Utah Headlines

Legislative session

• Utah taxpayers could help lay the groundwork for a constitutional convention (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Students head to Utah Capitol Hill to advocate for state issues (Fox13)
• 'Your voice matters': Utah immigrants, advocates gather to promote civic participation (KSL)

Business and Labor

•  Utah Senate committee rebuffs bill targeting imposition of racial views; measure likely dead (Deseret News)
• Utah House will debate whether to take beehive regulation out of local hands (KUER)

Economic Development and Workforce Services

• Utah’s version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act passes the Senate (Deseret News)

Education

• Former University of Utah gymnasts to state lawmakers: Take verbal, emotional abuse seriously (Deseret News)
• Utah lawmakers running nearly a hundred education-related bills (KSL TV)
• House ed committee advances bill policing ‘viewpoint neutrality’ in Utah classrooms (KUER)

Government Operations

• Utah’s experiment with ranked choice voting might get cut short (Deseret News)
• Effort to raise vote threshold to 60% on some Utah initiatives advances in state Senate (Deseret News)

Health and Human Services

•  Opinion: Cold plunges should be regulated. Here’s why (Deseret News)

Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice

• Utah bill would boost penalties for domestic violence offenders violating gun restrictions (KSL)
• Utah could criminalize A.I.-generated ‘revenge porn’ under new bill (Salt Lake Tribune)

Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

• Utah may soon have a plan to ensure Great Salt Lake benefits from 'wet' water years (KSL)
• Opinion: Utah’s SB172 is special interest legislation on steroids (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Great Salt Lake bills continue to flow through the Utah legislature (Fox13)

Other Utah News

Political news

• Ambassador Jeff Flake: A strong relationship with Türkiye is in America’s best interest (Deseret News)
• The crux of legal challenges around states’ social media laws (Deseret News)
• Sen. Mitt Romney issues dire warnings if the U.S. doesn’t continue to help Ukraine (Deseret News)
• Cache County election officials falsified records, violated Utah election law, report says (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Read: Utah Lt. Gov.’s office report alleges Cache County election officials falsified official records (Salt Lake Tribune)

Utah news

• Kevin Costner to open new film studio in St. George, mayor announces (KSL)
• Mental health specialists share life experiences of being Black in Utah (Fox13)
• Spires placed on the Salt Lake Temple in latest step in renovation (KSL TV)

Crime/Courts

• Magna man arrested with pink stuffed animal, charged with trying to meet 9-year-old for sex (KSL)
• Plaintiff says these audio recordings prove OUR lied about 'sex slaves' to raise money (Fox13)

Culture

• 'My Beautiful Black Hair' encourages Black women to embrace their hair (UPR)

Education

• Utahns support banning cellphones in classrooms (Deseret News)
• Principal and assistant principal at Edgemont Elementary placed on administrative leave (KSL TV)
• South Jordan mother raises concern over use of 'seclusion rooms' in public schools (KUTV)

Environment

• Bear Lake Watch announces new executive director (KSL)
• The St. George area needs more water. Neighbors are fighting the fix. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Family

• Let your marital light shine: A call to cute old married couples everywhere (Deseret News)

Health

• Utah had a bigger share of kids lose Medicaid than most states. Here’s how officials aim to improve. (Salt Lake Tribune) 
• C.D.C. considers ending 5-day isolation period for Covid (New York Times)

National Headlines

General

• Bob Moore, who founded Bob’s Red Mill, is dead at 94 (New York Times)

Political news

• US House Republicans win impeachment of Biden's top border official (Reuters)
• Lindsey Graham, a longtime foreign policy hawk, bows to Trump on Ukraine (Washington Post)
• Biden blasts 'dangerous' Trump NATO remarks, urges Ukraine funding (Reuters)
• Recent gaffes by Biden and Trump may be signs of normal aging — or may be nothing (NPR)
• After border bill failure, ICE considers mass releases to close budget gap (Washington Post)

Election news

• Democrat Tom Suozzi flips George Santos’ seat in Congress (AP)
• Haley campaign calls Trump ‘huge weight’ on GOP candidates after Republican’s loss in NY (The Hill)
• Trump’s comments on NATO: Traitorous or ‘tough love’? (Deseret News)
• Trump’s pick to lead the RNC is facing skepticism from some Republicans (AP)
• Trump loved RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel — until he didn’t (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

