It's Pi Day; 'major' wind headed our way; a new Ronald McDonald House in Lehi; and 4-day workweeks are beneficial, finds new study
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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 | March 14, 2024

It's Thursday and Pi Day! Lots of fun deals on 3.14.

What you need to know

  • “'Catalyst,' 'revitalization' and 'reimagination' were terms visited repeatedly by speakers at a Wednesday panel discussion exploring what comes next, and why it matters, for dual pursuits to bring new Major League Baseball and National Hockey League franchises to Salt Lake City," writes Art Raymond for the Deseret News. A potential new major league ballpark would be part of a $3.5 billion mixed-use development the Larry H. Miller Company is planning on Salt Lake City’s west side. The company said it intends to build out the area with or without a baseball stadium.

Rapid relevance

 

Utah Business 2024 Legal Elite Nominations Now Open!

Nominate a role model from the legal community for the Legal Elite 100! Nominations are due April 1, 2024. Limit of 5 nominations per law firm.

 

Utah Headlines

Political news

  • Senate approves bill that would give reparations to ‘downwinders’ in Utah. Utah Senators vote no. (Deseret News)
  • All 4 Utah reps vote in favor of TikTok bill, as it faces uncertain path in the Senate (Deseret News)
  • Utah attorney general’s office largely untouched as lawmakers sidestep reforms (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Tax watchdog group accuses Alpine School District of dodging voters and the legislature (Fox13)

Election news

  • Candidates for Utah governor take aim at Cox's 'Disagree Better' initiative (Deseret News)

Utah news

  • Frank E. Moss Courthouse will be stronger and greener after extreme renovation (Deseret News)
  • What BYU’s Aly Khalifa said about fasting during the Big 12 tournament (Deseret News)
  • Could the Olympics bring more passenger trains to Utah? Here’s what Gov. Cox says. (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Baked potatoes anyone? Firefighters extinguish burning semitrailer filled with potatoes on I-15 near Utah border (St. George News)

Business/Tech

  • If they come, we will build it: Lawmakers back MLB, NHL pursuits with nearly $2B. Now what happens? (Deseret News)
  • 4-day workweeks are beneficial, according to new study (Deseret News)
  • Family Dollar and Dollar Tree will close 1,000 stores (KSL)
  • Utah small business worries that TikTok ban could hurt growth (KSL TV)
  • Utah content creators ask Congress to reconsider potential nationwide ban on TikTok (KUTV)

Crime/Court

  • 'Uncontrollable rage' lead to random attack in Magna, police say (KSL)
  • Taylorsville mother accused of abusing vulnerable son who passed away (KSL
  • Utah A.G. investigator lied about labor trafficking allegations, landscaping company says (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Group drops Utah flag initiative lawsuit after judge's injunction ruling (KSL)

Culture

  • 5 foods created by accident, from chocolate chip cookies to potato chips (Deseret News)

Education

  • U of U holds first fully in-person Science and Engineering Fair since 2019 (KSL TV)
  • Utah’s school choice scholarship attracts more homeschoolers (KSL Newsradio)
  • Opinion: Utah lawmakers want to email my fellow teachers, but they don’t want to listen (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Daniel McCool: DEI made me a better professor and person (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • Idaho House committee kills private school tax credit (BSPR)

Environment

  • New Bears Ears plan details recreation opportunities, limits some grazing (Deseret News)

Health

  • Man finds out migraines caused by brain tapeworms; undercooked bacon may be culprit (NBC News)
  • In two early trials, blood cancer treatment appears promising for deadly brain tumor (NBC News)

Housing

  • Salt Lake City residents see 11% increase in monthly bills, with rent taking biggest bite (KSL Newsradio)
  • Miss the social interactions of dorm life? These new SLC apartments are for you. (Salt Lake Tribune)
  • FOX 13 Investigates: Why Utah’s plan to quickly move people out of homelessness failed (Fox13)
 

