Situational Analysis | July 19, 2022

It's Tuesday and it's National Urban Beekeeping Day. We don't have bees but our neighbors do and those little flying friends they love our milkweed and our lavender. 🐝 

And, happy 29th anniversary to Utah's Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson and Utah's Second Gentleman, Gabe. 

Be in the Know

• Hundreds of people have reportedly died as a record-setting heat wave - and wildfires - sweep across Europe. In Portugal, temperatures hit 117°. The UK declared a national emergency as airport runways melted and train speeds limited over fears of buckling tracks as it reaches the hottest day on record after more than 360 years of measuring. Many public buildings, including hospitals, have no air conditioning. 

Rapid Roundup

• U.S. Blue Angels names first female pilot in squad's history, Ukraine's First Lady is in Washington for high-level meetings, Toys 'R' Us is coming back - inside Macy's department store and the health benefits of eating chocolate 🍫  (no, really!).

FROM OUR SPONSOR, DESERET NEWS MARATHON

This is the race! Join us for this year's Deseret News Marathon on July 23.

First run in 1970, the Deseret News Marathon is the oldest road race in Utah and the 4th oldest marathon west of the continental divide. The marathon follows the path the Utah pioneers traveled when they first entered the valley. This event is truly a part of Utah’s heritage! Register today!

Utah Headlines

General

• Why these advocates want to make Utahns think about the food they eat. The Utah Food Coalition is trying to network small farmers with everyday people to consider how food systems work. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Utah chef turns love of cooking cuisines into helping community (KSL)
• Pesky price persistence: Gas is down a bunch in a lot of states, but Utah isn’t one of them (Deseret News)
• Gas prices hit two month low in US (The Hill)
• And the Utah cookie war continues: Dirty Dough responds to Crumbl with billboards (Deseret News)
• Two shot in wildlife officer-involved shooting on tribal grounds (KUTV)
• Utah has new phone numbers to connect sex assault victim to services (Fox13)
• Salt Lake City ‘Call 2 Haul’: How residents can schedule annual bulk waste pickups, and what to toss (Salt Lake Tribune)

Politics

• Salt Lake City parks and public lands are getting a new set of eyes and ears. A park ranger program has long been on the city’s wishlist. Thanks to some federal funding and internal buy-in, it’s become a reality. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• State pushes back on Utah bail reform lawsuit (KSL)
• Utah lawmakers warned after suspicious mail sent containing 'powdery substance' (KUTV)
• Recount conducted in Utah election separated by 7 votes (Fox13)

Education

• ‘Worse than hell’: How Utah Tech professors will foster student mental health beyond COVID-19 (St. George News)
• What I learned about kids and resilience in a school lunch room (Deseret News)

Environment

• To get workers into electric cars, this Utah CEO is leading the charge (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Pipe ocean water to the Great Salt Lake? Tread carefully with big ideas
  Forty years ago the lake threatened to swallow us. Now, it’s disappearing. (Deseret News)
• See an up-close view of Great Salt Lake’s shrinking shoreline — from Spiral Jetty to the state park marina. Kayakers capture water levels so low in early June that two bays were impossible to navigate as the lake continues to shrivel. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Unincorporated public land in Southern Utah counties now under Interagency fire restrictions (St. George News)
• In the face of climate change, beavers are engineering a resistance (KUER)
• Decades of 'good fires' save Yosemite's iconic grove of ancient sequoia trees (NPR)

Health

• U.S. ‘at the cusp’ of losing control of monkeypox; outbreak could become endemic. Top health experts warn that the United States may be too late to contain the outbreak, citing vaccine shortage, inadequate testing (Deseret News)
• There’s more monkeypox in Utah. But how many cases depends who you ask (Deseret News)
• Make space, listen, offer hope: How to help a child at risk of suicide (NPR)
• CDC stops reporting coronavirus cases on cruise ships (Washington Post)

Housing

• Utah housing shortage drops to 31,000 units amid record building, report finds (KUTV)
• University of Utah wants alumni to take in students, for $5K in rent each semester (Salt Lake Tribune)