• With Western military aid increasingly uncertain, Ukraine builds its own weapons (NPR)
• As a package with some $60 billion in support heads to the Republican-controlled House, Ukrainian forces conserve bullets. (Wall Street Journal)
• Ukraine says it sank Russian large landing warship in Black Sea (Reuters)
• Detecting Russian ‘carrots’ and ‘tea bags': Ukraine decodes enemy chatter to save lives (AP)

Israel 🇮🇱

• Airstrike from Israeli hostage rescue wipes out entire Palestinian family in Gaza border town (AP)
• Mediators are in Cairo working to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas (NPR)
• Rafah is already in a humanitarian crisis. Now, an Israeli offensive looms. (Wall Street Journal)
• Fear of famine in Gaza (Reuters)

World news

• Whereabouts of Venezuelan human rights attorney and her family remain unknown days after detentions (AP)
• China's shipyards are ready for a protracted war. America's aren't. (Wall Street Journal)

Number of the Day 

News Releases

Utah House Democratic caucus champions sustainable water policies during Utah’s 2024 legislative session

As the 2024 Legislative Session’s Water Week unfolds, the Utah House Democrats reaffirm their commitment to championing sustainable water policies that safeguard the Great Salt Lake and preserve the state’s invaluable water resources. Amidst the pressing challenges of climate change, growing concerns about water scarcity, and environmental degradation, the caucus is proud to introduce a series of forward-thinking legislative initiatives aimed at ensuring a healthier and more resilient future for Utah’s environment. 

Members of the caucus are spearheading legislation that tackles critical water conservation and management challenges facing the state. From innovative water education initiatives to strategic funding requests, the Utah House Democrats are driving a comprehensive agenda designed to address the complex issues surrounding water usage and preservation. (Read More)

Gov. Spencer Cox signs one bill in the 2024 General Legislative Session

Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed one bill today. He has signed 14 pieces of legislation from the 2024 General Legislative Session to date. Information on the bill signed today can be found below:

• SB 39 Water Shareholder Amendments

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Feb. 21 — Women in Leadership Executive Speaker Series: Women Focused Organizations, 11:30 am-12:30 pm,Register here
• Feb. 22 — Understanding Utah’s Caucus-Convention System, with GOP Chair Rob Axson and Dem. Chair Diane Lewis, sponsored by Utah Women Run, 6:00-7:30 p.m., Register here
• Mar. 1 — Legislative session ends 
• Mar. 5 — Caucus night
• Mar. 20 — Utah Foundation Annual Lunch, 11:45 am-1:30 pm; Grand America, Purchase tickets here
• Apr. 20 — United Utah Partyconvention
• Apr. 27 — State GOP and Democratic Conventions

On This Day In History 

• 270 - St. Valentine is beheaded in Rome.
• 1779 - Captain Cook killed in Hawaii.
• 1803 - Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of Congress that conflicts with the US Constitution is void.
• 1818 - Frederick Douglass is born.
• 1847 - The impressive Anna Howard Shaw is born. She was licensed as a Methodist Protestant minister in 1880, graduated as M.D. in 1886, was an organizer with the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association, lectured in every state, beloved president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (1904-15) and awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for her work during World War I. She died the year before the 19th Amendment was ratified.
• 1870 - Seraph Young cast a ballot in the Salt Lake City election, becoming the first woman in the nation to vote. 
• 1884 - Future President Theodore Roosevelt’s wife and mother die only hours apart.
• 1870 - Esther Morris appointed US' first female Justice of the Peace in South Pass City, Wyoming, after previous justice, R.S. Barr, resigned to protest passage of Wyoming Territory's women's suffrage. Way to go, Wyoming!
• 1929 - Penicillin is discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming.
• 1931 - The original Dracula film starring Bela Lugosi is released. How romantic.
• 1971 - Richard Nixon installs secret taping system in the White House.
• 1978 - 1st “micro on a chip” patented by Texas Instruments.
• 1990 - The “Pale Blue Dot” photo of Earth is taken from Voyager 1, 3.7 billion miles away from the sun.
• 2018 - Teenage gunman kills 17, injures 17 at Parkland, FL high school.

Quote of the Day

"Where there is love, there is life."

—Mahatma Gandhi

On the Punny Side

What did the magnet say to the fridge?

I find you so attractive.

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