Matilyn Mortensen

Gov. Spencer Cox released his “One Utah Roadmap” on Wednesday which outlines his plan for his administration’s first 500 days in office. The plan includes six strategic priorities, which are: economic advancement, education innovation and investment, rural matters, health security, equality and opportunity, and streamlining and modernizing state government. 

According to a poll conducted by the Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics, 41% of Utahns believe voter fraud was prevalent in the 2020 presidential election. 

Utah State University officials announced Tuesday that as of the end of the year, they have distributed over $7.8 million in federal and institutional-donated funds to students experiencing hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic.  

At 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday the bells at the Utah State Capitol will ring 15 times in honor of the 1,500 Utahns who have reportedly died so far of COVID-19 since March.

The Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs is working to ensure minority communities in Utah have accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccination. According to the division, COVID-19 vaccinations provided by the state of Utah will be given at no cost to the receiver, regardless of immigration status and whether or not the person has health insurance. 

The Utah Division of State History is asking residents of the state to submit their 2020 experiences as part of an effort to “capture this time.”

The numbers of animals illegally killed in Utah was slightly down in 2020 from 2019, but the number of citations for these incidents is up by almost 275 incidents.

Flags flew half-mast across the state Utah on Monday at the request of Gov. Spencer Cox in honor of the U.S. capitol police officer Brian D. Sicknick who died as a result of the riots in D.C. on Wednesday. 

In response to an executive order issued by Utah’s Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, all state agencies will be required over the next six months to evaluate all jobs within their agencies with the goal of expanding remote work opportunities. 

Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson announced their priorities on Monday for the fiscal year 2022 budget ahead of the upcoming legislative session. According to Cox, the $27.1 billion budget was made with the goals of enhancing opportunities for all, looking for long term solutions and improving the efficiency of government services. 

Following the announcement on Friday that the vaccinating of K-12 staff and teachers will begin on Monday, Utah Senate President Stuart Adams issued a statement urging Salt Lake City School District Schools to open immediately. 

As spring semester approaches, Utah State University President Noelle Cockett urged university faculty and staff to get vaccinated as the vaccine becomes available to them. 

Starting Thursday, the healthcare company Nomi Health is launching no-cost, PCR saliva testing. In a press release from Nomi, the group stated they worked with the state to launch this testing, which will allow Utahns to receive these tests without a doctor’s order at 15 test sites in the state. PCR tests are considered by the FDA to typically be highly accurate do not usually require a second test to verify results.

The left-leaning policy group Alliance for a Better Utah is calling for the resignations of Utah Congressman Christ Stewart and Burgess Owens after the two men objected to counting the electoral votes from Pennsylvania on Wednesday. 

Filing is open for candidates who are interested in replacing Cache County Executive Craig Buttars who was appointed last month as the commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Food.

A special election will be held later this month to replace Rep. Lawanna Shurtliff who passed away in December.

Congress will vote to count the results of the presidential election this week and two of Utah’s Congressmen have said they intend to object to the votes in several of the swing states where President Donal Trump lost.