BLM Releases Plan that finally protects Labyrinth Canyon

After years of prioritizing off-road vehicles, a recent decision from the Bureau of Land Management brings balance to this special place. Travel plans are an opportunity to develop reasonable, balanced, and forward-thinking blueprints that ensure public access while preserving the backcountry and minimizing damage. Learn more at suwa.org

Utah Headlines

Political news

• Becky Edwards is launching an effort to promote good political leadership (Deseret News)
• Gov. Spencer Cox introduces $186 million plan to combat homelessness. Cox said he wants homelessness to be ‘rare, brief and nonrecurring.’ (Deseret News)
• Time to revise Utah’s Clergy law? These lawmakers think so (ABC4)

Election news

• If Curtis doesn’t run for his House seat, Chris Herrod will (Deseret News)
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. files lawsuit against Utah Lt. Gov. Henderson over filing deadline for signatures (KUTV)

Holiday corner

• Candy Cane Corner donations set to bring joy to families needing holiday lift (Fox13)

Utah news

• Utah couple describes the magical experience of decorating the White House for Christmas (KSL)
• Making the case for ‘good conflict’ (Deseret News)
• Utah gas prices sit well below national average (KUTV)
• Local non-profit provides tool to provide fresh water all over the world (Fox13)

Business/Technology

• What the Alaska Airlines-Hawaiian Airlines merger means for flights in the West (Deseret News)

Crime/Courts

• Jeremy Best appears shirtless in court; documents detail gruesome new details in murder case of his pregnant wife (KSL)
• Lawsuit: Brian Laundrie called parents to say Gabby Petito was 'gone' (Fox13)

Education

• University of Utah opens Hatch Center in Washington, D.C. (At The U)
• As some Utah school populations dwindle, could dome schools help? (KSL Newsradio)
• Mathematics, reading skills in unprecedented decline in teenagers (Reuters)

Environment

• Utah water conservation officers talk about easy ways to save water and money (KSL)
• Group opposed to Little Cottonwood gondola project files lawsuit (KSL TV)
• Mining uranium could provide clean energy and boost national security. The Havasupai Tribe says it still isn’t worth the risk. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Commissioner gives sneak peek at report to save Great Salt Lake (Fox13)

Family

• Inflation, mental health, stress. What would parents like to change? (Deseret News)
• In a polarized nation, can public schools work for all children? (Deseret News)
• Do Americans still love marriage? Not as much as they used to. (Deseret News)
• What are parents doing — or not doing — to monitor their kids’ social media usage? (Deseret News)
• For children, sharing isn’t easy, but it’s an important part in their social development (KSL TV)

Health

• Longevity researcher says he’s found the healthiest breakfast option — plus 5 more to try (Deseret News)
• Why is U.S. life expectancy lagging behind other nations? (Deseret News)

National Headlines

General

• Employment rate for U.S. women is at all time high, report shows (KSL Newsradio)
• Cause sought of explosion that leveled an Arlington, Virginia, home as police tried to serve warrant (AP)

Political news

• How Republicans are changing on abortion, post-Dobbs (Deseret News)
• Report: Trump allies floated Sen. Mike Lee as possible AG (Deseret News)
• The Supreme Court wrestles with OxyContin maker’s bankruptcy deal, with billions of dollars at stake (AP)
• Supreme Court hears a case that experts say could wreak havoc on the tax code (NPR)
• House Republicans prepare for official vote to authorize impeachment inquiry (NPR)

Election news

• Four Republicans will be on stage for the fourth presidential debate: Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy (AP)
• Strong but 'feminine': how Nikki Haley navigates gender as only woman in the GOP race (NPR)
• Tammy Murphy's senate run exposes concerns over New Jersey primary ballots (NPR)
• Liz Cheney, outspoken Trump critic, weighs third-party presidential run (Washington Post)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

• Zelenskyy to address US senators by video as White House pushes Congress to support aid for Ukraine (AP)
• In Russia, some women demand return of their men from Ukraine front (Reuters)
• The violent homecoming of Russian convicts freed to fight in Ukraine (Wall Street Journal)

Israel 🇮🇱

• Israel strikes in and around Gaza’s second-largest city in a bloody new phase of the war (AP)
• Accounts of sexual violence in Hamas attack mount but justice is remote for Israel's victims (Reuters)
• Israel closes in on Hamas's last major Gaza bastion (Wall Street Journal)

Number of the Day 

News Releases

Utah graduation rates show consistent growth

A report released by the Utah State Board of Education shows improved graduation rates across most student groups in the state. Utah’s total graduation rate for the 2023 cohort is 88.3%.  Over the past five years, the state’s graduation rate has increased steadily, with an average of 88.13%. Utah’s graduation rate has been consistently higher than the national average. (Read More)

UVU’s CARE Hub food access program receives regional student affairs award

The Utah Valley University CARE Hub’s student food access program received the 2023 NASPA Region V Innovative Program Award, which is given to a college or university that has developed an outstanding program that has benefited students and enhanced campus life.

UVU’s CARE Hub is dedicated to helping students connect to resources that will help them address food insecurity, mental health, safety, and housing issues. Student success begins with making sure that students have their basic needs met so that they can focus on their academics. (Read More)

Becky Edwards launches ‘Governing Group PAC’

Becky Edwards, a former Utah State Representative and U.S. Congressional candidate, announces the formation of the Governing Group PAC. This new political action committee is committed to electing leaders within the state of Utah who focus on pragmatic solutions rather than partisan conflict, with the goal of transforming the state’s political dynamics. (Read More)

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Jan. 2 — Candidate filing period opens
• Jan. 16 — Legislative session begins
• Mar. 1 — Legislative session ends 

On This Day In History 

• 1847 - Jefferson Davis is appointed to fill vacant US Senate seat for Mississippi
• 1848 - US President James K. Polk triggers Gold Rush of 1849 by confirming a gold discovery in California
• 1901 - Walt Disney is born
• 1932 - German physicist Albert Einstein granted a visa to enter America
• 1933 - 21st amendment is ratified; Prohibition ends
• 1935 - Mary McLeod Bethune creates the National Council of Negro Women
• 1945 - Aircraft squadron disappears in the Bermuda Triangle
• 1946 - US President Harry Truman creates Committee on Civil Rights
• 1952 - Great Smog of London: Killer fog creeps in, as still winds and cold temperatures cause pollution fueled by coal smoke to stagnate. It lasts 4 days and over 8,000 deaths are attributed to the smog.
• 1955 - Historic bus boycott begins in Montgomery, Alabama by Rosa Parks and other civil rights activists
• 1978 - U.S.S.R. and Afghanistan sign “friendship treaty”
• 1994 - The US, UK, Northern Ireland and Russia sign the Budapest Memorandum. Ukraine surrendered its nuclear weapons in exchange for a promise that if Ukraine should “become the victim of aggression,” all 4 countries would come to its aid.
• 2008 - Human remains previously found in 1991 are finally identified by Russian and American scientists as those of Tsar Nicholas II
• 2013 - South African president Nelson Mandela dies at 95
• 2018 - US state funeral for former president George H. W. Bush, eulogy by George W. Bush, attended by President Donald Trump predecessors Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter
• 2021 - Bob Dole, veteran of the US Senate and 3X presidential candidate dies at age 98

Quote of the Day

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
—Nelson Mandela

On the Punny Side

What kind of motorcycle does Santa ride?

A Holly Davidson.

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