Deseret News
- 5 things you need to know about President Joe Biden’s first White House press conference – Border, infrastructure, China, Afghanistan and filibuster
- Congress blisters Facebook, Google and Twitter CEOs, promises new rules for social media on the way – The CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter were back in front of Congress on Thursday but given little time to respond to a barrage of questions and concerns about their respective operations at a hearing that stretched for over five hours
- The plan to fix our national debt that was too reasonable – Simpson-Bowles was “the type of thing a bright CEO might devise in order to save a failing business. It’s also a plan that doesn’t attempt to spare Americans from the awful truth.”
- Rep. Burgess Owens says Democrats failing minority students, children with disabilities – Owens said the best way to help struggling families is to give them more freedom to make choices for their children’s education, not by shutting them out of schools and closing doors to greater opportunities.
- The pay gap persists, but we can make Equal Pay Day obsolete – “You can take out occupational segregation and different things, but when you get right down to it, you can take some of those pennies away, there is still a good chunk that is really just discrimination,” said Dr. Susan Madsen.
- The good news for conservatives, according to a leading scholar of the movement – Historian George H. Nash on how conservatives can unite around the shared goals of freedom, virtue and security
- Earmarks are coming back to Congress, and it’s a bad idea – Recent discussions in Washington about ‘pork barrel spending’ spell trouble
Salt Lake Tribune
- Two more Utah state parks receive dark sky designations – Fremont Indian and Goosenecks have been added to the state’s list of stargazing destinations
- In Utah, there are far more realtors than homes for sale – In Salt Lake County, that number is almost 19 realtors per listing.
- Utah Rep. Burgess Owens calls America a ‘dictatorship’ under President Joe Biden – Owens also slammed Black Lives Matter for hating God, undermining America
- Utah County Commission moves toward repeal of 2019 tax hike – The county’s lawmakers cited unexpected growth in sales and property tax revenue.
- UDOT warns Utahns to brace for heavy travel over spring break – Congestion expected in Salt Lake and Davis counties, St. George and Moab.
Other
- ‘This is so cool’: Gov. Cox gets first COVID-19 vaccine dose as Utah sees 527 cases, 26K vaccinations (KSL) – Cox and First Lady Abby Cox received their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine at the Utah County Health Department vaccine center in Spanish Fork.
- Peepsi? Pepsi’s newest flavor has Peeps in it (KSL) – When you need more sugar in your life….
- Dixie State University name change committee chosen, will soon meet for first time (KUTV) – The 19-member committee is made up of alumni, current students, staff, community leaders and industry experts. Three of the 19 members are Black.
- IN FOCUS Discussion: Autism awareness and acceptance (ABC4) – Many barriers, challenges, and difficulties still exist for children and adults living with autism, as well as their families.
- State agency reports accounting upgrades after Utah parks manager charged with $1.3 million fraud (Standard Examiner) – The Utah Department of Natural Resources says it has tightened purchasing controls after a parks division manager allegedly paid $1.3 million in contracts to himself for nonexistent work over a 20-year period.
COVID Corner
- What Utah childhood vaccination rates can, and can’t, reveal about demand for COVID-19 vaccine (Salt Lake Tribune) – Experts say the concerns some people have about coronavirus vaccines are not identical to those around childhood immunizations.
- The number of fully vaccinated Utahns now exceeds 450,000 (Salt Lake Tribune) – The state reports seven more deaths
- University of Utah researchers studying possible COVID-19 treatment — an old antidepressant (Salt Lake Tribune) – Although people are getting vaccinated, a researcher says an effective treatment could save lives in the meantime, or help deal with vaccine-resistant variants.
- Gov. Spencer Cox says state is on track to drop COVID-19 health regulations before July 1 (Salt Lake Tribune) – That estimate is based on the current trajectory of vaccine distribution and as cases, hospitalizations and the percentage of positive coronavirus tests in Utah have been dropping, he said.
