Situational Analysis | April 15, 2022

Today is Good Friday, the beginning of Passover and the middle of Ramadan. Welcome to a holy weekend. May it be a good one for you.

Be in the Know

1. The United Utah Party is holding their nominating convention tomorrow at West High in Salt Lake. Convention begins at 10:00 am and is expected to conclude by noon. Pretty sure that means that won't be arguing over the agenda or the rules for an hour. 

2. Russia's flagship Moskva sank in the Black Sea and they're mad. While not admitting Ukraine had anything to do with the sinking, they have promised increased attacks on Kyiv and other cities while also telling Finland and Sweden not to join NATO, or else. They also told the US to stop arming Ukraine. After 50 days of pounding, Ukraine still stands. 🇺🇦

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Utah Headlines

General

• More than 200,000 Utah women have been raped. Join me in speaking out, Susan Madsen writes. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Study shows data on Pacific Islander women in Utah (Daily Herald)
• Want to understand religion in America? Let go of these 3 myths (Deseret News)
• Tax Day is later than usual this year. Here are the deadlines. (Deseret News)
• Mortgage rates top 5% as homebuying becomes ‘most expensive in a generation’ (Deseret News)
• Conservatives are celebrating Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter, despite these warning signs (Deseret News)
• Ethan Hepworth: Polarization leaves American public unable to separate fact from fiction (Salt Lake Tribune) (Ethan Hepworth is a senior at Copper Hills High School. This essay is the winner of the Fifth Annual Utah High School Essay Contest on Civility in Politics & Public Life sponsored by Westminster’s Honors College and underwritten by WCF Insurance.)
• President Nelson is now the oldest president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 97 years, seven months and six days (Deseret News)

Politics

• Utah school board candidate says she’s ‘sickened by the gender identity stuff’ and wants to support Natalie Cline. Kim DelGrosso is facing pushback for her comments from LGBTQ groups. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Utah senator 'excited' as state prepares to sift through thousands of new flag designs (KSL)
• Cox signs bills on anti-bullying, period products and tribal regalia (Fox13)
• Roger Stone confirms he’s coming to Utah to campaign for GOP congressional candidate Jason Preston. Stone has a history of mocking members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Education

• How University of Utah president’s take on college diverges from that of the world’s richest man (Deseret News)
• Governor celebrates full-day kindergarten funding but admits it's 'not enough' (KUTV)
• State Charter School Board reviews warning status of Vanguard Academy (KUTV)
• Utah State cracking down on 'Orbeez' TikTok challenge (Fox13)

Environment

• Utah districts tighten water restrictions, raise fines for usage (KUTV)
• How much did this week's storms help Utah's snowpack? (KSL)
  
• Ivins acts to save one million gallons of water (Fox13)
• ‘Legacy’ of volunteers contributes to conservation in Zion National Park (St. George News)
• Despite spring snow, experts say a 40% decrease in river flows could be in our future (KPCW)
• With red-hot inflation, this program may help low-income Utahns stay cool this summer (Deseret News)
• Two killed, hundreds of homes burned in New Mexico wildfire (Reuters)

Family

• FBI in Utah says it's seen drastic rise in 'sextortion' against teen boys (KSL)
• ‘You dance with who brung ya.' In a rural Utah town, two detectives craft their own method of investigating complex domestic violence and rape cases: empowering survivors (Deseret News)
• Is social media as bad for teens as we thought it was? Contrary to previous data, some researchers are finding that smartphone use among teens might affect them less than we originally thought (Deseret News)

Utah/Ukraine Connection

• Lehi City Council passes resolution in support of Ukraine (Daily Herald)
• Michael Erickson: US military aid to Ukraine should not be limited by fear (Deseret News)

COVID Corner

• Weekly count: 740 new cases, 6 new deaths
• Utah COVID-19 case counts remain low as sewage shows one site of ‘potential concern’ (Salt Lake Tribune)
• The F.D.A. authorizes the first Covid-19 breath test. (New York Times)

