Situational Analysis | June 7, 2022

It's Tuesday and primary ballots are in the mail. It's also National Chocolate Ice Cream Day.

Be in the Know

• Utah ranks higher than the national average in rape cases, Utah's only violent crime to do so. "We don't rank well at all in the state on domestic violence and sexual violence and child sexual assault," said Dr. Susan Madsen. The impacts can be felt generationally. Addressing these issues can be complex, which is why Dr. Madsen and Nubia Peña have been asked to lead a task force to get multiple perspectives. "We can talk about upward mobility and economic thriving. We can talk about education. We can talk about all these things that are predictable to a person's ability to thrive in Utah," Peña said. "But if we're not talking about safety and well-being, we're missing a huge, huge population that will not say, 'I need help.'"

Rapid Roundup

• Angels Landing trail closed to repair damage to the chained portion, Utah temps expected to spike this week, Wendy's is temporarily selling a strawberry Frosty (just in time for Pleasant Grove's Strawberry Days), Quin Snyder joined Jazz owner and CEO to discuss his departure and Target warns profits will drop because it has "too much stuff" on hand.

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Utah Headlines

General

• A Black Utah teen says an Orem theater group is ‘whitewashing’ production of ‘Aida." For a story about an Ethiopian princess, Emma Zemp realized she was the only Black person given a callback. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Paul Gibbs: Blaming violence on the mentally ill wrongly increases its stigma. The mentally ill are more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• ‘Just kill me!’: Ogden Police bodycam footage shows man disarming officer, firing police handgun during fight (ABC4)
• ‘D’ on Black Hill now listed on National Register of Historic Places (St. George News)
• Two historic warbirds land at Logan-Cache Airport, will be on display this week (Cache Valley Daily)
• Women are blazing new trails in the STEM workforce (UPR)

Politics

• What Mitt Romney says he has accomplished in the Senate so far (Deseret News)
• Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion: Three steps we can take to reduce gun violence in Utah (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Plaintiffs in Utah’s redistricting lawsuit argue the case over alleged gerrymandering qualifies for judicial review. The Legislature’s attorneys requested that a judge throw out the lawsuit in May. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Sen. Gene Davis faces something he hasn’t in decades — a Democratic primary challenger (KUER)
• Rep. Birkeland’s letter on trans students confused district officials and irked advocates (KUER)

Education

• Utah NAACP president asks DOJ to investigate allegations of discrimination at Salt Lake City schools. Last year, the district hired its first Black superintendent. Now, the NAACP alleges, the board is ‘trying to chase him out’ (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Olympus High graduates see all 16 of their children graduate from same Utah school (KSL)

Environment

• Drought and inflation have come for farmers and ranchers. Does this Utahn have the solution? (Deseret News)
• Are we facing a future without Old Faithful? (Deseret News)
• The flailing solar industry and what Biden wants to do about it (Deseret News)
• Lake Effect: Great Salt Lake as a barometer of climate change (UPR)

Family

• The plant at the heart of the formula shortage has restarted production — but restocking shelves will take time (Deseret News)
• BYU professor figures out what sets a Utah name apart from the rest of the country (KSL TV)
• School pantries and lunch programs critical to Utah families hit hardest by inflation (KUTV)

Health

• Where you’ll need to wear a mask in California — and where more mandates may be coming (Deseret News)
• Advocates, leaders create strategic plan to combat sexual, domestic violence in Utah (KSL)
• Utah researchers find snail venom could be used as fast-acting insulin for diabetics (KUTV)
• Intermountain VP Greg Poulsen to join Medicare commission (Standard-Examiner)

Utah/Ukraine Connection

• How many Americans have signed up to sponsor refugees under Uniting for Ukraine? 48,000! (Deseret News)

National Headlines

General

• Is Elon Musk setting up to bail on his $44 billion Twitter offer? (Deseret News)
• Proud boys ex-leader Enrique Tarrio, four others charged with seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 probe (Wall Street Journal)
• EXPLAINER: Hundreds charged with crimes in Capitol attack (AP)
• U.S, South Korea launch warning missiles as North Korean nuclear threat looms (Deseret News)
• US wins case to seize Russian superyacht in Fiji (AP)
• Jill Biden helps unveil postage stamp honoring Nancy Reagan (AP)
• Kohl's enters exclusive talks to be sold (Wall Street Journal)

