The Hinckley Report, PBS Utah’s weekly political roundtable, airs Fridays at 7PM. Hosted by Jason Perry and produced in partnership with the Hinckley Institute of Politics on the University of Utah campus, the program provides insight and analysis of the most pressing political issues facing our state.

Utah Headlines

General

• Gravel giant Geneva Rock faces legal battle with Draper over its Point of the Mountain expansion (Deseret News)
• Utah Inland Port Authority pauses 'all major capital projects,' as new report outlines flaws (KSL)
• Moab businesses file lawsuit against city, county for violating Utah law regarding ATVs (KUTV)

Politics

• Women have always been trailblazers in the West. Why are some states falling behind? (Deseret News)
• Natalie Gochnour: Saving the Great Salt Lake and strengthening startups — do answers lie in the Middle East? (Deseret News)
• Mike Pence endorses Mike Lee in heated Utah Senate race (Deseret News)
• Blake Moore: Republicans need to regain the House and the Senate — so I’m endorsing Mike Lee (Deseret News)
• The Salt Lake County Democratic Party is calling for the “immediate and unconditional resignation” of state Sen. Gene Davis following an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against the longtime lawmaker. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Sen. Gene Davis responds to call from Salt Lake County Dems to resign following investigation (KSL)
• Utah’s liquor board leaves 11 businesses empty-handed. DABS commission had one bar license to issue at September meeting, and opted not to give it out. (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Utah state Senator Mike McKell among those proposing rules for 'gooning,' or the forcible taking of troubled kids to care (KSL)
• Using phones while driving would be banned in Utah under renewed proposal (KUTV)
• Evan McMullin plans to fix ‘broken politics’ if he becomes a senator. Could the Utahn really change Washington? (Salt Lake Tribune)

Business

• 'We're right at that spot where it's about to take off': Are EVs reaching a turning point? (KSL)

Education

• Photo of the day: Earning an ‘A’ in agriculture (Deseret News)
• STEM Fest sparks curiosity and learning in Utah students (KSL)
• How helpful is Utah’s SHARP survey? Parents have just days to give input (KSL TV)
• Alpine School District approves new committee review process for "questionable" books (KUTV)

Environment

• How worried are Utahns about the Great Salt Lake? (Deseret News)
• Rep. Keven Stratton: This Utah climate action is a win for all sides. If Utah lawmakers can agree on climate action, why can’t the nation do the same? (Deseret News)
• Can Republicans talk environment and win elections? Utah Rep. John Curtis says conservatives can find solutions to climate change. “You don’t have to check your conservative principles to care about the environment and to have ideas about the environment,” he says (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Nodding to the past, looking to the future. Utah's Kennecott again mining copper underground (KSL)
• Singing sewer technology saves water for Utah (KSL TV)
• Utah wildlife officials say visitors are disrupting kokanee salmon during spawn (Fox13)
• Utah says overfishing to blame for this year’s fall surge in illegal wildlife killings (KUER)
• BLM rescinds approval of 5,750-well Monument Butte oil and gas project (Salt Lake Tribune)

Health

• Republican counties have higher death rates — except in Utah. Why? (Deseret News)
• Opioid crisis cost U.S. nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020 -Congressional report (Reuters)

Housing

•  U.S. mortgage interest rates jump to 6.52%, highest since mid-2008 (Reuters)

National Headlines

General

• Confused about the Brett Favre welfare scandal? Here’s what you need to know. The state of Mississippi filed a civil lawsuit against Brett Favre and others earlier this year for welfare fraud (Deseret News)
• NASA has been on a roll but is aiming for even bigger wins (Deseret News)
• Women are returning to (paid) work after the pandemic forced many to leave their jobs (NPR)
• Florida's population has skyrocketed. That could make Hurricane Ian more destructive (NPR)
• 200M pounds of toxic chemicals dumped into US waterways in 2020: analysis (The Hill)

Politics

• How much will it cost to cancel student loan debt? (Deseret News)
• Filibuster, explained (Deseret News)
• McConnell, GOP give political payback to Manchin (The Hill) 
• Why Manchin backed off on his top priority (Politico)
• Congress is preparing to rewrite the 135-year-old presidential election certification law, and most American voters think that’s a good idea. (Politico)
• ‘Afraid of losing their power’: Judge decries GOP leaders who back Trump election claims (Politico)