National Headlines

General

• The entire police department of a small Colorado town has resigned. The county sheriff’s office took over after the town’s three-person police force announced their resignations during a ‘time of turbulence’ in the department (Deseret News)
• The heat in London on Monday and Tuesday is rivaling parts of the Sahara (NPR)
• After 363 years tracking summer heat, U.K. could see an all-time high (Washington Post)
• Hawaii waves swamp homes, weddings during ‘historic’ swell (AP)
• Gunfire, shootings and panic mar American weekend (AP)
• Prosecutor recalls coldness, cruelty of Parkland gunman (AP)
• Texas killer earned ominous nickname: ‘school shooter’ (AP)
• Wall Street braces for economic ‘hurricane’ (Politico)
• The everything-is-weird economy. If gas prices are plummeting, why is inflation rising? If jobs are growing, why is GDP falling? If everybody’s on vacation, why are consumers miserable? (The Atlantic)

Politics

• Conservative blocs unleash wave of litigation to curb public health powers (NPR)
• Anthony Fauci plans to retire by end of Biden’s term (Wall Street Journal)
• As Biden eyes 2024, one person weighs heavily: Trump (Washington Post)
• House Democrats tee up votes on same-sex marriage, contraception rights (Washington Post)
• Secret Service set to turn over ‘erased’ Jan. 6 texts (The Hill)
• Trump responds to Pulitzer rejection of demand to revoke reporting awards (The Hill)
• House approves resolution supporting Finland, Sweden joining NATO; 18 Republicans vote ‘no’ (The Hill)
• Sen. Ted Cruz says Supreme Court 'clearly wrong' in decision legalizing same-sex marriage (NBC News)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• Ukraine’s farmers become the latest target of Russian missiles (Washington Post)
• Long-range artillery supplied by the United States has started to alter Ukraine’s battlefield dynamics. (New York Times)
• Russia pounds Ukraine as Putin holds talks in Tehran (AP)
• Russia sending teachers to Ukraine to control what students learn (Washington Post)

News Releases

Curtis and Jayapal introduce bipartisan bill to save lives from gun suicide

Last week, Congressman John Curtis (UT-03) and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at combatting gun suicides. The Preventing Suicide Through Voluntary Firearm Purchase Delay Act would curb gun suicides by allowing people to voluntarily enroll themselves onto a “do not sell” list, preventing them from purchasing a gun later on to harm themselves or others should they experience a mental health emergency. This legislation is modeled after similar legislation implemented in many states—including Utah. (Read More)

Number of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Monument dedication to Black pioneers — July 22, 10:00 am, This is the Place Heritage Park
• Women in the Money with Utah State Treasurer's Office — Sept. 15-16, Salt Lake Sheraton + online, Register here
• ULCT Annual Convention — Oct 5-7, Salt Palace Convention Center, Register here
• General election â€“ Nov 8

On This Day In History

• 1692 - 5 more people are hanged for witchcraft (19 in all) in Salem, Massachusetts. They are victims #2 - #6.
• 1799 - Rosetta Stone found by a French soldier near the town of Rosetta. The irregularly shaped stone contained fragments of passages written in three different scripts: Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Egyptian demotic. The ancient Greek on the Rosetta Stone told archaeologists that the three scripts were all of identical meaning. The artifact thus held the key to solving the riddle of hieroglyphics, a written language that had been “dead” for nearly 2,000 years.
• 1814 - Samuel Colt is born. In 1836, he received a patent on a revolving six-cylinder pistol
• 1848 - The Seneca Falls Convention begins, the first-ever women's rights convention in the US. During the convention, 68 women and 32 men sign the "Declaration of Sentiments," including the first formal demand made in the United States for women's right to vote.
• 1865 - Charles Mayo is born. Along with his brother William, he founded the Mayo Clinic.
• 1902 - Anna Marie Rosenberg is born. She became an assistant secretary of defense (1950 – 1953) and served in many other government positions.
• 1940 - Adolf Hitler orders Great Britain to surrender. They were disinclined to acquiesce.
• 2017 - US Senator John McCain diagnosed with brain cancer

Wise Words

"In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule."

— Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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