Good morning, Utah Today readers! Here’s today’s forecast:
🌦️ 17 – 32° in Logan | ❄️ 30% chance
⛅ 26 – 41° in Salt Lake City | ❄️ 20% chance
☀️ 31 – 58° in St. George
Growing up, certain members of my family (and sometimes myself) would watch the State of the Union address as though it were a long-awaited sports event. That being said, if you didn’t watch it, we have you covered:
How Utah lawmakers are trying to fight fraudulent ticket sales 🐝
According to the executive director of Utah Culture Alliance Crystal Young, the arts are “in the business of living, and we are core to Utah DNA.” The state’s cultural industry, however, has had pervasive issues with fraudulent ticketing. Ticket buyers are often faced with navigating a confusing system with secondary ticket markets inflating prices, overselling tickets or selling tickets before they are even purchased by the secondary vendor.
Sen. Scott Sandall is running a bill that will force secondary ticketing companies to tell consumers whether or not the ticket has been acquired before they purchase through the secondary vendor’s platform.
“We don’t have a problem with the fact that the secondary ticketing market exists,” Young told the Deseret News. “The problem is when some of the bad actors in that marketplace come in, buy up inventory, and usually do it with fake identities.”
On Jan. 28, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed SB16 into law, which bans transgender surgeries for Utah minors as well as places an indefinite moratorium on new hormonal treatments.
What do Utahns think about the issue?
54% of registered Utah voters approve of the bill.
41% said they disapprove of the bill.
What’s being said:
Gov. Cox said that although it’s “not a perfect bill,” it brings a “nuanced and thoughtful approach to this terribly divisive issue.”
Opinion: Will Utah decide to keep ranked-choice voting? (Deseret News) 🐝
Gov. Cox enacts base budget appropriations for eight state activities (Cache Valley Daily) 🐝
After World Cup trips, elected officials could have to disclose foreign travel (FOX13) 🐝
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Technology:
Utah social media bill with parental consent requirement advances despite privacy concerns (Deseret News) 🐝
Opinion: Tech legislation presents opportunity for Republican unity (Deseret News)
Google playing catchup with clever ChatGPT, releases its ‘Bard’ chat bot (Deseret News)
Culture:
Creating community: Utah group honors oaxaqueño culture (KSL)
Business:
AMC theaters will charge according to which seats you choose. Here’s how it works (Deseret News)
Police and Courts:
Utah advocate who raised money for fake cancer diagnoses admits to fraud (KSL)
Family:
‘Mommy brain’ probably doesn’t exist — and definitely needs a name change, experts say (Deseret News)
Environment:
After last week’s bad inversion, here are Utah lawmakers’ air quality proposals (KUER) 🐝
Utah Senate passes bill offering more money to get rid of lawns (FOX13) 🐝
Faith:
This year’s Super Bowl features two quarterbacks who talk openly about faith (Deseret News)
Why I love hearing comedians joke about faith (Deseret News)
Perspective: A basketball team in Alabama forfeited a game because it was on the Sabbath. Then the governor stepped in (Deseret News)
Wasatch Front:
Students opposing canyon gondola urge classmates to ‘hear all sides,’ then ‘take action’ (Deseret News)
Boy critically injured after falling off a slide at school in Tooele County (KSL)
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