Construction Underway, Scheduled Operation: 2025

The Intermountain Power Project's transformational “IPP Renewed” project is under construction and on track for mid-2025 start-up. The project includes new natural gas-fueled electricity generating units that will also utilize "green" hydrogen for long-term, dispatchable storage of renewable energy. There are currently 600 workers on site in Milliard County, with 1200 expected during peak construction. Click here to watch construction unfold. For more information, visit www.ipprenewed.com

Utah Headlines

Political news

• Will Biden face impeachment if we avoid a government shutdown? (Deseret News)
• Rep. Blake Moore helps launch new bipartisan House caucus focused on federal spending (Deseret News)
• Celebrating all of America’s constitutions. Americans have not had just one constitution; they have had more than 200 constitutions — at the state level (Deseret News)
• Derek Miller: What if we could solve the labor shortage and immigration reform at the same time? Gov. Spencer Cox has a plan. (Deseret News)

Election News

• Lee, Cox and other Utah leaders react to Romney not seeking a 2nd term (Deseret News)
• Trump, Ryan, McConnell, others respond to Romney’s retirement news (Deseret News)
• Young Republicans, political observers weigh in on Romney decision to not run again (KSL TV)
• Who will replace Mitt Romney? (Deseret News, ABC4, Fox13)
• Dozens of Utahns contact GOP, expressing interest for Romney's seat (KUTV)
• Sen. Mitt Romney’s new biography reveals details about his time in Senate (Deseret News)
• Mitt Romney talks about who might replace him — and what comes next (Deseret News)
• From election wins and losses to Trump showdowns — key moments in Mitt Romney’s political career (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Sen. Mitt Romney's retirement announcement sparks national debate on age in politics (KUTV)

General Utah news

• Youth football coach suffers heart attack, bystanders help save his life (KSL TV)
• YouTube vlogger Carl Andreasen blames association with Franke family for breakdown of marriage (KUTV)
• Ruby Franke's sister distances herself in new YouTube video after child abuse allegations (KUTV)
• Former BYU student accuses Hildebrandt of sharing personal details without consent, leading to divorce, expulsion (KUTV)
• Utah parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke and sisters got thousands in PPP loans, records show (Salt Lake Tribune)

Business

• Inflation signals mixed as gas hikes help drive August jump in consumer prices to 3.7% (Deseret News)

Culture

• Valerie Hudson: Are we in a new age of body mutilation? Our bodies deserve respect, not violence at our own hands (Deseret News)

Education

• Utah’s commissioner for higher education resigns without much explanation after ‘emergency’ board meeting (Salt Lake Tribune)

Environment

• Utah considers Bear Lake legislation similar to what Idaho passed earlier this year (Deseret News)
• Inside Exxon's strategy to downplay climate change (Wall Street Journal)

Family

• Ruby Franke case: Husband Kevin Franke not a ‘monster,’ his lawyer says (Salt Lake Tribune)

Health

• 7 lifestyle factors that reduce the risk of depression, according to new study (Deseret News)
• Dragging? This nap could be just what you need to pep you up (Deseret News)
• 7th grade football player spreads mental health awareness after losing teammate to suicide (KSL TV)
• Fentanyl mixed with cocaine or meth is driving the '4th wave' of the overdose crisis (NPR)
• The end of Roe is having a chilling effect on pregnancy. New polling shows that a third of young women say they or someone they know has decided not to get pregnant because of concerns about maternal health care after Dobbs. (Politico)

Housing

• ‘Fading dream’: Utah’s housing shortage expected to worsen (Deseret News)
• Utah housing markets are the least affordable in state history (Salt Lake Tribune)

National Headlines

General

• Lessons from Birmingham: 60 years after the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing (NPR)

Politics

• Biden to address budget cuts, government shutdown in Thursday speech (Reuters)
• Husband of Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola dies in plane crash (Washington Post)
• Federal judge again declares that DACA is illegal (NPR)
• Lauren Boebert kicked out of a ‘Beetlejuice’ show in Denver (AP)
• Lauren Boebert ditches the MAGA thing in Colorado. With her seat in danger, the Coloradan is starting to sound like a completely different person at home. (Politico)
• Trump has large lead over Haley, other Republicans in South Carolina, poll finds (Washington Post)
• In private meetings, Manchin grapples with his political future (Washington Post)
• GOP threats to McCarthy come into sharper focus (The Hill)
• ‘You’re screwed': Romney’s exit threatens a collapse of Senate’s middle (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

• Ukraine launches more attacks in Crimea a day after striking naval ships (New York Times)

