Situational Analysis | April 27, 2022

A good Wednesday morning to you. It's National Tell a Story Day. Dr. Walter Fisher said that we are not homo sapiens, but rather homo narrans - storytelling people. We are wired for story.

Be in the Know

1. Russia agreed "in principle" to evacuations from the Mariupol steel plant - and then spent Wednesday pummeling it. Meanwhile, there is a makeshift hospital in the basement of the plant and children holed up there for two months say they want to see the sun. 

2. Today is Denim Day, a day to wear denim in support of sexual violence survivors. For the past 23 years, Denim Day has brought awareness to the "blame the victim" mentality of rape and sexual assault must be the victim's fault because of what they were wearing. In Utah, more than 200,000 women have been raped and nearly 50% of Utah's women have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. One in six men have also experienced sexual abuse or assault. It is time to end this epidemic. 

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Utah Headlines

General

• Why boosting IRS funding would be good for your family (Deseret News)
• Citing ‘carnage’ of opioid addiction, Salt Lake County unveils partial settlement in its yearslong lawsuit against drugmakers. More than a quarter-billion dollars will come to Utah from an agreement reached in February. Salt Lake County’s share: $57 million. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Despite federal infrastructure funds, many Navajo families waiting for utilities are in the dark (Salt Lake Tribune)

Politics

• Sen. Mike Lee remembers Orrin Hatch as a ‘pioneer, through and through’ (Deseret News)
• Elizabeth Smart recalls Orrin Hatch's 'tireless' work on sex offender registry bill (KUTV)
• Robert Gehrke: Time to ditch the Utah political convention circus (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Jeff Flake wanted to take a stand for democracy. He got exactly what he bargained for (Deseret News)

Education

• Civics education teaches Utah students it's OK to 'respectfully disagree' (KSL)
• Davis School District taking steps to focus on racial equity (Fox13)
• Utah pre-K programs need work according to national education survey (Fox13)
• The loudest voices in the room. What happens when schools are no longer the central business of school boards? (The Atlantic)

Environment

• Is it too early to be watering your lawn? (Deseret News)
• Why it matters that the Great Salt Lake will likely drop to a new historic low this year (KSL)
• How Utah's drought conditions will influence fish stocking at state reservoirs (KSL)

Housing

• Ogden and SLC rank in top ten of over-valued housing markets (Fox13)
• Home prices up 20% in February, but may slow down, a national home price index says (KSL)

Utah/Ukraine Connection

• The unlikely tool that could help ease the burden of refugees in Europe (Deseret News)

National Headlines

General

• US stock futures edge up after tech-led selloff (Wall Street Journal)
• Former Marine Trevor Reed freed in prisoner swap with U.S., Russia says (Washington Post)
• Biden, Clintons to eulogize Albright, the first female secretary of state at her funeral today (Washington Post)

Politics

• Donald Trump says he won’t rejoin Twitter, even if he’s allowed back. “It became boring because there was no interaction,” Trump said. (Deseret News)
• Oklahoma governor signs ban on nonbinary birth certificates (AP)
• U.S. Vice President Harris tests positive for COVID-19 (Reuters)
• Ohio Senate race pits Trump and son against Club for Growth candidate (New York Times)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• Three in four Americans back arms shipments to Ukraine (Reuters)
• US urges more arms for Ukraine amid fears of expanding war (Washington Post)
• In Ukrainian villages, fears grow for men taken to Russia (Wall Street Journal)
• Russia suffers another fire at a supply depot as its Ukraine offensive pushes west (Wall Street Journal)
• Russia cuts off 2 EU nations, Poland and Bulgaria, from its gas in war escalation (AP)
• Chinese drone-maker DJI suspends operations in Russia, Ukraine over war use (Washington Post)

News Releases

Sen. Lee memorializes Senator Orrin Hatch

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) memorialized Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT), his former colleague and friend, today on the floor of the U.S. Senate. 

"Orrin G. Hatch will be remembered for many things.  His forty-two years of service in this body are marked by successes, historic legislation, and statesmanship.  He served longer as a U.S. Senator than any other in the history of the State of Utah or the Republican Party.  At his retirement, he had passed more bills into law than any other legislator alive, an astounding seven-hundred-and-fifty.  While the record of his service is remarkable and memorable, I invite the Senate and the nation to remember Senator Orrin Hatch by the things that he remembered, every day, here in the Senate and in his private life." (Read/Watch More)

Romney: Iran is hell-bent on having a nuclear weapon

During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing today reviewing the State Department’s budget, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) pressed Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Russia’s war in Ukraine, the rising threat of China, and the state of Iran nuclear deal negotiations. (Read/Watch More)

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Breakfast Briefing with Utah Foundation, May 17, 8:30-10:00 am
• Ballots are mailed â€“ June 7
• Primary election day â€“ June 28
• General election â€“ Nov 8

On This Day In History

• 1759 - Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin is born. She was an English writer and feminist who wrote “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”
• 1822 - Ulysses S. Grant is born (18th US president)
• 1861 - President Abraham Lincoln suspends writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War
• 1882 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist & philosopher dies of pneumonia at 78
• 1903 - Maggie L. Walker was named president of Richmond's St. Luke Bank and Trust Company, becoming the first African American woman to head a bank.
• 1906 - Alice Dunnigan is born. She became the first African-American journalist accredited to cover Congress and the White House, the Supreme Court, and State Department. She documented Klan actions when no “white” newspaper covered them, and was the first journalist of color to travel with President Truman on his train.
• 1927 - Coretta Scott (King) is born. 
• 1994 - South Africa holds its first multiracial elections.
• 2015 - Loretta Lynch is sworn in as the 83rd US Attorney General and the first Black woman to hold that position.

Wise Words

"The universe is made up of stories, not of atoms." 

— Muriel Rukeyser

Lighter Side

“Yep, Musk says he’s going to bring back free speech to Twitter. It’s a big deal, because if it’s true, it means we’ll finally be able to talk about Bruno.” 

— JIMMY FALLON

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