Good morning. Salt Lake City will have a high of 50° and a low of 23°.
If you lived in Utah in June 2020, you may remember hearing about a treasure hunt with a $5,000 prize. It started when John Maxim and David Cline received their COVID-19 stimulus checks and decided the money “ought to go to people who really need it." More treasure hunts have followed — and the two have plans for another this spring or summer. Read more from my colleague Lee Benson on how the hunts have gotten bigger and more elaborate.
Also on our mind today: What Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson said about her faith, why the Hale Center Theater in Orem is moving to Pleasant Grove and a perspective on Russia's attack on Ukraine from a USU professor who is ethnic Russian and grew up in eastern Ukraine.
House rich, cash poor: How some Utahns cope with rising values, property tax
What's happening: As many as 40,000 Utahns living on low and fixed incomes are straining to make property tax payments against steady rate increases and an ever marching housing market, according to a new Tax Modernization report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute released this month.
Relief programs: There are state and county relief programs meant to help homeowners struggling to keep up with property tax payments, including the Circuit Breaker program. Currently, less than 20% of those who qualify are enrolled in the program, which raises questions about its usefulness and implementation, while leaving some to wonder if leaders have done enough to get help to elderly Utahns straining to remain in their homes.
“An extra $1,000 to $2,000 of annual spending makes a big difference for somebody with such low income,” said Wayne Cushing, Salt Lake County treasurer, whose office oversees part of the program. “It helps them afford other necessities like prescriptions and food.”
Read more about how issues involving property, retirement and health care are often interwoven.
If Utah Sen. Mike Lee doesn’t win a third term, it could end a remarkable streak of either a Lee or Udall in Congress every decade since the 1950s.
Why it matters: A 2007 study on political dynasties in Congress since 1789 found that “legislators who enjoy longer tenures are significantly more likely to have relatives entering Congress later.”
The future generation of Lee-Udall politicians will be following ancestors who affected the lives of nearly everyone in the West and many around the country, observers say.
“If you live on the Wasatch Front and all the way to Tucson, you’re affected by them every day through water because they got both the Central Utah Project and the Central Arizona Project funded,” said retired history professor Ross Peterson, who has researched and written about the lives of Stewart and Mo Udall.
Read more about the Lee-Udall family's effect on the West.
More in Politics
Cox orders all Russian products pulled from Utah liquor store shelves (KSL.com)
Why Mitt Romney praised a ‘world hero,’ denounced a ‘feral-eyed’ man and referred to some fellow Republicans as ‘morons’ (Deseret News)
‘We have to speak out’: Ben Carson headlines Lincoln Day Dinner (St. George News)
Faith
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson: ‘One can only come this far by faith’ (Religion News Service)
Education
Weber School District officials to announce new superintendent next week (The Standard-Examiner)
Arts
$5M donation plus land prompts Orem Hale theater move to Pleasant Grove (KSL.com)
Police
Accused voyeur 'knew what he was doing was wrong,' Lehi mother says (KSL.com)
Weber County Sheriff’s Office unveils warehouse; more expansion in works (The Standard-Examiner)
The Nation
Biden administration to push congress for $6.4 billion in aid to Ukraine - Schumer (Reuters)
The World
Belarus to join Russian attack on Ukraine (Deseret News)
5 questions for a USU professor who is ethnic Russian and grew up in eastern Ukraine (Deseret News)
Perspective: God bless the Ukrainian people. Their fight must inspire a new era of global engagement (Deseret News)
When it came time to decide who was going to be on the court in the closing minutes of a tight game against the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder turned to one of the newest faces on his roster — Danuel House Jr.
“I didn’t even know until it was happening,” House said after the Jazz’s 118-114 win over the Suns. “My number was called and I had a job I had to perform.”
Read more about House's job to make life as tough as possible for Devin Booker.
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