Situational Analysis | June 21, 2021

It's Monday of the last full week of June. Summer has officially started and yes, the days are now getting shorter.

Be in the Know

1. The Jazz season is over. Although it did not end the way Jazz fans hoped, it was a great run.

2. The Utah Summer Games have begun. In the procession for the opening ceremonies, the State of Utah followed behind the Paiute tribe "as a nod to who was here first," said LG Henderson.

3. It's Amazon Prime Day. Today and tomorrow, Prime members can choose from over 2 million deals. Not to be deterred, Walmart, Target and Kohl's are offering their own online deals with Black Friday-like savings. 

Utah Headlines

General

• Perspective: Remembering Juneteenth’s past can propel us forward (Deseret News)
• 'It's liberation, jubilee, freedom': People march in downtown Salt Lake City to celebrate Juneteenth (KSL)
• Opioid abuse up during pandemic, expert tells Utah County (Daily Herald)
• Foster father of the year builds relationships, ‘living the dream’ being a dad (St. George News)
• Flood and fire: a father furnishes forgiveness (St. George News)
• Tigray: The worst humanitarian crisis you probably haven’t heard of (Deseret News)

Politics

• Inside Utah Politics: Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson on COVID-19 response, returnships and the role of LG. (ABC4)
• Here’s how bad the social media ‘echo chamber’ has gotten in politics (Deseret News)
• The road to cancellation for Stanford business school educator, successful CEO and entrepreneur Joel Peterson began in 1987. Now it’s time to say enough. (Deseret News)
• U.S. in a ‘perilous moment’ — Legal experts debate LDS leader Dallin Oaks’ talk on the Constitution (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Career water policy adviser nominated to lead water agency that oversees Lakes Mead and Powell (St. George News)
• Opinion: Utah’s Senate race, a crime wave and Biden in Europe — oh my (Deseret News)

COVID Corner

• 249 cases, 2 additional deaths
• 10,000 Utah businesses receive letter to ‘Bring It Home’ by providing vaccine incentives and clinics (ABC4)
• Brazil’s death toll from COVID-19 passed 500,000 as experts warned that the outbreak may worsen due to delayed vaccinations and the government’s refusal to back social-distancing measures. (Reuters)
• Pandemic brought out something positive for some people — resilience (Washington Post)

Drought/Wildfires

• ‘The drought begs our immediate attention’: St. George Mayor Michele Randall lists water-saving measures, possible restrictions (St. George News)
• The Inside Utah Politics Panel: Drought, global warming, and banning fireworks (ABC4)
• Weber County, Ogden water officials avoid punitive approach in dealing with drought (Standard-Examiner)
• Utah drought conditions worse than the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. "It's unreal how dramatic the current drought that we're in is,” said Rep. Joel Ferry. (KUTV)
• Last year, human-caused starts accounted for 78 percent of all wildfires in Utah. This year so far, that number is 82 percent. (Fox13)
• Local experts offer free classes, resources to create water efficient landscaping (Fox13)

Economic development

• The future of historic pioneer monument in the middle of a Fort Union shopping center is in question (Deseret News)

Education

• BYU column: Native American Curriculum Initiative nets $40,000 NEA grant (Daily Herald)
• There are over 1200 homeless youth in Davis County School District. The Davis Education Foundation is seeking donations to create three additional Teen Centers to serve them. (ABC4)

Environment

• Tarek Mango: Small business should embrace this climate solution (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Air Force releases final verdict on environmental review of Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program at Hill AFB (Standard-Examiner)

Health

• A CDC study finds that parents and people who provide unpaid care for adult loved ones are twice as likely as non-caregivers to experience depression, anxiety or thoughts of suicide during the pandemic. (NPR)
• Link two

Housing

• Utah County has halved chronic homeless over three years. Here’s how.
  A “housing first” approach prioritizes stabilizing people in housing so they can work on other challenges. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Ogden women removing racially restrictive wording from covenants that prevented minorities from living in certain neighborhoods. (KSL)

National Headlines

General

• Maya Angelou, Cherokee Nation leader among women honored on newly minted quarters (The Hill)
• Man with Alzheimer’s forgot he was married to his wife. He proposed, and they wed again: ‘There wasn’t a dry eye.’ (Washington Post)
• The Tokyo Olympics will allow 10,000 domestic fans to cheer athletes, despite warnings from health officials (Forbes)

Politics

• Congress barrels toward debt cliff (The Hill)
• GOP increasingly balks at calling Jan. 6 an insurrection (The Hill)
• Bipartisan infrastructure talks collide with Democrats' goal to tax the rick (New York Times)
• Push for LGBTQ civil rights stalls in Senate as advocates search for GOP support (Washington Post)
• The Republican collapse in Michigan’s Oakland County, once a stronghold, was a long time coming. Is losing these suburbs a warning light for Trumpism? (Politico)

