Deseret News
- Why would Christians embrace conspiracy theories? – The Rev. Fugitt agrees that religious Americans turn to conspiracy theories out of fear. They arrive to QAnon and associated ideas “because they are searching” for comfort, he said.
- American families need to find more common ground to heal political polarization – Through their citizen-led nonprofit, the Common Ground Committee, Bruce Bond and Erik Olsen’s work focuses on creating opportunities for people to engage in productive conversations that lead to finding or building common ground over polarizing topics.
- This young Utah lawmaker almost died from COVID-19 — now he’s sharing his story – ‘This is real:’ Rep. Jon Hawkins urges Utahns to recognize COVID-19’s physical, emotional toll.
- ‘I agonized over the decision’: More moms opt for home births amid pandemic restrictions – Before 2020, Utah and the nation were already seeing a rise in deliveries at home or birth centers. Now, many women who say they hadn’t considered giving birth anywhere other than a hospital have changed their plans, opting to deliver where loved ones can be there to welcome the child.
- Salt Lake County GOP chairman resigns amid backlash over ‘bullying’ within party – Chairman Scott Miller apologizes for ‘mistake with how I handled the complaints’ from Republican women.
- Here’s what Utah is doing now to address ‘tsunami’ of mental health needs – Due to stress on first responders, Rapaport said the institute is rolling out a SafeUT specifically for them.
- The difficult race to vaccinate Utah’s homeless against COVID-19 – About 1,000 shots have gone into homeless Utahns’ arms; distrust aggravates an already difficult task.
Salt Lake Tribune
- State leaders have known for decades that Utah kids could die in unsafe schools during an earthquake. They’ve taken little action. – Without state support, districts have moved slowly to fix or rebuild schools and inequities persist.
- In wake of temple mural removals, question arises: How is the LDS Church doing in preserving its past? – Retired architect Allen Roberts, a leader in preservation, points to significant saves and lamentable losses.
- Republican women say they experienced a toxic environment in the Salt Lake County GOP – Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson condemn County GOP Chairman Scott Miller’s emailed criticism of the women coming forward with allegations.
- Salt Lake City Council discusses whether to participate in ranked choice voting pilot program – Salt Lake County is interested in offering a ranked choice voting option to cities.
- Sen. Mike Lee calls migrant camps at southern border ‘unacceptable’ – Says he encountered smugglers and cartel members yelling at him and other senators across the border.
Other
- Salt Lake County GOP chair resigns following backlash over letter (KSL) – Miller’s departure comes after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson released a statement Saturday calling for him to apologize and calling his letter “reprehensible.”
- Utah political community responds after SL Co. GOP controversy, resignation (Fox 13) – “We had our party chair who was enabling someone to take advantage of women in powerless situations where they were called terrible names and manipulated,” Aimee Winder Newton said in a video. “I stood up for them last fall and paid a heavy price for the last six months I’ve been harassed and bullied as well.”
- Utah researchers take the first step towards charging batteries faster (Fox 13) – The goal is to charge smartphones and cars to 80% in 10 minutes.
COVID Corner
- Redfield says he thinks COVID-19 began spreading in Wuhan in September or October (The Hill) – The former CDC director went on to say that he thinks COVID-19 emerged from a lab in China, a theory a World Health Organization official has called “extremely unlikely.”
- What the Covid-19 war was really like in Trump’s White House (CNN) – No longer working under the Trump administration, six leading US health officials now reveal to CNN the real challenges they faced during the nation’s fight against Covid-19 over the past year: death threats, mixed messages and in some cases, being kept from sharing information with national audiences.
- Birx says COVID death toll in U.S. would have been mitigated with earlier action (Reuters) – Birx became sidelined in the final months of Trump’s administration, and White House briefings about the pandemic largely ceased.
- ‘I can’t believe this is happening’: Travelers recount tales of getting stuck in Mexico after positive COVID-19 tests (USA Today) – Some travelers have few complaints about how the hotel handled the situation but don’t recommend taking the risk of testing positive on an international trip.
- Birx recalls ‘very difficult’ call with Trump, says hundreds of thousands of Covid deaths were preventable (NBC News) – “I look at it this way: The first time, we have an excuse,” Birx said about the initial surge of deaths. “All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially.”
- Getting to Yes: A Nursing Home’s Mission to Vaccinate Its Hesitant Staff (New York Times) – “Beliefs change with time or new knowledge, so we have to ride it out. Listen hard, don’t judge and let them move at their own pace.”
- COVID-19 rates of infection surge in New Jersey, New York (Axios) – In New Jersey, the number of new infections over the past month has risen by 37%, according to AP.
- Luck is essential for any successful coronavirus variant, study shows (Medical Xpress) – There are a lot of narrow windows and a lot of high hurdles, and the likelihood that a new variant will clear all of those obstacles is actually pretty slim, the researchers concluded. And that should offer humans a bit of hope. But then there’s reality: At least five new “variants of concern” have apparently overcome these forbidding odds in the span of about six months.
- Amish community may have reached COVID ‘herd immunity,’ health official says (New York Post) – Some experts are more skeptical that a large outbreak has led to widespread immunity in the community.
- Coronavirus Cases Are on the Rise Again (Slate) – Over the past week, the U.S. has reported an average of 61,583 new COVID-19 cases a day, which represents a 12% increase from two weeks ago.
- Dr. Scott Gottlieb: Vaccinating One-Fourth Of US Will Be Virus Backstop (Newsmax) – “What we’re seeing around the nation right now, which is worrisome, are outbreaks in certain states…I think what we need to do is try to continue to vaccinate, surge vaccine into those parts of the country… that look hot right now.”
