Situational Analysis | May 27, 2022

We've made it to Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer. Go ahead and wear white now, y'all. (And all the other months of the year if you feel like it because we are not bound by antiquated fashion "rules.") 

Also, Utah Policy will be in your inbox Monday morning, but it won't hurt my feelings if you wait until Tuesday to read it. 

Finally, a quick note about Memorial Day: It was originally known as Decoration Day and began as a way to honor soldiers who died in the Civil War. Since 1971, Memorial Day has been an official federal holiday set aside to honor all those who died while in military service. It is meant to be somber and a period of reflection. This year, it is.

Be in the Know

1. More news is coming out of Uvalde, Texas and it is disturbing. Local police have substantially revised their timeline from Tuesday's shooting. The gunman fired shots outside the school for 12 minutes before walking in unimpeded. He was not killed for another hour. Angeli Rose Gomez described being put in handcuffs for "intervening in an active investigation" as she became more frantic about her children trapped in the school. She also saw a father Tasered and another pepper-sprayed as they tried to reach their children. Chief Daniel Rodriguez of the Uvalde Police Department and the head of the school district police, Chief Pete Arredondo, did not respond to requests for comment. The losses continue, too, as Joe Garcia, the husband of murdered teacher Irma Garcia, died of a massive heart attack yesterday. His family says he died of a broken heart. The couple leaves behind four children.

2. The NRA opens their two-day convention in Texas today. Personal firearms are allowed, except for the session when former president Donald Trump will be speaking. Senator Ted Cruz will also be attending, while Senator John Cornyn and Representative Dan Crenshaw will no longer be attending or speaking. Governor Abbott is also no longer attending, but will address attendees via prerecorded video. Gunmaker Daniel Defense posted online an advertising photo of a young boy holding one of its AR-15-style rifles just days before one of its firearms was used in Uvalde, Tex. The photo shows a child holding the rifle on his lap, along with the caption: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” They were scheduled to have a booth at the NRA convention but have apparently pulled out.

3. The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act was blocked by Republican Senators yesterday. It passed the House last week, just days after the killing spree in a Buffalo grocery store. If passed, the bill would have required the FBI and other agencies to jointly report incidents of domestic terrorism in the US. It would also have created a task force to address white supremacy in the military.

4. After a “careful re-review of evidence,” the US Justice Department will not bring charges against two former FBI agents accused of botching the case against Larry Nassar, allowing him to continue to victimize other women before he was finally arrested. “This does not in any way reflect a view that the investigation of Nassar was handled as it should have been, nor in any way reflects approval or disregard of the conduct of the former agents," said the DOJ statement. 

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Utah Headlines

General

• First responders, trauma leaders preach water safety ahead of Memorial Day weekend (Fox13)
• Elizabeth Converse: Utah is thriving with Big Tech — We can’t afford to let the slopes melt away (Deseret News)
• How a small, mysterious archive box offers a glimpse of everyday life for past Utah prisoners (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Springville police investigate city's 3rd killing, 4th death in a week (KSL)
• West Haven population grows by 15.4%, second-fastest rate in Utah (Standard-Examiner)

Politics

• Complaint filed over candidate's name placement on Utah County ballot (KUTV)
• Was Utah Democrats’ vote to back Evan McMullin the right move? Here’s what Utahns think (Deseret News)
• Latter-day Saints mourn over ‘senseless’ shooting in Texas, Elder Bednar tells National Press Club (Deseret News)
• Mike Pence and the long road out of the 2020 election (Deseret News)
• Utah lacks ‘foundational’ gun laws, ranks 37th in strength of gun statutes across the U.S., study finds (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Despite official withdrawal, Seegmiller’s name to remain on primary ballot for House 73 (St. George News)

Education

• Hope Squads nurture environment of inclusivity in Utah schools (KSL TV)
• Police watch over Washington Co. elementary schools (ABC4)
• Plans to offer free gun training to Utah school administrators in wake of Texas shooting (KUTV)
• Utah State University brings academics and esports together (UPR)
• Accused of cheating by an algorithm, and a professor she had never met: An unsettling glimpse at the digitization of education. (New York Times)

Environment

• How 18 years, 2 Utah senators and nearly $220 million help the Navajo (Deseret News)
• All-electric homes in Utah: It’s getting easier to douse the fire and embrace the wire. Electric heating has gained efficiency, but Utah homebuilders say customers still want natural gas. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Why more Utahns are turning to heat pumps. Once found only in mild climates, newer versions perform even in mountain winters as a cleaner solution for staying warm. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Lehi man ordered to rip out his new xeriscape landscaping by his HOA (KSL TV)
• Streams run low, reservoirs fall as 99.9% of Utah now in 'severe' or 'extreme' drought (St. George Spectrum)
• Utah weather forecast this summer is looking grim, experts say. The state, like most of the country, will be hotter and drier than normal (Salt Lake Tribune)

Family

• Why Elon Musk thinks civilization could crumble without more babies (Deseret News)
• Cedar City considers legalizing goats in baby formula shortage (Fox13)
• The pressure to be perfect keeps many Utah mothers silent about mental health (KUER)
• Baby formula shortage highlights racial disparities (AP)
• Health officials ‘slightly more optimistic’ about baby formula shortage in Utah. Certain brands of formula are back on some shelves for the first time in months, Utah Department of Health says (Deseret News)
• Steve Young is writing about love and it just might change you (Deseret News)

Health

• 5611 new weekly cases, 12 new deaths
• The 5 risk factors for COVID-19 that Utahns need to know as cases rise (Deseret News)
• Utah COVID-19 case counts jump, and 12 more die — including a child, state reports (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Health report shows increase in thoughts of suicide among Utah youth (KUTV)
• Bird flu spreading in Utah, detected in 5 more counties, officials say (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Study shows worse health outcomes and lower incomes for Black women in Utah (UPR)

