J. Dawgs giving away hotdogs today; controversial telecom tower planned in Bears Ears; potentially dangerous conditions hiking to Mt Timp
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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.

 

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Situational Analysis | June 25, 2024

It's Tuesday and it's Primary Election Day! 🎉

Don't mail your ballot - you need to take it to a ballot dropbox or polling location today.

What you need to know

  • Last minute polling by Noble Predictive Insights shows John Curtis ahead by 20 points and Spencer Cox ahead by 13 points in their respective races. Both of their leading opponents do better among men and in the southern and rural parts of the state.

Rapid relevance

 

Speak Up for the San Rafael Swell

The San Rafael Swell is a treasured place to seek peace and quiet. But the Bureau of Land Management is under extraordinary pressure to expand damaging off-road vehicle use across on these remarkable public lands. Visit SUWA.org to speak up for the Swell.

 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • Utah Sen. Mitt Romney joins other Republicans in criticizing Biden’s border policies (Deseret News

Election news

  • Ahead of the primary, Utah election workers still see simmering tensions (KUER)
  • Get caught up on Utah’s 2nd and 3rd Congressional district races (Deseret News)
  • Everything you need to know about Utah’s Senate race (Deseret News)
  • County clerks hope for last-minute turnout for Utah primary elections (KSL)
  • KSL Investigation examines more than a decade of alleged election crime in Utah (KSL TV)
  • Utah primary election: Nearly 25% of all mail-in ballots have been processed (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • A guide to voting in Utah’s June 25 primary election (ABC4)

Utah news

  • Editorial Board: Don’t miss this opportunity: Utah needs the SLC sports, entertainment, culture and convention district (Deseret News
  • 20 hikers rescued in Moab-area canyon after storm drops month’s worth of water in minutes (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Unified Police Department, Salt Lake Co. Sheriff Office split following recent legislation (KUTV)
  • Nonprofit helps Utahns achieve financial goals through strong community (Fox13)

Olympic news

  • U.S. Olympic track and field trials: Former Utah State star Chari Hawkins qualifies for Olympics; Whittni Morgan comes up short (Deseret News
  • From the outhouse: 400-meter runner goes from locked in a porta-potty straight to the Olympics (AP)

Business

  • Atlanta announces $2M bid to take Sundance Film Festival from Utah (KUTV)
  • Utah isn't making progress on workplace sexual harassment, research finds (UPR)

Crime/Courts

  •  Attorney petitions Utah Supreme Court to halt upcoming execution (KUTV)

Culture

  • You mocked us for our baby names, but who’s laughing now? (Deseret News)

Education

  • The University of Utah is trying to “close the skills gap” by offering continuing education courses for busy professionals. (KSL Newsradio)

Environment

  • Salt Lake's 'largest renewable energy initiative' is now operational after several snags (KSL)
  • Utah’s 2024 fire season is fully loaded and forecasting danger. Here’s why (KSL TV)

Health

  • Heat kills — and you’re a lot more vulnerable than you think (Deseret News
  • Preeclampsia can be fatal for pregnant people and babies. New blood tests aim to show who’s at risk (AP)
  • U.S. surgeon general declares firearm violence a public health crisis (Washington Post)

Housing

  • Solutions to Utah affordable housing market crisis? New report lists ideas, some controversial, including a vacancy tax (Daily Herald)
 

National Headlines

General

  • Tragic shark attack results in the death of beloved surfer and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor Tamayo Perry (Deseret News)
  • WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange strikes plea deal with the U.S. (NPR)

Political news

  • Perspective: ‘Normies’ can be democracy’s renewing force (Deseret News)
  • The biggest questions the Supreme Court will answer this week (Deseret News)
  • U.S. Supreme Court will take up controversial Utah railway case (Deseret News)
  • Trump seeks to exclude evidence seized from Florida home in documents case (Reuters)Trump added twice as much to the national debt as Biden: Analysis (The Hill)
  • As Menendez changed approach to Egypt, staff found actions ‘unusual’ and ‘weird’ (Politico)

Election news

  • The fate of the Senate lies in the West (Deseret News)
  • Trump campaign fundraising email says he was ‘tortured’ in jail (The Hill)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • Russia keeps up the front-line pressure before Ukraine receives a boost from Western military aid (AP)

Israel and Gaza

  • Israel's Supreme Court rules the military must draft ultra-orthodox Jews (New York Times)

World news

  • Behind closed doors, US reporter Gershkovich to go on trial in Russia on Wednesday (Reuters)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, June 25, 2024

 

News Releases

Romney pushes back on Biden administration’s disastrous border policies

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC)’s Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight, joined his colleagues in sending three letters pushing back on the Biden Administration’s disastrous border policies. (Read More)


UVU Center for Constitutional Studies launches Master’s program in Constitutional Government, Civics & Law

The Utah Valley University (UVU) Center for Constitutional Studies (CCS) announced today the launch of a master’s program in constitutional government, civics & law (MACGCL). Dr. Troy E. Smith, professor of political science at Brigham Young University–Hawaii and an expert on federalism, has been named program director.

Students in the new master of arts program will spend time at Oxford University’s Pembroke College, which partners with the Center for Constitutional Studies on the Quill Project, a groundbreaking, undergraduate‐led digital modeling of constitutional conventions. (Read More)


State Auditor releases Grand County report on spending of tourism-restricted revenues

The Office of the State Auditor (Office) runs a hotline where it receives complaints about the improper use of public funds. The Office received multiple complaints alleging Grand County (County) misused tourism-restricted funds. Today, the Office released its audit report which contained five findings detailing misuse and misreporting of restricted tourism-related tax revenues. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day

Screenshot 2024-06-25 at 7.12.42 AM

 

Upcoming

  • June 25 — Primary Election Day
  • August 14 â€” Hatch Foundation "Titan of Public Service" recognizing Sen. John Thune, Grand America
  • August 20-21 — Interim Days
  • September 17-18 — Interim Days
  • October 15-16 — Interim Day
  • November 19-20 — Interim Days
 

On This Day In History 

  • 1678 - Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is awarded a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Padua, becoming the 1st woman to receive a university doctoral degree or PhD.
  • 1876 - Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer’s Last Stand
  • 1903 - Marie Curie defends her doctoral thesis on radioactive substances at Université de la Sorbonne in Paris, becoming the first woman in France to receive a doctoral degree.
  • 1950 - Start of the Korean War
  • 1950 - “Miracle on Green,” one of the greatest soccer upsets of all time, occurs when a mostly amateur team from the US defeats the professional English team at the World Cup.
  • 1954 - Sonia Maria Sotomayor, a US Supreme Court Justice, is born. She has the distinction of being the third female Justice and first justice of Hispanic descent.
  • 1976 - Missouri governor officially rescinds Mormon extermination order
  • 1996 - Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 US airmen and wounds nearly 500 others.
  • 2009 - Michael Jackson dies at age 50.
  • 2020 - The Dixie Chicks change their name to “The Chicks” to remove connotations of Confederate history.

    Quote of the Day

    "Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting."
    —Franklin D. Roosevelt


    On the Punny Side

    How does the ocean floor stay well-informed on the news? 

    By following current events

     

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