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Situational Analysis | August 5th, 2026
It’s Wednesday and Work Like a Dog Day! 🐕
What you need to know
Wildfire prevention emerges as a rare bipartisan priority in Congress. Utah Sen. John Curtis is urging his colleagues to pass the Fix Our Forests Act aimed toward improving forest management and believes the bill is largely agreed upon and ready to go. The Senate is set to adjourn this week for its annual August recess period. In the meantime, there have been 755 wildfires in Utah this year, burning more than 474,000 acres.
Rapid relevance
'Showcase the power of education and sport': Utah 2034 announces education committee; 40 years of the Utah Summer Games
Utah Headlines
Politics
Sen. Curtis brought the Utah Compact on Immigration to Congress — MAGA called it a betrayal (Deseret News)
Opinion: Is Utah really going blue? (Deseret News)
Medicaid work requirement could leave 40,000 Utahns without healthcare (The Salt Lake Tribune)
Utah’s top leaders OK’d a new monument without public input. Neighbors now demand a pause. (Salt Lake Tribune)
Why a new Utah inland port has Washington County school leaders worried (Salt Lake Tribune)
Utah Forward Party says it’s ready to shoot its shot in the ‘26 midterms (KUER)
Wildfires/Floods
Drought, heat, fire, floods: In Utah, climate disasters just keep compounding (NBC News)
‘Catastrophic’ fires mark one of the worst fire seasons in Utah history (Deseret News)
No timeline yet for tenants to return to Midvale apartment complex (KSL)
Temporary housing offers first step forward for families displaced by Midvale apartment fire (KSLNR)
Gusty winds fuel new wildfire northwest of Fruitland in Duchesne County (KUTV)
Crews make 'great progress' in protecting communities threatened by Widemouth 2 Fire (KUTV)
Utah
West Valley City family prepares to say good-bye to 10-year-old girl after Murray pond drowning (KSL)
Opinion: Utah’s future — a cautionary tale or a future of possibility? (Deseret News)
Is Utah the best state to live in — or one of the worst? Depends who’s asking. (Salt Lake Tribune)
Crime/Courts
Man admits to killing woman while in town for 1993 NBA All-Star weekend (KSL)
AP&P agent fired after sexual solicitation plea involving female he supervised (KUTV)
Rubicon wants legal testimonies of workers preserved before they return to home countries (KSL)
Man accused of possessing videos of nearly 200 child sex abuse victims (KSL)
Utah man identified as victim in Twin Falls In-N-Out shooting (KSL)
SWAT, tear gas used to capture wanted Arizona fugitive in southern Utah (KSLNR)
Federal judge upholds Utah's gambling ban in Kalshi lawsuit (KUTV)
Utah family's Pokémon card collection stolen during Colorado Rockies game (KUTV)
Man arrested in Davis County after allegedly attempting to hit family with car, leading officers on chase (Fox 13)
Culture/Community
His BYU football career was derailed by injuries. Now he’s in Disney’s ‘Moana’ (Deseret News)
Gilgal Sculpture Garden may be given historical protections through designation as local landmark (ABC4)
Economy
Education
What’s in the Protect College Sports Act? (Deseret News)
What Utah’s 2034 Winter Games are bringing to classrooms this fall (Deseret News)
Paris Hilton: Don’t let Provo Canyon School reopen its doors (The Salt Lake Tribune)
Utah welcomes thousands of rookie K-12 teachers (Deseret News)
School backpack overload: Heavy bags can strain kids’ bodies (AP)
Environment/Energy
This isn’t Utah’s hottest summer. So why does it feel like it? (Salt Lake Tribune)
Opinion: Utah is the national leader in energy (Deseret News)
Renewable energy is growing in Utah, but not without obstacles (Deseret News)
Smoke blankets Utah, prompting air quality concerns across the state (KSL)
Great Salt Lake commish eager to tap new water law to bolster the lake (KUER)
Drought drives increased bear encounters: How to protect Utah’s bears and keep them wild (ABC4)
Faith
4 videos to prepare for new Latter-day Saint Sunday meeting schedule (Deseret News)
Family
Family hoping daughter’s drowning at Willow Pond Park can help other children (KSLNR)
Health
2 dead, thousands sick: Cyclospora in 45 states. What to know (Deseret News)
How does air quality, heat affect families? Utah researchers are seeking to learn more (KSL)
Lung Association calls FDA nicotine pouch authorization 'another gamble with kids' health' (KUTV)
Rise in US preteen suicide rate alarms mental health experts (Utah News Dispatch)
The U.S. Relies on Family Caregivers. Millions of Them Are Kids. (New York Times)
Housing
New report shows drop in Utah Homelessness in 2026 (ABC4)
National Headlines
General
SpaceX posts loss in first report as a public company but less than expected (AP News)
Political News
Sen. Curtis makes decision on Trump’s attorney general nominee, as one of few Senate holdouts (Deseret News)
Trump’s DOJ seeks to dismiss Jan. 6 rioters’ lawsuit over police tactics (Deseret News)
Michigan’s Senate primary may be one of the closest Democratic contests this year (Deseret News)
Lawyers in Reflecting Pool case say Justice Department knew case was flawed (AP News)
Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general clears critical hurdle after deal with GOP holdouts (AP News)
Stevens and El-Sayed are in a close race for Michigan’s Democratic Senate nomination (AP)
North Carolina congressman Edwards quits reelection bid after committee recommends his censure (AP)
This federal judge ruled against Trump. Then the threats began. (Washington Post)
Trump orders changes to new helipad after weeks of around-the-clock work (Washington Post)
Arizona’s Democratic Governor Set to Pick a Republican Running Mate (New York Times)
Immigration
AP Exclusive: Trump’s immigration crackdown has detained more than 50 military spouses and parents (AP)
