Plus, US Dept of Ed send Utah a 'warning' letter about mask bans, the largest living organism on earth and a bomb threat a the US Capitol | | | The Utah Policy newsletter is your one-stop source for political and policy-minded news. Send news tips or feedback to editor@utahpolicy.com. | | |
Situational Analysis | August 20, 2021 Happy Friday! We made it to the weekend and many Utah kids are likely looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow as they adjust their sleep schedule after going back to school. ð´ Be in the Know The U.S. Department of Education is warning Utah it could face a federal investigation for laws blocking school districts from "voluntarily adopting science-based strategies for preventing the spread of COVID-19." Governor Cox responded quickly. "The letter from the U.S. Department of Education is extremely unhelpful. Utah has been praised for safely keeping schools open last year and for making better masks available to students and teachers this year." A Utah woman from Afghanistan remembers living under the brutality of the Taliban in the late 1990s. Even after their family escaped to Pakistan, the Taliban found them and killed her father and uncle in their home. She still remembers the blood on the wall. Now, she is driven to return to Afghanistan to try and make a difference in her home country. Have you heard of the Pando Aspen Grove? It is the largest living organism in the world and has been growing since at least the last Ice Age, 14,000 years ago. It's located right here in Utah and consists of 47,000 aspen trees that are essentially all clones of each other, spreading out over 107 acres. "Pando" is a Latin word for "I spread." Cool. There was a bomb threat at the US capitol yesterday after a man phoned police to say he had parked his explosive-laden pickup in front of the Library of Congress. After hours of negotiations and evacuations of several government buildings in the area, the man surrendered peacefully. There was no bomb, but there were possible bomb-making materials in the truck. | | |
Utah Headlines General Delta residents face another day of flooding; cleanup continues (Fox13) Mighty Five flash floods: How statewide rain closed trails, roads in Utah's national parks (The Spectrum) Utah Supreme Court sides with local journalist investigating ex-public official (KSL, Standard-Examiner) Baptist minister speaks on overcoming prejudice in LDS church magazine (Daily Herald) Facebook announces plan to restore more water than it uses; 2 projects in Utah County benefit (Daily Herald) Cache nonprofit echoes Gov. Cox's support of Afghan refugees (Herald Journal) 'Hopeless and helpless' - Members of Utah's Afghan community worry about loved ones with Taliban control of Afghanistan (KUER) Politics Already concerned the Utah Legislature won't heed independent redistricting recommendations, some Utah House and Senate Democrats on Thursday issued a call to their Republican colleagues with majority control over the process: Be fair. (KSL) Strong opinions remain after Legislature gutted bail reform package; group negotiating more possible changes (Standard-Examiner) âI hope we never mandate the vaccineâ: Local health board fears too much government intervention (St. George News) Park City School District to place $79 million bond on the ballot in November as a portion of $129 million in capital projects (Park Record) Summit County votes to put $50M open space bond on Novemberâs ballot (Park Record) COVID Corner 1280 new cases, 12 new deaths The average age of a Utah COVID death drops 10 years since early July (Deseret News) Will COVID-19 dominate politics yet again in 2022? (Deseret News) One game has already been canceled. How will Utahâs high school football coaches navigate another season in the COVID-19 pandemic? (Salt Lake Tribune) ð³ Self-proclaimed âVaccine Policeâ tells Walmart pharmacists they âcould be executedâ for administering shots (Washington Post) Only 7 ICU beds are available in Mississippi, and 96 patients need them, according to the state Dept. of Health. âWe are clearly at the worst part of the pandemic that weâve seen throughout, and itâs continuing to worsen,â a state health officer said. (NBC News) Local mask mandates allowed for now after Texas Supreme Court rejects Gov. Abbott's request to intervene (CNN) Education Utah student shot with Taser after trying to grab school resource officerâs gun, police say (Salt Lake Tribune) History packets for Utah high schoolers pulled for claiming âmost slaves were generally treated kindlyâ (Salt Lake Tribune) Weber, Morgan counties to debate masking in schools (Standard-Examiner) National Headlines General Western groups desperate to save Afghan workers left behind (AP) Informal U.S. refugee network turns to text messages, GoFundMe to rescue Afghans (Reuters) Taliban are rounding up Afghans on blacklist - private intel report (Reuters) Among the items seized by the Taliban are Black Hawk helicopters and A-29 Super Tucano attack aircraft. (The Hill) Afghanistan: Taliban 'tortured and massacred' Hazara