Deseret News
- Can young conservatives save the GOP? – These next-generation conservatives are charting a more diverse, more inclusive path for the Republican Party. The GOP needs to follow.
- Biden orders boost in food benefits as part of economic response to COVID-19 – Experts say food stamps directly help the economy because people spend them.
- Is the silencing of Donald Trump a free market consequence or cancel culture? – Analysts say a person hasn’t been canceled if they still have a megaphone, and that we ought to worry more about the cancelation of ordinary people than presidents and celebrities.
- Mitt Romney to Republicans: Stop perpetuating ‘big lie’ that Biden stole election from Trump – Romney said elected Republicans need to go on Fox News and say, “You know what, I was a big Trump supporter, I was really pulling for Donald Trump, but he lost fair and square.”
- Mendenhall seeks to close ‘stunning gaps’ in race, income illuminated in pandemic – Salt Lake City mayor calls on state, other cities to do more to address homelessness ‘crisis’ in State of the City address.
- Utah moves to drop concealed carry gun permit requirement with House OK of bill – Sponsor Walt Brooks said that “legal and law-abiding citizens [are] careful, and they’re responsible, and they don’t need the government to force them to do something that they would do on their own anyway. I trust the people of Utah.”
- Commissioner decides not to appeal decision allowing BYU to keep its police force – Commissioner Jess Anderson said he now looks forward to working with state lawmakers to address the issues raised in Judge Catten’s decision.
- Lawmaker opens bill file to impeach Utah A.G. Sean Reyes over election challenges – Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Sandy, said Reyes has worked “shamelessly” over the past few months to undermine the country’s election results.
Salt Lake Tribune
- Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall calls for unity, innovation: ‘Back to normal’ not good enough – “Instead of Salt Lake City getting back to normal and re-creating what once was, we are seizing this opportunity and striving to make our city better.”
- TSA agents in 2020 seized guns at a rate double that of previous year at Salt Lake City International Airport – 71 firearms discovered, ranking No. 10 among airports nationally.
- Utah will take over incoming COVID-19 vaccine doses that had been assigned to CVS and Walgreens for nursing homes – The doses, which have not yet arrived, will be redirected to other eligible groups.
- Utah’s COVID-19 positivity rate falls, but the number of deaths continues to climb – The positivity rate of COVID-19 tests fell to just under 16% on Tuesday, although the Utah Department of Health added 17 more deaths to the state’s tally.
- Utah officials end effort to eliminate BYU’s police department – The decision concludes a two-year effort tied to a lieutenant’s use of police data to help the Honor Code Office.
Other
- Salt Lake County prosecutors weeks away from ruling on K-9 bite cases (KUTV) – “There’s some that are concerning, and some that are just fine,” said Sim Gill, Salt Lake County District Attorney.
- Utah State Legislature, abandons ‘local control’, turns screws on Salt Lake City schools (KUTV) – The legislation threatens to strip funding from any school district which does not offer an in-person option to its students, a bill aimed directly at Salt Lake City School District.
- SLC progress report card: Fewer than half of mayor’s 1st year goals finished, many in progress (KSL-TV) – COVID-19 threw everyone a curveball in 2020, and local governments were no exception.
- ‘We don’t anticipate another open registration (ABC 4) – COVID-19 vaccine registration for Utahns 70 and older in Salt Lake County moves to a waiting list system.
COVID Corner
- California Health Secretary On Lifting Stay-At-Home Orders And Vaccinations (NPR) – The state is now returning to a color-coded tier system, which specifies varying restrictions based on case rates and test positivity in a particular county. Almost all residents will be in the strictest tier.
- As Virus Grows Stealthier, Vaccine Makers Reconsider Battle Plans (New York Times) – Vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech effectively protect recipients. But in a worrying sign, they are slightly less effective against a variant found in South Africa.
- Dr. Deborah Birx’s shocking interview is way too late (CNN) – After nearly a year of supposedly coordinating the Trump White House’s coronavirus response, Dr. Deborah Birx went public about the mishandling of a pandemic that has left more than 400,000 Americans dead.
- Vice President Harris receives second dose of COVID-19 vaccine (The Hill) – “These scientists, these medical professionals … created something that will save your life, and the life of your family and the community,” she said.
- Childhood COVID-19 complication study launched; Utah reports 1,411 new cases, 17 deaths (Deseret News) – While COVID-19 is mild in most young people, those who develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C, can suffer severe illness involving the heart, lungs, blood, kidneys or brain that require hospitalization, often in intensive care. There are currently no vaccines approved for use in children.
- We need to ‘upgrade’ the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Fauci says (Deseret News) – “I don’t want people to think that the vaccines are not effective against them — they are. However, we really need to make sure that we begin, and we already have, to prepare, if it’s necessary, to upgrade the vaccines.”
- Dr. Fauci says he was worried people would ‘start doing dangerous and foolish things’ after this one Trump comment (Deseret News) – Dr. Fauci said former President Trump’s comments about disinfectant would lead to bad results.