How ICE Is Weaponizing Social Media Against Its Critics (Wall Street Journal)
ICE begins outfitting Haitian immigrants with ankle monitors, attorneys say (Washington Post)
US/Iran/Middle East
US has used 'virtually all' of its long-range precision missiles during Iran war, sources say (Reuters)
Trump says deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could come as early as Wednesday (AP)
After Trump’s Board of Peace Made a Plan for Gaza, the Bombings Grew Worse (New York Times)
Russia/Ukraine
Ukraine's paradox: It can now strike further into Russia, but its heart is still dangerously vulnerable (Fox 13)
Russia kills 17 in missile strikes on Ukraine, destroys warehouses, logistics (Reuters)
Ukraine accuses Russia of war crime after video shows drone attacking vegetable seller in Kherson (Reuters)
World
Number of the Day
Guest opinion The fundamental flaw in the Utah Supreme Court’s July 2024 redistricting opinion
by Robert H. Rees
In July 2024, the Utah Supreme Court issued an opinion that some see as a victory of the People of Utah over a self-serving Legislature. The opinion came in a lawsuit (“redistricting litigation”) challenging the Legislature’s 2021 redrawing of congressional boundaries. The opinion did not directly address the partisan gerrymandering claims involved in the case. Instead, the Court addressed another claim relating to a 2020 law enacted by the Legislature. The 2020 law changed a law enacted in 2018 by voters through the initiative process. The Court determined that the 2020 Legislature-enacted law violated the Utah Constitution because it undermined the 2018 initiative-enacted law. The Court’s opinion has reshaped thinking about the exercise of legislative power in Utah. It has also caused a great deal of consternation among state lawmakers and generated friction between the Legislature and the Judiciary. That would all be fine and well except for one other thing: the opinion is fundamentally flawed. It mistakenly equates voters’ exercise of their constitutionally established legislative power with the People’s exercise of their inherent sovereign power….
In its July 2024 opinion, the Utah Supreme Court concluded that the voters’ 2018 exercise of their legislative power under Article VI was an exercise of their constitutional “right” to “alter or reform their government” under Article I. According to the Court, the Legislature’s enactment of the 2020 law that modified the 2018 initiative-enacted law was a violation of that “right” and was therefore unconstitutional.
The fundamental flaw of the Court’s July 2024 opinion is its failure to acknowledge and give proper regard for the difference between a legislative act by voters under Article VI and the People’s exercise of their inherent sovereign power. Enacting a law using legislative power granted under Article VI is not the same as exercising the power to “alter or reform” government as that concept is understood in the context of Article I language reflecting the People’s inherent sovereign power. Legislative power is the power to legislate, not the power to “alter or reform” government. Because of the 1900 amendment, both the Legislature and voters have legislative power. But neither the Legislature nor voters can enact legislation that alters or reforms government in the Article I, Section 2 sense. Such “alter[ing] or reform[ing]” of government can happen only through a constitutional amendment, which requires approval both of two-thirds of the Legislature and of voters. (Read More)
New Releases
Utah defeats Kalshi in federal court
A federal judge ruled today that Utah’s anti-gambling laws apply to Kalshi’s sports betting contracts, granting the State summary judgment in the lawsuit Kalshi filed in February. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby held that federal commodities law does not override Utah’s power to ban gambling within its borders.
Kalshi sued Utah in February. Kalshi argued that because it operates a federally registered exchange, Utah could not treat its sports bets as gambling. The court disagreed on every point. (Read More)
Tweet of the Day
Upcoming
Aug 4–6 — One Utah Summit, SUU America First Event Center. Register here.
Aug 13 — Titan of Public Service Gala with the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation, 7:00 pm, Grand America. Get tickets here.
Aug 18–20 — August interim
Sept. 17 — Constitution Day
Nov 3 — General election
On This Day in History
1624 - William Tucker, 1st child of African descent to be born in an English colony in America, is born in Jamestown, Virginia
1858 - First transatlantic telegraph cable completed
1861 - Abraham Lincoln imposes the first federal income tax
1864 - Battle of Mobile Bay, won by the Union Army led by Rear Admiral David Farragut with the cry "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
1936 - Jesse Owens wins the 200-meter dash at the Berlin Olympics
1962 - Marilyn Monroe is found dead
1963 - The US, Great Britain and the Soviet Union sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons in outer space, underwater or in the atmosphere.
1981 - Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 air-traffic controllers
2011 - Hazel Johnson dies. She was the first Black woman to become a general in the U.S. Army. She was appointed the Chief of the Army Nurse Corps in 1979. Johnson held a doctorate in education administration.
2014 - Obama signs The Iron Dome Bill providing $225 million in additional funding for Israel's Iron Dome defense.
2019 - Toni Morrison, writer and first African American woman to win a Nobel Prize, dies at age 88.
We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.
On the Punny Side
What do you call a French man wearing sandals?
Philipe Fallop
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