85¢ DQ Blizzards this fall; August's rare 'blue supermoon' the brightest of 2023; near record heat in Utah today & Idalia is now a hurricane
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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 | August 29, 2023

Today is Tuesday and National Lemon Juice Day. 🍋

What You Need to Know

  • Former president Donald Trump is scheduled to be tried in a federal court beginning March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday. Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected the federal government's proposal to begin the trial in January and the Trump team's proposal to hold the trial in 2026. “Mr. Trump will have to make the trial date work, regardless of his schedule," Chutkan said. Trump said he would appeal, but legal experts say scheduling decisions cannot be appealed until a verdict has been reached. Trump's lawyer John Lauro said he would abide by Chutkan's schedule. Trump also has another trial scheduled for the same month over multiple charges that he falsified business records in Manhattan. That trial is scheduled for March 25. A third trial is scheduled for May 20, 2024 and the fourth case does not yet have a trial date scheduled.

Rapid Relevance

 

Register for the 2023 Utah Tourism Conference | September 26-29 | St. George, Utah

Join us for the Annual Utah Tourism Conference, the state's premier industry conference where professionals gather from around the state to network and learn. Whether you are part of the tourism industry or hoping to explore the possibilities of tourism in Utah, you’ll leave inspired. See you there!

 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • How much are elected officials and judges in Utah paid? (KSL)

Election news

  • Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson encouraging Utahns to get more involved in voting process (KSL Newsradio)
  • Turnout in the race to replace Congressman Chris Stewart around 15 percent so far (KSL Newsradio)
  • Tired of Biden and Trump? Here’s a third option (Deseret News)

General Utah news

  • This Utah mom is competing in the ‘American Ninja Warrior’ finals — with a toddler in tow (Deseret News)
  • Colorado man fired 17 shots, killing man in southern Utah property dispute, charges say (KSL)
  • Utah social media influencer pleads guilty to aggravated assault charge (KSL TV)
  • A Utahn is the president of a powerful Realtors group. He is also accused of sexual harassment. (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • President of powerful realtors' group resigns after sexual harassment claims (New York Times)
  • Utah father disappears while snorkeling in Hawaii (KSL TV)

Business

  • Utah family fun centers found in violation of child labor laws (Fox13)
  • There's a labor shortage in the U.S. Why is it so hard for migrants to legally work? (NPR)
  • Noah’s Event Center involved in $30 million fraud scheme targeting ‘mostly retired, elderly’ (ABC4)

Culture

  • Utah Jazz to hold auditions for 2023-2024 season's national anthem performers (KUTV)
  • ‘My dad is my hero’: Donny Osmond’s son (finally!) revealed in ‘Claim to Fame’ finale (Deseret News)

Education

  • Innovative translation device helps international students in classes and studies (KSL)
  • Box Elder School District among the last to head back to school; largely due to the County Fair (KSL TV)
  • Full-day kindergarten offerings rising in Weber County, across Utah (Standard-Examiner)
  • Parents have questions, frustrations about the 7 Salt Lake City schools up for closure (KUER)
  • Weber High principal on administrative leave amid district investigation (KSL Newsradio)
  • Here are Utah’s best high schools for 2023. Is your school on the list? (Salt Lake Tribune)

Environment

  • BYU professors use special bacteria to efficiently create energy from manure (KSL)
  • Next summer, a bus straight outta St. George hopes to help Zion out with its traffic (KUER)
  • How much Colorado River water does alfalfa use? (UPR)
  • Wild About Utah: Bear Lake limestone (UPR)
  • Flash floods and Utah’s summer monsoon season pose sudden threats (Deseret News)

Family

  • Utah birth rate decline is partially due to cost, expert says (KSL Newsradio)
  • Move over, teenagers — older folks fall in love just as hard as you do (KUER)

Health

  • Kevin Guest: This September, promise to live. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. The Promise to Live Pledge can help those struggling with mental health (Deseret News)
  • The key to having a happier social life? Diversity. Here’s why (Deseret News)
  • Why doctors of cancer patients say their relatives should be tested (Deseret News)
  • How the rise in cannabis use is affecting dogs and children (Deseret News)
  • Biden administration names 10 prescription drugs for price negotiations (Washington Post)
 

National Headlines

General

  • Hawaii power utility takes responsibility for first fire on Maui, but faults county firefighters (AP)
  • Idalia strengthens to a hurricane and dangerous storm surges are forecast for Florida’s Gulf Coast (AP)
  • Women working in Antarctica say they were left to fend for themselves against sexual harassers (AP)
  • How scientists engineered a see-through squid with its brain in plain view (NPR)