Ukraine 🇺🇦 

• Russia prepares to "annex" occupied Ukraine despite outcry (AP)
• Over 194,000 Russians flee call-up to neighboring countries (AP)
• Russia’s Mobilization, Plunging Oil Prices Weaken Putin’s Economic Hand (Wall Street Journal)
• Some Russian men trying to flee to other countries are being met with draft notices at the border. (New York Times)

World News

• Seismologists suspect explosions damaged undersea pipelines that carry Russian gas (NPR)
• EU vows to protect energy systems after 'sabotage' on Russian gas pipelines (Reuters)
• Bank of England Steps In to Stabilize Bond Market (Wall Street Journal)
• Iran’s anti-veil protests draw on long history of resistance (AP)

Guest Opinion: EPA targeting Sandy medical facility over bogus environmental concerns

by Jared Whitley

Have you ever noticed if you wait long enough whatever was once good for you eventually becomes bad? 

That’s what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing with a chemical called ethylene oxide (EtO), a colorless gas used in antifreeze, plastics, and a variety of other compounds. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA restricted the use of EtO, and in July of this year, the agency targeted 23 facilities nationwide – including one here in Sandy, BD Medical – on the basis that EtO causes an elevated risk of cancer for those living near said facilities. 

However, the EPA isn’t talking about the dangers of not using EtO. Hospitals, emergency rooms, clinics, and medical facilities across the globe rely on EtO to minimize risk of infection for patients who need c-sections, biopsies, catheters, or an IV. To be precise, over 20 billion medical devices are sterilized using EtO annually and, for many of those, EtO is the only way to sterilize them. EtO is particularly important for sterilizing equipment, like plastic devices, that can’t be cleaned with steam.  Routine disinfection protocols ensure that patients don’t contract entirely preventable infections when they go in for procedures. Failing to give the full context regarding EtO and this EPA report doesn’t just cause panic, but it threatens this important rung of the health care ladder. (Read More)

News Releases

Lee introduces bill to roll back price controls on prescription drugs

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Protecting Drug Innovation Act to roll back the federal government’s authority to set drug prices covered by Medicare. The power to set drug prices was a key component of the Democrats’ so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” that passed through Congress without a single Republican vote.

Sen. Lee’s legislation follows a recent report by the Joint Economic Committee that finds shortages, rationing, quality reductions, and higher inflation always accompany government attempts to control prices. (Read More)

Number of the Day

Tweet of the Day

Upcoming

• ULCT Annual Convention — Oct 5-7, Salt Palace Convention Center, Register here
• UWLP Book Club: How Women Rise By Sally Helgesen & Marshall Goldsmith —Oct. 6 & Nov. 10, 12:00pm-1:00pm or 7:30pm-8:30pm; Virtual, Register herestrong>
• One Utah Summit — Oct 11-13, Southern Utah University, Register here
• Breakfast Briefing: The New Look of Transportation in the 2020s with the Utah Foundation — Oct. 13, 8:30 am, Zions Bank Founders' Room, Register herestrong>
• Senate debate between Mike Lee and Evan McMullin — Oct. 17, 6 pm, at UVU
• Interim Days — Oct 18-20, le.utah.gov
• Effecting Societal Change for Child Sexual Abuse — Oct. 26, 8:00am-11:30am; Virtual and in-person at Saprea in Lehi, UT, Register here
• General election â€“ Nov 8
• Hacks to Help Women Maximize Income and Minimize Expenses —Nov. 9, Noon-1:00pm; Virtual, Register here
• Utah Foundation’s 2022 Annual Luncheon â€” Nov. 16, noon, Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek, Register here
• Utah Economic Outlook and Public Policy Summit with the Salt Lake Chamber — Jan. 12, 2023, Salt Lake City Marriott, 8 am - noon, Register here

On This Day In History

• 551 BC - Confucius is born.
• 1781 - Battle of Yorktown begins
• 1895 - Louis Pasteur dies. The French bacteriologist is known for coming up with the process of - wait for it -  pasteurization. 
• 1918 - Philadelphia parade exposes thousands to the 1918 flu.
• 1920 - Eight MLB players indicted on charges of fixing the 1919 World Series.
• 1928 - Penicillin discovered
• 1937 - FDR dedicates Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River in Oregon
• 1956 - William Boeing, American aviation pioneer who founded The Boeing Company, dies at 74
• 1995 - Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat sign accord to transfer West Bank to the PLO
• 2002 - Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first Asian American woman elected to the US Congress, dies
• 2016 - Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister, President, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, dies of a stroke at 93

Wise Words

"He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger."

—Confucius

The Punny Side

The adjective for metal is metallic.

But not so for iron.. which is ironic.

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