Economy

• The economy isn’t going back to February 2020. Fundamental shifts have occurred and a new era has arrived of greater worker power, higher housing costs and very different ways of doing business (Washington Post)
• Dow falls more than 500 points, capping worst week since October (The Hill)
• Turbocharged US economy attracts foreign investors (Wall Street Journal)
• What investors can learn from the history of inflation (Wall Street Journal)
• Civil rights groups urge lawmakers to crack down on Amazon's 'dangerous' worker surveillance (The Hill)

Education

• As difficult school year ends, school superintendents are opting out (Washington Post)

Elections

• Poll: 64 percent of Iowans say "time for someone else" to hold Grassley's Senate seat (The Hill)
• ‘It was exhaustion, it was sadness, it was fatigue’: America’s mayors call it quits (Politico)
• ‘Tip of the spear’: Texas governor leads revolt against Biden. With a focus on immigration and border security, GOP Gov. Greg Abbott is covering his right flank and carving out a distinct lane in the 2024 presidential sweepstakes. (Politico)

International

• From Nobel hero to driver of war, Ethiopia's leader faces voters. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed plunged Ethiopia into a war in the Tigray region that spawned atrocities and famine. On Monday, his country goes to the polls. (New York Times)

Business Headlines

• Bitcoin tumbles 10% in wake of deepening China crackdown (Reuters)
• Asian stocks drop as Fed shift reverberates; Treasury yields slide (Reuters)
• Stock futures point to rebound in Dow (Wall Street Journal)
• As lumber prices fall, the threat of inflation loses its bite (New York Times)
• Facebook launches podcasts, live audio service (AP)

Policy News

‘Bring it Home,’ a campaign to save lives

The “Bring It Home” initiative provides employers throughout Utah with resources, information, advertisements, and infographics on best practices and the importance of achieving 70% vaccination rate with Utahns 18-years and older (Currently 63% have been vaccinated.) by July 4th in order to achieve community immunity. Ivory Homes is a founding member of “Stay Safe to Stay Open” and “Bring It Home” and will be offering a “pop up” clinic on location to provide free vaccinations. Read More

Sen. Romney joins Utah officials to unveil bill to improve wildfire policy

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) announced the upcoming introduction of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission Act of 2021, legislation to establish a wildfire commission which would conduct a national review of wildfire policy and make recommendations to Congress. Romney was joined by Draper City Mayor Troy Walker and Acting Director of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands Jamie Barnes, who spoke in support of the Senator’s efforts. Senator Romney plans to formally introduce the legislation next week with U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Companion legislation will be introduced in the House by Representative John Curtis (R-UT). Read More

42nd Giant in Our City to honor Katharine and Robert Garff

The Salt Lake Chamber will honor Katharine and the late Robert Garff with the 42nd Giant in Our City award next Thursday. The award honors those who have provided exceptional and distinguished service and achieved extraordinary professional achievement and is widely recognized as the most prestigious business award given in Utah.
The event will recognize the Garffs’ exceptional and distinguished service in the state and will celebrate Robert’s life, accomplishments, and commitment to the community. Read More

Number of the Day

Upcoming

• Ready to Welcome: States Lay the Foundation. World Refugee Day virtual Summit – June 22 @10:00 MDT. Register here
• Fire in the West - Appreciating the Inevitable with USU Research Landscapes – June 22 @11:30 Register here
• Zions Bank Community Speaker Series: LGBTQIA+ panel â€“ June 22 @ noon. Register here
• Utah Democratic Party Organizing Convention  – June 26
• Securing the American Dream: A conversation with Tim Scott presented by the Hatch Foundation – Aug 11 @ noon. Register here
• Utah Foundation Annual Luncheon with Shaylyn Romney Garrett – Sept 23 @ 12 pm. Register here

On This Day In History

From History.com

• 1788 - US Constitution is ratified
• 1964 - Three Civil Rights workers working to register Black voters disappear and are murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi.
• 1990 - A 7.7 earthquake in Iran kills 50,000 and injures another 135,000. 400,000 were left homeless.
• 1997 - The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) plays its first game.
• 2001 - Mexican artist Frida Kahlo becomes the 1st Hispanic woman to be honored on a US postage stamp.

Wise Words

Powel: "Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?”
Franklin: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Powel: “And why not keep it?”

Franklin: “Because the people, on tasting the dish, are always disposed to eat more of it than does them good.”

-Exchange between Mrs. Elizabeth Willing Powel and Benjamin Franklin

Lighter Side

"You can tell what was the best year of your father's life, because they seem to freeze that clothing style and ride it out."

~Jerry Seinfeld

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