Politics

  • Cable news recap: Trump’s angry mugshot and Ramaswamy’s take on white supremacy (Deseret News)
  • Trump trial set for March 4, 2024, in federal case charging him with plotting to overturn election (AP)
  • Trump campaign reports raising more than $7 million after Georgia booking (AP)
  • Joe the Plumber, who questioned Obama’s tax policies during the 2008 campaign, has died at 49 (AP)
  • Mark Meadows, former Trump chief of staff, testifies in Georgia (Washington Post)
  • In a grieving Jacksonville, speakers condemn DeSantis rhetoric on race (Washington Post)
  • Republican lawmakers vote to silence ‘Tennessee Three’ Democrat for a day (Washington Post)
  • Fox News pundit calls Ramaswamy proposal ‘criminally stupid’ and ‘like a freshman foreign policy paper’ (The Hill)
  • Ramaswamy doubles down on calling Rep. Ayanna Pressley part of ‘modern KKK’ (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • Shocker, I know. Putin is not planning to attend the funeral for Wagner chief Prigozhin, the Kremlin says (AP)
  • Past drones and sea mines, a merchant ship's perilous journey in Ukraine (New York Times)

World

  • Shudder...Neurosurgeon investigating patient’s mystery symptoms plucks a worm from woman’s brain in Australia (AP)
  • Haiti police probe killings of parishioners who were led by a pastor into gang territory (AP)
  • 'Hundreds of thousands' trafficked into SE Asia scam centers (Reuters)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, Aug 29, 2023

 

News Releases

Bang for your buck in Utahn’s education

Today, the Utah Foundation releases a new report in its Utah Educational Attainment Series. The report evaluates return by exam­ining three factors: the institution attended, the credential obtained, and the subject studied. Among the findings of the report: Weber State University tops the list in Utah for students’ 10-year net present value of their education. Neumont College of Computer Science has the highest ranked 40-year net present value of any college in Utah, followed by Brigham Young University, the University of Utah, Weber State University, and Westminster College. (Read More)


Salt Lake Chamber to celebrate Utah business and community leaders at annual gathering

Utah’s business and community leaders will gather for a record 136th Annual Meeting of the Salt Lake Chamber on August 29, 2023, at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek. Participants will celebrate community leaders and Chamber volunteers who have demonstrated exceptional service in the previous year by dedicating their time and skills to further the Chamber’s mission and strengthen the business community. The event theme will be the “Wild Wild West” as we tackle record growth and continue building opportunities for the community. The Chamber looks forward to recommitting to our entrepreneurial foundations and recognizing the past year’s accomplishments. (Read More)


Weber State professor headed to Poland on second Fulbright Scholar Award

When Marek Matyjasik taught in Poland as part of his first Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award, the COVID-19 pandemic cut his time short. In his eyes, there was much more to accomplish. Now, the professor and chair of Weber State University’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences has the chance to finish that work. Matyjasik is heading back to Warsaw, Poland, in January after receiving his second Fulbright award, where he will collaborate and teach about water resources and quality. (Read More)


Romney discusses the biggest challenges facing our nation

Senator Romney (R-UT) this week joined KSL Sunday Edition with Boyd Matheson for a wide-ranging interview to discuss the issues impacting Utah, as well as some of the biggest challenges facing our nation—both at home and abroad. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day 

Screenshot 2023-08-29 at 7.41.56 AM

 

Upcoming

  • Sutherland Institute Congressional Series with Rep. Blake Moore — Aug 29, 10:00-11:30 am, Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service, Lindquist Hall, Weber State
  • Sutherland Institute Congressional Series with Rep. Burgess Owens — Aug 30, 12:00-1:30 pm, Hinckley Institute, U of U
  • Municipal/Special election primary — Sept. 5
  • 2nd Annual Conservative Climate Summit with Rep. John Curtis — Sept. 8, 8:00 am-3:00 pm, UVU, Register 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
  • 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 

  • 1533 - Pizarro executes the last Inca emperor via strangulation
  • 1877 - Brigham Young dies
  • 1913 - Sylvia Kaye is born. A lyricist and composer, she wrote over 100 songs for her husband, Danny Kaye.
  • 1929 - Aviator Anne Morrow Lindbergh makes her first solo flight
  • 1970 - Native American group occupies Mount Rushmore to protest broken Treaty of Fort Laramie
  • 1990 - Saddam Hussein declares America can't beat Iraq
  • 1997 - Netflix is founded as an online DVD rental business
  • 2005 - Hurricane Katrina makes 2nd and 3rd landfall as a category 3 hurricane, devastating much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida Panhandle. Kills more than 1,836, causes over $115 billion in damage.
  • 2018 - John McCain becomes the third person to lie in state at the Arizona state capitol rotunda.
  • 2021 - Hurricane Ida makes landfall as a Category 4 storm near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Quote of the Day

"Only love can be divided endlessly and still not diminish."
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh


On the Punny Side

I put my phone under my pillow last night.

When I woke up it was gone and there was a $1 coin in it's place.

It was the Bluetooth Fairy!

 

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