Salt Lake Tribune
- Utah reports its first death of a child due to COVID-19, as cases continue to drop – The boy’s death “is a tragic reminder that we must continue to be vigilant about public health precautions,” the department said in its daily report.
- Former Department of Natural Resources employee charged with fraud – The Attorney General’s Office alleges Daniel Clark awarded construction bids to his own company for projects that didn’t exist.
- Utah’s attorney general joins multistate effort to sue President Joe Biden over climate change order – The 12 state coalition of Republican A.G.s claims Biden overstepped his authority.
- Here are four bills Utah Gov. Spencer Cox should veto – A few bad bills got through, ideas that were either flawed from the start or not quite fully baked. They should be vetoed.
- Here’s how policing in Utah will change after this year’s legislative session – Proponents say the bills that passed this year will make a meaningful difference in addressing issues ranging from transparency to training.
Other
- Utah sees high vaccination rate for seniors (FOX 13) – Utah is nearing an 80 percent first-dose vaccination rate for people who are 70 or older.
- Survey: Jordan School District parents want to keep pandemic schedule (FOX 13) – More than 16,000 people weighed in on the survey, which asked questions like if they were satisfied with the current four-day in-person schedule with Fridays set aside for distance learning or small group sessions. 67% were.
- Utah restaurants, bars prepare to begin or increase in-person dining again (FOX 13) – Most restaurant and bar owners seem to still be planning on following CDC guidelines and will continue requiring masks.
- Utah Dept. of Workforce Services releases new tool to help parents find childcare (FOX 13) – The Department of Workforce Services says they’ve been working for years to launch the Care About Childcare website.
- Weber School District superintendent recognized nationally as digital superintendent of the year (Standard Examiner) – “In a year filled with struggles and unknowns…Dr. Stephens stayed focused on [his] students, putting forth incredible efforts to support equitable access and continued learning.”
- Park City sales-tax figures in December power past projections, a sign economy continues to roar (Park Record) – The numbers show business was brisk during the first full month of ski season, important holiday stretch.
Deseret News
- Standing in the shadow of Zion – The Wright family uses a love of rodeo to keep their other passion, a ranching operation in southern Utah, afloat.
- What Latter-day Saint history experts thought of ‘Murder Among the Mormons’ – New Netflix docuseries recounts the story of Mark Hofmann, the Salt Lake City forger and murderer.
- What’s on a mask? Politicians send messages with face coverings – Though face masks might be on the way out in the near future, they’re readily used for political and fashion statements alike among politicians.
- From J.K. Rowling to Josh Hawley, writers with unpopular beliefs are under siege. Now Amazon is on the battlefield – Publishers once wanted conservative books because they make money, but they’re pulling back at the first whiff of controversy.
- Salt Lake County boy is state’s first COVID-19 child death – He was between 1 and 14 years old and was hospitalized at the time of his death.
- Former Utah parks manager awarded bids to his own company, charges say –
- Kaysville man also charged with billing state for work that was never completed.
- Bay Area property management startup Belong to open HQ2 in Utah – Belong’s home rental platform has some similarity to the short-term services offered by Airbnb and VRBO, but is focused on long-term rental homes and picks up all of the property management responsibilities, including handling repairs, for a portion of the monthly rent.
COVID Corner
- COVID-19 surge reinstates restrictions in Garfield County; ages 50 and over eligible for vaccine next week (St. George News) – Garfield and much of Southern Utah has seen new infections get worse or plateau in the last two weeks.
- Alaska will be first in U.S. to offer COVID-19 vaccines to all adults (Alaska Public Media) – Anyone who lives or works in Alaska, age 16 and older, is now eligible.
- What the next CDC guidelines for the fully vaccinated could look like (CNN) – The next version of the guidelines, Slavitt said, will instead describe activities as being more in a low, medium or high risk category.
- Biden $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill nears finish line in Congress (The Washington Post) – Democrats touted the breadth of the legislation, which they have begun to frame not just as a bill to attack the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn but as a generational anti-poverty measure.
- A viral tsunami: How the underestimated coronavirus took over the world (The Washington Post) – More than a year into this global health emergency, Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist with the World Health Organization, says simply, “We are humbled by this virus.”
- How America’s Vaccine System Makes People With Health Problems Fight for a Place in Line (The Washington Post) – At least 37 states, as well as Washington, D.C., are now allowing some residents with certain health problems to receive vaccines, according to a New York Times survey. But the health issues granted higher priority differ from state to state, and even county to county.
- Hunting for a Leftover Vaccine? This Site Will Match You With a Clinic. (The New York Times) – More than half a million people have signed up for Dr. B, a service that promises to match them with clinics struggling to equitably dole out extra doses before they expire.
- Democrats spar over COVID-19 vaccine strategy (The Hill) – Behind the scenes, Democratic leaders and rank-and-file members are at odds over their strategy, a disagreement rooted in growing concerns that the new, slightly less effective one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine might be sent disproportionately to vulnerable minority communities.
- There’s some encouraging data about the COVID-19 vaccine in Israel (Deseret News) – “Out of those who were tested for the coronavirus at least a week after their second shot, less than 1% tested positive, and less than 0.2% developed COVID-19 symptoms.”
- 3 things you can do once you’ve been vaccinated (Deseret News) – Visiting with other fully vaccinated people indoors without masks or physical distancing, visiting unvaccinated people who are low risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms, skipping quarantine and testing if you’ve been exposed to COVID-19 and remain asymptomatic.
- ‘Moderna arm’ is the latest vaccine reaction worrying people (Deseret News) – One woman described the reaction as looking like someone ripped a bandage off of your arm.
- 7 tips for fully vaccinated Americans (Deseret News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has 7 tips for those who recently got the full vaccination against COVID-19.
- Can you spread coronavirus after you got the vaccine? (Deseret News) – The research is still out on that.
- No link between COVID-19 vaccine and 4 Utahns who died after shots, medical examiner says (Salt Lake Tribune) – National database has not shown patterns ‘that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines,’ federal officials report.
- Long-haul Covid patients can experience ‘waves of symptoms,’ early research suggests (NBC News) – When Lambert analyzed symptom onset specifically, distinct patterns emerged.