National Headlines

General

  • Documentary tells how 8 friends built a secret apartment in a mall — and lived there for 4 years (Deseret News)
  • Editorial Board: Consumers are pushing inflation down (Deseret News)
  • Death of nonbinary teen Nex Benedict after school fight is ruled a suicide, medical examiner says (AP)
  • Storm carrying massive ‘gorilla hail’ hits parts of Kansas and Missouri (AP)

Political news

  • Is there a political gap between Gen Z women and men? (Desert News)
  • Judge dismisses some charges against Trump in the Georgia 2020 election interference case (AP)
  • Will Republicans approve aid to Ukraine? U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake says he is ‘confident’ they will (Deseret News)

Election news

  • The BYU grad seeking independence from the two-party system in Missouri (Deseret News)
  • Biden has a marginal 1 point lead over Trump, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows (Reuters)
  • Election disinformation takes a big leap with AI being used to deceive worldwide (AP)

Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • Bracing for battle: Ukraine's recruits and volunteers train to bolster defense against Russia (Reuters)
  • Why does Putin always win? What to know about Russia’s pseudo election. (Washington Post)

Israel and Gaza

  • Israeli tank strike killed 'clearly identifiable' Reuters reporter - UN report (Reuters)

World

  • Valerie Hudson: Is ‘precrime’ enforcement headed for Canada? (Deseret News)
  • Nigeria abductions break up families, keep children out of school (Reuters)
 

Number of the Day 

Number of the Day, Mar. 14, 2024

 

News Releases

Gov. Cox signs 142 bills in the 2024 General Legislative Session

Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed 142 bills today. He has signed 245 pieces of legislation from the 2024 General Legislative Session to date. Information on the bills signed today can be found here.


Romney leads bipartisan effort to urge FDIC to treat industrial banks fairly

U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today led a bipartisan group of his colleagues in support of greater competition for regulated banks in Utah and across the country. In a letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) members, the senators urged fair consideration of applications for deposit insurance made by industrial loan companies (ILC) and voiced their opposition to regulatory actions that target lawful ILC applications. Utah has 15 banks that operate with active industrial bank charters, and these banks support more than 6,000 jobs and produce more than $700 million in state GDP every year. (Read More)


Romney to serve as Ranking Member at committee hearing on wildfires

Tomorrow at 10:00am ET, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) will join Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) as Ranking Member of a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) hearing titled, â€œA Nation on Fire: Responding to the Increasing Wildfire Threat,” which will focus on preventing, managing, and responding to wildfires in the United States. Utah’s Director of Forestry, Fire and State Lands Jamie Barnes will be one of the witnesses on the panel. (Read More)

 

Tweet of the Day

Happy Pi Day!

Screenshot 2024-03-14 at 7.18.25 AM

 

Upcoming

  • March 16 - Utah Women Run Annual training, 8:30 am-2:30 pm, Hinckley Institute of Politics, Register here
  • March 20 — Utah Foundation Annual Lunch, 11:45 am-1:30 pm; Grand America, Purchase tickets here
  • March 21 - Utah Women in Society – A Living Room Conversation, 12:00-1:15 pm, online, Register here
  • April 20 — United Utah Partyconvention
  • April 27 — State GOP and Democratic Conventions
 

On This Day In History 

  • 1776 - Alexander Hamilton is named captain of a New York artillery company.
  • 1794 - Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin, which increased demand for slave labor
  • 1833 - Lucy Hobbs Taylor is born. She was the first US woman to earn a dentistry degree.
  • 1879 - Albert Einstein is born.
  • 1921 - Ada Louise Huxtable was born. An architecture critic and writer, she was awarded the first ever Pulitzer prize for Criticism.
  • 1943 - The Kraków Ghetto is "liquidated" during WWII.
  • 1950 - The FBI debuts “10 Most Wanted Fugitives” list.
  • 1973 - John McCain is released after spending over five years in a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp.
  • 1990 - Mikhail Gorbachev elected president of the Soviet Union.
  • 2018 - Stephen Hawking dies

Quote of the Day

"Every creative act draws on the past whether it pretends to or not. It draws on what it knows. There's no such thing, really, as a creative act in a vacuum."
—Ada Louise Huxtable


On the Punny Side

Why should you never start talking to pi at a party?

Because it just goes on forever.

 

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