Utah Headlines

Political news

• Jay Evensen: How this one change might affect politics at the Utah Legislature (Deseret News)
• The Consul General of Israel has a message for Utahns and the nation (Deseret News)

Election news

• Former GOP chairman running for Utah attorney general (Deseret News)
• Chilean expatriates will be able to vote on proposed new constitution in Sandy (KSL)

Holiday corner

• Gift ideas for the tech lovers in your life (Deseret News)
• Your 2023 guide to seeing Christmas lights in Utah (KSL)

Utah news

• From Legos to baseball stadiums: Meet the ‘builder’ at Larry H. Miller Co. (Deseret News)
• UDOT wants to build a $945M light rail system for Point of the Mountain transit project (KSL)
• Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings unveils new plans to keep Powder Mountain 'uncrowded' (KSL)
• 'Project Menorah' unites people of all faiths to support Jewish community (KSL TV)
• Why tax repeal in 3 cities won’t change plans to expand FrontRunner into Box Elder County (KSL Newsradio)

Business/Technology

• Hasbro plans to cut 1,100 employees amid low sales (Deseret News)
• Cheaper gas helps drive inflation down again, Fed likely to hold the line this week (Deseret News)

Crime/Courts

• Midvale woman accused of racist comments goes viral; police working on plan (KSL)
• Deputies seize 120 pounds of drugs in Utah traffic stop (KSL)
• Utah celebrates 26% reduction in opioid prescriptions with Ogden display, but there is more to do (KSL)

Environment

• Saving the Colorado River: An acre-foot at a time in the Upper Basin (Deseret News)

Family

• How to end the scourge of helicopter parenting for good (Deseret News)
• Opinions about marriage are becoming more partisan, new survey shows (Deseret News)
• How proposed au pair program changes could price U.S. families out (Deseret News)

Health

• Why women get more headaches than men (Deseret News)

Housing

• Landlords are offering more incentives to Salt Lake City renters. Here’s how to take advantage of them (Salt Lake Tribune)

National Headlines

General

• The skull of a giant prehistoric sea monster was found in the U.K. (Deseret News)
• ‘The Discord Leaks’ investigates Air National Guardsman who allegedly leaked classified documents (Deseret News)
• Rise in traffic deaths comes as U.S. drivers face more distractions than ever (KSL Newsradio)
• Google’s Year in Search for 2023 is published. Here’s what you searched in the past 12 months (Deseret News)

Political news

• Who is Donald Tusk, Poland’s new prime minister? (Deseret News)
• White House scrambles in last-ditch effort to salvage border talks (Politico)
• Senate Democrats press Thomas to recuse himself from Trump immunity case (The Hill)

Election news

• 3 major takeaways from our national poll of Republican voters (Deseret News)
• Sununu’s Haley endorsement is a huge blow to Chris Christie (Politico)
• DeSantis accuses Trump of ‘cowardice’ for refusing to debate rivals (New York TImes)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

• Will Zelenskyy leave Washington empty-handed? (Deseret News)
• Biden says Russia is celebrating U.S. divisions over providing aid to Ukraine (New York Times)

Israel and Gaza

• What is white phosphorous, and why is it illegal in civilian areas? (Deseret News)
• Biden says ‘indiscriminate bombing’ in Gaza is costing Israel support (Washington Post)
• U.N. General Assembly votes for Israel-Hamas cease-fire, countering U.S. veto (New York Times)

Number of the Day 

News Releases

UVU digital cinema professor teaches filmmaking in Indonesia

Alex Nibley, assistant professor of digital cinema at Utah Valley University, spent three weeks in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on a Fulbright grant. He worked with Indonesian universities to develop strategic plans for improving filmmaking curriculum and teaching methods. The workshops were sponsored by the Indonesian Film Board and the Fulbright Specialists Program of the United States Department of State. (Read More)

Newly-elected local leaders in Utah enhance municipal governance skills at Elected Officials Essentials course

Over 70 local leaders-elect from across Utah gathered for the Utah League of Cities and Towns (ULCT) Elected Officials Essentials Newly Elected Crash Course training in North Salt Lake on Saturday December 9^th. Over 130 more will meet online to receive this training on December 16^th. This crash course provides an invaluable opportunity for newly elected community leaders to interface with their more seasoned counterparts and delve into the fundamental aspects of municipal government. (Read More)

Romney provisions unanimously approved by HELP Committee

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today offered two amendments aimed at better understanding the impact of smartphones in the classroom to the Advancing Research in Education Act (AREA) during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee mark-up. Both amendments were unanimously approved by the Committee and were added to AREA, which subsequently passed out of HELP by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 20-1. Romney’s amendments coincide with efforts by Utah Governor Spencer Cox to reduce the harmful effects of social media on children and prevent cellphone use by students in the classroom for non-educational purposes. (Read More)

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• Jan. 2 — Candidate filing period opens
• Jan. 16 — Legislative session begins
• March 1 — Legislative session ends 

On This Day In History 

• 1636 - The National Guard is established as the first organized militia in the “New World.” 
• 1818 - Mary Todd Lincoln is born. 
• 1903 - Ella Baker is born. An organizer, she tried to develop local leaders for civil rights campaigns but found male leaders in the NAACP quite unwilling to delegate power.
• 1916 - Soldiers perish in avalanches in the Italian Alps, an estimated 10,000 over several days beginning Dec. 13.
• 1920 - George P. Shultz is born. An American economist and businessman, he also became the 60th Secretary of State.
• 1964 - In El Paso, Texas, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz set off an explosion diverting Rio Grande, to reshape U.S.-Mexico border.
• 1988 - Yasser Arafat addresses the U.N. in Geneva.
• 1990 - South African President F.W. de Klerk meets with Nelson Mandela to talk of end of apartheid.
• 1993 - Susan A. Maxman becomes the first woman president of the American Institute of Architects in its 135-year history.
• 2000 - Al Gore concedes the presidential election to George W. Bush.
• 2003 - Saddam Hussein captured in a hole in the ground close to his hometown of Tikrit.
• 2017 - Salma Hayek accuses Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and threatening to kill her.

Quote of the Day

"While we yet hold and do not yield our opposing beliefs, there is a higher duty than the one we owe to political party. This is America and we put country before party; we will stand together behind our new president."

—Al Gore in his concession speech Dec. 13, 2000.

On the Punny Side

What song did the elf’s teammates sing as he rounded third base in the annual holiday baseball game?

"Please Come Home for Christmas."

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