Situational Analysis | March 29, 2022

Welcome to Tuesday and World Piano Day. Can you guess why? It's because today is the 88th day of the year and there are 88 keys on a piano. Clever. ðŸŽ¹

Be in the Know

1. Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are underway in Istanbul. There seems to be some movement this time. Russia’s military said Tuesday it would “fundamentally” cut back operations near Ukraine’s capital. Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the move was meant “to increase trust” in talks aimed at ending fighting. Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky says he is not opposed to Ukraine's EU membership. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country was prepared to declare its neutrality, meaning they will not join NATO as Moscow has demanded, and was open to compromise over the contested eastern region of Donbas. Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who survived what appears to be an attempted poisoning earlier this month, was seen at the negotiations. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned Ukrainian negotiators not to eat, drink or touch surfaces during the talks. But even as the negotiators assembled, Russian forces hit an oil depot in western Ukraine and demolished a government building in the south, with several deaths and Russia continues to insist on the "annexation" of some parts of Ukraine. Any peace deal would require a referendum in Ukraine.

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Utah Headlines

General

• 86-year-old Utah rancher faces jail in legal dispute with his own sons (KUTV)
• Why U.S. Olympic officials are concerned about Utah’s ban on youth transgender athletes (Deseret News)
• New poll: Utahns say paychecks are not keeping up with record inflation (Deseret News)
• Sarah Todd: Jazz are a bad vibes team. It’s up to them to change the narrative (Deseret News)
• Lawmakers officially designated the golden eagle as Utah’s state bird of prey on Wednesday. Here's where to find it. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Politics

• Utah's beauty industry isn't made for Black people's hair. Some want to change that (Salt Lake Tribune)
• If the election were held today, 67% of Republican voters who plan to vote in the June primary would choose Lee, who is seeking a third term. (Deseret News)
• Only 14 employees are approving billions in new SLC building permits. Is it enough? (KUTV)
• Chris Stewart: Washington should examine foreign threats only. Let the FBI and states deal with domestic extremism (Deseret News)
• The frustrating truth behind the ‘big lie’ (Deseret News)

Courts

• What’s the future of abortion law? (Deseret News)
• A Black student was slapped, then he got punished, alleges new Davis School District lawsuit (Salt Lake Tribune)
• NAACP speaks about Davis school district lawsuit (KUTV)

Environment

• Dept. of Interior, Native American groups pushing to have slur removed from Utah landmarks (Fox13)
• Lake Powell continues to disappear as Colorado hits pause on plan to prop up levels (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Sandstorm near Cedar City reduces visibility to nearly zero on I-15 (Fox13)

Family

• New research finds that the happiest, strongest women self-identify as feminine (Deseret News)
  
• Utah mom warns about button batteries after 9-month-old’s trip to the ER (Deseret News)
• Utah's deaf community says Oscars' best picture winner 'CODA' is a glimpse into their lives (KSL)

Utah/Ukraine Connection

• Chance encounter in Ukraine brings 2 Salt Lake City men to grateful meeting (KSL)
• Utah organization gets Ukrainian children’s minds off war with daily Zoom classes (KSL TV)
• Ukrainian family in U.S. since start of invasion to stay in Utah until war ends (KUTV)

COVID Corner

• 255 new cases, 4 new deaths
• Shanghai is now under lockdown in China’s biggest lockdown since the pandemic started (Deseret News)
• Utah mule deer is 1st in U.S. to test positive for COVID-19 (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Utah to shut down many COVID-19 test sites as daily case counts remain low (Salt Lake Tribune)

National Headlines

General

• Snow Squall Leads to 50-Car Pileup on Pennsylvania Highway (New York Times)
• Will Smith apologizes: ‘I was out of line and I was wrong’ (AP)

Politics

• White House logs from Jan. 6 turned over to House show gap in Trump calls of seven hours and 37 minutes. Nixon was missing 18 minutes. (Washington Post)
• Federal Judge Finds Trump Most Likely Committed Crimes Over 2020 Election (New York Times)
• ‘I Make No Apologies’: Biden Says His Putin Comments Were an Expression of Moral Outrage (New York Times)
• Biden's 'careless remark' on Putin incenses GOP (The Hill)
• Biden’s $5.8 Trillion Budget Pivots Toward Economic and Security Concerns (New York Times)
• Biden's $26 billion proposal for NASA paves path for 1st human exploration on Mars (CNN)

