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The Utah Policy newsletter is your one-stop source for political and policy-minded news. We scour the news so you don't have to! Send news tips or feedback to Holly Richardson at editor@utahpolicy.com.

 

Situational Analysis | June 12, 2025

It's Thursday and Red Rose Day 🌹

What you need to know

  • Gov. Cox, writing in the Deseret News, says America can't afford to hesitate on nuclear energy and that advanced nuclear energy is the key to energy reliability, affordability and security. After leading the way in nuclear energy in the 1950s, America hesitate and then forgot how to build. Public support is growing, though. A recent poll found that nearly 80% of first-time and Gen Z voters support next-generation nuclear technologies as a complement to renewables. Utah is ready to lead a nuclear renaissance, he writes.

Rapid Relevance

 

Beyond Fun and Games

Nearly half of Boomers and 36% of the Silent Generation play video games weekly — for mental sharpness, stress relief, and fun. Learn more and game on.

 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • Advocates optimistic that Congress could renew downwinder compensation in budget bill (KSL)
  • Mike Lee reinstates language to sell Utah public land in Trump tax bill (Deseret News)
  • Opinion: Budget bill’s Medicaid cuts hurt all Utahns (Deseret News)
  • How Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ could wreck Utah’s groundbreaking AI laws (Deseret News)
  • Tiffany Clason, the head of Utah’s liquor agency, is leaving state government (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Sen. Mike Lee files formal legislation calling for the investigation of a prominent Trump critic (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • The Case for Utah as the Next Battleground State (RadioWest)

Municipal news

  • Salt Lake City finalizes $2.2B budget with no new tax raises — for now (KSL)
  • Utah County considers swapping land with Forest Service for base of Bridal Veil Falls (KUTV)
  • Major roadway to temporarily shut down in Saratoga Springs, leaving residents unhappy (KSL TV)
  • Salt Lake City Council member responds to governor’s comments about ‘dumb’ flags (KSL TV)
  • Salt Lake City prepares for 'No Kings Day' protests (KUTV)

Utah

  • A helping hand: Show Up for Summer Service Fair in Lehi encourages people to engage in volunteering (Daily Herald)
  • Salt Lake City leaders, Black community mark Juneteenth, raise controversial new city flag (Deseret News)
  • Sudden closure of 3 Utah daycare centers leaves families in crisis (KSL TV)
  • Hear that big BOOM? It could be the Tooele Army Depot detonating aging munitions (Deseret News)
  • Sen. Curtis staffer among those trapped on Colorado River during official trip (Fox13)

Biz/Tech

  • Elon Musk backtracks on Trump criticism. How will the tech world react? (Deseret News)

Crime/Courts

  • Iron County woman sentenced to prison for manslaughter in boyfriend's shooting death (KSL)
  • Teen gunman in 2022 triple-homicide investigation moved to adult court (KSL)
  • San Juan County Sheriff’s sergeant let driver go minutes before alleged DUI crash (KSL TV)
  • Parents of teen who died in care of Cedar City treatment center sue facility (KUTV)

Culture/Community

  • Utahn was the girl who had 'fun, fun, fun' behind massive Beach Boys hit (Fox13)

Economy

  • What can the US economy learn from Utah County? Here’s what Marketplace found (KUER)

Education 

  • Utah State University researchers develop next generation of moon lander rocket motor (KSL TV)
  • The next step in the Alpine School District split is to elect 21 new board members from the 77 candidates who filed (KUER)
  • Clearfield Job Corps Center, students face uncertain future amid federal cuts (Standard-Examiner)

Energy

  • Idaho-based energy company to bring 'transformative' nuclear reactor to Utah (KSL)

Environment

  • Canadian wildfires have burned almost 8 million acres (Deseret News)

Faith

  • President Elaine L. Jack, Relief Society general president from 1990-97, dies at age 97 (Deseret News)

Health

  • ‘Tummy time’ for adults? It might help manage ‘tech neck’ pain (Deseret News)
  • Harmful algae blooms pop up in Utah Lake, Zion National Park – what to know (ABC4)

Housing

  • West Valley City updates affordable housing plan to address growing needs (Fox13)
 

National Headlines

General

  • Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano erupts with lava reaching over 330 feet (AP)
  • US consumer prices rise moderately in May (KSL)
  • Troops in LA can detain individuals, military official says, as protests spread across US (Reuters)
  • Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty of Sexual Assault in Second New York Trial (Wall Street Journal)
  • Brian Wilson, Beach Boys visionary leader and summer’s poet laureate, dies at 82 (AP)