minority in July (BBC) Afghanistan: Taliban carrying out door-to-door manhunt, UN report says (BBC) State folks in Kabul in July warned of Kabulâs collapse. The âdissent cableâ went straight to Blinken, undercutting notion that no one predicted this could happen. (Wall Street Journal) NATO pledges to speed evacuations from Afghanistan as criticism mounts (Reuters) Afghan women are already fading from public view as fear of the Taliban and uncertainty prevail (Wall Street Journal) Politics Trump officials scramble for distance from his Taliban deal (Washington Post) Boebert pushed to loosen drilling rules. She failed to disclose her husbandâs income from energy consulting. Her husband made nearly $1 million from energy consulting in the past two years. (Washington Post) Biden picks first Native American to be the director of the National Park Service (Roll Call) Courts Arizona Senate must release election audit records: court (The Hill) Education The Education Dept. will erase $5.8 billion in outstanding student loans among borrowers who have significant, permanent disabilities. (NPR) Rice University announces switch to online classes for beginning of school year (The Hill) Environment Rain fell for several hours at the highest point on the Greenland ice sheet last week â the first rainfall event in recorded history at a location that rarely creeps above freezing temperatures. (NBC News) Link two Immigration Erdogan says Turkey will not be "Europe's migrant storage unit" amid Afghanistan turmoil (Reuters) International U.S. transport ship and field hospitals heading to Haiti for quake relief
The ship is carrying a fleet surgical team, 200 marines, two helicopters and a landing craft unit. (Politico) | | |
Policy News Romney joins bipartisan effort urging the administration on immediate evacuation of SIV applicants and full implementation of their SIV legislation U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) joined a group of 52 colleagues, led by senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Joni Ernst (R-IA), in sending a bipartisan letter urging the Biden administration to address the quickly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan that threatens the lives of tens of thousands of Afghan partners. In the letter, the senators call for the urgent evacuation of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants and their families, as well as the full and immediate implementation of their legislation to expand the Afghan SIV program and streamline the application process. They urge the administration to enforce strategic agency coordination and hold the Hamid Karzai International Airport to ensure the safety of Afghan partners and their families, in addition to U.S. citizens. The letter marks the latest Congressional response to the Talibanâs takeover and the danger posed to Afghan allies who served alongside the U.S. mission. (Read More) Utah Democratic Party Veteransâ Caucus statement on Afghanistan The Utah Democratic Partyâs Veteransâ Caucus, in conjunction with Party leadership, has released the following statement on the present developments in the nation of Afghanistan:
As we see the horrific news and images coming from Afghanistan, itâs critical to recognize that there are many within our military & veteran communities who are grieving, dealing with a flood of emotions while trying to process the events of the last few days against the last two decades of operations in that country. For many, this pain is only compounded by painful memories of sacrifice and loss within our community. We are pleased to see Governor Cox renewing his commitment to welcome refugees from Afghanistan to Utah, especially those who valiantly helped our troops serving as translators and guides, and those who offered invaluable assistance that saved lives â including many members of the Utah National Guard. It is important that we check in on our veterans and members of the military community who may be struggling â and for those who are hurting right now, please know you are not alone, your sacrifices and efforts do matter, and are not wasted. What you are experiencing is legitimate. The grief is real, but you do not have to deal with it alone. If you are a Veteran or Service Member in crisis, or you are concerned about one, please call the National Veterans Crisis Line 800-273-8255 and select 1. Chat options at veteranscrisisline.net are also available. Rep. Stewartâs statement on the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) released the following statement regarding the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan. âPresident Biden did not just allow this crisis â he constructed it. Now, heâs nowhere to be found. Yesterday, for the first time in nearly a full week, President Biden took questions on an international catastrophe that impacts American citizens and allies alike. In a stunning display of denial, he claimed there were no mistakes made in this demonstration of inept leadership. âWe need strong leadership to fix this mess. That starts with taking responsibility for oneâs mistakes and charting a new path forward. (Read More) | | |
