Eagle Mountain residents cleaning up after tumbleweed invasion (Fox13)
• North Ogden residents who are 'xeriscaping' their yards may be breaking the law (KUTV)
• Could Utah children help shape the destiny of the ailing Great Salt Lake? (Deseret News)
• BLM issues first solar lease on public lands in Utah (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Wildfires are increasingly contributing to unhealthy air (NPR)

Housing

• Task force formed to look at Cache Valley housing crisis (Herald Journal News)

National Headlines

General

• Russia’s Isolation From the West Will Outlast the War (The Atlantic)
• Thousands flee as Arizona wildfire almost triples in size (Reuters)
• Johnny Depp takes the witness stand for a 3rd day in case against ex-wife Amber Heard (NPR)

Politics

• What Republicans say they’ll do if they take back Congress (Deseret News)
• He Was a Penniless Donor to the Far Right. He Was Also a Russian Spy. (New York Times)
• Florida GOP Senate advances bill to revoke Disney’s special tax status (Washington Post)
• ‘I’ve Had It With This Guy’: G.O.P. Leaders Privately Blasted Trump After Jan. 6 (New York Times)
• Trump walks out of interview after challenge on false voter-fraud claims (Washington Post)
• Many say Biden not tough enough on Russia: AP-NORC poll (AP)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• Seal off last Mariupol fighters, Putin tells forces (BBC)
• Russia Says It Controls Mariupol, but Ukrainian Troops Hold Out in Steel Plant (Wall Street Journal)
• Russian tycoon lambasts country's 'massacre' (BBC)
• With sunken warship, Russian disinformation faces a test. (New York Times)
• On the battlefield with Russia, Afghanistan’s loss is Ukraine’s gain (Washington Post)
• Putin tells troops not to storm Mariupol steel plant but ensure no one escapes (Washington Post)

Other International News

• Israel, Gaza militants trade fire as Mideast tensions mount (AP)
• Macron attacks Le Pen on Russia, Muslim headscarf ban pledge (NPR)

News Releases

Romney joins Thermo Fisher Scientific for ribbon cutting ceremony and Utah Trucking Association for tour and roundtable

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today joined Thermo Fisher Scientific for a ribbon cutting ceremony at their new bioproduction manufacturing site in Ogden. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s new Ogden location, along with their site in Logan, have provided several thousand jobs around the state and played a critical role in helping pharmaceutical companies produce COVID therapeutics and vaccines.

Later in the afternoon, Senator Romney participated in roundtable discussion with the Utah Trucking Association in West Valley before touring Double D Distribution in Salt Lake City. (Read More)

Utah Foundation: Utah has work to do connection students with financial aid

On Wednesday, the Utah Foundation released Broadening Horizons: Clearing an Early Path to Post-Secondary Success. When looking beyond high school, some Utah students face low expectations, a shortfall in post-secondary readiness, a lack of knowledge around post-secondary options and financial challenges. The report not only explores these challenges, but also seeks to reveal the network of supports that can help smooth the transition out of high school, broadening the educational horizons of Utah youth. (Read More)

Owens leads letter advocating for community-driven USPS solutions

Today, Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04) led Utah’s local, state, and federal officials in a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, advocating for community-driven solutions to address Utah County’s booming population increase and the resulting strain on Lehi’s Post Office, which serves residents in Lehi, Eagle Mountain, and Saratoga Springs. (Read More)

Number of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• GOP Convention, April 23, 10 am, Mt. America Expo Center
• Dem Convention, Apr 23, 8 am, Cottonwood High School
• Breakfast Briefing with Utah Foundation, May 17, 8:30-10:00 am
• Ballots are mailed â€“ June 7
• Primary election day â€“ June 28
• General election â€“ Nov 8

On This Day In History

• 753 BC - According to legend, today is the day that twins Romulus and Remus establish Rome
• 1789 - John Adams is sworn in as the first US Vice President 9 days before Washington is sworn in
• 1898 - Spain declares war against the United States
• 1910 - Mark Twain dies
• 1918 - German flying ace "Red Baron" is killed in action
• 1967 - - Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Allilueva arrives in New York City after defecting to the US
• 1989 - Protests at Tiananmen Square
• 2019 - - Volodymyr Zelensky wins Ukraine’s presidential election in a landslide
• 2021 - Russian President Vladimir Putin warns the West not to cross a "red line" in his state of the union address, amid massing of 100,000 Russian troops on Ukraine border

Wise Words

"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

— Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Lighter Side

“Netflix just announced that for the first time in over a decade, they lost subscribers, and now their stock is crashing. Yeah, not only did their stock plummet, but it turns out that all the cash they had in the bank was just cake.” 

— JIMMY FALLON

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