This is your daily news rundown for Monday, Jan. 19. In this edition:
- A warehouse in Salt Lake City is rumored to be a potential location for an ICE detention facility
- Major changes could be coming to Utah K-12 schools this legislative session
- The northern lights will be visible for some Utahns on Monday night
Is an ICE detention facility coming to Utah?
Protestors gathered outside a warehouse in Salt Lake City on Friday that's rumored to be a potential detention facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Currently, a small number of those arrested by ICE in Utah are held in five county jails — Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele, Washington, and Weber.
On a larger scale, those arrested have generally been sent to detention centers in Aurora, Colorado, and Las Vegas, but with the number of arrests in Utah tripling last year, some detainees have been flown to other states as well.
According to an alleged leaked document, ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were considering turning the warehouse into a massive 7,500-bed detention center — more than double the size of the current largest facility in El Paso, Texas.
The document also said ICE representatives would be touring the facility on Friday morning, drawing protestors to the warehouse with signs saying “ICE out of Utah.”
FOX13 reported that they saw several black SUVs at the warehouse and people inside the building during that time, including a man who said he wasn’t allowed to speak with anyone who wasn’t there for the “site visit.”
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall told the current owners of the warehouse that using it for such a purpose would violate city code, as high occupancy residential facilities require standards for bathrooms, public utilities infrastructure, exits, and more.
ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have not confirmed any interest in the warehouse. The Washington Post reported in December that immigration officials were considering a processing facility in Salt Lake.
Massive changes could be coming to Utah K-12 schools
Last year, Utah lawmakers passed massive changes for higher education. This year, their sights are set on K-12.
One proposed change, Senate Bill 69, would ban cell phones in public schools during the entire school day, expanding a current law that only bans them during class time.
And while there is no formal bill filed for it yet, Governor Spencer Cox has recently advocated to hold back third graders who aren’t reading at minimum proficiency levels. A recent report revealed that half of the state’s third graders were below those proficiency levels, mirroring national trends.
Other possible changes include restricting classroom educational technology, requiring digital literacy courses, and efforts to fight chronic absenteeism.
Catch a glimpse of the northern lights on Monday night
Utahns in the northern part of the state could see the northern lights on Monday night.
The phenomenon is caused by huge ejections of plasma mass from the Sun, which trigger geomagnetic storms that in turn create beautiful auroras, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Monday's light show will be most visible in northeast Utah. Those in southern Utah will likely see a glow on the northern horizon.
Better viewing is also achieved by getting away from city lights and looking between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