World

• Whole families drowned in Libya’s flood. Many didn’t realize the danger until they heard dams burst (AP)
• “Corpses in the ocean, whole families wiped out”: Survivors and rescue workers shared the horror they saw in Derna. (New York Times)
• There's a glimmer of hope on Yemen's war front. Yet children are still dying of hunger (NPR)
• Ban on Muslim dress in schools stokes culture war in France (Wall Street Journal)

Number of the Day 

News Releases

Romney releases message to Utahns on Senate reelection plans

"I have spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another. At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-eighties. Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in." (Read More)

Romney, Cotton, colleagues introduce bill to raise minimum wage

U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and JD Vance (R-OH) today introduced the Higher Wages for American Workers Act, legislation which would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $11 and mandate E-Verify to ensure the wage increase only goes to legal workers. The bill would also index future minimum wage increases to inflation and includes a slower phase-in for small businesses. Romney and Cotton first introduced the bill in 2021. Text of the legislation can be found here and a one-pager on the bill can be found here. (Read More)

Pandemic years created unmatched volatility in Utah’s housing market

The COVID-19 pandemic years created unmatched volatility in Utah’s housing market. The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s State of the State’s Housing Market report provides a detailed analysis of current market conditions in Utah, which shows residential construction activity, existing home sales, housing shortages, and affordability were all impacted in a way not seen since the Great Recession.

“In over 50 years of Utah’s housing history, there are no back-to-back years like 2021 and 2022,” said Jim Wood, Ivory-Boyer Senior Fellow, and lead author of the report. “Building permits for residential units increased by 26% in 2021, only to fall by 26% in 2022. These COVID-19 pandemic years now join the Great Recession as one of the most extraordinary moments for Utah’s housing market.” (Read More)

Utah’s top citizen diplomats recognized for building economic and cultural bridges

Utah’s top citizen diplomats were recognized for their trailblazing work in establishing and strengthening Utah’s international relationships. Utah Global Diplomacy’s Citizen Diplomat Award recognizes individuals who have contributed significantly to building economic and cultural bridges with countries and leaders across the globe. This year’s honorees include Franz Kolb, Chris and Erlynn Lansing and DeAnna and Lynn DeBry. (Read More)

Six central Utah counties collaborate for project area creation

The Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) Board of Directors unanimously approved the Central Utah Agri-Park Project Area resolution for six central Utah counties, creating Utah’s fifth inland port. The decision was made during UIPA’s board meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Nephi. This initiative, with the backing of the Six County Association of Governments, is set to benefit Utah’s family farms, strengthen the economy and enhance food security across the state. (Read More)

Tweet of the Day 

Upcoming

• Constitution Day conference with UVU Center for Constitutional Studies — Sept 14-15, UVU campus, More information here 
• Interim Day — Sept. 18, Utah Tech University, le.utah.gov
• A Bolder Way Forward with the Utah Women and Leadership Project — Sept. 20, 12:00 - 1:15 pm, Virtual, Register here
• Launching the Dan Jones Center for Public Service — Sept. 27, 6:00-8:00 pm, Hinckley Institute of Politics, RSVP here
• Understanding Sexism in Utah with the Utah Women and Leadership Project— Oct. 10, 12:00-1:15 pm, Register here
• Civics Educator Conference with "Sharon Says So" — Oct. 10, UVU, More information and registration here
• Interim Day — Oct 10-11, le.utah.gov
• Interim Day — Nov 14-15, le.utah.gov
• General election — Nov. 21

On This Day In History 

• 1741 - George Frideric Handel finishes his "Messiah" oratorio after working on it non-stop for 23 days.
• 1812 - The Great Fire of Moscow begins as Napoleon approaches the city and retreating Russians burn it - the fire continues to burn for five days
• 1814 - Francis Scott Key writes the words to A Star Spangled Banner
• 1830 - Emily Edson Briggs is born. She became the first woman White House correspondent during Lincoln’s administration and the first president of the Women’s National Press Association (1882).
• 1901 - President William McKinley dies of infection from gunshot wounds
• 1901 - Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the youngest man to serve as US President, at age 42.
• 1921 - Constance Baker Motley is born. She became the first Black woman appointed federal judge in 1966.
• 1964 - Helen Keller receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom along with 4 other women: Dr. Lena Edwards, Lynn Fontainne, Dr. Helen Taussig, and Leontyne Price
• 1982 - Hollywood star and real-life princess Grace Kelly dies of injuries sustained in a car accident
• 1983 - US House of Representatives votes, 416 to 0, in favor of a resolution condemning Russia for shooting down a Korean jetliner

Quote of the Day

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

On the Punny Side

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