Commentary: Dems might suffer if redistricting is blind to where incumbents live By LaVarr Webb With census data available and both of Utahâs redistricting committees holding meetings and soliciting public input, the controversial task of drawing political boundaries is going to heat up quickly. Democrats are already trying to frame the issue, demanding that the Legislatureâs Redistricting Committee adopt the plan recommended by the independent Redistricting Commission, without regard to where incumbents live. Theyâre also saying that Republicans engaged in partisan gerrymandering in previous decennial redistricting plans. However, if the Legislature adopts legislative boundaries completely blind to where incumbents live, that could hurt Democrats more than Republicans. Thatâs because most of the stateâs high-growth areas, like southwestern Salt Lake County and northern Utah County, are Republican-dominated, while many of the slow-growth areas are represented by Democrats. Thus, when new equal-population districts are created, the Democratic areas are going to lose representation, while Republican areas will gain more representatives and senators. That means in the older slow-growth areas of Salt Lake City and County, two Democratic legislators could easily end up in the same district, or in a district with an incumbent Republican. Democratic lawmakers who donât want to retire or have to battle another incumbent, may end up hoping lawmakers do engage in some incumbent protection. The big fight in drawing congressional boundaries will be whether to create one obvious Democratic district with three strong Republican districts, or whether to create districts that are more proportionally balanced politically (which would favor Republicans). Some Democrats argue that because Democrats routinely win at least 30-40 percent of the statewide vote in Utah, they ought to have at least one of Utahâs four congressional districts. Of course, those drawing the boundaries, both in the legislative committee and the independent commission, wonât discuss this issue in such starkly political terms. Instead, Democrats will argue that Salt Lake City and adjoining highly-urban areas constitute a community of interest and deserve a member of Congress. Republicans will suggest that creating a tiny doughnut-hole district doesnât make sense and Utah will be better represented with four districts that each contain urban and rural parts of the state. Adding to the intrigue, each city, county and community of interest will demand that they remain as intact as possible and not be sliced up. However, those charged with adopting new districts donât enjoy that luxury. Keeping House, Senate, state school board and congressional districts equal in population means lines will have to be drawn at inconvenient locations. Itâs inevitable. Not every community of interest can be kept intact. Itâs all going to come to a head pretty quickly. With new mapping and data technologies, it doesnât take long to draw boundaries. Lawmakers will hold a special session in the fall to adopt new districts, giving candidates sufficient time to get their 2022 campaigns going in their new districts. Ultimately, redistricting is a political process and itâs nearly impossible to take politics out of it. | | |
Upcoming Utah Foundation Breakfast Briefing: Mental health in anxious times â Aug 26 @ 9 am. Register here Zions Bank Community Speaker Series: Building economic inclusion â Aug 31 @ 12 pm. Register here Utah Foundation Annual Luncheon with Shaylyn Romney Garrett â Sept 23 @ 12 pm. Register here | | |
On This Day In History From History.com 1619 - First enslaved Africans arrive in Jamestown 1833 - Benjamin Harrison is born. He became the 23rd US president. 1858 - The Lincoln-Douglas debates begin. 1866 - Nearly a year after the end of hostilities, President Andrew Johnson formally declares the end of the American Civil War. 1911 - The New York Times sends the first telegram around the world. Using a commercial service, they aimed to determine the speed of a message sent around the world by telegraph. The message was relayed by 16 different operators over 28,000 miles and was received 16.5 minutes later. What did it say? âThis message sent around the world.â 1940 - British PM Winston Churchill says of Royal Air Force, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.â 1964 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Economic Opportunity Act, an anti-poverty measure totaling nearly $1 billion. 2018 - Pope Francis releases letter to all Catholics condemning sexual abuse atrocities and clerical cover-ups "We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them" Wise Words âYou are what you do, not what you say you'll do.â -C.J. Jung Lighter Side "The big story everybodyâs talking about right now: the chaos surrounding the recent poorly handled regime change â over at âJeopardy!'" â STEPHEN COLBERT | | |
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