Deseret News
- How Americans can address Christian nationalism in their congregations and communities – Pastors need to take a stand against violent, exclusionary beliefs, said the Rev. Dorhauer, who has endorsed the Baptist Joint Committee’s Christians Against Christian Nationalism statement. “The starting point is always relational,” said Jennifer Herdt.
- Will the next Uber or Airbnb want to launch in Utah, thanks to this new business ‘sandbox’? – The so-called regulatory sandbox bill would create a pathway for innovators to get a temporary reprieve from standing state rules that could impede or prevent a new idea from getting a real-world tryout.
- ‘I’m serving everyone’: Rep. Burgess Owens opens up on his first month in office – Did Owens participate in the standing ovation for Greene after her remarks Wednesday night. He gave an emphatic “yes.” “She made a very good case of why we give each other second chances. We are a party of second chances.”
- James Redford’s film just premiered at Sundance. But he didn’t live to see it – The filmmaker and son of Sundance founder Robert Redford died of cancer in mid-October, when the documentary on “Joy Luck Club” author Amy Tan was in the final stages of editing.
- Utah lawmaker wants to let in-home child care providers take care of more kids – Rep. Susan Pulsipher is proposing a bill this session that would allow home child care providers to take care of up to six kids without a business license. Current law allows them to take care of no more than four at once.
- Utah privacy protection efforts finding broad early support but porn filtering hits a wall — again – For the second time in four months a proposal to compel makers of cellphones, tablets and computers to have porn filtering software installed and switched on for all sales in Utah wasn’t able to breach the wall of legislative approval.
- Are minimum wage increases the answer to poverty in the pandemic recession? – Rep. Clare Collard thinks the minimum wage should be a livable wage. She said many of her constituents say they are working “two to three jobs” at minimum wage to just get by.
- Race relations are headed in a troubling direction, but there is a way to find healing – The once peaceful protests led by Rev. King have in a few short years been replaced by the raging fires of anger, distrust and violence, and social media has shown us the most dangerous thing we now do is talk to each other. Still, we have within our reach the power and ability to at least start a healing.
- Trump is no longer the GOP standard-bearer. It’s past time to move on – Conservatives should look to the summer days of 2016 for guidance on how to view the president moving forward
Salt Lake Tribune
- Exclusive: Hedge funds eye water markets that could net billions, as levels drop in Lake Powell – Hedge funds and other Wall Street interests want to rewrite the “Law of the River” in the Colorado River Basin and use the free market to solve the problem of scarcity — while potentially raking in immense profits.
- Robert Gehrke: Hiking the fees on clean-running cars is the wrong way to pay for roads – If passed, these would be the highest such fees in the nation. The argument is that, because alternative-fuel vehicles don’t use as much (or any) gasoline, drivers aren’t paying their fair share when it comes to building and maintaining roads.
- Here’s how Utah lawmakers might address the state’s affordable housing crunch this session – While lawmakers are still debating what affordable housing initiatives will get funded this session, House Speaker Brad Wilson said he believes the Legislature will put “significant” resources toward the issue.
- Low pay for Utah state workers causes chronic understaffing, forces some onto government assistance – Direct care workers at Utah State Hospital could probably earn higher wages flipping burgers at a fast-food restaurant, the facility’s director acknowledges. They are paid $11 an hour. Gov. Spencer Cox has suggested raises for some of the state’s 23,200 employees. The decision rests with state lawmakers.
- Plexiglass barriers being removed from Utah House chamber – Many members complained the barriers did nothing to protect against spreading the coronavirus, calling them “hygiene theater.”
Other
- Their Voice: American Fork honors ‘unforgettable’ man (Daily Herald) – There is a very large population of “invisible” people who really never get attention, or noticed, just for being who they are or for what they contribute to others around them. This week, David Pola gets his due.
- Intermountain Healthcare employees among caregivers honored at Super Bowl
- (FOX 13) – 7,500 of the 25,000 in-person Super Bowl attendees were vaccinated health care workers who were gifted tickets.
- Regulatory sandbox bill would let Utah startups avoid regulations (FOX 13) – The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Cory Maloy, said the bill would do two things: Allow startup companies to create new products without having to abide by certain regulations and have lawmakers change or remove regulations that tend to stand in the way of startup businesses.
COVID Corner
- Less than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases reported on Sunday (Salt Lake Tribune) – Although the state continues its downward trend in cases and hospitalizations, all but two counties are still experiencing a very high rate of transmission.
- New Utah bill: Government could not force you to get COVID-19 vaccine (KUTV) – Under the measure, the governor, the Legislature, courts, educators including school districts, cities, and counties could not require people to get coronavirus vaccines. The bill would not apply to private businesses, which conceivably could require vaccinations for employees.
- Oxford/AstraZeneca jab fails to prevent mild and moderate Covid from S African strain, study shows (Financial Times) – In both the human trials and tests on the blood of those vaccinated, the jab showed significantly reduced efficacy against the 501Y.V2 viral variant, which is dominant in South Africa.
- UK coronavirus strain is doubling in the U.S. every 10 days, study finds (CNBC) – The study bolstered modeling done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which predicted last month that the more contagious variant could be the dominant strain in the U.S. by March.
- Biden says it will be very difficult to achieve Covid herd immunity before summer’s end (CNBC) – Biden’s cautious remarks are in line with the warnings of scientists and public health officials as well as his past statements.
- UK official says annual vaccines probable (The Hill) – “We see very much probably an annual or a booster in the autumn and then an annual (vaccination), in the way we do with flu vaccinations where you look at what variant of virus is spreading around the world.”
- ‘COVID tongue’ is the newest COVID-19 symptom (Deseret News) – Tongue discoloration, enlargement, strange mouth ulcers and other mouth issues. Nice.
- Should you eat inside a restaurant? Dr. Fauci reveals the key (Deseret News) – “If you do indoor dining, you do it in a spaced way where you don’t have people sitting right next to each other.” And, he said, you’ll want to avoid being in places where you’re breathing in other people’s breath.
- This teen woke up from a coma without knowing about the coronavirus pandemic (Deseret News) – Joseph Flavill, a 19-year-old boy, went into a coma after he was hit by a car in March 2020, which was right before the first lockdown in England. “It’s almost like he slept through the whole pandemic,”said his aunt, Sally Flavill-Smith.