Housing

• Utah nonprofit eyes winner of affordable housing competition for possible local multifamily project (Salt Lake Tribune)

National Headlines

General

• Dow climbs as U.S. stocks rally. Major indexes closed sharply higher after Fed minutes reduced concerns about aggressive measures to tame inflation. (Wall Street Journal)
• Stock futures point to first weekly gains since March (Wall Street Journal)
• Jobless claims dropped last week and remain near historic lows. Initial claims fell to 210,000 as tight U.S. labor market keeps a lid on layoffs (Wall Street Journal)
• Southern Baptist leaders release sex abuser database they kept secret for years (Washington Post)
• The faces from China’s Uyghur detention camps (BBC)

Uvalde

• A brokenhearted husband dies after his wife is killed in the Texas school shooting (NPR)
• Uvalde shooter fired outside school for 12 minutes before entering (Wall Street Journal)
• Gunman’s final 90 minutes fuel questions about police delays (AP)
• Daughter and her best friends ‘are all gone now,’ dad says (AP)
• Research shows policies that may help prevent mass shootings — and some that don't (NPR)
• A teacher in Uvalde, Texas, describes 'the longest 35 minutes of my life'
  Her students were watching a Disney movie when the gunshots started. Then instinct and practice kicked in. (NBC News)

Politics

• He was in a Russian prison for nearly three years. Who is Trevor Reed? (Deseret News)
• Bipartisan Senate group starts talking about gun proposals. Conversations started moments after Senate Republicans blocked a bill on combating domestic terrorism (Washington Post)
• Mass shootings are so common that mayors now have a checklist for when one happens (NPR)
• Texas Gov. Abbott dismisses calls for stronger gun laws (Wall Street Journal)
• Michigan GOP governor hopefuls off ballot for failing to collect enough signatures, court fight next (AP)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• Ukrainian volunteer fighters in the east feel abandoned (Washington Post)
• ‘Relentless’: Russia squeezes Ukrainian strongholds in east (AP)
• Russia slams sanctions, seeks to blame West for food crisis (AP)
• Russian proxies claim control of key town in east Ukraine (Reuters)
• Russian forces’ captured the city of Lyman, making it the second midsize Ukrainian city to change hands this week. As civilian deaths and suffering mounted, a new report by international legal scholars and rights experts cited a “genocidal pattern” by Russia’s military. (New York Times)
• One Ukrainian family’s perilous journey through Russia’s ‘filtration camps’. For many Mariupol residents, Russia’s brutal attack on the city was just the beginning. Next came the interrogations, humiliation, abuse, and forced deportations. (Politico)

News Releases

Sen. Lee's UK free trade resolution passes Senate

Senator Mike Lee’s (R-UT) resolution calling for a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom passed the United States Senate.  Sen. Lee has advocated for a US-UK trade agreement since Britain’s vote to exit the European Union which allows for such a deal.  In negotiation with Democratic colleagues, Lee introduced various versions of the resolution over the course of the past three years.  He also published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal with the Right Honourable Iain Duncan Smith MP calling for a free trade agreement between the allies.  In 2015, the United Kingdom was Utah’s largest export market, and in 2016 Utah exported over $3.5 billion in goods and services to the UK. (Read/Watch More)

Curtis, Pappas, Moore, Kuster urge State Department to expedite processing of J-1 Visas ahead of summer tourism season

This week, Congressman John Curtis (UT-03) and Representatives Chris Pappas (NH-01), Blake Moore (UT-01), and Annie Kuster (NH-02) led a bipartisan call demanding the Department of State take action to address J-1 Visa processing delays ahead of the summer. These visas sponsor students from around the world to participate in exchange programs and support tourist economies. Participation in the program declined due to the pandemic and now suffers from severe processing delays. (Read More)

Number of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• "Defenders, Bullies & Victims: The Social Ecology of Adolescence" with Diana Meter - June 7, 2022 RSVP here
• Ballots are mailed â€“ June 7
• China Challenge Summit with WTCU, at UVU – June 9, 2022, 8:30-4:30, Register here
• Utah Legislature Interim Days – June 14,15 le.utah.gov for more info
• Primary election day â€“ June 28
• General election â€“ Nov 8

On This Day In History

• 1819 - Julia Ward Howe is born. She was an abolitionist, a suffragist, a supporter of prison reform and the author of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
• 1850 - LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois destroyed by tornado.
• 1887 - Chinese gold miners are slaughtered in the Hells Canyon Massacre, in what is now Idaho. The mass slaughter of Chinese gold miners by a gang of white horse thieves was one of many hate crimes perpetrated against Asian immigrants in the American West during this period.
• 1907 - Rachel Carson is born. A scientist and environmentalist, she wrote Silent Spring which became a cornerstone of the modern environmental protection movement
• 1916 - President Woodrow Wilson addresses the League to Enforce Peace, founded in 1915, and gives public support to the idea of a league of nations
• 1935 - Supreme Court declares FDR's National Recovery Act unconstitutional
• 1937 - Golden Gate Bridge opens.
• 1939 - Ship carrying 937 Jewish refugees, fleeing Nazi Germany, is turned away in Cuba. After appeals to the United States and Canada for entry are denied, the rest are forced to sail back to Europe.
• 1995 - Actor Christopher Reeve is paralyzed from the neck down after falling from his horse in a riding competition in Culpeper, Virginia
• 1999 - The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia indicts Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.

Wise Words

by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

    That mark our place; and in the sky

    The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

        In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

    The torch; be yours to hold it high.

    If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

        In Flanders fields.

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