Ukraine

• Russia says it will cut back operations near Ukraine capital (AP)
• Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning after a meeting in Kyiv earlier this month (Wall Street Journal)
• ‘Generations of hurt’: Children and grandchildren of war survivors fear ripple effect of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Those who have witnessed generational trauma in their own families worry history could repeat itself. (NBC News)
• Ukraine and Russia Prepare for Talks in Turkey as Russian Missiles Hit Cities (Wall Street Journal)
• After Russian forces pull back, a shattered town breathes (AP)
• Ukraine war: Odesa defies Russia and embraces signs of life (BBC)
• Germany, urged to ‘stop Putin’s war machine,’ resists Russian energy embargo (Washington Post)
• The Kremlin tries to stifle Radio Free Europe — and its audience surges (Washington Post)
• Seven killed in Ukraine's Mykolaiv city as rocket blasts hole in regional HQ (Reuters)
• Russian soldiers raping and sexually assaulting women, says Ukraine MP (The Guardian)
• Ukraine Refugee Count Tops 3.9 Million (Wall Street Journal)
• Poland ready to take more Ukrainians, deputy PM says. Over the past month, Poland has taken in 2.3 million refugees, more than any other European country (Politico)

News Releases

Salt Lake Chamber to recognize Aden Batar with Lane Beattie Utah Community Builder Award

The Salt Lake Chamber announced today that Aden Batar, Director of Migration and Refugee Services for Catholic Community Services of Utah, will be honored with the 4th annual Lane Beattie Utah Community Builder Award. The award recognizes an inspirational individual who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to address critical community needs.

“For more than twenty years, Aden has supported the immigrant and refugee community in Utah, giving them the tools and resources they need to succeed,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, upon announcing the award. “Given the continuing turmoil and increasing refugees around the world, keeping Utah a welcoming community is more important than ever. Aden is critical to this effort and his dedication and contributions will be felt for years to come in our community and in many individual lives.”

Batar will be formally recognized during the Giant in our City event on May 19, 2022, at the Grand America Hotel where Ray Pickup, CEO of WCF Insurance, will be honored as the 43rd Giant in our City.

For more information about the event: click here. (Read More)

Romney statement on the President’s budget

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today issued a statement following the release of President Biden’s $5.8 trillion dollar FY23 budget:

“We have got to get our federal spending under control—and the President’s budget offers an unserious proposal to reduce our deficit that is nowhere near a long-term solution. Hardworking Americans are suffering real economic harm due to historic levels of inflation, which is a direct result of Washington’s failure to address its spending problem. The President’s budget still borrows a tremendous amount of money and does nothing to address the two-thirds of our federal spending that is automatic. Additionally, the President’s misguided plan to increase taxes on America’s job-creators will put U.S. businesses at a competitive disadvantage with countries like China, causing further harm to our economy.”

Number of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Inflection Point: US-Asia Relations with the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation â€“ Mar 30, 3:00 pm ET Register here
• Last day for a registered voter to change voter affiliation before the regular primary election â€“ Mar 31
• United Utah Party State Convention - April 16, 10 am, West High, SLC
• 2022 Midyear Conference, Utah League of Cities and Towns - April 20-22, St. George Register here
• Ballots are mailed â€“ June 7
• Primary election day â€“ June 28
• General election â€“ Nov 8

On This Day In History

• 1806 - Construction is authorized for the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, which became the first United States federal highway.
• 1848 - Niagara Falls stops flowing for 30 hours due to an ice jam
• 1865 - Appomattox, the final campaign in the Civil War, begins.
• 1885 - Frances Bolton is born. She created an endowment to build a school of nursing at Western Reserve in 1933 after working with the Visiting Nurse Association and seeing the homes of the desperately poor. She helped remove color lines in nursing, and as an Ohio Congresswoman, worked for racial equality and equal pay.
• 1929 - President Herbert Hoover has a phone installed at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House, the first president to do so.
• 1951 - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of espionage for their role in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. They were executed on June 19, 1953 in Sing Sing Prison in New York. Both maintained their innocence to the end.
• 1973 - The last US soldiers leave Vietnam.
• 1974 - Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi'an, 8,000 clay warrior statues buried to guard the tomb of China's 1st emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
• 1993 - Catherine Callbeck becomes the first woman in Canada to be elected as premier when she was elected Premier of Prince Edward Island.

Wise Words

"Always have a speech prepared, even if you are not slated to speak at an event."

— Catherine Callbeck

Lighter Side

“Yep, in just a split second, the Oscars went from Oscar de la Renta to Oscar De La Hoya, you know?” 

— JIMMY FALLON

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