Situational Analysis | June 24, 2022

It's Friday and we are a mere 6 months from Christmas Eve. You're welcome.

Today is also National Food Truck Day, a great choice for date night.

Be in the Know

• The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Thursday that New York’s concealed carry licensing regime, a century-old law which requires anyone who wants to carry a concealed handgun outside his home to demonstrate a special need for self-defense, is unconstitutional and violates citizens’ Second Amendment rights. 

• The Supreme Court also ruled 6-3 on Thursday that citizens cannot file a civil action lawsuit and seek damages under U.S. Code Section 1983 in the event a police officer fails to inform them of their Miranda rights. 

Rapid Roundup

• This weekend's air show at Hill Air Force Base is expected to draw 500,000+ people, 5703 designs were submitted as Utah searches for a new flag, fireworks restrictions are in place as we heard towards July, and Rudy Gobert scrubs the Utah Jazz from his Instagram page 😢 

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Utah Headlines

General

• Utah Patriot Front members have their security guard licenses suspended, executive says (Fox13)
• Man behind Tabernacle Choir for 22 years retires (KSL TV)
• Utah’s new state prison is here, but some families of prisoners worry about the transfer (KUER)
• Flash flood warning issued at Capitol Reef National Park (KUTV)

Politics

• Several House GOP lawmakers requested pardons, Jan 6. committee reveals. One asked for pardons for a list of lawmakers that includes Reps. Chris Stewart and Burgess Owens (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Attorneys for transgender students seek to block school sports ban from taking effect (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Senate approves gun safety bill. Mitt Romney voted yes, Mike Lee voted no (Deseret News)
• San Juan County commissioners acted in 'bad faith' for personal benefit, judge says (KUTV)

Education

• This app incentivizes kids to prep for higher ed: Students can win Chick-Fil-A, movie passes and other rewards through the Keys to Success Program (Salt Lake Tribune)

Elections

• Project Veritas has again inserted itself in Utah’s Republican primary — and it should give us all pause (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Sen. McKell doesn’t want to turn a blind eye to campaign signs on gov’t property anymore (KUER)

Environment

• Wildfire burning outside Bryce Canyon National Park grows to 4,600 acres, remains 5% contained (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Watts in the wild: Utah has plans for electrifying its scenic highways
  With federal funding, UDOT is finding locations for EV charging stations every 50 miles. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Poll: 3 in 4 Americans ignore evacuation orders for disasters, weather. More than half of Americans don’t have an emergency kit (Deseret News)
• Flash flooding hits southern Utah national parks, closing roads (KSL)
• Alaska’s June wildfires break records, fueled by hot, dry weather. More than 1 million acres have burned already in the state, the earliest date on record (Washington Post)

Health

• Ten more Utahns died of COVID-19 in the past week. The number of cases and hospitalizations both rose in the last seven days. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Utah vape store shelves stripped of JUUL products hours after FDA announces ban (Fox13)

Housing

• Is the West’s pandemic housing high over? The Provo housing market just saw the nation’s largest share of price cuts (Deseret News)
• Brint Novinska-Lois: Ending housing discrimination in Salt Lake City would boost economic mobility. Community councils should not stand in the way of the proposed Affordable Housing Overlay. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Airbnb bookings in rural Utah see major boom (ABC4)

National Headlines

General

• 'Just say it was corrupt' and 3 other takeaways from Thursday's Jan. 6 hearing (NPR)
• Takeaways: Trump risked provoking ‘constitutional crisis’ (AP)
• Fox News’s Bret Baier: ‘Patriots’ testifying before Jan. 6 panel ‘stood up’ to Trump’s bid to overturn election (The Hill)
• The Memo: First phase of Jan. 6 hearings sharpens dangers for Trump (The Hill)
• Israeli gunfire killed journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, U.N. says (NPR)
• UN chief warns of ‘catastrophe’ from global food shortage (AP)
• Fertility doctors move embryos to other states in case of Roe v. Wade impact (Wall Street Journal)
• A half-century after one movement, ‘Fierce Madres’ in Uvalde call for another as collective grief is turning into collective rage (Washington Post)

