Deseret News
- Evan McMullin is back, and he’s ready to remake American politics – Never Trump conservatives like McMullin and Miles Taylor helped elect Joe Biden. Where do they go now?
- The water that couldn’t save – Will the Great Salt Lake go up in dust?
- National Association of Broadcasters CEO Gordon Smith announces he’s stepping down – The former U.S. senator’s announcement comes following a landmark Supreme Court ruling on ownership of television, radio and newspaper media.
- COVID-19 stimulus fatigue? Utahns say they’ll take the money, but they don’t really need it – Data from a new Deseret News-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll shows over half of residents don’t consider the latest, and most generous, round of stimulus checks to be that big a deal.
- Salt Lake City extends mask mandate beyond April 10 end date set by lawmakers – Salt Lake County declines to extend the order.
- Parents push back on ongoing mask mandate in schools as statewide requirement nears end – Statewide mandate ends April 10, but K-12 school requirement remains in place until June 15.
- What do Utahns think about businesses requiring masks after mandate ends? – More than 70% of residents say they’re OK with that, according to a new poll.
- Lawmaker wants voters to decide on time limits for raising old claims of sex abuse – Advocates and others call attention to legislative measures addressing sexual assault during month of awareness.
Salt Lake Tribune
- Amid complaints of a toxic culture for women within the Salt Lake County GOP, Kathleen Anderson jumps into race for chair – The former congressional candidate joins Chris Null, a longtime party insider, and Andrew Langford, a political newcomer, in bid to shake up leadership and set a new tone for the county’s Republican Party.
- In apparent defiance of state law, Mayor Erin Mendenhall says mask mandate will continue in Salt Lake City – Business owners plead with residents, visitors to respect their front-line workers.
- Provo native Junior Bounous, 95, may have broken world record with Wasatch heliski trip – The first director of Snowbird’s Mountain School is believed to have almost a year on current record-holder.
- After Thursday’s Bears Ears tour, Deb Haaland will visit Grand Staircase on Friday – The state’s political leaders oppose the monument’s restoration, while the tribes want to see it redesignated to cover the entire 1.9 million acres they had initially proposed.
- Utah lawmakers ended a requirement for a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Has anything really changed? – “Nothing really has changed in how people can behave with a gun,” says St. George Republican Rep. Walt Brooks, who was the bill’s sponsor. “If you’re not legally allowed to have a firearm, then this doesn’t change anything.”
- Salt Lake City commission issues recommendations on school-to-prison pipeline, youth racial equity – City Council’s racial equity in policing advisers asks for improved funding and consistency to help at-risk students.
Other
- The “Real” Housewives of Salt Lake City Gets Real About What it is Like to Lose Good Standing With the LDS Church (Utah Stories) – Justin Rose said, “I received a letter from the Church saying that I was no longer in good standing. “When you grow up Mormon it is the worst letter you can get.”
- Iron County Sheriff signs group letter to Biden regarding Southern border (FOX 13) – The letter titled, ‘Help America’s Sheriffs Keep Our Neighborhoods and Communities Safe by Halting Illegal Immigration,’ asks President Biden “to reverse course and help us protect our communities by securing the southern border.”
- FOX 13 Investigates: 326 educators across Utah accidentally hired without full background checks (FOX 13) – The mistakes took place over a span of more than thirty years.
- St. George man charged with breaking into U.S Capitol on Jan. 6 (FOX 13) – Brady Knowlton made his initial appearance in federal court Wednesday.
COVID Corner
- More than 1 million Utahns have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine (Salt Lake Tribune) – That represents about 44% the eligible population over the age of 16.
- Most Utah business owners say they’ll still require masks (FOX 13) – Individual businesses have the right to decide whether or not masks are required despite lack of mandates from counties.
- U.S. begins study assessing allergic reactions to Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines (CNBC) – Most of the rare, severe allergic reactions to these vaccines have occurred in people with a history of allergies, public health officials have said.
- CDC: Do not travel to Canada, even if you are vaccinated (Bring Me The News) – The CDC rates COVID-19 travel advisories from Level 1 (low) to Level 4 (very high), and it has labeled Canada a Level 4 danger zone.
- UK variant is now the dominant coronavirus strain in the US, says CDC chief (CNN) – The country’s daily rate of new cases rose over most of the last four weeks. Part of that is due to the spread of B.1.1.7 and other concerning variants, Walensky said this week.
- AstraZeneca vaccine linked to rare blood clots, EU regulators conclude (Ars Technica) – Link throws fate of AZ’s vaccine into question—and casts dark shadow over J&J’s vaccine.
- Average US COVID-19 death toll plunges even as new cases rise (New York Post) – The average daily COVID-19 death toll plunged by nearly 20 percent in the US over the past week — even as the average number of new cases and hospitalizations went up.
- CDC says there’s no major risk of getting COVID-19 from surfaces (Deseret News) – CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said “disinfection is only recommended in indoor-setting schools and homes where there has been a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19, within the last 24 hours.”
- One-third of COVID-19 survivors face this troubling disease (Deseret News) – 24% of COVID-19 survivors were diagnosed with neurological or psychological conditions within six months of infections.
- Scientists want to make an ideal COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s what that would look like (Deseret News) – the perfect COVID-19 vaccine would be “administered in a single shot, be room temperature stable, work in all demographics and, even pushed beyond that, ideally be self-administered.”
