Miss: Rock the Vote
Mike Schultz, Utah's Speaker of the House, looks forward to having discussions about ballot language and initiatives. Better yet, he and Senate President Stuart Adams vow to "work together to find better ways." Sure they do. Still, Utah's minority Democrats have suggestions. Rep. Angela Romero wants ballot language for constitutional amendments to be written by a neutral party—you know, the way they used to be before Schultz and Adams decided they should spin the message. The spin spun out when the Utah Supreme Court invalidated a recent ballot summary as false and misleading. Yes, it was a lie. Romero understands how easily citizens can be fooled and is pleading with them to pay attention, lest the Legislature wrest voters' rights from the law. And don't get us started on mailed ballots, which most Utahns trust and rely on. The Dems will be working to preserve what has become a model for the nation. But it can't just be the Democrats, and Romero knows that.
Miss: Misplaced Priorities
Gov. Spencer Cox says we've got to be different. What? This from the man who proved he's a get-along stooge for the incoming president. He says we should show the nation we care about faith, family and community. Let's start with faith and the $59.99 Trump Bible, promoted as including the Constitution and Bill of Rights. But wait, amendments 11 through 27 are missing and that includes the abolishment of slavery. Now for family: Maybe Cox is all about non-traditional families beset by infidelity like the Trumps. And community—if you're OK punishing all the non-MAGA members of your community, you may be on board with this. And finally, the governor who once protected refugees is now fully behind Trump's mass deportation folly. Hey, he even wants an ICE detention facility built in Utah—the state that can't build enough homeless shelters.
Hit: Power Hungry
Maybe the governor doesn't have the courage of his convictions, but council members in Logan are standing firm against a fossil fuel future. Yeah, yeah—energy needs are soaring. It's not only population, but also high demands for massive data centers and the power needed to run AI models. Logan citizens asked "at what cost?" when presented with a contract that would lock the city into fossil fuels for the next 30 years. The contract from the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems was passed to 34 cities, which were to agree to help pay for the $300 million project. Thirty-three cities did. The Salt Lake Tribune dug up documents showing the project was under discussion for at least a year but had never included the city's power advisory board. Cache Valley's toxic air quality was likely a major mover behind citizen objections.