National Headlines

General

• ‘It’s super spectacular.’ See how the Tonga volcano unleashed a once-in-a-century shockwave. (New York Times)
• IMF chief: Ukraine war and inflation threaten global economy (AP)
• UK plan to fly African asylum-seekers to Rwanda draws outrage (AP)
• Frank James, suspect in Brooklyn subway shooting, ordered to be held in jail (Wall Street Journal)
• Family of man shot by Michigan police say son was ‘killed like an animal’ (Washington Post)
• British ISIS militant guilty in kidnapping and murder of hostages (Washington Post)
• Elon Musk is no longer Twitter's largest shareholder and says he is 'not sure' his takeover bid will be successful (Business Insider)
• Palestinians clash with Israeli police at Jerusalem holy site, 152 injured (Reuters)

Politics

• Republican National Committee has voted unanimously to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates. The RNC will prohibit candidates from participating in official Commission on Presidential Debates (Deseret News)
• In late 2020, almost 100 text messages from two staunch Trump allies in Congress reveal an aggressive attempt to lobby and encourage the White House over its efforts to overturn the election. The texts were sent by Republicans Mike Lee and Chip Roy. (CNN)
• Man blaming Trump’s ‘orders’ for riot actions found guilty (AP)
• GOP lawmakers visit Ukraine (The Hill)
• Justices send Ohio Statehouse maps back to drawing board (The Hill)
• Ohio Republicans gang up to stop Vance endorsement (Politico)

Ukraine

• Russia’s damaged Black Sea flagship sinks (AP)
• Powerful explosions heard in Kyiv after Russian warship sinks (Reuters)
• Russia warns U.S. to stop arming Ukraine (Washington Post)
• UN food chief says Mariupol is starving (AP)
• A Russian woman is jailed for replacing store price tags with anti-war messages (NPR)
• Millions of disabled people's lives at risk in Ukraine, U.N. committee says (Reuters)
• U.S. support for Ukraine moves further into offensive assistance (Wall Street Journal)
• U.S. to train Ukrainian troops, confirms attack sank Russian warship (Washington Post)
• What the ruthless new commander of Russia's military in Ukraine signals for the war (NPR)
• Russia loses warship, says attacks on Kyiv will increase (AP)

Number of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• United Utah Party State Convention - April 16, 10 am, West High, SLC
• 2022 Midyear Conference, Utah League of Cities and Towns - April 20-22, St. George Register here
• GOP Convention, April 23, 10 am, Mt. America Expo Center
• Dem Convention, Apr 23, 8 am, Cottonwood High School
• Ballots are mailed â€“ June 7
• Primary election day â€“ June 28
• General election â€“ Nov 8

On This Day In History

• 1452 - Leonardo da Vinci is born.
• 1865 - Abraham Lincoln dies.
• 1892 - Corrie ten Boom is born.
• 1895 - Josephine Blatt makes hip-and-harness lift of 3564 lb (record)
• 1896 - May Edward Chin is born. She was the first Black woman doctor in Harlem and worked with George Papanicolaon on the Pap smear to identify cervical cancer.
• 1912 - Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic.
• 1926 - Norma Merrick Sklarek is born. Called the “Rosa Parks of Architecture,” she became the first African-American woman licensed to practice architecture in New York in 1954.
• 1955 - Ray Kroc opens the first McDonald’s in Des Plaines, Illinois.
• 1983 - Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author of The Hiding Place and Holocaust survivor, dies at 91
• 1998 - Pol Pot, the architect of Cambodia’s killing fields, dies at age 72 of apparently natural causes while serving a life sentence imposed against him by his own Khmer Rouge.
• 2013 - Three people killed, hundreds injured in Boston Marathon bombing.
• 2019 - Notre Dame de Paris catches fire, toppling its spire and destroying its roof.

Wise Words

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”
― Corrie Ten Boom

Lighter Side

“But one of the American companies that has suspended service in Russia is Netflix, which has made subscribers in Russia so mad, they’re suing Netflix. They want 60 million rubles in compensation, which is about 80 bucks, I think, right?” 

— JIMMY KIMMEL

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