Salt Lake Tribune
Utah lawmakers are advancing a bill that would require the governor or the state or local health departments to consult with school districts about school mask mandates. This story and more in the Friday morning news brief.
Friday morning, February 19, 2021
State
Gov. Spencer Cox commended state lawmakers Thursday on their progress on police reform. During his
monthly news conference, he said stakeholders have come together to bring about some important changes, like better training for officers. He said he wasn’t sure though why some of the more progressive reform bills have stalled, such as a bill allowing cities to establish police oversight boards. Cox also noted progress has been made without legislation, including empathy training that corrections officers are now getting.
Flickr
John Wesley Powell is famous for his explorations of the Colorado River in the late 19th century. Scholars today are discussing what he would think about the river and its use.
Renegotiations around the use of the Colorado River are on the horizon for seven western states, including Utah. On Thursday, scholars in the state held a panel to discuss how explorer John Wesley Powell would think about water and land policies today.
Powell is seen as a utilitarian, according to Robert Keiter, a law professor at the University of Utah. He along with U professors Robert Adler and Daniel McCool are contributing authors to a book about Powell, “Vision and Place.”
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America’s Arid West Invades Fertile Eastern US
America’s arid West is growing bigger. The dry zone of the US is spreading eastwards, thanks to climate change.
By Tim Radford
Theres an invasion going on down the middle of the US, as America’s arid West advances eastwards. Imperceptibly, decades of climate change have shifted the natural boundary between the dry west and the fertile farmlands of the eastern states by more than 225 kilometres, according to a new study by US scientists.
The Crazy True Story Of The 1869 Expedition Of The Grand Canyon
By Francesca Coppola/Feb. 1, 2021 10:43 am EDT
In May 1869, scientist and war veteran John Wesley Powell, together with nine men and four rowboats, began the journey down the Colorado River, with the intent of mapping the then-unknown territory. For the first time recorded in history, a group of white men attempted to traverse the whole length of the Grand Canyon. With very little knowledge of the area, antiquated instruments, and minimal safety precautions, the party embarked on what many considered to be a hopeless and suicidal expedition.
The crew departed from Green River, Wyoming, on May 24, traveling for 99 days and covering over 1,000 miles through high-walled and narrow passages, raging currents, and steep river rapids. During the trip, they lost a boat, as well as most of their equipment and food supplies. They endured heat, rain, and hunger, exposed to the elements and dangers of an unforgiving landscape
In the 1800s, humans were busy scurrying across the globe prying into the blank spots on the map, why? Because, of course, they were
there. From the frozen poles of the Earth to its darkest jungles, we had a guy on it. Here in the United States, the transcontinental railroad had opened up the nation. But, despite nearly a century of poking around by native peoples, Spanish padres, men military, mountain and Mormon, there remained one big question mark over the terrain through which flowed the Green and the Colorado Rivers.
On then-existing maps of the area between Green River Wyoming and St. Thomas, Nevada, there might as well have been a label, in all-caps, bolded, italicized, underlined and with exclamation points: