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‘The Rundown’: How remote work is destroying trust

Your Thursday morning Utah political cheat sheet

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Good Thursday morning Utah!

Thanks for reading “The Rundown”.

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Our crisis of trust

I recently came across a fascinating article in the Harvard Business Review that says work from home is destroying the trust workers have for each other.

Early in the pandemic, when many were forced into remote work, people gave each other the benefit of the doubt. That has shifted to more aggressive monitoring of workers because of that loss of trust.

For example, Hubstaff, a provider of time-tracking tools for remote work, reported a four-fold increase in its UK customers since February of 2020, and Sneek, whose technology takes webcam pictures of employees on a regular interval and shares them with colleagues, reported a five-fold increase.

The author researched dozens of companies over the past 8 months. In every instance, they found a shift from positive perceptions about work from home to more suspicion of workers/managers.

One reason? The fewer face-to-face time between workers and managers may mean fewer chances to build interpersonal relationships, making it more difficult to establish trust.


The devil is in the details

Comedian Samantha Bee aimed at Sen. Mike Lee and his Republican colleagues for opposing the massive election bill, also known as HR1.

Bee showed the widely circulated clip of Lee on Fox News slamming the bill as being “written by the Devil himself.”

“Does Mike Lee really think the devil would spend time writing legislation?” asked Bee mockingly. “I’m pretty sure he’d write something more in his voice like young adult romance novels where one of the kids dies.”


Here’s what you need to know for Thursday morning

Local news

  • A University of Utah political scientist is part of a group of academics and experts warning that American democracy is in grave danger as Republicans continue to push the falsehood the 2020 election was not legitimate. [Tribune]

  • The Davis County Sheriff’s Office has a new policy blocking employees from enforcing laws or executive orders that infringe on the Second Amendment. [Tribune]

  • The Utah County Commission declared a state of emergency on Wednesday due to the worsening drought. [Tribune]

  • The Utah Jazz routed the Memphis Grizzlies 126-110 to finish off their first-round playoff series. The Jazz will play either the Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Clippers in the next round. [Tribune]

National news

  • President Joe Biden announced a “National Month of Action” to get 70% of Americans at least one COVID-19 shot by July 4. [CNN]

  • Time may be running out for the White House to reach a deal with Senate Republicans on an infrastructure package. [WaPo]

  • Former President Donald Trump shut down his blog on Wednesday. Trump was reportedly frustrated by low readership, making him look irrelevant. [NYT]

  • Advisers to former President Trump say he is becoming obsessed with the idea that his loss in the 2020 election can somehow be overturned, even though that’s an impossibility. One close adviser to Trump says trying to convince Trump the election can’t be reversed “is pissing into the wind.” [WaPo]

  • Online conversation among supporters of former president Trump and QAnon followers about the falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen could spark more political violence. [CNN]

  • The Trump administration secretly seized the phone records of New York Times reporters in 2017 as part of a leak investigation. [NYT]

  • Federal prosecutors are said to be probing whether Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz obstructed justice. They’re reportedly looking into a phone call between Gaetz and a witness in the case. [Politico]

  • Bye-bye Bibi. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political opponents announced they had reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, which will likely lead to the ouster of Netanyahu. [AP]

  • The Department of Justice is investigating whether a Democratic lobbying firm did work on behalf of a Ukrainian firm linked to Hunter Biden. [Politico]

  • Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics say the games are “100%” moving forward, but there may be no spectators for the events. [BBC]

  • Amazon will no longer screen some workers for marijuana use. The company also is backing federal legislation to legalize marijuana. [CNBC]

  • Some employees are quitting rather than returning to the office full-time. That could create another labor shortage as workers opt for firms that are more friendly toward remote work. [Bloomberg]

  • The cyberattack against JBS, a major meat-producing company, likely originated from Russia. [CNN]


Thursday’s Utah news roundup

Utah

  • Utah eases housing regulations. Does the move cut too many corners? Will it cut skyrocketing costs? [Tribune]

  • Another slide disrupts Bingham Canyon mine. [Tribune]

  • With the parade canceled, here’s how you can still celebrate Pride Week. [Tribune]

  • The holiday weekend is over, but Utah’s national parks are still bursting with visitors. [DNews]

  • Dixie State should drop ‘Dixie’ from its name, 65% of focus group participants say. [DNews]

  • Downtown SLC Farmers Market to return this weekend. [FOX13]

  • NBA playoffs offer boost for downtown Salt Lake business. [KUTV]

Local Government

  • Roy elevates Matt Gwynn, a Utah House member, to head city’s police department. [Standard Examiner]

  • Ogden City Council formally agrees to revisit controversial 2nd Street naming issue. [Standard Examiner]

  • Utah County Commission approves $1.8 million budget adjustment. [Daily Herald]

  • Spanish Fork City Councilmember Keir Scoubes announces resignation. [Daily Herald]

  • No water restrictions planned for Spanish Fork despite drought. [Daily Herald]

  • Park City man runs for City Council seeking police reform. [Park Record]

COVID-19

  • Utah has 200 new coronavirus cases and vaccine doses delivered passes 2.6 million. [Tribune]

Cannabis

  • Southern Utah’s first medical marijuana pharmacy set to open in Cedar City. [Tribune]

Housing

  • This luxury tower will be the tallest apartment complex in Salt Lake City. [Tribune]

  • Advocates hope for federal affordable housing investment; Utah’s market gets even hotter. [KUTV]

Education

  • Salt Lake City School Board Commission votes to give members a pay raise. [FOX13]

Transit

  • New air pollution law in Utah will keep many state employees home. [KSL]

Police

  • Aunt of man shot and killed by police says SLC has ‘disrespected’ her family. [KUTV]

  • More police leaving Salt Lake City, department struggling to fill spots. [KUTV]

On the Opinion Pages

  • Irene H. Yoon: Learn the history of inequality so we can build a better future. [Tribune]

  • Cynthia Kimball Phillips: The misinformed debate about critical race theory in Utah schools. [Tribune]

  • Kimball Shinkoskey: The vote belongs to ‘the great body of the American people.’ [Tribune]