Tick Tock Day is for you to wrap up unfinished business for the year; storms helping Utah recover from drought
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The Utah Policy newsletter is your one-stop source for political and policy-minded news. We scour the news so you don't have to! Send news tips or feedback to Holly Richardson at editor@utahpolicy.com.

 

Situational Analysis | Dec. 29, 2022

It's Thursday and National Tick Tock Day, reminding us to complete unfinished business before the end of the year. Like finding the Christmas presents that were really well hidden....just me?

Tomorrow's edition will focus 2022 and look forward to 2023. If you want to share, send me something you learned and something you loved in 2022 and something you look forward to in 2023. Should be fun!

Be in the Know

  • Southwest cancellations continue as airline deals with ‘meltdown’ fallout. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is pulling no punches, referring to the situation as a complete “meltdown” of the system. One key reason for the meltdown is the cascading effect of tech failure. Alison Sider explains Southwest’s week from Heck in her latest for the Wall Street Journal. “When Southwest Airlines reassigns crews after flight disruptions, it typically relies on a system called SkySolver. This Christmas, SkySolver not only didn’t solve much, it also helped create the worst industry meltdown in recent memory,” she writes. “Crews and planes were out of place. Phone lines jammed up, and Southwest pilots and flight attendants trying to get assignments couldn’t get through to the scheduling department. Some shared screenshots on social media that showed hold times of eight hours or more—which meant they could wait a full workday for instructions while flights were stuck for the lack of a crew. The airline was scrambling just to figure out where its crew members were located."

  • "If you kids don't stop fighting, I'm gonna turn this plane around!" On Tuesday, a pilot did just that on a flight from Honolulu to Oakland. Passengers were fighting and would not settle down, so a little less than two hours into the flight, the pilot made a U-turn and headed back to Honolulu. One passenger was escorted off the plane by sheriff's deputies when they landed. The airline? Southwest. It has not been a good week for them.

Rapid Roundup

 

Together, We Can Better Support Women in Business

Whether you’re a woman starting a business or looking to elevate your career, Inspire In Utah is dedicated to providing you with the resources to help on your journey. Find funding, training, and even inspirational stories in our dedicated resource center.

 

Utah Headlines

General

  • United Way Sub for Santa helped 6,000 Utah county residents this Christmas (Daily Herald)
  • Hill Aerospace Museum gets pre-holiday present – an F-22 for new expansion (Standard-Examiner)
  • Sapporo pauses 2030 Winter Games bid — where does that leave Salt Lake City? (Deseret News)
  • Granite Park attendance tracker allegedly became pregnant with student’s child (ABC4)

Politics

  • Mayoral year in review: Saratoga Springs celebrated 25 years with growth, major projects (Daily Herald)
  • Will SLC and other cities try ranked choice voting again? (Fox13)

Business

  • Tech startup Errand seeks to help Utahns handle out-of-the-house chores (Daily Herald)
  • Musk tells Tesla workers not to be 'bothered by stock market craziness' (Reuters)
  • U.S. weekly jobless claims ticked higher last week (Reuters)

Culture

  • ‘Understand the principles and live them’: How Black Utahns celebrate Kwanzaa (KUER)

Environment

  • Researchers are studying how climate change affects a bird that only lives in Idaho (KUER)
  • What is an atmospheric river — and why is it pummeling the West? (Deseret News)

Family

  • Domestic violence hides behind closed doors in Utah How are we helping the children who witness domestic violence? (Deseret News)
  • The prodigal mother: How a parent’s addiction affects the children (Deseret News)

Health

  • Heart health, women and the limits of exercise (Washington Post)
  • Netflix brings fitness workouts to its streaming service (Deseret News)

National Headlines

General

  • EXPLAINER: How blizzard stunned even winter-wise Buffalo (AP)
  • Deaths, flooding as storm hit Oregon and Washington state (AP)
  • Southwest didn’t heed calls to upgrade tech before meltdown, unions say (Washington Post)
  • Unclaimed luggage piles up at airports following Southwest cancellations (NPR)
  • Most Americans couldn’t afford to buy their own home today: survey (The Hill)

Politics

  • NY Rep.-elect Santos investigated by Long Island prosecutors for lying about his past (AP)
  • Maryland Rep. Raskin says he’s been diagnosed with lymphoma (AP)
  • Judge ordered Kari Lake to pay Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs $33,000 in fees (Deseret News)
  • IRS postpones $600 reporting rule for Venmo and other peer-to-peer payment apps (Deseret News)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

  • Russia launches massive missile barrage across Ukraine (AP)
    Inside the Ukrainian counteroffensive that shocked Putin and reshaped the war (Washington Post)
  • ‘Nothing left to destroy’: Russia is fighting for land already in ruins (Washington Post)

World News

  • Afghan women determined, frustrated after Taliban NGO ban (AP)
  • Israel’s far-right government sworn in amid surge of resistance (Washington Post)
  •  Fire at Cambodian casino near Thai border kills at least 19 (New York Times)
 

News Release

Utah’s school- and college-age population projected to decrease

Population projections indicate an increase of over 284,000 residents in the school- and college-age groups in Utah between 2020 and 2060, according to the latest research published by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. However, this change is slower than other age groups, and both age groups decrease as shares of the total population.

“While growth continues to be our constant companion in Utah, the same can’t be said for certain age cohorts,” said Gardner Institute director of demographic research Mallory Bateman. “As the state population reaches 5.5 million in 2060, the share of school- and college-age residents are projected to change from 21% and 11%, respectively in 2021, to 15% and 10%, by 2060. We provide this detailed look to help inform planning for future capital facility planning, student services, and other educational needs.” (Read More)

President Biden signs into law Congressman Blake Moore’s bill to help save the Great Salt Lake

Congressman Blake Moore’s Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden. Introduced with Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) and led by Senators Merkley (D-OR) and Romney (R-UT) in the Senate, this legislation will establish a scientific monitoring and assessment program to help save the Great Salt Lake and other saline lakes in the West. (Read More)

 

Number of the Day

Number of the Day, Dec 29, 2022

 

Tweet of the Day

Screen Shot 2022-12-29 at 8.07.20 AM

 

Upcoming

  • Utah Economic Outlook and Public Policy Summit with the Salt Lake Chamber — Jan. 12, 2023, Salt Lake City Marriott, 8 am - noon, Register here
  • Legislative session begins, Jan. 17, 2023, le.utah.gov
 

On This Day In History

  • 1170 - Thomas Becket is assassinated by four knights of King Henry II

  • 1808 -Andrew Johnson born. He became the 17th US president.

  • 1835 - Treaty of New Echota is signed between the US government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction to cede all lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States

  • 1845 - Texas admitted as 28th state of the Union

  • 1890 - US 7th Cavalry massacres 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota

  • 1916 - Grigori Rasputin assassinated by Russian aristocrats

  • 1937 - Thea Bowman is born. She became the first black Catholic nun to join white Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in the 1960s, worked with issues of racial inequality

  • 1940 - Worst German air raid on London as over 10,000 bombs including the 1st incendiary bombs are dropped on the city as part of the Blitz

  • 1970 - Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon

  • 2016 - Lavell Edwards dies

Wise Words

"Those who have succeeded have also had the ability to overcome adversity, disappointment, and even tragedy in their lives."

—LaVell Edwards

On the Punny Side

What did the dad say at 11:59 p.m. on New Year's?

No more jokes until next year. 😂 

 

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