Katharine Biele

Hits & Misses

Miss: In Private The people who quietly admitted to a death wish for public education are well on their way in Utah. The Utah Fits All Scholarship has a waiting list of parents salivating at money to teach their kids just what they want. We say that because there is still no academic accountability. Utah is one of 13 states that don't require testing for private and home schools, so it's difficult to know how they will do. Some states, in fact, have shown poor results compared with public schools. A KUTV story showed that the vouchers are popular, but only one-third of applicants got the full $8,000 and a "substantial number" were home-schoolers. NPR did a recent story about "an existential enrollment crisis" as public schools lost 1 million students since the pandemic. There are two ballot measures in Utah that will address how education funds are spent. No matter the results, it looks like voucher money will be growing.

Hits & Misses

Hit: Party Lines We know that there were lots of primary voters unhappy about being shut down by the Legislature. But maybe, just maybe, Eagle Mountain Republican Rep. Stephanie Gricius was right and a committee was not the "appropriate" place to air GOP grievances. The Government Operations Committee withdrew its first agenda item—Presidential Primary Elections—seemingly because the written comments were already pretty nasty. Six speakers were slated to testify—including one from the Utah Democratic Party—but everyone knew there'd be bitching about the recent chaos during GOP caucus meetings. Some legislators thought people would accuse caucuses of minimizing competition and removing candidates from the ballot. Still, primaries aren't really a state issue—yet. The GOP closes its primaries and the Democrats' are open to unaffiliated voters. There is a group that wants fully open or "jungle" primaries, but even as an initiative, there's a long way to go before that happens.

Miss: Armed and Dangerous If you missed the part about Kamala Harris and her guns, you might be missing the point altogether. She supports the 2nd Amendment, but she's also armed and ready to shoot someone—not because the government is coming but because our armed citizens might be. The United States has more guns than people—more suicides, higher incarceration rates and just about more of everything dangerous than other countries. That was highlighted in a

Miss: Paying Up Utahns are all about health and welfare—as long as it doesn't take money. That is the disconnect shown in a new Utah Foundation survey. "60% of respondents support strengthening environmental regulations in the U.S., and over 75% indicated that protecting the environment should be more important than economic growth." And yet, ask people what they're willing to pay for. How about a 5% improvement in air quality if it means taxes or cost of goods go up 5%? Nope. No surprise, the more conservative someone is, the less likely they'll want to fund their own welfare. Only 37% of Utahns were willing to pay more—almost half were a definite "no." Maybe people just think air is free, but Chinese studies show that people migrate to places with cleaner air, so they are willing to pay indirectly. The problem may be less partisan and more educational. Understanding the downside of dirty air can change minds—and, obviously, health.

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Miss: Road Warriors Here 's a startling statistic. "Road rage deaths due to gun violence increased by more than 89 percent in 2020-2024, compared to the four years immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic," according to The Trace, an outlet that reports on gun violence. Admittedly, Utah isn't the biggest offender—Texas is. But vehicles are definitely becoming a weapon of first resort when drivers get anxious. The American Psychological Association points to environmental and emotional factors that are setting people off. Now, one state legislator, Centerville Republican Rep. Paul Cutler, has passed a law to study what's happening in Utah. And because it's Utah and the Utah Way, Cutler is working on statistics and asking people to just calm down. He wants to educate drivers about the ramifications of their actions. Just this month, road rage left a 50-year-old man dead. Before we ask everyone to meditate, we might look at the stresses that cause this phenomenon.

Hits & Misses

Hits & Misses