Political news - Trump

  • Washington airport will halt flights at 6 p.m. Saturday night during Trump Army parade (Reuters)
  • Rand Paul says White House disinvited his family from picnic as punishment (Washington Post)

Other political news

  • Republicans reject ranked choice voting nationwide. Why? (Deseret News)
  • Advocates optimistic that Congress could renew downwinder compensation in budget bill (Deseret News)
  • Kennedy’s new CDC panel includes members who have criticized vaccines and spread misinformation (AP)
  • More than 400 CDC staff may be called back to work after being laid off in April (NPR)
  • David Hogg to depart as DNC vice chair after months of turmoil (Washington Post)

Immigration/deportation

  • Immigration enforcement ramps up, tensions persist in big cities (NPR)
  • Despite ongoing Taliban threats, the U.S. is ending some protections for Afghans (NPR)
  • ICE sets quotas to deliver on immigration crackdown on employers (Washington Post)

Trade/Tariffs

Ukraine/Russia

  • Serbia’s Moscow-friendly president visits Ukraine but refuses to sign ‘anti-Russian’ declaration (AP News)
  • Russia hits Ukraine's Kharkiv with deadly nighttime barrage of drones (Reuters)

Middle East

  • US preparing to partially evacuate Iraq embassy over regional security risks, sources say (Reuters)
  • More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza health officials say (AP News)

World news

  • 'Many killed' as Air India plane with 242 on board crashes near India's Ahmedabad airport (Reuters)
  • Exclusive: China-backed militia secures control of new rare earth mines in Myanmar (Reuters)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, June 12, 2025 (1200 x 1000 px)

 

News Releases

AG Derek Brown joins lawsuit to object to 23andMe’s proposed sale of consumers’ private data 

Utah Attorney General Derek Brown and a bipartisan coalition of 27 other attorneys general filed a lawsuit against 23andMe to prevent the company from selling Utahns’ private genetic information to another company without their express consent. 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March of this year. During the current bankruptcy proceedings, the company is attempting to sell millions of Americans’ highly personal genetic and health material. The attorneys general argue this kind of information, including biological samples and DNA data, should not be sold without the person’s express consent. (Read More)


Moore questions Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at House Ways and Means committee hearing

Congressman Blake Moore questioned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. His line of questioning included how the federal government can better address IRS inefficiencies, inaccurate reporting regarding the One Big, Beautiful Bill’s deficit neutrality, and economic growth expectations. (Watch More)


Weber State sustainability efforts get boost with $2.4 million grant

Weber State University’s Sustainability Practices and Research Center has received a $2.4 million sub-award through Utah’s Beehive Emission Reduction Plan. Part of a $74 million federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, the funding will help expand SPARC’s local and statewide efforts to assist residents and the community at large in reducing energy costs and carbon emissions. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day

 

Upcoming

  • June 17-19 â€” Interim Days
  • Aug 7 â€”  Titan of Public Service gala with Sen. Tom Cotton hosted by the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation at the Grand America Hotel. More Information Here
  • Aug 12 â€” Municipal primary
  • Aug 19-21 â€” Interim Days
  • Nov 4 â€” General election
 

On This Day In History

  • 1924 - George H.W. Bush is born
  • 1929 - Anne Frank born
  • 1931 - Al Capone is indicted on 5,000 counts of prohibition and perjury. That’s a lot of counts.
  • 1942 - Anne Frank receives a diary for her birthday.
  • 1963 - Civil rights leader Medgar Evers gunned down in his driveway by a white supremacist. During WWII, Evers was in the US Army and participated in the Normandy invasion.
  • 1967 - The US Supreme Court rules unanimously in the Loving v. Virginia case that laws banning interracial marriage are unconstitutional. 
  • 1987 - Ronald Reagan delivers the famous line: “Mr. Gorbachev - tear down this wall!”
  • 1994 - Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murdered
  • 2016 - Terrorist attack on Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida
  • 2018 - Singapore Summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump - it’s the first time a North Korean leader and an incumbent US President have ever met

Quote of the Day

"Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness."

–Anne Frank


On the Punny Side

I sold my vacuum the other day.

All it was doing was collecting dust.

 

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