Politics

• GOP unity? Some aim for reconciliation after tough primaries (AP)
• Senate Passes Bipartisan Gun Bill Funding Red-Flag Laws, Mental Health Programs (Wall Street Journal)
• Greitens’s violent ad sets off GOP scramble to stop his Senate bid. State and national Republicans are feverishly shopping super PACs, planning an independent candidate and lobbying Trump, hoping to sink the scandal-ridden ex-governor’s comeback (Washington Post)
• Biden's pick for NATO chief confirmed. Gen. Christopher Cavoli currently commands U.S. Army forces in Europe and will succeed Gen. Tod Wolters as the head of U.S. European Command and NATO supreme allied commander. (Politico)
• DOJ searches home of former official who aided alleged pro-Trump ‘coup’ (Politico)
• Multiple House Republicans on defensive over Jan. 6 panel testimony that they sought post-riot pardons (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• Ukrainians cheer nation’s EU candidacy amid wartime woes (AP)
• Ukrainian army to leave battered city to avoid encirclement (AP)
• Russia blames U.S. for Kaliningrad transit restrictions (Reuters)

News Releases

The 13th annual Clear the Air Challenge

Join the Salt Lake Chamber, UCAIR, and TravelWise as we kick off the 13^th Annual Clear the Air Challenge. Issued by business, government, and community leaders, the Challenge is a month-long competition designed to encourage Utahns to reduce vehicle emissions by choosing alternatives to driving alone. Help us get the word out and make this year’s Challenge an even bigger success. The Clear the Air Challenge starts July 1. Learn more at ClearTheAirChallenge.org. (Read More)

Owens backs bipartisan, bicameral agreement to extend school and summer meals for kids

Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, co-sponsored the Keep Kids Fed Act, legislation to help schools weather learning disruptions, supply chain challenges, and four-decade high inflation through targeted and temporary aid. (Read More)

Senate passes Romney-backed bipartisan Safer Communities Act

By a vote of 65-33, the Senate passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act—legislation to bolster public safety and prevent tragedies before they occur, including through substantial investments in mental health, school safety, and state-led crisis intervention programs. U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) was part of a bipartisan group of 20 members to sign on to the proposal on June 12. The legislation now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. (Read More)

Congressman Blake Moore’s provisions included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023

Early Thursday morning, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023, and Congressman Blake Moore fought to successfully include many sponsored provisions in the passed legislation. 

“During a time of economic uncertainty and global geopolitical instability, the House Armed Services Committee carefully put together a defense authorization bill that will improve our defense systems and the lives of our servicemembers,” said Congressman Blake Moore. (Read More)

Senate passes Lee’s FORMULA Act

The US Senate unanimously passed a modified version of the Fixing Our Regulatory Mayhem Upsetting Little Americans (FORMULA) Act introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). The FORMULA Act was created to combat domestic baby formula shortages and bolster the supply chain to help American families feed their babies. Recent shortages come in the immediate aftermath of a recall and temporary closure of a major American formula factory, but highlight systemic weaknesses in this vital supply chain. Due to the disruption, families in Utah and across the nation are struggling to feed their babies. This modified version of Lee’s FORMULA Act will lift substantial tariffs on the importation of baby formula and reduce the costs borne by retailers trying to keep their shelves stocked. (Read More)

Number of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Primary election day â€“ June 28
• ULCT Annual Convention - Oct 5-7, Salt Palace Convention Center, Register here
• General election â€“ Nov 8

On This Day In History

• 1896 - Harvard University issues its first honorary degree to an African American – author, educator and orator, Booker T. Washington.
• 1918 - Mildred Ladner Thompson is born. In 1945, she became one of the Wall Street Journal’s first female reporters.
• 1929 - Carolyn Spellmann Shoemaker is born. When she was 51, and her children were grown, she began looking at the stars. She discovered 32 comets and more than 800 asteroids. In 1993, her most notable discovery was a team effort. Along with her husband and astrogeologist, Gene Shoemaker and astronomer David Levy, they discovered the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. She retired in 2019 at age 90 and died Aug. 13, 2021.
• 1947 - While flying near Mt. Rainer, pilot Kenneth Arnold witnessed what is considered the first widely reported sighting of an unidentified flying object – UFO.
• 1995 - Esther Rome, American health advocate, dies from breast cancer at age 49. She belonged to the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective. She and other group members began writing articles on women’s health which became the book Our Bodies, Ourselves.
• 2021 - A 12-story condo collapses in Florida, killing 98

Wise Words

“You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.”
― Carl Gustav Jung

Lighter Side

"The Supreme Court overturned a New York law — a New York State gun law restricting concealed weapons. ’Cuz you know how sometimes you’ll be on the F train in August and there’s no A.C. and then it stops in the middle of the tunnel and the conductor doesn’t announce anything and you think to yourself, ‘Man, I wish we all had guns.’” 

— SETH MEYERS

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