Good Thursday morning Utah! Thanks for reading “The Rundown”.
Happy Veterans Day.
Let’s go...Spencer?
It’s no secret that Gov. Spencer Cox is not well-liked among some of the far-right groups in Utah. You may remember he was booed by delegates at the State GOP Convention earlier this year.
Now, the juvenile “Let’s go Brandon” chant that right-wingers use as a substitute for “F**k Joe Biden” has been modified to mock Gov. Cox.
A Utah right-wing group has adapted a taunt meant for President Joe Biden to target Gov. Spencer Cox
You can buy this charming schoolyard taunt featuring Cox as the star of the children’s show Caillou online.
The website appears to be linked to the Utah Freedom Coalition, a far-right Utah group that helped promote the QAnon conference in Salt Lake City last month.
The online store also features shirts that have wholesome sayings like, “The final variant is called communism,” or “Don’t commie-fornia my USA.”
Unsurprisingly, the site does not have a link where shoppers can sign up for a remedial course in understanding basic economic systems.
Here’s what you need to know for Wednesday morning
Utah news
🏛 From Utah’s Capitol Hill
Utah’s new congressional map zipped through the Legislature and now awaits Gov. Spencer Cox’s signature. Opponents held a small rally outside of the Capitol to urge Cox to veto the proposal. [Tribune]
New maps for the Utah House and Senate did not hit any snags as lawmakers quickly approved them. [Tribune]
Utah Lawmakers punish Intermountain Power, allege the utility’s interests no longer align with the state. [Tribune]
Dixie State gets final approval from Utah lawmakers to drop contentious name. The school will start rebranding itself Utah Tech University in July 2022. [Tribune]
Lawmakers approve a bill requiring Utah employers who mandate the COVID vaccine for employees must allow them to opt-out for “deeply held personal beliefs.” [Tribune]
Utah’s bail reform package breezes through the Legislature. [Tribune]
Utah Legislature weighs in against Biden’s IRS reporting proposal. [Tribune]
🚌 There’s an acute shortage of substitute teachers in Utah. Some school districts are offering extra pay to entice subs with extra pay and bonuses. [Tribune]
National news
📈 Prices grew much faster than anyone expected in October. Inflation hit a 30-year high, jumping 6.2% over the past year. The increases were primarily powered by big jumps in the price of fuel and energy. [WaPo]
The rapid rise in prices has wiped out wage gains for workers. [CNBC]
Business leaders are worried the White House is not taking the economic threat from inflation seriously enough. [Politico]
🏛 A judge once again blocked former President Donald Trump’s bid to withhold records from the House committee investigating the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6. The deadline for Trump to turn over the material is Friday. [Politico]
Some people in former Vice President Mike Pence’s inner circle may be open to providing information to the committee. [CNN]
😷 A federal judge blocked Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates in Texas schools, ruling the order violated the rights of students with disabilities. [NYT]
🌎 The U.S. and China made a surprise announcement that they would work together to slow global warming. [Bloomberg]
⚖️ There could be a mistrial in the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial after the judge tore into one of the prosecutors after they brought up evidence the judge had excluded. Rittenhouse broke down in tears as he was questioned. [AP]
🚨 A Virginia school board voted for school libraries to remove “sexually explicit” books from the shelves. Two of the board members said those books should be burned after being removed. [Free Lance-Star]
Thursday morning’s Utah news roundup
Utah
Mother-in-law apartments are getting easier to build, but it’s still a tedious process. [Tribune]
How this Utah Dreamer respondst to the ongoing legal challenges to the immigration program. [Tribune]
Murder charges: Ex-fiance was ‘enraged’ because Gaby Ramos danced with another man. [Tribune]
Elk Ridge Christmas tree farm goes viral with sultry TikTok video. [Fox 13]
In Depth: Utah tops the nation for teen employment. [Fox 13]
Politics
Here’s what you may have missed in Gov. Spencer Cox’s redistricting Q&A [Tribune]
COVID-19
Utah reports 12 more COVID-19 deaths, more than 1,500 new cases. [Tribune]
Department of Defense helps staff new St. George monoclonal antibody treatment site. [Tribune]
Idaho COVID-19 cases ‘bonkers,’ Utah governor says, but it’s Utah that’s a hot spot. [Deseret News]
Opinion
Andy Larsen: Utah’s gerrymandered maps aren’t just politics as usual — they’re worse than that. [Tribune]
Does a mandate against mandates make sense? Some legslators think so. Robert Gehrke explains why they’re wrong. [Tribune]
From hedge fund ownership to nonprofit status: How we’re investing in 2022. [Tribune]
— Tribune reporter Jordan Miller contributed to this report.
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