Politics

• How much COVID relief money was lost through fraud? The numbers are staggering (Deseret News)
• Mayor Jenny Wilson: Are Republicans hiding behind an absolutist view of the Second Amendment? (Deseret News)
• Spare 'documented Dreamers' from deportation, tech giants tell Biden official (Reuters)
• Fake Trump electors in Ga. told to shroud plans in ‘secrecy,’ email shows. The message informed those involved in the plan that they were not allowed to disclose their intentions, even to State Capitol security (Washington Post)
• White House braces for the death of Roe v. Wade (The Hill)
• Milo Yiannopoulos is an intern for Marjorie Taylor Greene (The Hill)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• Russia claims advances in Ukraine amid barrages, troop boost (AP)
• Zelenskiy says battlefield stalemate is not an option for Ukraine (Reuters)
• Ukraine must not be pressured into a bad peace deal, UK PM says (Reuters)
• Cholera fears prompt quarantine in Mariupol, official says (Washington Post)
• Russia faces criticism at the U.N. for fanning a global food crisis. (New York Times)
• Polish cities feel the strain of helping Ukrainian refugees (Politico)

News Releases

Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute: Consumer confidence falls in May

Utah’s consumer sentiment fell in May, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Survey of Utah Consumers. Sentiment among Utahns fell to 69.0 in May, down from 72.4 in April. A similar survey by the University of Michigan found a larger decline in sentiment among Americans as a whole, falling to 58.4 in May compared to 65.7 in April. (Read More)

Office of Senator Romney releases midterm report

The Office of U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today released a report detailing the policy and constituent service accomplishments at the halfway mark of Romney’s Senate term. Major legislative highlights include the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, enactment of the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement Act, negotiation of the bipartisan COVID Relief Act of 2020, and passage of Romney’s amendment requiring the president to create a comprehensive strategy to confront China. The Romney team also assisted with more than 4,000 constituent casework claims, responded to more than 800,000 pieces of constituent mail, and met with thousands of Utahns. (Read More)

Owens leads the Securing Our Students Act

Today, Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-04), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, introduced the Securing Our Students Act, legislation to redirect unused American Rescue Plan funding to help identify and implement evidence-based school safety measures. Of the $122 billion appropriated to America’s K-12 schools in last year’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, roughly 93% remains unspent. (Read More)

Utah Clean Energy statement on Biden decision in Auxin solar tariff investigation

"We welcome today’s decision by the Biden administration to create a two-year safe harbor from potential tariffs on solar modules manufactured in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The tariff investigation has delayed at least 5 major solar projects under contract in Utah. Today’s decision will help put those projects back on track, providing clean domestic solar electricity to Utah customers, and jobs to our state. We look forward to working with members of Utah’s Congressional delegation and the Biden administration to ramp up domestic production of solar PV modules and domestic supply chains that are critical to a clean energy economy."

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Upcoming

• "Defenders, Bullies & Victims: The Social Ecology of Adolescence" with Diana Meter - June 7, 2022 RSVP here
• Ballots are mailed â€“ June 7
• China Challenge Summit with WTCU, at UVU – June 9, 2022, 8:30-4:30, Register here
• Hatch Foundation Debate w Lindsey Graham & Bernie Sanders – June 13, 10 am MDT. Tune in here
• Utah Legislature Interim Days – June 14,15 le.utah.gov for more info
• Primary election day â€“ June 28
• General election â€“ Nov 8

On This Day In History

• 1494 - Treaty of Tordesillas: Spain and Portugal divide the new world along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa
• 1843 - Susan Blow is born. She was an American educator who pioneered kindergarten
• 1892 - Creole shoemaker Homer Plessy buys whites-only train ticket in New Orleans in act of civil disobedience - results in landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).
• 1909 - Virginia Apgar is born. An American anesthesiologist, she developed the system healthcare providers use to evaluate an infant soon after birth - the Apgar score.
• 1917 - Gwendolyn Brooks is born. She became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize.
• 1954 - Alan Turing dies by suicide at age 41. 
• 1965 - The Supreme Court of the United States decides on Griswold v. Connecticut, effectively legalizing the use of contraception by married couples
• 1979 - Texas passes a bill becoming the first state in the nation to make Juneteenth an official state holiday
• 1980 - The U.S. government dedicated its first solar power plant at Natural Bridge National Monument in Utah. The array of over 250,000 solar cells provided power to the park’s facilities.
• 1998 - James Byrd, Jr. is dragged to death by Shawn Allen Berry, Lawrence Russel Brewer, and John William King in Jasper, Texas in a racially-motivated hate crime

Wise Words

“There comes a time when you need a new voice and need a new leader, and obviously (Quin Snyder) felt the time was right for him right now, and I am kinda close to that in my career.”

— Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham

Lighter Side

“Lilibet took the throne at age 25, on Feb. 6, 1952. So naturally, the Brits are celebrating her 70th anniversary in June. They were aiming for London’s annual day of sunshine.” 

— STEPHEN COLBERT

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